The most important part of your beauty routine is what you do before any make up touches your skin.

Putting on make up is an art.  And every artist would always want to start with a clean canvas. Same thing goes with your face.  Always start with the proper skin care routine before applying any makeup. But to be honest, having a skin care routine WILL NOT  take away years from your face but at least it could keep those years from adding on.

Having worked for Facial Care Centre as a skin consultant/manager in the past, I have learned a lot about skin care. And even if you spend thousands (in their case tens or hundreds of thousands) in facial treatments you should still have your at home skin regimen. Especially those who don’t have the time and the budget to have a regular skin care program, I highly recommend that you invest in your skin care products. But before you even dive and spend a fortune, first you should know what your skin type is.

Here you can find a very comprehensive article about the type of skin.

But these are the basics:

Oily skin is oily all over the face. Oily skin is often acne prone.

Dry skin is dry all over the face. More prone to fine lines, wrinkles and flaking.

Combination skin can be either oily/normal with the concentration of oil generally being in the T-Zone (forehead, the bridge of the nose and cheeks) or normal/dry, with the concentration of the dry skin generally  being around the eyes and mouth.

Sensitive skin is not only sensitive to certain ingredients, but sun exposure, exfoliation and pressure.

Here is a simple test to determine your skin type.

Now that you know what your skin type is, next is to develop your skin care routine and stick to it.

Here are some suggestions:

3 step – cleanse, tone, moisturize

4 step – cleanse, exfoliate(once or twice a week), tone, moisturize

5 step – cleanse, exfoliate(once or twice a week), tone, mask(once or twice a week), moisturize

Your products should at least include the basics, a cleanser, toner and moisturizer. Now if you’re really serious about it, then you could go for a cleanser, scrub/peeling gel, toner, serum, eye cream, emulsion/moisturizer, sunscreen..the works!

However, always start with the basic 3 step cleansing method. That way, you will be able to easily rule out which products will work for your skin.

Most importantly, I strongly suggest that you choose a skincare regimen that you are comfortable with. This shouldn’t be a chore but a relaxing ritual for you and your skin.

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That being said, here are the current skin care products that I am using.

I will be writing my reviews of these products in the days to come. =)

Beauty is the promise of happiness.  ~Stendhal