BENGALURU: As if I haven’t shared enough embarrassing details about my life here already, here’s something more: I thought reindeers were a Christmas related mythical animal until I was 16… And I went to Catholic school pretty much all my life. Though at this point, I suppose it’s less about the Catholic school and more about common sense — but who is keeping count. I’m not going to say that this is as bad as my dear cousin thinking the laundry detergent he’d been using for six months was actually fabric softener, but I’m not going to deny it either.
What may seem like common sense to some of us, often isn’t really the case for the rest of us. For example, my friend and I were recently discussing our beauty and skincare budgets, which is when she told me that she spends 40 per cent of her budget on cleansers. Now don’t get me wrong, cleansing is one of the most important steps of skincare. Especially if you’re someone who wears make-up and does a double cleansing ritual too. Having said that though, so many of us think that cleansers are the one-stop-solution to all of our skincare concerns when its main purpose is to gently remove dirt, oil and pollution from your face. Anything else is a cherry on top.
Allow me to break this down for you: Active ingredients are what actually cause visible changes in your skin. These include lactic acid, vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, salicylic, and retinol, among others. However, it’s important for us to understand that active ingredients need time to work on your skin. Which is why you apply exfoliating peels for at least five minutes; serums and creams sometimes can take up to a month to show visible results.
Cleansers, on the other hand, are usually just slapped on, massaged for about 30 seconds (on a good day) and then washed off. Your skin effectively has no time to absorb any of the ingredients that are in it. It doesn’t make sense to devote 40 per cent of your skincare budget to high-end cleaners, because it makes more sense to allocate that on something that stays on your face all day.
Cleansers are for cleansing, not for changing your skin. If you want to change your skin, focus on everything you do after cleansing — like wearing SPF, night cream and serums. These are products where you can splurge a little more. If I still have your attention (and if you’re still reading this, you clearly asked for my opinion) I’ll leave you with this: Eat your greens, don’t let big boys bully you, and invest in skincare wisely.