Recently I had a bad breakout. I’m still breaking out till to this day, can you believe it? This has got to be my longest, most miserable breakout of all these years. So I took a drastic change with my skincare routine. Because I have not had breakout like this for years, I was actually clueless as to what to do.

The first thing I did was to stop everything I was using and re-plan my new skincare routine. The key is to go back to basic. But what? I start from the cleanser and move upwards. And these are what I had come out with.

Day time routine

To me day time was the easiest to plan. I don’t really pile up a lot of skincare products as I was before. So it was just cleanser, toner, eye care, beauty oil, moisturizer and sunscreen.

Cleanser – Neal’s Yard Remedies Deliciously Ella Rose, Lime & Cucumber Facial Wash
This one is easy. It is my existing cleanser and I’m ran out as I’m typing this. It’s very mild, doesn’t foam up a lot but does a good job in cleansing the face.

Lotion – Estée Lauder Micro Essence
Micro Essence is actually my night time toner and I’m also using it in the day time. When used along with ANR, the result is amazing. Alone on itself it is just any other lotion, only more sticky and moisturizing lol.

Eye Care – Clarins Enchancing Eye Lift Serum
I’m trying to get through this as this eye serum is not enough when used alone. As it is a serum, it is recommended to use alongside an eye cream. You know me, I’m lazy these days

Beauty Oil – Trilogy No. 15 Limited Edition Beauty Oil
I should stop using this beauty oil as well and be on a super basic regimen but since I just started using it, I didn’t want to leave it alone. It’s harmless and such a waste if I stop using it so there you have it.

Moisturizer – Clarins White Plus Pure Translucency Brightening Emulsion
I have a theory with breakout. You MUST implement at least one whitening skincare in your skincare regimen so that the marks are easier to tone down or get rid off. I never ever ever go on with my day without any whitening product. I find that by using a whitening product, the marks are less red and heals faster

Sunscreen – Murad City Skin Age Defense Broad Spectrum SPF 50 PA++++
And of course, always end your day skincare routine with a sunscreen. I’m always on min SPF50. Nothing less. Recently I took out this Murad’s new sunscreen to use. It’s slightly tinted and heavy on the skin. Not my favourite at the beginning but it grew on me. Now, I like how it makes my skin healthy.

Forea Luna Play Plus
This is a new toy I purchase recently from Sephora. I’m using it once a day aka in the morning after I woke up and it makes my skin so smooth and glowy. Weird. It works!

Night time routine

From cleanser to moisturizer there are only 6 products, same as the day time. I thought it’s more. Hmmm.

Cleanser – Caudalie Instant Foaming Cleanser
I really like self-foaming cleanser. Recent discovery and love is this one from Caudalie. Night time is the time I really indulge in my beauty routine. Even this cleanser which I’ve been saving is only meant for night time as I’m scared I ran out lol.

Eye Care – Clarins Enchancing Eye Lift Serum
Nothing different here compared to day time. Still the same product for the eyes but sometimes I do stray to others. Sometimes

Lotion – Estée Lauder Micro Essence
Same as day time, Micro Essence is the essential as I’m pairing it with ANR.

Serum – Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair
Now, this is the main key product in the whole Breakout Skincare Routine. As I was re-planning my entire skincare routine, I was thinking hard on one product that can help with skin rejuvenation. I mean, most of the anti-aging products claimed to be one but I only knew ANR would work and worked before. So I bust into a brand new Limited Edition Golden ANR bottle from the Monkey year. Nothing feels as good as a brand new bottle of ANR haha.

Beauty Oil – Trilogy No. 15 Limited Edition Beauty Oil
Because I was using this beauty oil in the day, why not continue at night as well? Plus I feel more moisturized if I had this on to sleep.

Moisturizer – L’Occitane Reine Blanche Whitening Rich Cream
Like I said, I must have at least one whitening product to reduce acne marks and to accelerate the healing process. This cream is potent! It’s not drying for the skin and does a good job. I still do ended up with breakout marks but I believe it will be gone in no time with continuous use of this cream. I’m left with just a medium blob. Hope it will last me lol.

Treatment

On every alternate days, I would be putting one some kind of mask. The only I can’t stop using is the L’Oreal Pure Clay Mask Anti-Pores. I don’t care what people say about PRC made or UK made. This is what I can get in Malaysia and that’s what I’ll be using. Other masks on rotation are REN Evercalm™ Ultra Comforting Rescue Mask (review here) which works in calming down the skin or redness,Dr. Brand Magnetight Skin Recharging Magnet Mask (review here) to suck out all the impurities from the pores, and hella lots of sheet mask. The one I’m currently using are of course from my LoveFace X #IWillBeOkay collaboration box

Tell me, what do you do when you have breakout? Do you stop using everything or do you go back to the basic 3-steps?

The post Breakout Skincare Routine appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

Something interesting I learnt and agreed 100% at the media launch of REN Evercalm™ Ultra Comforting Rescue Mask during a casual chat before the event was that most people think they have sensitive skin. Ask any of your friend what is their skin type and I bet you 9 out of 10 of them will said “sensitive skin”. In fact, ask all your friend. I find this fact to be so true because all my friends told me they had sensitive skin. That got me thinking; is there really so many people with sensitive skin??

The answer is NO. They have mistaken over-reacting skin as sensitive skin. When your skin turns red, it does not mean you have sensitive skin or your “sensitive skin” flares up. No. Skin turning red is pretty common especially when we live in such a hot and humid country. Over-reacting skin are caused by physical, environmental and lifestyle factors that can affect any skin from time to time. Untreated can lead to the actual skin sensitivity. But how do you tone down symptoms that resemble sensitive skin? Simple. With this 10-minutes REN Evercalm™ Ultra Comforting Rescue Mask!

REN Evercalm™ Ultra Comforting Rescue Mask is the first in cosmetics to use the original White Mushroom Extract™ besides REN’s blend of exclusive original ingredients complex. REN is also known as a clean skincare as it doesn’t contain all the bad ingredients that is known to harm the skin. Product that is as gentle as this is usually recommended to treat skin sensitivity. REN reduces all they key symptoms and that bring immediate comfort to the skin, except that this mask goes one step further. REN find that the skin’s send stress signals to the brain and so this stress cycle is broken. Instead of sending stress signal to the brain, the skin starts to repair and heal. In another word, Evercalm™ Ultra Comforting Rescue Mask addresses the connection between the skin and the mind in sensitive skin menifestations.

Its main ingredient – White Mushroom Extract™ is used to de-stress the skin through the blocking irritation and pain messages to the brain. As a result, skin feels comfortable, well-being and relief! As if nothing happened . And other bio extracts ingredients in the mask are:

• Bakers Yeast (Magnesium Carboxymenthy I Beta-Glucan – it is a yeast compound with potent antibacterial and antihistaminic effects on the skin to boost and balance skin immune system by strengthening and restoring skin barrier function. It also accelerate the skin regeneration ability after the stress.
• Arnica Montana Flower – widely used by surgeons to reduce post-operative trauma, reduces irritation, inflammation, stinging, burning and also redness. Also benefit as a potent free radical scavenger.

The mask texture is kinda like souffle. It dispenses a rather solid looking product out from the nozzle but when lightly touch, it is actually soft like skin-like texture. It does not have any added synthetic fragrance added to it but it does have a faint scent to it. I was so glad this does not smells bad, in fact it smells pretty good! The scent is described as Roman Chamomile, that is warm, sweet and herbaceous that is relaxing and calming for the body and mind. I’m sure I could smell the herbaceous part but not the Chamomile. Well, everybody’s nose is different lol.

As you can see, the mask goes on slightly murky but immediately dissolved and turns clear. I like to apply a generous thick layer of this mask whenever I feel that my skin is turning red here and there. This mask is able to bring the redness down, in 10 minutes or so as claimed. It does bring the discomfort down, especially after a day spent outside under the sun. Personally I like to leave it on longer. Well, most of the time I forgotten about it because the scent is so soothing and the soft texture is unnoticeable on my face.

The pump and the attached nozzle cover is one of the feature I like the most on this Evercalm™ Ultra Comforting Rescue Mask. This prevent the mask that are already on its way out harden. I never had any issue of dispensing harden mask out each time I used this. It is always fresh and soft mask that dispenses out.

Rinsing wise, it can take a bit of time as the mask is velvety soft and cream-gel like. I find that using a Muslin cloth helps A LOT. I found my new and unused Eve Lom Muslin cloth from my old beauty storage and I happily use it to remove this mask under running water. It does save so much time. Sometimes when I am too lazy to walk to the sink, I used this face mist method. It does leave a velvety soft skin after rinsing with water so make sure you rinse well especially if you apply a thick layer like me.

Now, the biggest question is – does this mask suits only to sensitive skin? This mask suits ALL skin type, from sensitive to very dry skin. Product that are meant for sensitive skin are usually more mild and gentle hence the suitability for every other skin type. One could use this mask up to 3 times a week or whenever you need it for urgent fix. The trick is to GO GENEROUS with the application and leave it on for 10 minutes. I like to leave it on for 20 minutes

Disclaimer: Product was a press gift from media launch event. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.

The post Skin Turn Red or Irritated? Skin Zen in Ten with REN Evercalm™ Ultra Comforting Rescue Mask appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona