I have always spied on Korean drama actresses and wondered the secret to the Korean dewy skin. You’ve probably heard of it – the rave about perfect, poreless, fair, dewy complexion has now been amplified to another level. If you are one of the lucky ones who got bored of luminous dewy skin, here’s another shot for you – Glass Skin.
In pursuit of the perfect complexion, the next move up the dewy skin ladder is “Glass skin”.
This requires a dedicated buff-and-shine skin regime to achieve that clear,
crystalline, water-glow effect, like a piece of clear glass.
Clear, dewy skin has always been a sign of youth in parts of Asia. And now, like a fancy and much anticipated iPhone or Samsung upgrade, clear, glassy skin looks set to overtake its predecessor. For those who have not heard of it yet, glass skin refers to perfectly smooth, clear, crystalline, shiny skin, like a piece of clear glass.
We spoke to Dr Michelle Lim from The SW1 Clinic on tips and tricks on how to amp up your skin’s luminosity. And yes, it is achievable!
1. Exfoliate
Prep your skin for maximum moisture by incorporating exfoliation into your skincare regime regularly.
Skin cells are constantly renewing, and new skin cells push their way up to the topmost layer and older skin cells are shed off naturally at the topmost layer to make way for younger, newer skin cells. As we age, the rate of skin cell renewal decreases, and old skin cells accumulate, masking the skin and giving it an unnecessarily dull appearance.
Dr Michelle suggests incorporating regular exfoliation into your skincare regime to keep skin looking polished and clean. “Exfoliation reveals healthy, youthful-looking skin, it also eliminates clogged pores and allows efficient penetration of your skincare ingredients” she advises.
How often should we exfoliate? As a rule of thumb, the older you are, the more often you should exfoliate. Dr Michelle adds, “Millions of skin cells are lost everyday, for those who are not prone to redness and irritation, encourage this layer of dead skin cells to part from the healthy, glowing skin beneath by exfoliating 2-3 times a week”.
2. What exfoliants should you try?
Beware of over-exfoliating, which can cause your well-meaning intentions to backfire and give you dry or irritated skin instead. Instead of opting for harsh home exfoliators, try a safe home chemical exfoliator and then visit a professional facial service that offers ultrasonic deep cleansing, which uses ultrasonic waves to that effectively removes surface dead skin cells and purges the pores of stubborn impurities. Ultrasonic Deep Cleansing can be found in many of The SW1 Spa’s coveted doctor-designed facials, and is also available as a standalone SW1 Spa treatment.
For your home exfoliation, anything that has salicylic, glycolic, lactic, mandelic or malic acid encourage cell turnover. Try The SW1 Clinic’s Sleep Mode, which contains a diminutive amount of glycolic acid, quietly removing unwanted debris and soothing the skin at the same time in a pampering aloe vera gel.
3. Resurface and Restore
After you have started your skin buffing regime, go for a laser resurfacing treatment that will smoothen out fine lines and lighten pigmentation. “A lot of people think that applying products or going for facials alone is sufficient for purposes of achieving dewy skin, but more often than not, the effect is transient and they are disappointed” says Dr Michelle.
She recommends those who are serious about a change to consider starting a fractionated resurfacing laser to speed skin up on the dewy complexion highway, such as Clear and Brilliant, a gentle laser that creates microscopic treatment zones, clearing away damaged surface skin cells and making way for healthy new cells to grow. Skin is appreciably smoother, more radiant, fine lines diluted away and pores more refined in just one treatment.
Those with superficial pigmentation can try their new Babyskin program, which uses their BB Aquatouch laser. The BB Laser is so named because of its superb ability to improve skin texture and tone, similar to the effect of applying a BB cream onto the skin.
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4. Dehydration SOS
Once you have parted ways with unwanted dead skin cells, the next step to achieving glassy clear skin would be to load up on hydrating serums and moisturizers.
To achieve this coveted, flawless fresh faced look, you need to consistently load up on products that deliver active ingredients deep into the skin.
“Hydrating sheet or gel masks are excellent for replenishing moisture. Because of the increased absorption capacity of skin after a laser session, all our programs and facials incorporate layering of multiple lightweight hydrating products as soon as the laser treatment is completed”, says Dr Michelle.
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5. Go For Science
Additionally, use of sound waves to transport vitamin molecules into the skin is clearly the way to go. “Skin regimes that incorporate any kind of sonophoresis will also ensure efficient penetration of previous vitamins and other ingredients ” adds Dr Michelle Lim.
Pearl Eclat Sonophoresis enhances penetration of skin whitening ampoule containing Glutathione and rice and carrot callus stem cell extract into the skin and is available as an add-on to any facials and lasers at The SW1 Clinic.
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