I am glad to be part of the Picky Squad! 😍🥺 Finally! Thank you Picky! 💗 Congratulations to everyone who earned it too! 🥳 Yey!!

I am now a Picky Squad Member!

Hello everyone! I hope you are doing well. I wanna ask if is it okay to use hyaluronic Acid serum as a moisturizer? I don't have moisturizer as of the moment, so I am wondering if I can use the serum instead to keep my face moisturized. BTW I am using retinoids. 

Is it a yay or nay?

Hyaluronic Acid serum as Moisturizer

Hello everyone! I will be starting a routine with acne prescriptions. It is said that moisturizers help in making the skin less irritated. Unfortunately, I haven't found a moisturizer that works well for my skin. What are your recommendations (suitable for layering with prescriptions like retinoids)? I appreciate if they are affordable and are accessible here in the Philippines.

Affordable Gentle Moisturizers

I've read a lot of discussions winning Picky x Commonlabs Giveaway, so I checked my email and yay! I am one of the winners. This is my first time winning Picky Giveaway so I am feeling so grateful! 🥺😍 Congratulations to the other winners! 🥳

I Won Picky Giveaway for the First Time

Picky have vegan certified products in a skincare box. These boxes are for free but we just need to pay for the shipping fee. I’d love to try one but I don’t how much is the Shipping fee + tax to the Philippines. Anyone here who tried to check out?

Picky New Box Alter

Join Picky now! 

Nothing aside from drying my skin if I use it for more than a minute.

CLAIMS
A Gentle, Moisturizing Facial Cleanser formulated to cleanse facial impurities whilst leaving the skin feeling smooth and moisturized. The formula incorporates Squalane, alongside other lipophilic esters that are gentle and moisturizing. Gentle enough for daily use, without over-drying the skin, making it suitable for all skin types.

This product is worth 199php (3.98$) 35ml

TEXTURE, COLOR, SCENT
This cleanser has a creamy texture, a white color and smells weird (maybe it&#39;s because of the squalane, I do not know what it smells like). Anyway I love the weird scent, I was just not used to the &#39;weird&#39; scent this cleanser has. 

EXPERIENCE

I used this every night for a week. Now, I use this as a first cleanser or my only cleanser (if I feel lazy to double cleanse, it depends on my mood) for my night routine. For an oil cleanser, I&#39;m surprised this one foams up well. I have used a lot on my first try because I was not aware that you only need a small amount of this to cleanse my entire face. I lathered this on my face for around two minutes (because I love the foamy feeling and the weird scent) and it was drying. So, the next day, I tried it again I made sure to cleanse my face for less than a minute and it was not drying. So far it does the job of cleansing even with just a small amount. Sulit! char

This is worth a try to those who are looking for an oil-based cleanser. I recommend!!

FYI, this is a dupe for The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser. So if you want an affordable squalene cleanser, you need to try this one.

❌ It leaves my skin looking greasy. Worse is that it irritated my skin, probably because of the fragrance and colorant which is not mentioned in this app&#39;s ingredient list. Also other ingredients not mentioned are: Imidazolidinyl urea and Ascorbyl Palmitate.

If you&#39;re not sensitive to fragrance you might give it a try (sachet variant).

(Spoiler this product is not for me) 

CLAIMS
iWhite Korea Whitening Vita Aqua Moisturizer is a unique water-based moisturizer that deeply hydrates your skin with its natural and non-greasy formula. It leaves a cool, oil-free and refreshing feeling on your skin after application.

Contains natural active ingredients that effectively help:
- Prevent premature aging
- Protect skin from cellular damage
- Hydrate, and
- Maintain firmness of skin

iWhite Korea Whitening Vita Aqua Moisturizer is refined by Bio-Nanotechnology which gives ingredients increased potency in order to effectively take care of your skin.

EXPERIENCE
I bought this moisturizer because of the good reviews I&#39;ve watched in YT plus this one is quite affordable. It has a blue, water to gel consistency. Upon application, it melts like a water, feels lightweight and spreads easily despite almost a gel like consistency. It leaves a cooling effect after applying it on my face. It smells sweet-fruity as it contains fragrance in the ingredients which scent is noticeable. It does the job of hydrating the skin. 

✔️PRICE - Affordable
Sachet (6ml) is priced at ₱ 23 or 0.46 $
Tube (50ml) is priced at ₱199 or 3.99 $

✔️Accessible in the Philippines (Watsons, Shopee &amp; BeautyMnl)

If you are sensitive to perfume this toner is a big NO for you. I don&#39;t like that it stings near my eyes. This toner does not prevent my breakouts and smoothens my face contrary to claims. This is also drying which is not recommended for dry skin type.

CLAIMS
Pond’s White Beauty Pore Conditioning Toner cares for pores to give you radiantly fair skin that is smooth and refined up close. It has Vitamin B3 known to lighten skin from within for radiantly fair skin, Pore Tightening Essence that conditions pores for smooth, refined skin and Sunscreen for UV Protection.
🔸EXPERIENCE
Since this toner is accessible, I decided to try this because of what it claims. The packaging is okay, it comes with a pink translucent plastic bottle and a white flip cap. It is handy and travel friendly. I used this after cleansing in the morning and night. I pour the toner in the  cotton. It has a watery texture. The scent is disturbing though, you can notice that the perfume is really there. I love that I can see dirt in the cotton after I rub it on my face. Every time I used this I feel that my face is really cleansed.

Strong tea tree scent may be sensitive to some

I received this product for free from Picky and COMMONLABS in exchange for my honest review.

Claims:
 A highly concentrated and super soothing ampoule to treat causes of skin trouble. Vitamin E + Gesolza also help to control sebum, calm and protect the skin as well as reduce inflammation. 

Key Ingredients
🌿 Gesolza™️
🌿 Tocopherol 100ppm
🌿 Tea Tree Leaf Extract
🌿 Madecassoside

First Impressions:

* The packaging looks expensive, it comes with a dark green glass bottle, a rubber teat and a curved dropper. Though the dropper does not pick my desired amount of liquid. 
* This ampoule has a clear, green and viscous texture but feels light and does not leave any stickiness after application. 
* As for its scent, it has strong tea tree scent (noticeable even if I have not opened the box yet) which suprisingly did not bother me at all since I’m sensitive to strong scent. 

Experience&#47;Thoughts after two weeks of usage

I’m using tretinoin at night so I incorporated this ampoule on my morning routine. I put three drops for my face and neck. Upon application, I’ve already felt the cooling sensation which calms my skin. My skin feels soft after application, I think this is Vitamin E’s doing. This ampoule is true to its calming claim indeed! It helped in reducing my acne on the chin.  However, it does not prevent me from getting maskne. I still get new acne specifically on my cheeks where my skin feel itchy every time I put on my mask. 

Furthermore, I tried using this ampoule for two nights (when I did not use tret) and I can say that it is better to use it at night than in the morning. Applying this after using face mask feels satisfying as it calms down my irritated skin. Also, I woke up with a less oily face! 

Final Thoughts:

This ampoule is priced at Php 885 for 30mL, a bit pricey for a student like me. This one is not necessary to have but you can add it to your routine if you want a calming product. I recommend this to those who have a sensitive skin and those who are not allergic to tea tree. I suggest to use this ampoule in the evening or both morning and evening to see its utmost benefits.

#pickyreview #gopicky #commonlabspicky

Cleoangel