Skin fasting has been one of the biggest skin trends in 2019; we told you everything you needed to know about it here. To refresh your memory, it involves taking a break from your usual skincare routine to improve your skin’s natural self-healing functions by taking away external aides. Skin fasting can be as simple as removing moisturiser from your skincare routine for a week or completely avoiding all your products for a few days.
As a beauty writer and skincare enthusiast, I have a routine set in place that I follow religiously every single day. So, I was quite skeptical about trying this skincare trend fearing how my acne-prone skin would react. But I am also a curious soul, so I went ahead anyway. Turns out, I couldn’t last any longer than two weeks! Here’s how I survived without my favourite products for 15 days...
Here’s a list of all the skincare products I use:
- Dermalogica Breakout Clearing Foaming Wash (AM & PM)
- Lakme Absolute Pore Fix Toner (AM & PM)
- Pond’s Sun Protect Non-Oily Sunscreen SPF 50 (AM)
- Pond’s Super Light Gel Oil Free Moisturiser (AM)
- Simple Kind To Skin Micellar Cleansing Water (PM)
- Lakme Absolute Ideal Tone Refinishing Night Concentrate (PM)
- Simple Kind to Skin De-Stress Sheet Mask (Thrice a week)
I gave up everything from the list except my foaming face wash and sunscreen, because let’s be real, cleansing and UV protection is absolutely necessary.
P.S. Saying goodbye to pamper sessions with my beloved sheet masks was heartbreaking!
Week 1
The first few days were great because all I had to do was wash my face and hop on to bed. The procrastinator in me was very happy! But the happiness was short-lived.
On the third day, I noticed breakouts on my t-zone and my skin looked oilier than usual. Since my skin is accustomed to double cleansing, simply washing my face wasn’t working. I was starting to think that my skin can’t do without my micellar water to get rid of all the dirt and oil.
By the fifth night, I started to panic and almost reached out for my skincare products, but somehow convinced myself to go on with the skin fasting trend for a few more days. My friends too noticed that my skin looked different and said I was crazy to try something like this. Was I?
Week 2
I could feel the optimism fading by the beginning of week two. I felt less confident stepping out as my skin wasn’t getting any better. By now I was running out of blotting sheets to remove the excess oil on my skin! My skin looked dull, tired and there were bumps all over, I started missing my night concentrate as it had really improved the texture of my skin over time. The area around my eyes too felt very dry and the dark circles looked more prominent. Yeah, you can feel my angst. I couldn’t control myself any longer and went ahead and booked a facial session on Saturday and ended my fasting. Clearly, it wasn’t for me.
Conclusion:
I can safely say that skin fasting is not for every skin type, especially not for oily and acne-prone skin. I gave up only a few products out of my skincare routine and yet it didn’t offer what most people claim. However, my skin can definitely use a breather every once in a while. It also made me realise that my daily skincare products do much more than I give them credit for.
P.S. Wrote this with a sheet mask on my face.
Written by Sanya Hamdani on Jan 20, 2020
Sanya Hamdani is a skincare enthusiast and lipstick hoarder, she truly believes no two red lipsticks look exactly alike. With a Master's degree in Communication & Journalism and 5+ years of digital writing experience up her sleeve, Sanya has some of the biggest beauty experts in the country on her speed dial. When she's not swatching products or writing about the latest trends in beauty, you will find her watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. or cooking up a storm in the kitchen.