Have you washed your face, put on some toner and moisturizer and still felt like your skin isn’t clean or fresh enough? Though the regular cleansing-toning-moisturizing routine is essential, it just doesn’t cut it given how dusty and dirty the city seems to be getting by the day. The Week talked to some makeup artists in order to find out how they keep their skin looking dewy fresh. Here’s what they do (and what we should be doing).
Experts share their secrets
 

Lemi Tamang

I always have little makeup on when I leave the house and I try to cover my face as much as possible, no matter where I go and for how long I am out. If you wear foundations, especially liquid ones, and wear a mask without having set it first, you will find that residual makeup has slid off your face and latched on to your mask. I always set my face with compact powder, which helps my makeup stay in place even if I wear a mask. The first thing I do when I come home these days is wash my makeup off without being lazy about it. Then I follow my regular routine of applying moisturizer, eye creams, and serum.

To tackle Kathmandu’s pollution problem, I use Korean facemasks about two to three times a week in order to revitalize my skin. I find these products are more intense and work on my skin better, giving better results. 

Bipashi Tuladhar 

I have a three step regime that I believe everyone must follow no matter what the percentage of pollution in the air is. I first cleanse my face after having washed it with a face wash. The cleanser removes the dust that the face wash may have missed while giving back some moisture to your skin. I then use a toner to tighten my pores. This helps prevent future pimple breakouts and is a step that you shouldn’t miss out on. I then moisturize my skin and apply my other night time beauty products like night serums. If you are regular with this process, you will find that your skin is better than it has even been and you will not even have to apply facemasks regularly. I don’t usually apply facemasks, but when I do, I use home remedies such as avocado mask or a lemon honey paste. 

Shreya Shrestha

Whenever you come back home, make sure you wash your face and exfoliate at least once or twice a week. After having done that use a good moisturizer because the dust in the air makes it very easy to dry out your skin. One of the best moisturizers to use during this time is coconut oil. It strengthens your skin tissue and absorbs into the skin easily and even helps fight wrinkles as it contains vitamin E. If you have oily skin, buy an aloe vera plant and mix the gooey part that oozes out with lemon juice and apply it over your face. You can wash it off or leave it overnight and wash your face in the morning as well. If you have any friends or family abroad, ask them to send you snail face mask as it is known to have great effects on your skin. I don’t know how effective the ones you find here are and ask my family to send me some when I am about to run out of it.      

Bhumi Rimal

The best thing to do for now is to cleanse, tone and moisturize your skin. No matter which beauty guru you ask in Kathmandu these days that is the first thing they will tell you to do. The second will be to pamper your skin during the weekend and use a homemade facemask instead of relying on store bought ones. In a homemade mask, you can be sure of all the ingredients and know that each element will add to enhance your skin from the daily toil. My go-to home mask consists of only three ingredients – yogurt (dahi), turmeric powder (besar) and sugar. The yogurt is rich in moisturizing properties and turmeric powder helps lighten pigmentation, control facial hair as well as tackle oily skin. Sugar works as a natural exfoliater and helps to gently cleanse your face. 

Onisha Mulmi

Prevention is better than cure and it stands even truer for your facial skin. Damaged skin takes a long time to heal so make sure you don’t reach that point in the first place. When you leave the house in the morning make sure you have a layer of moisturizer on and then add another layer of sunscreen. Protect these layers by applying powder over your face, whether it be compact or translucent. This acts as a barrier between the environment and your skin. Even if you find yourself becoming lazy and skipping the cleansing and toning routine, never forget to wash and moisturize your skin. While the skin only absorbs about 30 percent of moisture from your cream during the day, at night the absorption level skyrockets to 70 percent. You don’t need to wash your face with soap in the morning, just splash your face with cold water and you are good to go. Once a month get a facial or a professional cleansing at a good parlor to give your skin the extra boost it needs.

 
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