Skincare Routine Monthly Check-in: January 14, 2018

Not only am I fourteen days late of my personal deadline, but I am also all over the place because I have been traveling for the last two/three weeks.

The end of december went well, but it was full of final papers and things to take care of, and then before I knew it, it was December 26 and I was in the air on my way back to my beloved Taiwan. Taiwan was great, but I had my travel skincare routine, which consisted of Kiehl's facewash, leftover Moistfull Booskin toner, Maycoop Raw, and goodal's boost moisturizer. Sunscreen, of course, BAE Biore, new formula. Broke out a little, but that makes sense with the change of atmospheres between Taiwan, Bali, and back home. Bali was even hotter and more humid and Taiwan, which was already hot and humid enough.

However, I did do one thing while at Duty Free on my way home... I spent over $300 USD on SK-II. Pouring that liquid money all over my face as of January 12, 2018. My fine lines, especially the ones around my eyes, feel more apparent, in an exponentially fast pace. Therefore, when I saw the bottle that retails for $229, for $146 USD, I jumped on it, got the two bottle special edition Year of the Dog set, bought another started set that brought me up to over $10,000 Taiwanese dollars and gave me a travel set (which was probably worth $50 USD on its own).

In 2018 I vow to take the best care of my skin, and I have started with the expensive SK-II habit. Oh, feel that lifestyle creep? It says you're graduating and won't have to pay school bills for much longer.

Well, let's get on with it, my 2018 Skincare routine!

1. Oil Cleanser: None!
2. Water-based Cleanser:  Mornings still get Cosrx Low Ph Good Morning Gel cleanser. Been going back to usng Lagom's Gellup Gel to Water Cleanser, but it doesn't feel like it does anything much.
3. Hydrating Toner:  Missha Clear Toner, SK-II dupe of their $76 clear toner. It does the trick, but I have so many toners that once this bottle is done, it's time to use something else. It will be a product I miss using, I think that's an indicator that it's gaining HG status.
4. SK-II - Essence slapped onto my face here. It is lightweight and much sweeter smelling than I imagined. Reminds me of one of my favorite Taiwanese breakfast drinks, yi ren jian, or Job's Tears Barley drink. At over $60 for the little 75 ml bottle I'm using right now (Sephora sells it as a part of a $99 starter kit), I remind myself that each shake of the bottle is practically like pasting a dollar bill to my face. It's just that expensive.
5. Serum: Still using Olivarrier's Fluid Oil Squalane and it's odd, but I do like it. I make to pat extra around my eyes, I am so scared for those fine lines right now. Still using Derma Dr.Lab Hydromoist Night Rich Serum can't tell if it works, but I am going to finish using it all the same.
6. Moisturizer: Dr. G's Hydra Volume Cream tube, which has been on it's last legs (and if I didn't go on vacation, would have probably been gone already). Going to transition into another day cream, but I am not sure yet. Using the Coconut Souffle moisturizer at night since it's so thick.
7. Sleeping Pack: Too Cool for School's Pumpkin Sleeping Pack, forever!! But it has started to run out and I squeeze out compressed air half the time now. Once it's done, it's time to start and finish the other Holika Holika sleeping pack I have, though I know it won't live up to the Holy Grail status of TCFS's Pumpkin.
8. Sunscreen: Haven't been using the Peripera Oil Capture Peach Sun Finisher with SPF 50/PA+++. Instead I had opened up a new formula tube of BAE Biore. I still like it, even though its different. Interestingly enough, I got four more tubes in Taiwan.... and they're still only selling the old formula. Got to use that up first then, I usually run out every month and a half, so that's not going to be too bad, no matter how old the formula is, I think.

Really need to make amends to my sleeping patterns, as I vowed never to be late to this job again. Also, I need my beauty sleep, but I keep finding myself in long naps each evening. Tired from vacation, need a vacation from vacation. Totally missing the daily massages we would get in Bali.

Skincare Routine Monthly Check-in: December 8, 2017

It's been over a month since I finished my Whole30, and I am begging for the Whole30 skin back! It's been just over a month of eating outside of compliance, and my acne has come back (but not as bad, more of a eye-sore than an actual problem), and so has some belly. Being on the Whole30 really felt fresh and clean and I did it again for four day straight after Thanksgiving (because Thanksgiving nearly killed me, my gluttony really got the best of me!).

1. Oil Cleanser: None!
2. Water-based Cleanser:  Goodal's Natural Clear Deep Cleansing Gel to Foam recently ran out, and though I liked it, it was time to use something else I haven't tried yet: Lagom's Gellup Gel to Water Cleanser.  Yes, I did get this at the Peach and Lily sample sale where I was standing in line at 6:45 like a crazy person. It really does feel like water after I rub it in a little. Can't tell if it cleans, but I am hoping it does. Of course, I still use Cosrx Low Ph Good Morning Gel cleanser in the mornings.
3. Hydrating Toner:  Missha Clear Toner, really still liking this product. Kind of sad I only have one more bottle in my stockpile, but I have so many other toners that I have to cycle through, that it will get a rest for a little once this bottle is over. 
4. Serum: Caudalie Vinoperfect Serum also ran out last week, exactly the same time my cleansing gel to foam cleanser ran out. Instead, I have also opted to use another Peach and Lily sample: Fluid Oil Squalane from Olivarrier. The girl at the sample sale raved about it from someone else, and I think it was $10/15, so why the hell not?  Derma Dr.Lab Hydromoist Night Rich Serum that honestly just feels like a thinner moisturizer, not a serum type product.
5. Moisturizer: Mornings have been Dr. G's Hydra Volume Cream tube. In the evening I kind of use whatever moisturizer I want, though I have been using the Hydra Volume Cream more often than not.
6. Sleeping Pack: Too Cool for School's Pumpkin Sleeping Pack, forever? Or just for the season? time will tell. I also have a Holika Holika Wine Sleep pack that I should crack open.... but I don't know if anything can compare to TCFS's Pumpkin!! Slightly worried about this, is this a holy grail sleeping pack?! We will see.
7. Sunscreen: Still using the slightly white-casted Peripera Oil Capture Peach Sun Finisher with SPF 50/PA+++. I wish I wrote the date down on the tube, like I did with some of my other products. I'm curious to see how long this tube will last.

Been having a hurty-time pimple that has no head... probably because I keep putting those acne patches on them. I found a sheet that my friend gave me and I've been using them. Nexcare from Taiwan, she swears they work... I haven't had a pimple like this in a few months, so I am not happy about it. Says it takes 12 hours? 72 hours? I can wash with it on? It's basically supposed to be a miracle patch, and though I've used three of them now, I am not so convinced. Maybe I'm just using it wrong.

While I'm at it, I should write what new items I have acquired:

1. Maycoop Raw Sauce Mini ($7.99 from Marshalls)
2. Maycoop Raw Moisturizer ($19.99 from Marshalls)

Really, I should write what I get so I truly understand how much I am buying and stockpiling. My Taiwan trip is in a matter of weeks, and who am I kidding, I am going to get a haul!

Bottomline: Two new things this round: Lagom Cleanser and 100% Squalane. We will see how this winter goes; tomorrow it's supposed to snow.

Skincare Routine Monthly Check-in: Novermber 2, 2017

Still riding on that good skin train!!

Finished my Whole 30 on Saturday, and it's been five days since I've been off, but my skin still feels prime.

1. Oil Cleanser: None!
2. Water-based Cleanser:  Goodal's Natural Clear Deep Cleansing Gel to Foam for the most part, and sometimes  Cosrx Low Ph Good Morning Gel cleanser when I want a minty pick-me-up.
3. Hydrating Toner:  Missha Clear Toner, proving to still be as nice as I remember it. Seriously, I don't know why, but I think my skin really likes Missha's SK-II dupe line.
4. Serum: Caudalie Vinoperfect Serum. Twice a day because I can.
5. Moisturizer: Rosette Aqua Ceramide Gel has been doing the trick during the evenings. Ran out of Derma Dr. Lab Hydromist Gel Cream rather early on, and moved on to another mositurizer I got through the Club Clio Sale. Dr. G's Hydra Volume Cream tube. Tubes are so nice and easy to dispense the product. This Hydra Volume Cream came with a weird vibrating thing to "massage" the cream "deeper" into the skin. Honestly, I've used the massager twice and it just takes up too much of my time and feels like it's pulling on my skin. Directions say to put a thin layer of cream on, but I feel like if you don't put it on thick enough this thing will pull your skin along with it. Not that much fun. At night though, I have also been indulging in this Bulgarian day cream that my co-worker got me. Something with rose oil... Found it!! Leganza Intensive Hydrating Facial Day Cream with Rose Oil. It's actually very cheap to buy via Amazon.co.uk, and it was probably cheaper to get in Bulgaria. The jar is a cheap plastic, but meh, I just want to use it up and I love the smell. 
6. Sleeping Pack: Too Cool for School's Pumpkin Sleeping Pack is my jam!! Hardly smells like a thing, keeps everything in, and my skin has been great, so I don't know waht ex
7. Sunscreen: Been writing "W"s on my face with Senka this whole month. It does the job, but I've got a couple more sunscreens to work my way through, especially after the Club Clio and Peach + Lily sales this year.

Since the Whole 30 has ended, I was really scared that my skin would flare up again. It's only been a couple of days, but I've already started eating refined sugars, pizza, and a couple sips of red wine. We will see how things go, but I'm love love loving my skin right now.


Costco has SK-II for $189 for 11 ounces.... is it worth the plunge?!?!

Skin is at 100%

Only with a little less boob wiggling. I am civilised and wear a damn bra.

My skin is BACKKKKKKKKKKK and it's better than ever!

Only problem is that I cannot isolate exactly what I am doing that is making my skin work flawlessly as there have been a number of attributes. Let me list the ways:

1.  Twenty days ago I started a round of the Whole 30 food challenge. Only fruits, meats, and vegetables have been consumed by me. The cleanest eating I have ever ate in my entire life, and I am enjoying myself.
2. I have been using Missha's Clear Toner consistently for the last month. It was the first toner from K-beauty that I experimented in tandem with Missha's Time Revolution First Essence. Though I used it at the same time, two new products at the same time, I remember thinking back on the toner fondly.
3. When my French friend visited me, she handled me two bottles of love that is Caudalie's Vinoperfect Radiance Serum. So, for about a month I have also been using this serum morning and night.
4. Two days ago I finally opened my hoarded pack of Too Cool for School's Pumpkin Sleeping Pack. It's finally feeling like the cool crisp cold of Autumn and I wanted to welcome the season as well as I could. I lit a Warm Apple Pie candle and started using this sleeping pack. It's only been two days, but what a glorious two days it has been. My skin has not felt this good in a very long time.

What should be affecting my skin, but isn't right now:

1. My period. There is a shadow of what hormonal pimples are and where they usually sprout up during this time. But that's it, MERE SHADOWS.
2. Poor sleeping schedule. In the last eight days I only went to bed before 3 am maybe once.. or twice? Thursday? Sunday? Yesterday I slept at 1, so I guess that's an improvement, but nevertheless I have not being sleeping well or enough at all.

My skin feels so smooth and soft, it's hard to not stop touching my face! Sebaceous black heads are still around, but they're always going to be around. Now, I'm more focused on how my skin feels to me since when I mess it up back in July it felt horrible, but didn't look as awful as I felt.

Let see how long this stays. Something tells me it has more to do with my diet than it does with the pumpkin sleeping pack (which I have used twice, two days in a row, and I loving it!!).

Skincare Routine Monthly Check-in: October 12, 2017

Whoops! This is 11 days later than I usual anticipate logging. The end of last month and the beginning of this month have been crazy. But I'm here now, and that is what counts, right?

Currently on my period, which now lasts for a light but annoying two weeks straight. Some jawline acne is usual, but I feel like it's just a tad more this month around. Perhaps it's the weather of being hot and humid (too humid for an October!) and then dropping down 15 degrees the next day and raining. Really, what is going on with our poor Mother Earth. Hurricanes, forest fires, mixed temperatures, oh my.

On another note, I am currently on day 14 of a Whole 30, meaning my food and diet have all been changing drastically and I am not sure if/how it affects my skin just yet.

1. Oil Cleanser: None!
2. Water-based Cleanser:  Goodal's Natural Clear Deep Cleansing Gel to Foam still gives me a bit of a "too tight, too clean" feel when I wash, but both my sister and I are loving. We really feel like it cleans, and I think the sebaceous black dots on my nose are less prevalent than ever.
3. Son & Park's Beauty Water: Once in a while I wipe down, but maybe once or twice a week. The cotton pads that I found to use are from my Korean Summer of 2012 and I find that there's not too much extra dirt on them so I don't need to use this as an added cleansing step.
4. Hydrating Toner:  At night sometimes I'll slap some Kikumasamune Moist toner on. Started my Missha Clear Toner, which I remember loving when I first started my K-beauty routine.
5. Serum: At the end of September my dear French friend came to visit and with her were two more bottles of my Caudalie Vinoperfect Serum. Using it twice a day, and I still love it even though I don't know what it does for me haha.
6. Moisturizer: Rosette Aqua Ceramide Gel has been doing the trick during the evenings. Mornings I have used Derma Dr. Lab Hydromist Gel Cream and though at first I thought it was too fragranced (as I always do when I stop using Mizon's Snail which is virtually scentless), my sister and I have been loving it. It has an interesting jello-like texture that fills in and binds to itself again soon after it's disturbed. We both only use it in the mornings and we're very sad with how quickly we're getting to the bottom of the jar.
7. Sunscreen: Used up BAE Biore too fast, back to Senka now. It feels greasy, but matte at the same time. Very manageable. 

Since moving out and in with my sister, we have been masking at least a couple times a week. Especially more so now that my sister opened a pomegranate one from the face shop and it smelled rank. My flights to Taiwan are already booked! Time to use up everything, even though I won't have a layover in Seoul this time. (Direct flights, like I have never done before!)

Putting All the Steps in Perspective

When I randomly bought a CC cream from the Club Clio warehouse sale, I went searching for my Korean skin tone match (found a great article on the Klog). As I remember from living in Seoul that one summer, Korean foundations, bb creams, cc creams, and cushions (ok, cushions weren't a thing quite I understood yet in 2012), Korean skin tone colors are limited. Usually has a range of three colors: pale, less pale than that, more pale than pale. This is great for me because I do border on the porcelain range. From memory I only remember there being colors 21 and 23.

Bomi-Box, which is an overpriced Korean beauty box subscription, has a great article that really simplifies the whole process in a way that makes it easier to relate to. In essence, they break up what scares off most people: the number of steps. They note that Korean skin care regimes are about three things: clean, treat, and protect. Which is precisely right. This is how an introduction to skin care should go.

They really break it down, easy as pie, with simple explainations and I love it:

Step 1: Clean
1. First cleanser
2. Second cleanser
3. Toner
Step 2: Treat
4. Essence
5. Ampoules, Boosters, Facial Oil
Step 3: Protect
6. Eye Cream
7. Moisturizer
8. Sunscreen 

They define each step, but within the three major movements of clean, treat, and protect. Now, it can't get easier than that. Thank you, Bomi-Box, though I won't be buying your random assortment of products in a box anytime soon, I appreciate the simplicity you have brought to us all, Nameless Author.

Skincare Routine Monthly Check-in: September 1, 2017

Omgosh, it is cold today and feels like a cold wave is hitting us even though it was just August yesterday. Omo, this is bad because my skin, as you can tell from the skincation I had to do earlier last month, does not handle sudden changes well.

In fact, I am still only at 70% of what my skin used to be. Perhaps it's because I'm older and nothing heals as fast as it once used to. My shoulders still have that dirty look because of the slight sunburn I got earlier in the summer.

1. Oil Cleanser: Still haven't really gotten back into that.
2. Water-based Cleanser: Sometimes I use sum37's Miracle Rose Cleansing Stick, especially since we ran out of Cosrx Low Ph Good Morning Gel cleanser. Sometimes I use the Tosowoong Enzyme Powder wash cleanser. Lately I've been using Goodal's Natural Clear Deep Cleansing Gel to Foam because I got it from a Club Clio warehouse sale for $10. It makes my skin feel a bit too clean, but we will see how this goes after another week or two of usage.
3. Son & Park's Beauty Water: I know, I know, I know. I really should be using this with cotton swabs, but... I haven't. Still slapping it (literally) onto my face.
4. Hydrating Toner:  At night sometimes I'll slap some Kikumasamune Moist toner on. But Enprani’s Dear by Enprani Moistfull Booskin on gym days.
5. Serum: Laziness, still. Caudalie if I remember, sheet mask remnants if I remember.
6. Moisturizer: Rosette Aqua Ceramide Gel has been doing the trick during the evenings. Mornings I have used the regular Mizon AIO Snail because we had some left over from the Rome trip. Then there's this new one that's got such an odd consistency, like thick pudding gel that gets watery when you smear it around. Derma Dr. Lab Hydromist Gel Cream is sold at Target for $32, but I got it at the Club Clio warehouse sale for $10. I mean, $10 is around how much I pay for moisturizer anyway, so I decided to give this one a go. Can't tell if I like it yet.
7. Sunscreen: Went back to the BAE Biore SPF, especially since they bottles have changed and I have to get used to the new formula because if I keep the other one around too long, it means it's gotten too old. Tarte's spf 30 on gym days (trying to use up their ultra small glass jar sample).

There have been some more masking, and the last one that I really liked was My Scheming's Milk Extract Brightening mask. It went on so nicely and I woke up with such smooth skin. However, since I was pampering that night, I also had time and slapped on some Timeless 20% Vitamin C + E Ferulic Acid Serum. Maybe it was the two together, I am not sure.

However, I do know that I have contemplated going vegan and that's going to be very hard on my skincare routine. Too much love for snail mucus, milk extracts, honey, and more.