My Skincare Routine

Hi I'm Celine.

NC35 | Combination Skin | South East Asian 

EEEK! Barefaced, No Make-Up, sporting a shower cap and headband!

Well, this is my skin. And this is my Skincare Journey. Let me guide you and together let's explore the wonderful world of Reddit Skincare. In this post, I'll share you the basics and lead you to the rabbit hole itself! And if you think Reddit is just TMI, or just plain not-available-in-the-philippines-products, I'm posting products I actually use, and are actually available in our country.

So, Let us begin!

1. Know your skin type.

When I was a beauty intern at MEGA Magazine, I picked up a book about the different skin types. Of course, I knew about the Oily, Dry, and Normal, but what I didn't know was about "Combination Skin". Basically, it's having Oily, Dry, and Normal Skin in certain parts of your face/body. I've used products that say "For Dry Skin" because I thought I had dry skin and they'd cause me breakouts! I've used products for Oily skin, thinking the overproduction of sebum causes me zits, and they just take the life out of my skin. 

Combination skin tends to go by the weather. It can be really oily during the summer or the humid season, and super dry during.... well September-January. The Philippines is humid subtropical which means a lot of western and even Asian products are too heavy for the humidity in our country.

To learn more about your own skin type. Here's a blog with all the Skin Type Profile:

GARDEN OF WISDOM

http://www.gardenofwisdom.com/profiles.html

2. Do a step-by-step Routine.

Remember that one beauty product that can do it all? It's advertising. No product works like a miracle. The Asian Skincare is a routine. Don't be surprised to see 9 products for Night Time and another set of 9 for Day Time! Here are the most common kinds of products you might want to familiarize yourself with. I got this list from Asian Beauty Reddit:

• Emulsifying oil cleanser
• Foaming, milk, gel, powder, or soaping cleanser
• Chemical exfoliator(s) and/or toner
• Essence, serums, and ampoules
• Emulsion
• Lotion
• Cream
• Facial oils
• Sunscreen

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/AsianBeauty/comments/2jcss2/asian_skincare_101_a_beginners_guide_faq/

2.1 Have a Daytime Routine

The goal of a Daytime Routine is care and protect. Yes, Protect. Our very sunny country makes it impossible to go out without wearing SPF. And despite the abundance of melanin in our skin (We are so gifted to have brown Malay skin) it surely can use some TLC. You want to moisture your skin as well, as it will get dehydrated throughout the day. Here's how a Daytime routine could look like:

Type of Product	What I use	PH Level	Price	Availability
Cream Cleanser	Etude House: Happy Tea Time Milk Tea Cleansing Cream	5	php 198	Etude House Branches
Toner	Hada Labo: Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion‎	5.5	php 950	Lazada
Moisturizer	Sure Aid: Petroleum Jelly		php 49	Watson's, SM Supermarkets
Sunscreen	Biore: UV Perfect Milk SPF 50+ PA++++ (Blue)		php 380	Watson's

2.2 Have Nighttime Routine

The goal of a Nighttime Routine is to cleanse and nourish. There's this saying that "Your skin regenerates at night" but that isn't a fact, that's just marketing. The reason why you load up on skin products at night is because you don't want them all layered up under your make-up. And the greasy feeling having so much product on your face throughout the day doesn't help either.

Type of Product	What I use	PH Level	Price	Availability
Oil Cleanser	Biore: Cleansing Oil / Make-up Remover (Purple)		php 299	Watson's
Cream Cleanser	Etude House: Happy Tea Time Milk Tea Cleansing Cream	5	php 198	Etude House Branches
Toner	Hada Labo: Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion‎	5.5	php 950	Lazada
Chemical Exfoliator: BHA	IPI: Salicylic Acid 3%		php 27	Watson's
Physical Exfoliator: Once every two weeks	Purederm: Exfoliating Pore Cleansing Pads		php 29	Watson's
Moisturizer	Nivea Cream (Blue Tub)		php 120	Watson's, SM Supermarkets
Serum / Ampoule	Hayan Aesthetic Serum: Snail		php 300	Bazaar
Face Mask	Purederm: Cell Illuminating Multi-Step Treatment		php 75	Watson's

3. Patch Test Everything First

You can always ask for samples, especially from Beauty Product Stores (Don't expect Watsons or drugstores to have one). Bring a small cosmetic container, ask politely the lady  for a sample, you won't know they might be storing a sachet somewhere.

4. Don't try everything all at once

This is the worst mistake you'll ever do. It's wasteful and you might end up giving up your skincare routine because of a bad breakout. Don't layer up unless you've tried a product more than two weeks. Layering up products may mess up the PH level of your skin causing the next product to react, or the previous product may have ingredients that simply won't go well with your next product. Learn that skincare is a process and like any scientific experiment it requires that every product in your routine go well with each other and most importantly, they go well with your skin. Unlike Make-up, I don't believe in Skincare "Hauls" it's just way too risky trying new products all at once.

My Skincare Routine January 2016: Biore Cleansing Oil, Nivea Creme, IPI 3% Salicylic Acid, Biore UV Perfect Milk SPF50+ PA++++, Etude House Happy Tea Time Milk Tea Cleansing Creme

Products I've used for March 2016:
Products that didn't work for me: Watson's Face Mask (I don't recommend them, they caused me breakouts, Ekel Snail Mask (I don't recommend them, maybe it's because propylene glycol is top on their ingredients list)
Products still in my Skincare Routine: Purederm Snail Cell Illuminating Multi-Step Treatment Mask, IPI 3% Salicylic Acid (I use a fanbrush to apply the product), Nivea Creme, Hayan Aesthetic Snail Serum, Biore UV Perfect Milk SPF50+ PA++++, Biore Cleansing Oil, Etude Happy Tea Time Milk Tea Cleansing Cream, SureAid Petroleum Jelly

Incorporating more Japanese products in my Skincare April 2016: Hada Labo Lotions, Biore UV Perfect Milk, and Biore Aqua Perfect.

I'll post more reviews of the products I use soon! Hopefully, this post helps you on your Skincare Journey!

<3MissCelineous