OhLolly Buys

Hi,

I wanted to review my recent purchases:

• Kicho – Ultra Moisturizing Sun Cream

• heimish- All Cream Balm

 

This review is written after 2 weeks of consistent use.

Kicho – Ultra Moisturizing Sun Cream (spf 50 PA ++):

This sunscreen has been an absolute game changer for me. I like efficiency of a 2-in-1 product that moisturizes and also protects from sun damage. It leaves no white-cast, doesn’t feel greasy, and doesn’t smell like your typical sunscreen. In fact, it has a calming floral scent. This hasn’t broken me out, which is another huge plus. It seems to sit well under makeup as well.

heimish- All Cream Balm

The packaging for this product is so so pretty! It comes with a spoon which I appreciate since it is much hygienic for the product. People have compared this to Banila Co’s Clean It Zero, but without the added fragrance that comes with Banila Co. I have personally used Banila Co for 2 weeks, and ended up giving it to my sister because I felt it was too harsh for my sensitive skin. The heimish balm uses hypoallergenic ingredients which is much gentler and less stripping, while removing all my makeup.

Cosrx BHA Blackhead Power Liquid

Hello!

I read a lot about adding BHA & AHA to skincare regime to help with exfoliating, decongesting pores, and improving overall skin texture.

I read Reddit /r/AsianBeauty and other beauty blogs, and came across Cosrx BHA as a holy grail product for a lot of people. I have oily skin, and I struggle with blackheads/clogged pores, so I went ahead and purchased this product.

It’s quite affordable at $18, and  a single pump is enough to cover your entire face. I’d say even if you use the product once a day at night, it would last 5-6 months, maybe longer?

I used it for 4 weeks, only at night. Here is my experience:

• Week 1: product seemed to be working. My skin was glowing and looked more refreshed.
• Week 2&3: I broke out on my chin. I thought this was purging, which is good because it means all the gunk is coming to the surface
• Week 4: I started breaking out on my cheeks!! I normally don’t break out on my cheeks so when I do, it’s a sign that I’m not purging but that the product is giving me irritation/breaking me out

So sadly, this was a miss for me. I am still looking for a good BHA product for pore maintenance, any suggestions are welcomed.

Soul Sunday Tokai Aloe Mist Review

After running out of my Josh Rosebrook’s Toner, I decided to pick up Soul Sunday’s Tokai Aloe Mist toner from Urban Outfitters.

The ingredients online did not list that this toner contains Witch Hazel in it, which is an astringent. If you spray it directly on your face even with your eyes closed, the acidity still lingers and burns your eyes when you open them. It’s not terribly uncomfortable, but I purchased a spray toner to eliminate the use of cotton pads or having to waste product by pouring it into my palms. With this, I would have to spray the toner to my palms, then dab it onto my face, avoiding the eye area.

I just wish the brand put more thought into the practices of a spray toner.

I would give this 2/5.

 

Long over due update

It’s been awhile since I updated my skin progress. I’ve tried so many products since my last entry, and finally found products that work for me.

For the first time in awhile, people have been complimenting my skin and telling me how good it looks. This was something I thought would NEVER be possible for me.

Here is my current routine:

AM:

1. Cleanse face with Klurskin’s Rose and White Tea Gentle Glycolic Cleanser
   

   $18

2. Rinse 7 times with cold water
3. While my face is still wet, I pat on my toner: Laneige Skin Renew Toner  (this is an average toner and I will not be repurchasing once I’m out) 
4. Moisturize: Benton Snail Steam Cream (I found mine on ebay)  
5. Then I go in with my sunscreen- I am currently using Mentholatum Sunplay Skin Aqua Sunscreen SPF 50. This sunscreen contains NO alcohol, instead it contains hyaluronic acid which helps to hydrate the skin while protecting it from sun damage 
6. For makeup, I changed my routine from BB creams (skinfood, face shop, dr jart, etc) to POWDER FOUNDATION. I feel like this helped my skin improve tremendously. BB creams/CC creams/foundations all contain a lot of oil. I noticed that no matter how thoroughly I washed my face, I would continue to break out. I’ve used Bare Minerals and Alima, but found that W3ll People Altruist Mineral Foundation worked the best for me:

PM:

1. I get a towel and wet it with warm/hot water, then I gently wipe the foundation/sunscreen off

2. Go in with Klurskin’s Rose and White Tea Gentle Glycolic Cleanser using 2 pumps 

3. While my face is still wet, I pat on my toner: Laneige Skin Renew Toner

4. While my toner is still slightly wet, I use Klurskin’s Hyaluronic + Vitamic C serum. This serum is THE BOMB. It is packed with so many ingredients that are essential for your skin, just read the ingredients below:

INGREDIENTS: *Aloe Vera Juice, Distilled Water, Vitamin C, Hyaluronic Acid, *Lavender Oil, *Chamomile Flower Extract, *Marigold Extract, Potassium Sorbate, Co-Enzyme Q10, Alpha Lipoic Acid, *Vitamin E, Vitamin B12- Bio Active Complex (Vitamin B), Silk Amino Acids, Ferulic Acid, *Jojoba Oil, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Kosher Vegetable Glycerin. *ORGANIC INGREDIENTS

5. I let the serum soak into my skin for 3-5 mins then moisturize with either the Benton Steam Cream or Shea Terra’s Argan, Zafron, & Camel Milk Lait Creme. My skin feels sooooo soft and bright in the morning after using Shea Terra’s Creme

This is the most current picture of my skin, it was taken few minutes before publishing this post at a cute cafe in Pasadena, CA. I do have light powder foundation on, but nothing else. My skin is naturally slightly flushed so it might look like I have blush on.

It’s been a long journey to get my skin to its current state. If my skin got better, so can yours.

Thankful

These photos are taken with my Mac PhotoBooth; hence, the quality isn’t the best.

However, these pictures still show the bumpiness off my skin due to inflamed acne. Here is my progress:

See what I mean? The lighting isn’t perfect but it still manages to capture the bumps/inflammation.

So in the last photo (which was taken like 5 minutes ago) my skin still has few whiteheads, not a lot. If anything, the texture has gotten much better, and I am left with dark pigmentation scars. If you have an recommendation for dark spot treatment, please let me know! I’ve tried lemon, but it’s way too acidic for my skin. Baking soda didn’t do much for me. Manuka honey did nothing. Vitamin C might’ve helped a little… I’ve also ordered Skin Apotheke Ubtan Scrub which has been raved by beauty guru EpicBeautyGuide and customer reviews, but it hasn’t done much for me.

Living Nature: Balancing Line

Having acne is exhausting.. Searching for the perfect product that matches and heals your skin is truly a mission.

I don’t know how much more money I need to pour to find the perfect product/line for my skin.

Recently, I purchased Living Nature’s Balancing line from http://www.SaffronRouge.com

I purchased the purifying cleanser, hydrating toner, balancing day lotion, and balancing night gel. 

First off, my skin type is oily/combination, and Living Nature’s balancing line is supposed to be ideal for people with this skin condition. The first week of using this line wasn’t too bad. However, the more I continue to use these products, the more I find that my skin is dehydrated and becoming tighter/drier. 

I let the company know about this adverse effect, but their only advice was for me to try their vitalising line……. With each product ranging from $30-40, I found their response a bit rude..

I will have an updated photo with my skin. I feel let down and disappointed (again) from yet another skin care line that failed to deliver.

Dr. Alkaitis For Acne

I should’ve written a review for Dr. Alkaitis much earlier.

The ingredients for this line is natural, organic, pure, whatever. 

It may work for people with normal or dry skin, but for people with acne-prone skin, I would NOT recommend this line. 

You won’t get a fully clean feeling from the cleanser, the toner and soothing gel smells like alcohol, the oil (which was raved as “liquid gold” did absolutely nothing for my skin, and the day and night cream were too greasy and smelled terrible.

I feel that the line will cater much better towards mature skin.

I appreciate the brand’s effort to using clean ingredients; however, it was a total miss for me.

Skin Update

5th day of using Dr. Alkaitis products. I purchased the travel kit ($50 at http://www.BellaFloria.com)

Routine

• Morning: purifying cleanser + soothing gel
• Night: purifying cleanser + soothing gel + nourishing oil

   I did experience from purging.

   

  Excuse the double white heads on one pimple

  

The Dreadful Acne Photos (viewers discretion advised)

These photos are from 2 weeks ago. Since then, I had a detox peel by an esthetician in Los Angeles. My face was scarred from extractions for 3 days after, and it took a whole week for the raw skin to recover. After all that pain, I’m not sure if it did much for my skin.

From the pictures, there are tons of clogged pores, scars, whiteheads, and some cystic acne.

Products I’ve been using:

• Desert Essence Jojoba Oil as sunscreen remover
• PCA perfecting sunscreen
• Dr Alkaitis Face Wash
• NuSkin Enhancer (as moisturizer)

I will update with progress photos, after there is a bit more progress.

Feel free to leave any advice or comments down below.

 

30 day “no picking pimple” challenge

Inspired by this article: http://www.highonhealth.org/join-me-in-my-30-day-no-pimple-picking-challenge/

 

Wish I read it before I popped the 2 whiteheads on my face. DARN. 

 

9/16/13, till 10/16/13 no more picking!