Face Good

These days, the influx of information has created so many falsehoods about facial products and ways to use them! I've summed up a list of myths that are most widely spread and their corresponding facts!

Myth: Facial products with alcohol are bad for skin and should be avoided at all costs

Fact: The presence of alcohol in facial products has been demonized. Although non-alcoholic facial products are gentle and ideal for skin, alcohol content is not necessarily bad. An appropriate amount of alcohol cleanses pores of oil and dirt with greater effect than non-alcoholic products. It also aids pores to contract, hence providing greater control over oil secretion. Facial products with alcohol are generally more effective for people with oily skin. As long as you do not have dry, sensitive skin and are not allergic to alcohol, it’s all right to use facial products with alcohol.

Myth: This brand/type works miracles on me. I should stick to it and never switch!

Fact: In a tropical country like Singapore where the weather and humidity are relatively constant, it’s all right to stick to the same product. But if you’re going to a place with a different climate or if your skin experiences significant changes at some point of time, you need to change the brand and type of product in accordance to your skin problems. For example, if you’re going to a country that’s experiencing winter, choose highly moisturizing products targeted for extreme cold and dry weather. If you have severe breakouts during ‘that time of the month’, you should avoid oily and highly moisturizing products that may worsen your breakouts.

Myth: You can never go wrong with cotton pads and make-up puffs when applying or removing facial products.

Fact: Cotton pads / make-up puffs are indeed more effective at removing residue because they are more absorbent, but those with rough textures may actually harm your skin. Do be careful to choose smooth cotton pads and make-up puffs that are gentle on skin. Also, if you use clean hands to massage your face while washing it, warmth from your hands will prevent pores from contracting, thus allowing your skin to absorb nutrients from your facial product more effectively.

Myth: Organic products will not harm your skin because they are natural.

Fact: Actually, products like lemon, peppermint, citrus fruits and camphor oil are acidic in nature and can be harsh on sensitive skin.

I adore fruit juices because they look and taste delicious, are rich in vitamins, healthy and have beautifying effects! But there really is a lot more to fruit juices than people usually perceive. Not all fruit juices can be drunk anytime or have the same values. Here are tips on how you should incorporate juices into your diet so you can enjoy their optimum effects!

1. Don’t drink fruit juices on an empty stomach
After a night of sleep, blood in your body coagulates because the body has been working to dispel toxins from the various organs. Nutritionists encourage people to drink a glass of plain water in the morning to dilute body fluids. If you drink fruit juices first thing in the morning, not only does it not help to dilute your body fluids, it also burdens your stomach.

2. Fruit juices as a source of energy and vitamin C
Many people, especially corporate workers and students, have hectic mornings and barely eat breakfast. This causes the body to have a shortage of vitamin C and energy. After a busy morning at work, remember to drink a glass of fruit juice to replenish your energy and vitamin C!

3. Freshly squeezed fruit juice is better than pre-packed juice.
Some people prefer getting fruit juice from the supermarket because it’s a hassle to squeeze your own juice. But squeezing your own fruit juice gives you the most nutritious fruit juice. So called 100% pure fruit juice from the supermarkets are really diluted for marketing and packaging appearances. Not only are a lot of vitamins lost in the process, to make the juices taste better, preservatives and flavourings are even added.

4. Fruit juices are not to be taken warm
Warm fruit juices may taste good in rainy weather or winter, but vitamin C gets destroyed by heat. If you use hot water to make fruit juice, you’ll be losing all the health and beauty effects that come with Vitamin C.

5. Fruit juices are not to be mixed with milk
Fruity milk shakes are delicious, but that’s all to it. Tartaric acid in fruits and protein from milk will react such that both nutrients will fail to be absorbed by the body. So if you think fruity milk shakes are healthy, that’s really not true at all!

Even premium facial products can turn harmful or lose effect when misused, so always use them with care!

Spot diminishers
Upon turning 30, freckles tend to appear rapidly. Fortunately, there are spots diminishing products that will help to reduce the appearance of these pests. However, it is inadvisable to use such products for prolonged periods of time. These products are specifically targeted at diminishing spots, so their effects are usually visible after a short while, but your skin may become over-dependent on it and lose its natural ability to repair dead or damaged skin cells, which are responsible for dark pigmentation. You should cease usage after about 3 months (typically the time needed to finish up a bottle).

Make-up Remover Oil
Make-up remover oils are generally touted to be more effective than water-based make-up removers, especially when it comes to removing thick eye make-up. However, in sunny Singapore, many of us are subjected to combination and oily skin, and our skin also tends to be more vulnerable to break-outs. If you’re not applying heavy make-up, refrain from using make-up remover oils and use cleansing milk instead. It is usually gentler than make-up remover oils.

Eye moisturizers
Most people tend to just massage their eye moisturizers around their entire eye in any random motion. You’d just be wasting your eye moisturizer or worst, making your defects looks worst by rubbing them the wrong way (no pun intended!).

For different problems, you have to deal with them in different ways. For example, if you’re targeting the wrinkles at the corner of your eyes, use two fingers on one hand to straighten out the creases (one finger above the creases, one finger below and gently pull vertically in opposite directions). Hold on in this position and using a finger on the other hand, dab on the moisturizer. Then massage with your index finger in one direction from the corner of your eye to your temples.

If you’re targeting dark eye circles, concentrate on massaging the moisturizer over the dark patch below your eyes.

Cold Masks
Cold masks are great for tightening pores and improving skin texture, but the coldness of a mask that has just been removed from the refrigerator is very harsh on the skin. There’s another more economical and kinder method to tighten your pores involving cotton pads and toner. I’ve described the method in this previous post.

Time interval between product application
In our mad rush to work or school in the morning, we often contract our beauty regime into a casual routine under 10 minutes, going immediately from one cream to another and then jumping straight into make-up.

However, skin requires time to absorb nutrients, hence there should be at least a 10-minute interval between applying your last facial cream and putting on make-up. Otherwise, you’ll also find that your foundation cakes because there’s already cream on your face which has yet to be fully absorbed. Of course, this also means that your skin care regime isn’t thorough since your skin isn’t absorbing all the nutrients.

The time interval between each application of a different product should be at least 30 seconds to 2 minutes long. This sounds time wasting, but while waiting, you can massage the product into your face gently with your fingers. Not only does this speed up the process, it also facilitates blood circulation!

In recent years, home remedies derived from flowers has become a trend in some Asian countries. Many people who indulge in these DIY flower teas are inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners using flowers in their medicinal herbs. They believe flowers help to fade dark pigmentation and reduce rate of ageing. But there is really no scientific evidence that consuming flowers results in healthier and better skin.

There are indeed some flowers with health and skincare benefits, such as Jasmine. But there are also flowers that are poisonous, and would have to be taken in moderation, prescribed with antidotes when used in TCM or only prescribed in response to a certain illness. Some flowers may even evoke serious side effects. The Carthamus flower for example, when consumed without proper prescription, can cause hemorrhage or cardiovascular problems, which may in turn lead to death. Some flowers also cause diarrhea and allergy reactions.

In addition, nurseries often add chemicals like insecticides and fertilizers to their flowers to make them grow faster and better. During the transportation and handling processes, these flowers may once again be contaminated. Usually, TCM practitioners will sanitize the flowers by boiling them before using them for medical purposes. However, those who use flowers for home remedies tend to neglect this step and simply soak the flowers and consume them right away. This may cause food poisoning and in the long run, the accumulation of chemicals is certain to harm your body. Furthermore, if you’ve been prescribed medication at a Chinese Medical Hall, the physician usually prescribes you a variety of herbs, because different herbs are supposed to complement each other to produce the required medical effect. Flowers alone are not going to have substantial effects.

Some flowers that, when consumed on its own, do have health benefits. For example, white jasmine and honeysuckle, when brewed together, are known to keep one’s throat clear of phlegm and impurities. But do remember that in any event that you decide to use flowers in your home remedies, consult reliable sources about your concoction and always boil your flowers to sanitize them before use!

Ever wonder why your skin is getting no where as radiant as Gong Li's although you're a religious user of the facial products that she endorses? Advertisements often, and are legally allowed to exagerrate claims with the aid of lighting effects and editing. The best way to determine whether a product is good and suitable for you is by understanding its composition.

With the recession hot on our heels, we can't afford to waste money on products that don't work on us. Being able to differentiate good products from lousy ones that don't is a handy skill! Here are some simple tests you can perform on your products to see if they are as good as they claim to be.

Test 1: How absorbable is your facial essence?
Facial essences are expensive, aren’t they? So it’s important to find out how much of that liquid gold actually gets absorbed into our skin.

Directions: Stack five cotton pads together. Drip a little essence on top and wait for a few minutes. Then check the cotton pads. The more absorbable the essence is, the further it travels downwards. You’ve got an A-lister if the essence reaches the cotton pad at the base! If it doesn’t travel vertically but spreads on the top layer, stop wasting money on that piece of junk!

Test 2: Is your toner as mild as it claims to be?
Toners high in acid or alkaline content not only prick your skin, they also have less contraction effect on pores.

Directions: You will need pH test strips. You should be able to get them from pharmacies and chemists. Get the ones that test for a wider range of pH values instead of the old school acid/alkaline test strips that you used in your sec school chemistry lab. Drip some toner onto a test strip. Read the instructions that come with your kit. It should teach you how to read your results. If you have sensitive skin, it’s best to use a toner with a pH value between 5.5 to 7 as the average pH value of our skin falls between this range. For a toner with better pore contraction abilities, ph 4 – 5 is your choice.

Test 3: How absorbable is your cleanser?
If it hardly gets into your skin, it's hardly going to touch the dirt in your skin.

Directions: Fill a glass (preferably see-through) with water. Add a drop (about the size of a pea) of cleanser into the glass of water. If the drop of cleanser does not sink, gently stir it a little and it should disperse, causing the water to turn milky. This means that it is water-based and hence, easier to be worked into your skin. If the drop sinks and does not disperse, it is oil base and not easily absorbed.

Test 4: Are your products too oily?
Oily products may cause breakouts. If you have oily skin and are prone to breakouts, you should definitely avoid such products! Oily products are more difficult to be absorbed into the skin too.

Directions: Smear a little of the product in question onto the back of your hand and leave it on for 3 to 5 minutes. Gently press an oil absorber sheet over the area where the product has been smeared on. The amount of oil left behind on the sheet is an indicator.

Test 5: Do make-up removers take everything with them?
Some oil-based make-up removers are known to leave behind a layer of oil on your skin, which could cause pimples.

Directions: Add a few drops of make-up remover into a glass of clear water. Stir the water so that both water and make-up remover blend into an even mixture of white. If there is a transparent film left on the surface of the mixture, that’s the oil that’s left on your face. If that happens, either change your toner or wash your face thoroughly again after using it.

Test 6: Is the lipstick sufficiently moisturizing?
If you have dry, cracked lips, a lipstick with poor moisturizing properties may highlight the cracks in your lips instead!

Directions: Using a pencil, draw an outline of a pair of lips on a piece of oil absorber sheet. Colour the inside of the outline with the lipstick that you want to test. Leave it aside overnight. There should be traces of oil around the lipstick outline. The more obvious the traces, the more moisturizing the lipstick is.

These experiments are simple, aren’t they? Now you can evaluate your products to decide whether they should stay on your shopping list!