Skincare routine (late spring-early summer)

In responding a request by a fellow follower, this blog post is about my current skincare routine.


We have been having a mild winter so far but it wasn't until recently that temperature is rising up to the 80's, so my skincare focus on lighter creams and gels for easier absorption but at the same time provide enough hydration.


First step of my skincare routine, I use Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid with Salicylic Acid with the help of the cleansing mode in my Hitachi Hada CRiE CM-N1000 machine:

For those interested in a full length review of the beauty gadget Hitachi Hada CRiE, please check out my earlier post here.


After my face is properly cleansed, I move on with [1]Phyto-C Phyto Plus-Gel and [2]B-5 Gel:

I will first use the Phyto Plus Gel which provides treatment for hyperpigmentation, then I will layer it up with B5 Gel for hydration (and also suggested by the Phyto-C to use B5 gel after Phyto Plus Gel). So far it is quite effective with my stubborn acne marks that was caused by a sudden out break from a few months ago. Also, the texture is watery and very easily absorbed, which is perfect for warmer weather. However, the only downside is the price of these 15ml bottles. But since it's something that works, I will repurchase again!


Then I will use Laneige pore tightening essence on my nose and check areas:

It's a huge bottle of 35ml and everytime I use I just need a small pump, and this bottle has lasted me for over 1 year already.... and I heard Laneige has already this amazing pore essence, so I will need to look for a replacement after I am done with this!


After I have completed the above steps, I will move on to blow dry my hair while waiting for the skincare items to absorb into my skin. Typically, I will be waiting for about 5-10 minutes...


Then I move on to SK-II Facial Treatment Essence with the moisturizing mode of the Hitachi HADA CRiE CM-N1000:

After patting down the SK-II essence, I move on to applying HABA White Lady whitening essence:

On days that I have more free time, I will pair this essence up with the Haba G-lotion and Haba Ion Machine along with My Beauty Diary sheet masks for a nice treatment. The main function of this Haba Ion Machine is the "refresh" mode, which is the same as the 4th mode "refresh" in the Hitachi Hada CRie CM-N810 model. I tend to do it 2-3 times a week:

Then my skincare is followed by my Caudalie Premier Cru eye cream:

Interestingly I used to think this eye cream is a tad too oily for me. But since I have started using the Hitachi Hada CRiE machine, heavier creams tends to absorb better, and by that I mean this once too heavy eye cream does not feel greasy after I massage my way in.


Final step in my skincare routine is the Creme de la Mer moisturizing cream:

Yea, I know this cream is super duper expensive, but a little goes a long way. I just need to use a tiny bit every time and it used to be too moisturizing for me. But since the use of Hitachi Hada CRiE, this cream is perfect for me, even in this warmer weather! 


Since Hitachi Hada CRiE has become so important in my skincare routine, and it has helped tremendously with the absorption of all the above skincare goodies. My break out conditions has greatly lessen, but I still need to wait till the peak of the summer to see whether this Hitachi Hada CRiE machine will help me with preventing acne!


So occasionally I still have small acne, so to treat these occasional break outs, I will use Naruko T-Zone Blackhead Remover (as a leave on mask for spot treatment) and Naruko Tea Tree Acne and Oil Out Targeted Treatment (for immediately relief):

And as part of my beauty regime, I have been enjoying the Fekkai Glossing shampoo, conditioner and cream series, they make my hair so soft and shiny! I know they are not the cheapest shampoo out there, but since I love Japanese shampoo and they cost a bomb to be shipped to the US, these are better and easier alternatives I can get in the US:

I hope you have enjoy my skincare routine. I will constantly update my skincare routine as I go, let it be discovery in new products or a change in the weather. So, stay tuned for more!

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!

Latest hauls^^ [8] Mizuho facial brush

For those of you who have been following my blog in the past, you might have recalled that I am in love with a Japanese brush maker Mizuho.

I have purchased their makeup up brushes and I am totally in love with its softness and durability. I have also purchased another nose cleaning brush from them and since then I do not have any break outs in my nose area... I guess they did their cleaning job pretty well?

This time around I have ordered their overall facial cleaning brush. Not that my clarisonic is failing me, but lately I only use my clarisonic only on days when I put on makeup and I want a more thorough cleansing.... sometimes clarisonic can be quite harsh on my drier skin during winter months and therefore I wanted something milder.

This brush comes in 2 colors according to the website, pink or black. Luckily my friend in HK told me pink was the only color and I didn't mind this lovely pink at all!

The hairs of this brush is made of goat hair. It is quite soft to play around it on my hand and it's not poking me at all.

Correct way of placing the face brush on its stand, with the bristles facing downwards (remember, gravity triggers water to flow downwards!)

This is the wrong way.... water will get back into the brush and cause the glue disintegrate! Do not do this at home!

Some people uses this brush just to foam up facial cleanser, but you can totally use a foaming net to perform such function and it is cheaper too!

I use it to cleanse my face as the hairs are not poking at all and I want cleansing action to be done in some hard to reach areas....  (like nose areas, etc)


This is what I use for my daily morning cleansing:

It's the Naruko Raw Job's Tears Supercritical CO2 Foaming Wash. It is not the squeaky clean kind so it's appropriate for a morning wake-up wash. The cleanser by itself does not really come up with a lot of foam as the name suggested, so I usually need the help of a foaming net. But even with a foaming net, the foam is rather "sparse"....

So with this Mizuho facial brush, I wet the bristles and used a pea sized foaming wash from the tube:

And viola:

With a quick circular motion I come up with dense foam that my other washing net cannot come up with! And not only the foam is really dense, I like the goat hairs on my face too... my clarisonic is a bit harsh on me sometimes especially during the winter months when my skin tends to be on the dry side.


I am in love with Mizuho brushes!

Latest Hauls^^ [1] Naruko, Dr. Wu, and Neogence etc...

As I mentioned before, these days because of the dry winter months, I have been focusing much more on skincare. I do believe in "less is more".... the better your skin is, the less foundation you will use!

Naruko had a big end of year sale around the holidays (well they always have sales in their TW website year-round, and their pricing is much more attractive then their US website counterpart.... but the end of year sale is the one with the biggest discounts!) and I managed to haul one of my favorite line - Raw Job's Tears! 

And they have some nice GWP this round too!!! (like full size BB cream, traveling size Raw Job's Tears set, sheet masks, ampm serums, Rose Fungus samples, lip balm).... basically everything you see in the front row are GWP!

Along with my other skincare hauls from Taiwan, I am ordering a deluxe size of Neogence Hyaluronic Hydrating Acid Essence (2 super size of 30ml plus a 8ml travel size) and the price is just 50% more than what it would cost from sasa.com for a regular 20ml size! 

And I have heard great things about Dr Wu's Hydrating masks with Hyaluronic Acid. They are not the cheapest masks when you compare them with My Beauty Diary but it's rare to see them at a 15pcs box set for the price of 2x the regular 3 pcs/box set. So I grabbed it while I saw them in the taiwanese drugstore website.

For those who are interested in directly purchasing Taiwanese brands skincare directly from Taiwan, you can contact the buyer's agent directly at naruko.tw.agent[at]gmail[dot]com

Naruko Taiwan custom order

Naruko has been one my favorites since I have been following Fuzkitte and this brand has been her HG as well.

It was not until recently that Naruko has a US website but their prices are pretty much jacked up and their collection is not as complete as their Taiwanese website counterpart. And the other thing that turned me off is their lack of value sets and GWP.

So I have been getting my Naruko dose from a Taiwanese custom purchase and I picked up a few items that I would like to try and items will be ordered from Naruko TW web directly and sent to a shipper in Taiwan. Then my items are being resent to me in the US.

So, if any of the bloggers here are interested in getting custom order from Naruko TW, please drop me a note and email address. 

EMS, Airmail, and SAL are available shipping options. If you are ordering in bulk, the prices are much better than Naruko US's site!

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!

Naruko Niaouli & Tea Tree T-Zone Blackhead Remover

This product is highly praised by Fuz and it has probably become my HG item for treating pimples!

Naruko Niaouli & Tea Tree T-Zone Blackhead Remover is probably my new found love for K.O.-ing those annoying break outs on my combination skin!

The product:

Ingredient list:

This green little tube is really amazing!

Texture of this product is like a white thick toothpaste like cream:

It's easily spreadable:

But actually I dont really need to spread this product around. And I don't follow the instructions printed on the tube. I did what Fuz did in her videos, I usually dab a thick (well, you will see a patch of white visibly) on the affected area and leave it there overnight. Moments after applying this paste you will sense a tingling feeling, meaning the product is working towards the yucky pimples!

My significant other half doesn't really care about any kind of skin care products and he does have break outs from time to time. When I first introduced him this Naruko product, he's hooked. It works on his stubborn pimples and over time he reach for this tube to treat his break outs! Oh I will need a back up!

I have been trying to order this on my second Naruko haul, but this product has been OOS.... come on Naruko, I need back up of this stuff!

Naruko Job's Tears Whitening and Cooling Night Jelly and Narcissus Total Defense Night Eye Jelly set

This is a pretty darn good deal from Naruko Taiwan. For $648NT (roughly $22usd and change) you get a total of 4 piece in this set (this set is a buy 1 set, get 1 set free, with 2 items per set) - featuring Naruko's best sellers: Job's Tears Whitening and Cooling Night Jelly and Narcissus Total Defense Night Eye Jelly

Fuzkittie raved about these night jellies a lot and I can't wait to see they full potentials when the heat wave strike us in the middle of summer!

When opening up the packaging, notice some brightly colored graphics inside of the carton. Oh I remembered that Fuz mentioned that Naruko is big on recycling:

The cartons from the packaging of the night jellies:

Another recyclable Naruko packaging:

The instructions for making these recycled stationary items is quite easy. You will need a cutter and mat and volia, a desktop card holder:

Along with other products I transformed waste into some useful object:

Somehow I wish they used sturdier materials or apply a layer of glossy material so that these stationery can last longer. As cute as they look like now, I think they won't last longer than a few uses, especially  those boxes that require constant open and close.

So far the I have not seen the full potentials of the night jellies as the weather here is still in the nice 80's. And since I have had a strange allergies on my face recently, I have stopped piling this thick jelly on my face until my irritation is completely gone.

However, I must say that out of the handful of applications of these jellies, my face really feels hydrated overnight and I see this a cheaper version of Laneige's sleeping mask. Fine lines around my eye area has definitely improved with the use of the eye jelly, probably a cheaper option than using eye mask in my opinion!

Naruko Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing White Series

One of the most anticipated Naruko line that I have been longing to use is this Apple Seed & Tranexamix Acid Soothing White Series. When I first hauled Naruko from my buyer's agent in Taiwan, This set of 3 had a special for $1100NT (roughly $38usd) for the 3 piece set. Compared to $75 for the 3 items sold on Naruko US's website, this is indeed a steal.... even though I had to pay a buyer's agent fee and shipping, this is still a very nice deal!

Step 1. Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing White Hydra Essence

This is basically a toner. I pair this up with Naruko's cotton pads to tone and lightly exfoliate my skin after cleansing.

Step 2. Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing White Hydra Milk

This is something new to me. According to Fuzkittie, in Asia, it is common to use a milky lotion (on cotton pad too) prior to applying serums. I am totally new to this.

Step 3. Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing White Serum

This serum comes in a sturdy glass bottle with a pump. Only 2 pumps is needed for the entire face and neck area.

After the above 3 steps, follow up with eye care products and moisturizer for the face :)

The benefits of this Apple Seed like emphasize on whitening, firming, and hydration. I totally believe that this line delivers what it promised.

I actually love this line. My pores are much refined only after 1 week of use and my "strawberry nose" issue has greatly improved. I have redness and uneven skin tone due to an known allergic reaction all over my face and some post acne scar, but using this Apple Seed line has slowly even out my skin tone.

The only thing I wish is they come in a bigger size or the serum can be repackaged into a plastic bottle instead of a glass bottle. Haha, I am thinking more on the shipping weight here. But I do understand why Naruko's product are sized the way they are because they are preservative free, so they want to make sure the contents are all consumed before they expire... Naruko's products typically expire 6 months after you start using it for the first time.

Naruko + My Beauty Diary Haul!!

Woot! My long awaited Naruko haul has arrived!

Actually lately, I have been getting much luck with surface mail. I wasn't expecting this Naruko to arrive until sometime in July (2+ months expected for surface mail)... Since I ordered so much through a buyer's agent in Taiwan, and resulted in 5kg worth of goods, I decided to use surface mail for a cheaper postage and get 1 more Naruko item, haha!

So this box showed up in our mail room:

Oh, I saw a clue, "Naruko" tape, oh will it be? My heart was beating so fast

Opening up the box:

Woot! I am so excited digging into a box full of goodies!

These are the items I got this time:


Naruko:
Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing White Hydra Essence
Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing White Hydra Milk
Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing White Serum
Taiwan Magnolia & 5,5-dipropyl-biphenyl-2,2-idol Whitening Serum (Can't find this item in Naruko US website)
Rose & Snow Fungus Aqua Cubic Hydrator
Narcissus Total Defense Moisturizing Dew
Narcissus Total Defense Repairing Dew
Narcissus Total Defense Night Brightening Serum
Niaouli & Tea Tree T-Zone Blackhead Remover
Marjoram and Lavender Classical Brightening Night Jelly + Narcissus Total Defense Night Eye Jelly set (buy one set, get one set free! this is really a nice deal!)
Narcissus Total Defense Night Jelly
Magnolia Brightening and Firming Jight Gelly
Facial White Illuminating Cotton Pads
Facial SPA Massage Cotton Pads


(along with 2 Narcissus Total Defense Eye Essence Cream samples and 1 Taiwan Magnolia whitening serum sample)




AMPM:
3 pcs set: PM C12 two-step line reducing set (C12 ultimate line reducer & vitamin C serum enhancer), super triple HA serum, and skin ecological indoor defense cream, this is a super deal!


(along with 2 full sized GWP happy everyday flash foam wash and PM makeup remover sample)


My Beauty Diary:
Hello Kitty Honey Strawberry Mask (limited edition)
Hello Kitty Strawberry Milk Mask (limited edition)


I will be jumping into the Naruko skin care line once I wrap up my current skin care (I do not like to put things to waste!!) I will be reviewing them shortly!