My Skincare Life by Akesha Reid

Akesha Reid is the Digital Editor of Hairdressers Journal International and also writes for Cosmopolitan and Refinery29. I caught up with her to find out about her skincare regime.

When I was younger I had eczema, so from an early age I was really cautious about what I put on my skin and I’d always be interested in seeing what my older sisters and my mum used. However, it was only when I started blogging whilst at university that I really came across the vast amount of skincare products there is out there and became more and more interested in trying new things.

My mum has beautiful skin, she's 60 but looks nowhere near her age - in fact neither of my parents do. My mum loves her skincare but more importantly she is obsessed with eating fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water, which is something she instilled in my sisters and I from a young age.

I also read women's magazines from my early teens and would look at the beauty pages. I obviously couldn't afford any of the premium brands at that age so if I saw anything in my parents' room that were on those pages I would sneakily use some. I used my mum's Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair so much she eventually just bought me my own one.

Because I never had really spotty, problem teenage skin, I luckily stayed away from anything too astringent. My ‘go to’ brands were definitely Simple and Johnsons in my earlier teens - I still reach for Simple Face Wipes now when I'm having a lazy day.

What I have learnt about my skin is that it is always changing, whether it's maturing or just changing with the seasons. My skin has different needs in the summer than it does in the winter so I use products to accommodate that. In the summer it tends to be oilier and my pores are larger so my routine aims to combat that.

Then in the winter my skin seems to feel tighter and drier due to the weather and persistent central heating so I'll use slightly richer products for added moisture. I've found that through trial and error and reading up on things I've really gotten to know what works for me.

My skincare have evolved a lot since my teen years; there are way more steps now. Now, I cleanse, tone, use a serum (I'm currently loving La Roche Posay Efflacar Duo+ and my trusty Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair) and then use a moisturiser, twice a day.

I also think since working in hair and beauty journalism, my knowledge of skincare has gotten a lot better and has helped me make more informed decisions - for example, I used to lap up products that were oil-free as I thought it would help combat my oily t-zone, but whilst researching one of my features I learnt that using mattifying, oil-free products can cause your skin to produce excess oil – the exact opposite of what I need.

The more I learn about skincare the more I want to know and try, you’re never too young to take skincare seriously.