2021 is the year I’ll have to click a different range of age category, and I’ll be writing the number ‘4’ for the first digit of my age.

While it’s quite evident that my metabolism is slowing down a fair bit, makeup and concealer are still helping me hide a couple of things. Skin tags. Fine lines. Eye bags. Flaking lips. In addition to all these, ever since the mandatory face-mask wearing started, I also started developing red patches around the area below my nose.

Just last Christmas alone, I received many skincare and wellness gifts well-meaning friends thought I ought to have: lip balm (I received MANY kinds), eye cream, hair tonic, eye masks and moisturisers. I think everyone was seeing these two things on my face: red and dry, and clearly wishing for my sake that I should do something about it.

Thankful for friends who care, for sure. But I was even more thankful to be invited by Innovative Dermatological Solutions (IDS) to embark on a skincare journey with them. I’ve read a little of this homegrown brand while flipping magazine pages, and I’ve always been curious on what they really offer.

And so I paid a visit to the IDS flagship at International Building earlier this year to acquaint myself with their offerings and services, and to see Dr Michelle Wong from IDS Clinic for my skin issues.

The IDS Flagship is located at International Building.

Dr Michelle was empathetic in listening to my skin woes and without hesitation, ordered a range of skincare products for me to try – all to address the issues of enlarged pores on my T-zone, my fine lines around my eyes, my eye bags and eye rings, and the flaking around my lips.

At the doctor’s office, ranting non-stop

What happened subsequently was a rattling of a whole bunch of letters of the alphabet and numbers — T2, C2, IM, RC, etc… which was a little baffling at first but I soon realised IDS adopted a really simple way to name their products by using the first letters of the product and a number code for each skin type – oily, normal, dry. How easy to understand!

The IDS skincare range – PLENTY of options, all developed locally and extensively tested.

A rundown on what I got for my skin to be used in this order: C2 (Cleanser for normal to sensitive skin) > T2 (Toner for normal to sensitive skin) > PF (Pore Formula) > C+ (Vitamin C serum for the eye bags and dark rings) > RC (Rejuvenating Complex for the fine lines) > IM (Intensive Moisturiser for the flaky skin) > S3 (Tinted Sunscreen with SPF 50 PA+++)

It’s been close to two months now, at this point of writing, of using C2, T2, PF, C+, RC, IM and S3 in my daily skincare ritual and I’m really happy to report that I am blown away by the efficacy of this Made in Singapore line. The dry skin around my lips and the peeling lips have completely disappeared within a week of using RC and IM religiously twice a day, and I see visibly shrunk pores and fewer fine lines. The dark eye rings are still a battle (pretty much also genetic as I have always believed), but other than that, I have very moisture-ful, supple skin from the beginning to the end of the day and needing very little makeup and concealer after using the prescribed range from IDS every day.

In fact, I hang on to this for dear life now before I head out and rarely use any other kinds of makeup:

A special mention of this tinted sunscreen: I have been searching for something light, non-sticky, tinted, water resistant and chemical free. Bought a couple of them from my last Japan trip but found them on the cloying side.

This S3 just MELTS into the skin. AMAZING.

And this is the before and after of how my skin is looking – with zero filters used.

On the right is the patchy, red, flaky dry skin I started having since face-mask wearing, and on the left, is after a day’s work which is not super oily and with zero flaking after using my prescribed IDS skincare range.

Can’t be happier with this result and loving the local brand that is IDS. And more stoked that this is only the beginning of my IDS journey!

Disclosure: All opinions here are my own. I only do honest reviews – including reviewing how much HELP I need for my own skin.

*Credits to Elizabeth

Visit Elizabeth’s blog post here.