During the monsoon season, we are all concerned that our skin becomes a bit dull and lack-lustre. Season changes do call for tweaks in your skincare routine: unless you live in paradise, you should never be following the same routine all the time.
I’ve not used a proper skincare routine for about 30 days because I want to check what my baseline skin actually looks and feels like. The honest answer is that it looks terrible and I am going to use one/more of my skincare routine suggestions below to improve skincare texture.
Limitations of skincare
Following the correct topical skincare routine will improve your skin and I’ve done enough skincare road-tests myself to vouch for that.
However from my own personal experience, I know that topical skincare is not a panacea for all of your skincare troubles, if you have underlying health issues.
Personally, the following contribute to lack-lustre, dull skin. As soon as I start to fix these (even after 10 days), I see drastic improvements in the state of my skin. These are:
- Insulin resistance
- Poor diet – too much sugar, sweets, tea, coffee, milk, butter, oily and fried foods
- Lack of fruit and vegetables
- Lack of sleep
- Too much screen time: the radiation (blue light) emitted for sure contributes to oxidation of our skin. In English, this means, too much screen oxidizes skin contributing to “grey” and dull skin.
- Excessive weight
Suggestions to brighten skin
You need a multi-pronged approach and I suggest using one or more of my tips below to make your skin look brighter.
Tip 1: regularly exfoliate
Regular exfoliation will remove dead skin cells from the top layers of your skin.
They WHY of exfoliation can be found on this blog:
I exfoliate 2 times a week. My go-to exfoliators are:
Out of these, the best value for money are the Juicy Chemistry and Kama Ayurveda products. As the Juicy Chemistry is mainly a salt based product be careful that you use small amounts in scrubbing your face, as you don’t want to damage it.
Tip 2: oil cleanse
I didn’t know I need an oil cleoanse until I actually tried it.
It involves using an oil to softly massage your skin, to get the “gunk” out. Gunk includes blackheads and whiteheads. Ordinarily, I’ll massage my face for about 10-20 minutes, using a soft but firm approach. Note that, its only after 10 minutes, that deposited gunk may come out.
I use a heavy duty oil that is not absorbed quickly, in the following combinations:
I have also tried this using a clay mask first and then oil cleansing, but it made my skin too sensitive to touch the next day.
Oil cleansing this way definitely gives me a fantastic glow the next day. Each skin is individual and while this works for me, you may not see unclogging pores the first time you do this.
Oils that you should not be using include:
- Coconut oil
- Olive oil from your kitchen (too refined)
- Sunflower oil
- Almond oil
- Moringa oil
Tip 3: use anti-oxidants as part of your routine
Anti-oxidants include:
- Vitamin E found in all facial oils
- Niacinamide (Vitamin B12)
- Resveratrol (found in grapes and nuts)
- Lycopene (found in tomato skin)
Increasing Vitamin C by having 1000 mcg per day for five days, brightens my skin. Similarly, applying a topical anti-oxidant such as Vitamin C will brighten skin.
You can use Vitamin C powders to wash your face – this will instantly brighten your skin
Tip 4: using multiple masks and oils
Use a clay mask and follow this with a hydrating sheet mask. OR if you hate sheet masks, use a few drops of jojoba oil after your clay mask. This makes a world of difference.