Holy Grail Peel: Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial

Today I’m reviewing the last Drunk Elephant product in my skincare stash. I’ve always been curious about Drunk Elephant due to the name. The C-Firma serum didn’t really impress me, but I did like all the other serums and moisturizers. While they also have nice cleansers, my favorite of the line, aside from B-Hydra, has to be the T.L.C Sukari Babyfacial. 

When it comes to chemical exfoliation, a blend of acids will give better and more comprehensive results than high concentration of a specific acid since different acid/enzymes target different problems. Babyfacial contains 25%  AHA (glycolic acid, tartaric acid, lactic acid and citric acids) to smooth skin texture, reduce pigmentation and fine lines as well as 2% BHA (salicylic acid) to combat breakouts and keep your pores clean. Oh, it also contains pumpkin ferment extract for some enzyme exfoliation. In short, it’s got all the chemical exfoliation ingredients you would ever want. While acids can do wonders for your skin, they can be irritating if not carefully balanced with other ingredients. Babyfacial contains aloe vera and green tea to condition and soothe the skin as well as hyaluronic acid and oils to replenish moisture and nourish skin. Basically, it’s packed to the brim with good ingredients. I can go on and on about each of them, but the most important thing is result!

DIY Hydrating Mask: Honey, Yogurt and Oats

It’s my favorite mask for summer because it deals with dehydration, irritation, shiny skin and pretty much everything. The DIY is super easy and super simple because everybody probably already have those three ingredients. If not, you should because they are all super healthy as well. Did I mention it also doubles as a wonderful breakfast? but, let’s stick to skincare right now. Here’s why they are great applied topically:

• Yogurt – it is moisturizing, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and contains lactic acid, an AHA that dissolves dead skin cells for gentle exfoliation. It helps to soothe sunburns, prevents breakout, diminish appearances of fine lines and reduce discoloration.
• Oats – it contains saponins, a natural cleanser that removes dirt and oil from pores without causing irritation. It is packed with antioxidants, essential minerals and vitamins, like vitamin E, beta glucan, avenanthramides etc. All of which help to heal and moisturize the skin, reduce inflammation, irritation and itchiness.
• Honey – it was talked about in great details in a previous post. Basically it is moisturizing, anti-aging since it contain antioxidants, clarifying/purifying due to enzyme and it have anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties.

Any one of those ingredients is already wonderful when applied by itself and they are all edible so it’s ok if you freestyle the ratio a bit or decide to microwave the leftover to eat. But if you do plan to use it as a mask multiple times, as always with all DIY, make sure to sanitize all containers/utensils, use purest ingredients possible or clean then thoroughly, and keep the final product sealed/refrigerated when not in use. 

Ole Henriksen Power Bright: Newer and better?

Hello dear readers! It’s been a while since I posted, hasn’t it? After all, nothing makes life more interesting than having sudden projects and super serious presentation to VPs sprang up on you. While I did make time to cleanse and moisturize daily, I didn’t even remember when was the last time I exfoliated. Was it 2 weeks ago? 3 weeks ago? My skin kindly reminded me of it last week with extra flaky/rough skin and bumps that threaten to erupt into breakouts if I don’t get my act together. So, instead of the usual one step exfoliation I went with a super serious and fancy 3 step peels instead.

I’ve blogged about Ole Henriksen Power Peel Transforming Facial System before, read about it here. It starts with physical exfoliation to scrub off the top layer of dead skin, then a chemical exfoliation that contains a blend of acid to brighten the skin and clarifies the pores. Lastly, you end with a calming chamomile mask to soothe the skin after all that heavy-duty exfoliation. My skin was slightly red for a few minutes but there were no irritations, it feels soft and smooth but slightly dry. The whole process took 15 – 20 minutes and cost $50 for 6 treatment. But! For $5 more, you can get the Ole Henriksen Power Bright 3-Step Professional Brightening System! What’s the difference? Let’s find out.

Speed Review: Scrubs and Peels

In theory, all your skin need is cleanse and moisturize. But to keep your skin in top condition, you need at least a good sunscreen and a good exfoliator as well. Human skin constantly renews itself and replaces itself completely every 27 days. If you don’t exfoliate, dead skin accumulates and your complexion may start to look dull, feel flaky and your skincare may not absorb as well. What exfoliator should you use? Check out this fantastic breakdown of exfoliators by my skincare buddy lylysa! The post talks about different types of physical and chemical exfoliators as well as the pros and cons of each and everything else you’ve ever wanted to know.

I usually prefer an exfoliant with granules to scrub off the dead skin and some form of acid to clear out the pores, but without making my skin dry or sensitive. My holy grail exfoliators are Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion and Tatcha Rice Enzyme Powder. Both are a little expensive but absolutely worth it. Besides, Dr. Brandt do 40-50% off every fall if you subscribe to their email list and Tatcha often has vouchers on Gilt City or Ruelala that brings the price down 30-40% every year so I never had to buy them at full price. Even though those two are my holy grail, there are plenty of nice exfoliators out there that I haven’t tried yet, so this is a round-up of some promising exfoliators that I’ve gathered.

Want Some Honey? Guerlain, Fresh and Farmacy Mask Review

Honey is a great skincare ingredient. It is moisturizing since it is a humectant, anti-aging due to the antioxidants, clarifying/purifying due to enzyme and it have anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties. I previously did a review of honey sheet masks before, but I then fell in love with Fresh Crème Ancienne Ultimate Nourishing Honey Mask, which is pretty expensive at $150 a jar. My friends love the much cheaper option, the Farmacy Honey Potion Renewing Antioxidant Hydration Mask so I have to give it a try. And last time I was at a Guerlain counter, the sales rep was telling me how amazing Guerlain Abeille Royale Repairing Honey Gel Mask was so I decided it’s time to try and review them all.

Of course, if you don’t want to spend $50 to $150 for a honey mask, you can also try pure honey instead. I’ve used normal honey, manuka honey and raw honey as masks before. While they do exfoliate and hydrate, they are sticky, messy to use and the skin doesn’t feel as smooth as from these masks since there’s other skin nourishing ingredients added.

Ingredients and Brightening Masks

Coming from an Asian country, it took me a few years to realize “whitening” and “brightening” refers to different things. Whitening refers to bleaching the skin to make it shades lighter/whiter and may damage the skin while brightening focus on getting rid of dark spots, acne scars and dull skin. While almost everyone is familiar with glycolic acid and vitamin C, there are quite a few other effective brightening ingredients that you might have noticed. Not everything is appropriate for everyone, so here’s a brief introduction:

• Hydroquinone – a skin lightener to treat pigmentation. It is banned in some countries due to concerns about risk of cancer, and darkening of the skin for people of color. Small concentration seems to be okay if you don’t have dark skin.
• Kojic acid – a plant extract to treat pigmentation. It has been found to be less effective than 2% hydroquinone but more effective than arbutin. However, it may cause sensitivity. It is unstable and may break down when expose to heat and light.
• Arbutin – plant extract that treats discoloration. It’s gentle and works well for sensitive skin. Research has shown that synthetic form (deoxyarbutin) may work better than natural extract. Since it is glycosylated hydroquinone, there is similar concern about cancer risk, which has not been proven yet.
• Glycolic acid – an alpha hydroxy acid that treats pigmentation by exfoliating off the dull skin and quickens cell turnover, which reduces fine lines and rough skin texture. However, it can make the skin more sensitive and irritated.
• Vitamin C – it treats sunspots and dull skin and is mildly effective on fine lines and skin firmness. There’s not really any risks or side effects, the stability and strength depends on the type of vitamin C used. Instead of breaking down in sunlight, it helps to defend the skin against UV rays so it’s great to use during the day.
• Niacinamide – also known as vitamin B3. In addition to even the skintone, it also has anti-inflammatory properties, improves the skin’s protective function, and stimulates collagen production. It’s great for acne-prone and sensitive skin.
• Licorice extract – it is a brightening ingredient with soothing anti-inflammatory properties. Anti-inflammation is very important when skin brightening because irritation may lead to an increase in melanin production.
• Algae extract – it evens the skintone and helps to fight against surface redness. It can revitalize and moisturize stressed skin as well.
• Azelaic acid – it reduces pigmentation but has no risk of irritation or darkening the skin when used too much, thus good for sensitive skin.

If you have brightening products, then you probably has seen several of these ingredients in it. However, if you don’t use sunscreen consistently then all your hard work is wasted. 

But today, we are talking about brightening sheet masks. Dr. Jart+ Brightening Infusion Hydrogel Mask, My Beauty Diary Arbutin Brightening Mask and Leaders Coconut Gel Mask. Some of them seems to have gotten new packaging recently, but the ingredients are the same so the reviews should still hold.

January Skincare Journal, And Donkey Milk?

I’m kind of proud that I’ve been consistently using my samples and minis as well as exercising daily, which were my goals this year. I haven’t been eating as healthy as I should or lose weight yet, so that’s something to work on in Feburary. Spring is when all the new skincare products come out. There were some fun new releases as well as some interesting finds, such as this Soo Ae Donkey Milk Mask. Why donkey milk? Just like cow milk, it’s soothing and moisturizing so it’s great for those with sensitive skin and eczema. Moreover, it has over four times more vitamin C than cow’s milk but with less allergens.

The Soo Ae Donkey Milk Healing Skin Gel Mask is a thin, textured cloth sheet soaked in a milky gel serum with a mild floral scent. The floral scent probably comes from the camellia flower water, licorice root extract, witch hazel and various plant extract in the ingredients. There’s only .5% donkey milk in it so there’s no pungent milky scent. My face feels moisturized after taking it off. The gel serum is a little sticky and takes some time to absorb but it is not stuffy or greasy. It’s got pretty good ingredients for a $3ish mask. It’s a nice moisturizing and healing mask for dry combination skin.

Aside from the various skincare I got myself, I was also sent some products from the latest brand Sephora carries, Skin Laundry, for being active on BeautyTalk. I reviewed the Sleepcycle Pillowcase, Gentle Foaming Face Wash and Hydrating Facial Sheet Mask here. If you like effective and gentle skincare with simple ingredients, it’s worth checking out.

2 years and 100 sheet masks later…

Happy New Year everyone! Can you believe it’s 2017 already?!?! It was two years ago, around Christmas time, that I thought to myself: “why is everyone obsessed with sheet masks? Are all Korean sheet masks the same? Are the cheap $3 ones really as good as the expensive ones?” …… A week later, there were boxes and boxes of sheet masks from TonyMoly, Etude House, Innisfree, Nature Republic, Skinfood, Faceshop and My Beauty Diary on my floor. So I dumped everything into a pile and tried to figure out how I’m gonna get through all 70+ sheet masks.

In the end, I categorized them by ingredients and my “Ingredient/Sheet Masks Highlight” series was born:

Aloe Vera Avocado Bamboo Berries Caviar Ceramide Collagen Cucumbers Ginseng Green Tea Honey/Royal Jelly Hyaluronic Acid Lemon

Lotus Mung Beans Olive Pearl Pomagranate Rice Roses Seaweed/kelp Shea Butter Snail slime/extract Tea Tree Wine

The series covered 25 ingredients, 70+ sheet masks and 7+ brands. Since one of my original questions/goals is to compare the cheap sheet masks with higher end ones, I’ve also tried 20-30 sheet masks from When, Karuna, Farmacy, Dr. Jart+, Shiseido, Wei, SK-II and Tatcha. I can’t say I’ve tried EVERY single good sheet masks out there, but I’ve tried enough to be confident in my conclusions and don’t expect my favorites to change again.

Clinique Mask Sampler

Clinique is the first “high end” brand I got into waaay back when I was in high school. Since I’m a big fan of the Moisture Surge gel cream and the Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm, I grabbed the little mask sampler a few months back to see if there’s anything good. The four masks are:

• Turnaround Revitalizing Instant Facial – a scrub mask/facial.
• Moisture Surge Overnight Mask – overnight mask, basically a moisturizer.
• Even Better Brightening Moisture Mask –  overnight mask/moisturizer.
• Pore Refining Solution Charcoal Mask – a charcoal mask for problem skin.

Each pod of the mask is enough for 2-3 applications. Honestly I didn’t expect much from them, but the Pore Refining Solution is pretty good.

Sheet Masks/Ingredient Highlight: Cucumbers!

Cucumber slices have long been used as eye masks to calm and hydrate, and with good reasons. Cucumber contains plenty of vitamin K, an antioxidant that fights dark circles under the eyes. It also reduces swelling and water retention, thus are great for reducing puffiness. The vitamin A, B-5 and C helps to fight dark spots and retain moisture while silica helps to fight wrinkles. Not only that, cucumbers also have a high water content and cooling properties, thus making it a great way to soothe skin burns and irritations.

As many DIY cucumber mask recipes as there are online, I’ve only eaten them since I always thought their benefits are only due to it being cool and wet. Now that I know it is definitely beneficial, I’ll definitely have to start playing around with DIYs using it!

Skin type: Sensitive skin, dry skin and early aging skin.

Purpose: Hydrates, soothes, debuffs and anti-wrinkle.