If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's our collective obsession with crumpets. Yes? Oh! And Zoë Foster Blake. Everyone LOVES Zoë Foster Blake.
You probably used to read her Cosmo pages back in the day. Have a beaten-up copy of Air Kisses on your bookshelf. Feel like you know her. Reckon you'd actually be best friends.
I've interviewed her before, and honestly, you should never meet the people you admire. Unless, of course, it's Zoë Foster Blake. You should ALWAYS meet her. She's great. (You can read my most recent interview with her here).
Watch: How Zoë's makeup routine has changed since becoming a mum. Post continues below.
Because as a successful beauty mogul and founder of one of Australia's biggest skincare brands, Go-To Skincare, she just knows a lotta stuff. Including what's good to put on your face.
That's why I thought it would be helpful to pull together everything Zoë Foster Blake uses in her skincare routine — including the top tips she's shared with Mamamia.
So, hush. Please make yourself a coffee/tea/whiskey, take a seat, and have a read about everything Zoë puts on her face.
Zoe Foster Blake's morning skincare routine.
The best part of Zoë's morning skincare routine? There's not eleventy million steps. It's simple. Effective. Gives you time to do other stuff, like eat breakfast and practice judo.
She shared on Go-To's website: "[Every morning] I put on my headband, and wash with Properly Clean ($33), which gently cleanses but never leaves my skin dry or tight."
Important thing I learnt: When it comes to the best way to apply serum, Zoë told me to always apply it to damp skin after cleansing.
Yes, friend. You're supposed to apply your serums when your skin is damp.
She calls it the 'sponge technique'. "You can't hope to clean a bench with a dry sponge - you have to dampen it first, so things can absorb," she told me.
Smart!
Okay, next is the all-important serums! She uses Much Brighter Skin, $59.
When I asked her during our interview what her major skin concerns were, pigmentation was up there as the most niggling one - so, it makes sense she's on the brightening bandwagon and using daily vitamin C. (She also dished out a whole load of other helpful pigmentation advice — so read this if you're looking for some tips!).
"I mist my face, apply it and let it sit for 60 seconds. I use that time to put my lash serum on and do my brows," she told me.
Another golden nugget she shared? Always PRESS your serums and oils in, instead of rubbing them into the skin.
Pressing or patting products into your skin is gentler and minimises the chances of pulling or dragging at your skin. Also, feels nice.
She told Mamamia, "I come in with Face Hero ($45) and I press it in instead of rubbing (because that's going to disrupt the vitamin C)."
On Go-To's website, she also adds, "If I am puffy, this is where I use my ice roller, which I keep in the freezer. I just wince and hold it on my eyelids and roll my jawline and cheeks for a few minutes."
Next? Usually moisturiser. But on Instagram, Zoë said the hydrating combination of the serum and face oil is usually enough for her skin.
Instead, she skips the moisturiser and applies an SPF product.
She told Mamamia, "It's a super simple morning routine. I don't have time to f**k around. I've got five minutes to get ready. The kids are screaming downstairs, they want their porridge..."
Zoe Foster Blake's evening skincare routine.
Okay! The PM routine. Here's what Zoë puts on her face in the evening. Are you excited? Intrigued?? SAME. And I already know what she uses!
"At night, sometimes I double cleanse, sometimes I don't," she tells us in her Instagram tutorial. She goes on to say this usually depends on how much SPF and makeup she's wearing.
Makes sense!
Similar to her morning routine, she starts off with her water-based cleanser — Properly Clean, $33.
"When it comes to serum layering, the general rule is to start with the most active to least active. While my skin is dry, I'm going to quickly mist because that helps with the penetration of the next product."
Yay for this being a thing we all know now!
Next, she exfoliates, using the new Go-To exfoliating toner. There's three different formulas you can choose from, depending on your individual skin concerns — Glow Exfoliator, Clarifying Exfoliator, Gentle Exfoliator (each $40).
"I use the Glow Exfoliator, at night, four to five times a week," Zoë told Mamamia. "It's gentle and effective enough that I can without fear of overuse or sensitising my skin."
"I am really enjoying my gentle, kick ass glycolic. But exfoliating is very personal: you do you."
"Obviously I would go from cleansing to misting, straight to Much Plumper Skin ($48)."
Again, ZFB stresses how important it is to apply this to damp skin because this will help it do its best work. She uses about half a dropper full, rubs it in between her hands and then pushes it into her skin.
"I want a thin film of this serum over my whole face. No fragrance, no stickiness, no tackiness - just like a beautiful ghost."
And I'll now only ever refer to fast-absorbing serums as 'beautiful ghosts'.
"So, once that's all pushed in and pressed in - it feels great, there's no reside after 10 to 20 seconds - I'm going to go onto Face Hero ($45). It does a different job to hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is going to draw moisture to the skin. This guy is pure nourishment."
Zoë then presses it into her face, explaining how it gives her skin a lovely glow and bounce.
"If you push it on top of that serum, you've got a wonderful sandwich of humectant and occlusive."
We love sandwiches!
For the last step, Zoe uses another newbie - the shiny (literally) new Very Luxe Face Cream, $79.
In the below Instagram tutorial she said: "It's really good at keeping skin very supple and soft and smooth. Overall, it just makes things look healthier and happier. It's really thick and luxurious and sinks in really fast. It's excellent under makeup, too."
And that's it! Zoë's very simple, doable, non-scary skincare routine that we're totally going to copy.
"I've cleansed, I've exfoliated, I've added my hydration booster, I've nourished and I've moisturised."
Sounds pretty dang thorough to us!
For more from Erin Docherty, you can follow her on Instagram.
What do you think of Zoe Foster Blake's skincare routine? Share with us in the comment section below.
This article was originally published in June 2023 and has since been updated.
Feature image: @zotheysay; @gotoskincare; Mamamia.
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