Monday, February 27, 2012

You Follow Latest Trends... But Never Forget Old-Time Classics...

The skin care industry has become very diversed and advanced as technology continues to improve. Women with skin-obsession (i.e. for instance myself ehem ehem...) are always looking out for the latest in technology... let's recap the recent trends taking over Malaysia...

1) Whitening

ALWAYS sought after since our grandmother's time..that explains for the fact that laki zaman dahulu kala mencari women yang kulit "putih gebu, cerah berseri"...hence, the Fair and Lovely advert explains it all (the train-ticket girl meets the dude who's always rushing..but stops to stare at the girl's pretty, fair face....resulting to leaving his handphone to her....ahax!)

2) Pore refining

The hype starts to escalate when the advert for Estee Lauder's Idealist skin refinisher starts to make waves on Malaysian TV. Soon, every cosmetic company starts to introduce pore refining and minimising products, of every price. Little did we know that some of the products contains chemical compounds that actually SEEMS to make your pores APPEAR smaller, but in reality does not change anything...

3) Dark spot correcting

This is the latest trend. Many Malaysian women can't escape issues of dark spots, whether resulting from Acne, or Sun Exposure (pigmentation) or Age Spots.
In this case, I believe the skin care companies managed to identofy that the issue of skin clarity very much links with the appearance of dark spots and early pigmentations...thus they try to become as micro as possible and create products for these specific reasons....

Don't get me wrong...all these are for good reasons...

But then again, we should not ignore the former unsung heroes that have been in the market for years and years...and shall always remain no matter rain or shine....

1) Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex
Thousands of women love the overall effects it gives you. Although, many are mindful that the results this miracle worker gives can only be seen overtime...but it has proven to help protect and repair skin from the harmful environment conditions.....

Thus, in the long run...it makes you radiant and youthful

EXPERIENCE
I have personally used this for 4 months.... During when I was younger, it actually worked against me, resulting in small bumps across my face everytime I applied it...Thus, I stopped using it..

However, it proved to be a wonderful addition to my daily regime, eversince I got pregnant with my first child... (due in 2 months time... yeeha! :) ). When hormones and unavoidable morning sickness seriously deteriorated my skin condition (extreme dryness and flakiness, up to the point where my lips were bleeding), with non-stop acne plaguing in other areas, this was my lifesaver. After using the ANR, my skin condition remarkably improve. I no longer felt dry, and for the rest of my pregnancy, I never had a pimple (so far).

Girls....If you're looking for specific targeted products, this may not be for you. But if you're looking for an overall maintenance product that helps you to repair and retain the good state of your skin in the long run..then this works for you. Only that you need to be patient and remember...this isn't a race...its a marathon.....

Enough With The Whites...!

Chill chill...I'm not being racist here...But I have finally come to my senses, to no longer jump into the whitening bandwagon...and I must point out that if you have noticed, the hype has died down too....

Like I have already mentioned in my previous post, there's so many definitions of whitening...it can be to lighten the overall face, to target uneven places, or to correct dark spots.

Of which had me interested in the first place...

So dah alang-alang I'm going to experiment, I might as well go for the range of which I believe should be reliable enough to actually produce results.

BTW, this was like...7 months ago (approximately)

So off I went to Estee Lauder counter in KLCC to try the Cyberwhite Ex Range


To provide a brief description:-

Estee Lauder has upgraded their previous brightening range to bring the Cyber White EX with three highly targeted, breakthrough technologies, to help correct and prevent three different types of spots responsible for clouding your complexion: stubborn age spots, small surface spots and those barely visible spots just below the skin's surface

HA HA...Convinced? I was salivating! Who doesn't want chrystal clear, fair skin?

Upon advise from the SA, here were the items that I have bought...

1) Cyberwhite Ex Brightening Milky Lotion


APPLICATION
Used as a day moisturiser, to be worn after using the essence...Feels non-greasy...however, dries up within 5 minutes...skin tends to feel less hydrated...don't know why.

Thus, it feels kinda dry when I use foundation over it.


2) Cyberwhite Ex Brightening Essence

FUNCTION & APPLICATION
This is pretty much the heart of the skin care range. The essence is supposed to be doing the magic for you. Worn under the moisturiser, after using toner, it feels light and non-greasy too...

3) Cyberwhite Brightening Ex Rich Moisture Creme
FUNCTION & APPLICATION
This is to be worn at night, after using toner and the brightening essence. Feels cool and light....but I cannot really tahan the smell...It's pretty heavily scented.

The consistency lebih kurang macam ni lah...




4) Estee Lauder Cyberwhite Ex Illuminating Mask


FUNCTION & APPLICATION:-
Meant to help in deep cleansing, this mask is to improve overall skin evenness, clarity and radiance, and features a unique complex of powerful ingredients to target Small Surface Spots. It helps clarify pores, dissolve visible melanin build-up and reveal smooth, radiant skin. 

What I like about it is the fact that you don't have to use a lot of it, which is pretty jimat... huhu...



So after finished using these items after say.....7 months:-

OBSERVATION

Dark spots: Less visible, but still there

Uneven skin tone: Improved....I wouldn't say I'm fairer but it helps in the sense that my skin looked slightly even...more comfortable to go out barefaced when I'm so lazy...

Skin clarity: Erm...honestly, I'm not sure what 'clarity' means.....but I don't see much of a glow or anything....

CONCLUSION

I believe, perhaps if I used this range for a very long time (say 2-3 years), I might notice a bigger change I guess...

However, I'm not that patient, and given the time taken to include all these in my regime, plus, I'm not that satisfied with the results I expect given the amount spent.

So yeah...whitening...ta ta.....

-Jue-