How I HEALED my damaged skin barrier with K-Beauty!

Hi you guys!  I am excited + nervous to post this but as a K-Beauty online shop founder, I wanted to show the ups and downs of skincare. We are always bombarded with new products, new launches, and new trends that can be overwhelming, filling us with "I want it!!! x 100." YES, new innovative beauty products are great as we love to see improvement, but it’s important to treat our skin and ourselves with gentleness, consideration, and care! Our skin needs consistency and appreciates hydration more than what our brain tells us about “glass, clear skin.”

At first, I thought I had a reaction to a product. I am always testing out items for Olive Kollection and figured maybe it was an ingredient my skin didn’t like. So, naturally, I started off with blemish creams, lots of Centella Asiatica products and pimple patches. While the Centella Asiatica products, sheet masks, spot treatments, and pimple patches helped calm down the inflamed, huge, painful pimples, something was still wrong! Once the painful, cystic acne would calm down, another batch somewhere else on my face would pop up! My usual routine was not working which was odd too.

After 2 months of this up and down battle, I randomly watched @kelldris youtube video on damaged skin barriers and it clicked! She explained it so well, how you have openings in your skin barrier once it is damaged, so not only is moisture leaving your skin through the holes, but bad pollutants are also coming in!! THIS totally explained my continuous breakouts all over the place. That is when I focused on hydrating products ONLY and stayed away from any exfoliating (except for the Bella Monster toner pads) and kept hydrating hydrating hydrating! ️

After one month of hydrating products only, I noticed a difference in my skin drastically. I feel like now my skin barrier has healed and I can focus on acne scar healing because damn, I picked, popped and was not nice to my skin!

So how did I damage my skin barrier? I got such clear “glass” skin from using chemical exfoliants, I went overboard and went too hard too fast  I hope this helps remind you when you try products, to always patch test and even if the instructions say gentle enough for daily use, you know your skin and to take it slow! Instructions are very general and our skin is not. Rather than trying to achieve that "glass" clear skin, no pores (which is impossible because we all have pores!) no blackheads, no pimples, my main goal is to let you guys know, keeping your skin hydrated is so important for skin health in the long run.

***You may read about the products used daily, the details and how I used what and when, here >> PRODUCTS USED  Always patch test and results WILL vary because we are all individuals with different skin types!

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