A 7-yr-old's Facial

I just got back from a 2 weeks stay in Hong Kong with my two daughters (age 7 and age 3).  Despite in the middle of Winter, Hong Kong is still as I remembered it: humid, polluted, and hot at times (Yes, hot!  People can still sweat underneath their winter jackets in that weather.)  And to my utter disappointment, even my 7 yr old developed blackheads on her nose within a week of our arrival.  This is how humidity and pollution do to people (in my opinion, of course; not scientifically based).  What is a mom to do?  My husband stayed in Toronto while I traveled with the girls; I was already stressed to the max and I do not really have time for blackheads on my 7-yr-old!  (You may find me a little bit schizophrenic in my reaction to "blackheads", but I've had a long-term relationship with those ever since my early childhood, growing up in Hong Kong.  I thought my daughter did not inherit my pores, but maybe she didn't escape fate like I thought she did.  ~ Fortunately, despite larger pores on my nose, I have no problem with acne growing up; so that is one consolation.)

I have a large selection of skincare products at home: cleanser, serum, moisturizer, toner, mask sheets, clay mask, pore refining mask, BB cream, blackhead clearing gel, eye cream, exfoliants, pore peels, ... you name it and I may have it.  BUT I did not pack my entire collection for my trip.  I only packed the basics: cleanser, toner, serum, eye cream, BB cream, mask sheets, and moisturziers.  I thought I was well prepared; how was I to know that my 7-yr-old would develop blackheads on her nose during this trip???

Experience told me that I have to act quick and cautious.  She is too young for extraction (you know, that blackhead needle with a ring on one side and a pin on the other).  If only I brought the Jeju Volcanic Clay Mask from Innisfree with me...

Luckily, in Hong Kong, they are also pretty big on Korean and Japanese cosmetic products.  I just have to leave my apartment and walk to the nearest shopping mall (which is only 5 mins away) and I will find enough cosmetic stores to fulfill my needs (although the prices are higher than what I can get locally in Toronto).  For instance, where I stayed, there is a Missha, Fancl House and ColorMix.  (ColorMix carries a wide variety of brands, one of which is The FACEShop, which is also a brand that I use and have grown to love.)  And for my daughter's debut into the world of skincare, I chose Fancl House's Pore Cleansing Pack.

This clay mask is a daily mask that you apply for 3 minutes before you rinse off.  It's supposed to shrink the blackheads and tighten up the pores.  Honestly, I don't think it worked very well on me, but then again, I've had the blackhead problems for over 20 years now and since I've tried almost all kinds of methods to get rid of them, my pores have enlarged which makes me not the best candidate to test this product (I think it works better on people with finer pores and on the onset of seeing blackheads).  I used this mask on myself and my daughter, sharing the pack as each contains far more than one day's worth of clay.  (Each pack contains enough clay to apply on the entire face!  I was able to use one pack for 3 to 4 days!)  By the time we left Hong Kong (which was about 5 days since I started the clay mask on my daughter's nose), I noticed that the blackheads were LESS visible... they're still there, no doubt, but I now require a flashlight to view them up close.

Back in Toronto, I decided that it's time to introduce the concept of basic skincare to my usually tomboyish 7-yr-old (my other daughter, the 3-yr-old, is the exact opposite; always trying to get me to put nail polish on her and ask me for moisturizers to put on her face... She is also known for drawing her eyebrows with pens and painting her face and fingernails with markers).  Again, I don't want to over do it, as I was told even by my Korean skincare saleslady that Korean girls start taking care of their skin with skincare products and getting their facials around age 15.  I have to keep everything simple and natural so that I don't irritate my daughter's still delicate skin.  When I was 7, my mom bought me my first 3-steps at home facial system, consisting of a cleaning milk, facial scrub, and clay mask.  The only problem was that she expected a 7-yr-old to use it on a regular basis.  Needless to say, I gave up soon after and with this experience, I know that in order for my daughter to agree to getting a facial from mommy, I would have to give her the spa-like experience at home.

I had her lie down in her bed before bedtime, with soft music playing in the background; then I started off with cleaning her face using a mild cleansing gel.  (When my next skincare products arrive, I will use Skinfood's Green Tea Milk Cleansing Gel on her, as I am under the impression that it is a good product suitable for tender skin.  After cleansing, I put on the mask for her.  Sometimes, I will use the clay mask, others (like last night) we tried the Black Sugar mask which leaves the skin so soft and smooth (like a baby's bottom).

After that, it's time for toner (at the moment, I'm waiting for my next order to arrive, which is the Clean Face Mild Toner from The FACEShop that I ordered especially for my daughter... I let her use my own toner for a week until I started thinking that it is probably not suitable for her age since it has pore tightening and whitening properties (I am currently using Dr. Jart's Most White Skin Mist.).

After toner, then it's moisturizers (I don't think kids her age need essence / emulsion / serum.).  I am a big believer in water based moisturizers because oil based products tend to clog up my pores.  For my 7 yr old, I use either Skinfood's Facial Water Vita-C Cream or The FACEShop's Arsainte Eco-Therapy Extreme Moisture Daily Moisturizer.  Both are really light and hydrating.

I don't know if I'm starting this way too early for my daughter, but from the expression on her face, she is loving it.  And it makes a really nice mother-daughter time together too!