Skincare Basics

Dr. Yeoh: In the morning, you should cleanse, tone, moisturise and apply sunscreen. Even on the busiest mornings, don’t skip your sunscreen. Sun exposure is the most damaging thing to your skin health. Repeat at night: cleanse, tone, and moisturise.

However, if you lead a busy, stressful life as most of us do nowadays, the basic three-step regime may no longer give optimal results. Today’s essential must-haves would then consist of a cleanser, essence or serum, eye cream, moisturiser, and sunscreen. In addition, hydrating (sleeping) masks and oils are now a staple in our daily routine, as they help significantly counter the ageing effects of stress, pollution, poor sleep, and hectic schedules.

Dr. Yeoh: After moisturiser. Sunscreen always goes on last.

Dr. Yeoh: As a rule of thumb in humid Singapore, it’s best to cleanse your face twice daily, first thing in the morning and before sleep. Use lukewarm water for best results.

If you sleep in an environment exposed to dirt, dust, and pollution, or if you sweat a lot during the night, I advise washing your face every morning to keep your pores clean. However, if you are pressed for time in the morning and sleep in a clean-air environment, you can skip cleansing and rinse with micellar water or cold water. Here’s a tip—cold water makes the skin look more energised and the pores smaller!

It’s more important to ensure that you wash your face thoroughly to remove all makeup, sweat and grime before going to bed, no matter how tired you are. Sleeping with clogged and dirty skin is one of the most common skincare mistakes.

Dr. Yeoh: Ideally, wait one minute between each product, gently patting the product into your skin or giving yourself a face massage. This helps the product absorb and energises the skin. We are constantly in a rush, and spending just five minutes twice daily applying skincare with mindful concentration is a quick self-care ritual we all deserve.

Dr. Yeoh: Day creams tend to be lighter in texture and contain antioxidants to reduce pollution. Night creams tend to be heavier in consistency and contain more expensive ingredients like stem cell extracts to repair, heal and protect. Forest MD moisturisers are suitable for both day and night use.  

Dr. Yeoh: Definitely, yes! Face masks make all the difference between dry and hydrated skin. When your skin is dry, it looks dull, uneven and tired. Pores look bigger, pimple marks take longer to heal and there are more lines.

A face mask contains a concentrated dose of skin-hydrating ingredients, drenches your cells in moisture, and creates happy-looking skin—clean, smooth, blemish and line-free with refined pores. At Forest MD, my team and I are devotees of the Stem Cell Sleeping Mask—a chemical-free and plant-based transparent gel mask containing apple stem cell extracts. It’s super simple. Just apply to clean skin, leave it on and go to bed. It’s invisible, smells good, feels good, and you wake up with glowing, energised skin!

As part of a regular anti-ageing regime, I recommend using an exfoliation product twice a week, followed by a daily hydrating essence and a face mask to keep the skin youthful and beautiful.