Sephora Sample Wonderland: SUPER PORE KILLER EXPERIMENT

To be honest, when I talk to the associates at Sephora, I really take EVERYTHING with a huge grain of sand. Sometimes a boulder of sand. But really, the advice that they give out is not always the best, nor applicable towards my skin. It's really important not to just feed in and think what they say is by the book, especially when labels note otherwise.

Getting another Glamglow SuperMud mask sample as well as three days worth of Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta® Peel Extra Strength Daily Peel, has given me the guts to try Fiddy Snails's "Super Pore Killer" method, which these two ingredients would be great for. Plus, I have an Eve Lom cleanser sample I would love to try out.

However, I am nervous about trying out multiple products at once since two out of three will be new. Either way, trying out anything that is supposed to be a "super pore killer" is going to be terrifying in my eyes. On my face, rather. Let me put on my purple ears headband and get to work.

While I'm doing that-- follow-up from last week:

ONE IMPORTANT THING I noticed, after the last Clay Mask SSH (Sephora Sample Wonderland) Experiment, was that the right side of my face... on the chin at least, I had MORE defined sebaceous filaments. Yes, those pores got bigger, darker, and more pronounced on only HALF of my chin. It was the side where I tried Glam glow, it was also the side that I tried the Kakadu C Amethyst mask. WHAT MADE THEM POP UP?!? It had to be a product because the line between regular pores and new big pores is just so definitive, it's almost ridiculous.

Continuing on with the Super Pore Killer Experiment brought to you by Sephora Sample Wonderland and a Fiddy Snails Post:

Step 1: Apply the AHA/BHA whatever it is that is going to loosen the sebum. The Dr. Dennis Gross soaked pads made my face a little red, but half is from my rubbing my face down, and the other half is from the face that I am rubbing my face down more harshly over my "problem spots," aka, my schnoze.

Happy Ears and Clogged Pores!

Mistake 1: Did NOT wait 20-25 minutes for the thing to do its thang as Fiddy Snails directed. Honestly, it was not a stridex pad and my skin felt dry as bone after a minute or two of doing it. Since it's a two step peel, I feel like the first step was where Stridex would have stopped and the second step stopped it. Who knows.

Step 2: Apply clay mask. SuperMud is coming into play here. It is only on my problem spots as I do not need to apply it to my whole face. It is drying, I am five minutes into a very thin layer that has already dried on what portion of my forehead I have applied it to.

Wet, Dry, Up Close and Personal

Mistake 2: Not using tepid/lukewarm water to wash off the mask... The sink in my bathroom has a new faucet and I have not yet mastered the temperature. It was lukewarm when I started rinsing the mask off my face... and then it got hot really fast. Good thing I was just about done with the mask, but it didn't help that it was hot by the end of the rinsing. Also, my skin did not feel overly dry, another good indicator, I hope.

Step 3: Apply cleansing oil/carrier oil. Fiddy Snails uses Banila Co, which I couldn't bring myself to purchase at Incheon Duty Free. However, as I noted above, I have Eve Lom Cleanser, which the first ingredient is mineral oil, so it satisfies the oil need. There are these little bumps in my Eve Lom, but once I applied it in a gentle way to my face, they disappeared. The Eve Lom cleanser is a sort of cleansing balm, and feel like I'm rubbing that naturally smelly kind of mineral oil on my face. It becomes kind of liquidy once it hits the heat of my face. Still waiting 10-15 minerals before I see if I have any "grits" though I doubt it. Hmm, my lips feel dry. That's odd.

Step 4: Gently massage for 2-3 minutes. No Grits. Just Oil On My Face Being Rubbed In Circles. Oil. Oil. More Oil. Milky Oily. Ew, Rinse Said Oil.

Step 5: Take a look at the work that's been done. Are my pores minimized? Have they been SUPER KILLED?! I do feel like I took the skin that is my face and put a layer of plastic wrap and wrapped it back on to my face. It is a shiny and tight as it looks and feels. No after pictures, they all came out blurry and out of focus-- I think the shine was throwing it off.

Mistake 3: Maybe it's not a mistake, but this is the first time that I have used a clay mask and not instantly used a sheet mask to compensate for the sucking outtage of oils from said face. However, I felt like the Eve Lom cleanser was very oily and balanced it out a bit more. Still using and I am going to use up my Nature Republic Combination Watery Cream. We will see how my poor face fares tomorrow.

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.

Testing Hada Labo Alpha Lotion

Went shopping in the neighborhood and found that upstairs had a plethora of Asian beauty products.

They had Hada Labo line of products, and after using a Kate Somerville toner that made my face feel hot and unpleasant, I decided to stick to my Asian guns and go with Hada Labo Gokyujyun Alpha Lotion. I was tempted to get the regular moist product that beauty bloggers either rave or say it's overrated, but at 16 dollars I really did not mind trying the anti-aging one that I have seen less reviews of. Basically there is hyaluronic acid in the white bottle one that people usually review, whereas there are several additional ingredients in the Alpha Lotion like collagen to promote new skin growth. However, as I plug away the ingredients, I realize that the original has much fewer ingredients and also no irritants and less problems. Where the Alpha anti-aging toner that I purchased comes with a slew of irritants and not so safe chemicals. Less is more when it comes to many things in life and I am beginning to believe this about beauty products as well.

Used this product tonight and have a pimple forming on my cheek. Just one not so nice pimple. We will see if it gets better or worse as times progressed. Still using SKII Repair C serum that I ask for every time I am at Sephora. Ain't nobody got time for a $170 for 1 oz product. Sephora gives me a couple days worth at a time and in two weeks I can reevaluate if I like it enough at that price (hint: probably not).

Did try out a Donkey Milk 3D cream that smells great and puts one back of my hand to shame. (I always test there for some odd reason.) $40 later I think I am going to get it, but shop around in case I can save five bucks.

Let's see how my skincare wardrobe pans out. Can't wait to get to Lotte Duty Free in Incheon!!! I've been dying to get my hands on sum37's rose stick cleanser.