Kelli (00:00)

Hi everyone, welcome to the Goldsea Podcast. My name is Kelli and today I'm going to be talking about something a little personal.

For as long as I can remember, clear skin has always been something I wanted. I know that sounds pretty obvious because everybody wants clear skin. Who doesn't? But when you struggle with acne, it can affect so much more than just your appearance.

Growing up, I definitely struggled with acne and it affected how confident I felt without makeup, how comfortable I felt in photos,

And really even leaving the house I wouldn't feel as confident as I should be.

I've tried so many different products, I've gotten severe breakouts, and it's been a lot of trial and error with everything. So after I started exploring Asian skincare, especially Korean and Japanese products, it completely changed how I approached my skin.

Today I'm going to be walking you through my entire skincare journey, the products and ingredients that have worked the best for me. I'll also go over my nighttime and morning routines and the biggest lessons that I've learned along the way.

I will also say that I'm not a dermatologist, so this is based on my personal experience, and everyone's skin is different. What worked for me may not work exactly the same as somebody else, and over the years, after testing so many different products.

I can definitely swear by these.

So growing up, I dealt with the type of acne that many teenagers experienced during puberty. At the time, I was getting breakouts on my forehead, my cheeks, my chin, literally everywhere. I would cover them up with makeup and I would constantly search for products that would help cover up my pimples and help with clearing up my skin.

but it seemed like everything I was putting on my skin at the time just made it all worse.

When I was sixteen years old, I started to take birth control because I went online and I did some research and saw that birth control can sometimes help with hormonal acne.

Of course that differs amongst each person, but for me it made a tremendous difference in my skin. My acne became much more manageable and eventually my skin became consistently clear and I would just get one or two pimples every now and then.

For about five years I got used to having very clear skin.

Throughout high school I had a very simple skincare routine.

I would just splash my face with water, make sure my face was clean, remove my makeup, And I would use Paula's Choice Face Exfoliant. I really didn't have to think that much about breakouts and wasn't even using that many products. But after five years, I stopped taking birth control and everything changed.

My acne came back and it wasn't even like the acne that I had before as a teenager. I'd started to develop these large, painful, under-the-skin pimples, the types that would feel sore before they even became visible. They would take forever to go away. I was getting scars on my skin, and I completely felt like it was out of control. I would wake up and I would check my face to see if the pimples shrank, and I was

Always worried that I was gonna get another breakout.

I started to have to experiment more with covering up my pimples with different products. And again, that sometimes would make it worse. And I would just find myself frustrated all the time because these products were not working. I even went to my doctor to try to see a dermatologist so that I could see what's going on. Even tried going on

Oral medication where I had to take pills every single day to control the acne, that also wasn't the best option because it was making me nauseous.

So I was genuinely trying so many things and I was about to get on Accutane. That was going to be my last option and I really did not want to go to I did not want to turn to Accutane because of all the side effects that comes with it. So I turned to Asian skincare.

When I did this, I saw a complete difference in my skin. I started to try products from Korean and Japanese brands like Kozar X, Beauty of Josan, Anua, Medihel, Medicune, Numbuzin

Shiseido, Bior, Naturi, there are so many amazing Korean and Japanese brands. I have tried so many different ones. They are all great. I can happily say that I have not experienced a terrible breakout from any Asian beauty product that I have used.

So in the beginning, I was buying a lot of products and I was being gifted a lot of products through TikTok. So I was able to try a bunch of different products that people are using in these 10-step glass skin routines. I wanted to try everything,

And over time experimenting has taught me that more products do not automatically give you better skin. I will happily say that you do not need a ten step skin routine to get that glowing skin.

You have to learn what your skin likes. You have to learn which different textures of products your skin likes and which ingredients irritate your skin. You have to see which steps actually make a difference for your skin individually.

I used to think that my Asian skin simply just worked better with Asian brands. But I think a more accurate explanation is that many of these Asian brands have lightweight textures and gentle hydrating formulas that just go with my skin in general. My skin is kind of combination. It's dry in some spots, especially during the winter, but most of the time it's kind of oily.

So I have made sure to use products that are able to control that oil, yet still I'm able to have that glass skin effect.

The most important part about developing your skin routine is really just finding the formulas that don't feel overly heavy for your skin

or feel like they're stripping your skin.

One of the most important changes that I made to my skincare routine was to double cleanse. Double cleansing has dramatically changed my skin and I've been doing this consistently for about four years now and it's the step that I am least willing to skip. I will make sure I double cleanse every single night.

Double cleansing means using two different types of cleansers. The first one is usually an oil-based cleanser, which is supposed to dissolve all of the oil-based substances on your skin, which is the makeup, the SPF, any sebum, any kind of residue on your skin. All of that dirt will come off with that oil based cleanser.

It's important to take time around your nose and really massage the oil cleanser where your makeup builds up and where you feel like you have bigger pores. You add some water to emulsify the cleanser and it turns into this milky texture before you rinse it away and it completely purifies your skin.

Oil cleanser that I have been really enjoying right now is Softymo Speeding Oil Cleanser. That one you can literally find on Amazon, and it is so great. It leaves my skin feeling very soft and it really gets all of that oil and dirt out of my pores. I've tried other cleansing products from Anua. Anua has amazing products, especially for people who are just starting with Korean skincare. It's gentle and it's lightweight, and their products are very easy to use.

After that, I always follow up with a water-based face wash, which foams up. I love using Perfect Whip. That is my favorite foaming cleanser. It's rich, it's foamy, and it leaves my skin feeling so refreshed and soft. That water-based cleanser is going to remove any remaining residue on your skin, all the extra sweat and any other impurities.

So when it comes to double cleansing

I make sure to do it every night, even when I am tired. I have not used makeup wipes in years because double cleansing has been the best way. I don't have to scrub my face. I don't have to be aggressive with trying to get my makeup off. Double cleansing does it all for me.

Every night after double cleansing, I always use a facial pad. I've tried a lot of toner pads before, and there's so many different kinds now. Some are just for hydration, some are to soothe your skin, some are to exfoliate, and others are just to target the texture or scarring.

My personal favorite are the MediHeal blemish pads. It's a green container, and these are amazing at calming and supporting any irritated skin. Sometimes I do pop my pimples and I do squeeze my pores. So I will make sure to use a facial pad after. That helps calm redness. It helps calm the redness and it helps with any kind of blemish-related concerns.

Another one of my favorite facial pads are Medicube's Zero Pore Pads. It has exfoliating ingredients like AHA and BHA, and those help remove dead skin cells and excess oil. It really helps the look of congested pores. It helps improve them. It helps close those pores up and it really gives you that smooth-looking filter-like skin.

I use these every night because like I said, my skin is very oily. Some people cannot use exfoliating pads every night because it would dry their skin too much. It's because overexfoliating can leave your skin irritated. But again, like I said, it just depends on your skin routine. Because my skin is very greasy and it gets oily fast, these do the trick and get all of my pores unclogged.

One of my favorite things about these toner pads is that they are interchangeable. So you can totally swap these out and mix and match your toner pads. I do think if you just add one of them into your skincare routine every single night, you will start to see a difference. A hyaluronic acid pad can give you that hydration. A vitamin C pad can help you with brightness and discoloration.

There's a facial pad for every kind of skin problem and you just need to find the one that is meant for your skin.

So after using my toner pad, I found that my skin responds the best when I apply serum after. The best types of serums that I have found to work for my skin are PDRN serums and vitamin C serums. PDRN has become a huge skincare trend in the last few years, and personally I can understand why. Ever since I started using PDRN, my entire skin barrier has been more smooth.

Hydrated and plump, my acne has been completely under control. And it really gives my skin that hydrated, glowing look.

One of my favorite serums is MediHeal's PDRN Serum. I love using it at night, but I also use it before I apply sunscreen on my makeup because it gives me a smoother looking base, which I love.

If you're wondering what PDRN is exactly, it is salmon sperm DNA. Salmon sperm has been completely taking over the internet and it is targeted towards that hydration, it has the elasticity and it is amazing for skin repair.

That's why I've been loving it. I've been using so many different products that have PDRN in it. Another serum that I like to use is Numbuzin's number five vitamin Concentrated serum. I've been using this one every night. It contains vitamin C.

And it really helps with uneven skin tone and dark spots. So, like I said, I did have a lot of scars from when I had really bad acne a couple years ago. And this serum has completely changed the way those scars look. They have removed them. I had very deep scars at a time too. And the vitamin C serum was amazing. It really helps smooth out my skin and even out my skin tone.

This was super important to me because sometimes after the pimple disappears, that mark that it leaves behind will last so much longer than the actual breakout. So incorporating vitamin C in my skincare routine is very important to me.

The final step in my regular nighttime routine is my PAIR acne cream. I got this in Japan. I saw it trending all over TikTok and it is absolutely amazing. It's a Japanese acne treatment and it's one of my holy grail products because when I see a pimple developing or I see an inflamed breakout, I apply just a small amount directly to the area and this gets rid of breakouts overnight.

I will wake up and that spot looks way calmer. It shrinks the pimple. It's way less swollen. And I'm telling you, the difference is dramatic. So this acne repair cream is a game changer. Sometimes I will have a little pimple and this will make it disappear completely overnight.

It's my favorite spot treatment, so I will make sure if I ever have any acne, I will put this on it I will put this on the spot every single night and sometimes when

And if I just feel like I'm breaking out a little bit, I'll just rub that on and it will calm my skin, make and let me wake up looking glowy instead of looking irritated.

Now that's my nighttime skincare routine, but I definitely would add in face masks on certain days, maybe one every day or one every two days. Rice masks have been my favorite. I find them very nourishing and they help brighten my skin. The Japanese face masks that I got from Japan are some of my favorites. I love how they keep my skin feeling hydrated. I try to use them at least once or twice a week.

I've tried an egg white face mask from Candorluv. That gave me glass skin immediately. There are some face masks that are great for daytime use for right before you start applying your makeup. This is one that I would use during the daytime because it really gives me that glass skin effect, perfect for when you want to start your smooth base before your makeup.

There's a face mask for everything. I would not recommend using them as a replacement for things in your consistent routine, but they can be a great supplemental step and great for your skin journey.

Now for a morning routine, I like to keep things very simple. The nighttime is the longer routine for me, and having a consistent morning routine is honestly just as important. When I wake up, I simply splash my face with water so I don't do any extra cleansing since I already double cleansed the night before.

Then I will wake myself up with a toner. The toner that I have been using that has tremendously changed my skin is Numbuzin'w number nine NAD Plus PDRN Glow Boosting Toner. This formula specifically has been designed to hydrate, soften, and just create a plumper and more luminous appearance. And this product, I swear, is what has been giving my skin.

That glowing look. People ask me all the time, how do I get my skin looking that glowy? And I'm telling you, this toner is the product that has done it. I love the way it wakes up my skin and prepares it in the morning. I do it right before my moisturizer. One of my favorite moisturizers is Naturie's Hatamugi moisturizer. It's very lightweight and it doesn't irritate my skin at all.

I love a lotion that doesn't feel thick and heavy either, and this one does not give you that sticky feeling ever.

After moisturizer is the non-negotiable step, which is SPF. My favorite lately has been the Biore UV. It's very lightweight and it layers well under makeup.

I've also recently discovered Biore's Spray Sunscreen, which is very convenient, especially when you need to reapply your SPF after you've put your makeup on. So I've been using Bior's US Aqua Rich Facial Formula. It has SPF 50. It does have a slight alcohol-y smell to it, but I definitely love it for the summertime for when I have to reapply my SPF after I have a full face of makeup on.

Another thing I love about skincare routines are eye creams and under-eye patches. PDRN eye patches have been so amazing recently. I've been using Numbuzen's number nine eye cream, and right afterwards I will apply the under-eye patches also from Numbuzin and these will have your eyes waking up. These will have your eyes looking refreshed even after a long day.

And it will get rid of those fine lines, all of that puffiness, and the dark circles. The number nine eye cream has retinol in it as well. So I definitely recommend using it if you are trying to get rid of any of those dark circles.

Overall, the biggest lesson that I have learned from this skincare journey did was that clear skin is not going to come from one magical product. It came from learning to pay attention to my skin and what works for me. Another thing that matters is consistency. Consistency matters much more than just buying new products. I learned to distinguish the difference between hydrating products, exfoliating products.

And the products that will help my acne instead of just expecting every product to do everything for me.

Clear skin also doesn't need a complete 10-step routine. Sometimes I do every step, and sometimes I just double cleanse my face and make sure I put on my PAIR acne cream so that I don't get any more breakouts when I wake up. The goal is not to use the most products, it's to use the products intentionally. And Asian skincare really gave me a bunch of different options to try so that I can customize my own routine that works for me.

I found different sunscreens that I actually want to wear, cleansers that really work for my skin and things that were gonna actually fix my own personal skin problems.

Even today, my skin is still not perfect. I will still get random breakouts. Some months it'll be worse than others, but my current routine has been built around double cleansing, calming toner pads, PDRN and vitamin C serums, targeting acne care, and lightweight hydration and daily sunscreen. The products that I was talking about today have become my holy grails, but they're not necessarily going to be everyone's holy grails.

I really just hope sharing my experience helps someone feel less overwhelmed when it comes to the world of Asian skincare. There are so many products and you don't have to buy every trending product at once.

Start with the basics, introduce products to your skin naturally and gradually, and just notice how your skin responds to them.

Your skincare routine should support you and not make you feel like you're trying a bunch of failed products because one viral routine didn't work for you.

The goal for our skin should not always be perfection. It's about having skin that feels healthy, comfortable, and cared for. And the best part is finally feeling confident in it. Thank you guys so much for listening and we'll see you in the next podcast.

My Asian Skincare Journey