2018 was the first time that I ever heard about the hydration step in a skincare routine, this coincides with the time that I started learning more about K-beauty. In short, dehydration is a lack of water in the skin, as opposed to dry skin which is a lack of oil. Our skin loses water (hydration) through normal activities and also during the cleansing process and in order to reverse that process we need to replace that water loss through hydrating products. During my research I also learnt that hydration is not the same as moisturisation… who knew! Once I learnt this information I knew that I had to add hydration into my skincare routine. In this post I’ll be sharing my favourite hydrating products.

There are various ways you can hydrate your skin over your skincare routine, it’s not a one size fits all and you have to find what works for you.

Toner / Essence

This step in my routine comes after cleansing my skin and it is my main hydrating step. The products I currently use are the Neutrogena HydroBoost Essence Lotion (not available in SA unfortunately) and The Body Shop Hydrating Toner, I use the essence in the morning and the toner in the evening. I apply the toner using the 3 skins method which means I apply the toner in 3 layers, waiting till one layer absorbs before I apply the next one (which is why I only do it at night!). This step creates hydrated skin that will be able to absorb the remainder of the products in my routine.

Hydrating serum

This is quite new to my routine, I bought it in November 2018 when I was in Beijing. The ingredients list is in Chinese characters so I’m not really sure what exactly is in it, lol! This serum has a gel like consistency, I use it in the evening after I apply my exfoliating or retinol products depending on the night.

Masks

For masking, I use every type of mask out there! For hydrating I love sheet masks ans sleeping masks. One tip I can give if you want to add an extra boost to your sheet masks, you can put it in the fridge in the summer or put them in hot water in winter prior to using it. If I’m using a sleeping mask I will apply it as the last step in my evening routine. Unfortunately I bought all the masks overseas, however The Body Shop does stock a range of affordable sleeping masks.

Over and above the hydrating products

As supplement to my hydrating products are my cleanser and moisturiser. I don’t have a particular preference for cleansers I typically will choose one that won’t dry out my skin, I’m currently using this hydrating cleanser from Miniso. Moisturisers help to seal in the hydration in my skin, my current favourites have been gel moisturisers which are formulate with hydrating ingredients. For most of 2018 I used the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel, I’m currently using the L’Oreal Hydra Genius.

Those are all my hydrating products in my current routine. Ever since I started on focusing on hydration my skin has been plump and glowing, I ensure that I have at least 1 hydration step in my evening and morning routine.