Beauty Empties 18.0 | September

Here are the products I've emptied throughout the past 3 months! Woohoo! You guys know what this mean, right? More room for new products but starting this month, I'm actually on low-buy probably until November because I do want to see what's in-store for the upcoming Year-End Sale. For now, let's go over these products that I've finished and I'll let you know whether I'd be repurchasing them (which means love 'em, need 'em) or tossing them out into the real bin. Let's get into it!

For cleansers, I am done with the Aritaum Apricot Seed Deep Cleansing Oil that I've got last year from Hermo. As much as I like its scent, I used this a lot to clean my air puffs instead of using it as first cleanser. This is a limited edition product and this brand is longer carried by the store. 

As for the two COSRX cleansers; Salicylic Acid Exfoliating Cleanser is a great second cleanser for my evening routine as it deeply cleansed my skin and I don't see excess dirt on my cotton pads whenever I'm using this particularly on days I'm wearing cushion foundation. Yes, will repurchase although not anytime soon as I still have other deep cleansing foams in my stash. I've been loving the Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser so much; I've finished this second tube and already bought my backup for it. It's gentle and doesn't dry out hence a perfect morning cleanser.

I've finished another bottle of that THE FACE SHOP The Therapy First Serum; technically half of it as I gave this half of it (100ml) to my mum (yes, we both are currently using The Therapy skincare line) as we both are really enjoying the product. It deeply hydrates the skin and making it soft and supple to touch. Already bought my backup for it.

Next product would be the 3 Seconds Starter Vita Complex from Holika Holika that I've gotten from Althea around early last year. I've got to admit that this product was among few that I've managed to finish the fastest and that would be less than 3 months as I've started using it back in July (although I actually opened it in May) to accompany my sheet masking session. It doesn't really help with brightening but I just feel my skin is soft and plump as I alternate this skincare booster with the first treatment serum I've mentioned above. I still have other products to try so I won't be repurchasing this.

Finished the Camu Camu Moisture Cream from Brillar I think around August and I was actually quite surprised finding myself loving a moisture cream; thinking it'll be thick and sticky but I was wrong. It feels nice on the skin and absorbed quite well. Still, seeing this product is no longer available on Althea, I won't be repurchasing this product.

Done with the first tub of LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask! I love it as it does what it claims, my lips feeling soft and supply the next morning and I surely regret the night I didn't apply before going to sleep. Already purchased my backup in Vanilla!

I'm sure that tub of COSRX One-Step Original Clear Pads will be the first of many repurchase in the future. Well, I already bought one together with its One-Step Moisture Up Pads sister. It works nicely as exfoliating toner and I've been using it a lot for midday routine where I remove my makeup, cleanse and use it as toner before doing my sheet mask. Love it!

Finally done with that Scrub 'Em and Leave 'Em body scrub from Soap & Glory together with its travel-sized version. I do like them especially for its scent and it does make my body feels smoother after using but I'm now off to try other products so not going to repurchase at least for now.

That cute Cotton Flower Bubble bath and Shower Gel from Sephora Collection is totally nice but they no longer carry this and revamped their whole Sephora Collection already so I guess I'll be getting the new ones to try.

Last but not least, I've finished another bottle of this Vanilla Eau de Toilette from The Body Shop. I actually been using this EDT for years; way before starting this blog actually so I sort of lost track to how many bottles that I've finished. It's lovely, definitely to my liking and yes, I'm sure I'll be repurchasing this.

I guess that's all for now! I sure hope you guys are enjoying posts like this and now, I'm off to throw out these emptied bottles of products so I'll be seeing you guys on my next post. Annyeong~

Skincare Routine | Moisturisers

When it comes to moisturisers, I gotta admit that I haven't been using them regularly as I've only been focusing on light moisturisers like emulsion and lotions for both my morning and evening skincare routines but of course I cannot prolong that habit anymore as my skin been feeling so dehydrated even adding sleeping masks won't do. 

I doubt that you're not familiar with moisturisers but I'm still gonna drop some info to refresh (if I may) both our memories on this supposedly last skincare product that we use to seal or lock in everything that we have applied from toner to the heaviest serum or ampoules.

Basically there are 3 things you need to know about ingredients in common moisturisers: 

• Emollients prevent water loss without adding moisture to skin and has a softening effect on skin. Example: mineral oil, shea butter, aloe vera, cocoa butter, fatty acids (animal oils), triglycerides, palmitates, stearates, etc. 
• Occlusives focus more on preventing the moisture loss  or drained by external stressors by forming a protective film over the skin. They're usually oil-based that give off slightly greasy finish that possibly clog your pores especially for oily and acne-prone skin. Example: jojoba oil and lanolin.
• Humectants add moisture by drawing water molecules from the environment towards the epidermis in order to help rehydrate the skin’s surface. They help to increase the amount of water within the skin and store it away until it is needed, making humectants a great moisturiser for the majority of skin types. It is capable to holding up to 1000 times its own weight in water! Example: Glycerin and Hyaluronic Acid and certain AHAs like Lactic Acid. Source

If those three are driving you confuse then not to worry as there are few things in general you and I both need to know when it comes to moisturisers; how well it goes on our skin, whether it it is absorbed well into layers of our skin, whether it irritates or soothing; things you can see and feel but unfortunately, if you're not familiar with ingredients that might react badly to your skin then there's no other way other than trying the products and find out. That's why you're here! To find out about how these products work in general.

For my previous Round 11.0 skincare, I managed to finish one of the moisturisers around March so I went on and opened one to replace it but I've received several products to review and soon-to-be-expired freebies for the past couple of months hence there are five opened moisturisers in my stash!

Let's go into each and every of it!

First, the SKIN&LAB Dr. Colour Effect Red Cream. I've got this as a freebie along with a purchase from Althea and I remember while I was unboxing, I was so surprised to see that the full-sized product contained merely half of the tub! I've only used this like twice as the last step in my evening routine as it's so heavy and takes a while before absorbed all in however my skin was feeling really nice and smooth in the morning so I guess it's worth the effort to apply this. Be warned though; the scent is kind of strong and overwhelming for some.

As for the above Brillar Camu Camu Moisture Cream, I've been loving this since the first time I've tried this moisture cream as even though it goes on kind of thick on the surface, it dries down to almost matte finish as I massage my facial area upwards and this too gives off a very nice, smooth skin in the morning. Although I have to admit that this doesn't give much moisture I need during my dry and flaky skin days but still, I'm reaching for this the most in my PM routine.

This MIZON Vita Lemon Calming Cream is a recently opened product to replace the finished brightening moisturiser from my previous round of skincare but this also has soothing and calming properties so it's a 2 in 1 moisturiser that I've been enjoying in my morning routine. The texture is gel-like and absorbed into skin rather quickly and it does soothes my irritated skin and calms down my redness a little bit (although I don't have much to begin with) around my jawline and neck area.

Even before receiving Althea Korea Bare Essentials Fixer Cream for review, I already bought the trio literally on the the day it was launched on their site. I do like this for my morning routine as it does help with my normal to oily skin in terms of supplying ample of moisture but at the same time this just makes my skin is looking smooth with a little bit of brightening effect. As you've noticed from the above photo, I really am enjoying using this moisturiser to the point that I've used up more than half within 2 months.

I've received this Primary Raw Soy Milk Cream from Kurator.my as a gift with purchase (I've got some sheet masks and an essence-toner from the same brand) around March if I'm not mistaken and this is pretty much the same as the moisture cream I've shown you above. They also work similarly in terms of how they keep my skin moisturised but I do like this one's scent better as it's milder and doesn't linger.



So I guess that's all of it! I hope you find this post helpful and if you need me to further explain any of the above moisturisers, do let me know by leaving comments down below.

Until next post! Annyeong~

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Skincare Diary | Night Routine

For the past few weeks, I've been loving the combination of these two; ARITAUM Apricot Seed Deep Cleansing Oil and COSRX Salicylic Acid Exfoliating Cleanser as they cleanses deeply and I don't see any residue left even if I were to wear foundation or cushion foundation for the day. The cleansing oil goes on lightly and melted my makeup nicely and that cleanser actually helps with getting rid of accumulated dead cells which is great as I'm dreading the days for me to use physical scrub.

My skin is feeling dry and looks dull thanks to my hectic schedule so I added a brightening sheet mask which is that Dr.G Whitening Vita Mask to my moisturising night skincare products; Innisfree Jeju Sparkling Mineral Skin and Lotion then seal everything with that Brillar Camu Camu Moisture Cream.  I've been loving this moisture cream so much lately and hoping to get another tub however I don't think Althea will be restocking this so I think I'm going to grab something from Kurator.my as I saw a moisture cream from the brand Primary which is so nice-looking. I'll keep you guys posted on that.

I guess that's all for today's skincare diary and I'll be seeing you guys on my next post. Annyeong~