Operation use it up^^

Do not mistake me as a hoarder, I collect empties for a reason...


Kiehl's has a empty recycling program that I have enrolled in, but it is limited to bringing back empties from their own brand with some restrictions, such as trial sized bottle does not count towards this program.


So over the 3-4 winter months I have been using up the above products (and yes a big part of my routine is my all time favorite Naruko!) But why am I collecting them?


It does comes with some kind of "reward"...


Origins Earth Day's special - bring an empty in for a free moisturizer.


This is my loot on the Earth's Day:

Actually this year's Earth Day is a bit different from the past few years where only Origins free standing stores participate in the recycling program. Instead, Origins counter such as those in Macy's and even Sephora participated in this year's program so visiting a mall with 3 options already guarantee 6 gifts (assuming my almighty assistant+chauffeur=my hubby) is going around with me on this mission.


(and Earth Day here in the Atlantic North East has been a dreary raining day, which maximizes my chances of getting the free moisturizers. I know friends in California that has absolutely no luck at all because of the overwhelming responses. The freebies are all gone within minutes after 10am when most malls open that day)


With that said, it's impossible for me to finish up all 10 tubes of the moisturizer. I am going to give them away to friends that unable to get these themselves or friends that are seriously in search of good natural moisturizers. I do not have need for all 10 of them!


As an FYI, I will be updating my skincare routine later as some bloggers have been curious which products I have been using and which products work on me. Stay tuned!

AMPM C12 Line Reducing set

As I am running low on my existing Naruko Appleseed serum, I was looking for the next skincare item for replacement: AMPM's C12 Line Reducing set.

I remembered that Fuzkittie didn't like this product as much because it balls up on her. But regardless, i want to give it a try.

Ingredients and product description on the packaging:

Similar with the day cream I am using from the Naruko line, this set comes in 2 toothpaste like squeeze tube with clear indication of step 1 and 2:

Step 1 is the C12 ultimate line reducer, 30ml.

Description:

The product is a yellow colored gel like texture that actually smells quite citrus like (lemons?)

It's a tad greasy but it can be easily spread around and easily absorbed. When applied to my face, it is absorbed into my skin within minutes:

Step 2 is the vitamin C serum enhancer, 30ml:

Description:

This cream has a slightly paler yellow color and thicker consistency, still I can smell some lemon-y scent to it:

It's not greasy at all compared to its Step 1 counterpart, quite easy to spread around and no balling up.

So far I have only started this C12 Line Reducing set for only a couple days. As far as the line reducing effect goes, I can't tell the difference as I don't really have any fine lines on my face, and the only fine line is around my eye area... But I will keep trying to see if this stuff will work on my one and only fine line... but as everyone knows, treating fine lines is a life-long battle and a lot of patience and hard work is required on my end.

As these 2 creams have high concentration of vitamin C, it will also help brighten and even out skintone. So far I have noticed my skin has brighten up a little with my acne scars lightened up a bit after a few day's use. So far I am happy with the results and I will continue to use it until I run out. For its slightly greasy formula, I guess I am ok with it as I generally put a layer of Ettusais powder to seal in the moisture so it doesn't bother me much. In fact, I find this not as greasy as the AMPM day time cream "Indoor Ecological Defense Cream" that I use daily when I am indoors in an AC environment. I may hold on to the Defense Cream until winter time is here and switch temporarily to the C12 set after my skin has adapted to the new treatment. The instructions mentioned that after 2 weeks of use, you can apply the C12 treatment both day and night time.

Hope it helps!

Naruko AMPM wakeup skin smooth washing powder

This came in free with my Naruko haul as a GWP. Unlike Naruko, the packaging carton is not reusable like the regular Naruko line.

The powder form of this washing powder reminds me of the good old laundry detergent that my mom uses:

The suggested was using "size of a walnut" or "size of $10NT coin", and I definitely use more powder than that, but he resulting lather is a watery foam without much "body" or "substance" to it:

 This foam just spread around my face and within seconds the foam disappeared into a thin layer or mild soapy something on my face. Not enough foam in my opinion to work with the Mizuho nose cleansing brush that needs real foam to clean my pores!

I am not in love with this product. No matter how little or how much I use it, or if I use this with a foaming net, the powder just doesn't foam up as much as I thought it would... Well, it does foam up, but it's very light, and to me it felt like I am just washing my face with running water....  So I don't think it delivers what it says on the back of the bottle... and why not just wash my face with water?

Comparing to my other cleanser I have been using all the time, and it even works for my skin in winter months without leaving my skin tight, Origin's Checks and Balances, it comes in a paste form and I use just a tiny bit of it:

This tiny bit of cleanser results in a massive amount of foam, and with superb cleaning power (There are some more of the foam that I have to wipe them on to my face, since my single hand cannot hold all of the foam):

It produces at least 4x the amount of foam than the AMPM washing powder.

Luckily, this product is free, if I had paid for it, I would be pulling my hairs off my head!

AMPM super triple HA serum and skin ecological indoor defense cream

Eversince I had this strange allergy problem on my face, my skin has been experiencing occasional dryness with skin peeling above my lip area. I have been using Dr. Wu Hydrating Serum with Hyaluronic Acid for a few months now and usually serums will last me for at least half a year but this time, I am done with this 40ml of serum in less than 4 months....

Anyhow, to replace a HA (Hyaluronic Acid) serum, I started using AMPM super triple HA serum from my recent Naruko haul. And I paired this serum up with the AMPM skin ecological  indoor defense cream for the day time (hubby just installed a portable AC at home so I figured the indoor defense cream will provide hydration for my skin throughout the day)

Each of the AMPM serum and cream comes in a toothpaste like squeeze tube. The serum is 30ml while the cream is 30g:

The AMPM super triple HA serum comes in a clear and thick gluey form that at first may look a little gross.... it reminds me of the glue UHU with glue threads when being pulled around:

But this serum can easily be spread around:

No sticky feeling and very easily absorbed:

For the AMPM skin ecological  indoor defense cream, it's a yellow thick paste:

It's a little thick but still you can spread around easily:

Despite its thickness, this cream actually absorbs pretty well on to my skin:

Both of these AMPM products provide enough hydration throughout the day. The issue of dry peeling skin is greatly improved and I apply both serum and cream under my foundation/BB cream and they actually helps making the make up stays better on my face.

Overall I am very happy with these 2 products.

But I also discovered that unlike Naruko who emphasize on all natural and no parabens in their products, AMPM does contain some kind of parabens on their ingredients list:

I must admit that is a big turn off for me. Perhaps Naruko will come up with a similar product in their regular Naruko line that is paraben-free. I really hope for that...