Yes, this is why a lot of Asian skincare revolves around moisture, moisture and moisture. Lotions(something like toner but you don’t wash it off) to somewhat moisturise the skin, essence/serum to put moisture back into the skin and so on. Heck, even my cleansing regime is gentle enough to not leave my skin squeaky clean.

Since I made the switch to partially organic products, my skin has never been better. I no longer have red and raw skin that bleeds at times, I’ve less pimples, braving hot and humid weather in Singapore doesn’t irritate my skin as much, no more itchy skin, taking a shower means no more burning sensations, less falling hair and so on. Of course, I recently went back to science too and now also use brands or products like Hada Labo, Muji Cleansing Oil(sensitive skin). I kind of got over my fear that only natural products work. However, I stay far away from most American skincare brands and am somewhat cautious with European brands too. And I now look for skincare products that’re light on the skin and which aren’t too complex. I also sometimes look for water-based products. And also, the company must be renown for quality standards and if they don’t do animal testing, then they must have tested the products on as many as hundreds to thousands of volunteers.

I also avoid handmade items unless they’re just soaps because that means there’s little R&D, little to no testing and most likely horrible quality standards. And I no longer look at the product claims but how it performs though I admit still to falling for them once in a while.

Btw, I’ve also found out the hard way that there are a lot of organic companies that just refuse to use science, in order to optimise their products. And who keep on blabbering endlessly about how all chemicals are harmful which is an irony since everything is made up of chemicals anyways.

And then there’re those whose formulas are full of too many botanical extracts but without few ingredients to deliver, bind and so on.(Sorry, my chemistry sucks.) I seriously don’t understand what’s with their brains: do they not bother checking with any experienced and knowledgeable herbalists(Indian, Western, Chinese or whatever) IF they insist on using herbal/botanical extracts, besides double-checking with some scientists? It amazes or even horrifies me to no end, how many people think they can become a herbalist or scientist just by reading some pages from some site or book. Yikes! Or how they can just grab some ingredient and throw it in, just because they read it from somewhere that it’s good. I mean… what if it’s something like belladonna?

And if a certain chemical is safe for your skin, what’s wrong with using it to help enhance delivery of the ingredients? I don’t get it anyways.

And don’t get me started on EWG. Okay, their list of sunscreens is somewhat useful but those people are just too paranoid! Too fanatical as well: it’s the product formulation, the percentage and type of an ingredient used which determine the safety of a ingredient, not some supposed dosage that’s 10,000 times of what any human would be exposed to. Ah yes, it’s a reminder that not all studies are created equal. And who in their right mind would drink formaldehyde or even inject stuff into their… I dunno, eyes or intestines?! “Can I pass you a saw, Madam?” “Why?” “Well, to puncture your stomach for better absorption of , of course!”

And as someone put it across, maybe there’re even some profit motives involved for EWG.