Micromini Reviews (and I am back)

Hi everyone. I'm here again posting a bunch of teeny tiny reviews of some products I have used since my last review, because I feel bad for not making use of my experience to help other skin care addicts.

And yes, even if I got too busy, I was able to continue taking care of my skin!

Here are the various items I used from October 2014 til today:

Nature Republic Bulgarian Rose Emulsion - If only my nose was not that sensitive to fragrances, this emulsion will be a holy grail day moisturizer. It is cheap, moisturizing, and it works well under the hot and humid Manila weather. If you have a very tolerant sense of smell, I highly recommend this emulsion.

Olay Regenerist Night Resurfacing Essence - a very easy to find AHA exfoliator in the Philippines, which works as intended. It made my skin plump, soft and smooth, although it did not make my pores look refined. It looks expensive at a price tag of more than 1000 pesos, but this 50 mL bottle will last a while. The only problem with this AHA is it warrants a bigger obsession for sunscreen as it is quite strong (glycolic acid), and it made my face very irritable against the sun. I had to abide by sunscreen reapplication, or else.

The Face Shop Herb Day Cleansing Cream (Green Tea) - I used to LOVE this line, now I totally hate it. Although I used the Mixed Fruit variant before, I noticed that the main ingredients between my Green Tea and Mixed Fruit aren't the same. Reformulation? Highly probable, which is why I will not repurchase.

Etude House Real Art Cleansing Oil (Sensitive) - typical cleansing oil with a very runny texture and strong but tolerable scent. Cleans well but it left my skin feeling dry immediately after use.

Innisfree Apple Juicy Cleansing Oil - the apple aroma was weird and seemed very synthetic, but the texture is glorious! Ah, but it did not clean my face properly and was too gentle, it left my sebaceous filament sticking out and begging for extraction (which I still left alone).

Missha All-Around Safe Block Waterproof Sun - it may not have titanium dioxide, but I do not recommend this sunscreen. Unless you're a fan of very thick creams and all lined up for a geisha makeover.

Aaaand that takes care of the 8 months worth of skincare hits and misses.

I realized I CAN update this blog, although not as vigorously as I did prior to my freelancing work. So I am back and will check in from time to time, especially in cases like this - I just couldn't bear it!

Review: Etude House Magic Bubble O2 Water Peeling Pack

Hi. I've been stalling around to review this exfoliant, but because I am running out of the product, I guess it's time to put on the review for Etude House's Magic Bubble O2 Water Peeling Pack. Not finding a way to check the pH is not an excuse, but still, we must go on!

Review: Etude House Sunprise SPF 30/PA++ Water Jelly

Hello! Back again for another sunscreen review, this time it's Sunprise (Aquamoist) SPF 30/PA++ Water Jelly. Before I begin, let me remind you how important it is to keep calm and inspect your product before buying.

Let me also stress how important it is to first make sure a sunscreen can adequately protect. That is, it has to be at least at an SPF of 30 and PA+++. And photostable.

Behold, my mistake!

First Impressions: Random Samples from MISSHA, The FACE Shop and Etude House

I find it not fair to review skin care products based on samples as I believe not enough time is given to allow for the ingredients to take effect - it's just like taking a prescription medicine just once despite of the recommended trice a day intake and saying the drug is useless.

Which is why rather than a review, I'd rather share my first impressions on the samples I got from my sister who lives in Korea. Nothing too descriptive, but just enough to give an idea is worthy of further Googling for prices, suppliers, and ingredients.

Here goes!

Skin care products I cannot go without + Life updates

Again, let me apologize for the lack of attention on this blog the past week - my partner and I got married last Saturday, and we were very busy before and after the wedding.

I do have a skincare entry on this, but first, a short background on wedding trends here in the Philippines.

Having a photo shoot in a hotel during the bridal makeup and prior to going to the church is the trend here nowadays. Obligatory family photos, groom pretending to get ready for the wedding, bride pretending to be sentimental while being actually nervous because I might trip while on the aisle are common.

I mean, is such photo really needed?

So I had to stay in a hotel a day before the wedding. After the wedding, the husband and I went to Tagaytay for the honeymoon, which was more like a 3D/2N food tripping spree. During these times I was out of my home, I had very little room for skincare in my luggage. I wanted to keep my load minimal and I only bought along with me the very very important skincare products.

Review:Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner

Although some people are at an opinion that toners are not necessary, I somehow had a good experience with Floria's Pore Tightening toner. But that toner is always out of stock. So when I saw this 7-in-one "total pore solution" from Etude House, I knew I had to try the Wonder Pore Freshner.

The product claims that it can do the following: deep clean one's pores, maintain a ph of 4.5, control sebum, minimize appearance of pores, refine the skin tone, keep elasticity of pores, and moisturize the skin.

This box set contains the toner and cotton pads