Beauty Rituals

Hello...

Just to share some of my favorite skincare products and my daily skincare routine. (I've always wanted to do one of these posts...)

All (with the exception of one or two) products are of Japanese origin and were purchased at department stores or Asian supermarkets.

(L-R): Neutrogena Oil-free eye makeup remover, Gyunyu Mutenka Cleansing Oil

Removal.

**For Nighttime: This is the most important step in beginning your skincare maintenance routine. Make-up MUST be removed prior to cleansing face. I'm pretty sure a large percentage of girls neglect this step believing that a single facial cleanser can both cleanse and remove  make-up. This, however, is rarely the case! First I remove my eye make-up, with the Neutrogena Oil-free eye makeup remover, which is extremely popular - and appropriately so - in the beauty blogosphere + Youtube. Then I remove any facial makeup (foundation, concealer, blush, etc.) with the Gyunyu Mutenka Cleansing Oil. It's gentle and frangrance-free. Perfect for my sensitive skin. I rinse my face with water and proceed to Step 2.

(L-R): Shiseido The Skincare Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam, Clarisonic Mia 2

Cleansing.

I am currently using the Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam from the Skincare Line by Shiseido. The scent is lovely - kind of like a creamy rose? I lather up dense foam and massage the formula onto my face daily, but use the Clarisonic Mia 2 once a week for deep cleansing/exfoliating

     (L-R): Shiseido The Skincare Hydro-Balancing Softener, Sana Hadanomy Collagen Mist,
Shiseido Bio-Performance Advanced Super Revitalizing Cream,
Shiseido Bio-Performance Super Eye Contour Cream

Softening.

After cleansing my face, I use a softener (Hydro-Balancing Softener by Shiseido, also from the Skincare line) for better penetration of any following treatment. It's important to apply it with a soft cotton pad to ensure even application/absorption into the skin 

Eye Care.

I've been using this eye cream for the past 3 or 4 months and I can easily say that it's one of my favorites, along with Elixir Lifting eye cream (also from Shiseido). Although the two eye creams differ immensely in texture - the former being a bit richer and the latter, more runny - both have been the most suitable for my skin type. 

(READ BABBLINGS TO YOUR CONTENT:

I have difficult skin in general so you can only imagine how much more difficult the area around my eyes is. If my skin overall suffers from dehydration, dryness, eczema, and the tendency to develop milia, add 'overwhelmingly delicate' to the list for my eye area. I never knew that milia existed and was never exposed to it until I bought the wrong eye cream for myself. Wrong on SO MANY LEVELS. I can't remember the brand or name of it to be honest (probably due to repressed memory kicking in), but it was a Korean product. Its packaging looked fairly generic for eye creams. You know, a squeeze tube with a narrow opening. Except this eye cream was GIGANTIC - a good 6-8 inches in length and 1-2 inches in width. Even with religious application of the proper amount (of eye creams), the tube could have lasted me longer than an entire year! Anyway, after a few weeks of applying the nightmare, my skin started to develop milia in various places and I shunned all eye creams from my skincare routine for years. It was not until I worked for Shiseido that I began to explore various eye creams and their proper use.)

Reads: "Moisture retention formula, Micro collagen 1000mg, Hyaluronic acid Na, Honey, Acerola extract."
Irrelevant note: I LOVE acerola juice

Misting.

This step has been recently inserted into my routine, but I am rather enjoying it plenty. It's named a "collagen mist" by the Japanese brand Sana, and while there are apparently studies that indicate topical application of collagen is futile, my skin does feel much more recharged, plump (almost like a pudding) and moisturized. Not to mention, it smells light and fresh and the packaging is just so pretty. I'm currently using this in place of a serum.

Moisturization. 

I complete the last step of my routine by moisturizing my face with the Bio-Performance Super Advanced Revitalizing Cream is my main moisturizer at the moment. Everything about this cream is fantastic: (a) It's both a day and nighttime moisturizer so it kills two birds with one stone. Just make sure to apply a sun protectant in your morning routine. (b) It has a wonderful texture. It's rich, but also light in consistency. (c) It lasts FOREVER. The only con I would note is the fragrance. This cream is marketed toward consumers in their 20's-30's, but it smells like Granny. Nothing against my granny, whom I love. I just don't want my face to smell like a generic grandma.

Daisan CS being Colorful Cotton Puff

I absolutely loathe drugstore cotton pads. They're cheap, harsh on the skin, rip apart too easily, and worst of all, leave cotton residue on your face. They pale terribly in comparison to those of Japanese brands, which are usually of superior quality and sometimes even more inexpensive than the standard American drugstore puffs.

Perhaps I'll do a separate post in the future comparing & contrasting the different kinds of cotton puffs/pads that I have used. Otherwise, this post is going to be MUCH longer than necessary.

Hope you've enjoyed!