For the longest time I felt like I didn't really understand skincare. I have always used it but I always bought it based on it's claims and marketing opposed to being based on knowledge. At the start of the year I wanted to change this and make a conscious effort to find out more about ingredients and the differences between the products I use.
All of this was bought on by companies like Deciem who create basic skincare but require a knowledge of how to construct a regime. Prior to this year I always felt massively overwhelmed and uneducated when I looked at these brands but now I think I can hold my own and I have actually tried quite a few products from Deciem this year. I feel like within Skincare there is the impression that the more expensive, the better, which certainly is not the case but it is what we have been sold. Obviously I buy my Advanced Night Repair from Estee Lauder which is a casual £50 but I do also mix this with drugstore skincare like the Superdrug Hot Cloth Cleanser which after extensive testing is just as good as the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. A mix of good cheaper products and high end products is more considered and tailored to your skin rather than if you walked up to an expensive counter and got a whole regime from them (which is what they will try and sell you.)
Not only did these basic skincare brands like Deciem inspire me to learn more but I was also inspired by the skincare goddess Alessandra Steinherr. Just in case I haven't mentioned her enough this year I've got to get it in a couple more times before the year ends. This year I have really enjoyed Alessandra's Instagram, after leaving Glamour Magazine she is now an influencer and I really enjoy her content. Through her Instastories/Instalives alone I have learnt so much about Skincare and I have been lucky enough to receive a couple of the samples she has given away to try, such as the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex. Alessandra always has the best recommendations and she has even launched a skincare range with Primark which is actually really good. I am always willing to give credit where it is due and there is certainly a lot needed for Alex when it comes to lessons in Skincare.
As I said I started off the year as a mere novice, not really having tried much skincare and having stuck to what I knew but this year I've tested some true icons and mixed up my entire routine. This is in part due to the sheer amount of samples I have received from ASOS Beauty Boxes and from the Glamour Beauty Club but also through me buying differently. Previously I had always tried to buy products which seemed to cater for my age without really knowing too much about them. Now I can buy products more specific for my skin type purely because I know a little bit more about the ingredients which work for my skin. I've discovered I should use anti-blemish products as my cleanser and mask to help to reduce the amount of spots I have, the key ingredient I look out for this is Salicylic Acid. However I do find these types of products can be slightly drying so I then have to give my skin a bit of life with moisturising products. Following on from blemish products I use ultra-nourishing sheet masks or moisturisers to provide a balance and in these products I look out for things like Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin E and Rose. I find this combination has helped to clear up my skin but at the same time it gives me a glow that my skin has previously lacked.
Not only do I feel like there has been a noticeable change in the quality of my skin but I feel like there has been a shift in the way I talk about skincare on my blog. I always avoided talking about skincare because I always felt like I didn't have the knowledge to fully explain a product or to justify why I like it. I would speak about it but get it over as quickly as possible so I didn't ever go into too much depth and say something completely wrong. A full review on one skincare product would have been unheard of but over the course of this year I feel like that has changed. I have written a lot more Sunday Facial posts and I've even review individual products in quite a lot of detail, some of my favourites being the two post I have written on products from The Ordinary. Even though I still don't feel at my most confident talking about skincare, I certainly give it a go now which I wouldn't have done a few years ago.
When it comes to skincare there are a few key ingredients which are mentioned a lot and they are good ones to start with if you are looking to expand your skincare knowledge:
- Salicyclic Acid - Spots
- Hyaluronic Acid - Hydration
- AHAs and BHAs - Exfoliation
- Vitamin C - Brightening
- Retinol (Vitamin A) - A little bit of everything
Obviously there are a lot more ingredients than this and this is a very simplistic explanation but these provide a good basic knowledge when you know a little bit more about them. If you want to find out more look at brands like The Ordinary or The Inkey List who create basic products with ingredients typically at its purest form, simply looking at the names you can discover ingredients you will never have heard of.
Not only do you learn about ingredients but there are rules to skincare which I feel like are not spoken about enough. One of the things you never want to do is mix Retinol with too many products. Retinol is something I have never ventured into using and it is something that takes time to work but if you are using Retinol do not use an acid as it can cause reactions. You also do not want to mix it with Vitamin C. You can use them on the same day but not in the same routine, use one in the morning and one in the evening. All of these types of things you do not even consider when you pick up a product from a shelf in Boots with no one is ever there to consult you and to educate.
I think there is a real lack of education around skincare products and that is why brands like The Ordinary have become so popular, there is an element of transparency. I feel like skincare has been kept secret for such a long time by brands and you really had to work to educate yourself. However with the rise of blogging and Youtube, it has never been easier to educate yourself and I highly recommend you do so because it will save you time and effort when it comes to skincare shopping.
I feel like this post hasn't effectively shown all of the things I have learnt over the past year but it is sort of hard to show with out seeming like the world biggest twat. No one wants to be that one kid in school who shows off by having every single answer. Instead I hope just by looking at some of my skincare posts from the year you will be able to see the change in how I talk about skincare and my level of interest in it. Obviously I will never stop learning about skincare and this is an ongoing goal but you have to focus on something else at some point and I have already decided what I need to educate myself on next year which is.....Haircare. Yep I've said it, haircare, as I've mentioned a couple of times this year I really do not know too much about it and to be honest I've never taken an interest in it but now is the time.
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