Week 4: Developing Those "Pro" Techniques

Hello~!! 

So something pretty cool happened this week. 
Last Saturday was the start of my monthly hormonal breakout.  That morning, my skin was covered in huge bumps that I couldn't do anything about.   I figured it was just something I would have to just accept as what would always happen, and just have to wait it out, dealing with the aftermath.  I continued my regimen and figured I would have to skip my trials for the week.  After all, if it wasn't working or was harming my skin, how would I even know the difference? 

But in just a couple days, most of those bumps were gone!   They had either disappeared entirely or shrunk down significantly.  Was it the snail?  Was it the honey?  Combo of both?  Usually, my acne lasts for at least a week.  I'm sure I'll always have to deal with hormonal acne popping up every month, but it's great that my products help prevent it from being a bigger problem than usual. 


This week was a low motivation week.   I started this entire challenge right after my period, so my estrogen was high.  That means I was far more energetic and more eager to make things happen.  But around this time, estrogen plummets, and therefore, so does motivation.  There were a couple days when all I wanted to do was lie in bed and not deal with anything, including a regimen.   It didn't help that we had inspection at work and I had to spend the month running around to make things run smoothly until it was over.  There were times when I just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry (and I'm the most thankful for my friend Mat cheering me up on those days!).  Still, I pressed on, and it's good that I did. 

So though it was a couple days delayed, I tested out Mizon's Black Snail All in One Cream.  I was a bit worried that it would be too thick for my skin, and therefore cause an influx of oil, but yet again, I got to be pleasantly surprised. 

This cream is *smooth*, and a little goes a long way.  It spreads super well and absorbs so pleasantly, leaving my skin extra plush.   Currently it's in my night time regimen, but it may get moved to day if the Geum Sul night cream is good instead.


I then got to try out Skinfood's Royal Honey Propolis Serum.  I didn't really test this for long, since I knew the toner worked well, so I pretty much tested it for a day then used it.  I guess I'm running out of ways to say that it hydrates my skin, lol.  It's a little sticky at first, but it does go away over time (the stickiness lasts longer if paired with my Black Snail ampoule though).  I even use it on my lips!  Yes, there's a slight honey taste to it.  Yes, even my lips feel deeply hydrated.  No, it won't replace any lip balm, and no, you can't use it as an impromptu sweetener for your tea, lol.  On its own, it's pretty nice, but the benefits are even more enhanced with my Water Volume EX first essence.  However, upon use of this serum, my usual cream became... useless.... 

My skin started to feel grimy after using my cream, and if I rubbed my face even a little, it would just pill off.  It's never done this before, and it's not expired or dried out....  I think my skin is so hydrated now that the cream has no way to absorb into my skin and just sits on the surface instead.  This doesn't happen if I don't put on any lotion or if I use the All in One cream over it (I also use the serum at night now), and it only started happening after this product.  But I like what it's doing for my skin....  Looks like I'll be bumping up testing my All Around sun milk.  After all, I need sunscreen. 

So it's been 4 weeks of using my products, and while there's a lot I still need to learn, I've learned a lot for myself, and have even developed some "techniques", lol.  I used to apply my toner items with a cotton pad, but I noticed that so much of the product was absorbed into the cotton and wasn't getting onto my face.  So I started applying everything with my hands only, using the cotton pads afterward to pick up any residue left on my skin.  I feel like it works better for my skin, and I'm using far less product than before.  It's too bad I bought so many cotton pads because they were on sale, lol.

This Week's Product Lineup
Day: Cleanser, Skinfood Royal Honey Essential Toner, Mizon Water Volume Ex First Essence, Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Essence, Lotion
Night: Tonymoly Clean Dew Apple Mint Cleansing Oil, Cleanser, Mizon AHA & BHA Daily Clean Toner, Mizon AHA 8% Peeling Serum (every other day), Missha MISA Geum Sul First Essence Booster, Mizon Steblanc Black Snail Repair Ampoule, Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Essence, Mizon Black Snail All in One Cream
Test: Missha All Around Safe Block Soft Touch Sun Milk (day), Missha MISA Geum Sul Night Cream (night)

My samples of Tonymoly's Red Appletox Honey cream came in on Saturday, and they came with a few extra samples of Tonymoly things, including two foam cleansers to try!   I bought the samples because I was looking for an everyday lotion to help with skin brightening, but that was before I found out the All in One was so wonderful on my face....  I'll have to figure that out!