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This quarantine sure does give you time. Time for what, you may ask? Well, I’ve realised it’s the kind of conundrum which can either create or corrupt. How you spend your time indoors really is up to you, for better or worse. Good or evil. Want to spend all afternoon playing Mario? Go for it. Did I say whether that was the good or evil part? I did not.
But like most of us, I’ve turned to my cupboards in the hopes of clearing them out, once and for all. We all know that I like to keep more than a few things on board; hoard, if you will. Not toilet paper, no, but beauty products. Lots of ’em! all of ’em! Give ’em to me!!!
This got especially bad good out of control when I was in Korea, and all of the wonderful and wild Korean brands I’d never heard of were but a click away via G-market. Oh, G-market, how I miss thee. Of course, I managed to carry over my ways to both Malaysia & Australia… and now here we are.
I’ve previously written about the Nature Republic Argan 20 Steam Emulsion and, spoiler alert, I frikkin’ loved it. This was back in the day before I knew about the wonders of argan oil; I’d barely even discovered Moroccan Oil (side note: I really should get back into that. My silky hair is missed). I finished this a while ago but can tell you all about it: it’s fabulous. Lol. Great for dry skin especially, a lightweight emulsion that is moisturising but not heavy. Doesn’t make my sensitive skin react. Contains argan oil for that glow. Great as part of a Korean skincare routine.
The next one in my lil’ army of empties is The Face Shop Rice Ceramide Moisturizing Toner is another goodie for dry skin. A while back, I discovered the wonders of ceramide with the Holika Holika Good Cera Cream, and I really never looked back. You can read my review of that here. At that point, I’d never had a creamy cream like that one (yes, creamy cream is simply the only way I could describe it). It felt nourishing and deep but not clingy or greasy.
I also learned about the brightening effects of rice from the Skinfood Rice Scrub, which imho is an underrated cult favourite of the Skinfood brand. Doesn’t get nearly as much shine as the Black Sugar Mask Wash Off did in its heyday (obviously, my fave is the Strawberry Black Sugar Mask, read about it more here if you so desire). I’m actually writing a whole post about my masking mavens, which (spoiler alert #2) will include mentions of these babies… but they’re just that classic. And irrelevant to this post, yet still classic.
So anyway, the Face Shop toner. It’s a lovely, slightly thick toner which preps my skin well for more layers of sweet, sweet moisture. Because we all know that is the key! I’ve been reintroducing oils back into my routine recently, but while I used to substitute them for skincare steps, now I know they’re mainly there to seal in everything that happened beforehand (more or less). They don’t so much provide moisture, as seal moisture, although I’m into certain oils for certain purposes, as you’ll soon find… I am on a serious tangent today! All over the place, but hopefully you’re following along — I blame quarantine.
Now, onto the Laneige Water Bank Hydro Essence. In a moment of unparalleled bougieness (not really), I decided to treat myself to the limited edition version of this classic. Even the name just sounds like good skin, doesn’t it?! This pretty version is no longer available, but you can still get your paws on the essence if you’re keen.
I also used the Laneige Water Bank Moisture Essence that I had as part of a tester kit — a great way to try products without committing too hard, btw. Could I tell the difference between the two? Not so much. Can I remember this far back? Not really. But off the top of my head, the Hydro Essence was lightly moisturising, had a lovely scent (although scents are never great news for me), and did absorb well into my skin. I can’t remember anything too crazy from it, which is often a good thing in my opinion, but I would be keen to try other essences before repurchasing.
Next up is a non-K-beauty brand, the Sukin Rose Hip Oil. I read about the wonders of rose hip oil when I was looking for something to even my skin tone and fade acne scars. Rose hip oil is apparently one of the best things for this, and while I’ve recently started dipping my toe in the world of retinol (more on this another time, I promise), there’s something about the woody smell of rose hip that just makes me feel like an au naturel goddess.
Have I seen any results with rose hip oil? I’m not too sure. Like I said, I find the benefits of most oils to help with sealing in moisture and preventing moisture loss. I love the smell of rose hip oil, in a weird way, and my skin does feel nice the “morning after”… but I can’t vouch for any effects yet. Tbh, I feel more excited about the retinol + rose hip oil product I’m trying, which I’ll get back to y’all about!
I told y’all this was going to be a long post, and we sure ain’t done yet! Almost though… here we go…
Next in my recycling pile list of empties is the It’s Skin Hyaluronic Acid Moisture Serum. I actually loved this little serum, and would definitely repurchase. First of all, anything containing Hyaluronic acid really intrigues me
The only little piece of makeup in this entire post is the Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb in Fenty Glow. We all know I was am a Fenty stan, and I particularly loved the Gloss Bombs, their Killawatt Highlighters and their Diamond Bomb in How Many Carats? (so pretty!). For further reading, please see here.
But the original Gloss Bomb is so simple & timeless. It features a fat doe foot applicator for us juicy-lipped girls (yes, I have juicy lips, what’s it to you?!) and the smell is so sweet! Plus it doesn’t get sticky like those Caboodles Lip glosses of yore used to. So many recesses with hair stuck all over your face… just sticky hair everywhere.
And that’s it for my mass of empties today… praise quarantine for cleaning out my cupboards, I guess! In all seriousness, it’s a weird time right now, and writing seemingly frivolous blog posts is one way I’m getting through it. It’s more the vibes from other people, and our local area, which admittedly is better than it was a few weeks back… but it’s still odd. Couple that with a never ending news cycle, and it’s easy to go a bit cuckoo. But hopefully this blog helps to add a bit of brightness to your day (as it does mine) 🙂
Steph x