AM Routine

I have to admit, I am a newcomer to a regular morning routine.  Pretty much only this year (2015) have I developed a good routine and its been with plenty of trial and error.
And shopping.
Throwing money at shops with hopes and dreams of perfect skin.
Muttering in the skincare aisles about using orange oil in products for sensitive skin.
Sometimes waking up with a chemical burn on my face, despite patch testing the week before (the betrayal of a patch test breaks my heart).

So this routine I developed after my last allergic reaction where my face looked like I experienced a chemical burn, my right eye was nearly swollen shut and I was peeling like a snake.  I still don't know what triggered that disaster.
But this is what has fixed it!  Without steroid creams - lots of antihistamine tablets in the first three days, but this routine has maintained damn good skin.

Cleanser
Avene Extremely Gentle Cleanser.  I use about a pea-sized amount on damp skin. I remove it with a damp microfibre cloth. I ended up getting this (after much resistance) after reading reviews and dealing with burn-face.  I have collected quite a few items from Avene, so I dont know why I was so resistant in the first place.
Ingredients : Avene Aqua, Cetearyl Alcohol, o-phenylphenol, Cetrimonium Bromide, Decyl Glucoside, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Aqua

Toner
Nivea Pure&Natural Cleansing Toner (For all skin types).  This was my biggest gamble.  I usually use a Nivea Moisturiser anyway, but I wanted a toner for Dry and Sensitive skin, which  I could not find.  It was a winning gamble however.  This doesn't sting and I've had no adverse reaction to it, even though alcohol is high on the ingredients list.   The pH is also low enough to help with serum absorbtion.

Ingredients: Aqua, Alcohol Denat., Glyceryn, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Panthenol, Polyquaternium-10, Sodium Chloride, Cocamidopropyl, Betaine, Trisodium EDTA, Methylisothiazolinone, linalool, Limonene, citronellol, Benzyl Alcohol, Butylphenyl, Methylpropional, Alpha-isomethyl ionone, Parfum.

Serum
This year I hopped on the Hyaluronic Acid train.  Best train I even hopped on.  I use the Indeed Labs Hydraluron serum.  I apply it whilst my toner is still damp.  I have to let it dry before I apply my moisturiser or I get a burning feeling and I go red for at least 24 hours.  So I let this dry and then liberally apply my mosturiser. I love this stuff so much I bought 5 tubes of it from Glamaco when they had it half price!  I do think my skin feels better when I use this - its soft and not as tight as it used to be. I'm not aware of any reaction to the seaweed extract.  But it would be interesting to make a pure Hyaluronic Acid serum for comparison sake.  Maybe when I use up the 4th tube.

Ingredients: Water/Aqua/Eau, Propanediol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ahnfeltia Concinna Extract, Carbomer, Butylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol.

Moisturiser
I'm currently using Nivea Daily Essentials Rich Moisturisng Day Cream SPF 30+.  My skin is a Nivea fan.  This doesn't sting when I apply it and the SPF is good enough that I dont need to apply a specific sunscreen unless I know I'll be outside on purpose (I dont like outside...too much nature...).
I am planning to test a different morning moisturiser during the holidays - just started Easter Hols, so two weeks gives me enough time to fix my skin if it hates the new products.

Ingredients: Active Ingredients: Homosalate 90mg/g, Octyl Salicytate 45mg/g Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane 45mg/g, Phenyl-benzimidazole Sulfonic Acid 25mg/g. Contains: Methyl Hydroxybenzoate, Phenoxyethenol.

If I'm not leaving the house I will use normal Nivea Creme (blue tub) on my face.

The two biggest changes in this routine were the cleanser and toner.  I was using an Ego QV cleanser, but I actually found that irritated my skin.   It was meant for sensitive skin, so bah-humbug to that product.  Some years ago I tried the Cetaphil cleanser, but I remember not liking it.  Cant remember why though.  Also I changed to a microfibre cloth because I found a normal facewasher way to abrasive.  I have two types of microfibre cloth, one for removing the Avene cleanser and the other when I oil-cleanse to remove makeup.  I have a stash so I can get a fresh cloth every couple of days and then they get washed in hot water.
I avoided toner for a long time because I thought it was just for oily-skin, but after doing reading on SkinCareAddiction and AsianBeauty on reddit, I have learnt the benefits of using a toner with dry skin. I have also learnt heaps from SnowWhiteandtheAsianPear in terms of layering my products and why its important.

Later days,