How are you holding up this scorching weather? Especially with this summers continued sweltering heat our skin has more risk of premature aging & pigmentation so I was very interested in this article by Director Pi – How to Maintain/Fix daily skincare routines in summer time.
This post title is based on her video so I’m using the same title, however it’s more a focus on strengthening the skin barrier (items) rather than Good Product Recommendations as a skincare ingredient analyst – as she usually does.
First of all, we need to figure out our skin type. Knowing skin type is quite difficult as every skin is different and it changes over time, however if we identify our skin type and have the right product options to balance our skin, the result is a healthier, more glowing & youthful complexion.
There are 3 ways to find out, such as Self-Test (eg. elasticity test or bare-skin test), Machine Test and Q&A Test. Mainly devided by 3 types (Dry, Normal/Combination, Oily Skin) and if go deeper there are multiple types of skin such as dermatitis, acne, redness in dry skin or combinational oily skin etc,. so I’d like to mention following her(Director Pi’s) steps (in below) even though takes a long time and effort to exactly determine what your skin condition is and needs.
<STEP1> Know your skin condition
: Genetics – 60~70% matches your mom’s skin type, your makeup habits and environmental factors (ex. sensitive to heat or UV lights)
<STEP2> Start looking product ingredients to suit your skin
: which means listing the ingredient(s) that cause skin irritation (eg. ethanol)
<STEP> Record the trial and errors of your skin
Sounds like it is getting difficult?^^;; I assure you will feel much better when your skin starts glowing. It’s worth trying and I dare to say ‘We All Need this Eventually’.
< For Your Summer Skincare Routine >
1. What are the Basic Ingredients that you need regardless of skin type?
(1) Cooling Ingredients (Eg.1,2-Hexanediol, **Extracts)
(2) Strengthening Skin Barrier and Immunity (Eg. Fermented Extract, Panthenol, Madecassoside)
(3) Whitening (Eg. Arbutin, Niacinamide, Alpha-bisabolol)
2. TOP 5 Essences/Serums Proven by Test Results
These products have been tested on 5 different types of skin for 1 week+, focusing on Skin Barrier Function and results show a visible improvement to their skin conditions.
(1) ‘Illi Yoon’ Probiotics Skin Barrier Essence Drop
Contains fragrance, Great for Oily skin with lack of hydration & Sensitive skin
(2) ‘CICA-GO’ Double Effect Ampoule
Whitening functional product, Soothing effect for sensitive skin and maintaining good condition for other skin types. (Shake well before use)
(3) Primera Cica Essence Repair Bean
Contains fragrance derived from Natural ingredients & Adenosine, Great for Oily skin types with lack of hydration and also for whiteheads (Skin Recovery benefit)
(4)’Normal No More’ Anti-Redness Serum
Instantly recovers skin barrier damaged from stress, Slow-absorbing (moisturizing formula)
(5) Laneige Water Bank Hydro Essence
Contains fragrance, Great for Oily & Combination skin, Good to use under sunscreen & Makeup
*Especially For Dry Skin type
Moisturizer(s)’ give better results for dry skin than essence(s) according to her test, so adding here some facial cream recommendations for these summer months. Also summer sun can easily dehydrate and damage the skin, resulting in premature aging so do not skip this moisturizing step in your daily routine even if you have oily skin.
1. What ingredients do we need to check for our summer routine?
(1) For Minimizing Heat/Thermal Aging
: Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Hyaluronic Acid
(2) For Soothing
: Madecassoside, Asiaticoside, Asiatic Acid, Madecassic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Anthemis Nobilis(Chamomilla) Flower Oil
(3) For Moisturizing
: Silicone Oils (Eg. Dimethicone), Polymer
(4) For Pore & Sebum Controlling
: Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Adenosine
(5) For Whitening
: Niacinamide, Arbutin
2. TOP 5 Moisturizers
(1) ‘Bring Green’ Orange Pore Cream – Ideal for enlarged pores with oily skin
(2) ‘SNP Hddn-Lab’ Open Your Ice Cream – Ideal for redness & dull skin (may not recommend for very sensitive skin as it’s functional product – contains high percentage of Niacinamide)
(3) ‘Lagom’ Cellus White Moisture Cream – Ideal for sensitive dry skin
(4) ‘Real Barrier’ Aqua Soothing Gel Cream – Great for redness caused by sun or stress, Ideal for Oily skin with lack of hydration
(5) ‘Normal No More’ Blue Therapy Anti-Redness Cream – Great for regular break-out, Anti-inflammatory & Soothing effects, Ideal for sensitive oily skin type
<Summery – Best Essence & Cream by skin type>
- Redness, Combination to Sensitive Oily skin with lack of hydration
2. Oily Skin with lack of hydration (dehydrated oily) & Damaged skin barrier
3. Normal Skin with healthy skin barrier
4. Very Sensitive & Dry Skin
5. Dry Skin with healthy skin barrier & Normal Skin
< Additional Tips! >
Try to cool down skin’s temperature using mist & (chilled)mask and slough away dead skin cells regularly, drink well, take a cool shower, don’t use blotting paper too much (make skin dry as removes too much oil). Another tip is using a cold/icy towel back of your neck as the hottest body part & easily gets burnt (neck area). Let me know if works^^
Plus..
If you use smart phone to chat for 5 mins, it raises the skin’s temperature up to 40 degree (for 30mins – 43degree) so if can, try not to talk so long^^
Also Alcohol is the major factor to dehydrate skin so if you love wines or beers, just drink heaps of water.
Thanks for reading & may post more about ‘skin barriers’ soon.
*Article source from Director Pi’s Blog & Video.
( published on 7th Jan. 2019 )
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