Eye Cream, are you worth it?

So because of the horrors I get from my job (I can't sleep sometimes) and due to my somewhat light skin tone, I have really huge and puffy and dark eye bags. I consistently apply moisturizers and sunscreen around my eye area but the eye bags are still there.

Would have been cute if I were a panda. (From Wikimedia Commons, photo by J.Patrick Fischer)

Yesterday, I decided to pay a visit to one of the Korean skin care shop's Robinson's Galleria branch. I asked the sales assistant for an eye cream or eye bag spot treatment. She led me to a new line of product, again containing the usual cleanser, toner, emulsion, essence, eye cream and moisturizer set - a very usual line-up from Korean brands with lots of products to apply. 

Miracle(?) Skin care Ingredient: Aloe Vera

A lot of skin care products contain aloe. I have after sun gels with aloe. I have a facial wash with aloe extract. I've always though aloe was an established, as in well-researched miracle care, since it has been used for so long.

Until I found this strip from http://carbon-comic.com. This site just gained a regular!

I read more of the post and found out that there are no scientific evidences yet for the use of aloe as a remedy for sunburns. Let's say the evidences for the use of aloe on sunburn may be anecdotes for now, but what about some of the other skin-related claims?

Like as a moisturizer, treatment for acne, anti-aging ingredient, remedy for stretch marks, treatment for wounds among many others. Again, there are no scientific evidences for these claims - http://www.webmd.com and http://www.mayoclinic.com do list some cases where aloe may act as remedy but point out that additional research on aloe is still necessary.

So fellow skin care fans, don't forget to check the active ingredients on your products. Always check the product claims. And don't forget natural is not always safe, so test a product prior to purchase.

Review: Avalon Organics Botanicals - Vitamin C Vitality Facial Serum

The use of vitamin C serum is one of the effective, well-studied regimen we can do to brighten our face and and prevent aging (here is a good reference). However, with the exception of DIY serums, Vitamin C serums can cost as much as 5000 php. So when I saw this serum priced at a reasonable value, I just had to try. Here's my review.

Review: Hawaiian Tropic Sheer Touch Lotion Sunscreen SPF 50 PA+++

I bought this sunscreen from a drugstore, in a hurry, as I accidentally ran out of sunscreen (for my body) when I was out of office. With no 3G connection, I was unable to at least go to cosdna.com to check the ingredient list. Anyway, here's my review for Hawaiian Tropic's Sheer Touch Lotion Sunscreen.

Product vs Product (PvP): Nature Republic Mango Bebe Lip Care Stick vs. Nivea Med Protection Lip Balm

As someone with pouty but easily dried lips, lip care is very important for me. As a kid, my lips always had skin peeling off of it that sometimes, my lips will even bleed. Even until now. This is why I buy a lot of lip care products and store them in my bag, my office cabinet and personal care kit at home.

Today, I'll be reviewing Nature Republic's Mango Bebe Lip Care Stick SPF 15 (which I've already used up months ago) alongside Nivea's Med Protection Lip Balm (current).

On the left corner: Mango Bebe Lip Care Stick SPF 15 from Nature Republic

On the right corner: Nivea Med Protection Lip Balm

Review: Kanebo Allie Precious Barrier Protector SPF 50 PA+++ (Blue variant)

When I was just starting out with the diligent sunscreen use (this started about a year ago) and after a couple of mishaps with two sunscreens from Korean brands, I was actively seeking any Japanese sunscreen that can fit my budget. Shiseido sunscreens from the malls here cost around 2500 pesos, so that brand is a no-no. Masyadong sosyal. And because I had ran out of sunscreen at that time, I purchased Kanebo's Allie Precious Barrier Protector in a hurry.

Papaya whitening: Is it safe and effective?

Visit a supermarket and you are sure to find a TON of whitening products. Among the most common here in the Philippines is the use of papaya soap. Papaya is claimed to help whiten the skin and is a common ingredient in lotions and soaps, which can be cheaply bought off supermarket shelves.

According to papaya whitening advocates, papaya contains papain which is the effective "whitening" ingredients. So what is papain and how does it "whiten" the skin?

Misunderstood: SLS and SLES

With the rise of the green movement came the demand for natural products. Among the main considerations of skin care product consumers is the absence of sulfates, hence the label "sulfate free", which comes almost always with "paraben-free" (related blog post here).

Image from http://www.shielo.com

Review: Kose Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil

Before I go on I would like to really point out that I am not in any way sponsored by the manufacturers or sellers of the products I review. Why the reminder, you ask? It's because I do not want to sound like an endorser for this superb product.

I absolutely love Kose's Softymo Deep Cleansing oil.

Weird skin care ingredients

Growing up with messy skin brought me a fair share of weird skin care information from old wives tales to tips from the internet. Some are pure naturalistic fallacy or greenwashing, some are "revolutionary" anti-aging cures, and some are just weird advice.

Review: The FACE Shop Clean Face Anti-Trouble Spot

So two days ago, I had that occasional, very huge pimple. Normally, I would have not cared much for it, however as I had several other zits, I decided to give acne spot treatment a try again - even after having a bad experience with such (story here).

I decided to buy TheFACEShop's Clean Face Anti-Trouble Spot in the roll-on tube form as it was less concentrated and because I wanted to be careful with these kinds of treatments. It was my payday, so I was able to buy a few more products that I need.

The haul. Clockwise, from left corner: Herb Day Cleansing Tissue, EAU de L'ÂME Perfumed Body Shower Gel, Herb Day 365 Cleansing Acerola, Clean Face Anti-Trouble Spot, Flebeaute White Crystal Diamond Peeling, Blueberry and Lemon masks. Exfoliant and masks were freebies.

Advisory: FDA orders ban and seizure of 16 cosmetic products

The FDA bans 16 products, mostly from China, on suspicion that it may contain unsafe levels of heavy metals (such as lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic). The products are as follows:

- Baiyansu Three-In-One Whitening Set
- Beauty Girl Green Cucumber 6 Days Double Whitening Soft Essence Cream
- Bihuayn Whitening Day Cream
- Care Skin Strong Whitening and Spot Removing Package
- Gadakai Freckle Removing Cream
- Huayuenong 12 days Whitening and Speckle Removing Wrecking Set
- Huayuenong 12 days Whitening and Speckle Removing Wrecking Set (Note: No idea why this product was listed twice)
- White Advance Hydroxytyrosol L-Glutathione Whitening and Anti-Aging Cream
- Yudantang Ginseng and Green Cucumber 10 Days Whitening Speckles Removed Essence
- Yudantang Green Olive and Papaya Natrual Essence 6 Days Specific Eliminating Freckle Whitening Sun Block Cream
- Yundantang Sea Pearl and Papaya Specific Eliminating Freckle Whitening Cream
- Specific Eliminating Freckle Spot and Double Whitening Sun Block Cream
- Yundantang 10 Days Whitening Speckles Removed Essence, with picture of cow and papaya (Wat?)
- Zyiang Day Cream
- Whitening Cream (with the rest of the label in Chinese characters)
- Product label in Chinese characters, with gold package and picture of red flower with 3 green leaves

The advisory (link here) also advised the public to use only FDA acknowledged products and to carefully read the labels of cosmetic products before purchase. Said FDA-approved products must contain the following information:

- Name and address of the local company
- Full ingredient listing
- Batch code
- Date of manufacture or expiration date

My Simple Collagen in Skin Care FAQ

So I wanted to buy drinks with collagen because well.. they're kind of big here, and I want to experiment if collagen will have any effect on my skin. Also, it is supposed to be anti-aging, a skin smoothing miracle. However, this miracle may not come cheap - some of the collagen beauty products can fetch for hundreds of dollars. This warrants some research (or rather Google-ing) and here are a few things I learned (sources are linked within the post):

If my outfit can fund a foundation...

If my mom would plan to give me a Herve Leger dress and pumps and clutch from Chanel, I'd rather that she give me money instead. I have a lot of potential uses for it.

If however, she'd plan to give me a unit it Ritz Carlton instead, well, 34M pesos is too much for me to imagine (assuming she'd give me the cheapest unit) - I mean, that amount can build bridges!

But of course, my mom cannot afford a wardrobe such as that. She's just a simple businesswoman.

Whitening soaps in the Philippines

I'm pretty okay with my skin. I have some scars on my legs which I'm not insecure about, I have hyperpigmentation on my face from my acne days, webs of stretch marks and (dark) yellow skin - and as I know there is no such thing as perfection, I never bothered doing anything special with my routine. Just normal skin care.

But recently, probably because I'm getting married in this year,  I've become wary of my very very dark elbows which really stand out from the rest of my arms. As a result, I've been trying to find easy to purchase (and safe) whitening products for my elbows. Just last Friday, I went to a local supermarket and found a whole aisle of whitening soaps of various local brands and ingredients. Yep, most of the Pinays are not very fond of their more skin-cancer resistant skin color for whatever crazy reason, contributing to the huge market for whitening products. I could go on ranting with that obsession, but that is fitting for a different post.

Panic over parabens

Let us face it. Beauty products are sometimes full of BS and marketing hype. Anti-aging. Breakthrough technology. All-natural. Of course, some claims may actually be true, but are we discerning enough to know which ones are true and not? How do we know we are not paying ridiculous claims worth nothing?

Let's take a look at one of the labels we often see in products nowadays: paraben-free. For those who have no idea what they are: paraben (butylparaben, ethylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben) is a class of chemicals commonly used as preservatives. Recently, some beauty brands have been pegging this label into their products, implying that parabens are unsafe. But how (un)safe are parabens anyway?

Review: Biore UV Aqua Rich watery essence Water Base

Sunscreen can be troublesome sometimes. The texture may be too thick or too runny and may be hard to apply. They may also have weird scent or poor filters.

This product from Biore (again) is almost perfect. Almost.

Pulblic Safety Advisory: Kanebo Cosmetics voluntarily recalls products with Rhododenol

Rhododenol or 4HPB, is a substance implicated in cases of white blotches on the skin. Rhododenol-containing products have also been banned by FDA last July 4, 2013 following this voluntary recall by Kanebo Cosmetics, manufacturer of the said whitening ingredient.

White patches from rhododenol (Provided by Kanebo Cosmetics Inc.)