When I was a teenager, I battled with acne and hyperpigmentation problems. During the long and tiring war against skin problems, I went from one product to the next, holding the hopes for a miracle product that would cure everything for me - the holy grail.
I would like to inform you that there is no such thing as one product, the magic potion, that cures everything, sadly. Good skin requires a regime that one consistently keep up to attain it.
So I made this post for those who had just started out skincare and get down to the basic of the skincare. As a disclaimer, I am not a skincare professional nor I am trained to be one. I learned everything about skincare through multitude of readings and using different products until I have found the products that work for me.
I sincerely hope that you find this useful. Nana, this one is for you.
I am an avid devotee towards the Korean multiple steps skincare - it requires blood, sweat, money, and tears time and patience. It is time consuming and rather complicated but once you have your routine down to a T, putting your skincare on your skin is a great way to wind down at the end of the day.
This is my rendition, the adaptation, of Korean multiple steps skincare along with some of the product recommendation that I love.
- Oil cleansing (or makeup removing if you so prefer to call it)
- Foam cleansing
- Toner
- Essence - Ampoule - Serum
- Oil
- Face mask [optional]
- Moisturiser
- Eye-cream
As a disclaimer: I would like to stress that I have an extremely sensitive skin that reacts to almost any drastic environmental and diet changes. My skin varies between dryness during harsh winters, and combination-oily during the humid summer. What works for me may or may not work for you. I am not endorsed by any of the brands mentioned below and everything written here is my ultimate honest opinion.
[Oil cleansing:]
During the day, your skin went through the microscopic clouds of dust, bacteria, and pollution particles (doesn't that sound awful?)
It is not mandatory, but highly recommended, that you cleanse two times in the evening. Oil cleansing is the first step. It doesn't have to be oil, if you hate the word oil, you can use gel, micellar water, milk, etc. Hopefully, you are using something that is not too harsh for your skin.
Personally, I prefer oil cleansing. I take about two pumps (or three if I'm wearing heavy makeup) and massage it onto my face in circular motion, rub rub rub and then wash off with water.
Rosie recommends: Kanebo's Freshel cleansing oil line, Biore cleansing oil, The Face Shop's Rice Cleansing Oil, Hada Labo's cleansing oil, Shiseido's Ultimate cleansing oil (the price tag is very hyperventilation inducing but worth every cents)
[Foam cleansing:]
This step is quite straight forward. It's cleansing with a product that lathers up. For sensitive skin and dry skinned people, please choose cream cleansers because they are much gentler on the skin.
As an extra step, again not mandatory, I use a foaming net and a cleansing brush to make the process a lot of fun and time-consuming No, you do not need to get the globally infamous Clarisonic or Foreo if your budget doesn't allow you. It is perfectly okay to get a soft bristle brush to use on your face as long as you're being gentle with your face.
Rosie recommends:
Nutrogena's Gel Cleansers,
Shiseido's Perfect Whip,
Rosette's Cleansing Paste,
Dr.Wu's Hyaluronic Acid cleanser
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| Never tried the tub before but the tubes get A+ [Image Source] |
[Toner:]
Toners, or
skin lotion as how it is sold in Asia. It is confusing but if you see an Asian brand selling
skin or
lotion, it's toner. Some people like to use toners with cotton pads. I love to pat it on with my fingers. Again,
personal preferences - go with what rocks your boat, people.
As far as I have read, toners, or lotions, soften the skin for maximum absorption of the products that are to be applied later on. I can attest to you that it does soften my skin and makes it feel dewy before further applications. If I skip this one out, I can definitely feel the difference.
Take about two to three drops and gently pat it on your face.
Rosie recommends: Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion (seriously, get your hands on this. It's great), Senka's Lotion, Shiseido's The Skincare Lotion (I think they have discontinued the line in some of the countries though)
[Essence - Serum - Ampoule:]
It's a very hard term to coin because to me, they are all the same - a concentrated dose of supplements that you wish to boost your skin with. Essences and serums are very similar to me. To my understanding, ampoule serves as a booster for the future products, making them more effective by making them seep faster through the epidermal layer while essences and serums are vitamin supplements for the skin.
Whatever they are, I
love them and if one asks me to drop $1k (not
really but let's just run with it for now) for a bottle of miracle essence that would make my skin feel like a newborn's skin, I would drop that money without regret. To me, they are worth the splurge. If you would like to, you can use one after application after another or just only use one for a single purpose like brightening, lifting, pore tightening, etc.
Take about one to two drops and gently pat it on your face.
Rosie recommends: Dr.Wu's Mandelic Acid Serum 18%, SHILL's Mandelic Acid Serum 20%, Innisfree's Honey Canola Essence and Green Tea Seed Serum, Missha's First Treatment Essence and Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Ampoule, Lancome's Visionnaire Advanced Skin Corrector (my heart constricts at the price tag but it gives me a beautiful glow)
[Oil:]
If I live in humid weather, I don't use a moisturiser after oil. If I am in dry and cold weather, I use a moisturiser afterwards. Some prefer to use the other way round but I prefer to use it this way since it tremendously helped with my cracked up skin one winter where my skin started peeling off to my horror.
One precaution - make sure the oil you are using is 100% pure, and preferably organic, and not blended with any type of mineral oil or choose a cosmetic grade facial oil. In addition, please do choose the type of oil that is non-comedogenic to prevent the clogging of pores.
Use one drop, or two-three if your skin feels parched, rub it between the fingertips to warm it up and gently pat it on your face.
Rosie recommends: Trilogy's Rosehip oil, Innisfree Green Tea Seed oil, Banila co's Honey Essence Oil
[Face Mask:]
Fan Bing Bing goes through 700+ facial masks every year and look at her skin. I would love, love, love to get her glowing skin. I'm not Fan Bing Bing so let me just stick to 2-3 times per week.
There are so many masks to choose from - sheet masks, wash-off masks, peel off masks, magnetic masks, holographic mask clay masks. What follows below is my condensed down version of each mask type's properties.
Sheet mask - cotton sheets soaked in essences of different performance. Use what your skin desires as long as they are suited for your skin.
Wash-off masks - quite straight forward. Put it on your face in a thick layer, leave it on about 10-15 minutes. Wash off with water.
Peel off masks - Put a reasonably thick, too too much, layer on your skin, wait until it firms up and dry. Peel off when it dries. The challenge here is; can you live without speaking for 15 minutes?
Clay masks - Made out of volcanic clay and they help a lot with oily skin. People with dry skin should avoid it since it can be drying. They are similar to wash-off masks - put a thin layer on your skin, leave it on until the clay dries and wipe off with a wet cloth.
Rosie Recommends: Innisfree Volcanic Clay Mask and sheet masks, Dr.Jart's sheet masks, Tony Moly's snail sheet masks, b.liv's hydration sheet masks, Leader Insolution's sheet masks, My Beauty Diary's sheet masks, My Scheming sheet masks, basically any sheet masks, DIY Honey mask (Just put on a layer of organic, raw, and pure honey on your skin and wash off after 15 minutes. Enjoy your baby soft skin. You're welcome)
[Moisturiser:]
Think of it as a finishing touch, the final step to your skincare regime.
Whoo! We're finally here. I like to think of it as a way to seal off the hard work you had put in earlier. It is a product to seal in the moisture onto your skin and make it supple.
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| This is the only line I go to if my skin starts to get irritated or get allergic reaction [Image Source] |
Personally, I am not too fussed about moisturiser's function. As long as the moisturiser doesn't irritate my skin, it's good enough. I prefer a soothing cream moisturiser during winters and gel moisturisers during summers.
Take a pea size amount and slowly pat it onto your skin after dotting it on your forehead, cheeks, nose, chin.
Rosie Recommends: Physiogel's cream for Dry and Sensitive Skin, L'oreal's Hydrafresh gel cream, Shiseido's The Skincare cream, La Roche Posay's cream,
[Eye cream:]
The skin around your eyes are very thin and sensitive while void of oil producing glands, therefore it is prone to fine lines and wrinkles than other parts of your face (Or so I have been told by my aesthetician). Hence, one should take care of it before it's too late.
If you don't want to spend money on separate cream, your facial moisturiser works fine too. Make sure it doesn't have alcohol as an ingredient and it's good to go.
Use half a pea size and pat it gently on the skin around your eyes.
Rosie Recommends: I have not yet found something that I would recommend anyone. So, stay tuned.
That was a lengthy read and I hope you are still here with me. Thank you for reading this long essay of a post and I sincerely hope this guide helps you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send a message or comment down below. I'd be very glad to help you.
Love love love,
Rosie
