random & review: Not Your Conventional Face Cleanser... .

I was not really sure how to label this post. Ha~ But I found this to be too awesome to not be shared:

They are: Milk Powder, Oats, and Rice Flour. No, I am not trying to bake or cook anything of those ingredients. Instead, I'd like to share that those three items work beautifully as a cleanser. Yes, a face cleanser. 

About a month ago, my dear friend Len - who is currently residing in Singapore - whatsapp-ed me and raved about how this all-naturale mixture of three simple grocery items do wonders to her face. Len and I occasionally tip each other on make-up, skincare, and tips & tricks associated. 

My usual cleanser - Sulwhasoo Cleansing Foam - was almost gone by then, so I thought 'what the heck', and decided to give this a try anyway. The ingredients are cheap, readily available at supermarket or grocery stores; and if it didn't work, I could always turn them into something edible. :D

One month onwards, I am still using this as my primary face cleanser, so thank you Len, for the awesome share.

If you constantly have been changing face cleanser because you couldn't find anything 'just right', perhaps you may give this a go.

I noticed the positive effect on my face after the first week of use: I realized that I didn't need to extract/clean my T-zone (you ladies with somewhat troublesome T-zone, you know what I mean). The pores did not get clogged even with daily make up & BB cream use (and they are still not clogged. I only had to do a gentle exfoliate with steam & mask, and that was two weeks ago. Surprisingly, not much gunk extracted. Usually I'd grossed out with my own pores' byproducts. LOL)

The exfoliating effect of the oats & the rice flour cleanse the pores everyday, but they are still gentle enough to not aggravate your face. The milk powder moisturize and smooth your skin.

I always pre-mix and put them in a container.

Application: 

Mix 2-3 parts of oats with 1 part of milk powder (I use full cream milk powder) and 1 part of rice flour. Add warm water and mix with your hands (try to breakdown the oats by pressing/massaging them between your fingers) until the mixture becomes thick porridge consistency. Apply to your face as a cleanser and massage all over with gentle motion. 

Avoid your eye area. If they get stuck in between your lashes (or God forbids they get into your eyes), it's a bitch to clean.

If the consistency is not quite right, you may always adjust the ratio to suit your needs.

The only thing I hate hate hate, is the messiness created every. single. time. But for the sake of vanity, what is cleaning the sink surroundings of stray oat granules every morning ... . You may want to clean your face while showering. The hot steam from the shower will also help in the exfoliating process.

Don't forget to clean your face with cleansing oil (I use Sulwhasoo Cleansing Oil) if you wear make up or foundation/BB cream. Only use the oats-milk-flour mixture as substitute for your usual cleanser. The rest of your skincare regime should not change (cleansing oil to clean make-up, toner & serum or moisturizer after cleanser).

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One week should be enough time to see if this is suitable for you. If your face/skin rejected a product, your skin would protest and this usually resulted in breakouts OR overly dryness or oiliness. The ingredients for this cleansing method are all natural and obviously do not contain any chemicals, additives, or fragrances normally found in retail face cleanser. Therefore they are quite gentle to use. But if for any reason, this does not work for you or results in unfavorable effects to your skin, do not continue use.

I have a few retail cleansing products that I have used in the past that have worked for me, and I will be reviewing them in later dates.

On a side note: Len also recommended Rosehip Essential Oil to be used after cleansing. Sadly, this did not work for me. They caused me to have a small breakout by the third day of use, so I discontinued it. However, I started using Grapeseed Essential Oil afterwards and this has been working out wonderfully for my face, especially combined with the oats cleanser. (Len did say her type is 'dry combination', while mine is more towards 'oily combination'). Less clogged pores, brighter and smoother skin, just 'right' moisturizing property without causing my face to feel heavy, and less breakouts during you-know-that-time-of-the-month.

(For Australia, I order my essential oils from Sydney Essential Oil Co.)

review: Mizon Snail Cream

Back in December 2011, I received a small sample of Mizon Snail Cream from this GMarket shop. I have not really had the chance to review it, even though I have dabbed a bit of the cream every now and then as a moisturizer. And may I just say: I hate it as a moisturizer. I think it is a bit too rich for my oily combo skin, and I hate the way it makes my face feel kinda greasy and sticky after application.

But oh boy, do I have the change of heart now. 

Two weeks ago, clumsy me managed to burn a small patch of my skin when I was cooking. So I had been having this angry small red/brownish patch on the top of my hand, with no indication of it getting better anytime soon. (What the hell is wrong with my regenerative cells.)

So a week ago, I started putting whatever left of the snail cream sample on the burnt patch. And man, am I impressed.

Snail creams have repair function for your skin and claim to prevent wrinkles (no idea about this one as I have given up using it on my face), acnes, and improve stretch mark appearance. Now you may tell me, this improvement is just merely my skin finally decided to repair itself, even without the cream; but I dare to think otherwise. The burn patch stayed dark, broken and ugly until the night I dabbed the cream over it. The next morning, the patch started peeling. 

2 days after, fresh skin peeked over the peel, not raw pink (from forced peeling), but healthy looking new skin.

Now perhaps I shall buy a full tube for those stubborn stretch marks.... .

review: Sulwhasoo First Care Serum

So I have been using quite a few of Sulwhasoo products for quite some time now (read: more than a few months, which I think should be ample time to test a skincare). Some of their products had been misses rather than hits; but on the other hand, I now cannot live without a few of their items.

One of those is Sulwhasoo First Care Serum. And damn it, they don't come cheap either >: (

On my quest to search for a new skincare routine last year, I purchased a few lot of samples from Gmarket, including the upper end brands, like Isa Knox and Sulwhasoo. And thus my humble beginning of the serum.The First Care Serum worked beautifully on my rather oily combo skin, as a base serum to be used before toner application and without having to slap additional moisturiser. But since I knew better than to make my mind up based on a few sachets of samples, I bought a few tubs of this little gem in HongKong last November, as well as some bottles of their cleanser and cleansing oil. Boy, I spent some moola.

Let's just say, if the Sulwhasoo representative got paid on commission base, the lady that served my purchase at that time would be very happy.

The serum comes in 60ml fancy bottle, which will last you around 2-3 months. The cost, as I mentioned before, is on the exxy side - around A$75 when converted from my purchase in HongKong. However, this is one item that I will not be willing to give up from my daily skincare routine - broke or not!

Method of usage - refer to this website.

Anyway, to the real review:

My skin is oily combination. And I hate how it seems to have its own mind during every season change. In summer, it is freaking crisco. In winter, it is drier than the sahara. Hence, my skincare routine always change every season.
Interestingly, this serum seems to neutralize my skin. I don't even need to use moisturiser (moisturisers always end up making my face feel 'heavy') to hydrate my face anymore. Here is what I notice after a full 4 seasons cycle of using this serum (beginning since Autumn 2011 when I started on the sample sachets):

- Using them before applying the toner (and consequently any primer and make up after), preps the skin condition and hydrates the skin just enough so whatever the products you use afterwards are absorbed properly.
In my case: the toner really hydrates the skin (hence no more moisturiser), the make up primer glides easily on my face, subsequently the BB cream and foundation powder used afterwards feels like a part of my skin, not an additional fake cakey layer. Any serums used after the toner are absorbed much easily and evenly (I notice this because the BRTC blemish serum I use becomes more effective after starting using this First Care Serum).
- During winter, my skin is usually dull looking because of the dryness (and hence, I usually used to slap on additional moisturiser after cleansing & toner to hydrate them). But no more of that last winter. Yay! Apart from applying some mist water to lightly hydrate my face during the day, the serum seems to contribute to a more glowing even skin condition throughout the winter days.

I admit, I still have some of Sulwhasoo product samples that I will never touch, use, let alone buy the full retail packaging, simply because they don't work for me. I notice that a lot of their line cater towards dry skin, so perhaps it will suit that market more.
But I am so glad that I have found my new love with at least some of their basic skincare routine products: Liquid Cleansing Foam, Deep Cleansing Oil, and First Care Serum.