Throwback: How I Started with my (Korean) Skincare Regimen

To my friends who are curious with my skin care, I must be the biggest liar in the country when I say I used to have bad, pimple-ridden skin. So then I get bombarded by a ton of questions on product recommendations some practices I do with my skin.

What I had: I had a lot of pimples, scars and PIH (thanks to puberty). The only routine I had was washing my face with a Pond's cleanser. My skin was very oily, sensitive, and acne-prone. I also used calamansi (as per my mother's advice), and I went to the a facial salon a couple of times to have my pores cleaned.

To be short about it, my journey is quite simple, but unexpected. But here's how I did it anyway.


1. I dropped everything I did with my skin.

I even gave up cleansing with facial washes and only used water. I did this as an act of submission, that maybe, since I was a teenager, I better let nature take its course and let it put pimples on my face as long as it wanted, then I'll save hundreds of thousands of pesos to go to a doctor to fix my skin (yes, I was stupid).

I give up!
(Mauro Beig / worldpeace.no)

And it didn't turn out as I expected. I noticed the redness of my face was toned down and the pimples weren't as big as they used to be. In hindsight, my face must have been irritated by the multitudes of stuff I put on it and may have been interacting with one another. Also, it was actually a good reference to the real state of my skin prior to any product use.

2. I stopped touching my face.

I read somewhere (probably in a book / newspaper / magazine) that our hands are home to dirt and bacteria, and I decided to stop touching my face, which may sound simple, but is actually hard to do when it has been quite a habit. I can no longer "remove" my blackheads and whiteheads, pop my pimples or feel the roughness of my skin.

And guess what? After a few weeks, the quantity of my pimples have been reduced. I may not know who wrote that article, but he/she saved my skin, literally.

3. I gave up on the facial.

I liked how clean my face feels after a facial, but I hated the pores which seemed larger and larger days after every facial session. I realized the extraction of my sebaceous filament (I thought they were whiteheads) made my pores look bigger and I had to stop it.

Later, I read in a magazine article that teens should not be subjecting their faces to facials yet as these procedures can damage the young skin permanently. Even until today, my pores are quite noticeable. I'll probably need to have a proper procedure done by a dermatologist (and not by any facial "expert" anymore)!

My cheeks and nose were once subject to white/blackhead extractions
and now my pores on them are just big compared to the others.
#nomakeup

3. I reintroduced every skin care step, one at a time.

I reintroduced my Pond's cleanser, and found that it was contributing to the redness so I stopped using it and tried my mom's bar cleanser (from her favorite facial salon). I noticed how my skin was less oilier, but it felt tight, and dry just after washing. So I bought a Pond's cream, and then hated it.

It was 2003, and SM Fairview's The FACE Shop had just opened (or maybe earlier - I did not care for Korean products at that time), so I decided to try a moisturizer specifically made for oilier skin. I cannot recall the name of that moisturizer, but I know they do not sell it anymore.

After introducing a moisturizer, my face was less oilier, and the acne started to heal. It's funny how people with oily skin (like myself at that time) are afraid of moisturizers thinking that it may exacerbate the greasy film on their skin when oily skin could simply be your skin overproducing sebum because you fail to provide some level of moisturization. This introduction of a proper moisturizer is also what triggered the healing process of the PIHs and acne scars.

I introduced a toner from the same line and found that it helped lessen the grease. I used a cheap facial cleanser from The FACE Shop too, and that helped with the extreme tightness after washing. I now had a skin care regimen which I stuck with for five years!

Tl; dr: I stopped everything and reintroduced products one by one. 

So there you have it, a my personal Skincare 101 journey which I believe may work for you guys as well. Just be patient and treat your skin gently. If all else fails, go to a doctor, and not to a beautician - would you go to a diet fad expert instead of a cardiologist when you have a heart problem?