Q&A: Skincare/Makeup Basics - Where to Start? (Part 1)

Assalamualaikum and hello my beautiful readers <3

I get so many questions from some of my readers that they wanna start wearing makeup but they don't know where to start. I have been holding this post for so many months now just because I am just an average person that hoards makeup. (LEL) I do wear them everyday and I always experiment with new stuff and all but I feel like I'm doing it for myself and my blog readers. If they wanted my honest review/opinion on something, I would tell em. Also, I learnt a lot in the beauty community so I don't really know if it's my place to share from A to Z because I, myself still learning. I'm not even near the alphabet J, ya know. This beauty (makeup & skincare) knowledge is quite broad and we discover new things everyday, ya know? That kind of stuff.

Amboi panjangnya bebel.

First of all, I really don't want to publish this post because obviously I am not a beauty guru. I have like zero knowledge on stuff and usually I just go online to do some research and stuff. But since there were a few requests asking me to teach them how to do some basic makeup, I was a bit.. How to say... I don't really know what to teach ya know? I am totally not a beauty guru whatsoever, I am just a normal beauty blogger. This post will cover only on one part and I will sambung other part insya Allah by next month okay? Hahaha.

So yeah. Let's.

Photo source: Here

Okay first. What is basic? Kalau ikut dictionary:-

"forming an essential foundation or starting point; fundamental."

So we are starting with basic essentials. Hah!

To start, you really have to have a good skincare routine because you must remember this mantra, flawless base = flawless face. Well, obviously nobody's perfect. I'm saying it just because if you don't take good care of your skin, when you put on foundations and stuff, people would know you're hiding something behind the foundation or compact powder. If you have a few dry patches and the foundation you used did not cover it or even emphasize the patches, how would you feel? Tak pakai makeup tak nampak pon dry patches tapi bila pakai lagi nampak so it's pretty pointless kan? Or parut jerawat ke apa ke of course you must treat them first okay?!

But then again, none of that matters because we use makeup to enhance our beauty, sendiri mata sedap nak pandang depan cermin. Kalau bukan untuk kita, untuk siapa lagi? Betul? Betul?! But if you're married, of course you can ask your husband, "Oh abang sayangku, cantik tak ayang pakai makeup?" Lelaki will always cakap cantik even though kening bini senget ke, pipi merah sangat ke. So you know you cannot trust men on this topic okay? Well I'm not saying all men, but you know lah mata lelaki lain sikit. Kita kata cantik, dia kata biasa je. Tapi kalau kita tanya dia "CANTIK TAK?!?!" dia kata cantik je, takut kena belasah dengan bini.

Anyways, lari topik.

I feel like we should start on skincare ya know? Coz skincare is REALLY important. Even if you're not into makeup, you have to take care of your skin. You don't want clogged pores, pigmentation, cystic acnes and whatnot kan? And there's no such thing as once you put chemical stuff on your face, you can't go back. Well in my humble opinion, everyday kita exposed with chemically stuff. Kita pergi mana-mana kena asap kereta, lah apa lah and how do you even know our udara bersih or not? It's all of that stuff yang buatkan kulit kita reacted differently. Oh and our diet also. Kalau asik makan junkfood, memang standby lah ubat jerawat and some food memang can cause breakouts. Your body, mesti you all tau kan kalau makan ni sakit perut, kalau makan tu gatal-gatal muka ke apa ke kan.

I do not want to recommend products yang terlalu mahal but the only products that work on my skin is a bit pricier, it's not super expensive it's just above average lah. Hahaha. Ikut kemampuan masing-masing okay?

Aku rasa yang paling critical to have is a good cleanser, scrub (chemical/physical), moisturizer, sunblock, night cream/serum. Kalau Pah dulu-dulu would say cleanser and moisturizer but now I think these 4 items is very crucial. Cleanser helps with cleaning your skin, scrub helps to remove dead cells and whatever gunks in your face, moisturizer - I think everybody needs moisturizing even though you have oily skin, sunblock helps to prevent from the UV rays penetrating your skin and also to prevent SKIN CANCER (Kena ingat, Malaysia panas kot. Also refer HERE) and lastly night cream/serum helps with night repair and blablabla. When I say night cream/serum, I meant like super moisturizing stuff. And no, your face does not breathe. It's totally a myth. (Refer HERE) The "breathing" part tu maybe maksud dia non pore-clogging products (comedogenics - refer HERE & HERE)

In most beauty products pon kadang-kadang mesti can clog pores but like I said, if you rajin to cleanse and scrub your face, insya Allah it would be fine.

So for your information, I have oily combination skin. Oily in the T-zone, dry around my mouth/jaw area. I used to stick to products for oily skin but now campoq-campoq je. I think I also have acne-prone skin, kalau salah makan ke salah pakai product ke mesti breakout and mesti dapat cystic acne, the most annoying acne. Dalam bahasa Melayu, jerawat batu. Annoying kan? Dah la besar pastu takde mata nak picit macam mana. LOL.

Disclaimer: Whatever products that I recommend to you, that does not mean the product is suitable for your skin. You have to really use them for more than 10 days and if after 2 weeks you still get breakouts, it could mean you are allergic to one of the ingredients or your skin just do not want to cooperate with the skincare. I suggest you guys to go to any skin clinic or beauty salon just to see what your skin analysis. I honestly think going there helps a lot because you can't really self-diagnose stuff right? Haha.



I feel like kalau aku sembang pasal cleanser I can go all day so I think I'm going to post it in few parts, maybe every 2 weeks depends on my mood. LOL. So every 2 weeks I will go deep with my knowledge. Like I said so many times before, I am not a beautician and benda-benda ni semua is an everyday process. You learn new things everyday. So some stuff could change in the future, I don't know. But whatever. Shouldn't be that much so yeah. Just watch out for that.

For cleansers, I have used so many and I find that cleansing foam dried up my skin and when it got so dry, my skin produced more oil which is not good, it can cause breakouts and whatnot. So I read few articles online and they recommend gel cleansers for oily skin. I was not a fan of gel cleansers because I felt like it didn't "clean" my face that well but as time goes by, I feel like my skin got so much better and it doesn't feel tight after. My skin has been better after I use the Himalaya Neem Face Wash. This face wash really helps my oily combo skin and it's quite gentle. It is formulated without Paraben (preservative) and SLS (known skin irritant - refer HERE). Like I said in my previous Q&A ingredients post - I am not a chemist/beautician, I know nothing about ingredients so I only avoid yang mana aku tau tak elok for the skin.

If you are looking for gentle cleansers, I would recommend the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser but the ingredients are a bit dodgy... I don't know. It contains paraben so I'm not sure if the formula has changed or not. Other gentle cleanser that I would like to recommend is the Philosophy Purity Made Simple One-Step Cleanser but like I said in my review, it is a splurge. You can totally buy other brands that are available in the drugstore that are much more cheaper than the Philosophy.

Other good brands to try: Sukin, Hada Labo, Innisfree

Okay so actually it depends on your lifestyle choices; cruelty-free, vegan-friendly, all that jazz. You can search on the internet which companies are cruelty-free and whatnot. Himalaya is against animal testing. Yayy! Glad to see one affordable brand against it. Selalu kalau cruelty-free or vegan-friendly mesti price dia macam up sikit. Heh. Philosophy brand is cruelty-free as well. To be honest, I'm not really a cruelty-free kinda person. Not that I support animal testing, tapi kalau dah terbeli takkan nak buang. Nak nak benda mahal kan. Not to that extend lagi lah. Kalau aku tau, aku tak beli. I know Sephora brand is not cruelty-free so I have to find a dupe for the makeup remover. Uwaaa. I'm an animal lover myself, I do eat meat but that is just a circle of life. I'm not going into deep on this topic because it is entirely up to you, your life choices blablabla. Okay? Totally up to you.

FYI, using only cleansers won't remove your makeup entirely. So far I haven't found a cleanser that can totally remove everything on your face in one shot. I use eye makeup remover, cleansing water and cleansing oil. Well, not in that particular order lah. If I had heavy eye makeup that day, I use the eye makeup remover but for everyday, I use makeup wipes (for prayers) and cleansing water at the end of the day. And if I had heavy makeup on, I would use the cleansing oil.

Well actually they are considered as cleansers but it's not a must have if you didn't wear any makeup on. For deep cleansing, I would suggest you to buy a silicone cleansing pad - just like the Sephora Precision Pore Cleansing Pad, but but but Mr DIY sell similar silicone cleansing pad and it was like RM3-RM5 only! I think the Sephora one is between RM10-RM20 macam tu. Cari je kat tempat beauty and stuff tu komfem ada. So I use that one with my cleanser and it kinda deep cleansing my face and it is not harsh at all since it's silicone. But if you feel like spending a lot of money, get the Clarisonic or Foreo Luna. They are expensive as f***. Macam beli smartphone harga dia. Hasuhdkjasd.

What I use for removing my makeup

Sephora Collection Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover
Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes
Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing Cleansing Oil
Bifesta Brightup Cleansing Lotion



I think that is all for cleanser. I'm gonna talk about scrub/exfoliant and moisturizer for part 2 maybe? See lah kalau panjang jugak aku sembang pasal scrub/exfoliant jela okay?


So yeah. I hope you guys find this helpful in any way.

And if anyone of you have more tips on cleansers ke apa ke please share in the comments!

Thank you for reading!


.iffahs.



MOOOAAAARRRR
Label: Cleanser
Label: Cleansing Water
Label: Cleansing Oil
Label: Makeup Remover
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