Ever so often, Me, Myself and I have an unbalanced conversation detailing the urgency of maintaining a positive & informed mindset, a cleansed & fit body and a God-fearing (and soul searching) spirit. But I won’t take you down the rabbit hole of my inner most thoughts and roller coaster of emotions (particularly of recent). At least not today. I’ll tread a bit more delicately and dive into my skincare instead.
A couple of years back, I had really bad skin. I thought I was doing everything right, so I couldn’t quite figure out where the forehead acne all of a sudden emerged from. It got increasingly distressing as people started noticing and making a point to tell me just how bad my skin had got. Before I knew it, an insecurity I never had, was constantly staring me down in every reflection. I couldn’t leave the house without wearing at the very least, medium coverage foundation. The problem is, make up sits soo much better (and is so much easier to apply) on clear skin, so my insecurities were heightened. I did everything – cleared out my skincare products, went to see an aesthetician, signed up for regular facials and a new skincare regimen, but that wasn’t working. Literally, nothing worked until I got rid of my Cook and changed my diet (bear in mind that not only do I detest cooking, but I’m also not particularly good at it).
Then I started being very intentional about what products I was using. Thank God for my sister, Laitan, who is always on standby to listen to your skincare woes and recommend what she feels might work best – she will advice you on what product to use at what time of day and the benefits of wiping one’s face with a bamboo muslin cloth (gentle on the skin and environmentally friendly). Let’s not forget the importance of watching what you eat – you are what you eat (at this point, I’m the one testifying).
So, I decided to tackle this skincare business head on. Here’s a breakdown of some of the things I started doing that have had a huge impact on my recent glow, in no particular order:
- STAY HYDRATED… this is an all-day thing: If you’ve got one of those fruit infuser water bottles, GREAT! If you haven’t, that’s totally fine. Just throw sliced lemons, cucumber and mint in a glass/jug of water and you’re good to go. I legit think this is a game-changer that will have you downing liters of water in much shorter time periods. Hydrating from the inside is wonderful, but hyaluronic acid also does wonders for that topical hydration and so does snail mucin… which leads me to my second point…
- MULTI-MOISTURIZING… “Guys, do you multi-moisturize? Try it, it works! I exfoliate twice a week, hot cloth cleanse and moisturise with serum, cream, oil…oil only on the dry areas…” LOL That was Laitan in our group chat! Who knew this was a thing?! It’s basically knowing what works for what parts of your face and addressing identified needs. Except I don’t have time for that and I’m not entirely sure I know where my dry spots and oily spots are . So, I just use a layer of Cosrx Snail Mucin All-In-One Moisturizer – this thing is the HOLY GRAIL! It deeply hydrates and moisturizes waking your skin up. Koreans are undoubtedly the beauty aficionados – and then, I top it up with La Roche Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 + SPF 50, because otherwise, I WILL forget to apply SPF! It works as a nice thick sealant for me. At night, I replace the LRP with Argan Oil or Jojoba Oil.
- DOUBLE CLEANSING. I recently started using Cerave Foaming Oil Cleanser instead of Micellar Water to wash off my makeup (I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing, please drop your thoughts in the comments) and then I finish off with La Roche Posay Effaclar gel face wash which I wholeheartedly love. The lather helps break down any residue makeup, oil or product that was left lingering on your face. It also feels really gentle on the skin and doesn’t leave your face excessively dry.
- DIET! DIET! DIET! Last but definitely not the least, don’t ever let anyone tell you your diet doesn’t matter. Nothing could be further from the truth! Also, check those people, they’ve probably never suffered from bad acne so they don’t know! I incorporate fruit and veg salads in my diet, reduce oils – I’m very careful about the ones I use- and I generally watch out for reactions to new things I incorporate in my diet.
How are you looking after your skin? Is skincare important to you?
xXx
Ps: Do we need to address the elephant in the room – New Blog name, me acting like I never left…. Or are we just going to keep going and see how long I last this time?
PPs: I’m thinking of getting a proper website so that I can categorize my posts properly, “The Beauty Edit”, “Fashionably in Style”, “The Reading Corner”… I’m still working on the names particularly that Fashion/Style one, but you get the gist. A penny for your thoughts…
Tadera 