After a recent visit to KO Skincare specialist, I realized there were a couple of things in my daily skin care routine that I have been doing wrong this entire time. I thought I'd share them with you .
Thanks for having me KO Skincare Specialist! They told me to come bare faced. I guess it made sense. I was visiting a dermatologist after all.
I went to their outlet in Damansara. I was afraid that it would be hard to find but the large KO Skincare Specialist signage made the outlet easy to spot. I was expecting to be greeted with a spa or beauty saloon like environment. I was surprised to find myself in an actual clinic. It was a very "shit got real" moment for me. Like, I'm at an actual clinic now. I'm going to see a real doctor. Not just a random person who went to beauty school. I had to fill up a patient form. They had the usual nurse at the reception and pharmacist dispensing the 'medications'. This was an actual professional clinic. It made me feel assured that I was getting good treatment and professional advice. Another thing I noticed was that everyone working at KO Skincare Specialist had awesome skin! I wanted to take pictures of all of them but they were all too shy.
But I managed to take a picture of Dr Loh and her colleague. Both of them were consulting me.
I went in for my consultation and found out a great deal of helpful information. 1. Do you always wash your face with face soap/ cleanser ? Did you know that some types of face cleansers could be harmful to your face? Everyone's face is different and would react to different things but at the end of the day, putting too much of anything on your face is bad. The reason why washing your face with soap / cleanser could be bad? "In a nutshell, soap can mess with your face’s natural oil balance. The ingredients in typical face soaps can be pretty cringe-worthy, such as sodium lauryl sulfate, a chemical that was listed as causing “possible mutilations and cancer” by the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews. Soap strips your skin of its natural oils and can cause that tight, dry feeling I used to experience twice a day. “Feeling squeaky clean — we don't want to go there. It's too aggressive," Dr. Patricia Farris, a fellow at the American Academy of Dermatology, told The Wall Street Journal. Signs of harmful stripping to your skin are stinging, burning, and irradiation, Farris explained. In fact many doctors advise that most people without serious skin issues such as acne, only need to wash their face once everyday day, before they go to bed, The Wall Street Journal reported." The above was adapted from the website, Medical Daily. To read the whole article, click here. However, don't get me wrong. Not all facial soaps / cleansers are bad for you. Some are not as strong and much gentler on the skin. Remember to always look out for toxic ingredients and consult with a more knowledgeable professional. Before visiting KO Skincare Specialist, I was washing my face with a cleanser only once a day and the rest of the time, I used water alone. For a list of toxic ingredients to avoid in your beauty products, click here. I was given the KO Dermacare Purifying Cleansing Gel(220ml / RM198) to try out. I will be putting up a review about it soon. I was assured that it was safe for my skin to use. I could even use it twice a day without worrying about it damaging my face. Best of all, it doubles up as a makeup remover! 2. Do you use face scrubs instead of a facial soap/ cleanser? Does your daily face soap/cleanser have bits of 'scrubbing' pieces on them like below? If so, then you might be using a bit too much of it. I used to think that the harder and more often I scrub my skin, the more dirt would come off thus, the cleaner my face. However what I didn't know that as I was scrubbing harder and harder, I was also removing my skin's protective layer. I remember Dr Loh saying to me, if you remove your protective layer, what is going to protect you face? She also mentioned that too much scrubbing will also cause your skin to be dehydrated . That is because having no protective layer on your skin causes the moisture to seep out of your skin cells. Scrubbing your skin does bring benefits like opening clogged pores, removing dead skin, smoothing the texture of the skin and encouraging new collagen formation but too much scrubbing may lead to dryness, dehydration, ageing and destruction of healthy cells. 3. Do you frequently use blackhead strips? I love using blackhead strips. It makes me feel like i'm removing all the 'dirtyness' from my skin. I feel extremely accomplished when I see all the tiny blackheads on the strip after yanking it out. I love it so much that I even put them on the Grumpy Cat. And then I would compare both of our results and see who is more 'geng'.
The strip of victory. Not mine, I'm not that disgusting kay. I took it off Google.
So I mentioned this during my consultation and Dr Loh mentioned that although the strips does get the blackheads out, it just leaves an empty hole behind. If nothing is put to cover the hole, dust can just go back in again. Also, contrary to many believes, these nose strips only removes the black heads on the surface of your nose. They don't even touch the ones that are deep inside. Dr Loh mentioned that rather than focusing of removing the blackheads, we should instead treat them and let them naturally come out. Lastly and most scarily, did you know that if you keep pulling out your blackheads, the blackhead holes on your nose will actually become bigger.
You imagine if your nose looks like this. Cannot. Cannot.
According to Dr Loh, it is best that you only use blackhead strips one every 1 or 2 weeks. I was given the Ko Dermacare Vitality Purifying Essence (30ml / RM 120) to try. According to Dr Loh, I was to put it on acne and blackhead prone areas. I will be reviewing it soon. 4. How do you apply your sunscreen? Sunscreen is a must especially now that our entire lives are revolved around looking at computer, phone and TV screens. Putting on sunscreen is important, but are you putting it on correctly? Did you know that if you do not put on sunscreen correctly, it won't work and give you the protection you need? For example, I learn from my visit at KO Skincare Specialist that sunscreen is not meant to be rubbed onto your face but dapped on instead. To find out more about the right ways to apply sunscreen click here. I was given the KO Dermaceutical Perfect Block Plus Skin Perfecting Cream with SPF 80 PA+++ (30g / RM380) to try. It doubles up as a sunscreen and a foundation. I will be reviewing it soon. 5. Does your skin feel tight whenever you use your beauty products? Contrary to popular believe, tight skin does not mean that your face is cleaner. Instead, it means that it is dehydrated. If you're products makes your skin feel tight after using them, then you're using products that are too harsh for your skin type. Tight skin is a sign that the skin has been stripped of all its water, therefore causing surfacing dead skin build up. Too strong products for your skin can not only cause skin to be dry and flaky, but increase the appearance of emotion lines and often triggers breakouts. To read about other surprising skin care mistakes, click here.
I took another picture of Dr Loh without her noticing. She had flawless skin. I was like a fan girl.
Other products that I got to get my skin back into shape were:
KO Dermaceutical Perfect Radiance Toner (120ml / RM198)
KO Dermaceutical Perfect C Serum 23 (40ml / RM280)
Ko Dermacare Aqua Hydrating Moisturizer I (60g / RM280)
I will be posting a review on all their products soon.
They were ever so nice. They saw that I was getting a little flustered with all the new products. What to put first, apply what where, that they even took the time to draw out a chart for my morning and night routines. I love it when people go the extra mile to give you great service. Find out more about KO Skincare Specialist on their website here and the FB page here.
You can now purchase KO Skincare Specialist products online
at http://www.drkoskincare.com/
Download the KO Skincare Specialist mobile app to receive a
RM20.00 e-voucher code (you will find the e-voucher code displayed under the
Promotion Tab). One (1) redemption per account and it is valid with the 20%
storewide discount.
Apple App Store – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ko-skin-specialist/id959443985?mt=8
The Dr. Ko Skin Specialist headquarters is located at:
Klinik Pakar Kulit Ko Sdn Bhd
10A-22A, Jalan Temoh,
Off Jalan Goh Hock Huat,
41400 Klang, Selangor,
Malaysia.
T:+603 3343 3140
You can also head over to http://www.koskinspecialist.com/to find the complete list of branches.
Telephone: 1-800-22-33-22
To read about "The Real Dirt On Face Washing" by the Wall Street Journal, click here. Want to keep in touch? Follow my daily adventures and escapades on Instagram! Labels: adverts, health, kl, malaysia, me, reviews 0 lovely comments ✿ |