Before we get started, I feel like I need to explain something about my personality. I get really into things, and have a highly addictive personality when it comes to collecting. I absolutely adore sets of things, miniatures of things and sets of miniatures of things (-squee!-). Take a look at my stationery collection that has long since expanded (ohgod), I get really into collecting once I have an obsession. If I buy an item that’s part of a collection, I struggle internally about whether or not I need to buy the accompanying products. I’m one of those people.

My current obsession is perfecting my skincare routine using science. It is so much fun, it’s like Pokemon, so many products and sets to collect! I used to buy products based on  how pretty the bottle looked, or the claims on the box without doing any real research to the efficacy. Which as someone who is in the business of attracting consumers is hugely silly of me. I knew I should do better, be better but I instead opted to just be lead by often bogus claims. Then I’d be upset that nothing was working and buy into more bogus claims. Garh! The cycle felt never ending.

It wasn’t till my trip to Ghana when my skin had a massive freakout on me and became pizza that I finally realised that I had to take my skincare regime seriously and pay attention to what I was putting on my face. My job in L’Occitane kicked my butt and helped me take the first step into building a routine that works. It was there that I realised that my skin was massively dehydrated, not just oily! So I dipped my toe into the Oil Cleansing Method but my expectations were too high, and I didn’t really commit to trying to find a good routine.

Since then, I’ve educated myself on ingredients, trigger products, chemical vs physical exfoliation, beneficial products and routine order. I now really understand my skin type and know what kinds of blemishes I get and where I normally get them. I have a better understanding of hormonal acne and how that affects me. The knowledge feels incredibly empowering. As a result, my skin care routine is now a mixture of Asian skincare products and Western Skincare products.

My skin is far from perfect right now (this is what I currently look like, as I come off a nasty bout of hormonal acne and chemical exfoliant purging), I don’t know if it’ll ever be model perfect, but I know that I’m walking on the right path right now towards my skin goals. I actually wanted to wait till my skin was flawless, and who knows when that’ll be? I know that I’m having fun learning, testing and if I’m being honest playing around with products. so I might as well write about my journey! So far, I’m currently a week into my new-ish routine and I’m already seeing huge improvements in areas that concerned me.

Becoming educated was not easy, it was a little bit scary because it meant admitting that I had been making poor choices. I’ve got nearly full and unopened products on my skincare shelf that I now know are no good for me. Knowing how much I’ve spent on products, knowing I was doing the wrong thing and accepting that I’ve made a ton of mistakes isn’t nice to admit to myself. But like I said earlier, knowledge is empowering! I walk into pharmacies with more confidence, I’m less shaken or swayed by skincare sales patter because I know what I need and what I don’t need.

My routine now is split into two halves, AM and PM. PM is probably the most product heavy and the one I feel the most confident is helping, AM.. ehh, is still a work in progress. Overall, my routine consists of double cleansing, acid toner BHA & AHA with 30 minute wait times between the two, then a treatment in the form of a serum/essence, then I moisturise.

I’m going to talk about my skincare routine in more depth and break down each product I’m using, or have used and how I’m finding it. The picture says ‘Skincare Week’ but I think that’s wildly optimistic, but we shall see!

My Routine:

• Cleansing

• Acids: BHA & AHA
• Treat: Serum & Essence
• Moisturise