How often do you step back to a bare bones skincare routine? 

Last week, my skin was increasingly suffering from extremely dry, tight and flaky patches around my mouth. Note that I live in a tropical climate. Not a good look, I tell you... I believe I overdid it with the exfoliating and hyaluronic acid products. So I took a step back and used skincare that I know is simple and soothing for the last couple of days. Voilà! The irritation is gone. 🙌🏾

I figure I would do a skincare reset every few months. I remember doing this after my first chemical peel and my skin responded so well. 

Is this something you do or would recommend? 📝 Tell us your 'step back to come back' story below. 👇🏾

Step back to come back

I always cut open tubes and remove plastic stoppers to get all of the product inside. Often you will find that even when you think it's done, there's still so much inside! I hate to waste products or my hard-earned coins and I doubt I'm the only one. 

Which was the last product you cut open?

Featured here: Innisfree intensive anti-pollution sunscreen

Good to the last drop

If you had a US $20 Amazon gift card, what skincare would you purchase and why? I'm trying to make some smart decisions here.

What would you get?

Ok, folks. Help me find a good lip stain from the Asian beauty market to try. Now that I have incorporated kbeauty into 80% of my skincare, I want to use more Asian brands in my makeup rotation. I am intrigued by the lip stains to get me through a full day out of the house (or at home as well). Which would you recommend? I am open to several lip colours: reds, pinks, oranges, purples, and browns.

Trying Lip Stains

So far my favourite sunscreen has been 3W Intensive Sunblock SPF 50 but before I could place another order to repurchase, I saw this one and was intrigued enough to buy it. It's a chemical sunscreen and at 200 ml, it's a great size if it works out well. I'm not seeing it here on Picky so I thought I'd ask the community if they have ever tried it and what their experience has been. 

What are your thoughts?

New sunscreen

I received this product for free from Picky and Acwell in exchange for my honest review. I love the natural herbaceous scent of this cleansing toner. It really gets the remaining dirt and grime after what you think is a thorough cleanse. It is especially good for skin after a wax to clean off remaining wax, calm it down and reset after the hair removal trauma. It leaves my skin feeling clean yet bouncy and soft. 

The last time I used this, I disliked the scent, but now with this tube I have no issues. 

This is a very runny serum sunscreen. Interestingly enough, because it has a pump it is a bit difficult to apply using the finger-length method. It leaves a natural sheen on the skin and fully absorbs without a cast. If you have a hot, humid climate you might find this light enough for daily wear and reapplications. It leaves a softness to the skin that those with drier skins in drier climates would appreciate.

You have to go slowly, gradually incorporating it into your routine. Play around with your serum combinations to find a concoction that works for you. It oxidises fast too! 

I like that it is in a dark bottle. At first I used 4 drops and at 15% potency, it may have been too irritating to my skin. After I noticed this and read the instructions, I reduced it to 2 drops, both morning and evening. That proved to be more tolerable on my face and neck. What took it up a notch for me is when I mixed the 2 drops with an ampoule (propolis or centella). I feel those combinations really helped my skin absorb the vitamin C better. My skin tone is definitely more even after a few weeks of use, and post-acne scars are noticeably fading quicker. 

I have not experienced any bad effects from this.

This is a simple yet effective addition to my weekly wash routine. Skipping conditioner every 3 weeks or so, I apply this to towel dried hair after shampooing and leave on for 20 minutes. After completely airdrying, my hair feels soft and there is less hair fall when detangling. I even incorporated this after my relaxer service at the hairdresser and my hair was soft and sleek. I will continue to purchase this and look into the brand’s other hair products as well.

It took a few seconds to blend into my skin.

This is a creamy primer that provides a soft focus velvet finish to the skin. It is very white but when rubbed in, it begins to blend into your skin tone. Some might say it gives a tone up look to the bare skin.There is no fragrance whatsoever and my skin was comfortable and smooth after the initial application. The included spoon for application was a nice touch. I will need to wear it longer and under makeup for more details.