Hello, everybody.
Welcome back to my channel, where
skincare is all about progression over perfection.
Because perfection doesn't exist.
Today, I want to share some tiny, simple changes that I made
in my routine kind of based on all
the different trends we have.
All the do's and do nots that we've seen
from experts online, all the dos and do nots
of those do's and do nots that we've seen
online. Changes that I've made that I feel have
made such a big difference in my skincare routine.
To my skin, of course.
And my relationship with certain skincare steps.
Today's video is sponsored by COSRX, my
favorite, not just K-beauty brand, but one
of my favorite brands of all time.
They are a viral sensation in their own right.
And I personally love COSRX's ethos and take on
skincare, that kind of more gentler approach.
But that's not just my opinion
that's also down to customer reviews of these COSRX
products. These skincare daily essentials that are gentler but
still super, super effective.
At the moment COSRX are currently running a promotion up until
June 19th where you will receive a free
pack of the Master Patch Intensive Pimple patches.
A Cult favorite. Here they are.
Here they are. One of my favorites, with
your order. The packaging will be the old
packaging, so it won't be this one.
It will look more like this, but
they are still the same amazing product.
And we're going to be talking about these later.
And if you want 30% off at cosrx.com, you
can use my code, JAMESCOSRX30.
So yeah, these changes aren't just like physical
things you can do, but I guess like more
your mental approach to certain steps and products.
And the first point I want to talk about
is that your cleanser isn't just a throwaway product.
I think we've all gone through a stage of
thinking, oh, your cleanser just cleanses your skin and
then you wash it down a drain.
So there's no point like going through the
ingredients or using ingredients that you think
are beneficial to your skin.
But this really isn't the case.
And I kind of learned this through, you know, using cleansers
with actives in that I really, really enjoyed and saw
the benefits of. And just picking a cleanser that
suits my skin type, my skincare concerns at the
time and my skincare goals.
It's the first step in your routine that most people
use twice a day and it is an important product.
Sorry, I got to take this jacket off.
I'm just knocking my buttons everywhere.
So other than actives within your cleansers
and certain ingredients, the PH of your
cleanser does make a difference.
I know we've talked about this before.
We all know what PH balanced skincare is, right?
If you don't, PH is basically the acidity or the alkalineness
of a product. And our skin needs something
slightly acidic in order to keep it comfortable
and not stripped and dried out. Keep our
skin barrier safe and comfortable and intact.
Otherwise, we get irritation, breakouts. It can make acne
worse and make oily skin even more oilier.
PH 4-6 is kind of what we want to go for.
And in all honesty, all your skincare products
are going to be PH balanced because they
want to work on the skin, right?
They need to have a purposeful PH in
order to function properly on our skin.
But I do feel like COSRX were the first, for me
anyway, the first brand kind of bring
that to our attention because there are
other cleansers that are extremely drying.
They're more on the alkaline side.
Things like bars of soap.
So a product like the COSRX Low PH Good
Morning Cleanser, which has a PH of 5.1, 5.31
sorry. And COSRX opted for PH 5.31 to make
it comfortable for everyone to use.
Whether you have active acne, irritated skin, oily skin,
normal skin, it's important to get a cleanser that
we know isn't going to dry us down.
So you can't just pick up any old crap.
You know, when people are like, oh, I use shampoo on my face.
No, no. I want benefits for my skin where
I can get them in any step.
And that does include a cleanser
because the ingredients are beneficial.
This particular cleanser has Tea Tree oil in and Salicylic
Acid, which I know works great for my oily
breakout prone...
Not so much anymore, but I'm a more congested kind
of prone skin. Knowing that I can take my time
to massage this on my skin because it's not going
to dry me out and let the ingredients do what
they need to do as far as decongesting my skin,
targeting breakouts, soothing my skin.
This actually contains Betaine Salicates, so it's
a more gentler version of Salicylic Acid.
Taking my time, let the ingredients do what
they need to do and then rinsing away.
But remember, just because you are rinsing
away a cleanser, it doesn't mean all
the beneficial ingredients rinse away with it.
That's not how it works.
A product will be formulated knowing that
you're going to rinse it away, knowing
that particular ingredients need to hang around.
So pick the right cleanser, make
sure it's good for your skin.
Whatever condition or type your skin may
be. Pick it because of its actives.
You're not just rinsing it away,
it's still a beneficial step.
Change number two, gentle exfoliation.
I'll rush through this bit because
I know I've mentioned this before.
I'm going to repeat myself, though, because
I feel like it's so important to
me, especially with my rosacea prone skin.
I got questions about this in my previous video, so
I'll explain a little bit more, but basically, out of
nowhere, I feel like my rosacea came out of nowhere.
But out of nowhere, my favorite AHAs and BHA's, my
Paula's Choice 2% BHA just started making me flush.
I wasn't getting stinging skin, I
wasn't getting too much irritation.
But you can see my skin wasn't enjoying it.
I'd get really hot flushes on my skin.
My rosacea would just like burst to the top kind of thing.
The Paula's Choice Salicylic Acid is still an amazing product.
I still recommend it to everyone, but unfortunately
for me, it would flare up my nose
like I'd get a really red nose.
And I have been using this for like
three years previously. I'm gutted about it.
But a few of my favorite AHAs, I had a
few would make my cheeks flush so, so bad.
But I still need to exfoliate.
I want to exfoliate.
I know how beneficial exfoliants can be.
AHA is evening out your skin tone and texture.
BHA is going into the pores essentially, and
kind of clearing you out from within, you know?
So I now take a gentle but more often approach.
So instead of using a high percentage two to
three times a week, I use a lower percentage,
more gentle, four to five times a week.
And I find that I still get the
same good results just delivered gentler to my
skin without any irritation or risk of irritation.
So, I remember when this first happened,
I took my skin back to my beginner days.
You might remember this video.
This is when I first discovered BHA and
it was the COSRX Blackhead Power Liquid, and I
remember thinking, this is such a gentle BHA, but still
one of the most effective BHA's I've ever used.
And then I used their AHA, BHA and it
was the first time I've ever seen my skin
tone truly improve, my texture, my blackheads, my pores.
And I thought, why, like if these products
are so amazing, why do I keep
trying to reach these higher percentage exfoliants?
What's the point? When all I'm doing...
my skin clearly doesn't like it.
If you can use higher
percentage exfoliants, then do it.
But for me, I prefer this more
often but gentler kind of approach.
But the COSRX exfoliants are ones that I always recommend
for beginners and people with more sensitive skin
because that's who it's designed for.
So the Ahabha Clarifying Treatment Toner
is intended for daily use.
I would say use it every other day to begin with because
it is super, super gentle, and then you can use it every
day if you want to, if you feel you need to.
This toner contains extremely low percentages of AHA and
BHA acids, but super, super effective. Betaine Salicate, which
we mentioned before, is a more gentle version of
Salicylic Acid, as well as Willow Bark extract, which
is my favorite type of BHA like alternative kind
of, alongside Apple Fruit water.
They've always just worked for me.
They've always been super, super effective for my skin.
Some of my favorite BHA gentle toners all contain
Betaine Salicate and Willow Bark extract as BHA,
and it works perfectly for me.
We have a very low percentage of Glycolic
Acid in here alongside Allantoin and Panthenol, so
it's moisturizing and soothing. All working super gently
to work on the surface of the skin
and deeper into the pores, helping with whiteheads,
breakouts, congested pores, black heads, tone and texture.
And what I love about this one is you can spray
it on your face if you want, tuck in your lips, close your
eyes, spray, give it a couple of seconds, pat in.
Or you can apply it onto a cotton
pad and kind of like rub around.
And this approach to gentler more often has
improved the state of my rosacea quite significantly.
Because I still want to exfoliate.
Even though I have rosacea, I still want to use acids.
And this has been how I've been doing it.
Change three is repair, repair,
repair, barrier repair everywhere. All the time.
I feel like it was only like three to four
years ago that we all really discovered what barrier repair meant
and even that we had something called a skin barrier.
I actually only learned it from Liah Yoo, like, early
days Liah Yoo. Before I actually became friends with her
she taught me what a skin barrier was.
But we basically learned what it was
and how we are constantly destroying it.
And with the rise of skincare popularity, the rise
of brands like The Ordinary, other brands constantly pushing
actives onto us, we've all destroyed our barrier.
And I feel like we've learned more so how to
repair it, rather than how to kind of like preserve
it and look after it and strengthen it. So I'd be fine,
I'd destroy my skin barrier, then spend
months trying to fix it again.
And then it's repeat, repeat, repeat, repair, destroy,
repair, destroy, over and over and over.
So instead of using products that continuously strengthen my skin
barrier and cared for my skin barrier, I was kind
of just doing too little, too late, like it's destroyed
now, try and fix it kind of thing.
But picking products that kind of like, worked for my
skin barrier always seemed like a bit of a chore.
It always seemed like a heavy, heavy, sticky job.
Because like, you associate barrier repair products
with heavy ceramide creams.
And as someone with an oily t-zone, I don't want
to be slapping on like, thick plastic smelling moisturizers, you know?
So it's always something that I always,
like, dreaded, but was always inevitable.
But there are so many products now that
focus on barrier repair and lightweight formulations.
My absolute favorite,
this has to be, no joke,
the 20th thing of this I've used
ever, because I'm constantly using it.
This is, of course, the COSRX
Advanced Snail Radiance Dual Essence.
Bit grubby looking because I use it every day,
pretty much empty because I use it every day.
And what I love about this is this kind
of contains their iconic, like, Snail Mucin essence.
Along with this like creamy Niacinamidy kind of serum.
Snail Mucin has been shown to help with
barrier repair, wound healing, in particular. Skin regeneration.
So we're talking that burning, itching sensation.
The redness, acne. It's a great all-round ingredient that
if your skin is easily sensitized, sensitive or damaged.
It's a great ingredient to use
to help kind of like, restore your skin.
But as I mentioned in the Advanced Snail
Radiance Dual Essence, we also have this Niacinamide
side, which is another skin barrier repairing product.
It actually helps boost products like your moisturizers,
as well as helping even out your skin
tone, reduce the appearance of pores.
We have 5% Niacinamide in here, so a great percentage.
That's not too much. I know a lot of people get
like a Niacinamide flush, with 5%
you should be pretty safe.
In fact, it should reduce that
redness rather than flushing you up.
And it's perfect to add that kind of like
extra hydration, moisturize dewy look to your skin.
I love this product.
I love it so much.
I'm always like, if you get one, the first
thing you should try from COSRX is their exfoliants,
and this product for sure. Oh, actually
and the next product because it's really
good and it's an iconic bestseller.
So the next change and the next thing I do all
the time and I know everyone says, but don't touch your
skin, just leave it. And like, you know, picking at your skin.
We all know that.
But I found that just... if there's anything I learned
over Covid, is that generally just touching your skin, whether
it's this. I have this horrible habit of like leaning on
my face like this, touching my nose for no reason,
not even these nervous little things, just habits that I
have of touching my face.
There's one thing I learned over Covid is
that the less you touch your face, the
better, especially when you have dogs.
And you're constantly touching like things. But also
when you have these little breakouts, when you
have these like little areas of burning, itching skin,
it's next to impossible not to touch them.
I always say I get this urge to dig my fingernail in
and kind of rub it to try and relieve that irritation.
And this is usually, of course, a
result of having a damaged skin barrier.
So what do I do?
These Master patches, the pimple patches
from COSRX. Iconic, iconic, bestsellers.
You know them, I know them. We all use them.
In fact, did you notice I had
one on my face this whole time?
Just here, look at that.
I've got a spot here where I actually
shaved my eyebrows and it's really irritating me.
So I always put these over the top to stop me picking.
Look, I'm touching my skin still. But wherever I
have an itching, a burning, a swelling, a dark
patch, anything like that, I will put one of
these over it to stop me picking at it.
The best time to actually apply these is right after cleansing.
Before you put any toner or anything
on your face. They stay stuck on.
They're not going to shift.
You can tone and moisturize right over the top.
And these hydrochloric patches are known for the
ability to kind of like suck up all
that gunk, all that oils, extra sebum and
just protect whatever is lying underneath it.
These are actually infused with Tea Tree so they
don't smell or anything but what they're going to
do is help soothe that area of the skin.
If you've got breakouts it's going to help
calm that down. And most importantly for me
they stop me making the situation worse.
If I have a spot that I know I'm going
to pick, pop this over the top, I'm not going
to get dark spot from picking at it. Areas of
irritation, pop this right over the top. Even if I
just cut myself shaving a little bit, plucking, whatever one
of these over the top, no scars whatsoever. Because you're
allowing that space for your skin to heal.
As we mentioned between May the 19th
and June the 19th, you will receive a
free Master Patch Intensive pack with your orders.
I mean, they're incredible.
I would just buy a load anyway. I'm... no joke. Hang on.
I stock up on them all the time.
All the time. But I need them, I love them so
much and whenever friends come round I'm always like have a
pack of these, and they love them too. So yes, I
hope those kind of little tips were kind of like useful.
They are really like the only things that
I feel other than just particular products.
Even though we talked about particular products these are
like the changes that I just feel have really
made my skin a lot more comfortable.
Allowed me to enjoy my skincare routine a lot
more, not thinking about oh, ifs and but this,
and all that kind of stuff.
And thank you again to COSRX for sponsoring today's video.
If you know me and this channel, you know I love COSRX.
They never need to sponsor me because I talk about
them to death so I really appreciate the sponsorship.
You can find all the products linked
in the description box down below and
all the free gift details as well.
You can watch some more product reviews
here, and some general light entertainment here.
And I'll see you over there.