Blessed Christmas!

( Picture from bahamashumanesociety.com )

Have a Blessed Christmas Everyone! 

Enjoy the holidays and stay beautiful y'all!

Hydration is the Key to Healthy Skin

( Picture from animal.wallpapers )

A couple of post ago, I mentioned that my skin was looking a little dull and feeling a little drier than usual. I wasn't sure if the cause is due to the seasonal changes or not. What I know is I have to amp up the hydration level of my skin before it gets worse. I started to bring back my lotion mask into my night routine and use my Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing Lotion as my toner in the day. Just tweaking my regime by using products containing humectants worked.

Why Hydration is Important?

The skin can be damaged easily by a variety of things. The sun, stress, hormones, and diet can all damage the skin, especially over a period of time. Since damaged skin tends to look older, hydration alone can make skin look much younger. Therefore, hydration is important to those who desire healthy skin which ultimately leads to better looking skin. Hydration is beneficial to:

Dry Skin- Proper hydrating will cause dryness to go away and makes dry patches, flakes or redness to disappear.


Aging Skin-Dry skin in need of hydration often makes people look older than they really are. Dry skin makes skin to damage easily, which further ages the skin. When cells move outward and age, skin's protective barrier becomes compromised, making water retention difficult. With a weakened barrier, dry skin becomes increasingly prone to environmental damage, free radicals, bacterial infection and other problems. So hydration will guard against skin damage and will give the skin a more youthful, healthy look.

Others-With age, skin is prone to sagging, brown age spots and wrinkles. Using hydrating products can help with skin's firmness to fight sagging skin.

Hydration Options

Review: L'occitane Summer Secret Moisturising Body Gel

L'occitane Verbena Summer Secret Moisturizing Body Gel 250ml MYR 111

( Bought at discounted price MYR 77 )

It is seldom that I would buy L'occitane's stuffs at their normal retail price. Personally, I feel that the pricing is a bit on the high side for something as simple as a body lotion. However, during one of their recent sale, I managed to grab some discounted stuffs and this is one of them. A sniff of this won me over!

I have always been a fan of their Verbena range but this scent is at a different dimension. It is both refreshing and just makes you feel 'oh so good'. 

Product Description

Enriched with organic Verbena extract from Corsica and refreshing agents, this moisturizing body lotion has a melting texture that envelopes the body with a fresh and aromatic bouquet of scents. Thanks to its unique jelly-like texture, skin is left supple and delicately perfumed with the aromatic and fresh Verbena fragrance notes. Ideal for an invigorating break!

My Thoughts

Let's start with what I like. The first thing that I liked about this body gel is the scent. Yes, it had me at the first sniff! It is so wonderfully refreshing and aromatic without being overpowering sweet. It is just nice and the scent is lasting too...Secondly, I like the consistency of the body gel as it absorbs easily to your skin and does not leave the sticky icky feeling. It pretty much hydrates the skin pretty well too. 

Review: MVO Moisture Serum

MVO Moisture Serum 30 ml USD 80

Many months back, I had a great experience trying out a sample of the Moisture Serum from MVO. It left such an impression on me that I knew I had to purchase the bottle in full in my next haul. 

I have been faithfully using this serum every night for the past 3 months and I think it is due time to give a full review on this.

Before I write my thoughts, here's what MVO says about this product:

Product Description

• Nourishes skin, improving tone and texture with niacinamide, carrot seed oil, vitamin E and beta glucan
• Brightens with uva ursi and elderberry extract

Ingredients: 
Camellia sinensis (green & white tea), Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba oil), Prunus armeniaca (apricot kernel oil), Vitus viniferi (grapeseed oil, expeller-pressed), Rubus idaeus (red raspberry seed oil), vegetable glycerin, arabinogalactin, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), kombucha extract, Sambucus nigra (elderberry) extract, dipotassium glycyrrhizate (licorice) extract, uva ursi (bearberry) extract, gum tragacanth, potassium sorbate, xantham gum, Cosmocil CQ*, Lonicera japonica (honeysuckle), niacinamide, beta glucan, Rosemary oleoresin, Cistus incanus (cistus) essential oil, Daucus carota (carrot seed) essential oil, Lavendula angustifolia (lavender) essential oil.

Reality Bites

How many of us would be in awe as we flip through magazines pictures of women with flawless and porceline skin? Honestly, I do..even though I know that the pictures are airbrushed.

"Oh, wished I had a perfect skin like her, with no spots what so ever." or "Oh, wish I can be so thin". We are all sucked and sold into the advertisements. That in reality, we can never achieve it. I found this you tube, addressing the topic and it is Highly Recommended to view by all.

Sensitive Skin

Early this week, I shared about identifying your skin type. In this post, I am going to share further about some of my readings on dealing with sensitive skin.


Many people say they have sensitive skin because:

• Certain skin care products, or household products that contact their skin, cause stinging, burning, redness, and/or tightness.
• Although they have no visible effects after contact with a product, it always makes their skin feel uncomfortable.

Dermatologists, doctors specializing in skin, consider the diagnosis of sensitive skin when they:

• See skin reactions such as pustules, skin bumps, and/or skin erosion.
• Observe excessively dry skin, which doesn’t adequately protect nerve endings on the skin and may lead to skin reactions from cosmetics or skin care products.
• Notice a tendency to blushing and skin flushing, which may also be signs of sensitive skin.

Identifying Your Skin Type

I've always thought that my skin is normal to combination all these while. In fact, I thought that this will always be my permanent skin type! In fact, I was wrong. Skin type do change season to season and as you age.

My skin type currently is combination and sensitive skin. I had many beauty advisors giving me 'multiple' diagnosis all the years. One would tell me that I have combination skin, the other will then say that I have dehydrated skin. One would say that I have normal skin. Usually it's between these three. But surprisingly, to date, only one told me that I have sensitive skin as well. ( and she is right ).

How do know that I have sensitive skin? I have the tendency to blushing to skin flushing when exposed to temperature change and I do experience stinging or burning reactions when using certain skin products. To some severity, I do develop some tiny skin bumps if the reaction is bad. Overly dry skin is also one of the symptoms of one having sensitive skin. We often misinterpret the dry skin condition and concludes that we have dehydrated skin type as a whole but not knowing that it is part of the signs of having sensitive skin.

I think many of us are still uncertain on what type of skin type that we have. We are so often influenced by what other tells us. Honestly, the best person to know your skin type is only YOU. I think no one can understand our skin better except ourselves.