somme institute

a few weeks ago, i mustered up the courage to take a bold leap into a brand new skincare routine. if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know how daring that is for me. we’ve gone round in too many circles about my problem skin and its antics, but it might just be that my sensitive, cystic-acne-prone face is changing its ways.

i got so many wonderful responses to this post and while it cleared up my acne, it also seemed to suck all of the life out of my skin. my face was clear, but it was also pretty dull. now naturally, when the ladies at some institute reached out to me about testing their five-step regimen, i was kind of terrified. we engaged in a little back and forth email chain about ingredients and details, but their own experiences with similar skin type encouraged me to give it a whirl.

i’ve been using four of the five steps exclusively with no other products for a month now and i am thrilled with the results. the fact that i have not had one single breakout since i started – not a pimple to speak of – is a flat out miracle. my skin is bright, clear, so much less red, and my acne scarring is fading faster than with any other product i’ve tried.

i am obsessed.

here are the steps as i’ve been putting them to use (note, this is not how somme recommends using the products, but it’s been working for me).

morning: one pump of nourishing cleanser (blue dot, super creamy and moisturizing) followed by transport exfoliating pads (purple dot, seriously amazing, who knew that i could survive without a scrub!) and a bomb (green dot, a moisturizer with a pudding-like consistency that speeds up cell renewal).

evening: two pumps of nourishing cleanser (to help remove makeup) followed by serum (yellow dot, helps to lighten discolorations) and a bomb.

if my skin is feeling a little tender, i might skip transport or serum one day and head straight for the a bomb moisturizer, but mostly i’ve been fine. it was actually your compliments on my skin from these photos really urged me to put this post together – it’s amazing what a visible difference the right skincare routine can make!

now, these products are pricey, but you know i would not be giving anything such valuable blog real estate if it didn’t work wonders for me. i’m getting to a point where the older i get, the more value i see in investing in the right stuff – and somme, in the words of nkotb, you’ve got the right stuff.

if you think you want to give this a try, i love the idea of starting with this pillow pack (two weeks worth of treatments) to see what you think. you can also scoop up this tsa-compliant mobile travel kit for a more sizable sample or go right for the gusto and splurge on each of the products in their full-size glory here.