What I Learned from a Week of Only Washing My Face

A couple weeks ago, I gave up skincare. Mostly. For 7 days, I didn’t do anything but wash my face because not doing that would be gross. This was just a little experiment I wanted to do for myself to see how things changed, if at all. I am a skincare addict; My husband is always telling me I am slathering too many products on my face and it got me thinking, maybe he’s right. So, for a week, I put down the bottles, and here’s what I learned.

My skincare changes weren’t really that significant after ditching all those products. 

Here’s how my skin felt almost each day of my little experiment.

Day 2:

In the morning, but skin was a bit tight after washing it, but it wasn’t flakey or overly dry. It actually felt pretty smooth. That night after washing, it was pretty much the same.

Day 3

On the third day it felt a bit drier, and I felt like my foundation was wearing really poorly.

And all the days that followed were pretty much the same. It was dryish but not significantly different than when I was using a 3 or 40-step skincare routine. I also noticed that I was still getting the same amount and kinds of breakouts. The pores on my nose were still clogged which I though might clear up from piling less ingredients on them. I still got the occasional pimple and my chin still had that small little patch of blackheads that I am convinced will never go away.

I like being lazy with skincare.

It really doesn’t take that much time and it isn’t that much work, but I enjoyed not having to do all these little extra steps for my skin. It was just nice to take a bath and go chill on the couch without having to worry about layering products. Skincare is super important, but it was nice to take a little break from it even though i know I can’t do that forever.

My skincare routine probably isn’t right for me. 

After a week of just washing my face, I think this was the biggest take away. If I’m spending all this time (and money) slathering on products day and night, I expect my skin to miss them if I stop using them. And my skin definitely didn’t; Nothing changed that much. I was still as dry, still as broken out, still as uneven. I wasn’t excited to get back to my old skincare routine. If anything, I was ready to find a new one. If my skin isn’t better with all these products added to them, then these products aren’t working.

I need a change. 

This one speaks for itself. I am slowly starting to add products in to see what works and what doesn’t. I’m being more mindful of what I use and allowing each one to work or not before adding another. This little experiment turned into a skincare journey. I think taking care of your skin is so important, so it’s a journey definitely worth the work.