'I threw out all of my expensive skincare. Here's exactly what happened to my face.'

Ah, skincare. I never imagined that it was going to be something I’d be doing for my whole life. I remember being 14 and thinking, “When I turn 18, my acne will just go away! I can’t wait to be an adult!”

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Who knew that at age 25, I would still be on the hunt for a miracle product that would regulate oiliness, even out red patches, and make those pesky pimples disappear overnight.

While you're here, know what ways you can try to improve your skin while sleeping below. Story continues after video.

I regret to inform you that such a product sadly does not exist.

Now, I haven’t tried every skincare product in existence in order to come to this astute conclusion. I’ve simply tried enough to realise that if there was a miracle product, I probably would have found it by now because literally everyone would be shouting about it from the rooftops.

The thing about all those slick, shiny ads that pop up on social media is that they cannot possibly be real. I recently read a brilliant article by plus-size model Sarah Kelly discussing the experience of not recognising herself in photoshoots after all the editing. I know that it’s a very different scenario, but I can only imagine that the same kind of editing happens to the fresh-faced, dewy models on my Facebook feed swiping clay masks onto already flawless skin.

Those models look perfect to me. So, if I buy this product... maybe, I’ll look perfect too.

Skincare advertising can be even more deceptive than fashion advertising. Even though looking different in activewear to a model who is supposedly my size is frustrating, I can see the difference the moment I try on the clothes. But with skincare, the one thing that we’re constantly being told is to give it time.

According to the website of the latest overpriced miracle cream I tried, we’re supposed to use a product consistently for at least twelve weeks before consigning it to skincare purgatory on the bottom shelf of the bathroom cupboard. But if you’re anything like me, twelve weeks of reactive breakouts seems like a pretty high price to pay for something that might not even work.

So, after three weeks (or maybe five if you’ve paid $88 for 24mL), you move onto something else. A cream didn’t work, maybe the right combination of serums will? Make sure you put them on in the right order and give each product at least five minutes to absorb before applying the next. On and on it goes until skincare purgatory is overflowing and you need to take some drastic measures.

My face after ten weeks of yet another 'miracle' product. Image: Supplied.

Enter: skincare minimalism.

I stumbled across this term in a post promoting Mamamia's Skin Summit, which posed the question “Are you a skin minimalist, or a skin maximalist?” Realising that I was somewhere in between, I decided to do some cursory Googling into the phrase “skin minimalism”. I had recently been exploring minimalism as a lifestyle, and was intrigued by the idea of pairing minimalist theory with my skincare routine. I was already on a journey of minimising my possessions one room at a time and decided that the perfect opportunity would be to tackle my bathroom next.

I roughly followed the Marie Kondo method of dumping everything in a pile, holding each item in my hands and asking “does this spark joy?” By the end of the process, I had reduced the products I was going to use on my face daily to just three: a cleanser (morning and night), a moisturiser (morning and night) and a sunscreen (all day, every day, forever).

My new skincare regime. Image: Supplied.

Oh, it pained me to give away expensive serums, creams, masks, and face oils which were no longer serving me and simply taking up space, but I knew that the only reason they were still in my cupboard was because I had spent so much on them in the first place. I knew they made me breakout; I knew I wasn’t going to use them again. But getting rid of them still hurt, because I was letting go of the illusion that I somehow needed fixing, and that these products would achieve that.

I’m not saying that becoming a skincare minimalist will make your skin perfect. Actually, nothing will, because, as in all advertising, perfect skin is an impossible illusion sold to us by multimillion-dollar corporations to get us to spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need to impress people we don’t really like (yes, I just quoted Fight Club in an article about skincare).

In fact, I have noticed a positive change in my skin since minimising my bathroom a month ago (four weeks, not twelve!). Maybe it’s my hormones, maybe it’s that daily green smoothie finally kicking into action, or maybe it’s just a good month for me. Most likely, it’s a combination of all three, plus that I’ve stopped irritating my skin by constantly putting unnecessary products on it in the hope of a quick fix.

My skin four weeks into becoming a skin minimalist. Image: Supplied.

All that to say, if you’re loving being a skin maximalist, go for it! I’m not a professional, and I’m certainly not here to condemn anyone’s skincare routine. I just want to encourage those who want to explore using less. And if that’s you, I can confidently say that becoming a skin minimalist has been the best thing I’ve ever done for my face; not because my skin is suddenly perfect, but because it’s empowered me to be consistent, and love the skin that I have.

Feature Image: Supplied.