I Stopped My Skincare Routine For Three Months: Here's What I Learnt
No skincare routine for three months? Are you mad? A year ago, I too would have said the same thing. How can I go on without layering my serums, acids, toners, moisturises, cleansers, masks and exfoliators? Wouldn’t I be risking too much, especially now that I am on the wrong side of 25? How would my skin possible survive? Well, I am actually relived to say that I have completed three months without my skincare routine and my skin is relatively unscathed.
Why did I do it?
You can probably gather from my introduction that this decision did not come lightly and I was very nervous to embark on a skincare free week, let alone 3 whole months without my skincare. So why on earth did I decide to do it? Everyone who knows me, knows that I only buy cruelty free beauty products for personal and ethical reasons. However, other than that I am not taking into consideration much else about the product apart from if it addresses my skin concern. But after talking to my husband, Elliott about this, we both started thinking why am I not taking the ingredients into consideration? It comes as no surprise that alot of skincare products have ingredients in them that are far from natural. And whilst my skin is okay at the moment there are important questions to consider. Elliott and I discussed this at length, especially when it comes to the latest skincare trends. The long-term effects of these products have simply not be tested yet. How will my skin fair in 10 year, 20 years or 30 years? By using products with unnatural ingredients in them, am I damaging my skin in the long run? That’s why I decided to go cold turkey, quit my skincare and take some time to consider what I should do about it.
Listening to my skin
Just because I decided to stop my skincare, it doesn’t mean I stopped listening to my skin needs or start to ignore basic facial hygiene. I still washed my face daily albeit with natural soap only and I still continued to ensure my skin was hydrated from the inside out. I’ve always drunk alot of water, so nothing here changed. However as someone with combination skin with dry areas sometimes drinking plenty of water just isn’t enough for my skin. During these times when my skin was dry I applied a small amount of Liz Earle’s moisturiser and some vaseline to my lips. Liz Earle is a brand that I have used since my mid-teens and I am happy to say it is made from natural ingredients and is free of chemicals. Therefore, this was the one “exception” I allowed myself. But like I said, I only used it when I felt like my skin needed some extra hydration.
Learning about my skin
I always thought I knew my skin pretty well and knew what it needed. However I was actually very surprised by how resilient and adaptive my skin was to quitting my skincare routine. I thought for the first few weeks my skin would be plagued by the problems I thought my skincare was helping with - redness, dryness and lack of glow. But it actually didn’t seem to change that much at all. If anything, my skin actually looked less red. After the first month had passed, I think my skin didn’t miss my routine at all. Whilst it wasn’t exactly glowing, it was healthy, smooth and less red. Had my skincare routine been wrong for me the entire time?
Good skin ≠ good skincare
After learning about how adaptive my skin was I started to realise that having a seven-step skincare routine wasn’t what was making the most difference when it comes to having good skin. Good skin is unfortunately a combination of things you can’t control like genetics, and things we can control like diet and lifestyle choices. I am definitely not a wellness godess, but I like to think I have a pretty healthy lifestyle when it comes to my skin. I don’t drink alot, I don’t smoke, I drink plenty of water, I sleep well and most of the time I get my five a day. All of these factors work together in making my skin look and feel good whilst also keeping it in healthy shape. So, even without my skincare, I was already doing the right thing taking care of it through my lifestyle.
The final word
I used to think skincare was essential to healthy skin but it really isn’t. Sure it can help if you have more complex skin issues, however for someone like me, skincare isn’t the defining factor for healthy, good looking skin. By just making small adjustments to my lifestyle and being consistent with them, I can reap the benefits of healthy skin without spending so much time and money on a skincare routine that is making a marginal difference.