Lately, having #stayathome with lots of time to kill, I’ve been watching a lot of YT videos. And there’s one that I’m obsessed with: @labeautyologist.

In this video, she shared The Ultimate Self-Care Skincare Routine for maximum hydration & product penetration. It’s like her version of 10 steps skincare routine. They’re really different from the renowned Korean 10 steps, and personally it gets me because I want my skincare products to penetrate well into the skin. Mind you, this routine will involve 4 times of hydrating toner and only one active in later step.

These are her steps.

1. CLEANSE
   It can be double cleanse (she’s more into oil cleanser for makeup removal than micellar by the way) and continue with second cleanser.
2. TONE
   Function of toner: to increase absorption. So, she recommends to gently pat the toner (hydrating ones) before the next step (which is exfoliation) to make it works better.
3. EXFOLIATE
   Not a chemical exfoliation, she prefers the one that we can apply and take off (like peeling gel and enzyme scrub). Do not scrub harshly, just apply gently then rinse off with water.
4. TONE
   Yes, again to increase absorption of the next step, which is….
5. MASK
   She chose a hydrating mask, a wash-off ones.
6. TONE
   She said hydrating toner works best with hydrating serum.
7. SERUM
   If your skin is prone to irritation, apply hydrating serum before serum with actives like Niacinamide or Retinol. This is the only step that allow us to use one active, so choose wisely according to your skin needs. If you’re using prescribed product from your derm, this is the step.
8. TONE
   Last toner, to push the actives further down into the skin.
9. MOISTURIZE
   This goes before oil because moisturizer is a mixture of oil, water and emollient. And heavier oils (except squalane which is lighter) will block the absorption of moisturizer.
10. OIL
    If you use squalane, you can mix it with moisturizer. But other than that, oil is the last step. If you live in colder climate or you have very dry skin, opt for occlusive to lock in water.

MY THOUGHTS:

This is why I love skincare and writing about them. There’s always new techniques to try, to learn and made me excited to see the result.

Somehow, this new routine kind of reminds me of 7 Skin Method (remember the toner layering?).

Usually, I do my double cleanse step inside the bathroom and continue the rest in my bedroom (because I never put my skincare products inside the bathroom, except cleansers). As these new 10 steps required 2 more rinsing steps with water (after exfoliate and mask steps), the thought of going back and forth to the bathroom seems daunting and uncomfortable.

I guess I won’t be doing this everyday morning and night, but I’ll try to simplify the steps with my choices of products (mostly FA safe). And doing this in the evening seems more reasonable as we are more chill, yes?

1. CLEANSE & EXFOLIATE
   Trilogy Rosehip Transformation Cleansing Oil – for oil cleanse
   Tatcha The Deep Cleanse – it is an exfoliating cleanser, so I use this as second cleanser to skip step number 3 and 4.
2. TONE
   Good Molecules Niacinamide Brightening Toner
3. MASK
   Freeman Deep Clearing Manuka Honey + Tea Tree Oil Clay Mask
4. TONE
   Good Molecules Niacinamide Brightening Toner
5. SERUM
   Alternate between Me+ Niacinamide & Zinc Booster or Drunk Elephant A Passioni Retinol Cream
6. TONE
   Good Molecules Niacinamide Brightening Toner
7. MOISTURIZE
   Eau Thermale Avene Tolerance Extreme Emulsion is my last step, as I try to avoid oil as most of them blocked my pores.

PHOTO: SHINTA ROSVITA