Skincare Diary | Dry and Irritated Skin

As I've been trying to get rid pigmentations caused by acne scarring, I decided to finally bring out LANEIGE White Plus Renew Spot Ampoule (will try to review later) and use it on those ugly-looking spots on my facial area. The result? It's working for sure but my God, all hell breaks loose when it comes to my moisture level as I have never felt such dryness on my skin and I've only been using the spot treatment ampoule for about a week. There's redness around my cheek and jawline area that I can't just ignore. Thankfully, I have this soothing gel sitting among my beauty stash.

I've tried several soothing gels so far; the famous Nature Republic Aloe Vera Gel, the Bamboo soothing gel and this Fresh Lotus version from THE FACE SHOP. Quite frankly, I love this one the most definitely because I'd prefer its scent. 

So how do I quickly treat the dryness? Cleanse and tone the skin, take rounds of thin cotton pads or those non-woven facial puffs from Watsons, scoop out some or liberally of the gel and apply on the dry and irritated area, and put on those thin puffs on top to seal it from drying out for about 15 to 20 minutes. Wipe off the excess and continue with the rest of your skincare. 

I guess that's all for today and I'll see you guys on the next post!

Skincare Diary | PM Cleansing Routine

I've discovered a new brand from Japan while watching Get It Beauty recently and it's Bifesta. Here in Malaysia, you can find the facial cleansing products by this brand in drugstores such as Watsons and Guardian.

With that, these are my current evening cleansers from Bifesta. I actually got my hands on 3 cleansing waters but currently I'm loving all these three right now as they're so good at removing my makeup and cleansing my skin.

The Eye Make Remover doesn't sting my eyes which is definitely a plus and it removes all my waterproof eye makeup so well. Just take a cotton pad; damped it with 3 to 4 drops of the remover then place it on my eye area, press gently for about a minute and wipe off. 

The Cleansing Lotion is like a cleansing water and it's actually a no-rinse product. Using 3 separate cotton pads damped with this and wipe my face with one pad each round is enough for for my cleansing step and technically I can already  proceed with skincare. Still, I can never give up double cleansing unless on days I'm too tired, passed out on my bed and only manage to lift one arm to take pre-soaked cotton pads and remove my makeup of the day. Sounds exaggerating? I'm pretty sure you have those days too.

Now, the Carbonated Cleanser is a whipped foam cleanser that dispensed a fluffy foam that's so soft, cleanses well and doesn't dry out my normal to oily skin. 

The combination of these three products are ample for my PM cleansing routine as for now so stay tuned for next one. Until then, annyeong~

Mask Review | My Beauty Diary Strawberry Yogurt Mask: Oil Control Balancing

Last month, I joined a beauty gift exchange among beauty community members on Instagram and I got bunch of skincare products along with several sheet masks. I haven't been using lots of sheet masks throughout my skincare journey thinking that they're expensive for a single-use product. However, getting to know other Asian Beauty enthusiasts in the community has totally changed my opinion on that and seeing how injecting a certain amount of hydrating ingredient like Hyaluronic Acid contained in the sheet masks into your routine can totally give a boost on skin moisture level, I have to say that I freaking love sheet masks for that!

Although, I've only been using Korean sheet masks exclusively; mostly from THE FACE SHOP and Innisfree, I never tried other brands nor from other countries. I asked the #sheetmasksupreme as I called her, must-try brands from Taiwan are Naruko and another is My Beauty Diary so this is definitely the first one that I've tried.

Description:

• The natural strawberry extract in this mask is rich in fruit acids, minerals, and enzymes that brighten and soften the skin for a more youthful look.
• Combined with the active lactic acid ingredients from yogurt.
• The formula balances sebum production to shrink the appearance of pores and reduce the size and redness of blemishes.
• Contains arbutin, a popular whitening ingredient that resists melanin and breaks it down beneath the skin for a brighter, more pearlescent complexion.

To Use: After thorough cleansing and toning, apply mask to face and leave for 20-30 minutes. After removal, gently massage the excess essence into skin.

For a cooling effect, place your sheet mask in the fridge for 10 minutes and apply as usual

Ingredients:

Water, glycerin, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, phenoxyethanol, chlorphenesin, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, triethanol amine, strawberry fruit extract, fragrance, polysorbate 20, yogurt extract, sodium hyaluronate, xanthan gum, citric acid, enantia chlorantha bark extract, rice protein, dipotassium glycyrrhizate, acer saccharum extract, arctostaphylos uva ursi leaf extract, orange, citrus medica limonum peel extract, codium tomentosum extract, soy protein, laminaria digitata extract, lecithine, mallow extract, polysorbate 80, saccharum officinarum extract, vaccinium myrtillius fruit extract, carbomer, peg-15 hydroxystearate, iodopropynyl butylcarbamate, polyglutamic acid, sodium hydroxide, sodium lactate, sodium pca, glycosphingolipids, tocopheryl acetate.

My Impression:

I like it when there's plastic sheet that makes it easy to fold out the sheet and place it on my facial area. As you can see, the sheet is quite thin compared to regular Korean sheet masks. 

The essence is watery and it's better to lie down as it soothes and hydrates the skin. The scent isn't strong unlike those regular masks from Innisfree which is good. 

Overall, I do like this sheet mask and planning to purchase it in the near future. On Hermo Malaysia, this sheet mask isn't available anymore as this is actually a 2016 release and the new Natural Key series that consists of 10 variants doesn't feature this variant for oil-control function so I guess it's discontinued? Still, I'm really glad I discovered this brand and surely you guys will  be seeing more from it on my Instagram. 

I guess that's all and I'll see you guys on my next post! Annyeong~