Product Review: My Beauty Diary Sheet Mask

I came across this Asian beauty product when I was searching for a pore refining mask. You know there are gazillion masks out there and they claim the same thing: to make your skin looks better. Well, I DO think mask is quite necessary in skincare regimen although it's not the main focus (cleanser, toner, moisturizer, exfoliation, treatment). Wise to say a mask would be a "luxury" for those whose skin aren't so problematic but for me who's always battling acne due to my genetically oily skin with large pores, masks are important.

If you've been following this blog for a long time, you know my love for clay masks and the goodness they bring..but for once I felt like trying something new, and that's when I stumbled upon this brand. My Beauty Diary (such a cute name!) is a Taiwanese brand which specializes in masks and other skincare products. The thing that caught my eyes was that their scents sound VERY EDIBLE... I think that's where they got me (lol I love food okayyyyy)

It was actually hard for me to stay focus and follow what my skin needs, not what I feel like nomming. After so much research I narrowed it down to this particular sheet mask that is Earl Grey Tea & Macaron. I mean........how nice does it sound? This sheet mask has a lot of good things in it, including sweet almond protein extract, bergamot essential oil, black tea ferment, and blueberry extract. They claim to brighten, getting rid of the dullness, refreshing the tired skin, and giving antiseptic effect to reduce inflammation in case your skin is red or irritated. Earl Grey Tea & Macaron Sheet Mask is supposedly suitable for normal skin but I figured, what the heck.

So I ordered it through Ebay (after comparing shipping cost with Sasa, YesStyle etc, Ebay still gives me the best price) and it came after approximately 7-10 days. The box contains of 10 individually wrapped sheet masks ($18.60 including s&h) so overall I think you get a very good deal.

Review
As instructed, you're supposed prepare your face (cleanse + tone the skin prior to using mask), then you open the packaging, pull out the mask which should still be attached to its plastic. Then, gently place it on your face while trying to find the suitable position (I found the mask is quite big so you have to maneuver it to fit your face). Now, here's what I do that they don't tell you in the back of packaging: you will find the mask will still have a lot of serum left in the packaging, and I hate to waste stuff so I normally just take the leftover and smear it all over my jawline and neck. Then I leave it on for 20-30 minutes (well...sometimes I forget and leave it up to 45-60 minutes, but apparently my face didn't fall off or anything scary, so I guess it's fine lol) and take it off. I'd like to rinse my face with water afterwards but I read some girls like to leave it as it is.


Now, does it really do what it claims to do?

HECK
YES. 

I mean, I could actually see result right away..which is crazy. My skin does appear brighter right after I wash my face. It also gives my skin this calming feeling, like I just run ice cube all over...and it just feels sooo good. Now, I'm not easily impressed when it comes to skincare. I have tried many different types of cleanser/treatment/mask, you name it, and they all mostly take time to show effect on my skin. But this one is just surprisingly good and definitely gives me immediate effect.

I love having this mask around, you know...for those days when you have important dates or meetings where you want to look refreshed and healthy. This mask is like a quick pick-me-up.

Another thing I shouldn't forget to mention is THE SCENT. Oh. My. God. It smells soooooooooo good and refreshing, like chamomile tea with lemon or something, and it's not overpowering at all. I'd just order for the smell to be honest with you... There was that week where I used this mask 3 days in a row just because :P

Anyway, I really do recommend this mask, not just for people with problematic skin (I'm acne-prone, oily skin for reference) because Earl Grey Tea & Macaron sheet mask does really amazing thing your skin regardless. You can order them from Sasa, YesStyle, or Ebay (<- I just found a cheaper deal, darn it!)

So, please hit me back if you've tried this one or other My Beauty Diary masks, I'd love to branch out and try more :) But before I end this, enjoy my face wearing this mask.....I looked morbid due to the fact that I was using my last sheet mask and forgot to buy more lol

tobedeletedlater.jpg 
(hey, don't i look like that dude from Texas Chainsaw Massacre? lol)

Toodles!

Giveaway: $75 Gift Card from SkinCareRx

Hey guys!

I have something super awesome for you all, my dear followers. SkinCareRx is kindly enough to sponsor me a giveaway of a $75 gift card . SEVENTY FIVE DOLLAR GIFT CARD to spend at SkinCareRx’s sites (including Apothica.com and SkinBotanica.com)! How cool is that? SkinCareRx does carry many top beauty/skincare brands such as Barielle, Korres, Clarisonic, Kinerase, Revitalash, and La Roche-Posay Anthelios. 

One of the brands that I would like to make a highlight is La Roche-Posay Anthelios which carry the latest advancement technology of sunscreen. I don't know about you, but I live in Hawaii and Summer sun here can be pretty crazy. I am actually on a search for a good and reliable sunscreen to protect my face if I go out or hang out on the beach. Anthelios have a wide array of choice from SPF 15 to 60 alongside with the moisturizers, cleansers and face toners.

Anyway, enough of my blabber, onto the appropriate question: "How can I win this giveaway?" Well, you will be chosen depending on how many points you gain (you know the drill, yes?) so here's how you gain entries

*How to gain entries*

1. One entry for becoming a fan of SkinCareRx on Facebook

2. One entry for following SkinCareRx on Twitter.

3. Two entries to tweet about this contest (must @reply your tweet to @skincarerx1 and include a link to this blog post).

4. Ten entries for a blog post about this giveaway--*Must have a minimum of 100 words, include a link to this giveaway, and a link to "La Roche-Posay Anthelios" in your post. "La Roche-Posay Anthelios" must be linked to http://skincarerx.com/la-roche-posay-anthelios.html.

*Rules*

1. Must be a follower of my blog (Shizznizzle).
2. Must post a comment for each entry.
3. If you do tweet about this giveaway, make sure you include your Twitter name in the comments below.

Giveaway ends June 19th 28th, 2010 at 11:59 pm PST

Good luck <3

The Beauty of Clay

I am not talking about,

I meant clay as in clay mask.

Clay has many types, what I'm using now is Glacial Clay although I'm also using Camelia Rose's Rose Clay, Goats Milk & Shea in soap bar form and LOVING IT !!!

Clay mask in general is an awesome product, basically what it does is: the mask goes inside our pores where all the nasty gunk & dirt hides, once it's dried, it pulls away the impurities and dead skin cells away from your skin, so when you wash it off, those bad stuffs & dead skin also being taken off of your skin.

Glacial Clay is also full of protein & nutrients for skins which is great for rejuvenation (lighten up discoloration of my acne marks). I have been using this mask after I ditched my Queen Helene Mint Julep mask, it contains fragrance and I just didn't feel comfortable slathering fragrance on my acne-prone skin.

Another thing I like about it is it's pretty hydrating so even after I wash it off, my face doesn't feel tight. I noticed Mint Julep mask does dry up my skin a little bit.

I purchased mine at Garden of Wisdom, and they're pretty damn cheap. My glacial clay costs $4.75 for 2 oz in powder form. So what I do is mixing the powder with liquid in small dish until I meet my desirable consistency.

The liquid that I use is Spring Water, which is quite basic. Some people use Hydrosols, Aloe Vera Juice, Aloe Vera Gel, Yogurt, and sometimes mix other stuffs inside with Honey, Manuka Honey, or Seamollients.

How much liquid, you may ask? well it's all up to you, I like mine to be lotion-like consistency, not as thick as toothpaste (found it hard to smear around) or too watery. I leave my mask for 30 minutes before I rinse off to give it time to barging into my pores & do the job. I use mine 1x a week (every Sunday) but you can double the dose to 2x a week if you like.

Some other great clays worth trying are: Blue Clay, Dead Sea Clay, French Green Clay, Kaolin Clay, and Red Kaolin Clay (all from Garden of Wisdom)

GoW also offers a Clay Sampler, basically a 12 ounces of various clays for $20.05

I took these today:

I love Glacial Clay!!! . What? Green face is out of date? . Aaron just called me HULK :(

I really recommend you to try clay mask, it's pretty awesum!

The Reason I Hide My Face...

Hehehe ok it's not as bad as it sounds but the reason I haven't posted any FOTD's is because.....


I'M PURGING !



What is purging?

Purging is a period when your skin breaks out as a reaction to a new and better product, it could be anything, your new gentle cleanser, moisturizer, or the whole new routine you apply to your face. In my case, it's the last one.

If your new cleanser has the 'glycolic acid' ingredients, it cleans your pores deeper.

So why are you breaking out?

of course your skin takes a consequences when it's CLEARING UP the impurities and it will brings all the bad stuffs to the surface which will cause zits, that's why EXFOLIATION is very important because you need to unplugged your pores and let the gunks out.

Using natural oils and moisturizer will loosen your gunk but without exfoliating, you can still get big cystic acne cause you basically 'trap' the bad stuffs inside. Don't do halfway! :)

I've been using my GoW products, this is my 7th day actually, been patiently (and slowly) trying the stuffs one by one on every 4 days, so now my routine would be:

AM

Calamine Bar Soap
Red Wine Vinegar Toner (I made it myself with Jen's recipe ^_^)
Immortelle HA + Grapeseed Oil (mix it on my palm, apply all over face)
Pineapple Mist (spray)
B.P 2.5% (4 days/week)

PM

Calamine Bar Soap (or Takrai Lemongrass Cleanser 3x a week as Exfoliator)
Red Wine Vinegar Toner
Mint Julep Masque (2x a week, but looking into more natural mask)
Pineapple Mist (if I wear mask)
Rosacea Serum
Pineapple Mist
Immortelle HA + Grapeseed Oil
Pineapple Mist

It sounds alot I know, but I'm really positive about this for the long run, coz natural skincare is no joke, it works! Although I'm purging pretty bad at the moment (slowly weaning off from B.P also contributes, I bet) I'm patient and hope to see the good end for my skin rollercoaster (or Rock'n'Roll coaster LOL) ride. I try not to get too close to the mirror tho, it's frustrating to see those tiny bumps all over my foreheads, nose & cheeks (even under my eyebrows...ain't that wacko? hehe) and I think it's better for me to not over-scrutinizing my own skin coz I know I could give up halfway if I freaked out.

Wish me luck, ladies!

Onto the good things :)

Haul !!! Today I received package from LaurEss where I got 4 blushes from.

and Yuko from Vox also sent me blushes samples (the blue envelope) ^_^
She's so nice!

From LaurEss
They gave me free samples of Radiant Tan which is definitely too light for me :( I have no idea what am I gonna do with it...

Swatches
I included Persuasion from Yuko, it's gorgeous !!!

Exhilaration & Attraction is matte blush, which is very pretty and I think it'll look the healthy 'blushing' cheek. Both Uninhibited and Decadence is from their Candle Light blush line which has very beautiful shimmer, definitely for summer : )

Another surprise is from Wal-mart, I didn't even remember what it could be but apparently they send me a tester pack from John Frieda Collection, I recall filling in some sort of questionnaire from Wal-mart website couple of weeks ago (maybe a month ago if I'm not mistaken...geez they took so long LOL)

Will try them and of course, come back to you guys with reviews!

Toodles !

Mario Badescu Free Samples

Who loves free goodies?

*Inan raised hand*

Yes, ladies...call me cheap but I REALLY DO loves free samples. Either food (thats why I heart Costco), perfume, or better yet, skin care. I think it's very important to test out products especially for our skin since most of us has specific allergy reaction to certain ingredients.

So when I've heard Mario Badescu offers a free sample with consultation (I think it was Bellasugar blog), I decided to try them out. Not only because of they're free, Mario Badescu products contain natural ingredients and they are very simple unlike most of over the counter skin care products which contains tons of foreign words that gives me headache if I try to read them.

I decided to take the questionare once I also read some positive reviews in Makeupalley, and based on my oily/acne-prone skin, they send me a confirmation email to order the free sample
within a week...

Today they all arrived safely to my mailbox, and here they are:

The personalized product samples:
It also comes with Product Guide and Invoice

I just stored my samples in the fridge since they were warm when I got them, it's been pretty hot for the last 3 days here in Hawaii. Will be trying them soon, I hope it won't overlap since I am also expecting my GoW goodies.

If you guys are interested, you can try the Mario Badescu Skin Care sample here, just filled in the questionare and *cross fingers* wait for the confirmation email from them in couple of days. Make sure you check your spam if you have waited long enough and didn't see the mail. Mine went straight to spam :'( Stupid yahoo : P

Good Luck!

Skincare Update & EDM Haul

I'm so bad...someone needs to spank me !

Ok so I've just made another order from Garden of Wisdom for my skin care, as I told you guys I've been a converter for natural skincare since I started using MMU. Ever since my last skin care regimen I posted a while ago, there are some few changes I made in order to slowly switching to natural skincare.

I am still using my Neutrogena On-the-Spot Acne treatment with B.P 2.5% although along the ride I have acknowledge some bad effect from B.P in a long run. Perhaps I may not be worried about it YET since the main downside of B.P is aging your skin faster, but hey isn't what we are doing now to our skin will be paid sooner or later? isn't my reason on doing all of these natural routines also for the better future? (ok.. enuff preaching already!!! LOL)

I could have cut off my B.P right now but I was pretty lucky I spent most of my days burying my nose on Garden of Wisdom forum and learned you MUST NOT quit B.P just like that. The reason being is, B.P is a very effective treatment and barrier for skin to those nasty bacteria (therefore, preventing acne) and aside from its bad long-term effect, B.P has helped my skin alot, and by stopping it can cause a 'shock' for your skin...and the result is: Horrible breakouts!

I'm not joking, ladies...it has been proven by many girls who stopped using B.P all of the sudden and had to suffered horrible withdrawals for quite some time. The best thing to wean off from B.P is cutting it BACK slowly, you can start by decreasing the amount, then the application times (cut from 2x a day to just once), and eventually you can stop completely.

Note: I didn't mean to scare you or force you to stop using B.P, if it's part of your routine and your skin loves it, you should continue...My reason is the Neutrogena B.P 2.5% is so tiny yet freaking expensive, and I really want to convert COMPLETELY to natural skin care. So that's my personal reason.

I also still use my The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil stuffs since I've bought some extra during specials and I don't wanna waste stuffs I already bought.

So here's my updated version of my skin care:

AM
Cleanse: Calamine Bar Soap
Hydrate: GoW Pineapple mist (let dry)
Treat: Neutrogena B.P 2.5% (all over face)
Moisturize: Olay Moisturizer for Normal skin with SPF 15

PM
Cleanse:
- SoapalayaSoaps Olive Oil Facial Cleanser/Scrub/Face Mask (I know, this stuff is awesome! I'm gonna make a review on this soon) OR
- GoW Takrai Lemongrass Cleanser (only 2x a week since it also works as an exfoliator) OR
- Oil Cleansing Method (if I wore makeup that day)
Mask: Mint Julep Masque (1x-2x a week)
Hydrate: GoW Pineapple mist (let dry)
Treat: Neutrogena B.P 2.5% (all over face)
Moisturize: The Body Shop Blemish Fade Night Lotion
Spot Treatment: Tea Tree Oil (with Q-tip or Mint Julep on red angry acne)

Ok and here's what I ordered from GoW:
~ GoW Cleansing Oil (I almost ran out of my Pure Luxe Oil Cleansing sample)
~ Melissa Lemon balm Hydrosol (effective for acne)
~ Immortelle HA Serum 1% (Great water-based serum for acneic skin)
~ Chardonnay Grapeseed CP Seed Oil (known as one of the lightest oil = absorb quick into skin)
~ GoW Rosacea Serum (don't mind the name, it's great for treating Acne)
~ One ounce glass dropper (for my Grapeseed oil)

and I'm thinking of adding a Manuka Honey sample since many girls are raving on how great it is as an acne treatment. Honey has a natural peroxide, so it's just like B.P without the bad side effect.

See why I'm so bad??? No-buy BYE BYE! lol

If you are interested on these products, you can visit them in their site or read around in their forum. I've learnt a lot from them and the girls are very knowledgeable and REALLY nice, I mean, they answer all your questions even the silliest ones like "does your pineapple mist smells like a rancid teabag too?" ehehehe

Oh and my last order from Everyday Minerals arrived 2 days ago, I ordered another sample kit because I wanna try the Intensive version of my HG Medium Tan, saving up for summer, and also the Everyday Bronzer for cheek contouring!

Idk why Everyday Bronzer showed up red in this pic, it's dark brown in person, so don't be fooled. I have yet to try them since I haven't gone out for couple of days now...but I am surprised by the Intensive Tan concealer, I was expecting it to be darker. We'll see :D

Product Review: Garden of Wisdom Takrai Lemongrass Cleanser

Someone asked me to do review on this new products I've got a while ago but I was thinking I had to give it some time in order to make a wise judgment. I've used it for more than a week now and I guess it's time for me to rave about it. So here we go...

Price: 5/5 ($9.80 for 4 Oz)

Packaging: 4/5 (comes in big jar, I only wish it also provides some kind of spoon to dig up the cleanser since it can be pretty messy)

Result: 4/5 (left softer and smoother skin)

Overall: 5/5 (I adore this cleanser/exfoliator!)


Application: Open the lid, take approximately one small spoon of the product out, wet it with water, rub your hand together to dilute it and apply it on your damp face.

This is how it looks like:

How much I use per application:

Love:
- The smell, it's so refreshing, makes me wanna drink lemonade every time I wash my face.
- Markey, the GoW owner, just added Pearl Powder to the ingredients, and as we all know Pearl Powder helps with acne and is very mattifying & calming for skin.
- The price is pretty decent for the amount and quality, you can only purchase it on GardenofWisdom. This is the biggest one they got, if you're not sure whether or not you're gonna like it, you can try the smaller size which costs $2.90 for 1.Oz I went ahead and got this big jar since I've never heard anyone who purchased this cleanser and not liking it, and I can see why :D
- My skin feel sooooo soft after I use it.,I personally use this as an exfoliator, twice a week

Loath:
- You have to provide your own spoon to scoop out the products, but it's not a bigga deal.

Inan sez:
- First time I open the lid, I was pretty shock on how dry this cleanser looks, I've seen it many times in other people blogs and it doesn't seem so dry, so I asked around in Garden of Wisdom forum to make sure if it was supposed to look like that. Apparently since it is handmade, every batch never look the same, some may look more watery, some are dry like mine, so nothing to worry if yours look different than others.
- I use it mainly in the evening, twice a week as a substitute for my Calamine bar soap.
- My skin seems to love it, it's very calming and the grain doesn't feel rough at all, that's probably the only thing that bothers me about exfoliating, if the scrub would hurt my face, but this feel actually good against my skin ^_^
- Definitely a staple for my natural skin care and will repurchase if I ran out.

So if you guys are looking for a harmless yet effective exfoliator, makes sure you give this one a try, I can guarantee you'll like it just like I do.

TMM Swatches & Updates

Ohhh I'm so tired right now, been sleeping super duper late (read: 5 AM) for the last 3 days..today I woke up at 1 PM, furious, and hungry LOL

I've been hanging out with the boys and they are DEFINITELY bunches of night owls...so here I am adjusting with their schedule and having hard times keeping up with the rest of the world LMAO

I am also noticing some 'purging' reaction going on in my skin, my forehead is breaking out with small white bumps and there's this big red pimples on my left cheek, with one or two other zits around it and on my chin. I don't know if it's a reaction from my natural skincare I've tried so far or I am allergic to something. Apart from my new skincare routine, the only thing I could think of that can cause my forehead breakouts is my new Herbal Essence Long Term Relationships lines, I checked the ingredients coz some girls in Garden of Wisdom forum were telling me about SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) which is known to be the source of such reaction, weirdly enough I didn't find it on my Herbal Essence's shampoo ingredients. I found a 'Raspberry Juice' in it tho...do you think it's possible I could be allergic to that? Instead of SLS I found Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate which is believed to be less harmful than SLS. *shrug*

I'm so confused, I was thinking of switching back to my John Frieda Brilliant Brunette or Garnier Fructis as back then when I was using them my forehead seemed to be fine, but I was really surprised when I found out that SLS are in BOTH of John Frieda's & Garnier's ... so If I wasn't allergic to SLS, what could possibly cause it?

Am I just in the 'purging' period? How long does it normally take, anyone knows?
I also have been naughty, drinking coffees and eating lots of desserts,

Do you guys notice STRESSED is DESSERTS spelled backwards?

LOL so random

Anyway, today I got my last order from Taylor Made Minerals which I ALMOST forgot about, I had to go back to their site to see what I actually purchased hehehe.

I only ordered 4 sample baggies, 3 of them are eye pigments and 1 bronzer:

Marsh

Anther

Iris

Kalahari (bronzer)

and my old TMM which I've never swatched yet,

Envy

Coral

Throne

Crook
The Swatches:

All were foiled with Mixing Medium, sorry for the messed up Throne swatches, my brush was way too wet. All of the pigments are shimmery except for Iris, Throne & Crook (which are harder to foil, idk why..the texture is more grainy imo)

I am pretty satisfied with the color payoffs, especially the green colors :D and I can't say it enough that TMM samples are A-LOT, I have the Throne & Crook in full jars and I swear I could use it for the entire neighborhood and it's still full heheheh.

Yesterday we played 'tourist' and hung out in Waikiki beach, I spent most of the day sunbathing & taking pictures LOL. Later that night we wanted to hit Senor Frogs club in Waikiki but then we remembered it was Monday nights and we had a feeling it'd be a graveyard over there. I got to try out my new Classy minerals setting spray after I put everything on, but the spray is more like a 'squirt' out, so my face was dripping wet from it *I should try it again, maybe further away from my face*

Face:
MAC Prep+Prime
Classy Minerals Tan liquid foundation
EDM Spring concealer
Classy Minerals Mineral Setting Spray

Cheek:
Classy Minerals Brick blush

Eyes:
Wet'n'Wild Dark Brown eyebrow liner pencil
Revlon liquid eyeliner

Lips:
Chapstick
NYX Cocoa
NYX Natural
NYX Barbie Pink (dotted lightly & blended)

My Blue Ranger jumpsuit LOL

Waikiki

Got balls?

And yeah, since everyone seem to be Taaz'd lately, I decided to try it out and created another 'me'. My bf doesn't like it tho, he said I looked 10 years older LOL What do you guys think?

Mixed Feelings

Ok, I'm totally feeling uneasy right now.........coz I can't find my I-phone !!!! arghhhh I dunno where it is, I just realized it this morning when I noticed there was no alarm ringing ... The last time I remember I had it was yesterday when I went for Dimsum with Aaron and his mom. It coulda been inside their car, I was pretty sure I grabbed it from the table in the restaurant and I also clearly remember Aaron handed it to me after he played around with it outside the restaurant, on our way to the car. But there's nothing I can do now, I'll just have to wait for couple of hours til his mom comes back to work (we were using her car).

I just hate the waiting, you know...

Ok, on to the happy news!!!! My packages came today, from Garden of Wisdom, Pure Luxe, and Ebay.

I ordered from Ebay: 20 of 5 grams clear sifter jars for transferring my samples baggies
My full size Calamine Soap and 2 sample pigments ($1.00 each) Indigo (dark denim blue) and Bad Girl (purple) from Pure Luxe
and of course, GoW goodies:
L-R: Takrai Lemongrass Cleanser, Pineapple Hydrating Mist, Chamomile German Hydrosol, and a free sample of Hand Sanitizer :D

I didn't open the Lemongrass cleanser yet but I smelled both the pineapple mist & chamomile hydrosol...the mist smells like pineapple ^_^ but the hydrosol smells kinda funny, almost like a tea......it's not too pleasant I must say, but then again, I have a huge tolerance for this natural smell hehehe

So to get my mind off the missing I-phone, I decided to moved all my The She Space baggies and two other Taylor Made Minerals to the new jars, geebuzzzz if I compare between those two...TMM gives A LOT more, it's double the quantity The She Space gives.

yeah I was craving for grapes...

Anyway, I'll hope my I-phone will show up somewhere somehow eventually...coz I've just had it for a month or two T_T *hix*

Catch you guys later!

What i do to my skin...so far.

Hmm...Let me tell you something before I start, I have an oily skin, and I always have acne, zits, blemishes, pimples, breakouts, whatever you call it. I think it's something from my dad's side, coz my mom claimed she never had acne...or rarely.

So, I'm always dealing with acne...in many different extends, I've experienced all kinds of acne, from moderate til my worst. I tried many products, visited many dermatologist...the bad thing about dermatologists is they prescribed me with their products and I always ended up addicted to it, and somehow after a while they just stopped working on me. And also, I could not trace what's exactly in the products you know, it's their patents so I didn't wanna cross lines.

Recently I paid more attention on what I put on my skin, I read more about skin care, and I must say those really opened up my eyes and made me realized that there were so many steps I wish I didn't take.

Some interesting stuffs I found out about me & my skin:
1. I ALWAYS suffer from acne the worst during winter. I dunno why.
2. All my favorite foods, break me out.
3. Coffee breaks me out too.
4. Stress postpones my period AND breaks me out.
5. I realize "overdoing" my face skin care only makes my acne worse.
6. I should have been more careful with my makeups.

I had a very bad experience lately last winter when I had the so-called 'winter acne'. I tried ProActive's generic brand called AcneFree in set (which include 3 steps, just like ProActive, the cleanser, toner, and moisturiser) from Costco since they had discounts and thought the combination of Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid would help. Woah man, that was very wrong of me...apparently AcneFree dried up my skin too much and I ended up having more pimples than I did, therefore I got stressed out and popped my pimples.....which as now we all know, NOT HELPING AT ALL.

So my bf told me to stop using whatever I was at that time, and even he, also has acne once in a while, although these days he rarely gets them. I started reading more and more and switched cleanser to more mild ones, I started using my bf's which is Johnson & Johnson Purpose. I also read Acne.org and started following Dan Kern's regimen without having to buy his products (thats another reason I like about him, he gives alternatives), and started using just enough Benzoyl Peroxide 2.5%. AND, the most important thing, don't forget to moisturize coz no matter how oily your skin is, it still needs some natural oil and moisturizer helps out the skin from drying.

And after months of recovering from bad regimen, my skin is now getting better, at least back to where I was before the horror started. Also, I started wearing Mineral Makeups which played a very good role in making my skin better. So, that's a basic background of me, and I wanna stress that this is what works FOR ME and although ProActive or AcneFree or those kinds of treatment works for gazillions people out there, it simply just failed for me...so these are products which so far, helped me out alot:

Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash

this cleanser is very gentle and mild, although I've noticed it doesn't completely remove my makeups, therefore I need some sort of toner.

Calamine Bar Soap
Recently, after reading my beauty gurus blogs (especially Nessa's and Christiana's *thanx guys*) I decided to try out this pink soap, I sampled from Pure Luxe (cost me $2.00) and gosh, I love it...I started using it and have seen great progress. I am in PMS period now and I hardly see new pimples, which is amazing in my case.

The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil
First stuff that I tried was the middle bottle, Blemish Fade Night Lotion, which as I read in Makeupalley.com got the best reviews. It works as a moisturizer during night time since it doesn't contain any SPF. I loved the smell and since I'm a Body Shop member, and this month is my birth-month, I got a $10.00 free gifts and also a 10% discounts during March 1st - March 10th if I ask for any skin care consultation. PLUS, during that time Body Shop had "Buy 2 get 1" offer. YAY for me, thats why I decided to get these three at once and I only ended up paying $8.00 mwahahaha. I haven't tried the face cleanser but my friend is using it and his face has been cleared up just by using this cleanser. The small Tea Tree Oil works for on-the-spot treatment and it's been having a great job killing bacteria on new born pimples.

Neutrogena On-the-Spot treatment I use all over my face (using Dan Kern's Regimen from Acne.org). It's very tiny and I must invest alot on this but it's the only 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide available over the counter, so yeah... It works very well but I need a moisturizer after that coz the B.P leaves my skin a little bit tight.

I like Olay complete in 'normal' although I have oily skin, I dunno...some girls claimed the 'oily' version break them out. This moisturizer is not greasy also doesn't break out on me, and it contains enough SPF 15 since I have a color skin (fairer girls should go higher, at least SPF 30). I would never go out of the house without SPF to prevent wrinkles and sunspots (yes, I'm still young but starting early wouldn't kill right?) The only cons for this moisturizer is sometimes it leaves white flakes when it's dry, I guess my Neutrogena also contributes to this matter. Oh, and it has fragrance in it, so if you don't like fragrance, make sure you get the "Sensitive skin" which is fragrance-free, instead of "Normal skin". I don't mind the smell.

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque is a MUST HAVE, I swear by this, it shrunk my pores!!! I found this @ Walgreen for around $3.00 and they had a BOGO at that time, and I didn't even know hehehe so I was really happy. This mask also can be a spot treatment on flaming acne, just put it directly on the spot and leave it overnight. I guarantee the acne size is reduced the next day, or gone...better yet :D

Aquafina Skin Care Lines
I use the blue bottle, Daily Balancing Toner, for many purposes, as a toner after I washed my face and removed my makeups, as a MAC Fix+ (they have similar ingredients, although I have to pour it to the spray bottle), and foil my eyeshadows (but mainly for swatches). So yeah, it was a good investment and it hasn't break me out. Plus, the smell is sooooo refreshing, I dunno why so many people complained about it.

The Hydrating Facial Spray I just bought 2 days ago, and haven't got to use it...but I've heard good stuffs about it and I'll be using this spray to refresh my mineral makeups and set my foundations.

And of course, my beloved mineral makeups...which I'll be posting about my favorites soon.

I also ordered some stuffs from Garden of Wisdom *which are supposed to be here by now gahhhhh* for exfoliator and and a hydrating mist, also a dry cleanser from SoapalayaSoap which is good for oily/acne skin. It's so cute, the soap looks like a powder which will lather once you mix them with water:

The maker named Alex is really nice and helpful, she made a custom order for everyone if you tell her what ingredients you want to include or omit (if you're allergic to something), and she normally don't sale sample but she sent me a sample for $2.00 ^_^

Here's my Regimen:

Mornings

~ Wash my face with Purpose gentle cleanser or Calamine Soap, which I do more often now
~ Wait for a while, then put Neutrogena On-the-Spot treatment all over my face (I gotta do it quick since it's a cream and it gets dry quick, so I wanna make sure it spreads out evenly before it got dried)
~ Wait for a while, then go ahead an moisturize with Olay (I apply thinner layer than my Neutrogena).

Evenings
~ Wash my face with Purpose gentle cleanser or Calamine Soap
~ Three times a week: I put a thin layer of Mint Julep Masque and wait for at least 15 mins, then rinse out with luke warm water...it leaves my skin really smooth and moist.
~ Sometimes if I wore makeup that day, I tone with Aquafina Balancing Toner (if I wear Mask, I would skip this toner...as I said, I don't want to overdo/overdry my face)
~ Wait for a while, then put Neutrogena On-the-Spot treatment all over
~ Put Body Shop Blemish Fade Night Lotion all over my face
~ With Q-tip, apply Tea Tree Oil on pimple spots. Again, no complaint about the strong smell, I kinda like it!
(Before I got this oil, I treated my acne spots with Mint Julep mask :D works just fine)

Phewwww what a long post eh? Oh well, I hope I made some good points and hopefully one or two things I wrote, helps someone out there. I know it helped me, reading people's experience and actually try it on your skin, believe me it takes time, and my skin has some ups and downs (most of the times hehehe), it's just a matter of paying more attention on what your skin loves and how it reacts to new products. As everyone says, don't bombard your skin with several new stuffs at once, coz it will react no matter what and it's harder to trace which or which works/doesn't. So be wise and take it slow !