Recently, I’ve been watching and inspired by the gorgeous Renee Rouleau. Her ability to seemingly age in reverse can (presumably) be attributed to her life-long aesthetician studies and rigorous avoidance of UV rays. It’s well documented that Renee – and just about every other doctor, dermatologist and aesthetician swears by daily sunscreen use. So, of course, as the weather warms up and I’m dreaming about road trips and sunny weather, I feel re-invigorated and energized to convince you all to wear sunscreen daily, too. (If you need reasons why, try here or here or here.) Often people grow up ..read more

I live for road trips. I’d drop everything and get out the on the road in a heartbeat – and in fact, I sometimes do! My favourite spontaneous adventure I’ve taken so far has been a 14 hour overnight drive with 4 friends to an isolated rock climbing destination for a week, using all my leave from work to do it. #WorthIt. The feeling of total freedom, being able to change your plans at the drop of a hat, the hot, sunny smell inside the car, snack foods from gas stations, not really knowing where you’re going to sleep but conking out anyway ‘cos you’re exhausted, great music and quality time wit ..read more

Every time I go to my wonderful skin clinic for treatments like Laser Genesis, IPL or Clear + Brilliant, they always see my super red face and acne and mention that mineral makeup would be the best choice of foundation to cover it up if I wanted, while also being kind to my angry skin. I’ve even been told that it helps heal the skin. I always kind of just took that at face value, assuming that they knew more than me. But lately I’ve been wondering: is that really true? Is mineral makeup some sort of magic? The mineral makeup boon Mineral makeup make a big splash back in the 2000s. When makeu ..read more

It’s that time again – time for me to take stock of the products I’m using on my own skin! Since I write about skincare, it can be easy for me to get lost in the trends, recommendations and the ‘ideal’ ways to treat your skin. But what about what’s realistic? Taking a look at what I personally use pulls me back to reality and helps me recommend better things to others. So, here’s another instalment of my skincare routine: 2021 edition. Things to know about my skin The basics: Oily, dehydration-prone, acne-prone, Fitzpatrick Type 1 (i.e. pale). Lately, I’ve been dealing with flares of acne, s ..read more

Seborrhoeic dermatitis has been the bane of my skin for a long time. In my case, I was first officially diagnosed at around age 20, but in all likelihood it’s been contributing to my skin woes for quite a while. It’s finally time that I present to you: my complete guide to seborrhoeic dermatitis identification, treatment and management. I wanted to put all the information in one place and strip it down to the need-to-knows, with actionable suggestions based on my personal experience as well as research I’ve gathered on the topic. Seborrhoeic dermatitis is a skin rash. ‘Dermatitis’ means a pro ..read more

When we’re born, our skin is genetically programmed to behave a certain way. Think oily, dry, or combination. Outside of intense medications or environmental stressors, this is the way it will stay for your whole life – right? Wrong! While your underlying skin type tends not to change, or changes very slowly over the course of a lifetime, your skin has other influences, leading it be behave and look a certain way. These transient (and sometimes stubborn) issues are called skin conditions. What is a “skin condition”? The condition of your skin, which we’ll cover in this article, indicates how ..read more

Accutane (oral Isotretinoin) is a big deal; for many people, it’s their last-ditch attempt at treating severe and unresponsive acne. It’s also a big deal in the sense of what it does to your body. Accutane makes deep, permanent changes to the skin. These changes can be summed up as “good” overall (in that they essentially eliminate acne in 85% of cases), but they do come with side effects. Namely: dryness. So it’s natural to want to know: do you need to ditch your current products and bring in a whole new routine when you start on Accutane? That’s what a lot of people seem to suggest, and it ..read more

I freaking LOVE lasers. Something about how the human race has harnessed the very power of light itself, and we choose to use it to make our skin look better is both hilarious and awe-inspiring. I love that there’s different types. I love that it involves crystals and electricity. I love that it’s scientific. I love that its warm and fun and just feels like Serious Skin Business. Sign me up for all the lasers, literally. I’ve tried Laser Genesis, and now it’s time for an upgrade: Clear + Brilliant. I recently rejoined my skin rehab bandwagon and set off on an IPL journey. After speaking to my ..read more

As you may know, I’ve dabbled with at-home Intense Pulsed Light facials in the past. In other words, I’ve bought a big lamp thingy and zapped myself for science and for better skin. As I said then, I really feel like it’s helped my skin tone to become more even by reducing my post-inflammatory erythema and mild freckling. Ever since, I’ve known I wanted to try big-boy IPL with a nurse. Since I recently arrived back in Australia (finally), I’m now in a financial and geographical position to head back to my skin clinic for the real deal: in-office IPL. The major difference between do-it-yoursel ..read more

For many people, their reason for getting into skin care – at least initially – is simply to get rid of their acne. It’s the most common skin condition in the world, and it’s usually the first skin issue we run into in our lives. And over time, if healing doesn’t happen, it can really demotivate you, leading you to give up on skin care. But, surprisingly, the opposite happened to me. Even after years of acne struggles with no end in sight, I kept it up, always assuming that one day there’d be an ‘AHA!’ moment, and I’d find my miracle solution. Well, I recently had that moment. And surprisingl ..read more