Minimalist Skincare

My skincare journey started back in 2017, where I first found the positive effects of Korean skincare from local stores like Target and CVS. From there it has become a staple in life, and one I seemingly can't live without. If it needed a serum or an ampoule, I got it, if there was a mask I could do, I did it. While I haven't gone through every sort of skincare in both the high and low end range, there are some things that I think need to be mentioned.

As a disclaimer, yes, certain products do work for you and your particular skin type, and it definitely is not a "one-size-fits-all" scenario. Ultimately, testing and using the products give a better view of what works and what does not.

Secondly, trying new products can be time consuming and eat away at your finances. We've all had the moment where we dropped everything to get the newest Boujie skincare products that just launched form XYZ Brand. From personal experience, unless you have the means to sustain buying all these skincare items, it's not ideal nor practical in the long run.

That said, I get to the main point (finally!) that skincare does not always need to be complicated with infinite amounts of numerous products to work. For me personally, I've been trying to slowly de-transition from using upwards of to 5-6 products to about 2-4 products. "How has that been working?" it's been going fine I will say.

I've noticed that since I've been using less and less products, my skin seems to be more responsive and much more to my liking than if I were to pile on my usual 6 or 7 items. Again, finding the right products may be tricky, but honestly, I can liken my experience to yo-yo dieting where the more your diet the less your body responds to the newest diet you may be on. That's is what happened to me, and until I let my skin do it's thing without too much extra help, the difference has been palpable.

My skin has become much more hydrated, smoother, with less fine lines, less acne-prone and less dullness to the skin. I find that I need to use less coverage makeup foundation to cover my face and overall, I'm much more happier with my skin. I think a key point to remember is that the environment and the food you eat can contribute to breakouts (for me, that's inorganic hormonally treated milk), or fine lines (caffeine). Noticing what affects your skin is important to gauging what may need work on an dietary or biological level. On an internal level, accepting that you won't achieve perfect skin is also a key point, which may also be hard to accept.

Going back to my original story, I would say that much of my skincare items were mostly "to try" and I often fell into the trap that if it doesn't work right away, it was not a good product. Looking back, I can see that skincare should take a while to work, and it's a plus if it works after a few days to a week. Just for a point of reference, I used Korean skincare for five weeks and saw dramatic results. That in part led to my obsession with "perfect" skin.

Granted, we live in a culture and society where things need to work right now or immediately otherwise it's not worth it's weight in money. Add to that advertisements for the newest kind of ingredient for a serum and really nice packaging, it makes sense a lot of people would snap it up, and it's supposed to make you look younger! Hurrah!

Hard facts, it won't make you look younger instantly, nor will it always be effective immediately. That said, I've exhausted what I need to say on the topic, and so far, de-transitioning from too much skincare has been hard, but completely doable. I've gotten away with just using a cleanser and moisturizer and have had positive effects without all the masks, ampoules, and serums that dominate the current market for better skin.

I'm not going to make recommendations for which products to try, since that is not my area of expertise. What I can say is that in terms of finding the right product, find something that would target the overall concern in a cleanser, and find a moisturizer with a toner that would work for other concerns like pores, dullness, or problem skin.

Like the saying goes "sometimes less is more."