A 5-Step Skincare Detox to Get Your Glow Black

Going into quarantine, I had grand expectations of what my skin would look like coming out of it. Two months of no makeup and just letting the skin breathe. Imagine all the wonders that would do – right?

Wrong. For reasons that I still can’t place my finger on, my skin descended into a dry, clogged mess. While the corners of my nose and mouth were unexplainably dry to the point of cracking, blackheads quite literally reared their ugly head on my cheeks. It could have been the work of hormones. It could have been the late night food binges. It could have be the irregular hours of sleep I was clocking in. Or the snowball effect of it all combined.

My skin was signalling the need for a change. This meant either tweaking my skincare regime by trial and error or deep diving into a complete overhaul of my routine. And because I was dealing with gunky skin, I went down the path of a skin detox. Like detoxes of any kind, a skin detox is a process of deep cleansing meant to set the skin on track to its former days of glory. And as with all detoxes, there’s a pretty standard step-by-step manual to go about a skin detox. Don’t know where to start? Fret not, we’re here to hold your hand through the process.

#1 Cleanse Twice A Day and Double-Cleanse

Whether on a skin detox or not, cleansing your face is skincare at its very basic. A skin detox requires you to wash your face twice a day – once in the morning and again at the end of the day. Depending on your skin type, this might require of you to alternate between cleansers. If you have drier skin, consider a mild, foam cleanser or natural formulas and if you have oily, acne-prone skin consider one that is of heavier duty. On top of that, if you have makeup on your skin prior, that calls for double-cleansing. You’re going to want to melt your makeup off first and then go in again with a cleanser. That’s a whole lotta cleansing involved but trust the process – a clean slate is a must for an effective detox.

#2 Exfoliate Away

Cleansing does the job of ridding all the nasty stuff on the surface but on a detox, you need to take that a step further with exfoliating your skin. Exfoliators do the job of removing the dead skin cells and evening out the surface. It’s meant to leave your skin smoother and less bumpy. You want to be careful with exfoliators, especially, if your skin is entirely foreign to them. Introduce gentle exfoliators into your routine twice to thrice a week. From peel exfoliants to ones with microbeads, you have an inexhaustible range of exfoliators at your disposal. A word of advice: start from the mild ones before graduating to the heavy-duty stuff. Pay attention to how your skin reacts. The last thing you want to do is agitate your already angry skin.

Alternatively, you could skip the scrubs, peels and instead introduce an exfoliating brush or device to work your cleanser deeper into the skin multiple times a week.

#3 Give Yourself a Steam Facial at Home

No fancy equipment required here. All you need is a bowl of steaming hot water and towel for the good ol’ steam facial to work. Hover your face over the steam with a towel over your head to direct the vapour towards your face. You want to do this for about 10 minutes. If you, like me, suffer from sinus, this also does wonders to clear up your airways! Now that your pores are open, whatever you’re applying onto your skin next is going to be absorbed right through the surface.

#4 Embrace Mud Masks

Mud masks can be daunting. They have a reputation for drying out the skin and if you’re working with sensitive skin, you might instinctively steer clear of mud masks but as we’ve recently discussed, gentle clay masks are a thing. You also don’t have to leave these masks on until their dry and cracking, wash it off while it’s still soft to prevent it from sucking out every last bit of oil and moisture.

#5 Hydrate and Nourish

If you’ve ever been on a juice cleanse, you’d know that you have to drink more water than you usually would for the duration of the detox. The same applies to skin detoxes. You have to hydrate and nourish the skin from the inside out. Drink lots of water – the bare minimum is seven glasses. On the surface, you’re going to want to slather lightweight serums in the morning and move onto heavier moisturising formulas at night. You could even add a sheet mask into your night routine. Oh, and, always remember sunscreen even if you’re staying indoors.

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