I was reading Ollie‘s post on budget makeup starter kit (spot on recommendations, girl!), and the first paragraph caught my eye.

A few months ago, I was chatting to a colleague of mine when she mentioned that she didn’t know the first thing about skincare and makeup and asked what I used. I was a very surprised to learn that at 26 years old, she had yet to start a daily skincare regime. She uses soap to wash her face and has never used moisturizer. Giving her face a closer inspection I realized that she indeed had a problem with acne, her lips were chapped and she wore no makeup. Something you’d expect on a teenager.

For someone who started their skincare regime when she was 11 years old, I admit I was flabbergasted to hear someone say she washes her face with soap. And I’m assuming a typical cake of bath soap, not facial bar soap. Then again, I wasn’t entirely surprised to hear that, because I’ve heard the same thing from other ladies too, who did not begin their skincare regime until their mid- to late twenties.

Now before you think I’m a snob for getting an early start on skincare, do hear me out. I thought I’d give you a bit of background on my skincare routine and how it came about.

I started using Kao Biore’s facial wash (it was in a blue/green and white tube) when I was 11, when my mother saw me sprouting pimples left, right and centre. I loved using it as it smelt very good to me at the time. I learned about toner and moisturiser from a family friend, Auntie M, when I was 13. I didn’t understand the concept of a toner then, but since she said that I should get myself familiarised with the 3-step skincare, I thought, eh why not? My mother gave me one of her GWP (Gift-With-Purchase) Clinique Clarifying Lotion and a tiny travel-sized bottle of Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion to try out.

I actually hated the moisturiser at first. I found it greasy on my adolescent face, smelt like bad cheese, and resulted in more pimples. With my saved-up pocket money, I bought a small tube of moisturiser from Biore. As I grew older, I went back to using the Clinique yellow moisturiser (nicked-it-from-my-mum-since-I-was-too-cheap-to-buy-my-own). By then, the three-step skincare was routine for me. When I was 23 years old, I started using sunscreen, as recommended by my mum.

In retrospect, I have my mum to thank for introducing me to skincare. It’s never too early to start, and you’ll have a lot less problems to deal with when you’re older, because then it’ll be difficult to fix any skin problems you have. If budget is the problem, then I can boldly tell you to forget buying makeup, because if the canvas is not good to work with in the first place, makeup alone will not fix it. Okay, temporarily perhaps, but once the mask is taken down, you’re back to the original canvas.

Basic skincare does not have to be expensive. If you hardly wear makeup (or not at all), then a toner is not necessary. Facial wash, moisturiser and sunscreen. That is all you need if you’re on a tight budget. My grandmother’s been using Olay for over 60 years, and her skin’s beautiful. Sunscreen is the best anti-aging product around.

If you know someone – a colleague, a friend, a cousin, a sister, etc, whom you think should be on skincare and are not, gently give them a nudge. Lend them a helping hand into what you think they’d need to suit their skin and budget. You may not be an expert, but if you’re caring for your skin too, they’ll appreciate your advice.

Let’s continue to spread the love and work on caring for our canvas, shall we?