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Video at the end! With complicated sounding things such as the 10-step Korean skincare routine and the 7 skins method floating around, it has now become more important than ever to understand what the basics of a skin care routine really are: which products are essential and which ones are optional and how can you make sure that you're choosing the best options for your skin type? As you read this post, you'll realise that skin care doesn't need to be complicated, time consuming or excessively pricey to deliver results. I suffered from acne for seven years. Over the years I tried multiple skin care products and medications without really understanding what they were doing in my skincare routine, Seven years of hit and trial later I began to take skincare seriously and built my routine from scratch keeping the knowledge I'm about to share with you in mind. Over the next few months my acne gradually cleared up and I've been acne-free - with the exception of an occasional pimple - since 2019. Given this, I cannot stress enough the importance of having a solid skin care routine in place and the difference that it can make in your skin, from getting rid of acne, to reversing the signs of ageing. A skin care routine can be broken down into two main parts: the foundation and the add-ons. While the exact number of skin care products that you need vary by age and skin concern, only three products form the foundation of any skincare routine - 23 or 203. These are a gentle cleanser, a suitable moisturiser and sun protection. If you're young and have clear skin, these three products are all you need. Add-ons, on the other hand, are products that you can include in your routine to target specific concerns. While they are often fantastic additions, it’s a good idea to limit the number of add-ons you have to the minimum necessary. As a rule of thumb, try not to have more than 3 add-ons in your routine. Getting overzealous can often be counterproductive. Let’s now dive a little deeper into foundational and add on products. The Foundation As previously mentioned, this includes your cleanser, moisturiser and SPF (30 or above). Expend effort into selecting these three products since they have a much larger impact on your skin than most people assume. If your foundation isn't solid, it doesn't matter how many toners, serums, and other "miracle" products you use over and above them, you most likely won't see results. A cleanser is simply what you wash your face with. It helps get rid of the dirt, grime, sweat, excess sebum, and dead cells, that build up on your skin’s surface and is necessary to protect your skin from the damage that these pollutants spawn. It also gives any products that follow, a clean canvas to do their job. Aim for something gentle, and keep in mind that suds, i.e. excessive lather, are not an indication that you’ve washed your face well. Soaps and foaming cleansers can in fact, be overly drying, and upset the pH of your skin resulting in long-term damage. Look instead for something gentle that doesn't leave your skin feeling dry, stripped, tight or "squeaky clean" after you’ve used it. You can learn more about the importance of cleansers and how the wrong cleanser can damage your skin here. Moisturising after you’ve cleansed is necessary to lock in hydration and replenish your skin with essential lipids and humectants that your skin has lost during cleansing. Hydrated skin is healthy skin, and yes, a suitable moisturiser is necessary even if your skin is oily and acne prone. Keeping your skin moisturised and hydrated actually helps keep excessive oil production in check. Last but not least: sunscreen. The sun is the single biggest cause of skin ageing and can cause pigmentation and loose-saggy skin. It can also aggravate acne, and the marks that are left behind after it - which, as it is, are a huge problem for Asian skin types even without it. Luckily, skin cancer is not much of a concern in this part of the world, but if you're white, sunscreen will help protect you from malignant skin lesions too. The Add-Ons Once you have your foundations in place, you’re ready to start building on top of them - if you need to. Add-ons include everything from toners, essences and serums to mists and masks. When choosing your add-ons, don’t start piling things up randomly and as I said before, try to limit the number you use and refrain from mixing multiple actives together. Pick and choose products keeping your skin goals in mind to avoid wasting your money. The first add-on I recommend adding to any skincare routine is a chemical exfoliant. Exfoliation offers several skin benefits and I've done a whole series on it where I discuss it in detail, here. Often just adding an exfoliant will help you reach your skin goals. Salicylic acid, a chemical exfoliant, for instance, is also the gold standard in treatments for acne. However, if you're still looking to take your routine one step further, see which actives work for which concerns and add them in one at a time, a few weeks apart - without going overboard. Niacinamide, for example, is an excellent choice for those looking to strengthen their skin barrier, minimise the appearance of pores, and even out their skin tone, while retinol is the gold standard in anti-ageing treatments. Several actives exist and there is no one size fits all routine. What works magic for your best friend might not work as well for you. Even if you start with good formulations and only choose products after carefully scrutinising their ingredients lists, it still often requires some hit and trial before you find the perfect routine for you. Lastly, keep in mind that it doesn’t matter what the product label says about a product - ingredients matter more than anything else, even if the product in question is a wash-off product. We've organised our shop page by the steps that are required in a skincare routine to make the shopping experience easier for you. You can visit our shop by clicking here. If you’re still unsure of where to start however, get in touch, and we’ll be more than happy to help! :)    

"How can I get rid of dark circles?" is one of the questions I get asked most frequently, so I figured that it deserves a post of its own. If a quick summary of the information is what you're looking for, scroll to the end for an infographic. Otherwise, keep reading. In order to understand what does, and does not work for dark circles, you need to first understand what causes them. The causes can be several and varied, and any attempt at correction will necessarily need to take into account the possible underlying cause. So without further ado, the key reasons follow: Even as tanning is a popular activity in large parts of the Western world, we're well aware that the sun is no friend to our skin. UV radiation results in an increase in the production of melanin and the deposition of this excessive pigment around the eye area can lead to dark circles. UV rays also cause the degradation of collagen fibres found in the skin. This causes skin to lose its elasticity and consequently sag, creating dark shadows around the eye area. While the latter also tends to be a somewhat natural part of the ageing process, along with other processes the likes of tear trough depression and the loss of fat beneath the skin, which are more pronounced in some individuals than in others, UV rays can expedite the process of skin ageing and exacerbate the damage the results. One way your skin responds to trauma or stress, is by darkening - think about the dark mark left behind after a pimple or a cut. Dark circles then, can also be the result of post inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIHP) that might result from allergic contact dermatitis. I'm one of the lucky few not prone to dark circles, but have personally experienced allergic contact dermatitis around the eyes on more occasions than one and the result has always been a temporary darkening of the area. While its perfectly normal to try and get rid of PIHP on your skin with the use of actives, I personally would not recommend using anything strong around the eye area. The skin around your eyes is much more sensitive and delicate than the skin on the rest of your face, and strong actives can lead to irritation that exacerbates the problem instead of improving it - I speak from accidental experience. Another factor that can play on the sensitivity of the delicate eye region is the use of cosmetic products that contain irritants. I've already cautioned against the use of strong actives around the eye area, so this point revolves around avoiding the use of products containing excessive alcohol, fragrance, and other irritating skincare ingredients that include, but are not limited to, formaldehyde releasing preservatives such as DMDM hydantoin and diazolidinyl urea, certain sunscreen actives, physical scrubs, soap, and several others, that also have the potential to irritate the skin. In some individuals, veins and capillaries tend to lie close to the surface of the skin under the eyes, resulting in dark circles with a slightly violet appearance that tends to become exaggerated during menstruation. Dry, dehydrated skin can also build-up around the eyes and causes light to scatter instead of reflecting it, resulting in dull skin around the eyes. You can also be one of the unfortunate few with a family tendency towards dark circles or allergies, as the latter can also be a cause. You could also have been born with deep-set eyes that create dark shadows. Lastly, while this is not clinically substantiated, some lifestyle factors, the likes of a lack of sleep, which lets face it, aspects every aspect of your health negatively, stress, alcohol overuse and smoking, may also contribute to the development of dark circles. Now that we have a solid understanding of what causes dark circles, here are some steps that you can take to try and fix them: Use a mineral sunscreen around the eye area and use sunglasses when you go outdoors to try and prevent sun-induced pigmentation and collagen degradation. If allergies are causing your dark circles, look into using an anti-histamine. Moisturise. The AccuFix Carbamide Intensive Hydration Cream is an excellent choice that prevents dryness and also gently causes dead skin to slough off. Is eye cream necessary? No. Is it going to cause a miracle? No. However, if pigmentation is causing your dark circles, looking into an eye cream containing brightening actives such as vitamin C or niacinamide might help. Caffeine. This however, can be irritating for the delicate skin under the eye area and should be used sparingly. Sleep, sleep, sleep. This cannot be emphasised enough. There are also medical options, such as intense pulse light, radiofrequency and certain lasers, that you can discuss with a licensed professional. Lastly, concealer. I hate to break it to you but there’s no miracle fix for dark circles and none of the above might work, so you might find it useful to have a good concealer handy.

  What are pores? Pores are small openings in the top-most layer of the skin from where sebum (the oil that the skin produces in the sebaceous glands) is released to the skin’s surface. They are the opening of hair follicles, which otherwise extend downwards through several layers of the skin. An average human adult has around 5 million hairs on their body. These hairs are found all over, except on our eyelids, the palms of our hands and the soles of our feet, even if some of them aren’t necessarily visible to the naked eye. This means that you also have 5 million pores since each hair follicle has a corresponding pore. When it comes to the skin on your face, pores tend to be more noticeable on areas, such as the nose, where the sebaceous glands are larger. I’ve had a number of people over time come up to me and say, “I have open pores; how can I close them?” All of the information I’ve presented above however, indicates that pores are a normal, natural part of everyone’s skin and you can’t close them. What’s more? Their size is genetically determined, and this means that you also can’t do a lot to physically shrink them. People with fair skin typically tend to have smaller pores than those with wheatish complexions or darker skin, while people with drier skin types tend to have smaller pores than those with oilier skin. Sometimes however, your pores get stretched beyond their normal, genetically predetermined size. I’ll proceed by first examining the factors that can lead to enlarged pores and then follow up with the things you can do to help reduce the size of enlarged pores. What factors lead to enlarged pores? Skin cells are perpetually dying inside the hair follicle and sebaceous glands are constantly secreting sebum into it. Sebum is a mixture of fats, proteins, cholesterol and salts, that normally just travels up the hair follicle and exits through the pore, taking dead skin cells with it. This mixture of oil and dead cells forms a protective layer on the surface of your skin that helps keep the skin waterproof and works to keep pathogens and pollutants out. Sometimes however, pores can become blocked when sebum and dead skin cells are trying to leave the pore but aren’t able to. This can lead to pore enlargement, and even acne, while picking at acne can cause damage to the skin leading to a permanently widened pore. Ageing, or other factors, such as UV damage, that result in damage to the collagen that supports your skin, can also make your pores appear larger. This is because the skin that surrounds the pore is not as firm as it once used to be. So you can’t close pores - but what can you do to minimise pore size? Use a gentle cleanser and products that don’t dry, strip or irritate your skin. Avoid soapy or foaming cleansers and products that contain ingredients like sodium lauryl sulphate, and isopropyl or denatured alcohol, witch hazel, fragrance - especially if the product is leave-on, and essential oils, among other things. If you need help selecting a cleanser, we’ve got you covered. Be especially careful when selecting toners as unfortunately, a number of them tend to be alcohol-based. Drying products strip your skin off of its natural oils so water is able to evaporate more easily from it. This leads to your skin becoming dehydrated and it subsequently responds by producing even more sebum than it was already producing, making already enlarged pores look worse. But at the same time, also ensure that you cleanse properly. This is especially true if you’ve been wearing makeup during the day, in which case, you should double cleanse to ensure that all of it comes off properly and doesn’t end up clogging your pores. Moisturise. While drying products can exacerbate sebum production and make your pores look worse, the converse is true for products that hydrate and moisturise: they help keep oil production in check and consequently, your pore size in check as well. While it’s important to ensure that your skin remains hydrated throughout the day, the most important time to moisturise is right after you cleanse as even a simple water rinse will often get rid of some of your skin’s protective components. Moisturising the skin helps rebuild the skin’s protective barrier so water loss through the skin is slowed down and your skin doesn’t become dehydrated and it's an important skin care step even if your skin is acne prone. Avoid products and ingredients that clog your pores. This includes makeup, especially if that is something you use regularly. While the activity of ingredients generally tends to vary somewhat from person to person, some ingredients are generally known for their ability to clog pores. This includes ingredients like cocoa butter, coconut oil, acetylated lanolin alcohol and lauric acid. Avoid using products with these, and other such ingredients, on your face, especially if your skin is prone to acne. Exfoliate. The key to minimising pore size is keeping your pores clean. While cleansing and the avoidance of products with comedogenic ingredients, are all steps taken towards the achievement of this goal, exfoliation has its own, super duper important, place in a skincare routine. Exfoliation, using ingredients like glycolic acid, lactic acid, and salicylic acid, helps to break up the oil and dead skin that clog your pores. Salicylic acid, found in products such as our Salicylic Acid Pore Cleansing Emulsion, and Salicylic Acid Moisturiser (both of which, also contain glycolic acid), is my personal favourite as its lipophilic nature means that it bears the distinction of being able to actually penetrate your pores to clear them out from within, and keep them from getting clogged. Most other exfoliants only work on the skin’s surface. Keep in mind however, that not all exfoliants are created equal and that you should always go for chemical exfoliants over physical ones as the latter don’t tend to exfoliate evenly, and also tend to be coarse and harsh, and cause damage to your skin in the long-term. Try niacinamide or retinol. While research still hasn’t developed a complete understanding of how niacinamide helps pores, a lot of people report benefiting from its use. Niacinamide seems to impact the pore in ways that keep it from getting clogged, so enlarged pores are able to return to their genetically predetermined size. It also helps strengthen some of the skin’s structural proteins, which as previously discussed, can also help pores appear tighter. Retinoids work by accelerating skin cell turnover, and normalising hyperkeratinization. They also stimulate the production of collagen, a structural protein, that helps keep your skin firm, and consequently, helps diminish the appearance of enlarged pores.

Very simply put, a toner is a liquid that’s meant to be applied on the face right after you cleanse. That’s it. There are sundry definitions available of the word online, but it’s impossible to make any generalisations beyond this given the sheer variety of formulas, with various different ingredients, available online. What a toner will actually do for your skin depends entirely on what it contains and how it’s packaged. Definitions of toners obtained from various online sources. A brief history In the 1900s, beauty culturists advocated for the use on skin ‘tonics’, ‘fresheners’ or ‘astringents’ to ‘tone’ (all of which I’m going to lump into the toner category for convenience, even though the word toner came into use after the Second World War, when astringents came to be seen as something harsh, and were therefore, rebranded as toners), ‘stimulate’, or ‘freshen’ the skin after cleansing. These products remained popular throughout the twentieth century. Even during the 20th century, these products varied in composition and tended to make several medicinal claims. Common ingredients they used will make any modern, educated aestheticians skin crawl: alcohol, witch hazel extract, tincture of benzoin, camphor and borax, while pink appears to have been the colour of choice. All of these ingredients sensitise the skin and don’t impart any benefit to it. In the 1940s the FDA disallowed many of the false claims that toners made in the US, including claims that they could improve skin elasticity or tighten the pores. Outside the US however, in countries with subpar consumer safeguards, these claims persisted and in a lot of cases, endure to this very day, given the profitability associated with such products. By the 1960s, most cosmetic companies had settled on some form of a ‘cleanse, tone and moisturise’ skincare routine. Toners then were said to ‘clarify’ and ‘refine’ the skin – terms that were vague enough to avoid trouble with regulators. So should you use toners? Well that depends. If you’re on a budget, and buy only a limited number of things, then no. In that case, stick with the essentials: cleanser, moisturiser and SPF. Keep in mind that everything a toner can do, something else can do as well. The performance of any skincare product depends entirely on the ingredients that it contains and skincare should always be selected based on your skin concerns, if you don’t want to end up squandering money. Given this, if you’re not on a budget, toners can be completely fine if they contain the right ingredients, and are packaged to block out air and light if they contain unstable ingredients like ascorbic acid. However, caveat emptor, for contrary to what’s popularly being publicised nowadays on the supposed benefits and ‘gentleness’ of modern toners, the reality for a large number of them is no different from what it was a hundred years ago. A vast majority of toners are still chock full of irritants like denatured alcohol and fragrance, a rather elusive word, for it can appear on an ingredients list in several distinct configurations, which can make it a difficult ingredient to spot. If you still do decide to buy a toner, look for one that contains moisturising, hydrating and skin replenishing ingredients. However, if you spot alcohol, menthol, witch hazel, or fragrance (in any one of its myriad forms), on an ingredients list, run - as fast and as far as your legs can carry you.

Gases or particles released as a result of manufacturing, transport, chemical refineries, cigarette smoke and several other processes, are collectively called air pollution. Most gaseous pollutants don’t immediately penetrate the skin. Instead, they induce oxidative stress, triggering a cascade of damage on the skin’s surface. Even though our skin acts as a biological shield against pollutants, prolonged or repetitive exposure to high levels of these pollutants has profound negative effects. Chemicals in air pollution, the likes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, oxides, particulate matter, and ozone, have been associated with an increase in the incidence of problems like acne and acneiform eruptions, psoriasis and dermatitis, skin ageing and pigmentation, and cancers. Small particulate matter consists of nanoparticles that are tiny enough to penetrate, and get lodged inside, your pores where they cause ongoing damage and simply washing your face isn’t enough to get rid of them. Here they are able to wreak havoc in the deeper layers of your skin where wrinkles and discolouration form. Pollutants also impair the skin’s barrier function, making it easier for them to enter your body through your skin, so your entire body suffers the consequences. The term ‘smog’ was first used in London in the early 1900s to describe the cocktail of smoke and fog that often blanketed the city. It is a combination of ozone, harmful nano-particles, and other pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and lead, and is particularly harmful for your skin. Like all forms of air pollution, smog also compromises skin health by inducing free radical damage, or oxidative stress. Free radical damage has been implicated as a cause in several diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. And the older you are, the more susceptible you are to damage caused by pollution, since our body’s become less able to effectively fight off free radical damage as we age. While pollution is worse in big cities, even individuals living in rural areas aren’t safe from it since air pollution can easily travel beyond borders. Some research suggests that air pollution is as bad for skin as UV radiation from unprotected sun exposure. The list of problems that airborne pollutants can give rise to include: Dullness and hyperpigmentation Premature ageing Enlarged pores Dryness, sensitivity, redness, eczema and worsening of psoriasis Chemical or pollution-induced acne A solid skincare routine, now more than ever, is essential for protecting your skin from the harmful effects of air pollution. It is your first line of defence against pollution and the problems that it can cause. Products formulated with antioxidants can interrupt the cascade of damage that pollution gives rise to on your skin, while potent soothing ingredients are able to neutralise the damage that has already been done. You also need ingredients that are able to fortify the skin’s barrier and make it more resistant to the penetration of air pollutants, and chemical exfoliants, because they help dislodge pollutants that get trapped in your pores. The table shows a simple routine that you can leverage to combat the effects of air pollution on your skin. Products are listed in the order in which they should be applied. *Read more here. Find the listed products in our shop.

If reading isn't your thing, here's the quick lowdown on fungal acne in video form. The written blog starts below this. Does your acne look like the acne shown in the picture below? Does it take the form of small bumps on your forehead and other parts of your face? Maybe it also itches and you have dandruff as well? If you answered yes to even some of these questions, you likely have fungal acne. While it may look like acne, it's a different animal and requires somewhat different treatment since a lot of things that may work for regular acne, won't work if your acne is fungal. We have an extensive amount of experience treating fungal. Here are just a few images that clients have shared of their results. Here's everything you need to know about fungal acne and how you can get rid of it, just by having a solid, fungal-acne safe skincare routine in place. Contents What Is Fungal Acne? What Causes Fungal Acne? Diagnosing Fungal Acne Treating Fungal Acne Recommended Skin Care Routine What Is Fungal Acne? While regular acne, or acne vulgaris, is caused by bacteria, malassezia folliculitis, also known as fungal acne, is caused by the malassezia fungus. This fungus has 22 currently known species, and is naturally found on our skin. Malassezia is an opportunistic pathogen. This means that it is generally harmless and only causes disease when immunity is in some way compromised. It has also been linked to other conditions in dermatology including seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. Malassezia is lipophilic and needs to feed on fat to grow. It is thus, most commonly found on areas of the body that have a dense population of oil-producing glands: the scalp, face, and trunk. Rapid growth of the fungus disrupts the natural renewal of skin cells, resulting in flaky skin (dandruff) and itching. What Causes Fungal Acne? The causes of fungal acne are poorly understood. Some health conditions however, can make people more susceptible to it. These include diabetes, HIV, organ transplant, and immunological deficiency. Studies have also linked fungal acne to obesity, steroid use, birth control pills, and stress. The infection can also be triggered by prolonged antibiotic use. Antibiotics alter the delicate balance of our skin’s microbes, causing the death of bacteria that keep the growth of malassezia in check. This is especially problematic because fungal acne is often misdiagnosed as acne for which doctors are quick to prescribe antibiotics. This ends up further aggravating the condition. There are also factors that increase how quickly the fungus is able to grow. We know that malassezia multiplies faster in a pH range of 5.5 to 7.5 and in hot, humid climates. This explains the high incidence of fungal acne in countries like the Philippines, and from my personal experience, also in Pakistan. Diagnosing Fungal Acne It is often difficult to distinguish fungal acne and regular acne. However, there are factors that can help us differentiate between the two: Itching of the affected areas is characteristic of fungal, but not of acne vulgaris. Plentiful small, uniform, whitehead-like lesions. These tend to be more common on oilier areas of the face such as the forehead. Dandruff. Individuals with fungal acne often have dandruff as both conditions can be caused by the same fungus. Unsuccessful attempts at treatments with antibiotics in the past. If you’ve had antibiotics in the past but they didn’t help, or made your acne worse, you most probably have fungal acne. Treating Fungal Acne Treating fungal acne starts with choosing the right skincare and sticking with it even once the fungal acne has cleared, to keep it from coming back. If you’re prone to fungal acne, you need to avoid most oils and a wide range of other lipids as they are food for malassezia and cause it to grow very quickly. Fungal acne safe lipids include our Medium Chain Triglyceride (M.C.T.) Oil, and squalane. Once your skincare routine is in order - I will make recommendations below - it also often helps to use a topical anti-fungal, for 3-5 nights if the acne is severe. Leaving it on overnight often results in skin irritation. Contact therapy, where the ointment is applied for 20 minutes and then rinsed off, tends to be just as effective but carries much lower irritation risk. Ask your pharmacist for an ointment containing 2% ketoconazole for this purpose. If you're unable to find an ointment, a ketoconazole shampoo will also do the job. Apply a thin layer of it over affected areas for 10 minutes and then rinse it off. Several active ingredients in skincare can also treat fungal acne and prevent it from coming back, when used in a fungal acne safe formulation. These include honey, azelaic acid, sulfur, urea, and my personal favourite: salicylic acid, which also has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties and helps unclog pores. Recommended Skin Care Routine When it comes to skincare for fungal acne, we recommend keeping it simple - an excessive number of products might just work against you. To start with, stick with only what's recommended and continue this routine even after your fungal acne has cleared. It’ll keep the fungal acne from coming back and will also help maintain general skin health. Pro tip: if you're confused about whether your acne is fungal or bacterial, you can still start out with this routine. It's also suitable for acne vulgaris! And if you need more help or have more questions, feel free to reach out. Here's the routine, in video form, and in writing. 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The Inspiration As someone who suffered from acne myself, when I started AccuFix Cosmetics, I initially set out with just acne in mind. I wanted to create products for myself, and for other acne sufferers, that would finally treat our acne, without causing any of the nasty side-effects that come about with the use of antibiotics and oral isotretioin, also known as accutane. I was aware of other skin conditions that resemble acne but didn’t initially pay much attention to them, primarily because I didn’t think they were common. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. As I spoke to hundreds of people who suffered from acne or what they thought was acne, I realised that a large percentage of them were actually not victims of acne at all, but of fungal acne, or to be more technically correct, malassezia folliculitis. How it’s different While our current acne products offered a great deal of benefit to acne sufferers, they hadn’t been designed keeping some specific qualities of fungal acne in mind. Namely, the ability of fungi to feed on a number of, otherwise fantastic, cosmetic ingredients, including oils and glycerin, and proliferate. So I wanted to make something that catered specifically to the needs of fungal acne sufferers. In a lot of cases, I also noticed that bacterial and fungal acne occurred together. The ideal product then would be able to cater to both types of acne. I do not have enough words to express the amount of love I have for salicylic acid as an ingredient, and I’ve written about it at length in a previous blog post. Salicylic acid is a well-known ingredient in acne circles. And I was well aware that in addition to having exfoliating and comedolytic (where comedolytic describes an ingredient that prevents pores from becoming clogged with oil and skin cells) properties, salicylic acid also functions exceptionally well as an anti-fungal and effectively exfoliates skin without increasing skin photosensitivity. There was no question in my mind then, that salicylic acid would be the key active ingredient in the formula. I’ve been using the formula ever since I developed it and have also given it to a number of my contemporaries, particularly those that suffer from fungal acne, and we’ve all been thrilled with the results. Not only does it destroy fungal acne, it also heals regular blemishes and keeps new ones from coming, all while moisturising, and being extremely gentle on your skin. And the exfoliating properties of salicylic acid mean that you wake up with the smoothest skin ever and see visible improvement in your skin within the very first few days of use. Get in touch to learn how you can incorporate it into your routine!

A lot of people assume that cleansers don't matter since they only stay on your skin for a short period of time. I’ve interacted many who simply use soap, or whatever else they can get their hands on, to wash their face. However, few things are more important in skincare than your choice of cleanser, where cleansers include everything used to clean the face from bar soaps and face washes to micellar waters and cleansing balms. In this blog I’m going to do a deep dive into cleansers and cover everything that you need to know about them. I’ll address the following points: What are cleansers? How do cleansers work? How does cleansing damage the skin? Choosing a good cleanser Other tips to ensure that your cleansing experience is as gentle as possible P.S. We also have a video on this topic on our YouTube channel for those who prefer watching videos as opposed to reading blogs. Here it is: What Are Cleansers? A cleanser is anything that cleans the skin and include a wide variety of products with variable formats and textures. Soaps, micellar waters, face washes, cleansing balms, cleansing milks and cleansing creams, are all cleansers. And yes, all of these generally tend to be suitable to use for washing your face everyday. How Do Cleansers Work? Oil and water don’t mix on their own. Cleansers use surfactants to dissolve and rinse away grime and other oil-soluble impurities from the surface of our skin. Surfactants allow oil and water to mix as a result of their structure, which is demonstrated in the figure. A surfactant molecule has two parts, a water-loving head, and an oil-loving tail. Because of this structure, surfactant molecules for structures called micelles when dissolved in water. Micelles trap dirt and grime within them and are then easily rinsed away with water. Surfactants commonly found in skin cleansers include sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), cocamidopropyl betaine and lauryl and decyl glucoside, among several others. How Does Cleansing Damage The Skin? While cleansing is a necessary part of any skincare routine, it's also generally the most damaging. This is because surfactants aren’t always good for your skin. The outermost layer of the skin - the stratum corneum - has a brick and mortar structure where dead skin cells are the bricks and the lipids, which consists of ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids, that surround them, are the mortar, as illustrated in the figure. The stratum corneum acts as your body's barrier against the outside world. It keeps hydration in and irritants out and its structure makes it perfect for this job. But when its structure is disturbed, skin becomes eczematic: dry, itchy, red and irritated. The stratum corneum is generally resilient, but a harsh cleanser can upsets its structure and creates trouble, leading to, or aggravating, conditions like acne and eczema. Here’s how: Surfactants remove important compounds from the stratum corneum. While surfactants excel at removing dirt and grime, they aren’t able to differentiate between the chemicals that make up the stratum corneum, and the chemicals that need to be removed. In addition to excess sebum, dirt and grime, surfactants also tend to remove important lipids, cholesterol in particular, thus messing up the structure of the stratum corneum so it becomes more susceptible to water loss. They also remove proteins and natural hydrating compounds from the skin so skin isn’t able to hold onto water as effectively either. These factors lead to dry, dehydrated skin and can also cause skin sensitivity and eczema. Skin dehydration also causes the skin to produce more oil as the skin tries harder to keep water from evaporating. This spells disaster for people with oily or acne-prone skin. Surfactants remain in the skin resulting in irritation and skin barrier disruption. Most surfactant molecules get rinsed off after cleansing but some don't. These bind to proteins in the skin and change their structure, leading to irritation and the feeling of tightness that people often experience after cleansing. Residual surfactant molecules also disrupt the lipid matrix so the stratum corneum ends up compromised and more prone to letting water out and irritants in. The cleanser changes the pH of the skin. Healthy skin has an acidic pH between 4.2 and 5.6. Maintaining this pH is essential as the biochemical reactions that occur within the skin are sensitive to changes in pH as is the delicate balance of microbes that live on the skin's surface. Alkaline cleansers - and most cleansers, especially soaps and foaming cleansers, tend to be alkaline - change the pH of the skin and this change persists for quite some time even after they've been rinsed off. This puts the brakes on essential biochemical reactions and keeps the skin from being able to repair itself. An alkaline pH also encourages the growth of the acne-causing bacteria. Choosing A Good Cleanser Three factors need to be kept in mind when selecting a cleanser, regardless of your skin type, age, or anything else. Accounting for these will ensure that your cleansing experience is as gentle as possible. Factor 1: Surfactants Surfactants are key when it comes to determining how harsh a cleanser will. Surfactants with small, negatively charged heads and tails with carbon chain lengths of 10-14 seem to be particularly harsh. Surfactants that fit this definition include the infamous sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), and soaps such as sodium laurate and sodium cocoate. Milder surfactants include sodium laureth sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium cocoyl isethionate, lauryl glucoside and decyl glucoside, among others. Mixtures of surfactants also tend to make cleansers gentler as the micelles formed by surfactant mixtures tend to be larger than micelles formed when surfactants are used alone. Factor 2: Power of hydrogen, i.e. pH pH is a measure of the acidity of a substance. It’s a scale that ranges from 1 - 14, where 7 represents neutral, the pH of distilled water. A pH of less than 7 indicates that the substance is acidic, where the smaller the number, the more acidic the substance, while a pH greater than 7 indicates that a substance is alkaline. Acids, like lemon juice, are generally sour, while alkalis like baking soda, are generally bitter. As previously discussed, the pH of healthy skin lies between 4.2 and 5.6. At this pH important biochemical reactions can take place undisturbed. Alkaline cleansers however, shift the skin’s pH and disrupt the skin’s biochemical activity. Soaps and baking soda have an alkaline pH and are not good for your skin, while lemon juice has a pH of less than 2, making it overly acidic and also not good for the skin. Cleansing oils and balms tend to be an exception to the pH rule as oils don't have a pH. Factor 3: Moisturising ingredients Moisturising ingredients like oils - sunflower oil and grapeseed oil are also great for people with acne (unless you’re prone to fungal acne), and humectants, such as glycerin and sorbitol, also make a cleanser more gentle on the skin and are generally good ingredients to add to cleansers. Other Tips To Ensure That Your Cleansing Experience Is As Gentle As Possible Use cooler water. Hot water increases the ability of surfactants to go deeper into the skin resulting in more damage. But also make sure that the water isn’t too cold as extremes of temperature in either direction are not good for the skin. Use less cleanser and don’t cleanse for too long. 30 to 60 seconds of contact time tends to be enough for a cleanser to get its job done. If you’ve been wearing heavy makeup or sunscreen that’s hard to remove, try double cleansing using an oil-based cleanser, such as our Butter But Better Cleansing Balm, in the first step to minimise the damage from harsh surfactants. Don’t overdo it. I see a lot of people, especially those with acne-prone or oily skin, washing their face multiple times a day. This will only irritate your skin and make the problem worse. Wash your face 1 to 2 times per day, not more. If you choose to wash it once, wash it only at night. While products like micellar water and wipes might claim that you don’t need to rinse them off afterwards, they do contain surfactants which will irritate your skin if left on for too long. Make sure you always rinse your face afterwards if you use them. Do not skip moisturiser, regardless of your skin type. This is essential so you can replenish what your skin has lost during the cleansing process. There is a moisturiser out there for you. Find it, and use it. Your skin will thank you for it. Our AccuHydra Hydrating Gel Cream Moisturiser is an excellent option for all skin types including sensitive skin and skin prone to acne or fungal acne. In Conclusion If you ever thought that cleansers are something that are just meant to be rinsed off and don’t have a significant impact on the health of skin, I hope this post has convinced you otherwise. In the words of Stephen Alain Ko, “Cleansers are one of the few times in skin care when we actually remove things from our skin, and a good cleanser will remove things that we don’t want on our skin, while minimizing the removal of things we do want in our skin.” A solid skincare routine is always built on the foundation of a good cleanser, moisturiser and SPF. If you have these wrong, you’re only wasting your money on other expensive products. And yes, harsh cleansers can definitely cause and aggravate everything from eczema and skin dryness, to skin sensitivity, oiliness and acne and set you up for premature skin ageing. Hydrating Daily Gentle Shop Now Salicylic Acid Cleanser Shop Now Moisturiser Cleanser Shop Now

My story starts in the nub of adolescence and disappointment. My very first pimples appeared when I was sixteen - and decided to make a home on my face for the next seven years, like unwanted tenants that fight hard at the mention of eviction. I searched long and hard for a solution, a sneaky means of fighting off the gadfly. I sought the assistance of several people who, having studied and practiced dermatology for several years, should theoretically have been able to solve my problem. A single step forward though, was always succeeded by two back. Many remedies and medicines later, things were worse than they had been to begin with. My skin in October 2016 It didn’t take long for me to realise the sheer absence of affordable and effective, science-backed skincare in the Pakistani market. I was acutely aware of the numerous myths that surrounded skincare and the lack of solid advice about how to actually care for your skin. While new local brands have been popping up left, right, and centre, in an attempt to capitalise on the sudden interest in all things “natural” and “organic”, they are not backed by science and rely on fear-mongering, engendering in their consumers a trepidation of the dreaded “chemical”, to make their products sell. Little do unwitting clients know however, that there is no concrete legal definition of the words natural or organic and that all things natural are also made up of chemicals - some of which can actively harm your skin and body. Water is a chemical and apples seeds, cherry pits and almonds, all contain doses of cyanide - a well-known, lethal toxin. My skin in January 2019 Against this backdrop, I wanted to build a brand on the foundations of hard-core science that offered consumers with problematic skin types safe, and effective products at a reasonable price point, along with education about their condition so they would get the most out of was made and sold. It was a difficult pitch because it went against what marketing was ingraining in consumers as conventional wisdom. With the swathe of people with skin problems, who had given up on doctors, that I’ve been able to help, and my recent appearance on Juggun Kazim’s channel (video follows), the challenge has been worth the effort.   Through the scars on my face that still persist, I realise that I wouldn’t be where I am today had it not been for all my struggles, for in the words of Steve Jobs, “You can’t connect the dots looking forwards, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”   Welcome to the blog! I thought the story of how AccuFix Cosmetics came to be would be a fitting place to start. I hope you enjoy it and find it informative. Lots of love!