This blog post is the first in a series of my personal skin care journey. If you’ve got oily, temperamental, breakout prone skin you may want to read on – and let me know your best skin care tips in the comments! x

Ever since I came off birth control pills (about 6 months ago now) I’ve been plagued with temperamental skin: it’s oily on my forehead, cheeks, nose, chin, and jaw line, while I get dry patches underneath my eyebrows (seriously – what’s all that about?!). It’s also really sensitive and I break out all the time – or get rashes if I use a product that irritates my skin. And to top it all off, I’ve begun breaking out on my chest and back as well. I may be well into my twenties, but these are issues I thought I’d left behind in high school.

In hopes of getting my skin back on track I started making the rounds on the high street, asking employees at every skin care counter/shop for advice and products to sample. So far I’ve found nothing my skin is happy with.

Then my beauty blogging friend Mitra invited me to the Urban Retreat beauty blogger event where we got to meet and talk with several natural beauty brands. We also received some goody bags overflowing with complementary products to try. I won’t lie: when I found this out I was hoping my skin care solution would be inside.

Products compliments of Urban Retreat

Round 1: Aurelia Miracle Cleanser with Douvall’s Argan Oil Moisturiser

The first products I tried were the Aurelia Miracle Cleanser with Douvall’s Argan Oil Moisturiser. And to be honest, my dear reader, I think I may have hit the mark on the first go. (But don’t worry; I’ll be writing about the other products in there – and from elsewhere – that I’m loving!)

After using these products together for just two weeks my skin has already improved. I’ve had no new breakouts, and the spots I had have begun to clear, it’s less oily and more balanced, and it’s softer than before I started. I still have the dry patches underneath my eyebrows, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.

The routine with these products was very simple: massage a small amount of the Aurelia Miracle Cleanser into dry skin, rinse with warm water, and remove with a cloth. (A bamboo muslin cloth came with the cleanser, but I’ve been using my flannels – especially when removing my eye makeup!)  Then I gently applied a few drops of the Argan Oil Moisturiser all over my face and neck, and done!

Throughout the two weeks trialling these products I cleansed both at night (to take off my makeup) and in the morning. At night I used 4-5 drops of the Argan Oil Moisturiser to really let my skin soak it up while I slept, and in the morning I put just 1-2 drops before applying my primer and tinted beauty balm.

While I’ve got plenty of the Aurelia Miracle Cleanser left (spoiler alert: I’ve been coming back to this one between trialling other products!), I completely finished off the 5ml sample of Argan Oil Moisturiser by the end of the two weeks. (Which means a 100ml bottle at that rate would last me nearly a year!)

So if you’re interested, you can get the Aurelia Miracle Cleanser here (£34) and the Douval’s Argan Oil Moisturiser here (£45 for 100ml).

Please note: while the products mentioned in this blog post were gifts, the views expressed are my own.