From The Straits Times    |

Photo: Morganalisonstewart/Instagram 

With more women looking for products that target more than one skin issue at a time, layering our skincare products have become a common practice. But with beauty brands offering more potent ingredients, it’s now more important than ever to know which ingredients we should or should not use together at the same time, in order to prevent the product from totally losing its efficacy. Here, we list two pairs of ingredients you should never mix together.

 

Vitamin C and AHA (alpha hydroxy acid)

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Vitamin C is one of the most popular ingredients to help you achieve more radiant skin. Known for its brightening effects, it reduces the production of melanin to lighten acne scars, hyperpigmentation and dark spots. It also has exfoliating benefits to help remove dead skin cells so your skin will feel softer and smoother and can better absorb the rest of your skincare.

AHAs are chemical exfoliants that help remove dead cells on the surface of your skin. AHAs come in the form of lactic acid and glycolic acid, just to name a few, and generally have lower pH levels than your skin.”It is believed that vitamin Cs should not be used with alpha hydroxy acids,” says DR XY Lum of IDS Clinic. “The AHAs may alter the pH levels of the (vitamin C) products, thus, reducing its efficacy.” When that happens, your skin will not be able to absorb the benefits of the product.

 

Oil-based and water-based products

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Fact: Oil repels water. So if you have always been applying an oil based product after a water-based product, it’s time to rethink that method. Oil and water are two substances that are incapable of mixing together. According to Dr. Lum, applying oil-based products prevents the absorption of the water-based products. So when you apply a facial oil prior to a water-based moisturiser, the ingredients in your moisturiser will not be able to penetrate into your skin. Yes, it may not be super dangerous, but would you really want to waste a good moisturiser? Well, we sure wouldn’t want to.

This article was first published on Female

 

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