Updated Skincare Routine (2016)

16:53 Cyndi 0 Comments

(Left to right): Etude House: Baking Powder Cleanser and Wonder Pore Freshner, The Body Shop: Aloe Soothing Cream Mask, Banila co: Clean it Zero Balm, The Face Shop: Natural Sun sunscreen, Etude House: Wonder Pore Serum, The Body Shop: Seaweed Mattifying Moisturiser and Seaweed Pore Cleansing Exfoliator


Recently I've been investing heaps into my skincare routine as my skin has been breaking out heaps and is super bumpy due to millions of whiteheads and blackheads popping up everywhere. I've developed my own 'Korean' 8-step-skincare routine with these products!

Cleanser

I just use the Etude House Baking Powder cleanser and to be honest, I'm not in love with it but it gets the job done and it smells quite nice. It leaves my face feeling clean.

Double Cleanser

I used to use the JUJU AQUAMOIST Cleansing Oil which I absolutely love but decided to try out the Banila Co. Clean it Zero cleansing balm as I heard a lot of good reviews about it. Didn't realise it came in such a huge tub and is totally worth the money as I've had it for a couple of months and barely made a dent. I use it to double cleanse and it smells amazing but I'm not sure if it's because I'm not using it right but it still leaves a lot of balm residue on my face even when I've washed it off.

Toner

The Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner is an absolute favourite and I'm so sad it's nearly all gone as they don't stock it in stores over here and I absolutely hate waiting for packages when I online shop. This toner does a lot - not only does it balance your pH levels after you've washed your face but it reduces the size of your pores! My pores definitely have noticeably gone smaller after using the freshner and the serum.

Serum

The Etude House Serum is amaziiiinnngggg!!! It does such a great job and definitely locks in the pores to make them smaller.

Moisturiser

For the longest time ever, I've had so much trouble looking for a good moisturiser for my skin. My family has been recommending me these moisturisers when I go back to Hong Kong but then I can never find them when I go back to Perth so I'm always left with a really sucky moisturiser as I don't know which moisturiser here does the same job as the Hong Kong brand moisturisers. Then I discovered the Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying moisturiser and IT IS SO GOOD!

Not only does it moisturise my face and leaves it feeling smooth and supple but it takes care of my oily T-zone so I don't wake up in the morning feeling an oily mess (which most moisturisers I used did). It also has a slight tingling sensation as well which the sales assistant told me was normal.

Exfoliator

The sales assistant at the Body Shop also recommended I purchase the exfoliator as I told her I had a lot of whiteheads and she said it was probably from the build up from my dry skin and dead skin cells as I wasn't exfoliating my face and getting rid of the dead skin cells. After using the exfoliator I noticed that a lot of the bumps started disappearing and they would come up to the surface and form pimples and then disappear! I was so glad as the bumps were so unappealing. 

Mask

Still in the process of looking for more masks to try as I absolutely love masks! Recently purchased the Body Shop's Aloe Vera Soothing Cream Overnight Mask as Winter is coming and my skin gets more dry during the winter time. This mask smoothes my sensitive cheek area which is really dry and I can leave it on overnight and my skin feels absolutely amazing in the morning. 

Sunscreen

Last but not least, SUNSCREEN!

My friend gave me this sunscreen spray puff from the Face Shop where you pump the sunscreen onto the puff and pat it onto the skin like a cushion foundation. It also has a cooling sensation and has 50 SPF and PA++++ which is so good! I love it/would repurchase again.




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Water, H2O -- BLUE GOLD

19:10 Cyndi 0 Comments

You ever just watch a documentary that completely changes your mind and thoroughly provokes your thoughts. I've been watching environmental documentaries lately and I highly recommend Blue Gold.


Wars of the future will be fought over water as they are over oil today, as the source of human survival enters the global marketplace and political arena. Corporate giants, private investors, and corrupt governments vie for control of our dwindling supply, prompting protests, lawsuits, and revolutions from citizens fighting for the right to survive. Past civilizations have collapsed from poor water management. Can the human race survive?
(taken from IMDB) 

The environment has always been a stressing issue and a huge reason why I love the Lorax by Dr. Seuss. There's a good quote from a Chinese film I watched recently, The Mermaid, and one of the characters asks the main character a really good question:

'Hypothetically, if you had only one minute left in your life. Hypothetically, if the earth didn't have a single drop of clean water left or a single breath of clean oxygen left. What do you want to do most?' 

- The Mermaid (2016)

We're depleting the Earth of oxygen and water all for the sake of money. What happens once we've gotten our money? Money isn't important anymore when the Earth is damaged because of it. You won't be able to breath or drink clean water and then your health suffers and making money was for nothing because of it. 

We are a circle of life and so is the environment. We are born, we grow up and die and turn into soil. The trees grow from the soil, then give out clean oxygen for us to breathe. We all learn about where water comes from right? Water comes from rain water, then it falls to the ground, the soil soaks it up and the water goes back into the ocean and the clouds evaporate it and then the clouds make it rain. 

BUT HOW CAN WE HAVE WATER WHEN WE'RE AFFECTING THE CYCLE?

1. We're destroying forests
2. We're building dams
3. We're polluting rivers

The reason why there is less rain water is because the clouds are taking less in less water from the oceans! The reason why there is less water in the oceans is because there isn't enough water in the ground. The reason why there isn'ts enough water in the ground is because the roots of the trees aren't there anymore to push the water into the ground. The roots of the trees are getting removed because we're removing the forests to build houses and infrastructure established by big companies that care more about money than the environment! They don't care about us - they're rich and they can just buy bottled water. 

The only ones at stake are lower and middle class people. We can't afford to pay bottled water every day. We need to protect the environment from huge companies that will (in the future) make us buy water because water is and will run out. 

I highly, HIGHLY recommend this documentary and urge you to watch this. It is eye opening. 

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