My Skincare Spreadsheet Breakdown
If you read my article on How to Start Your Skincare Journey, you'll know that about five years ago my skin drastically changed and I decided to deep-dive into the skincare community. After reading Snow White and the Asian Pear's breakdown on her spreadsheet, I decided to create my own spreadsheet near the start of my journey to track my progress. Now years later, I still keep the spreadsheet up-to-date and preach its usefulness to anyone serious about skincare. Let's breakdown each tab in my spreadsheet.
Routine
The first section of my spreadsheet contains my morning and night skincare routine. It is listed by step and incudes information such as the full product name, if I use it daily, if it's been tested and if I would repurchase it. Over the years, this section has changed drastically as I found new products and built my routine. When I first started, I had only a couple products in both sections that were always marked No for Repurchase. This section helps me understand what products in what order will work best during the two routines and constantly changes as I add or remove products over time. I find it very important to only add products I have tested in this area as I separate products I am currently testing into another section.
Stash
As I have tried and collected a lot of skincare products over the years, the second section of my spreadsheet is designed to make me aware of what I've tried and what is currently on my shelves. Every single product I've ever used or currently use is in this section and color coded based on five factors: Currently Using, Emptied, Had a reaction to it, No reaction but stopped using it, and Haven't tried yet. This gives me an easy system to keep track of what I'm using, what not to purchase ever again, what is emptied, and what I will be trying soon.
Each product is listed out with the date I purchased it, how many bottles I've emptied, the site I purchased it from, the type or step it is in my routine, the brand, the name, the size, if I have tested it, if I would repurchase it, and finally the first five ingredients alongside notes. When I first started this spreadsheet, I did not include the ingredients but I found it extremely helpful to write out the first five ingredients as I noticed products that I had a reaction to were ones with similar ingredients. Plus, it helped me be mindful of what I'm putting on my skin.
Testing Schedule
As someone with skin concerns like acne and dryness, it is was imperative that I try different products to see which ones would benefit my skin the most. To help me keep track, I color-coded each product I was testing with four factors: Currently Testing, Didn't break me out, Had a reaction to it, and Skincare break. Creating a Testing Schedule tab and knowing what I was putting on my skin helped me so much in the process of fixing my concerns.
The products are broken down very similarly to my Stash section with the exception of the Testing Date, Testing ETA, and Testing Status. In the beginning I didn't always do this, but nowadays I always test a product for two weeks in total usually with a week break in between products. It is highly recommended everyone do this when it comes to testing as the timeframe of two weeks will be enough to see if your skin is benefiting from the product or not. It's also worth to give your skin a week break between products to make sure a surprise breakout doesn't happen from the previous product you tested while you were testing a new one. If you're someone who plans on testing and adding multiple products to your routine, testing patiently over time will yield you the best results.
Sheet Masks
The fourth section of my skincare spreadsheet contains information about my favorite things, sheet masks! I'm definitely a sheet mask lover and keeping track of what sheet masks I've tried is crucial.
The most important fields to me in this section are the Good For, HG (Holy Grail), Qty Left (Quantity Left) and Notes. With the variety of sheet masks out there, I find it necessary to write down what the sheet mask I'm trying is good for, whether its brightening, firming, moisturizing, etc. This helps me figure out what kinds of sheet masks I will use for my skin concerns that day. The HG section is any sheet masks I give a 5 star rating to and would preach to others! Qty Left is fairly self-explanatory as I use it to keep track of how many sheet masks of this product I have left. I don't always keep it up-to-date but I do my best. Lastly, the Notes section for each one gives me a better of idea what affects I feel during or after usage. For instance, if I have an allergic reaction or break out the next morning, I add this to the Notes to remember for next time.
Considering Purchasing
As a way to slow down my impulse purchasing habit, this section of my spreadsheet helps me rationalize if I truly want a product or not. It is a simple section that has information about the product, what step it would be my routine, where I should it buy it and most importantly Why? Asking myself Why I want this product is so crucial in breaking my impulsivity. If I can't come up with a good solution on why I want a product, then I will take it off this list. A good why includes a product solving an existing concern or using this product would boost my other steps in the routine. Otherwise, I try to avoid purchasing products that don't meet those whys.
Other Notes
Lastly, this section has kind of become where I put random information over time. Right now, this section contains ingredients I need to avoid and what skin concerns I have. The Avoid Products With These Ingredients area was much longer years ago since my skin was very sensitive to different ingredients, but now as my skin is getting better, the list is shorter. I also started crossing off inital skin concerns I had put in the Skincare Concerns section that I feel have been "fixed" or on track to being fixed. While right now, I am mostly concentrating on the CC (Closed Comedomes) scattered throughout my face and my uneven skin tone, I'm very happy to see concerns crossed off.
Skincare has become a hobby of mine over the years and having this spreadsheet to keep track of everything allows me not to worry as much. Before the spreadsheet, I would forget what products did what or which ones I've tried. Now my mental energy doesn't need to be fixated on that thanks to my handy spreadsheet!
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