Friday, May 29, 2015


Top 3 Lovely Pink Blush

get it beauty is a korean beauty talk show where they invite experts from the relevant fields to share insights with beauty lovers. one of the things they do is the blind test, and it is what you think it is.

i read that they changed the format slightly this year. instead of pitting random products against each other, they now pit previous year's champion against new challengers.

let's take a look at the blusher ranking!

get it beauty blind test 2015 blush ranking

1. ETUDE HOUSE | LOVELY COOKIE BLUSHER | #11 | 8.5g | 6000 won
sebum controlling powder makes the colour stay true and fresh all day. also sweat resistant.

2. RMK | INGENIOUS POWDER CHEEKS | EX-07 SHINY ROSE | 2.6g | 39,000 won
#1 product chosen by professional MUA. pearly effect is reminiscent of the ethereal spring sun.

3. BOURJOIS | BLUSH | 34 ROSE D'OR | 2.5g | 23,000 won
2011 blind test #1. an oven baked blush that is rose scented. 

i may try out etude house's blusher one day to see if it's really that long lasting! for 6USD it's very affordable compared to the other two! i love my bourjois blush (read my review here) and have been thinking of getting another one :P

tried any of these before?

Monday, May 25, 2015


Top 3 Eyeliner Pencil For Deep, Clear Eyes

what is "get it beauty"? and why do their blind test matter to me?
get it beauty is a korean beauty talk show, i first heard of them through their "get it beauty self" beauty videos on youtube :P it's similar to taiwan's 女人我最大 to a certain extent, in which they will invite experts from the relevant fields to share insights with beauty lovers.

one of the things they do is the blind test, and it is what you think it is.

i read that they changed the format slightly this year. instead of pitting random products against each other, they now pit previous year's champion against new challengers.

i like any ranking that's powered by the community, because the chances of picking a bad item is lower if most people find it to be working well! it's kind of a herd mindset i suppose, but it's helpful for foreign products because there're little reviews available online for some of the korean brands. i take these rankings into consideration when choosing new items to try.

let's take a look at the eyeliner ranking!

get it beauty blind test top eyeliner ranking 2015

1. SHU UEMURA | DRAWING PENCIL | 1.2g | 27,000 won
long wearing and has a huge range of colour selection.

2. STILA | SMUDGE STICK WATERPROOF EYELINER | 0.28g | 27,000 won
previous year's #1!
can be used without the worry of touching up as it lasts all day.

3. BANILA CO | SEOUL WONDER SMOOTH GEL EYELINER | 0.5g | 12,000 won
the soft gel eyeliner is easy for make up beginners to pick up. also comes with a built in sharpener to get ultra precise lines.

firstly, korean domestic brands are much more affordable. secondly, stila is hella expensive! for the same price you can get shu uemura which gives you almost 4 times the amount of product. i've never tried any of them, paying ~27USD for an eyeliner is blowing my mind.

have you tried any of the above? are they really as good as their ranking?

Friday, May 22, 2015


For those of you who've wondered what's the difference between the products like I did.

my first ever mascara was one from missha, i bought it when i was 16, trying to prepare for my up coming prom dinner. i wish i knew more about make up back then, but hey, everything is a learning journey in itself! every little piece of experience i share with the products i've used along the way help me find out what to look out for when searching for specific needs.

sadly, the missha mascara (i don't even remember what name it's called) turned me into a panda. i probably have another brief encounter with a second mascara, fiberwig by dejavu, which also failed horribly for me (it just can't hold a curl for me! and it also melts and smudges!) from that day onwards, i figured i MUST use waterproof mascara.

one must recall that all these happened about a decade ago. beauty reviews/blogs were rare, and as an unsuspecting teenage consumer, i practically believed the ads when i saw maybelline market their hypercurl cat eyes mascara - which was my holy grail back then simply because it performed so much better than my first. you know what, i bought it for two reasons. it is waterproof, which suits my only need at that time, also, it has a beautiful zebra pattern printed on the tube in a coat of blazing pink chrome paint. animal prints won me over.

maybelline hypercurl cat eyes mascara feline black
click on image to read my review and swatch of the mascara!


it's all about relativity. my first mascara sucked - it didn't do nothing for my lashes, can't hold a curl, and SMUDGES!? the maybelline mascara managed to hold curls, ALL DAY LONG. no smudging, no melting. and i really experienced the volumizing effects because i still remember the first time i put it on, i couldn't get used to seeing some dark blurry shadows when i open my eyes. oh hi, lashes! these days, i'll expect all these qualities from a normal mascara, so this makes the maybelline mascara really normal in today's definition. but like i said, relativity made it seem magical.

ever since then, maybelline has been my go to brand for mascara. well, at least for the first few years after i started wearing make up. i've only started to experiment with other brands in the recent years, so prior to my beauty blog phase, i'm an exclusive maybelline mascara bit*h. :P

i'm still thankful i didn't think too much back then before buying the mascara. if i knew maybelline has such a huge variety of products, i would have ended up not buying any because i simply can't decide which one i want. 

today, i thought i'll try to pass it forward, especially for makeup beginners. i found this wonderful comparison chart from maybelline japan, so i translated it into english for your easy reference. it sort of summarizes the main claims and effect of the different mascara. hopefully, this will help you decide which one suits your needs the most?

but honestly, i realize a lot of the different lines appear to be the same products thrown into different packaging. the selection offered in the asia region is still quite understandable, as the products managed to differentiate themselves marginally. i took a look at maybelline USA's mascara selection and let's just say.. the dilemma of choice is real. don't believe me? take a look for yourself.

there are two main lines for two specific needs - volum' express for volume, and the other is for length (which doesn't have a specific name).

VOLUME TYPE MASCARA

maybelline big eyes rocket magnum falsies comparison differences
maybelline volumizing mascara comparison chart. click to enlarge!


i've tried the volum' express hypercurl cat eyes mascara, and the falsies everlasting (also called the false lash everlasting mascara in japan) mascara. purchased the magnum cat eyes waterproof mascara (but haven't tried it yet), and feel like trying the rocket mascara next time.

love the cat eyes, not feeling the hype for the falsies (or did i just get a bad tube? twice?). 

LENGTH TYPE MASCARA

maybelline lashionista
maybelline lengthening mascara comparison chart. click to enlarge!


the lashionista care plus and lash exte is only available in japan. the former contains safflower oil as the hair care ingredient, while the latter contains vitamin B5 (panthenol) and ceramide R to nourish the lashes. it sounds so fancy schmanzy, i don't know why we don't have these in singapore, or hong kong. :(

i've tried the lashionista mascara and let's just say, i love it under certain circumstances. when i'm not wearing other kinds of make up, i love it to death because it comes off in the shower. however, when i'm wearing full makeup, it's hard to remove with my eye makeup remover.. but one thing is certain, the length that it creates it well loved at all times. you can read my reviews and see my swatches here.

i'm so glad i don't live in the states, because trying to put ALL of maybelline's mascara on a chart depicting their differences and main claims would drive me crazy.

all in all, i love maybelline for their affordable mascara that actually works - lengthens, volumnizes, holds a curl, and doesn't melt or smudge.

p.s. depending on your region, some of these mascaras may or may not be available in your local store. also, they may appear to have a slightly different name.

QUESTION
have you tried any maybelline mascaras? how do you love it?

Monday, May 18, 2015


For the curious mind, like myself.

circle lens, some people hate it, some embrace it. i'm leaning towards the "embrace it" side, but only if the size of the lens doesn't exceed 14.2mm. anything beyond that and i begin to look like an alien.


if you never quite understood the circle lens craze in asia, there is scientific evidence to show that circle lens do make a person appear more attractive. from the article "what's in a face" written by jena pincott, the author puts it succintly into two paragraphs.

"The pupils advertise desire. Women's dilate more widely during the hormone surge before ovulation and when looking at attractive men, and men find large-pupiled women more attractive without knowing why. Women prefer men with medium-sized pupils. There are two exceptions: women who are ovulating and those who prefer a "bad boy." They both like big pupils.
An equally subtle cue is the eye's limbal ring, the black circle that separates the colored iris from the white sclera. When people judge a pair of faces, one with limbal rings and the other without, they strongly prefer the former even though they can't consciously detect a difference. The limbal ring, which shrinks with age, is a signal of youth and health—desirable qualities, reproductively speaking."

not only does the pupil size matter, but so does the limbal ring! if the above excerpt was too long for you, the takeaway here is that men find large pupils and the rpesence of a limbal ring more attractive, even thoguh they don't know why.

so here we have it, if you want to look more attractive, circle lenses is the way to go! the empty spot in the centre gives the illusion of a larger pupil, while the limbal ring around the circumference makes you look more youthful. just make sure to do it subtly and proportionately. monsterously sized circle lenses will only scream "my eyes are not normal!" to the guys.

below are a few circle lens (and coloured lens) i've worn in the past. click on image to see review and more photos in their individual entry.




GEO tri color gray, also known as world gray.


GEO angel brown.


GEO tri color green, or world green.



GEO hurricane brown.


GEO tri color brown, or world brown.


GEO princess mimi sesame gray.



Friday, May 15, 2015


Have you ever been overwhelmed by variety?

korean brands are notorious for their wide range of skin care products, even for someone like me who've been exposed to so many products, i still feel overwhelmed when i enter their shop to be surrounded by hundreds of DIFFERENT products.

it'd be fine if i knew exactly what each line did, but i don't.

sometimes it's a bad thing to have so many different lines, because people end up in the paradox of choice because they exhausted their decision making ability when fazed with too many products.

i was looking through innisfree's new online store and was lost for a while. it's nice of them to group products according to the concerns you have, but they also used their own terms which may confuse those who're not familiar with skin care. i hate to say this, but there are "industrial standards" when it comes to naming items because consumers are used to certain words.

here's a cheat sheet if you are confused like me. i'm merely translating their series into terms that are more familiar to me. i've looked through their ingredients and main claims to group them accordingly.

1. TROUBLE CARE is known as PRODUCTS FOR OILY SKIN (acne and pimples prone)

JEJU BIJA ANTI-TROUBLE SERIES

JEJU BIJA ANTI-TROUBLE SERIES 

i don't know what torreya seed does, it's said to have good healing powers (and peeling effect?). i do, however, know that this product contains salicylic acid, effective in melting and clearing excess sebum.

this series comes in cleansing gel, cleansing foam, toner, lotion, and spot essence.


2. PORE CARE is also known as PORE REFINING PRODUCTS

innisfree SUPER VOLCANIC SERIES
SUPER VOLCANIC SERIES

CLEANS the pores by absorbing sebum and contracting pores temporarily. also contains AHA (lactic acid) to help with exfoliation.

IF PORES DUE TO DEHYDRATION, use moisturizing products below in section 3 to plump up skin to reduce pore size.

IF PORES DUE TO AGING, use anti aging products below in section 4 to improve elasticity of skin to shrink pore size.

3. NUTRI-MOISTURIZING and MOISTURIZING are moisturizers for everyone. 

the "nutri" meaning nutrients within the cream, it's not new for companies to infuse food extracts into skin care, assuming dietary nutrients can be utilized by our skin.

innisfree GREEN TEA SERIES
GREEN TEA SERIES

contains "fresh green tea water" for moisturizing.

innisfree OLIVE REAL SKIN SERIES
OLIVE REAL SKIN SERIES

contains extra virgin olive oil for hydration and restoration of moisture barrier.

4. FIRMING and WRINKLE CARE is also known as ANTI-AGING TREATMENTS

innisfree SOYBEAN SERIES
SOYBEAN SERIES

contains fermented soybean to stimulate collagen production in the skin.

innisfree ORCHID SERIES
ORCHID SERIES

contains orchid extract, a powerful antioxidant. cream is extra nourishing to plump up mature skin. can also be grouped under the moisturizing group.

innisfree SEAWEED SERIES (ECO SCIENCE SERIES)
SEAWEED SERIES (ECO SCIENCE SERIES)

formulated with antioxidants to repair skin barrier and improve elasticity.

5. WHITENING is whitening, nothing fancy!

innisfree TANGERINE PEEL SERIES (ECO SCIENCE WHITE C SERIES)
TANGERINE PEEL SERIES (ECO SCIENCE WHITE C SERIES)

formulated with eco-friendly organic jeju tangerine peel extract and green tea, giving you a double-up effect in brightening your skin.

innisfree WHITENING PORE SERIES
WHITENING PORE SERIES

containing citrus flavonoids, this series will brighten dull skin and suppress melanin production.

to be completely honest with you all, i was overwhelmed by all the products once again just now. i will try to describe how it feels like - frustration and confusion. i'm confused because there're multiple lines that seem to serve similar functions, frustrated because i need to know my stuff before i can actually write about it! after 2 long hours cross referencing the different websites, i think i'm pretty close to categorizing the series above. 

to my horror, there are a few more new product lines i saw on the korean official website, but my korean isn't good enough for me to understand what those products serve to do, so i left them out of this entry. i suddenly have a lot of admiration for innisfree sales associates as they have to know ALL the products inside out. that's a lot to stomach!

if i were to start a skin care line, i'd make it super simple and easy with just 4 product lines - hydrating, anti aging, and whitening. pore refining, acne/pimples and oily skin can be grouped together as the 4th line. and each line will have only one set of products! 

sometimes, less is more.

image credit: innisfreeworld and innisfree korea

Monday, May 11, 2015


Let's bust some myths.

while researching on facial oils, i came across several interesting articles relating to the topic. i resonate with some of the points being raised, but also skeptical regarding other points.

from "beauty trending now: everything you need to know about facial oils" published in huffington post:

source: droz.com
Myth: Oils cause breakouts

Fear of oils is widespread. They are deemed to make us fat and spotty. People think that facial oils or any potion with oil in it will make them break out. Stripping oils away is thought to prevent clogged pores, breakouts, and shiny zones.

Truth: Healthy fats and oils prevent skin damage and breakouts

Nuts, seeds, and olives provide oils that can actually help us to lose weight and keep it off -- these good oils are called Omegas (or fatty acids). The same apparent paradox goes for our skin. Skin needs its natural oils to keep lubricated and protected). If we strip the oil away, the skin will produce more oil to compensate. The resulting imbalances cause breakouts. Encouraging a healthy oil environment can help to repair damage and give your skin the moisturizing and hydrating support it needs.
i think it's very common for people to relate oils to breakouts because an excessive sebum production has been correlated with tendency to develop acne, but it's not as simple as that. breakouts can be an immune response to an allergen in the product you used. unless you're allergic to that oil, it will not cause a breakout. oils will strengthen the skin barrier by improving the overall condition of your skin (some oils even have anti inflammatory effects!), theoretically speaking it will prevent breakouts.

do oils clog pores? it takes two hands to clap - oils and dead skin cells (or pollutants). with proper exfoliation and cleansing, oils will not clog pores.

Myth: Oil is oily

Fear of shine is one of the most common concerns with facial oils. The assumption is that only dry skins can tolerate oils and that anyone with combination or oily skin will look greasy enough to butter toast.

Truth: Facial oil is not oily

A good facial oil should sink right into the skin and not leave the surface looking for feeling oily. The secret is in the base oils. Avoid mineral oils at all costs. Look out for base oils (eg the first one to three that appear on the ingredients list) such as jojoba, meadowfoam, argan, apricot, or almond. Far from greasy, a good oil complex is the surest way to get dewy skin.
only certain oils are oily, typically it's those with saturated fatty acids. there're a whole range of oils that're high in unsaturated fatty acids such as rosehip seed oil, argan oil, and jojoba oil. some oils are known to sink into the skin so quickly, they're also called dry oils (even though the industry use dry oils to describe a blend that contains dimethicone). not only will they nourish your skin, you won't walk away with that shiny look you'd expect from oils.

Myth: Oils are not efficient anti-agers

Even if you accept oils can be nice and perhaps beneficial, it is tempting to see them as the poor relation to creams crammed with antioxidant extracts, powerful peptides and other anti-agers.

Truth: Facial oils are chemical free antioxidant powerhouses

Let's start with some fundamentals. The best thing about facial oils is that they are not water-based. Water-based formulations (which means most creams and serums) require synthetic preservatives, stabilizers, absorbency enhancers and things that make a cream a cream. Oils don't need any of these, so what you will get is pure unadulterated botanical oils to which additional actives can be added to provide a bounty of nutrients, fatty acids, antioxidants or free radical scavengers.
while there are antioxidants in oils, i think most of the anti-aging effect of oils come from its superior ability in locking in moisture in order to maintain the youthful plumped skin. i'm not sure if the amount of antioxidants are sufficient to make any difference to our skin, neither can i be sure whether our skin utilize nutrients the way we expect them to.

IN A NUTSHELL
one thing for sure, oils are not the enemy we should avoid. we may have been led to believe that oils are bad because excessive sebum production has always been linked with acne, but correlation doesn't mean causation. obviously, something is causing the overly oily skin. by removing all oils from your regime, it's mainly addressing the symptom without treating the cause. it's only going to get worse over time (based on personal experience).

a good way to start is to incorporate additional oils into your existing cream just to give yourself some time to adjust to the notion of using oils. once you're comfortable with it, you can experiment with facial oils on their own.

TL;DR
a few drops of oil in your existing cream may surprise you pleasantly, contrary to popular belief.

more on oils next time!

Monday, May 4, 2015


Finally on to skin care for normal/combination skin!

i've had viewers ask me to help them with their skin care routine to combat normal/combination skin because their T zones are usually too oily for their liking. their common complaint is a greasy mess by noon even though they washed their face in the morning and using oil free products for hydration.

after making one simple change, they return to tell me their T zone became less oily! read on ti find out what it is exactly!

i've already written about the extremes: possible causes of dry skin, suggested skin care routine for dry skin, possible causes of oily skin, and suggested skin care routine for oily skin. normal/combination and dry/oily skin is a mixture of both, so the routine is actually a blend of the two, albeit confined to specific regions.

the simple outline of the steps are as follows:
PM routine:
1. wash your face with a cleanser
2. hydrate with light/nourishing lotion all over
3. target treatment (nourishing moisturizer on oily areas and/or dry areas)

AM routine:
1. wash face with water
2. hydrate with light lotion all over
3. oil control product (if you wear makeup) and/or moisturizer for dry areas

chances are, the combination of normal and slightly oilier T zone is natural. i've talked about this before in my previous entry where i briefly described the different skin types. do carry out the simple test outlined in that entry to determine your own skin type!

normal/combination skin is pretty much the optimal condition in my opinion, hence, i would actually try to maintain my skin at this stage as there's nothing that really needs to be corrected.

there's a little trick to tailor the skin care routine to your skin type - target treatment. it just doesn't make sense to use only one product for the entire face when there are clearly different properties on different parts of your face. even thought it translates to an additional step, but that's just a little price to pay to maintain good skin.

often, this means to spot treat oiliness or dryness. hydration is the general treatment that's suitable for the different kinds of skin, therefore it can be used over the entire face. however, oily and dry skin need a little something more since they deviate from normalcy.

WASHING YOUR FACE:
if you don't already know, i only wash my face with water in the morning, so the face wash step is only in my evening skin care routine. i feel that it's redundant to wash away my precious sebum that my skin has secreted overnight to protect my skin, also to keep it pliable and moisturized. my viewers also told me that after they made changes to their routine, they wake up to lesser oils - oils are still secreted, but not greasy like usual.

general treatment: i'd still choose the soap free gentle cleansers as opposed to harsher face wash because i wouldn't want to tilt the balance in my skin. using it all over your face is perfectly fine.

targeted treatment: if you have a slightly oilier T zone (or other areas which are oilier), follow up with a foaming face wash on your T zone to get rid of the extra grime (at least in the beginning before your skin adjust to the changes). you can let the foam stay on your face for a while so that it can remove more sebum.

MOISTURIZING:
general treatment: since hydration is well loved by skin all over, use a hydrating toner to return your skin to the normal pH before using any moisturizer you like.

if you're in a humid climate, a gel moisturizer should suffice. adjust your product to the environment accordingly. the gel/cream should be used all over your face.

targeted treatment for oily areas:
i suggest using two different products for day and night.

PM
after washing and moisturizing your face at night, follow up with a heavier cream on the T zone only IF you want to reduce oiliness in those area. as our skin will release more oils in an attempt to combat dehydration, we greatly reduce the chance of an overly oily T zone by locking in moisture with a cream that contains some oils.

if you're willing to try facial oils, that'd even be a better choice as they are easily absorbed into the face, returning your face to the optimum water and oil balance. opt for light natural oils like rosehip oil, grape seed oil, and argan oil. do experiment to find out which oil works best for you! in fact, you can use facial oils not just as a spot treatment, but also all over your face! your skin will love it and gladly drink it up. if you're still against facial oils, please allow me to elaborate on it in a separate entry. also, people usually suffer break outs not because of the oiliness. it is in fact an allergic reaction to certain ingredients.

AM
in the day time, you may want to use a oil control cream on the T zone for those of you who will wear makeup. although i'm pretty sure your face will be well conditioned if you followed my suggestion to use a heavier cream on our T zone at night, such that your T zone will stop producing so much oils over time!

targeted treatment for dry skin: 

nourishing cream for surface dryness.
ceramide creams for cellular insufficiency.
an addition of an occlusive such as vaseline or a salve made from natural oils and waxes to combat environmental dryness.

you can refer to the entry on dry skin for more details on the creams i suggest according to your needs.


IN A NUTSHELL
i suggest using an oilier product at night as the air is usually cleaner at home. you reduce the risk of clogging up your pores that way!

while this method worked for some of my viewers, it may not work for everyone because this treatment aims to solve the underlying problem of dehydrated skin. if your skin is oozing oil due to other reasons, this skincare routine may be insufficient to solve your problems.

to answer the question i've laid out at the beginning of this entry, the only change they made was to use a nourishing cream at night - one they've avoided for the longest of time because they're afraid it'll make them oilier.

if one step can make such a difference within days, i wonder what the entire skin care routine can do!

it's definitely worth a try if you've avoided oily creams for a while! do let me know if you've decided to try this out!

title photo credit: fine gardening

Friday, May 1, 2015


Just a suggestion you can try.

so you have diagnosed yourself with oily skin? perhaps you just want to reduce the amount of oils on your T zone area?

the number 1 cause of overly oily skin is dehydrated skin (unless you have a genetic defect/hormonal imbalance/other hidden reasons that causes you to produce more than usual), just that people with oily skin have a tendency to produce oils to combat that dryness instead of letting the skin crack up and bleed. as such, you may realize that a lot of the causes of overly oily skin mirror those of dry skin.

after you've identified possible areas you can improve internally, we can speed up the rebalancing process by using the right skin care products on the outside.

a simple night time skin care routine for you would look something like this. this is just a general template, please tweak it to your needs.

1. use a face wash to get rid of all the excess oils.

cleansing is very important if you've got oily skin. for any skin care product to do its job, it has to pass through the skin barrier. sebum is a very good skin protectant as it's water resistant, it keeps the moisture within our skin to prevent excessive water loss. the same barrier will also prevent things we apply on our skin from going in, especially if it's water based.

in the initial phase when your skin is too oily, you can use a cleanser that leave your face squeaky clean.

once your skin has balanced out, a gentle cleanser is preferred so as to not strip away too much oils (which will risk triggering your body to produce more if you don't moisturizer properly after that).

2. use a toner to return the skin to a slightly acidic pH

most cleansers are slightly alkaline - especially more so if you're using soap. healthy skin is naturally slightly acidic, therefore it's important to return the skin to a slightly acidic state after washing our face. not only does it condition our face, but it also reduce the chances of our skin producing more oils due to the pH change.

japanese toners (which they call lotions) are usually loaded with hydrating ingredients such as glycerin and hyaluronic acid, which is exactly what we want, contrary to popular belief. oily skin needs all the moisture it can get too!

3. apply a lotion that is easy to absorb for some hydration

this step will be redundant if the toner you use already contains hydrating ingredients. otherwise, a light lotion is a good option to hydrate and nourish your face.

4. follow up with a facial oil or nourishing cream

don't be afraid to experiment with facial oils. if you chose the right type, it'll sink in almost immediately thanks to their smaller molecular size, and the fat loving nature (lipophilicity) of our skin.

if you're less adventurous, pick a nourishing cream that contains a good blend of oil and water.

this step is VERY IMPORTANT because we MUST return some oils to our skin after ripping them off during the washing stage.

you must be wondering why are we returning oils after removing them? this because because by applying creams/facial oils, we help the skin return to its optimal water-oil balance. our skin NEEDS SOME OILS, the trick is HOW MUCH OIL. would you rather let your skin decide that you need an excessive amount of oils because you've stripped everything away, or would you want to trick your body into thinking that the skin has enough oils so that it will produce lesser oils in the long run?

our body is one amazing machine that tries its best to maintain our body within certain limits. this is called homeostasis. the feedback loop will register a big signal to produce oils if the skin loses too much water. the reverse is true - if it registers a healthy amount of moisture in the skin, it won't try to secrete that much oils.

once you have corrected the over production of oil, you can then change your skin care that will suit your new skin type (ideally it should move towards the normal/combination direction). don't forget - skin type changes over time!

as for the morning skin care routine,

1. face wash

it will take a while for your skin to adjust to the nourishing cream you applied at night. you will realize your skin start to release lesser oils over night as time goes by.

before your skin fully reaches the stage where it stop producing so much oils, you may want to remove some oils in the morning very gently. you can do so by using lesser face wash, or letting it stay on your skin for a shorter duration. do not remove too much oils or you'll waste all the efforts you put in the previous nights! remember, the more oils you strip away from you body, the more it will try to produce.

2. tone and moisturize

you'll only need to return your skin to a slightly acidic pH only if you washed your face with soap or cleanser. otherwise, moisturize directly.

certain facial oils/creams are nourishing AND absorbs quickly. pick those for busy mornings when you are in a rush for time.

3. oil control product

if you wear makeup, priming your face with an oil control product may be useful to keep your makeup in place. what they do is to soak up some sebum in place of your make up.

IN A NUTSHELL
if you haven't read how everything can affect oil production in our skin, make sure to check out the 4 things you should know if you have oily skin, as well as 6 possible causes of oily skin so that you can tweak this basic skin care to your needs.

i don't have oily skin personally, and the above skin care steps are only based on my theoretical understanding of how oily skin works. if this works for you, great! if not, it's time to make some changes and see what works for you! treat everything like a scientific experiment and we will be able to learn from both a failure and success.

skin care is just like make up to me, it's a journey of self exploration, discovering what works and what doesn't for ourselves. the only comforting thing to know when one thing doesn't work is that somewhere out there, something will work for you. we just have to find it.

one possible tweak to the suggested skin care routine for people working in an air-conditioned environment is this:
the surrounding is drying out your skin and leaving you looking super shiny at the end of the day. you will then need to use a more hydrating product on your face to battle that dryness in your office, instead of washing your face a few more times to get rid of that excess sebum. always treat the problem at its root!

title photo credit: trending image
 
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