Asian Skin Care Routine

Being an Asian myself, I notice that there are several differences between an Asian skin care routine and a Western skin care routine. With the latest trend being the a lot of Asian branded skin care products from mainly Korea or Japan, I think that it'll be great to share with you guys on the main parts of an Asian skin care routine.

It's strange but I notice that most westerners prefer to splurge on make up (personally I love to buy these as well since they're the fun part of a girl's life) but Asians usually go nuts about skin care. Sunblock, whitening, brightening, all the things that prevent skin from tanning and helping skin grow whiter is what most of us splurge on. I myself like to splurge on sunblock and face masks, they're my two favourite things. We like to have pale and bright skin, I myself try to avoid tanning myself to much and prefer to stay in the shade because of this. Although I'm pale for an Asian, it's nothing compared to most Westerners who have very pale skin. Pretty much a clear bright skin is the aim with of most women in Asia.

A typical skin care routine for me would be:

1. Do the Double Cleanse, this is when I first use my Cleansing Cream/Lotion (in my case the Lush 9 To 5) or a Cleansing Oil to first remove my make up completely from my face, then I use a Foaming Cleanser to further ensure that no make up is still in place.
2. Next I would use a Toner, most Asian Toners not only cleanse but they also hydrate the skin, to fix the amount of fluids lost through the Double Cleanse technique. Western toners usually help to remove the particles between the skin so they are a bit more drying. Sometimes, we could use a Booster which helps the absorption of other products into the skin together with the toner. Some toners have a mix of both a toner and a booster while some brands separate them.
3. For those people who use Eye-cream, the next step would be to use the eye cream on both the upper lid and the eye bag area. As the skin around the eye is very delicate, it is best to spread the eye cream with light pressure by using the ring finger. Most people feel that using an eye-cream is only for those who are fighting anti-ageing signs but teens can use them too, as long as its only for hydration purposes. (Eyeshadow goes on better after using eye-creams)
4. For the skin care enthusiast, they would use the Sheet Masks (or Paper Masks) for night time ONLY. Paper masks are basically thin cotton sheets soaked in treatment essences that helps a particular skin problem (e.g lemon = brightening, honey = moisture & brightening, etc). You could use them daily, or twice a week (it depends on you really). Use the mask for 15-20 minutes and don't wash it off, just rub the excess residue into the skin. 
5. Next is the Essence/ Serum which are just liquid concentrated skin care actives, with a texture thats around a liquid and a gel. They are also known as ampoules.
6. After the Essence is the Emulsion. Emulsions are just lighter versions of moisturising creams but with a lesser concentration of the skin care active ingredients in an Essence. Living in a tropical country (terrible heat and humidity issues) would mean that this is the only moisturising you'll need.
7. Spot Treatment comes after, all the acne treatments, whitening serum, anti-ageing spot treatments, etc are used after
8. Then for people living in four seasoned countries, they could use Creams to further moisturise their skin.
9. Finally (again this is optional) for the night time routine, there's the Sleeping Pack my favourite being the Laneige Sleeping Pack Ex. It's basically a sleeping mask that gives intense hydration and other added benefits to the skin 
10. For day time routines, use a Sunblock at the end.

Depending on how hot and humid the day is I might use some products that merges some steps together (e.g use a toner that already has a booster) or when I'm feeling lazy, I tend to skip some steps but this is the basic Asian skin care routine, you could try and combine steps if you want to try and save on time. It has great results and hopefully, you'll get your favourite Korean celebrity's skin.

If you want to go FULL on Korean, then some brands that are legit from Korea are Innisfree, Skin food, Etude House, and Face Shop. ( I like them all really but not so much on Etude House, leaning more to Skin Food and Innisfree as a favourite Korean brand) 

Your skin care products don't have to be full on Asian, just use products you feel fit the categories listed above and substitute them in. Western products could be used too together with the routine. I like to switch up my masks between the classic clay mask and the paper masks just to get both benefits from the two masks,

Have fun getting the lovely skins you want :) good luck. No need to hide yourself too much with a ton of make up, let your natural beauty peek through. With clear skin, it's much easier to apply make up.

-Elizabeth Tiffany

PRODUCT REVIEW: Laniege Water Sleeping Pack EX

So today I'm going to make a review on the Laneige Water Sleeping Pack EX which is supposed to be a better and newer version of their old sleeping pack. For all of you who don't know this brand, it's actually a Korean mid level brand. As Korean skin care products are kinda popular, I wanted to see what's the big fuss about them. The sleeping pack in particular is also a very Korean product, but now some western brands also produce them.

Onto the packaging, from here you could see that it looked pretty cool and has a luxurious feel with the cooling blues and the nice thick packaging. I liked that its in a jar instead of a pump cause it's supposed to be like a mask that you wear while you sleep. It lets me get ALL of the product without any wastage. It seems unhygienic though since so much of the sleeping pack was exposed to the air, but thankfully they provided a little spatula that lets you scoop the product to your face so no bacteria transfer from your hands to the pack.

The Claim:
The product claims to have a soothing brightening effect that helps with moisturising the skin throughout the night, it also claims to let you sleep and relax better through their sleepscent technology. By using their snow water, Ceramide SLN, Hunza Apricot Extract, and Chesnut Extract, it claims to be like an antioxidant and  to help renew skin cells for a sleek skin texture.

This is what the product looks like, together with the spatula that I just mentioned. Its a light gel like texture with a faint blue colouring. When applied, there's a cool feel to my skin with each application. It really helps me relax and cool down my face whenever I use it. However, you can only use the sleeping pack twice a week maximum. This is to make sure that the skin does not get too irritated, due to the sleepscent. It has a very  nice smell which also alerts me to actually follow the dosage on the product (I usually don't do this and use products as often as I wish but not for this one) it's hard to believe that a product which you could clearly smell the perfume could be safe to use everyday. After using this product according to the instructions, it is safe to use.

This is how it looks like when its first applied to the skin, the cream is a semi-transparent and has a feels very cool and soothing to the touch. When its evenly spread out on the skin, it has a watery sheen to it. But it absorbs fast, and doesn't feel sticky when it's dry.

When the sleeping pack is already absorbed into the skin, the smell is not as strong as before and the skin looks moisturised and is soft to the touch. It only takes about 3-5 min for the pack to be absorbed into the skin.












After the full 8 hours, the pack should then be washed off, leaving clear, brightened and moisturised skin. In my case, my face felt moisturised and is not as oily any more. I have combination skin (oily on the t-zone area only) but its not acne prone, just gets a lot of white-heads (I hate them.) and the sleeping pack was great for me. The only major turn off for me would be the amount of perfume in it, so there is only a twice a week dosage. I'd rate this an 8/10 for overall use. I totally recommend this product to anyone who just needs a good moisture boost. For those living in four season countries this is great for the winter months. For people living in the tropics, its great for you guys too, the humid weather provides some moisture for your skin but under the AC its just as dry as being in a four season country.

Love the product, and remember a little goes a long way with this sleeping pack. :) Try finding them in Sephora, they are carrying the brand in my area so try them first. If not you could find them online. Have fun trying this sleeping pack :) its works like a dream.

-Elizabeth Tiffany