A few weeks ago I headed over to our social media accounts (Instagram/Facebook/TikTok) and asked our followers to send me over some questions they’d like to answer in this blog post. I’ve picked out some of the more basic ones, and maybe this could become a potential new series?!
Some of my products burn, what should I do?
BIN IT! Beauty products should not burn your skin, weather that is a shower gel, a setting spray, or a moisturiser. When I was younger, I would mistake burning for ‘the product is working’, it isn’t, it means that your skin is reacting to it badly and it is irritated. Continuing to use products that burn can result in rashes, redness, or even peeling of your skin. Like I said, I’ve been in this same position, and it can be so annoying to have spent money on a product to then have to bin it, but your skin will thank you! Make sure that you’re not using out of date products, and if you can, do some research on what ingredients are best for your skin type. Remember that all skin is different, so if your friend has the same skin type as you, something for them may not work for you – don’t give up though, you will find the correct skincare products for you.
How much skincare do I actually have to do?
I am a big supporter of basic and simple skincare, so I would always just say
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Cleanse
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Tone
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Moisturise
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SPF
This whole list can take less than 5 minutes, no need for any serums or retinols – unless you want too! If of course you do want to get into a longer list of steps you can add and adjust as you wish, but just to strip it back to complete basics, I would just recommend the list above.
I’ve seen you speak about skin types a lot but how do I know which one I have?
You can find out your skin type by washing your face and looking at how your skin looks about an hour later. You can also use some toilet paper to dab onto your forehead or chin to see if there is any oil that transfers from your skin to the paper. If you see oil and notice some dry areas around the cheeks or nose, you could safely assume you have a combination skin type. If no dry patches are present, you have an oily skin type. We have a blog on how to identify each skin types which you can find by clicking here. Once you have discovered your skin type, we have lots of information, advice and tips over on TikTok or here on the website.
Do I need to exfoliate?
So I do have a blog that I have written about this which you can find here, but to put it simply, yes! Exfoliating is basically the process of getting rid of dead skin cells, giving your skin that little bit of glow. It isn’t the end of the world if you don’t do it, I didn’t before I started working at Sweet Cecily’s, but you do see the benefits when you do exfoliate, so I would recommend adding it to your shower routine. The bonus is that you only have to exfoliate 1-2 times a week to reap the benefits.
How am I supposed to know what to buy?
I will be the first person to tell you how intimidating I find high street beauty shops are, the aisles go on forever with hundreds of products, some I can’t even pronounce! Once you’ve found out your skin type – which if you look a few questions up you can find out how to if you don’t already – you want to be looking for products that are labelled for your skin type. If you have oily skin you don’t want to be buying products that are designed for those with dry skin because they will contain ingredients that may make your oily skin even oilier. You can also google ‘which ingredients are best for *skin type*’ and you can go off finding products by looking at the ingredients rather than the front labels.
