My flatmate still brings this up at parties.She tells people,“You should have seen her. Standing in the bathroom. Fog everywhere. Her fingers all wrinkly. And she’s on like… step eight? Nine? I don’t know. But she looked miserable. Actually miserable. Like someone had asked her to solve math problems instead of doing skincare.”Honestly, she wasn’t wrong.I was miserable.It was June in Mumbai — the kind of June where the air feels wet. Your shirt sticks to your back before you’ve even left the home. You take a shower and somehow feel sweaty again within an hour.Meanwhile, there I was, doing a full Korean 10-step skincare routine twice a day.Why?Because I had watched a video. You know the type. A girl with perfect skin sitting in a perfect room with perfect lighting. She patted products onto her face gently and lovingly while everything looked calm, spiritual, and deeply therapeutic.

Naturally, I wanted that life too.So I bought everything. Every step. Every bottle. Every tiny spatula that comes with expensive jars. Eventually, I arranged all of it in a neat line on my bathroom shelf. Step one to step ten.It looked serious. Adult. Organized.For a brief moment, I honestly thought I had become one of those people who had their life together.At first, the routine felt productive. I was doing the absolute most, so surely my skin would thank me for the effort.Unfortunately, my skin did not thank me.

By week two, my face looked confused. By week three, it looked angry. By week four, I had pimples behind my ears.Behind my ears.I didn’t even know that was possible.Eventually, I had to twist my neck in the mirror just to confirm they existed. Then my flatmate looked over my shoulder and said:“Yes. Those are pimples. Behind your ears. Congratulations.”At that point, I had spent a small fortune to look worse than when I started.Clearly, something was wrong. However, I couldn’t figure out what. Instead of stopping, I just kept going like an idiot. I convinced myself the issue wasn’t the routine — it was my lack of commitment to it.Turns out, I was completely wrong.

The Train Ride That Changed Everything

The realization hit me on a Churchgate local train.It was packed. The kind of packed where you don’t even hold the handle because there’s no room to lift your arm. Someone’s elbow was in my rib. Another person’s backpack was pressed into my spine. Meanwhile, the guy next to me was eating something with cumin and breathing directly into my face.And my skin?Sweating.Not a little either. A lot.I could actually feel little beads forming along my hairline and sliding down my temples. Sweat pooled in the corners of my mouth while every layer of skincare slowly melted together.That morning, I had done my full Korean skincare routine. Every single step. Every layer. Every careful pat.

By then, all of it was sliding off my face.At one point, I literally watched a droplet of sunscreen mixed with serum, essence, and sweat drip off my chin and land on the newspaper the man beside me was reading.He looked up.I looked away.That’s when I finally realised something important:This skincare routine wasn’t made for me.It was designed for someone living in a dry climate. Someone who didn’t commute through weather that feels like breathing underwater. Someone whose face didn’t produce its own moisturiser by 9 AM.In reality, I was doing a Seoul skincare routine in Mumbai humidity.And Mumbai was winning.

The Conversation I Had With Myself

(Out loud, because apparently that’s who I am now.)That night, I sat cross-legged on my bed and started talking to myself.Out loud.At that point, I genuinely didn’t care anymore.Me: “What are we doing?”My face: sweats aggressively Me: “Seriously. We spend forty minutes a day doing this. Forty minutes. That’s almost three hours every week. We could literally watch a movie instead.”My face: produces another pimple Me: “What do you actually need?”Then I just sat there quietly, thinking about it.Eventually, one word came to mind:Suffocated.

My skin felt suffocated, like I had wrapped it in a blanket during peak summer and expected it to stay calm.For the first time, I stopped thinking about what skincare videos told me to want. Instead, I thought about what my skin actually needed.It wanted to breathe.That was it.Nothing dramatic. Nothing luxurious.Just space to breathe.So finally, I stopped suffocating it.

What I Changed (And Why It Actually Helped)

Oil Cleansing

Previously, I oil cleansed every single night without fail. Even on days when I didn’t wear makeup. Even when I barely left the home.Now, I only oil cleanse two or three times a week, mostly after sunscreen or makeup.As a result, my skin stopped feeling stripped and tight. Turns out, you don’t need to deep-clean a face that has almost nothing on it.Revolutionary concept, honestly.

Foam Cleansing

Earlier, I followed oil cleansing with a foaming cleanser every night.These days, I use a milk cleanser instead. Sometimes, I just rinse my face with water.In the morning, I skip cleanser completely.My flatmate once asked if that was hygienic.However, my skin now looks significantly healthier than it did during my over-cleansing phase, so I think I’ll survive.

Exfoliation

Korean skincare routines often encourage gentle daily exfoliation.I tried that.My face turned bright red.Not pink. Red.Like I had fallen asleep in direct sunlight.Now, I exfoliate once a week or sometimes every ten days. Instead of harsh acids, I use a gentle PHA toner that doesn’t burn or irritate my skin.Thankfully, my face no longer looks like an angry tomato afterward.

Toner and Essence

At one point, I used separate toner and essence products every day.Two bottles. Two layers. Two rounds of patting.Now, I use one milky toner that does both jobs.One layer is usually enough. Occasionally, I do two.But seven layers in Mumbai humidity?Absolutely not.That’s no longer skincare. That’s a science experiment.

Serums

Previously, I used multiple serums morning and night because I assumed more ingredients meant better skin.Now, I use one serum at night only.Either peptides or retinal — never both together.Meanwhile, my morning skincare routine is intentionally simple: moisturizer and sunscreen.Surprisingly, my skin looks calmer when I stop attacking it with active ingredients all day long.

Sheet Masks

Daily sheet masks sound relaxing in theory.In reality, they’re expensive, messy, and incredibly annoying when your hair keeps sticking to your face because the fan is running.Now, sheet masks are reserved for Sundays.They feel like a treat instead of a chore.And honestly, that makes a huge difference.

Eye Cream

I still use eye cream, but I switched textures completely.Instead of thick creams, I use a lightweight gel formula that disappears quickly.Most importantly, it doesn’t slide into my eyes and make them water.Because, frankly, my face already produces enough moisture on its own.

Moisturizer

Earlier, I used a rich cream moisturizer that felt luxurious and velvety.Unfortunately, in Mumbai summer, velvety quickly turns into plastic wrap.These days, I stick to water creams.If I can still feel the moisturizer sitting on my face after five minutes, it’s too heavy.

Simple rule.

Sunscreen

Honestly, glowy sunscreens are a lie in humid weather.In dry climates, they create that beautiful glass-skin effect.In Mumbai humidity, however, they make you look like you haven’t washed your face in three days.Now, I use natural-finish sunscreens instead.Not shiny. Not ultra-matte. Just normal skin.Which, surprisingly, is all I ever wanted.

The Waiting

This was the smallest skincare change, but it made the biggest difference.Previously, I layered moisturizer and sunscreen immediately one after the other.Now, I wait three minutes.During that time, I brush my teeth, drink water, or stare blankly at the wall while questioning my life choices.Eventually, the moisturizer sinks in properly before sunscreen goes on top.As a result, nothing slides around anymore. No weird white streaks. No pilling. No melting.Three minutes fixed a problem I spent months blaming on products.

My Actual Skincare Routine Right Now

(Not the fantasy version. The real one.)

Morning

• Splash water on my face
• Milky toner
• Water cream
• Wait three minutes
• Sunscreen with a natural finish

Evening

• Micellar water if I stayed indoors
• Oil cleanser if I wore sunscreen outside
• Milk cleanser only if my face feels dirty
• One serum (peptides or retinal)
• Gel eye cream
• Water cream

Once a Week

• PHA toner at night
• No serum that evening
• Sheet mask on Sunday in front of the fan with my hair tied back

That’s it.Five or six steps total.Nothing excessive.Nothing exhausting.And honestly? My skin is clearer now than it ever was during my 10-step skincare phase.It’s less congested, less irritated, and far less confused.Plus, I got back twenty minutes of my day.Twenty minutes.That’s enough time for a podcast episode, a short nap, or literally anything else besides standing in a steamy bathroom applying eight layers of products.

The Products I Threw Away

I threw away a lot.Half-used essences. Expensive serums. Products people online absolutely swore by.Honestly, it hurt.At first, throwing those bottles away felt like failure. Like I had wasted money and somehow failed skincare itself.However, here’s what I kept:

• One milky toner
• One water cream
• One peptide serum
• One retinal serum
• One gel eye cream
• One natural-finish sunscreen
• One PHA toner

Seven products.That’s all.My shelf looks emptier now.lmost sad, honestly.But my skin looks happier.