Skincare Talk: How to Moisturise Effectively + My Favourite Products

Monday 8 July 2019 at July 08, 2019

I've been moisturising my skin the wrong way for all my life, and so now that I've finally found the right way to moisturise my skin effectively, my skin has never thanked me enough.


Before I begun incorporating this new moisturising routine, I had to kick out my old habits and thinking first. Prior to this routine, I was slapping on layers of moisturisers and oils, I was literally using 5 drops, 5 effin' drops, of the Drunk Elephant Marula Oil every night, along with the other Drunk Elephant moisturisers. "My skin feels dry, moreover I am using chemical exfoliants, hence I need to pack on more heavy products!". Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong! I wish I could slap my old self in the face because all I was doing back then was clogging my own pores and creating acne! Remember, your skin can only absorb so much product so stop wasting product and money!

The first thing you'd want to do is to provide moisture to your skin. Water provides moisture and so the easiest way to provide moisture to your skin is to simply begin by damping your face with water.


Gently splash your face with water, or in my preference, use a facial mist to avoid washing off whatever you've put on your face before this step. I have used both the Avene Thermal Spring Water Mist  and the Vichy Mineralizing Thermal Water Mist. I can't tell the difference between the two since ultimately... If you look into the ingredient lists, they're literally just 'aqua/water', but I like how thermal spring water supposedly contains more minerals, nutrients, and antioxidants, than just plain old tap water, that can help soothe irritated and sensitive skin. Using a mist also makes it much easier to achieve a perfectly damp base since you really wouldn't want to start off with soaking wet face. The beauty market is not short of facial mists, so if you insist on using something fancier like rose water or a hydrating, glowy-skin-promising mist, just make sure it is free from fragrance, alcohol, and if you have acne-prone skin, oils. Honestly, I think these thermal spring water mists are the best you can get, but to each their own. This step is so plain and simple, but it's one of my favourites in my skincare routine. La Roche Posay and Bio Essence offers similar products too, and they all cost the same at only S$29.90 for 2 huge bottles.

Humectants are like moisture magnets. They attract moisture either from the deepest layers of your skin, or from your surroundings (eg. the air if it's humid), to the outermost layer of your skin where the skin is most prone to external irritants. Some examples of popular humectants commonly found in skincare are hyaluronic acid, glycerin, sodium PCA, butylene glycol, etc...


Humectants such as hyaluronic acid are naturally found in our body, however, due to various factors such as aging, and exposure to external pollution, UV rays, etc, our bodies' ability to produce hyaluronic acid decreases overtime, which is why it is important for us to incorporate humectants in our skincare routine so our skin can properly retain the moisture (i.e the water that we've applied on our skin!). I am currently using The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 serum which is affordable and amazing. It has Sodium Hyaluronate (a form of hyaluronic acid) as its second ingredient, so you know it's the real deal and I love that it is also alcohol-free, fragrance-free, and oil-free. The addition of vitamin B5 is also lovely as vitamin B5 aids in healing and repairing of the skin and it also reduces inflammation, redness, and dryness. Many "hyaluronic acid serums" in the market only contain a small amount of hyaluronic acid, and you apparently need at least 1% for it to make a noticeable difference in your skin. So make sure you don't get cheated and check the ingredient list! To apply this, I simply put 2 very generous drops on my damp face before gently patting everything in.


Finally, the last step is to quickly apply a thin layer of emollient before everything gets evaporated. Or I guess, to simplify things, it is what we commonly call a "moisturiser". The main job of an emollient is to soften our skin and it is usually used in products to enhance the texture of a product as well, but emollients also provides occlusive properties which means it creates a barrier over our skin to slow down evaporation and to seal all our hard work in.


Common emollients are propylene glycol, fatty alcohols, oils, etc. Like I said, I used to pile on a thick layer of moisturiser, but you actually only require a pea size. Yes, a pea size for your entire face and neck! No wonder I used to run out of moisturisers so quickly! If you have acne-prone skin, it is best to avoid moisturisers that contains pore clogging ingredients like jojoba oil, grapefruit seed oil, safflower oil, and... Basically oils. Additionally, it is important to note that overusing heavy products like moisturisers can still cause clogging to the skin even if it doesn't contain any oils, so sticking with a pea sized amount will be your best bet.


This fourth step is optional but I recommend this for people with really dry and/or dehydrated skin. Occlusives are basically ingredients that forms a barrier over your skin. If you have desert dry skin, or if your surroundings are dry, using an occlusive as your final step can help slow down evaporation and lock in the moisture. Just make sure that you complete step 1 to 3 first, otherwise using an occlusive can cause your skin to dehydrate further as your skin will not even be able to attract moisture from its surroundings. The most commonly used occlusives are facial oils, but my favourite occlusive is petroleum jelly. Petroleum jelly is non-comedogenic, it's cheap, and so I love using this sparingly on dry patches. So far, it is the only occlusive that has worked wonders for me, but if you have very dry skin as opposed to acne-prone like mine, feel free to use a facial oil.

One final, and very important point to remember is that emollients and occlusives do not provide any moisture. 

In other words, oils are not moisturizers!! Hence, when used on their own, you're really just creating a barrier over your skin to lock in dehydrated skin. Oils only feel moisturising because oils get absorbed into your skin slowly... Creating the illusion that your skin is being moisturised when I've already told you, there's only one thing that provides moisture and that is water. ;)


Here are the products I am currently using to complete my moisturising routine. As mentioned, I will start with either the Avene Thermal Spring Water Mist, or the Vichy Thermal Spring Water mist. Then, I'll proceed to use The Ordinary Hyalyronic Acid 2% + B5. My final step is the Bioderma Hydrabio Gel Creme which is a moisturiser packed with skin loving ingredients such as glycerin (humectant), niacinamide (vitamin B3), and squalane (emollient/occlusive). The texture of this moisturizer is light and since it contains a small amount of squalane, it is suitable for dehydrated acne-prone skin. When my skin is not dehydrated, I like to use The Ordinary's Natural Moisturising Factors + HA moisturiser instead as it is 100% oil-free.

And that is it. No oils. No alcohol. No essential oils. No excessive products. No clogging. Try it out for yourself and I bet it will change how you moisturise forever.

Labels: beauty, face, review, skincare, skincare talk, tips