I love drinking coffee.
It is honestly one of my favorite things in the entire world. Unfortunately, coffee also gives me acne, making me limit the intake of my caffeine in a week. I cannot have coffee every day because that would lead to a never-ending breakout. Since I cannot seem to let go of drinking coffee from my day-to-day life, I have instead decided to turn to skincare to help me fix this problem.
Recently, I have come across a new line of products, or rather an ingredient, across multiple stores. To name this ingredient, it is known as Centella asiaticaーor Cica for short. Although Cica has been around for a while, I have never seen so many Cica products in the market before, and naturally, this got my interest intrigued. I am curious to try it out however I also cannot help but feel a bit anxious and scared at the same.
Why anxious and scared? Let me explain myself a bit.
I have combination skin, oily and dry, and I also am acne-prone which leaves ugly acne scars on my face, and let’s not even get started on my blackhead problem. My skin also seems to have mood swings where it would be so clear like glass for a few weeks that I consider modeling for skincare product ads and then the other weeks its condition is so bad that I feel like it has dirt rubbed all over it.
My skin is not the best.
Therefore it is only natural that I spend immense time researching and reading reviews before I make any skin-related purchase.
This brings us back to Cica. As you all have understood my skin condition, it is second nature to me to research what exactly Cica is and how beneficial it is for my skin before I actually purchase it. Due to my generous nature, I have also decided to share my findings with you all.
Firstly Cica, full form Centella Asiatica, is a medial plant/herb found in parts of Asia. Cica has been used in traditional Chinese medicines for centuries and in recent years has gained its popularity in mainly K-Beauty. Cica has been commonly used to treat wounds and burn to heal, as well as treat extremely dry skin and prevent scars. It also is said to be antibacterial, contains antioxidant properties, and is my favorite, anti-inflammatory to help out with acne. To top it off, cica is safe and suitable for all types of skincare, including extremely sensitive skin, and it also is safe to use with other active ingredients.
Other than strengthening our skin barrier and calming inflammation, another big benefit of Cica is that it helps with the increase of production of collagen in the skin, which is known to decrease with age. It is also ideal to treat eczema and psoriasis flare-ups as well as help balance oily and acne-prone skin without actually clogging prone and reducing redness on the face.
Cica sounds like six ingredients in one.
Now with my research completed and my anxiety calmed down, I now know that it is safe for my skin and have decided to try cica cream, praying it will help with my acne situation.
Won’t you try it as well? All you have to do is use it as a serum or a moisturizer daily, whichever suits you.
(Fun fact: Tigers are also known to rub their wounds against the Cica plant, fencing nicknaming Cica as “Tiger Grass”)