In partnership with Biologi

By Megan Prowd

I tried a K-Beauty routine once. It was a two-week long experiment, with a 10-step routine, twice a day, every day. At first, the novelty of layering mists, serums and creams felt like luxurious self-care. But by week two, 10-step fatigue had set in and my skin was feeling weighed down. When I didn’t get the promised glass-skin results at the end of the two weeks, I was more than a little disappointed. Since then, I’ve been wary of overly complicated routines. 

But apparently, there is another way. In the internet beauty world, the latest trend popping up is not about multiple steps or expensive regimes, it’s all about doing little (or nothing) at all. Enter Skin Fasting. Essentially a detox for the skin, a skin fast reduces product use and allows the skin to heal itself. Loved for its minimalist vibe, it offers a quick and inexpensive alternative to multi-step routines. If you’re looking for simplicity (and results) in your beauty routine, then this just might the movement for you.

What is skin fasting?

The theory behind Biologi’s Skin Fasting is detoxing your skincare routine, by eliminating excess steps and products. The thinking is, overuse of products can cause harm to the skin, by stripping it of its natural oils and moisture barrier. This can lead to breakouts, irritation and sensitivity. In addition layering multiple products can cause the active ingredients to cancel each other out, resulting in zero benefits to skin. 

The best thing about Skin Fasting, is you don’t have to do much at all. It’s a sort of less-is-more skincare movement, if you like, which is no-fuss, inexpensive and efficient. 

One brand endorsing this pared-back approach is Australian-made Biologi, which may be one of the only brands out there telling you to buy less. Biologi’s Dermal Specialist, Lucy Macdougald, explains the concept of Skin Fasting as a minimalist routine, designed to let the skin breathe and do its thing. 

“The skin is home to a complex microbiome. It protects the skin from bacteria, environmental pollutants and moisture loss by neutralising contaminations. When we cleanse too much or over-use products, we essentially throw the balance off which causes issues like excessive oil production and blemishes,” she says.

“Skin Fasting can counteract this by taking things back to basics. It works by stripping your entire routine back, until you use only a couple or no products at all. This might sound scary, but it can be done in stages. It will not only save you time and money, but also give your skin a chance to breathe. Many of us don’t realise the skin is actually powerful in rejuvenating itself, but we often interfere with this process with excessive cleansing or applying too many products.”

The benefits

The potential benefits of Skin Fasting are compelling and include a laundry-list of things like increased hydration, reduced irritation, decreased exposure to synthetics and an improvement to the skin microbiome. As Lucy explains,  going back to basics can allow your skin to regain its own natural balance. 

“We’ve become so accustomed to buying a whole range of products, but your skin doesn’t need it- it simply needs active ingredients that work. Forget about ‘hope in a jar’ remedies or 10-step routines and remember that your skin is a natural organism that works hard to repair itself. You’ll not only feel liberated – but you may also find that you get your best skin yet,” she says.

“When Skin Fasting, only introduce products that contain a high percentage of active ingredients and try to avoid ingredients like silicones and sulphites. Ideally, you want products that multi-task.”

The Fast 

With this advice fresh in mind, I embarked on a five-day Skin Fast, using a streamlined routine that looked like this:

AM

Cleanse with warm water and a soft muslin

Biologi Bqk Morning Serum

Broad-spectrum sunscreen

PM

Cleanse with Biologi Bc Refresh Cleanser 

Biologi Bqk Evening Serum

I decided to go for the maximum results, by forgoing makeup altogether (yes, it hurt at first), and used only the Biologi Bqk Radiance Duo. Consisting of a Morning Serum, with Kakadu plum, and an Evening Serum rich in Quandong, these multi-taskers contain only pure botanical actives and target skin ageing, pigmentation, dullness and redness, and promote cellular skin regeneration. 

Results

Day one of no makeup proved to be slightly challenging, perhaps more for the habit than the need, but I was surprised at how clean and hydrated my skin looked after just a warm-water cleanse, Biologi Bqk Morning Serum and sunscreen. A little dullness and some residual redness were my main issues.

Day two brought on some minor purging, although it failed to progress to a full breakout. Day three brought mostly clear skin, and along with it noticeably better skin texture. But day four was a revelation; my skin felt clear, hydrated and plump, and the usual little patches of redness had all but disappeared. Not only did I not need makeup, but I also didn’t even notice that I didn’t need it.

By day five, my skin was so visibly improved, and I was such a convert to the Skin Fasting trend that I decided to keep up the routine- although I have added makeup gradually, when the occasion calls for it.  Overall, I loved the simplicity of this routine. It saved me time yet brought on better-than-expected visible results; a beauty win-win in anyone’s language.  

From the experts

Lucy says winter is a great time to embark on a Skin Fasting regime, our skin can be dry and tired and in need of a reboot.

  “I always suggest a skin fasting routine using Biologi products and when it comes to sunscreen, we recommend choosing a mineral or physical option that works best for your skin type and that you are comfortable wearing on a daily basis,’’ Lucy says.