Skin Care Routine | Spring & Summer 2013

 FACE
Shiseido Perfect Whip Cleanser
This is the facial cleanser that I'm currently using for both day and night. I like the formula of this cleanser, it lathers into very thick and ultra smooth foam, looks and feels pretty much like whip cream. It's very gentle  as the same time cleans well. It doesn't leave my skin dry after wash and very affordable.

Shea Terra Organics Rose Hips Black Soap
This is the product that I use for deep cleaning my face. It's an organic cleanser that claims deep clean pores and get rid of dead skin. Unlike regular cleanser, it has a gelly texture and its a bit tricky to use. I only use this 2-3 times per week because it's quite harsh. I will have a separate post on this.

Naruko Magnolia Brightening & Firming Spray
After I cleaned my face, the first step I will use this to spray my face. It claims brighten and firming so I felt it will work better as the first layer. It's very easy to absorb also hydrates my skin.

Naruko Raw Job's Tears Whitening Toner and Lotion
This is the new skin care set I am currently using. Since Naruko products are known for natural, easy absorb, zero oilness and heaviness, I always enjoy using them at summer time.
The Raw Job's Tears series is more nourishing than the other series that I've tried, such as the Narcissus, Marjoram & Lavender series. I found that the toner is an extremely easy and fast absorbing product, it left my skin well hydrated. Compare to the toner, the lotion is a lot richer so it takes a little longer to absorb. Both these products are great keeping my skin really calm and hydrated, I am really surprised that my skin hasn't experience any problems at this time of the year .

 EYES, LIPS and BLEMISH TREATMENT

Peter Thomas Roth Anti-aging Cellular Eye Repair Gel
After I finished the Coffee Bean Eye Cream by 100% pure, I wanted to switch to a gel product to use and has anti-aging purposes. I found this at the sale section on Sephora.com and I bought it immediately because I know this is the one. I heard a lot of good things about this brand and always wanted to try it. This eye gel claims for under eye wrinkles, fine lines, under eye puffiness, it has a lot of vitamins and natrual ingredients in it which I think is really good. I like that is really light weight and smooth, I do see the difference after using this, it helps reduce the  puffiness of my eyes in the morning.

Peter Thomas Roth Un-wrinkle Pink Ice Lip Balm
This was featured in my March Favorites post, I am currently using this as a moisturizing and anti-aging lip treatment. Unlike other lip balms the texture of this one is very different. I like it because it doesn't feels waxy, slippery or heavy on the lips, it applies very thin on the lips and long lasting. I do see the results that it reduces wrinkle and fine lines of my lips.

Vichy Anti-blemish Intensive Treatment Cream
This is my all time favorite blemish treatment. I always have this in my skin care routine and always use this to treat blemish and acne. It has salicylic acid 2.0%, which is higher than usual blemish treatment products. It works fast in getting rid of any blemishes and breakouts, usually I can see the difference overnight, it takes 2-3 days for large and severe acne problems.

FACIAL MASK
Laneige Water Sleeping Pack_EX
This is the sleeping mask that I use at night, repurchased numerous times and I still found it's the best. It hydrates and brightens my skin overnight, I just love how easy that it and how my skin looks in the morning after using this and plus it smells so nice.

HadaLabo Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion
This is actually a lotion but I use it as a facial mask. Because it's very hydrating and low irritation, I like to use it with compressed paper masks. It does a great job for super quick hydrating treatment and leaves skin well hydrated and glowy.

My Beauty Diary Q10 Rejuvenating Mask

One of my favorite mask by My Beauty Diary, previously I was using the black pearl one, it does really great job brightening and whitening my skin. This one does nourishing, hydrating and brightening. I like masks of this brand in general, they fits really nicely on my face and contains lots of serum,  most importantly they really does the job.

If you have a skin care post please let me know, I am very interested to see. Thank you so much for reading and sorry it's a really long post.

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Review: HadaLabo Gokujyun-a Rentionl Lotion & Moisture Milk

HadaLabo Gokujyun-a Rentional Lotion 170ml,  Moisture Milk 140ml

HadaLabo Rentinol Lotion adding different ingredients in order to let you enjoy anti-wrinkle, moisturizing and elastic, as to create a compact skin. Aging causes the skin loses its elasticity. This product adding the collagen, and it is weak acid, providing a mild treatment to skin, smoothen the fine lines and brings supple to skin.

 for dry and delicate skin 

made in Japan

 (description from sasa.com)

I've been using this set for about 3-4 months now and it has helped my skin safely past the long winter that we had here. I have previously used some of other skin care products from this brand such as the Tamagohada cleanser and Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion, it all work out pretty good on me so I brought this set around Dec last year to use for the winter season.
This line is targeted for anti-aging and moisturizing, it contains rentinol, collagen and other nourishing ingredients. The lotion is very thick, it feels almost like serum unlike any other toner/lotion that I have used. It took around three weeks for my skin to finally get use to it and before that I just felt it's oily and it takes long time to completely absorb into the skin. It does keep my skin very well nourished but my face would be too oily throughout the day especially follow by the moisture milk, So I only use this lotion at night.

The moisture milk has a milky gel texture, applies easily and I find it much more easier to absorb compare to the toner. I use it both day and night and it's been working great for me. It keeps my skin very well moisturized at all time, my skin feels soft and rejuvenated. Both these products come in a nice decent size and you only need one or two drops each time so it will certainly last long. I would recommend these products for dry and mature skin to use at cold season, it's too rich for young age people. If your skin condition is normal then you can switch to a light toner.Overall I think both products are very good in terms of moisturizing. Personally I would prefer using a lighter lotion or toner, it's easier for the skin to absorb and also laying on other products.
Recently I switched my skin care routine for spring and summer season, I will have a post of that very soon.

P.S  Drugstore.com now carrying some HadaLabo products, not much but I'm appreciated, it made so much easier to get these products in the States.

Thanks for reading.

❤

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January Favorites, 2013

Products:
fresh sugar lip treatment 
very smooth and moisturizing, apply only a thin layer but it lasts long and smells good. No greasy or waxy feeling on lips.
Benefit Watt's Up hightlighter 
Maybelline Color Tattoo Eye Shadow barely branded, bad to the bronze
Beautiful colors and very easy to blend and use. It lasts all day without creasing or fading on my lids. These two color are my favorites.
Hadalabo BB Moist cream
Hadalabo Gokujyun-a Rentionl Toner and Lotion   (Review coming soon)
VO5 Daily Leave-in Conditioner
I spotted this product from Mishi's blog post about her hair care products. This leave-in conditioner is very light in texture, it does help detangle my hair and make it so much easier to comb through. 

Related Info:
Review: Benefit Watt's Up hightlighter 
Review：Hadalabo BB Moist cream

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Hada-Labo BB Moist Cream Review

 Hada-Labo BB Moist Cream SPF 32 PA+++  45g

Features:
A BB cream for moisturizing, sun protection, makeup base and light coverage.

Description:

This BB cream contains Hyaluronic Acid for softening and moisturizing results. It conceals and corrects skin complexion for natural, glowing appearance. Thanks for the "spherical soft focus powder" contained in the product that adheres to the skin so well and reflects the light to create smooth and soft results. As such, large pores and wrinkles are less visible.This BB cream also gives you light and even coverage with SPF protection in order to protect your skin from the damages of UVA/UVB.
No fragrance, no mineral oil, alcohol free, hypoallergenic

What I think:

This BB cream comes in two shades I think I have the lighter shade, which is natural ochre.  As you can see in the pictures above, it has a yellow undertone but not too dark, it evens out my skin tone very well. I think this is a great shade because it will suits most yellow and neutral skin tones. 
The consistency is great, not oily or sticky, more towards the liquid side but not watery. It's creamy and very easy to blend, usually I just use my fingers in instead of brushes for BB cream. As you blend it in you will see the fine powder in it, which claims to "reflects the light to create smooth and soft results".
It offers a light coverage, as you can see the closeup picture, it won't cover all the dark spots on my face and some redness around my nose, but it's buildable to medium. What I like about it most is that it has the ability to blur lines and pores, any sort of imperfections on my face. 
It has a natural satin finish which I really like. Also I found that it looks even more beautiful during the day, almost like a non-makeup makeup, it's my skin but better, if you know what I mean.
Usually I will touch up my face with some powder at my forehead and chin area after 3-4 hours . If you have oily skin then you might not like it or you will have to set it with powder on top.
Overall, this is an amazing product and so far my favorite BB cream. The only downside is it's hard to get in the U.S, but if you happen to come across this, give it a try if you are looking for a BB cream.

★★★★☆

Pros:

easy to blend and very light

blurs imperfection,  natural finish

last long and non transferable

 SPF

Cons:

need touch up during the day

hard to get in the U.S

❤

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Updated: Skin Care Routine

 Cleaning

In the Morning I use the Shiseido Perfect Whip Foam Cleanser wash my face. I am really surprised by the formula of this cleanser, it foams up with just a tiny bit of products, like it's name feels like whip cream on my face. I will do a review of this later.

For makeup: First I will use the Lumene Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover takes off my eye makeup. This is my all time favorite eye makeup remover. After shaking it, I usually pour some products on a cotton pad then place it on my eyes for 5 second or so, it melts everything off including waterproof mascara. As you can see, it's a two layers formula, so there will be a little bit oilness left. That's why I will use the Bioderma Sensibio H2O next, taking off any residue and also my face makeup. It's very gentle and works like a dream.
If it's ordinary days that I'm wearing very light makeup, then after the Bioderma I will just rinse my face with water to finish. I know I don't have to because it's a non rinse cleaning water, but I still do, to make sure there's nothing left on my skin. If I feel like I need extra step to clean my face, then I will use my face wash to wash again.

Skin Care 

As usual I will use eye cream first. I'm still using the 100% PURE Coffee Bean Eye Cream.
For toning and moisturizing, I use the Hadalabo Gokujyun-a Rentionl Toner and Lotion. I brought this set last month, haven't open it yet, surprisingly I received the same set as gift from my friend at Christmas. I think this line is designed for dry and mature skin, it has a lot of nutrition, like vitamin A and collagen in it, which is very good for hydrating and anti-aging. My skin condition is about normal now so it's a little bit oily for me, but I have only using these for a week or so I can't tell much about it. I will do separate review of these, so stay tune if you are interested.

Related info:
Previous Skin Care Routine and Products
Lumene Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover
Bioderma Sensibio H2O
100% PURE Coffee Bean Eye Cream

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Recent Favorites

Products:

 Hadalabo Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion

Origins Ginger Rush Intensely Hydrating Body Cream

Rohto Cool Redness Relief Eye Drop

Palladio Rice Paper natural

First of all, sorry for the lack of update on my blog for the past few weeks. What happen was after I was back from Colorado, we were powerless because of the storm. No lights, no internet, no shower for eight days, cold as hell . I was feeling really depressed, eight days, just too much. Finally the power restored yesterday, oh boy, it feels so good back to the modern life.

I'm really not into makeup for the past month,  instead, care much more about my skin. All the cold air, unstable weather put lots of pressure on my skin. My skin looks dull and I have break outs everywhere. So I changed my skin care routine little bit, thinking about getting some new products to use.

Switching back to the Hadalabo face lotion for toning and hydration, I'm loving it because it helps restore my skin balance very well. I have used this last winter as a toner, but now I'm using it with some paper mask sheets, put it on for 10-15 mins then apply night cream as usual. It solves dryness and my skin tone looks much better now.

Another favorite product I have to mention is the Rohto cool eye drops.  I'm loving it because it works very well cooling and brighten my eyes. If you are looking for a refreshing, redness relief eye drop, you mush try this.

Another storm came as I'm writing, snowing heavily right now.  I wish there's something I can do for those people who still without power today and tomorrow, god bless. Also hope who are now reading this are well and warm.

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Review: Hadalabo Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion

Hadalabo Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion 

size: 170ml

Description:

Hadalabo is a newly mutually-developed brands operated by Rohto (Japan) and Mentholatum (USA), with the concept of 'Perfect & Simple’. They bring you a series of skincare products with the highest purity of ingredients under strict quality control.

HadaLabo GOKUJYUN Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion is infused with super hyaluronic acid which deeply penetrates into skin. It keeps on moisturizing and softening skin, meanwhile enhancing skin’s water-binding ability, leaving skin supple, smooth and radiant. Weak acid, no fragrance, and no colorant.

country of origin  Japan 

suitable for  all skin type

❤ what I think ❤

The texture of this toner is thicker than normal water like toner, almost feel like a water-gel texture.
It claims that this lotion contains super hyaluronic acid which deeply penetrates into skin, keeps on moisturizing and softening skin, meanwhile it can enhance skin’s water-binding ability. It has no fragrance,no colorant, weak acid.
When I first start using this I was surprised by how thick it was, because my skin isn't use to it and very dry, it takes long time to absorb. Three drops is enough for my whole face. I use my hand to pat it in but when it starts absorbing, it feel a little sticky. After it's totally absorbed the stickiness will go away.
Now my skin has gradually use to it, it take less time to absorb but more drops are needed. I felt my skin is very well hydrated with this toner at the same time it's very gentle.  Another great way to use this is soak paper mask sheet with it then putting on for 20 mins, it's works great hydrating and brightens up skin tone. 

Overall:

☆★★★★

Pros:

Hydrates skin

No fragrance, no colorant

Gentle

Leaves skin soft and radiant

Cons:

hard to get in the U.S

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Review: HadaLabo Tamagohada Daily Face Wash

HadaLabo Tamagohada Daily Face Wash
130g

Description:

Hadalabo is a newly mutually-developed brands operated by Rohto (Japan) and Mentholatum (USA), with the concept of 'Perfect & Simple’. They bring you a series of skincare products with the highest purity of ingredients under strict quality control.

HadaLabo TAMAGOHADA D Daily Face Wash is infused with some keratin softening agents like AHA and BHA, which help to remove blackheads and impurities inside pores. It also improves dull skin tone and rough texture, leaving skin supple and smooth. Weak acid, low irritation, no fragrance, oil and alcohol.

country of origin  Japan 

suitable for  all skin type

❤ what I think ❤

I got this product not long ago from sasa.com with other skin care goodies. I've heard this is a very good product and very popular since it came out. After using it for a while,I have to say it is the best face wash that I have ever used so far. Thick white cream texture, no fragrance, no oil or alcohol. What I like about it is it does every thing it claimed, cleans very well, helps remove dead skin and blackheads also helps brightening. It is gentle and low irritation, I can keep my eyes open when washing my face. 

When using this, first I splash some water on my face then get pearl size product on my hand. It takes no time to foam up and the foams are so rich and thick so it cleans really well.  My skin feels super soft and smooth after using it, also no dryness afterward, unlike most face wash leaves that tight feeling. 

Overall

★★★★★

Pros:

Clean well

help to remove blackheads, dead skin

 improves dull skin tone and rough texture

leaving skin supple and smooth

 low irritation, no fragrance, oil and alcohol

not drying after wash

❤

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Update: Skin Care Routine

❤ Day ❤

Hadalabo Tamagohada Face Wash

Hadalabo Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion

Naruko Narcissus Total Defense Fundamental Serum

Naruko Narcissus Total Defense Moisturizing Day Protector

100% Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Firming Cream SF15

❤ Night ❤

Hadalabo Tamagohada Face Wash

Hadalabo Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion

Naruko Narcissus Total Defense Fundamental Serum

Naruko Narcissus Total Defense Moisturizing Night Repair

100% Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti Wrinkle Cream Night

Laneige SPECIAL TREATMENT Water Sleeping Pack_EX

❤ Weekly and Special Treatment ❤

 Vichy Anti-Blemish Intensive Treatment Cream

My Beauty Diary Black pearl Mask

BeautyDiy Red Wine Hydra Mask

L'oreal Collagen Moisture Filler Day/Night

The Hadalabo face wash is one of the best skin care products that I have ever used.
I am so amazed by how this works, super gentle and clean very well. I will have an individual blog post for this soon. 

The coffee bean eye cream I had it for every long time, still the best eye cream for me. For the price under $20 and
the amount which is 1 oz. plus amazing results, I cannot be wrong with it. Absolutely adore it.

I'm a big fan of the Neutrogena Healthy Skin line, right now I'm still using the Anti wrinkle cream and this is my third tube. I think it's the time to try something new. I want to try a moisturizer from 100% PURE since I love their eye cream so much and also because they're organic products. (Quick tips, Drugstore.com carry some of their products for better price. )

For previous skin care routine Click here.

Thanks for reading!

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