REN Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask

I have never posted the day after I tried a product but this mask I tried last night was seriously amazing!

Last night I tried the REN Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask - yes, a total mouth full so I will just refer to it as the REN mask - and I didn't think much of it after I had washed off my face and put on my regular nighttime cream. But this morning, as I washed my face, I could not believe how AMAZING my skin felt! It was SO soft and dare I say, tighter feeling? I did notice that as I washed my face I felt a tingle on my skin so maybe there were still remnants of the mask still working, I'm really not sure but all I can say is that this mask really delivered almost instant results on my skin and I'm definitely going to keep using this. 

My only issue with this product is that I can't tell how often you should use it. If I get addicted, can I really use it every day?! :)

On their official website, there are no instructions on quota per week or so. But I would assume that people with sensitive skin should really take heed.

LOVE This product.

Dr Brandt Flexitone BB Cream

So I'm continuing on my hunt for that perfect Do-everything Cream and as much as I loved my previous adventure (see my previous post), I tried something else this time: the much touted Dr.Brandt Flexitone BB Cream. The cream was recommended by beauty blogs and scored really high on peer reviews on seller sites and the allure was really just too irresistible for me. Besides, I'd been wanting to try a BB Cream but all the OG Korean ones were never "oil free" so I was scared.
So, I tried it.
I so wish I loved it but I really didn't.
First off, I was a little suspicious how this one tone would magically "blend" to match all shades and it really doesn't. What's interesting though is that it creates almost the same tann-ish tone that the Revision cream created. Perhaps all these all in one creams have a preset color. It's winter now and I've lost a lot of that sunny glow so this color tone was definitely too dark for my skin. Besides the color difference, it also left a sort of ashy tint on my face, like I was looking more sallow than usual. Not usually what I aim for when I use make-up on my face! I can do it on my own, thank you very much! :)

The cream is also a bit drying - and this is from someone who is always complaining about oily skin. It definitely isn't really doing it's "moisturizing" part as well as I had hoped.

I do love that it has sunscreen in it and it's SPF 30 which is great.

and so the search continues....

Sisley Lyslait Cleansing Milk

This winter was super dry. I was using coconut oil for everything- cleanser, face wash and body lotion. A friend gave me a large sample of this Sisley cleanser. I've loved everything I've ever tried from Sisley so I tried this milk cleanser. It wiped the dirt off and left a layer of lotion that I rinsed off with water. Water can be really drying in the winter so I've been trying to just wash my face with cleanser once a day at night. In the morning, I'll use this milk cleanser or just rinse my face with a bit of water. So far no pimples!

Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Foundation

This is my favorite foundation- better than Bobby Brown or Giorgio Armani.  It has a smoother finish and is moisturizing enough for summer or winter. It's medium coverage and it blends in really well with a moistened sponge. My color is Sunny Beige. People think that I have great skin naturally when I wear this with a little bit of blush.  : )

Arcona White Tea Purifying Cleanser

It's a good basic cleanser- my face feels clean and not too tight after I use it. My one gripe about it is that it's soooo thick- it doesnt come out of the bottle very easily and I also have to mash it around between my hands to be able to spread it on my face. It's a little annoying....I know- first world problems....

Arcona Raspberry Clarifying Bar

I like the idea of using a bar versus a liquid cleanser. It lasts much longer and there's less waste. So I've been trying this line called ARCONA. It's made in LA and is very natural.

This soap smelled nice but was too hard to clean off my face. I had to splash tons of water and it still left a heavy film on my face. Different cleansers leave a different kind of film but this one felt waxy- and this is coming from a girl who wipes coconut oil on her face to clean it. So I was such not a fan that I even did the pain-in-the-butt thing and returned it.

Revision Skincare Intellishade SPF 45

I am at the very last drops of my Revision tube and I'm debating if I should buy another tube ASAP or wait and try another brand. This is a tinted moisturizer with a high SPF, which is exactly what I've been looking for all my life. So why the dilemma? Well because I have the age old problem of always wanting to try new things. So again, as with every last drop, I come around to ask, do I just get this because it's just that good or do I try another brand?

To go back to the beginning, I didn't actually buy this product but Haejung gave me her tube because it was too drying for her skin. Yeah for me! Initially, I had my reservations. Revisions claims to only have one tone (!!) and that it will (magically) match your skin color? Really? Well, I can't say that it actually did. When I first tried it on, I thought it looked too darkish for my complexion and made me look a bit orangey, which is the usual complaint found on many review sites. But over the summer, I got a bit golden myself and suddenly, this tinted moisturizer was perfect for my skin tone! Voila! Just like that, suddenly I found myself using this every single morning and instantly looking like I got better sleep and better skin that I actually did. It really was awesome... AND EASY! I love it when a product does multiple things (moisturize, correct, protect) and does each thing well!

So why the hemming and hawing at this juncture? Well, it's the color again. Chances are that my skin tone will lose it's golden tinge over the winter when the sun isn't as hot, I go out less with the kiddos and by then, I will be back to the Bobbi Brown Sand tone that I usually am and I'm not sure how this will do. I would say that in the summer, this is almost the perfect tinted moisturizer with SPF for sure. But I may have to find another substitute to tide me over during the colder, less sunny winter months.

thanks Haejung for the intro to this product!

Ayur Medic Retinol Cream and Enrichment Cream

I love this pair. The line was created by Dr. Raj Kanodia- a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles. The day cream is pretty basic but it didnt make me break out at all. The retinol cream is also pretty great and left my skin feeling soft in the morning. I think night time creams are pretty important because your skin heals itself while you sleep. This one says that it's for resurfacing and blemish control and I feel like it did exactly that.

Intelligent Nutrients Anti-Aging Serum

This is a face oil thats meant for every skin type. It feels great and absorbs really well in the winter. I was using it as a serum at night until I got a pimple. I'm not 100% if it was this product that was to blame but I'm pretty sure it was. Now I only use it sparingly on top of another lotion or just on my neck.

The best part of this product is that it's totally organic and food grade! All the ingredients are plant oils. I've been hearing lately that you should only put on your face what you would put into your mouth. I love this idea of "feeding" your skin!

Avene Thermal Spring Water

This spray is pretty useful year-round. In the summer when it's super hot, I like to spray it on at the end of the day and then wipe the dirt off my face. It's like a mini face wash. Or it can just feel refreshing whenever...

This winter, my skin got really dry when the weather started transitioning from fall to winter. I was also using retin-a for a few days during that time so my skin was kinda flaking during the day. So I keep a bottle at work and it was a skin saver. The mist is also so fine that your face isn't dripping wet after a spray. My only complaint is that the nozzle broke on one of my bottles so i ended up making a hole in it and watering my plants with it.

Toleraine Ultra Intense Soothing Care

This is a great basic moisturizer for the winter in LA. I dont break out and my skin never feels dry. It's also great because it has no parabens, fragrance or alcohol. I love the way that it's packaged too. It's never exposed to air because the lotion is in a plastic bag within the bottle.

That's my major qualm with $150 eye creams that come in a jar: every time you open the jar, the cream is exposed to air!

SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF and SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic

I like to switch from one serum to the other. They both protect you from sun damage and I've read that the Phloretin also helps correct existing sun damage. According to EWG, the CE Ferulic rates a 3! That's pretty low on the toxicity scale. As my skin ages, I notice that using these products as the first layer helps keep the moisture in. These two serums are another product that I cant go without and so far I havent found anything better. I hear that La Mer has an amazing serum but it's like 150 dollars per ounce. Eeek!

Andalou Citrus Kombucha Cleansing Gel

This product is 73% organic, free of sulfates, petrochemicals, parabens ...etc. It's pretty all-natural and is aloe based. It's also pH balanced and hypoallergenic. It also contains kombucha enzymes and lots of antioxidants. It all seems lovely; however for a product that is on my skin for about 30 seconds twice a day, is my skin benefitting from all that good stuff? I'm not sure. It is a basic, gentle gel cleanser that i'm confident has nothing bad in it. My skin feels clean and soft when I use this and the smell is nice. Compared to the Mychelle cleansers, this line is way cheaper for a comparable or even better product. It was about 13 dollars for 6 ounces.

La Roche Posay - Anthelios SPF 50 Mineral Ultra Light Fluid

So I've been looking for a fluid, non-whitening mineral sunscreen that is cheaper than $40/ounce like the Clarins sunblock. I thought I had found it in this product. It promised to be non- whitening. However on my medium-colored complexion it cast a slight whitish tint. Perhaps on a lighter skin person it might not be a problem? Bummer...

Kate Somerville Exfolikate

This is definitely one of my basics that I keep buying over and over again. It's a great mask that leaves my face exfoliated and soft. It's an easy mask that you leave on your face for 30 seconds. I only use it at night though because it leaves my skin a little rosy and probably more vulnerable to the sun.

Make Up Forever Waterproof eyeliner

Having oily skin, I am constantly in search of things that will not run. Eye makeup was strictly off limits until one day my friend Sooyun gave me Kiss Me's revolutionary "tubing" mascara. It's not really mascara in the traditional sense but like a plastic coating on your lashes. It's amazing since it doesn't run! I thought about using the Kiss Me eyeliner, which I have high hopes for but since the local Sephora store didn't carry it, I had to look for other options in the meantime. At the advice of a Sephora salesperson, I decided to give Make-Up Forever's waterproof eyeliner in black. She guarenteed me that it will last forever and that it was waterproof. Water is not something I am afraid of. I don't know how many people go swimming or cry all the time so I have no idea why waterproof really even matters. what I cared about was OIL!

So, anyways, because she was so convinced, I gave it a go.

Well, she was wrong.
This morning, I slide the liner over my eyes and it went on pretty smoothly. But this wasn't the read test. I don't take a look at myself every hour so I have no idea exactly when it started to deteriorate but by 5pm this afternoon, I had raccoon eyes. No good at all.

I plan on returning this tomorrow and ordering the Kiss Me eyeliner online.

I do like Bobbi Brown's cream eyeliner. Even that did better than the Make-up Forever but it's not perfect. I'll review that next.

Two Cleansing Gels I just used: Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel + Astara Blue Flame purifying cleansing gel

Astara blue flame purifying cleansing gel

These are the latest in cleansing gels I've been trying out. I have to say, I keep changing cleansing gels because I'm waiting for something to really wow me but I can't say I've met my perfect cleanser quite yet.

Dermalogica's special cleansing gel was pretty decent. It didn't make me break out. It didn't dry me out. And overall, it seemed to work fine in cleaning my pores and even taking my make-up off without me having to use a separate make-up remover, which I hate to do anyways. But I'm not super thrilled enough to buy the bottle again, mostly for two reasons. One, I didn't really like the way it smelled. It's very clinical smelling and although not too high on the EWG's scale of health concerns, it wasn't stellar either. Two, it has a really almost slimy consistency and it never felt like I was really cleaning my face. Of course, when I used a toner, it's not like I saw anything left behind so it was obviously doing it's job, but it just didn't feel good to use it.
So, having said my two reasons, it may seem like my decision to NOT buy this again is really based not on scientific proof of efficiency but rather how I perceive the product to feel on my skin. But then again, it is a skincare product so shouldn't I care how it feels? I think so.

Now, moving on to Astara's cleansing gel. I really love Astara products. I think their Blue Flame Mask is one of the best things around for combating my oily skin and I have sung the praises of it's work to many. I even have my husband hooked on this stuff. He walks around with his face entirely blue as if it's totally normal. anyways... I thought I'd give their Blue Flame cleansing gel a try since they share the same company and name sort of. I have to say, I was expecting miracles to happen. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite like that. The best thing about this cleanser is the way it smells. I love it! It's earthy, herby, grassy and just smells like you walked into an herbalist's mecca or something. Just really great. I loved smelling the soap as I rubbed it in my hands and washing my face always felt like this earthy experience, like I was doing something green and good for my face. Unfortunately, it didn't really clean my face as well as I would've liked. When I used a toner afterwards, it'd always come up with a little mellow yellow that had clung onto my skin. Still, to be honest, I'm really torn about this cleanser, mostly for the scent, and I wish I could buy it again. Unfortunately, EWG doesn't have this product listed so I can't really tell how good for me it is, but I probably won't be buying this again unless I'm seriously craving some herbally love.

I'm happy to report though , that I have two new cleansers gracing my sink and shower so I will be reporting on them shortly!

Kiehl's Ultra Moisturizing Eye Stick SPF 30

This is the best daytime eye "cream" I have found that I have used consistently for several years now. Granted, I don't really care about or need super creamy stuff and the only three criteria I had for a daytime eye cream was to have SPF, be easy to put on, and not melt down into my eyes where it can mingle with my hard contacts, which a lot of them do.
This was a perfect solution.
It's a stick! So i just smear it on and it's awesome. I love that it has such a high SPF and I think it works incredibly well. I also love the portability, the ease of use and the fact that it has never travelled down to my eyes throughout the day. This may very well be the eye stick of choice until I see any reason to move onto something more heavy duty.
Pretty good price too!

Haejung's Daily Regimen

I haven't had a pimple in months and my skin looks relatively good. So I wanted to remember what products I'm using right now.

Morning: SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic (serum) or SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF (serum), Ayur-Medic Enrichment Cream and Clarins UV Plus HP (sunscreen).

Evening: La Roche-Posay Mela-D Serum and Ayur-Medic Retinol Cream.

Cleansers on rotation: Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant or Mychelle Apple Brightening Cleanser.

Eye cream (when I can remember to):SK II Signs Eye Cream.

Jane Iredale Lip Drink SPF 15

Who else makes a nice lip balm with a mineral sunscreen? Most lip balms use chemical sunscreens so for that alone, I think this one stands out. I love the smell and feel. Now let's see if it keeps my lips moisturized as long as Caudalie's lip balm.