5 Products To Ditch In 2021

Products promising you that foundation free, glowy like a Korean-star skin never seem to work. Ever wonder why? What really works for clearer, healthier skin can be found elsewhere. 

Irritation and inflammation are very bad for skin. Well, how bad? Imagine your skin barrier weakening, resulting in everything you don’t want - dehydration, sensitivity, increased oil production and enlarged pores. 

This is enough reason to avoid these irritating products below. For good.

1) Harsh, high pH cleansers

Anyone experienced that ‘squeaky clean’ or ‘tight’ feeling after cleansing? Bad news. Your skin’s natural protective layer is being stripped. This includes natural moisturising factors (NMFs), cell lipid bilayer and proteins. 

Cleansers with high pH (anything more than 6) and harsh surfactants such as SLS can cause damage to our skin barrier and prevent it from functioning properly.

2) Abrasive facial scrubs

If you are still using abrasive scrubs like apricot kernel, stop. Scrubs that contain large, irregularly-shaped particles (e.g. ground up shells or fruit pits) damage the skin by causing micro-tears in its surface. Micro-tears gradually weaken skin’s barrier, causing dry, flaky patches, redness, and sensitivity. Overtime, you may find your skin looking more dull instead. 

3) Products past their prime

Just as you wouldn’t eat expired or spoilt food, you should do the same for your skincare products. No matter how expensive they were or how much you loved it. 

They can cause irritation, be ineffective or even compromise your skin barrier. 

All beauty products expire, but not all of them have an expiry date. Most of them have carried a PAO (period after opening) symbol.. The PAO symbol tells you the shelf life (in months) of a product after opening. A “12M” would mean you should throw the product out 12 months after you've opened it.

Also, look out for scent, consistency or colour changes. Our warm climate can make things go bad faster than you expect!

4) Makeup wipes

What started out as a convenient skincare product is now one of the most vilified beauty products in the market. Are they THAT bad?

Unlike what they promise, makeup wipes don’t actually cleanse well. Just like smearing dirt across a filthy table with a dishcloth, they move dirt around but don’t actually remove it well. 

They are also often coarse and cause micro tears on the skin. So nope, another item that belongs in the bin.

5) Astringent toners

Toners of the past are specifically formulated with astringents (alcohol, witch hazel) to remove excess oil from the skin. But we know their promise of acne-free skin is a lie. 

We know better that removing the oils on your skin will compromise your lipid barrier and make your skin crack and flake. Not only does it look unhealthy and dull, but your skin becomes vulnerable and raw when stripped of its protective oils.

If you didn’t know better then, you know better now. 

Let these skincare mistakes stay in 2020, and adopt healthier skin habits today! You might just end the year off with that healthy, radiant skin you’ve always wanted.