How to Test and Incorporate New K-Beauty Products to Your Routine
It’s the New Year and you’ve made the resolution to take better care of your skin. No more going to bed without washing your face (tsk, tsk)! You’ve read the blogs, you’ve purchased your skincare kit, and you’re ready to start your glow-up skincare journey. You come in from a long day at school or work, and all of your gorgeous new products are just staring at you, waiting to be used. And just like you’ve read, you get to work on your skincare routine – oil cleaner, foaming cleaner, toner, sheet mask, serum, eye cream, spot treatment, moisturizer, and sleeping pack. Yes girl!
There’s perhaps nothing more beautiful than receiving a full routine of new products
But when you wake up in the morning, your skin is red, blotchy, and irritated. Korean beauty is supposed to solve all of your problems and start your new year off with a bang, but now your skin looks a mess. What gives?
Trust me. I am the woman who cannot wait to wash my face whenever I get new skincare. As exciting as it might be to start an entire new skincare routine with a bunch of shiny new products, I have one word of advice for you – Don’t. Testing your skincare properly is just as important as doing the research and deciding what products to buy. What works for some, or all, just may not work for you, even if the ingredient list is perfect.
Testing one product at a time
When I am introducing a new skincare product into my routine, I start with one new product at a time, until I am sure that my skin won’t have a reaction. I usually start by introducing a new cleanser first. Cleansers typically have an immediate reaction with me, so if my skin feels extremely dry or irritated after one use, I use it to clean my makeup brushes.
I like to test out any new moisturizers, serums, or toners next. Introducing each product, one at a time, is essential. If you start using four, five, or six new products at once, and you breakout, you’ll never know which product contributed to the problem. Save yourself the heartache and try to wait at least a week before introducing the next new skincare product. If you suspect a certain product is causing you skincare woes but aren’t one-hundred percent sure, remove it from your routine, wait about 3 weeks, and re-introduce it again. Sometimes breakouts are simply hormonal, and/or diet related, and you may have shunned a product without really knowing if it was the true cause of a breakout.
Patch testing = your new best friend
To take it a step further, patch test each new product before slathering it all over your face. To do a patch test, apply a small amount of product to the area right behind your ear, by your jawline. Wait 48 hours to see if you have a reaction. If you don’t see anything after this time, you’re good to go! This part isn’t super visible if you do have a reaction to a product, so you don’t have to sacrifice important selfies because you’re dealing with a breakout. I don’t patch test everything, but I ALWAYS patch test any chemical exfoliation products, especially if they have a high percentage of any acid. Any type of chemical exfoliation can cause damage is not used correctly, so please patch test before doing any sort of chemical peel or high percentage AHA product.
Patch test behind the ear, by the end of the jaw
Like all new commitments and resolutions, slow and steady wins the race. Don’t rush it! Make your skincare a habit. Introduce new products slowly, and patch test if needed. Your skin will be #goals in no time!
How do you introduce new products into your routine? Let us know in the comments.
Get your glow on,
Sheryll
Sheryll Donerson is a Southern California native who currently lives in Phuket, Thailand. She fell in love with Korean cosmetics while teaching ESL in Korea 3 years ago and hasn’t looked back. She writes Korean beauty reviews on her blog, The Wanderlust Project, and is a devoted lover of champagne, Nutella, chemical exfoliation and Crossfit.