Beauty Favourites of 2017 Part I - Skincare + Goals for 2018
2017 was a great skincare year for me! I’m proud of my skin progress year after year. I’m close as I can ever be to having healthy, clear skin free from blemishes and hyperpigmentation. I’m in my mid twenties and when I look at past photos of my teens to early twenties, it’s notable how my skin has improved since then. I went from having uncontrollable hormonal breakouts and an uneven skin tone to now barely any PMS related acne and my hyperpigmentation has cleared up and faded. And of course I’m loving the feedback I get from friends and strangers of how I look younger than my current age.
I have tried out many products so I want to note some skincare that resonated with me in 2017. Most of the products listed are currently active in my skincare routine until spring comes rolling in. Some products I will mention I won’t go into great detail because I wish to reserve the talk with its own dedicated blog post so keep in mind this is a list of highlights. Please! Bear with me, hear me out and get through my skincare rambling.
I want to outline all the products mentioned are at various price points (most under $120) and I understand we all come from different walks of life and may not afford all these products. Skincare and make up is my hobby. So yes, it is my choice to spend my hard earned coin on skincare and beauty related items. I view it as a form of self care, a daily ritual for me to focus on myself. My values are to think of others first but self care has improved how I feel about myself and my own confidence.
Long story short, this is my experience with skincare and I don’t encourage others to buy what I use. I recommend to always do your RESEARCH! The internet is a great tool and resource to learn how to care for your skin. Skincare is YMMV and I, myself, extensively spend time reading articles to figure out what works for my skin type (dry/normal). I’m sifting out ingredients and formulations that could help my targeted concerns such as uneven skin tone, hyperpigmentation, maintaining a healthy skin moisture barrier and preventing breakouts. Invest your time into learning and understanding what you are spending your money on so you make informed choices and avoid buying based on impulse and hype. I myself enjoy reading and watching other people’s best of posts and videos and learning about what they are loving.
So without further ado:
Note the following abbreviations: (D) -Day, (N) - Night, YMMV - Your mileage may vary, DE - Drunk Elephant, CAIS - Copper Amino Isolate Serum
Favourite Discovery in 2017: Drunk Elephant
A solid line of skincare products that the brand formulated to suit most skin types. Results were not immediate when I first used their serums but I saw a visible difference in my skin after 1 month. I own the following:
C-Firma Day serum (D) - Helped brighten my skin by lightening my hyperpigmentation and improve the overall tone of my skin. Used it twice in the week after toner, in the morning with a 15 minute wait time before the next product.
T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night serum (N) - 1 - 2 times a week at night. After applying NIOD’s CAIS serum, I apply one pump all over the face and wait 20 minutes before applying my next product. Benefits I seen are a more evened out skin complexion and smoother, less textured skin. My t-zone gets oily from time to time in the summer and this helps minimize the oiliness and my pores appear less visible.
Lala Retro Whipped Cream (D/N) - Great moisturizer for my dry/normal skin. Reserved this for the winter as it’s a bit heavy in the summer. I would wake up in the morning and my skin wouldn’t feel dehydrated.
Hydration Gel (D) - I can summarize this as a shot glass of hydration for the skin. I treat this product as a serum because of the lightweight gel texture but it’s not hydrating enough to be a moisturizer for my dry/normal skin.
Virgin Marula Luxury Facial Oil (D/N) - Used only during the winter because of the Canadian air being colder and drier. I would add two drops of this to my moisturizer. It’s rich in fatty acids, moisturizing, and absorbs well into the skin without the oiliness feel.
Shaba Complex Eye Serum (D/N) - Doesn’t help with my dark circles (mine are hereditary so sleep is the best solution) but it doesn’t irritate the eye area. I prefer eye serums over eye creams because of the irritation I would experience from the weight of the product on my eye area. Quickly absorbs in this delicate part of the face and keeps lines softened and hydrated. I had a good experience with copper peptides in my skincare so love that the ingredient is in this eye serum.
Old Faithful Brand I remain loyal to: Deciem’s NIOD
Since discovering Deciem and their house of brands a few years back, I discovered, tried and fell hard for two key products from NIOD that continue to keep my skin healthy and in tip top shape:
NIOD’s Copper Amino Isolate Serum 2:1 (Formally Copper Amino Isolate Serum 1.00%) (N) A few thoughts about what I noticed in terms of results: The speed at which my skin regenerates after minor breakouts is quicker (my recovery time from a fresh acne breakout is from 3 - 5 days instead of a week) and how my skin maintains its firmness after going through various seasons of humidity and dryness. I used up my last bottle of CAIS 1% and started using their new reformulation CAIS 2 this month so I currently seeing if there is any notable difference. I still have 5 - 6 empty bottles of this stashed away to testify my love for this product. I can’t tell you how much I love CAIS so look out for a dedicated blog post on this!
NIOD Contour Eye Concentrate (N) - While I have a few eye wrinkles, I like how the serum prevents further exaggeration. It hydrates and softens the lines and surrounding skin. Doesn’t help with dark circles (mine are hereditary) but as a wearer of eye makeup almost everyday, the skin around my eyes remain healthy looking, plump and youthful. My eye area gets swollen and painful from stress (hormones, irritation, crying) but it doesn’t look swollen or inflamed even though I feel it. This helps maintains the firmness of the skin around my eyes.
Favourite Breakout brand: Deciem’s The Ordinary
The offerings of this brand are formulations that are simple, pack a punch and at affordable pricing for the masses. I tried out mostly serums and an exfoliant and hope to try out more in the future:
Buffet Serum - water based, improved skin health with various peptides to diminish wrinkles, improves elasticity, promotes a healthy skin barrier, contains hyaluronic acid to hydrate.
Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA - brightens the skin, treats and fades hyperpigmentation, takes time to see results, not super dramatic
Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2% - chemical exfoliant (AHA) to improve skin texture, evens out skin tone
Ascorbyl Tetralsopalmitate Solution 20% in Vitamin F - oil based serum containing vitamin c, doesn’t irritate but not sure if it is making a difference
Resveratrol 3% + Ferulic Acid 3% - results are not immediate, good for anti aging over time
EUK 134 0.1% - great antioxidant serum, calms skin, reduces redness, don’t mix with acids
Notable Products I Enjoyed Throughout 2017: (Various Brands):
I make sure I have the following type of products in my skincare routine: low ph cleansers, acid toners and sunscreen. While targeted skincare treatments have done wonders for my skin, all of that can be undone if I don’t properly cleanse, tone and protect my skin. Here are some specific products I enjoyed using throughout 2017:
Sulwhasoo Snowise EX Cleansing Foam (N): I rotate through five low ph cleansers because skincare is fun and I like to try different brands and formulations. But the cleansing foam from Sulwhasoo has to be my favourite hands down. After oil cleansing, I would go in with this gentle foam cleanser. It lathers heavenly and cleanses without tightening/drying out my skin. Skin is left baby soft and oh, it has a nice, light, hanbang scent. Formulated at a ph level of 5.5, a good ph level that is important for maintaining your skin’s moisture barrier. I do have a back up of this but I’m reserving this cleanser for those nights I want to pamper my skin (even though my skin is pampered every night with an extensive night time routine).
Pixi Glow Tonic (N): A decent acid toner with 5% Glycolic Acid. Soaked this into a cotton square and swipe gently all over the face and neck. No alcohol and suitable for all skin types. Helps prep my skin for my AHAs/BHAs. No irritation and contains aloe juice, witch hazel, horse chestnut extract, ginseng root extract.
Son & Park Beauty Water (D): I would best describe it as a cleansing toner. I don’t use a cleanser in the morning so I would instead take a cotton square, soak it with the beauty water and lightly swipe my entire face and neck. This contains notable ingredients such as rose water, witch hazel, papaya extracts for a bit of exfoliation and helps remove any residues from the night before. Does contain alcohol, but it’s at the very end of the ingredient list. My skin has not experienced any irritation or dryness from the alcohol.
Makep:rem UV Defense Me Capsule Sun Gel Spf 50+ PA+++ (D)
This was unlike any other sunscreens I have tried and let me tell what made me buy 3 back ups of this after trying it for a week. It is a chemical sunscreen that applies with NO whitecast or greasiness. It is lightweight, like a gel and spreads like a serum. It is surprisingly moisturizing for my dry skin and applying a moisturizer feels too much on my skin with this. In the summer I can skip the moisturizer and just use this as my last step. I use the recommended amount (1/4 tsp = 3 pumps) to cover my entire face. Wait 10 minutes for it to dry down before going into makeup application. Decent product size (75mL) at a fair price ($24). From translations I found (COSDNA), the UV filters in this product are Avobenzone, Octocrylene and Homosalate for UVA and UVB sun protection.
Notable skincare trend:
7 Skin Method: I first heard about this through reddit forum AsianBeauty and online k-beauty retailer Glow Recipe. It’s a popular skincare trend that emerged from South Korea. Apparently thinly layering and patting in a hydrating toner or essence 7 times will maximize skin hydration. I tried it and wow it is seriously a game changer. They recommend to use a dime sized worth and best tapped in with your fingertips and wait until the product absorbs (when skin is no longer wet) before applying the next layer. I love using this method with Earth Recipe’s Energy Boosting toner. I tried it with a fermented essence and developed a rash of whiteheads so I’m steering clear of fermented essences for this method.
Goals for 2018:
Placing myself on a low buy for three months. I previously mentioned on my instagram I would be on a “no buy” and that clearly failed in the first week of January lol (I couldn’t pass up on a great deal on cotton squares). But in all seriousness, I’m on a tighter budget for a couple of months so as much as I want to indulge, I’m committed to avoid buying any new skincare, makeup, hair or body products.
Becoming more active on social media and creating content I’m happy with. It may mean many things but I want to post what I’m interested in and hope to discuss and share my interests in beauty. I’m also fascinated by skincare and makeup technology emerging from Asia and their developments. I understand daily posting is key to building and attaining more followers but my goal is to connect with like minded individuals who share the same interests as myself. At the same time, I want to put out something I can be proud of and I want it to feel authentic to my creative vision. As an artist, it’s a long process to create a new series of work but it’s important to connect with others for feedback and insight. We’ll see how this goes being the introvert I am but I’m optimistic.
Maintain and build this beauty blog for a year. It’s been a long two weeks writing and editing my first post and putting it out late January. I have full time job so this blog is a part time gig but I feel compelled to do my best to contribute what I learned and help others enjoy what has helped me.
And that’s it for now! Thanks for reading and look forward to the next post!