June 19, 2019 – d o r k i f i c a t i o n

Hello friends! I hope you all are having a fantastic week so far, today’s blog post is going to be a bit different from what I normally post. I wanted to step aside from my usual weekly review posts and try to share some tips and my experience with my skincare journey. I hope this can help you.

The beginning…

How I got into skincare, what made me want to make the change…

I was never too serious about my skincare game until I reached my early 20s. I use to rely on makeup wipes and just a cleanser to do the trick however I wasn’t wearing that much makeup back then so I can give myself some slack for that. Between the ages of 15 to around 20, all I used was a foaming cleanser, toner, and moisturizer. Remember those drugstore skincare gift sets? Neutrogena? Olay? Yeah, I got those as gifts so I would use those. I actually got into skin care when I noticed changes in my skin around when I was 22. My skin was not as clear/healthy as it was during my late teenage years. I also had a terrible history of picking my acne in my early teenage years where they would scar up. During the time, it didn’t bother me but man, I quickly regretted it as I got older. Around the age of 23, I started to introduce double cleansing into my routine and also serums. Just adding double cleansing in my routine was a huge game changer itself simply because it removed so much makeup off my face. I almost felt disgusted to think back all the previous years of not removing my makeup properly. Anyway, why dwell in the past when you can make a change moving forward, right?

My skin type and concerns…

is combination, dehydrated and PIE. I have very mild texture and some blackheads on my nose that can be very difficult to get rid of.

My early skincare sins

We all make mistakes and learn from them.

I stated one of my skincare sins and that was not double cleansing earlier but honestly, during that time – the learning tools that people had back then were mainly on youtube and even YouTubers made mistakes as well. I remember I would reference an entire regimen a youtube shared because I thought it was best for my skin type. Keep in mind that Youtube back then was a whole different ball game than it is now, there were a lot of amateurs who were enthusiasts and also all about DIY.

One of the worst products I used on my skin that I’m almost for sure damaged my skin was St Ives. Apricot Scrub, and I’m almost positive you have heard or have seen this before. This product has probably been around for decades and to be quite frank with you, I don’t see this effective by any means as a facial scrub; Perhaps it would be more effective as a body scrub of some sort.

Another skincare sin I used to do quite a bit was to wipe and towel dry my face with a used towel. Now, I don’t mean like a week old but I’ve used the towel at least once or twice and have been guilty of using it again. This may seem harmless but all the trapped bacteria, oil, and gunk from the previous use are likely to still be on it. It’s always good to towel dry with a fresh, clean towel. I would suggest you buy 5-7 facial towels/cloths for your face and wash them once a week so you have a fresh towel every time. They’re relatively affordable and you can find them pretty much everywhere. I get mine from Miniso and they usually come in cute little patterns or characters on them.

Don’t believe everything you hear, are suggested and see…

We need to keep in mind that youtube/influencers/peers are not medical professionals who can assist you with your skincare needs. You would have to go visit a dermatologist and have a proper consultation because as much as you love and trust your peers, their feedback and suggestions may not be right. The last thing you want is to damage or irritate your skin because you used the wrong product on your skin; your skin is so fragile and you should treat it with respect. This is not limited to skincare only, diet is very crucial and even environment can have irritants to irritate the skin.

Take a closer look…

Whether you have the time now or not, I want you to look at your skin closely and describe to yourself what you see. Texture, spots, patches, dryness, oiliness, redness, dehydration, whatever that might be and write it down on a piece of paper. Of course, there are skin types and I’m sure most of you understand or have an idea what your skin type may be but these are skin conditions. You need to be specific on what you see to be able to understand what you can do to treat your skin.

Here are some examples I would ask myself.

Example:
You see spots on your face.
The questions you should be asking:
Are they different colours?
What colour are they?
What region of the face are they in?

You have oily/combination skin but you have dry patches on certain parts of your face.
The questions you should be asking:

The more specific you are, the better because the chances of you being able to find images on online that match to your skin condition are higher. I’m not saying to self diagnose your skin condition but to have a better understanding of what it could potentially be. I know not everyone can afford the time and money to see a dermatologist so it’s better to do research and have some understand than none whatsoever.

My current skincare sins

I am still quite guilty for still doing these from time to time. I still rub my face against a towel to dry my face after cleansing and I still take scorching hot showers because I can and I will. I know it’s bad for you and dries out your skin terribly but that’s probably the only skincare sin that I will continue to do. From time to time, when I see a breakout appear and it’s raised… I have the tendency of trying to pop it if a pimple patch does not resolve it.

What I know so far and I have I’ve been treating my skin:

I’ve learned to exfoliate 2 times a week and not to do it so frequently. I’ve been also avoiding overusing/or using any AHA based products in general because it can do more harm than help my skin. The last thing I want is to have a weak or broken barrier then having to repair it because we all know how much that can be a pain.

Here is the list of products I have been using and have been working out for me:

Kose Softymo Speedy Cleansing Oil / Commleaf Cleansing Balm
Youth To The People Kale Cleanser
Unpa Cosmetics Bye Bye Cica Toner
Klairs Supple Preparation Unscented Toner/Tiam B5 Toner
Iope Bio Essence Intensive Conditioning Essence
First Aid Beauty Retinol Eye Cream
Florishe Camellia Full Blossom Serum (get 10% off your purchase click here.)
Klairs Vitamin Drop Serum
CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

If you have any questions or wanted to know something I did not cover in today’s post, please feel free to drop your suggestions below! Til next time, bye for now!