Skin Care

How to Achieve a Beautiful Healthy Skin ^__^

Step 1: Cleansing

It is very important for you to choose your cleanser wisely. You may have to go through a lot of ‘non-working’ cleanser to get to the right one! Most of you probably found your favorite cleanser already, or maybe even still trying to find the right or an even better one. Question is; how do you know if the cleanser is right for you? Easy!

·         It improves your skin condition

·         It prevents or helps clear away skin troubles

·         It doesn’t dries out your skin

·         You love the smell

·         Convenient to use

·         You can afford it

·         Helps removing make up residue

·         Your skin responds well to it!

Have you found your ‘dream’ cleanser already? If you have, then congrats! :P if you haven’t, then don’t worry, you’ll find one.. eventually x__x I cant promise though haha. For the mean time, avoid getting a full sized cleanser that you never tried before. Its very advisable for you to get a mini size/samples first. It’ll save you a lot of money! Trust me I know, facial cleansers are very tempting sometimes, especially when it sounds so promising and looks soo cute ^_^  

Here’s a couple of good cleansers that I love!

Skin79 Smart Clear Refresh Cleansing Foam, Irise Intensive White Cleanser, Oatmeal Cleansers*

Step 2: Toning

This step is optional. Some may argue that toner isn’t necessary and honestly it all depends on your skin. If you love how toner makes your skin feels, then go ahead and continue including toning as part of your skincare routine. Its YOUR skin anyway ^__^ Personally, I don’t always include toning as part of my routine. I can still achieve good skin without a toner. Im a busy(and lazy) girl, and that’s why I often skip toning. So what makes a good toner?

·         It refreshes your skin

·        It doesn’t contains fragrance

·        It tones your skin tone

·         Gives a healthy glow

·         Removes traces of oil, makeup & dirt

Most would skip toning because their cleanser is good enough to do all of these.

Here’s a couple of good toners that I love!

Irise Intensive White Purifying Toner, Roc Perfect Toner, Hada Labo Moisturizing Lotion

Step 3: Moisturizing

Moisturizing is important but its really not that easy to find your ‘perfect’ moisturizer! A skin moisturizer basically work by sealing moisture into the outer layer of the skin and by pulling moisture from the inner layers of skin to the outer layer. If you have dry skin, you need to invest on a good hydrating moisturizer! Or else, you’ll end up with ‘cracks’ on your face :( its not a pretty view when your skin looks like its peeling. If you have an oily skin, that doesn’t mean you can skip this step! All you need to do is to find the right moisturizer that controls your excess oil. If you can’t control it, you’ll end up with pores and acne and a shiny-oily-looking face! I know people have been saying that you should pick a moisturizer that is made especially for your skintype, but personally, I’d say pick one that works well with your skin. Its best to choose a moisturizer with SPF for your day moisturizer and a one without for night times cause  the one with SPF are not meant to be used during your night time as it can aggravate your skin.

What makes a good moisturizer?

·         Doesn’t dries your skin

·         Won’t make your skin oilier

·         Contains SPF

·         Hydrates your skin

·        Controls your excess oil

·         Doesn’t irritates your skin

·         Helps your skin heal, instead of popping out more pimples

·         Makes skin perfectly moisturized and soft

Here’s some good moisturizers that I love!

Garnier Aqua Defense Essence, Roc Eternel White Lotion

Other steps if you want to further take care of your skin:

 Sunscreen

It is very important for you to apply your sunscreen if you live in a hot sunny country like Brunei >:/ but it’s not really necessary for you to ‘get’ a sunscreen cream. Most moisturizers now contain SPF and even your makeup foundation does too! Going out on a blazing hot sunny day without SPF protection can cause wrinkles. You girls don’t wanna look old too soon, right? ^_^ I used to be very active in sports during my much younger days(im still young lol) and I never wear sunscreen whenever I play on a REALLY HOT day! I was young and I barely care about skincare. As a result, I became so tanned! Here’s proof! (only did sports in 2008, the picture in 2011 is proof on how my skin gradually brightened)

As I grow up, I’m not really ‘the-fairest-of-them-all’. I wasn’t really fair at all, but my natural skintone was around 2 tones lighter than the first picture. As soon as I started to become expose with beauty products(when I was 17), I started testing all those ‘whitening’ cleansers/moisturizers/etc. My skin has gradually brightened over the years and I am satisfied enough with my current skintone ^_^ plus, I stopped doing sports. :P hee. i looked really different back then, and i remember that i read somewhere that if your skin is tanned because of sun exposure, its impossible to gain back your natural skintone. yeah, well, i prove them wrong ;p you CAN. gradually. btw, it took me a lot of courage to post my 2008 pic, haha. but hey, thats when i met Danial 0:) infact, that first pic is taken with danial. lol.

Products that helped me(as I remember):

Fair n Lovely, Skin79 VIP Gold, Irise Intensive White Cleanser, Sendayu Tinggi Face Cream in Rose, Likas Papaya Soap

 Exfoliating

Exfoliating can do wonders to your skin. It is beneficial because it removes those cells that are clinging on, revealing a fresher, younger skin cells below. Its best to exfoliate only once a week only and never over-exfoliate. You have to be very careful when exfoliating esp when you have sensitive or aging skin. A good exfoliator is when it leaves you with a healthy glow after using and its not too harsh on the skin. If scrubs are harsh for you, then option for gel-based instead. Make sure you protect your freshly exfoliated skin with SPF protection if you’re going out on a sunny day! We don’t want to expose your healthy-peeled skin without protection, don’t we?!

Here’s a couple of exfoliating products that I love!

Bio-essence Deep Exfoliating Gel, Skin79 Sweet Sugar Scrub

 Mask

Many of us are too busy to ‘treat’ our skin with masks. But it is recommend(not necessary) to use a facial mask at least once a week. Facial masks have the ability to help our skin receives moisture. It’s perfect for dry skin types! Other skintypes, don’t worry, there are many facial masks out there that caters for every skin problems. I’d personally go for facial sheet mask, rather than those thick ‘creamy’ masks. If a certain mask causes your skin irritation, please stop using it. It’s supposed to ‘treat’ your skin, not hurt it.

Here’s a couple of facial sheet masks that I love!

My Beauty Diary Orange Blossom & Lily Mask

    Acne Treatment

Everyone hates acne!!! It can definitely affect your self-esteem. There’s so many acne treatments out there but most of them are useless. Btw, if you have acne, never touch it no matter how tempting it is. it can make it worse or stay longer. 

But there’s a couple of acne-treatments that I LIKE:

Garnier SOS Blemish Clear Pen, Clean & Clear

I don’t ‘love’ this because it doesn’t work 100% of the time for me. But it does help my pimple though. You know, the one that pops up so sudden. The one that’s red in color and it hurts a little when you touch them? Yep, these products does work on those kind of pimples. I cant recommend you these if you have acne skin. I only have occasional pimples sometimes, so I don’t know if it works for acne skin. But I can assure you that it works for that pimple that suddenly pops out. Its tricky though, I can only use it once. like, when I feel a big pimple is coming, I apply the garnier right away. But only once, then after that, that big pimple never showed up. I use the clean and clear only when its too late. When the pimple is already there and is no longer red, but its still there… I applied it on the spot everyday until the pimple is dry and safe enough to remove without scarring. ^__^

Make-Up Remover
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE TO REMOVE THEIR MAKEUP BEFORE GOING TO BED! lol. sorry for the capslock, but seriously, its very important. you might get pimples after that if you dont remove it completely. no one likes pimples ok ;( it can clog pores, and makes your skin looks dull if you do it so often. it'll only take a few minutes or so to get rid of your makeups anyways ^__^

Here's a couple of make-up remover that I love:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil*, BRTC Perfect BB Remover, Roc Multi-Action Make Up Remover Milk

Skin Types

A lot of times, we often get confused with skintypes. What skintypes am i? Normal, combination, oily, acne-prone, sensitive, dry, etc……? it’s all really confusing and you can never be 100% sure which skintypes you belong to! Or maybe its just me? Cause I don’t really know whats my skintype! I used to think that I have dry skin, then oily skin, then now its like combination. So, im not really sure :P

** BEST DIY I'VE TRIED: Olive Oil Makeup Remover & Oatmeal Cleanser **

OK DONE. Phew, what a long post.  & I write all of these myself! no copy paste at all. haha. yay! btw, even though i write all these, im not admitting that i have perfect skin! i, too, still searching for beauty products that 100% suits me. right now, im suffering from dry and dull skin :( probably due to pregnancy. anw, Thanks to Zee for asking me to write a skincare post! Hope this helps!! sorry if this post doesnt help you T-T