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Skincare routines do not make sense for me anymore. I think I got caught up in it the past few years because it was so ubiquitous online and it was presented as this prerequisite to having a good productive day and not looking like 90 when you're 23 (rolls eyes).
When you slather 5-12 products on your face twice a day, that uses them up so fast, and you're constantly replenishing and buying, and all these companies and influencers are so grateful for that. But do all of us really need that? I think if there isn't anything medical going on with your skin, you most likely don't and it's worth trying out to instead fit the care to your needs that day. It saves a lot of product, time, packaging waste and money. Maybe your natural skin barrier is better off being a little less treated and removed constantly. I really don't like all this .. preventative care anymore? Obviously don't let things get bad, but now that I am "out of it" I really don't understand why we are treating skin with products it doesn't seem to be needing at that time, just to avoid that it ever could? Like why apply moisturizer if the skin looks well moisturized in the mirror because I already did it that day? Just because it's evening now?
Not to mention how draining it is to try routine after routine, brand after brand, product after product when you see another person you wanna copy now. It's kind of weird to me now that we did/do all that. Their daily lives, their nutrition, their genetics, their climate, their local air pollution, their hormones, their sleep restoration, their skin conditions are all likely different from mine, why should I copy their routine? Why would any persons routine be the one-size-fits-all or the solution we all needed?
What I now put on my face really varies a lot by weather, sun exposure, season, and how it actually looks and feels, and this seems much more nuanced and healthier to me now. I was sold on this idea that good skin needs consistency and just not doing a step for a day or two would ruin it. But it's really not the case for me and this probably goes for a lot of people. Why not just look in the mirror and decide? Custom care each day seems much more sensible and less wasteful to me than serving it all every day hoping for the best.
I only apply my prescription steroid cream if I have the beginning of a breakout on my face, not when I think one might come on, or to prevent it regardless of what I ate (I have allergies and histamine issues that act up especially bad depending on season and what I eat).
I only apply moisturizer and aloe if my skin feels and looks like it could use it, like every third day or so, or if it's freezing outside. I maybe apply a bit of squalane if I don't need moisturizer that day but wanna seal that in a bit. I use sun block as needed.
Haven't used my exfoliating toner in months now and will probably never have to again. I still have leftover retinol cream that I'll use up and then likely not replace. I apply it over night like once a month or so, so it doesn't go to waste.
I just also think that foundation and skincare were a cycle to me.
1. Initially applying foundation for even teint and clear looking skin.
2. Then having to alleviate what daily foundation and its removal does to skin with moisturizer.
3. Then using skincare to try and prevent a cakey or flaky look of the foundation (usually regular exfoliating).
4. Then seeing foundation highlighting creases and dry patches intensely where they otherwise would not be visible (because it collects in the wrinkles and the brushes and sponges rough up the skin and the foundation dries it out) so you wanna remove these for a better foundation look by using niacinamide, hyluronic acid in the mornings and retinol in the evenings and something like that.
5. Putting on foundation daily meant having to have this daily routine or else the makeup look would be trash.
It all just stopped .. existing and being relevant to me once I stopped using foundation or concealer.
It's shocking that it felt like such a delicate balancing act when it shouldn't have been - most skin takes pretty good care of itself, just like liver and kidneys do for detoxing, or how the vagina cleans itself. But still we cannot help but being bombarded with detox bullshit and vagina cleanses. I see the way skincare is held up online in a similar light now. The overlap with the anti aging crowd is even worse. I want nothing to do with people who sleep a certain way or avoid using a straw because of the fear of wrinkles....
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