Skincare Secrets Interview with Charlene
Instagram skincare Influencer Charlene (@msceebee) sat down with the Rich Skxn team to discuss all things skincare and beauty, including her worst beauty habit and what skincare item she can’t leave the house without.
My current skincare favourites are…
...Any sort of hydrating serum, this time of year I think hydration is so important! I've found that using hydrating serums has been amazing for just keeping my skin nice, glowy and plump. And not feeling too dry especially in winter, so definitely hydrating serums.
One skincare item I can’t live without...
...Sunscreen! The Keep Cool Soothe Bamboo Sun Essence. It's a korean brand and they released this sunscreen earlier this year and I have repurchased it so many times now. It is just fantastic. You have to keep reapplying sunscreen, it’s not good enough to just wear it once in the morning, you have to reapply it every two hours. And for me this kind of ticks all the boxes in terms of cosmetic elegance and it's dewy, but not oily, it's perfect!
A skincare item always in my bag…
...Definitely lip balm, I can’t do without lip balm and hand cream. Those are the two that are always in my bag. And a bonus is that my lip balms tend to have spf in as well!
The first beauty product I ever owned was…
...Makeup wise was the maybelline dream matte mousse foundation. That was the first foundation I ever bought.
Skincare wise I was prescribed by my doctor Differin gel, which is like a retinoid. And that's the time when I really got into skincare, I was 16 at the time. So I think the product that launched a thousand purchases in a sense that it all started because of that, I wanted to focus on one issue, but then realised that actually skincare is a lot more holistic than that and it's not just about one product or one range of products, but rather how your whole routine comes together.
My day-to-day morning and evening skincare routine is…
...I try as much as possible to keep my morning routines quite simple and not pile on too many products. Also I don’t want my skin to look greasy or shiny throughout the day, so I have to be mindful of what products I use and that's a consideration I don't really have in the evening. So for example I use cerave healing ointment, which is a petroleum based product, very similar to vaseline and how it feels and looks. I smear that all over my face in the evening.
The skincare product I run out of the quickest is…
...Sunscreen, hands down! Especially if you are wearing it as you should, not only just wearing it as you should every two hours but also the adequate amount, you should be using at least two fingers length worth of sunscreen. So I would say any sunscreen tube does not last me more than two weeks if that. I run out very quickly.
My biggest skin concern is....
… Hyperpigmentation, definitely! Anytime I get any sort of trauma to the skin on my face, it hyperpigments eventually and it can take a while for that pigmentation to subside. So for me that's always been the biggest issue.
My best piece of skincare advice is…
… Wear sunscreen and wear it often, as needed. There is some resistance in wearing the right amount of sunscreen and I think that resistance is much more when you are black. I think you cannot convince a lot of black people that they need to wear sunscreen, they just don't believe they do. And it's a shame because I think if you do skip out on sunscreen or don't wear the adequate amount, everything you have done prior to that, all that you are doing to your skin is kind of mute, you're not really doing anything.
My worst beauty habit is…
...I think sometimes you don't need a complicated routine, you don't need to use 100 products. There is sometimes the temptation to use everything under the sun and that can cause more harm than good. So I think it's important to hold back and be like I don't need to use everything all the time.
The latest skincare product I bought was…
...Sunscreens, definitely the latest that I've bought. But, it's just a replacement for something else. In terms of something new that I've bought, it would be a mist. After I've cleansed my face I usually do the rest of my routine in my room, and I feel like by the time I've done that my face gets dry again, so I try to mist it. I think it's better to apply products on a damp face.