Cheat Sheet - When to use natural, when to reach for the chemicals

Before you read on - when I use the below terms I take them to mean:

Chemical-led: products that contain non-'natural' ingredients - anything.

Natural-led: products that would make the 'natural' consumer happy - may contain some non-natural ingredients, but the main bulk is natural.

Organic-led: would be endorsed by the green brigade and Gywneth. 

And remember - nearly everything is technically a chemical, including water. It's how a product is marketed that makes the distinction.

One of my most-asked questions re ingredients is 'Is it natural?' and my answer is always 'Yes, if that's what you want.'

If you look closely at Instagram pictures of my routines that I've been sharing for a few months, you'll notice a pattern. I invariably tail end with natural-led products - and sandwich a lovely chemical serum in the middle.

See above for example, a Tata Harper sandwich with a Vichy and Kate Somerville filling.

This is by no means set in stone.

Exhibit B above: Clinique to massacre my makeup. That's what they should have called this product by the way, 'Massacre'. Or 'Destroyer'. I digress. Clinique removes makeup, followed by a natural-led Oskia and finished with organic-led May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon. But before May Lindstrom, comes Sunday Riley Luna. That's not made of apples y'all. In the best way.

Exhibit C above: The Organic Pharmacy Carrot Butter Cleanser - proper organic here - no faffing about - Sjal to finish, which is natural-led but by no means 'green' and chemical-led Kate Somerville Mega C serum in the middle.

Why do I do it this way?

Predominantly because:

The best eye makeup removers invariably contain chemicals - case in point: Bioderma, Nars, Clarins and Charlotte Tilbury. That's removing surface junk so it's no problem for me personally...if you want to go natural you can go down the almond oil route, but I find that a tad heavy for my baggy eyelids and the residue can make them puffy.

Second Cleansers/skin cleanser are at some point going to used for facial massage, so I steer towards good oils/milk ingredients for that. Not always, but in general/most of the time. 

Acid toners/Essences are by their very definition, chemical-led. Lovely.

Eye creams can be either, although I would probably go natural-led if your only concern was dryness/dehydration and chemical for everything else. 

Serums for me are nearly always chemical-led. Here's why: if you are out of your 20's and have lived any kind of life (I mean 'any', I'm not being facetious) you will have signs of ageing on your skin. And I'm sorry, but at a certain point, if you want to reverse those signs of ageing, you need to embrace the chemical. You, for 'green' reasons, may decide against that. That's 100% your prerogative obviously. But, for example, I have yet to meet a 'green, organic' product that can actually reverse sun damage, pigmentation and scarring as well as chemical-led retinoids. As much as people harp on about rosehip oil for scarring, it has nothing, nothing on retinoids available on prescription. It may be marketed as 'a natural alternative to retinol', but in reality that means that the proof has to be in the pudding, and they are just very, very different ingredients. See also: peptides. 

Your serum is the product that will penetrate the most - it's the most 'active' product that you use. It's where you should embrace the chemical and be a bit more spendy.

Again, as in the above picture, there are days where I reach for something organic in the serum department - usually when I want to get my glow on, really hydrate or if I am using a particularly silicone-heavy moisturiser. Which leads me to:

Moisturisers are probably the category where I mix it up the most. I love organic/natural-led hydrating, soothing moisturisers. I like how the majority (not all) of them are under makeup and I tend to use them on days where I am applying self-tan afterwards. The lack of silicone makes for better tanning. :)

If however, I feel my face needs some oomph and a little kick, I would probably use something hi-tech. For example: a Kate Somerville/Zelens serum under a Tata Harper moisturiser works a treat. Likewise, a Tata Harper serum under a Zelens/Kate Somerville moisturiser is also a good plan. Those three brands are probably the only ones where I would use both their serum and moisturiser together without an issue, but not very often. I like to mix it up a little.

The reason I invariably mix up the final two stages is silicone. A silicone serum, followed by a silicone moisturiser, followed by either SPF and/or a silicone primer makes for the higher possibility of 'rolling'. And I hate it when my products 'roll', it makes me feel dirty and like I have to do my entire routine again. Weird maybe, but that's just me. You have to do you.

Cheat Sheet - Hungover Skin/Parched weather-worn skin/Nurses/Teachers

Happy New Year! 

'Tis the season to be jolly. And of over-indulgence. 

Even those of you that don't drink alcohol may have succumbed to the delights of Holiday food temptations - the seemingly endless dinners, the chocolate, trifle, Christmas pudding, crisps and After Eights *says nothing*.

The three main culprits of the 'Indulgent Season' are alcohol, salt and sugar. Unless of course you're a saint, juiced your way through the last week and wouldn't touch an After Eight if your life depended on it, in which case, this post may not be for you and we all dislike you intently. :)

So: if you don't celebrate Christmas but live somewhere with 4 seasons and your skin is feeling parched, or you work in an insanely hot hospital or a completely dry, warm, germ-festering classroom or you have overdosed on All I Want For Christmas is You and you've noticed that your skin is not itself and/or that your lips are so dry that they feel like they may split, this may help....

Alcohol: There are no two ways about it, booze is dreadful for your skin. It dehydrates you to the point of raisin-like status and if you are slack in your product usage because of the effects of alcohol *eyebrow*, it will only get worse.
See also: redness/rosacea. If you are prone to reddening, alcohol will give you a helping hand to the point where you could easily understudy for Rudolph. 

An alcohol side-note - the 'healthiest' booze you can drink is a Pinot Noir red wine from the California regions. This is coming from the liver specialists at St Mary's Hospital in London, not me.

Salt: Puffy/bloated and dehydrated? Those heavy dinners, gravy and crisps may have taken hold. If you're not particularly savoury inclined and your indulgences are of the sweeter nature...

Sugar: The Devil for your skin and your internal organs. That's basically all. You may as well take a hammer and chisel to your collagen.

Take all three together and you may look in the mirror with some concern. Fear not. It's easily fixed.

* Drink water like it's going out of fashion. First thing, on the hour every hour and before bed if you don't already. Rehydrate yourself. Give your skin a hand.

I know this is particularly difficult for teachers. Do what you can, when you get a break.
Nurses: keep a water bottle on your station and keep it filled. (And as a side note, you are both saints. *doffs cap*)

* Drink hot water and lemon. Insanely good for you, replace every other cup of tea/coffee with this and you'll see and feel a difference really quickly.

Product/Routine-wise:

• Stay away from foaming. Yes I KNOW I say this all the time anyway - but it's particularly important when your epidermis already resembles a prune. Stick to oils/balms. Help plump up your skin and help it retain moisture from your very first step. Using a foaming cleanser on a dry, parched, dehydrated skin is akin to skin torture and is a skincare crime of the highest order. I don't care what dermatologists recommend. Most of them are paid (a lot) to endorse products *sweeping generalisation klaxon*, but you get my drift. Please bear that in mind whenever you see the term 'recommended by' or 'approved by'. Derms don't do that for free. Someone is getting paid. Whilst I'm talking about dermatologists, this is also a time to step away from the electronic facial cleansing brushes. See previous comment re: endorsements.
  (Sorry to momentarily rant, but I am frequently met with 'But Dr so-and-so says it fabulous!' when it was announced a few months prior in trade journals that 'Dr so-and-so is now an Official Spokesperson for' that brand. I'm not interested in calling people out personally, or starting arguments on social media - so I'll just put it on here and be done with it. :) Obviously I'm not suggesting that anyone who has ever made an endorsement did so just for the money - I'm just saying don't believe everything you read at first hand.)
• Acid. Keep up with the acids. Dehydration means more build-up/shedding (eeww) so help it along with our trusty exfoliating toners.
• Spray florals. This is key and your best friend. You'll be using these liberally over the next few days. Layer moisture between every step to give the feeling that your skin is hydrated. Fake it til you make it.
• Oils. I tend to only use oil-based serums or full facial oils when my skin feels dry/dehydrated. Silicone-based serums tend to roll more and don't feel like they are doing their job. Wait a week or so before introducing them. (The easiest way to tell if your product is silicone based without the aid of the ingredient list is to apply half a pump to the back of your hand. If it absorbs immediately it's silicone, if there is residue on the skin and the product seems to spread all over your hand, it's probably oil-heavy.)
• Spritz again.
• Moisturiser. This is not a time for oil-free. You need it. Think of the top layers of the skin as a sponge that is emerging halfway out of a bowl of water. The top part is drying out and exposed. 

A common mistake is to apply a thick layer of moisturiser. This is akin to applying a think layer of cold butter to cold toast. It won't penetrate, it will sit on the surface and/or roll off. Don't waste your product.
Apply just enough moisturiser on top of your oil/serum to give comfort to your skin. Wait a little while, spritz again, reapply a little moisturiser.

In scientific terms you would normally apply oil last as the molecules are bigger than those in moisturisers. However, for ease of wearing makeup and a non-sticky feeling on the face, I like to apply my moisturiser last. (See Routines Cheat Sheet here.) And in this case it's nice to seal in the oil/serum.

If you're still fortunate enough to be off work today/for a few days and don't need makeup, or don't wear it, you can repeat thin layers of moisturiser throughout the day. Cleanse as per usual in the evening and do your normal routine. Repeat tomorrow.

Lips: include your lips in your entire routine when they're dry. Just be gentle...
Cleanse them, use your acid pads over them, even if it's just around the edges, (if they are split it will sting like a mofo, go with your own feeling. And a warning - I have yet to taste a nice acid - eeww - again), use your oil on them, and use your moisturiser on them. Reapply a little oil on them as needed throughout the day. Between that and the increased water intake they'll soon improve. 

Thanks for reading. I wish you a happy, moisturised, plump, glowing skin for 2015. Now go drink a pint of water. 

Cheat Sheet - Sudden breakouts - what to do and what to do it with

Last week happened to be half term and coincided with me falling off the 'face' wagon. You know what I mean, you drink things you know you shouldn't (coke), eat things you know you shouldn't (Kettle chips I'm looking at YOU) - and unbeknownst to me, I was also pre-menstrual.
You'd think after having periods for 30+ years I'd see the thing coming. But NO.
I couldn't figure out why I was so tired and craving all the bad things - I even took an energy supplement to see me through - with catastrophic results* - more of which later.

I digress.

Consequently I woke up on Sunday morning with my period and a random attack of zits that would make the most hormonally-challenged teen proud (cry).

I had 3 particularly attractive (what I call) 'throbbing cysts' that perched happily right in the middle of my face - just in time for a week full of appointments with clients. You know, the appointments where I advise people how to have great skin? Yes, those.

I immediately went into my usual plan of action - and as I've been talking about it a lot with clients on appointments I thought it may help some of you who suffer from those extremely irritating red spots/welts/cysts/whiteheads/swellings - anything really that comes on in a hurry and tries to teach you who is Boss. Rude. If the cause is unrelated to food/changes in diet or routine or you simply don't know why your skin is reacting...try this anyway.

First things first - food:

• Pop an antihistamine (assuming you have no medical contraindications). Antihistamines job is to calm the redness and 'put out the fire'. Chlorphenamine maleate is better for the skin problems than cetirizine. This translates as Piriton over Zyrtec/Clariton - but ask your chemist/read the boxes. Technically of course, antihistamines do the same thing, I just found a slightly better result with the Piriton. To each their own.
• Be honest about any dietary changes you've had and make adjustments. For me this means no coke or crisps - for a lot of the people I've seen in the office it means the 3 C's. Coffee (the extravagant kind that involves shots/cream/syrup), Coke and Cadbury's. Sadly you need to get rid.
• Drink water likes it going out of fashion. Still. No fizzy. (Although fizzy is obviously my favourite. It would be.)
• Ingest fish oil and salmon like you haven't eaten in weeks. My default 'fix my face' eating plan is pretty much anything Dr Perricone mentions in his 3 Day Diet. I tend to go overboard but in all honesty, nothing works as quickly for me as this eating regime. Dr P really is the King of the anti-inflammatory diet. He pioneered it when everyone thought he was crazy and has stuck to his guns to be proven correct. Read all his books. You won't regret it.
• If you are vegetarian and fish isn't an option you need flax/Udo's oil and should binge on seeds and nuts high in omegas. Flax, walnuts and soy are your friends.
• No sugar.
• Minimal dairy - and dairy should always always be organic full fat.

Routine:

• Evening cleanse is key. Balm/oil cleanse the skin. Make sure you've rinsed properly.
• Acid tone. Make sure you go over the spots/cysts really well. If they are bleeding, go over them until the acid quells the bleeding, which it should. Don't be traumatised by a little blood, work your skin normally.
• Apply something topically to the area - my go-to is Aesop's Control gel. It contains vit c, niacinamide and salicylic acid but its in an aloe base so it calms, gets rid of the redness and hydrates - as opposed to harsher products designed to 'dry-out' spots. They don't need drying out, they need nourishment.
• Apply a facial oil. One designed for a combi/oily skin is ideal but in all honesty, most oils will do the trick (assuming you personally are not allergic/intolerant to them). My go-to here is Clarins Lotus oil. Put 3-4 drops into your palm, swipe across the other palm, apply to the areas affected first, then elsewhere. Don't saturate your skin. Less is more. Layer. Don't suffocate.

Now you need to monitor the situation. Keep the Control gel to hand, and reapply after you've used the oil. Leave it half an hour or so, check your skin, reapply the oil if its absorbed. I had to reapply 3 times last night over the space of a couple of hours. My skin was drinking it. Alternate: Control gel (your spot treatment)/Oil/Control gel/Oil.

Before you go to bed check your skin. Apply a last hit of Control gel, followed by your oil. I chose to seal the deal with some Kate Somerville moisturiser, in the way you would add an extra blanket to the bed. It was cold, I was just going the extra mile. This routine works best with little or no silicone. Layer upon layer of silicone gives you 'rolling' and gets in the way of absorption of the gel/oil.

In the morning:

• Light cleanse
• Acid tone
• Hydrate tone - Darphin Intral is a bit of a gem for this - brilliant for redness
• Control gel
• Couple of drops of facial oil
• Moisturiser

You should find the redness has subsided a little and the spots have either come to a head or started to go down. 

Keep an eye on your diet, check your skin regularly throughout the day - the Control gel is clear and can be used over makeup etc if you want to - and repeat the process the next evening until you start to see results.

This may not work for everyone - but when you're at the end of your tether it's worth trying!

*The energy drink I had was purely vitamin B6. B6 triggers my skin something shocking. B12 I'm absolutely fine with - but the other B's? - NO. I should have read the label. Never again. This is one of the many reasons I don't advise taking multi-vitamins. Target your supplement needs to your body. Don't just take a one-shot-hits-all pill and think it's doing the job. I promise you it isn't.

*No affiliate links and I've been using/buying these products forever.

Cheat Sheet - Routines

You're welcome. :)

It's easy to see how your skincare routine can be a little overwhelming - we are sold so many products these days - there is something for everyone - but if you have more than 2 serums what do you use first? And what about eye cream? And double cleansing and and and...

Before we go in:

You're going to need to buy some flannels (washcloths)

No mineral oil anywhere in this routine

Nothing foaming

Nothing 'mattifying'

No wipes unless you have no access to water (hospitals, fannies, flights, festivals - you get the idea)

All stages suitable for all skin types unless otherwise stated

So without further ado:

MORNINGS/A.M.

The main point of the morning routine is to prep your skin for the day.

Taking care of your skin in the morning is no different to having a shower before you put clean knickers on. You may think this is obvious but I am contacted regularly by people who say 'Do I really need to cleanse in the mornings?'. 

I don't really have a polite answer to that to be honest. Why WOULDN'T you? Who doesn't wash their face? No I mean really? 

I don't know about you but I wake up with a lovely glow in the mornings - maybe you do too? 

It's called sweat. Please wash your face. 

Sidebar: I have never put my face under the shower. Never. It's too hot for your face (well my choice of water temperature certainly is). You also have all the surfactants from your shampoo running all over your face. No thank you. Stand with your back to the shower and your chin raised - like the shower has greatly offended you. Cleanse when you get out of the shower, not before.

Clean flannel.

Cleanse - any non-foaming cleanser is fine. Milk, balm (a little), gel - as long as it doesn't turn your face into a foam bath - carry on. Yes, you can use the same cleanser as you do in the nighttime if money is an issue. 

If money is not your main concern have at least 3 cleansers on rotation. At least. For example: a good pre-cleanse oil or eye makeup remover, a milk cleanser and a balm cleanser.

Exfoliating (acid) lotion - brands like Biologique Recherche, Pixi, First Aid Beauty Radiance Pads, Peter Thomas Roth, Zelens, Dr Dennis Gross and REN all make exfoliating/acid products that you use at the traditional 'toner' stage.To call them a 'toner' is to do them a great injustice. These are the 'toners' of the 21st Century.

This has the effect of blowing a trumpet in your ear. Your skin is forced into action.

Lower your skin's PH.

Note: I always take my acidic toners around the eyes - full circle - upper brow to corner brow and under eye to inner eye - and reverse. 

All packaging for anything with any acid in it will have to say legally 'avoid eye area'. Unless you are using a prescription strength derm-prescribed hardcore acid, it's fine. I of course can't be held responsible if you put the acid IN your eye. But the outer area is fine.

Try and alternate a couple of products here if you can. A milder version such as the Zelens, REN or First Aid and a more 'active' one like the other pads, the P50 or the Pixi. Alternate them daily. If you can only afford one I would either buy a mild one and use it twice a day - or a stronger one and use it in the evenings only - But try and get one in each category.

Spray hydrate - I personally love this step. It's the start of the hydrating process and it wakes me up. You can use whatever hydrating flower mist/water that you like. You can also use your traditional 'toner' at this stage - as long as its main function is to hydrate - it would preferably have glycerin or hyaluronic acid in there somewhere but a good quality rosewater etc is fine. I mean good quality - i.e. the inci list is rosewater, not fragrance (parfum) and colouring. Check your ingredients labels. Decant it into a Muji spray bottle and keep it as a spray too.

Try and avoid alcohol at this stage.

Eye cream - don't apply your eye cream last. No matter how careful you apply your serums/moisturisers you will always get some in the eye area and then your eye cream won't absorb where you want it to. Pointless. 

Eye cream first. Everything else afterwards (and on top if you like and it's not a contra-indication).

Applying your eye cream last is like wearing knickers over your trousers.

Serum/Oils - this is what I am asked about the most. I use a mixture of oils and serums and application goes by texture. 

Serums - especially water based ones, are first. Next, a couple of drops of facial oil (if you are using one!), topped off with your moisturiser. In the case of a heavily siliconed serum, I would probably skip the oil and go straight to moisturiser. 

Take a couple of drops of serum on the end of your fingertips, pat them quickly on to the fingertips of the other hand and then apply immediately. Spending 20 seconds 'warming' your serum in your hands by rubbing them together is a complete waste of time, money and product. 

Unless your intention is to have fabulously soft palms.

There will always be exceptions, so if what you are doing works for you - don't change it on my account.

Note to Hydraluron customers - Hydraluron is always last before moisturiser.

Moisturiser - choose your moisturiser by your skin type, not condition. Your moisturiser is your coat/protection.

People tend to spend far too long choosing their moisturiser and far too little taking care of what goes on beforehand. For example, using a quick swipe of a wipe, slapping on a £150 face cream and then wondering why their skin isn't great.

Remember nothing 'mattifying'. Skin is not designed to be 'matte'. As above - your skin has plenty of time to be matte when you're dead. You know - no signs of life? That's matte.

Whatever moisturiser you are using that is right for your skin, whack it on now. And how much? I have a big face (yes thank you) so tend to be heavy handed - aim for around a 10p size - a quarter for US readers. Adjust according to your face obviously.. less is more.

Beauty myth: 'Warm product in hands before use.' 

A good formulation will be ready to go - warming a product in your hands will only put most of the product on your hands. Oil doesn't need to be warmed to absorb. If you want to rub it in your hands and inhale it before you apply, your choice. I prefer to put it on my face and smell it while it gets to work on my face - not my hands. It's another 'habit' that brands think they have to put on their packaging. 

If your product is such that it needs to be 'warmed' I probably wouldn't bother. 

SPF - I always recommend a separate SPF for reasons previously mentioned on the blog - I just don't think a moisturiser with added SPF is going to do much benefit-wise to the skin. I mean, it's better than nothing, but wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry?

SPF - both chemical and physical - is a dominating ingredient and if you load a skin cream with it - that's the benefit. I.E. - I would never buy a £200 anti-ageing moisturiser with SPF. You're paying for an expensive SPF. 

You're not getting the best out of your moisturiser. Buy a good moisturiser and a perfectly reasonably priced SPF. Job done. Equally - an anti-ageing moisturiser with SPF15 - to my mind - gives a false sense of security. 

If you apply a moisturiser with SPF15 in the morning and sit out in the sun at lunchtime I guarantee you - you will not be covered enough. If you want to be in the sun, if you have to be in the sun, use SPF. A dedicated SPF.

And no, you cannot use an SPF instead of a moisturiser. That's like going out all day with a raincoat on and only bra and knickers underneath. Unless that is your everyday outfit of choice I suggest you wear actual clothes (moisturiser) underneath your raincoat (SPF).

EVENINGS/P.M.

The main point of your evening routine is to help your skin help itself. Repair and correct. 

Beauty myth: 'Your skin repairs itself at night' is the biggest old wives tale out there about beauty. 

Nonsense. 

And please don't get me started on 'your skin sleeps at night'. 

No. YOU sleep at night. 

Your skin sleeps when you're dead.

Your skin does not have an on/off switch like your heating. Your skin is repairing itself 24 hours a day - the reason you use treatments etc while you sleep is because you have the full attention of your skin. 

Your face is not being bombarded with sunlight, dirt, aggressors etc so you get the treatments in while they actually have a better chance of them being effective. 

'Your skin repairs itself at night' is like 'closes your pores'. Doesn't happen. 

'Do I need to double cleanse?' is my most asked question about evenings. 

The only time I don't double cleanse is if I have been indoors all day and have applied neither SPF nor makeup. If you wear SPF you need to double cleanse. A lot of people who think they are allergic to SPF because it breaks them out are simply not taking the time to wash it off properly. (Please don't take it personally if you genuinely are allergic to SPF - I'm clearly not talking to you.) 

SPF is designed to stay on your face. Take the time to remove it.

Makeup is designed to stay on your face. Take the time to remove it.

Flannel from the morning is fine.

I usually do 2/3 of the below.

Pre-cleanse oil or eye makeup remover - quick swipe around the eyes either with the oil via fingertips or a dedicated remover on cotton if I'm wearing lash extensions or a lot of mascara.

Oil/balm cleanser - I go straight in with oil to hit the oil and dirt and makeup and general gunk on my face after a day in Central London. Straight on the eyes first, then spreading out across the rest of the face. Off with flannel held under a running tap, no filling the bowl with water (as per previous posts).

Milk/gel cleanser - If I haven't used the pre-cleanse I finish with a quick going over of something lighter - any regular milk/gel cleanser for your skin type is perfect for this. Straight on to the skin, off with a flannel as per usual.

Note to micellar water users: if you prefer to take your makeup off with a micellar water (aka Bioderma etc) before you cleanse, that is your first cleanse. But if you are wearing an SPF or heavy makeup you still need to go a couple of rounds with a flannel. Don't be lazy. Your skin will thank you.

Put your flannel in the wash. 

Acid tone - as above - if you're a Liquid Gold customer this is Liquid Gold time - but LG is NOT a toner. 2/3 times a week - max.

Spray hydrate/tone - this is the one step you don't have to do at night. I do because I love it - and I'm a firm believer of sandwiching moisture in wherever possible. But it's up to you.

Eye cream - as above. If you suffer from puffy eyes use a serum/gel. 

Treatments - my favourite step. This is where you can really go to town. 

This should be your main expense skincare-wise. Again, have at least 3 products you can mix up and use depending on your skin's needs. 

At least.

A good facial oil, a good anti-ageing treatment (like anything Vitamin A/retinol for example), whatever you need for your skin. And before you ask me what you need, really think about it. You know your skin and what it needs. 

Whether or not you use a nighttime moisturiser is dependent on what treatment you use. If your treatment is IN your moisturiser, you're done. If you are using a lovely nighttime oil you may not want/need anything else. 

Personally, I am a fan of the 'piling it on lightly' approach. All this 'cleanse and then just let your skin breath' ridiculousness from brands really winds me up. 

Your skin will breath regardless of whether you put product on it or not - the alternative is suffocation. 

My PM routine is literally: pre-cleanse, cleanse, acid, hydrate spray, eye cream, oil/treatment (serum) and night treatment/oil/cream (not all 3!).

Sometimes less is really not more. Having one cleanser and one moisturiser is like having one pair of shoes. If you can afford more than one pair of shoes you can afford more than one cleanser and more than one moisturiser. 

(If you actually can't afford more than one pair of shoes, do your best - and sorry - don't mean to make you feel bad, been there.)

Note: 

• This is not intended as a definitive document. I have received a lot of questions about routines recently and this is just my way of trying to answer as many as I can, in one place. Obviously if what you are doing works for you - as per my usual statement - don't change on my account. 
• Equally, please don't leave me a long love letter to mineral oil - the arguments for and against mineral oil are documented on both sides of the fence. I prefer not to use it. If you like it, good for you. Carry on.
• Also - it is highly unlikely I will have time to answer long comments left below this post. I am currently receiving, on average, around 500 emails a week asking for help. Not including twitter and Instagram. Please don't think I am complaining - I'm not - I am incredibly grateful to each and every one of you that reads this blog - I just hate for people to think I am being rude. I just literally, physically, don't have time to respond to you all. There is a much better chance of me responding to a yes/no question or a one-word answer question than a 'please help me with everything' question. I really am sorry but I just can't.