Skincare Routine Mondays: April 18, 2016

It's official, I am OUT of Missha FTE. Also, introducing a cult favorite foaming face soap. More below.

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. Which is nearing it's end, which bothers me because at $15 for 1.7 ounces, that's a lot of money for a product that lasts... less than three months? My first record of it was from February 1st. It's just past the mid-point of April, meaning that it's getting low at the 2.5 month mark, which concerns me for such a luxury product that I actually LOVE using. Starting using SU:M37's MRCS (aka miracle rose cleansing stick, aka cult favorite). It's literally a cylinder of soap and I write more about it below.
3. Toner: Missha's Clear Toner (in the Time Revolution Starter Set), but will be switching over to The Face Shop's Chia Water 100 toner. (From something similar to this set, though my packaging is different)
4. Serum or essence: "First" Essence-- Missha's The First Treatment Essence (in the Time Revolution Starter Set), which I AM OFFICIALLY OUT OF, so I have been sad. However, I will start using The Face Shop Chia Seed First Essence (10ml sample size), but I am not sure how I feel about this set. I will follow with the set's Lotion, which I cannot tell if the consistency is more or less thick than the Mizon Cream I am using now.
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:My Scheming 我的心機 L-Ascorbic Acid Whitening, which I actually got individually from Poya (which is where I bought the majority of my individually bought masks from). It's a milky serum, that I have been hoarding and using on my face since I don't have a set serum and my Missha FTE is out.

SU:M37 Miracle Rose Cleansing Stick is not "miraculous" per say, but it is exactly everything else it says it is. Rose, yep!  

It's quite fragrant, so if you don't like the smell of roses, don't even think about this. I bought it at Duty Free in Incheon this past January. Since it's a natural soap, and these things go bad, I decided that I would use it this weekend as I was going to my friend's house and didn't feel like toting around a nearly empty bottle of face wash.

Instructions:

• Wet face.
• Rub stick over face as if your whole face was a pair of lips needing chapstick.
• The label makes it looks like you need to rub on face until foamy but I think
• Rub face with hands after swiping stick over face (it will suds enough itself)
• Rinse

I also tried to method of rubbing it on my hands and then sudsing it up that way, but I felt like I wasted more product that way. It's really up to you.

The first impression I had was concern. Once I rinsed my face, my face felt tight. I think panicked that thought that this is a bar of soap, what if the pH isn't right?!?! Cue mini-internal drama going on inside my head. Why would my skin feel tight? Usually a pH imbalance, too alkali or something. Looked it up, it has an acidic 5.5 pH level, so that should be fine, it's in the right range. So what was it then?

However, I used it several more time over the weekend and it felt nice. I just felt like I was using too much of it, so I worked my way down to wetting my face and giving my face a quick once over before foaming the soap on my skin up. 

I am still not sure how I feel about this, especially after the initial tightness feel. Doesn't seem Holy Grail status, and it seems to be in the same price range as my Fresh Soy Cleanser that I just love so much more. We will see how this goes.

Skincare Routine Mondays: Feb 1, 2016

1. Oil Cleanser: None. Still none. I am bad at this.
2. Water-based Cleanser: Fresh Soy Face Cleanser. This was a Christmas present from my friend, and I really love it. It gets milky the same way that oil cleansers get milky, but because you wet your face before using, it gets milky as you massage it around your face. I use a pinky-nail's worth of cleanser and it goes such a long way. So far, I LOVE IT. It's the first cleanser that doesn't make my face tight and it feels clean, yet moisturized. 
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).
5. Moisturizer. 
      AM: Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Nourishing Moisturizer SPF 30. But sometimes I just use my PM cream with Biore's Watery Essence PA 50+++. Depends on how greasy I  feel.  PM : Nature Republic Super Aqua Max Combination Watery Cream.

I've really calmed it down with trying to maintain my samples of "liquid gold" (aka SKII Repair Treatment C). Can I tell a difference? Not really. Hahahahaha. Oh my gosh, how much am I spending on things that may or may not actually have an effect?!

Have a random pimple on my left cheek (totally in the middle, like one red dot in the vast desert of my left cheek) and my chin area feels greasy and pimple-prone. What is up with my face. When I used the masks on Sunday I made sure to follow-up with a nutrient-rich mask. Tested out My Beauty Diary's Imperial Birds Nest and it's great. Best quality mask in that it's pretty see-through, keeps it's wetness for a prolonged period, and feels great.