A lot of times people asked me what is it that I do differently now that makes my skin condition improves a lot better than before. What is it that I do now that I did not do then?
Let me share with you my daily skincare regime:
Step 1: Cleanse
I cleanse my face with non-drying cleansers. I have a combination skin, with oily T-zone. But that doesn't mean I need soapy cleanser (I actually change my cleanser according to my skin condition at the moment). The last thing I want to do is drying my skin by using soap. That will only make my skin produce more oil as it cannot produce water to counteract the dryness.
I either use my middle and ring fingers, or rotating cleansing brush to massage and cleanse my face at the same time (all the while avoiding my eye areas). I then take a wet, soft wash cloth to wipe the cleanser off my face before rinsing it with water. I just use room temperature tap water to wash my face.
My favorites:
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1. Skinvigorate™ Cleansing Brush
2. Timewise 3-in-1 Cleanser
3. Botanical Effects Cleanse (Formula 2)
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Step 2: Mask
After I cleanse, I will mask my face. However I don't do this everyday. I probably do this twice a week. There are two types of mask that I use, a hydrating mask, and an exfoliating mask. Hydrating mask will give extra hydration that my skin needs. For hydrating mask, I normally put it on before bed and wash it off the next morning. The second type of mask that I use is exfoliating mask. This is one of the most important things you need to do for your skin. This mask will absorb extra oil that my skin excrete and at the same time slough off the dead skin cells. This is the step that will help your skin achieve its optimum brightness and gives you that glow. It also allows the makeup to sit on the skin properly without all the nasty dead skin cells to make the foundation looks cakey or patchy.
So every week I shall mask my face every three days or so. First with exfoliating mask, followed by hydrating mask three days later. I also use a mask specifically for my lips when I use the face mask. The lips is often neglected as part of skincare routine. They also have dead skin cells accumulating if you don't exfoliate. I always use soft wash cloth to wipe the mask off my face and lips.
My favorites:
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1. TimeWise® Moisture Renewing Gel Mask
2. Botanical Effects Mask (Formula 2)
3. Satin Lips Lip Mask
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Step 3: Freshen
I choose alcohol-free freshener and softener to freshen my skin everyday. This step will make sure the skin is completely cleansed from the step before and prepares it for better absorption in the next step. I used facial cotton pad to freshen my face from the neck upwards.
My favorites:
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1. TimeWise® Moisture Renewing Softener
2. Botanical Effects Freshen (Formula 2)
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Step 4: Supplements
This step came later after I started really caring for my skin. When I was still learning to familiarize with my skincare routine, I didn't have any supplements at all. Only about four months after I started, that I introduced the supplements into my routine. I just didn't want my skin to be overwhelmed by all the products, that's all.
The supplements that I use on my skin is in the form of serum. I have a day serum with SPF 35, a night serum and a whitening serum (whitening serum that I'm using is non-peeling and non-abrasive, it only allows my skin to be the brightest that my skin can). So I'll use the serums (day/ night serum and whitening serum) before my moisturizer.
My favorites:
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1. TimeWise® Day Solution Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF35
2. TimeWise® Night Solution
3. melaCEP plus+ Ultimate Serum
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Step 5: Moisturize
After my serums, I'll put a little moisturizer all over my face. I dot it on my cheeks, forehead, nose, chin and neck, and spread them using the tips of my middle and ring fingers.
I also use the eye cream for my eye areas. Nobody like crows feet before its time, right? I spread the eye cream using my ring finger from the outside corner, going down towards inside corners, and upwards towards outside corners again. Once it spreads evenly, I use a light tapping motion around my eye contour areas using my ring fingers.
For my lips, I use the lip balm so that it won't feel lonely and dry and left out from the whole routine. I always reach out for the lip balm whenever my lips feel dry, so it's always with me.
My favorites:
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1. TimeWise® Age-Fighting Moisturizer
2. TimeWise® Age-Fighting Eye Cream
3. Satin Lips Lip Balm
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(Note: For all of the above steps, I avoid my eyes and lips, unless I use products that are specific for my eyes and lips, or water on the wash cloth. Also, I don't forget my neck.)
Step 5: Protect
Depending on my mood, I either use only CC cream with SPF 15 for this step or I'll do full on makeup. There are times when I do makeup almost every day in a week. For this step, I will not regret my eye areas ;)
My favorites:
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1. CC Cream Broad Spectrum SPF15
2. TimeWise® Matte-Wear Liquid Foundation |
So there you go, this is what I do now - twice a day - well, on most days :P. However I skip the last step for evening routine. It seems a lot, but once you get into the rhythm, it's not that hard. It may sound like a lot of things, but then, I'm thinking, it's the only one skin that I have.
If you must know what skincare routine that I had before, I only cleanse and moisturize my face. That's it. I hardly put any protection as I didn't like having foundation on my face and all the BB creams that were available didn't have my shade. Funny how I live in a country that has people from different backgrounds and ethnic groups, and yet, most drugstore makeup brands only have foundations and BB creams that only cater for those with light skin color.
Well, if you have any question regarding my skincare routine, or how you can get them do leave a comment down below or you can reach me via Whatsapp or email. Till next post, see ya!
