Skincare Basics (Part 1)

Skincare is the first step to achieving flawless skin. But how much do you know about it?

Skin Type

First things first, you have to understand your skin type in order to find the right products for your skin – there are a million skincare products out there, and understanding your skin type is the first filter.

Dry skin is usually flakey, and you most likely won’t even feel any sebum being produced on your skin.

Combination skin can be both oily and dry at the same time. It’s usually oily in your T-zone, while drier in the cheeks area. It can also be a combination of dry skin+normal skin.

Oily skin tends to have larger pores, and tends to shine throughout the day with the excess sebum being produced. Breakouts are more common.

Now, there is also dehydrated skin. Your skin can be oily on the surface but feel tight and dry inside. That is when you know it’s dehydrated. More sebum is being produced as your skin would think that by producing more sebum, it would hydrate the inner surfaces.

Hydrating VS Moisturizing

Before we move onto the skincare steps, knowing the difference in hydrating and moisturizing is crucial.

Hydrating often refers to quenching the thirst for water in the inner skin surfaces, while moisturizing is a layer of protection or barrier to trap this water in your skin to ensure your skin remains hydrated.

1. Cleansing

We all know how important cleansing is, without doing it right, your layers of skincare actually just remain on the surface of your skin and doesn’t get absorbed. This build up causes blocked pores and can cause breakouts!

I cannot emphasize enough on getting a cleanser that has a low pH level – one that is slightly more acidic.

You may wonder, why is pH level even involved in skincare? Our skin barrier leans towards a slightly acidic level. If you get a cleanser that is alkaline, it breaks this nature and causes your skin to feel super dry.

Remember the squeaky clean feeling we all love to get from our cleansers? That’s an alkaline cleanser. It contains sulfates to foam up easily and trick you into thinking your skin is really clean without any debris left.

As a result, your skin can produce even more sebum to make up for the loss of hydration, and irritation can occur easily since your skin barrier is now broken. It can also leave your skin red.

Hence, it is important to get a low pH cleanser. I personally feel a gel cleanser is the most gentle compared to the rest. Here are some recommendations that I love after trying it out on my sensitive and oily acne-prone skin!

Cosrx Low pH First Cleansing Milk Gel

You probably have heard about Cosrx; it is a brand famous for it’s use of minimal yet effective ingredients in their products. This is a hydrating cleanser with a soft milky texture and you will feel like you’re slathering on a gel moisturizer while using this – which is what makes it a good morning cleanser.

It is definitely gentle, with ingredients such as Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract to help remove sunscreen and any residue on skin, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract to ease acne or inflammation, and Allantoin to help maintain and moisturize that skin barrier. However, if your skin is sensitive to witch hazel extract, it might cause redness or irritation.

In terms of fragrance, there is just a very slight citrus scent that goes away after rinsing it off.

Be Plain Greenful pH Balanced Cleansing Foam

If you’re concerned about gel cleansers not being able to foam up, this might just be the perfect cleanser for you – it lathers easily. Be Plain is a relatively new brand that is getting well-known for its simple and minimal ingredients. It also comes in an aluminium kind of tube so it’s easy to squeeze the product out when you are finishing it.

Its texture is like a scrub when you just squeeze it out from the tube, it’s also green due to the green tea powder it contains. Do not fret, the scrub dissolves when you lather it up, thus, it will not be harsh on your delicate skin.

32.17% of Mung bean extract is included to help remove impurities lodged in the pores while restoring the lost hydration. Green tea is antioxidant as well, repairing and strengthening the skin barrier. Furthermore, Glycyrrhiza Uralensis (Licorice) Root Extract and Centella Asiatica Extract are added to help fight acne and soothe the skin respectively.

It does not have a noticeable scent too.

P.S. Both brands are cruelty free.