The Dreaded T-Zone is back!

So I've been really happy and satisfied with Nature Republic's Super Aqua Max Combination Watery Cream because I wake up feeling fresh.

Perhaps it's the rainy weather? Maybe it's because I slept less than six hours, or maybe touched my face my hands after I lotioned my legs before sleeping.... but it's back, the dreaded oily T-zone upon waking is back!

Maybe it just takes a month or so for my skin to get used to a product before the oily T-zone is back and making my mornings greasier than I would like them to be.

However, as always, I am going to give it the benefit of the doubt and keep using this cream for another week. If results are consistent and I wake up a greasy T-zone, it's time to take a look at what other options I have in my "Skincare Wardrobe".

Options:

• Go back to Donkey Milk even though I know it gives me a greasy T-zone.
• Stay and finish the Nature Republic Combination Watery Cream.
• Move on to another cream. Do I have another cream? I have a Sephora gift card.
• Use The Guerission 9-Complex mini that I have, even though I just think it's "meh" and I have only used it on my hands so far.
• Nature Republic Royal Ginseng Jelly Cream. Will probably incorporate the Essence into my routine as well.
• Mizon All-In-One Snail Cream (which I bought in Taiwan and keep forgetting that I have)

However, next from Sephora Sample Wonderland:

DERMAdoctor Kakadu C Amethyst Clay Detox Mask 

versus 

Caudalie Instant Detox Mask

I do have my concerns about the Kakadu C Amethyst Clay Detox mask since the sample that I received was taken from the last of the jar and may only produce enough to run a single test run versus the double test run that I did with the last two masks. Also, is this product old? Why were there no more on the shelf and why is it only this almost used up one there?

We'll just have to see.

The Short of It -- Review: Freeset's Donkey Milk 3D Moisture

It has to be said: I love it, but it's not my holy grail.

This cream is a bit tacky, so it comes off as a bit stringy when you dab it, but it really does the job in a few dabs.

However, after the two week trail period, I've noticed that my T-zone is still a bit shinier than I would like it to be. My U-zone, the dry parts, do feel hydrated and soft. But the moisture that they need is different from the T-zone where it still feels unbalanced.

The scent is also kind of nice, though I cannot put my finger on what exactly it is.

Bottomline: For $40 I am satisfied, but always looking for something that really makes my face more balanced. Maybe I am just spoiling myself and this might be one of the better products I've used. We will see.

New Product Excitement! - DONKEY MILK 3D MOISTURE CREAM

To be honest, I capitalized the title to be obnoxious.

So, yesterday, which I got the Japanese toner, the nice lady there also introduced Freeset's (Korean brand) product. Donkey Milk is all the rage these days, no? It was forty dollars and the sale associate even said it was really popular and they're only down to one even though it's rather expensive.

Either way, in my extensive research (re: reading fifty shades of snail's review where she gave it a 4.5 our of 5, very high satisfaction rate!) I saw a pharmacy named dropped somewhere within the comments. Asian beauty products sold in an Asian pharmacy? I had to say I was a bit surprised, but then not too surprised at all. So today I went scouted and found that it indeed was sold there for 35.99. The box was a bit dusty, but since there was only one I got the fear of missing out of purchasing opportunities and just bought it.

When I brought it up to the cashier, she remarked to herself in Chinese, "wow, why are so many people buying this?" I asked back in English, "yeah, I don't know." Then I asked in Chinese, "have a lot of people been buying this?" To the extent of which she did not recoil at my Chinese (in shock not disgust) and replied in Chinese, "yeah, a lot of people lately, but they're all foreigners." May I remark that "foreigners" usually imply non-Asian of a Caucasian variety. Like me. Which is what I replied, "ah, hmm yes, just like me" and sheepishly walked out of there.

Sheepishly because, yes, I feel like such a sheep jumping on an expensive cream bandwagon. I hadn't even researched the Hada Labo Alpha Lotion (aka Japanese for toner) before buying it, but I did it anyway. Turns out I made a good purchase decision as I looked it up online, and price checked the pharma where I got the Donkey Milk cream, and where I got it was the cheapest I saw the Hada Labo toner. Fist pump for getting a good price. Saving the world five to ten dollars at a time.

Which also is to say that I am saving my pocket by getting liquid gold samples of SKII from Sephora. This weekend was just crazy!! So many people in the stores because VIB get 20% off. This was written about already, hasn't it? OH WELL.

One thing I've learned in my skin care research is that we get too excited to try on ALL THE PRODUCTS and yet we never let a product fully take it turn. So I AM SO EXCITED about donkey milk....but will have to practice self restraint before I use it. Beauty bloggers have noted around two to three weeks before introducing a new product into your routine. That is to say that you have a "wardrobe" of products, but you can't wear all of them at the same time. Therefore, since the Hada Labo Alpha Lotion is my latest new product I've been using, I have to keep using it for at least two weeks and then I can change my routine and incorporate the Donkey Milk into my regimen. I still have my little samples of SKII Repair C (the "C" is not for Vitamin C which even the Sephora associate thought and informed me it was. The "C" is for concentrate, how misleading!).