Happiness is all I seek.: My skincare routine.

Alright guys, since it's the holidays and I have nothing else better to do (other than watching KDramas till 6 in the morning), why don't I talk about my skincare routine since some of my friends and relatives asked how I got my skin to be brighter, cleaner and clearer than it was during secondary school.

I have to say that my skin... did improve one way or another. I had a very... very tanned and dark skin in secondary school. Due to being "fearless" and being like "The sun is nothing to me." And the endless amount of participation in the school's National Day Parade and Speech Day and also endless games of "handball" in the scorching hot sun.

It was then, during the holidays after O levels, which I then started watching Korean dramas and Running Man and realised how the singers and actors/actresses had clear, glowing and baby-smooth skin. Hah. So it was them who influenced me to take proper care of my face. Well, it was good thing, I guess. If not, my face would be covered with dozens of pimples right now.

Soooo, a little info about my current skin. It's not perfect at all. It's not clear nor is it THAT smooth. It's very smooth at home since there's air con. When I'm outside, I'm constantly blotting my super major oily skin with blotting sheets/tissue papers every hour. Even my friends told me that the amount of oil on my face could fry an egg in the sun. My face is so oily that I had to blot my face with 2 blotting sheets each hour. My oily skin is genetics and it runs in the family so I can't really do much about it. (on the bright side, less wrinkles so yay.)

I seldom get pimples now except when it's the time of the month. (ok maybe 1 or 2 very very small ones in the middle of my brows). But I do have loads of pimple scars as I was impatient back then and my pimples were always dried pimples. So, I would pick at them whenever they appear. Regrets, regrets, regrets.

Okay, let's get to the skincare.

MORNING ROUTINE:

Before I shower, I'll do some morning workouts for at least 30 minutes and drink a cup of freshly brewed green tea to keep me hydrated after the workout. After I've sweated, I won't shower straight away since it'll cause some white patches to appear on your face and body. So, I'll cool myself down before heading to the shower.

I wash my face AFTER washing my body and hair since there's oil in my hair and I wouldn't want to dirty my face again with the oil from my hair.

So, before washing my face, I'll rinse my face with lukewarm water to open up my pores so the dirt would get out easier when I clean it. I use 2 things in my morning cleansing routine.

Etude House Wonder Pore Brush and also Face Shop's Green Tea Cleansing Foam.

I'll squeeze about a pea size on the brush. (Don't squeeze a lot as the brush does a good job by foaming up the cleanser and it's more than enough for the whole face).

I'll start scrubbing my face in mini circular outward motions:

Right cheek -> Chin&Area above mouth -> Left Cheek -> Forehead -> Area between brows -> Nose.

I take about 25-30 seconds for smaller areas. 35-40 seconds for larger areas.

After washing the brush, I'll wash my face with lukewarm water for at least 2-3 minutes to make sure I get all the dirt off my face. (Don't forget to wash your ears and neck too) I'll then splash cold water on my face for at least 10-12 times. ( I prefer even numbers, I don't know why.)

After splashing cold water on my face, I WON'T PAT MY FACE DRY WITH A TOWEL OR TISSUE OR WHATSOEVER. Instead, I'll gently pat my face with my fingers to allow the leftover water to be absorbed into the skin for extra moisture. Afterwards, I'll apply toner.

This one to be exact. My face would be very very very very very oily if I don't use this after washing my face. So, it does a pretty good job in controlling my super duper oily face throughout the day. But the main ingredient is alcohol. So, I'm finding another oil-control toner which gives the same effect but doesn't contain a lot or no alcohol.

And then, I'll moisturize. At first, I used the Himalaya Nourishing Cream which can be used both on body and face. Since it's multi-purpose and affordable, I decided to give it a try and since I finished my previous moisturizing cream anyway (Body Shop Seaweed Moisturizer. Money fly fly). But I ended up giving it to my mother and sister since it didn't work for me at all.

It's quite heavy to be used in the morning (since it's a cream) and it clogged my pores, causing my forehead to breakout like siao (crazy). So I had to change to a water-based moisturizer.

TAAAAADAAAA. (picture below)

(Bought it on the day I went for the YG Family concert in Singapore on Sept 14) *wide smile*

It was a little bit pricier than the Himalaya's but I think it was worth it. I used it for 2 days straight after purchasing it and the pimples on my forehead reduced a lot. And also, a single pump is more than enough for the entire face. (1 pump was enough for both face and neck) So, thumbs up for this moisturizer.

When I'm on my period, I would apply pimple/acne gel (Mentholatum Acne Sealing Gel) both in the morning AND at night. The pimple would be reduced or be gone within 3-4 days so yay *clap clap clap*.

MAKE-UP ROUTINE:

On different days, I would wear little or no makeup at all, depending on my mood a.k.a laziness.

I wouldn't apply pimple cream before going out as it has a sticky and shiny feeling to it. So, skip that. I would prime my face with the Body Shop Tea Tree Pore Minimiser Primer.

(I didn't know that it was actually a face primer. I thought that it was just a regular gel to control oil on my face.) (dumb younger me). And then, concealer.

Face Shop Oil Cut Concealer.

It's a dual concealer with a stick on one end and liquid on the other. I've yet to use the liquid (I have no idea on how to use it) so I only used the stick part for my dark undereye... and also attempted to conceal my eyebags (but failed miserably). I'll look tired or on-the-verge-of-dying on the days I don't wear my concealer out.

After that, I'll apply powder on my face to control the oil throughout the day with:

Face Shop Face it Oil Cut Compact Powder.

To be honest, I'm more concern about covering up my oiliness rather than my blemishes.

And then for lips, Maybelline Babylips Lip Balm.

And out I go.

NIGHT-TIME SKINCARE ROUTINE:

Firstly, I have a very oily face so my make-up would have probably "slide-off" my face halfway-throughout the day.

For night-time skincare, I'll always double cleanse. I'll start with a gentle cleanser and then with a mild foam cleanser.

For the gentle cleanser, I'll (secretly) use my sister's Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. (wet face first)

I won't apply much pressure and wash in circular outward motions using my CLEAN (washed with Dettol for extra safety) fingers. Since I don't use eye make-up, I'll just focus more on wide areas and also my under eye area. Then, I'll wash everything off with lukewarm water.

Second cleansing, I'll use the same Face Shop facial cleansing foam BUT I'll use a different brush.

Bought this for S$5 I think. Body Shop Facial Brush. Definitely worth it. It'll really cleanse your face entirely of your day's make-up or dirt or whatsoever. Your face will feel really clean afterwards. I also use the same method as I did for my morning routine wash.

Same goes for toner. But before applying moisturizer, I'll use a face mask (3-4 times per week).

I'll use these 2 alternatively. After that, I'll apply moisturizer. Then, I'll head to bed. NOT. I'll probably watch some KDramas or something. HA HA HA HA.

So this is the difference in my skin tone.

BEFORE: