The wonderful Suzanne from Don’t They Know Who I Am? kindly agreed to answer our pressing questions about her skin care habits. It turns out this fair beauty changes things up to keep her skin on its toes, and is not afraid to experiment with her routine (unlike yours truly who are creatures of habit very set in their cleansing and moisturising ways).

Read on to find out what Suzanne is currently using – and join us in wishing her a very happy birthday today!

What is your current skincare routine?

I’m pretty fickle with skincare, but my current routine (current as in, last four months) has been Clinique liquid facial soap for oily skin to cleanse, Clinique Clarifying Lotion 3 for toning, then NARS prep+prime SPF primer instead of moisturizing. I avoid the moisture whenever I can!
At nighttime I either cleanse with the Clinique again or use One Hand Washes the Other’s Black Magic if I feel like I need an especially deep clean. I don’t tone at night, just apply a layer of Clarins Lotus Facial Treatment Oil. Smells wonderful and protects me from the worst pressure lines from the mask on my CPAP machine (I have sleep apnea).

Do you chop and change or use the same products religiously?

I move it around a LOT. I had terrible psoriasis as a teen/early 20s, and I remember a doctor telling me that we’d have to change treatment creams fairly regularly, because skin has a capacity to adjust to and become resistant to the effectiveness of products. I do my best to keep my skin guessing!

What is one product you can’t be without, all year round?

Amolin. For those unfamiliar, it’s a nappy rash cream you can find in the baby section, it’s very lanolin heavy, and it’s the only thing that soothes my sore lips. If I don’t apply it two days in a row, I know about it.

What is the one treatment you reach for when your skin is temperamental?

I’d put on a mask maybe twice a week – usually QV’s Purifying Mask, but if my skins not as great I’d use the Queen Helene Mint Julep mask, which is fantastic for oily or blackhead-heavy skin. Bit of a nightmare to get in Australia, though 😦
In terms of spot treatments, I have two I regularly reach for – Ella Bache’s Creme Intex No. 2, which is great for the huge, oily painful ones, and Burts Bee’s Natural Acne Solutions Targeted Spot Treatment is really great for the ones sitting under the skin about to emerge. It’s better keyed for oily girls though – would be quite drying for very dry skin!

What do you look forward to trying this autumn?

Summer is such a hellish time for me in terms of my skin – I get oilier and sweatier and far more sensitive – so autumn is a great opportunity for me to let everything settle and try anything a bit more experimental. I’m having a bit of a good run in terms of my skin right now, which I’m going to blame on switching to Nude by Nature’s mineral makeup, so I’m going to investigate that line and maybe look into mineral makeup in general a bit closer 🙂

Thank you so much Suzanne! And a very happy birthday to you!

Reading Suzanne’s blog is a whole lot of fun. She changes her routine around often and her product testing is relayed with incomparable wit and humour, and the occasional cat gif thrown in! Her blog has been a big favourite of ours since we discovered it early last year. When she is not trying out new products and writing delightful reviews for Don’t They Know Who I Am?, Suzanne also blogs at Fruitless Pursuits – where she talks amongst other things about video games and Tintin. If you don’t know who Suzanne is, you need to change this fast. You can (and should) also follow Suzanne on Twitter – go!

(Images from here and here)