Skincare Routine Mondays: April 11, 2016

Missed the last two weeks because... school. Anyway, not much has changed. Just a bit of anxiety now that my Missha FTE is soon to be OUT.

1. Oil Cleanser: None. Should I bother when I'm fresh-faced (a la sans make-up) everyday? Please advise.
2. Water-based Cleanser: Fresh Soy Face Cleanser. Soon to be out. Thinking of trying out Corsx Low Ph Good Morning Gel Cleanser, which is actually on sale at Jolse, but I already whined about my hesitancy in purchasing from them.
3. Toner: Missha's Clear Toner (in the Time Revolution Starter Set). 
4. Serum or essence: Not quite an essence/serum, but a "First" Essence-- Missha's The First Treatment Essence (in the Time Revolution Starter Set). And WOE is ME, as I am almost out and I realize that I do like this stuff, even though I don't really know what it actually is doing for me. One of those things where you keep doing it for the long haul, you know? I am almost out and I have been skimping on how much product I use because I don't want to be out! 
5. Moisturizer:
    AM: Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Nourishing Moisturizer SPF 30.
   PM :Mizon - All in One Snail Repair Cream (75ml), which gets absorbed so nicely that it's not bad at all to layer underneath my greasy morning Aveeno SPF moisturizer.
6. Treatment Sheet Mask: NRK's Collagen Booster Firming Mask, which I actually got individually from Poya (which you can purchase through Poya via Yahoo) 

I actually didn't take a picture the second time around. The first time I used it, I used the snail mask, as seen above. It came with a lot of clear viscous serum, and had a white plastic lining that had to be removed.

Honestly, it was big for my face, though I appreciated that the area between the nose and the upper lip was wide and big enough to be properly covered. However, the edges of my mouth were totally peeking out. It had the cuts in the side so that you can adjust and overlap them properly, which I didn't do such a great job if you can see all the wrinkles hanging out.

Layer that with my Daiso silicon cover and BAM, serum for days. (A good thing, even though I look miserable in that last shot!) The snail mask was unremarkable. Really, I hardly even remembered I did it until I was surfing through my photos trying to find one of the Collagen Booster. The Collagen Booster did not get any pictures taken of, but it had a nice and pleasant smell. It felt great, or maybe it's been a while since I did a mud mask follower by a sheet mask, but either way, it left a better impression than the snail mask (which didn't leave an impression at all, now that I think of it...).

NRK is sold in Taiwan, and it's pricer, too. Honestly, though I paid 27 NTD for it, which is just under a dollar, the LOVEMORE masks are a much better investment. I raved about them last time, and still, it's number one in my book. NRK is also thicker than the My Beauty Diary masks, which are also cheaper and a better bang for your buck. 

Sephora Sample Wonderland: Clay Masks Part Deux - DERMADOCTOR Kakadu CAmethyst Clay Detox Mask vs Caudalie Instant Detox Mask

First things first: read the directions. So I headed over to find the directions. One sad thing about the Sephora Sample Wonderland is that though they print out a little "receipt" of sorts about the product, they never actually tell you how to use it. Yay for the Internet to provide such simple things. 

DERMADOCTOR Kakadu C Amethyst Clay Detox Mask:

Apply a generous layer to clean, dry skin. Leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with warm water, and pat dry. Use three times a week.

Caudalie Instant Detox:

Smear a thin coat over clean skin twice a week. Leave for 10 minutes then rinse, following with your favorite serum or moisturizer.

As you can see, both of these masks suggest being used multiple times a week. Would I really suggest that? Cannot say for sure right now, but they're definitely no super power that Glamglow has. I do say that I like how the Caudalie directions tell you to follow with what ought to be common sense, but is something I highly doubt people take into consideration. I actually used my normal toner and first essence regieme post-mask since I already did a sheet mask yesterday. Following with Missha's snail cell new sleeping pack (which I think of more as a nicely fragranced, kind of stickier moisturizer) which I have yet to really see any results from, but wanted a protective barrier.

The Kakadu C was thicker and smelled like blueberries, or maybe it just looked like blueberry colored, but definitely had a grape or sweet very like smell. It was thick and not very easy to spread, however I do wonder if that was because this was the bottom of the jar that I received the sample from. It smelled nice, but was very tacky and reminded me of the Peter Thomas Roth Irish Moor Mud. This mask also did not change colors when it dries, or if it did it was very subtle.

The Caudalie mask was pink and had a light refreshing and almost kind of minty smell. The texture was smoother and more like Glamglow, but without the grains. It went on smoothly and very nicely, I have to say that part really felt nice. Akin to Glamglow, when it dries it changed colors and had this air pocket all over where my sebum probably is the most. The instant gratification kind of fell knowing that your trouble spots are being properly targeted. It's a pink clay, so maybe the bubble or circles in the mask when it dries are really a property of clay masks. This needs more research.

However, the Sephora lady this time was stingy, and I hardly had enough to put in my entire face, especially the Kaladu C, that ran out on half of my face and I wasn't even that generous. It was difficult to spread and I didn't have enough to do a whole face, what a bad sample. The Caudalie spread so nicely and even generously spread it was not tough and there is enough for another go. Best make it to Sephora again for another sample, hopefully out of a fresher jar this time.

Sorry for the yellowish lighting, but it's really more of a blue/purple than gray. Kakadu C is made from a sort of plum, though the color seems artificial to me. The Caudalie is a light pink that almost looks like a nude when on, which is how I missed a small spot. However, it's dries very obviously and turns a white-ish pink.

On the lower right you can see the instant gratification spots I mentioned earlier.

Bottom line: Needs a part deux, but I am definitely leaning towards the Caudalie. Finally, something Caudalie that I like! Their other products usually have a smell that I just can't stand.

Sephora Sample Wonderland: Glamglow Versus PTR Irish Moor Mud PART DEUX

Forgot to write about how I followed-up a week later by testing a round two for these two masks.

All in all, I hate to say this, because I like rooting for the underdog, but I think Glamglow wins.

PTR Irish Moor Mud is just too much to clean off and felt like rubbing ink all over my face in trying to rinse it off nicely. It also has less of an effect, from what I can tell. It's probably more gentle and doesn't harden on the skin, but at the same time I did not like the whole messiness of putting it on and taking it off.

Like rubbing ink all over my face, I tell ya.

Glamglow, while messy at first, dries, and then is hard to rinse off in that rinsing it makes it melt all over again, but it's not as dark or difficult.

Pictorial Evidence:

The process begins with the mask already drying where it's thinner around my lips. Look at it almost dried, even though in the side of my nose it's still very wet and so leaves a dark gray line (which I waited to lighten before rinsing).

Now in the last picture I apologize for the nastiness that is the amount of sebum making the Glamglow all bubbly as it recognizes the filth in my pores. However, if you look at the left, compared to the right, the left looks cleaner. Maybe it's an accident of the camera being blurry, as I am not using a macro lens, but still, it looks better to me, and in the mirror it did too. This is Glamglow versus PTR Irish Moor Mud.

I really want to work on my pores, my nose and neighboring "wings" are horrendous.

Sephora Sample Wonderland: Glamglow Versus PTR Irish Moor Mud

Welcome to the magic that is my face. My T-zone is oily and full of dark little clogged pores that no photoshop hide. (That's a lie since photoshop can hide everything.) Theae enlarges nose pores will be the bane of my existence.

Since there is no real way to "shrink" pores, the least I can do is research on how to keep them clean. Got two Sephora gift cards this Christmas, and while I did drop two hundred at Koreaan Duty Free, none were on pore clarifying masks.

At today's local Sephora I was originally looking at the Korean brand Caolion, which looks like ghetto Chinese spelling, but it isn't. This one has a two step mask process, one that warms and clarifies, the second that cools and soothes. However, in talking to a lady who looked awfully bored at her job, she talked me into trying the Peter Thomas Roth Irish Moor Mud mask. Of course, I wanted to have a comparison so I opted for almost as pricy and actually clay bases Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment. 

PTR's Irish Moor Mud when on as black as the forest on a moonless night. Black like that. And I could feel it heating up my skin. Just enough so where I almost panicked and thought I was having a severe allergic reaction. It is sticky and looks like what nightmares are made of. Directions says to leave in for up to ten minutes, but since I split my face down the middle I don't think I was quite accurate. No biggie though, in the end.

Glamglow was the rougher freshly mixes concrete cousin of the Irish Moor Mud. It was a lighter gray, dark but not even close to the pitch black of PTR. Went on with chunks of rough spots, probably exfoliating? I'm not sure, but not nearly as smooth as the Irish Moor Mud. It was not as dense and seemed to be more watery and therefore easier to spread. 

Let's compare, shall we?

Top Left: The left black side is PTR and the right more dark green looking side is Glamglow.

Top Middle: It's starting to dry!! Look where it's still globbed and and more turning light green. PTR has stopped burning by now, so I've stopped freaking out about if I should wash it off or not.

Top left: Close up on the Glamglow on my nose, look at all those "bubbles," which is apparently where the most enlarged and clogged pores are. Like Biore strips without pulling off layers of skin.

Bottom: My ugly nose and the aftermath. Can you see a difference?

Though I was supposed to wash off the PTR first, I just waited for the Glamglow to dry since it was drying quite quickly. Both masks had a similar amount layered on. PTR did not dry or harden or anything. Glamglow, on the other hand, hardened to the point where I couldn't move my face and would cause cracks in it by simply smiling a bit.

The Glamglow has those bubbles that are supposed to be some sort of vacuum matrix sucking out the yucky things, but they looked look clean and Glamglow just had instant look gratification. PTR's Irish Moor Mud can be used several times a week, whereas the Glamglow is harsher and should be used maximum once or twice a week. I don't wear makeup, so my pores are junked naturally versus make-up filled.

The Glamglow was easier to rinse off, where I felt like I was reapplying or just wiping the PTR mud all around my face. 

Either way, to deal with the "purging" that can happen with "clarifying" "pore" based masks, I washed it all off and used an Etude House I Need You! Silk Cocoon mask, which is noted to be "skin vitalizing" to give it an extra boost. Then followed by Freeset Donkey Milk 3D Moisture Cream, which I regretted because it made my T-zone SUPER greasy, something I did not enjoy after using such harsh clay/mud mask on my face. I should have stuck with my Super Qua Max Combination Watery Cream from Nature Republic. Seriously, that little jar has been keeping me much happier than Donkey Milk and cost me 1/4 the price. Seriously, it was under ten bucks at Duty Free and for the price and results, I really couldn't be happier.

Also, repeating this two faced mask experience again in a week. The winner of the challenge will go on to PK Kate Somerville's ExfoliKate. Wait, that isn't actually fair since these masks are not exfoliators. It should PK either Caudalie Instant Detox Mask or DERMAdoctor Kakadu C Amethyst Clay Detox Mask or Estée Lauder Clear Difference Purifying Mask. We will see what is the Sephora ladies have to reccomend to compare to the winner. 

Bottom line: PTR for more common day use, glam glow every now and again for intensive care. Follow up with a regular mask to soothe and protect the skin.

New Sample Excitement! Amore Pacific MOISTURE BOUND Rejuvenating Serum

A long, long, long time ago I got a sample of a moisturizer from Amore Pacific. It was like heaven, the first time I was truly impressed by a face cream, ever. Impressed until I saw the price tag!

It was such a tease, that sample bottle. Perfect sanitized dispenser, one pump did the entire face. I really thought that I was in love and then the price tag came at me like a stream roller.

To say the least, I have never purchased any of their products, but instead fantasied about the way their cream made my face feel.

Now, in the future, I am a bit less naive, I am a bit less enamored. However, in getting a sample of my "liquid gold" aka SKII Facial Treatment Repair C, I wanted to see what Amore Pacific had to offer. It is known that they try to compete in the luxury skincare market against SKII.

Oddly enough, the Sephora I went to had them place side by side. They're both into using a type of anti-aging ingredient, but SKII has it in it's purest form, or so I've heard?

Interestingly enough, though they have the basic Korean face routine items, they do not match since it seemed that Amore Pacific did not carry an item that would be the same as the SKII serum that I've been using. Instead, I opted to just use their Moisture Bound Rejuvenating Serum, which has a thicker consistency reminding me of a light facial cream.

This sample is less of a serum than SKII's Repair C. SKII's Repair C has a viscose consistency that is slightly sticky, but goes on very smooth all the while being completely transparent. Amore Pacific's Rejuvenating Serum has a heavier cream sort of texture that is heavily fragranced (in fact, that is the strong most noticeable thing, it's ridiculously strong perfume). It is while, goes on clear, but reminds me more of a end of the routine of kind cream.

Which is exactly what I have done with it.

I've only got a single sample of it, so I don't expect it to last the week, but I am using after applying SKII Repair C. Let's see how this new sample goes, shall we? (It really is so heavily fragranced, I am kind of turned off by it. It is layered UNDER my Freeset Donkey Milk 3C Moisture Cream, which has the thickest consistency, and yet I can STILL smell the Amore Pacific. This is a $100 product, why does it need so much fragrance?