MORE Tips on How to Keep Your Skin Clear

So, I've gotten numerous responses on my previous post on acne. I do want people to know that acne is caused by various things like hormones, pollution, certain food intake (ie intake of dairy when you're lactose intolerant or shellfish when you have a mild allergy to seafood), stress or vitamin deficiency. The problem is that there is no way to really determine what is causing our acne. It's all a journey of trial and error unfortunately.

Here are some tips on how to keep your skin clear:

1. Take off your makeup EVERY single night. I wear makeup almost everyday and on nights when I'm lazy and forget to take it all off, I notice one or two new zits the next morning, so I make a huge effort to wash my face every single night. Get face wipes if you're lazy; it's better than nothing. 

2. Don't drink, smoke or do drugs. Your parents, elders, doctors, etc always tell you this. Of course for other reasons like the fear of you driving under the influence or for your immediate and future health, but the truth of the matter is that it also can affect your skin. You can ask all my friends: I barely ever drink. I also don't smoke or do drugs. Women who smoke tend to look prematurely aged. It causes blotchy skin and the lines around your mouth to be more pronounced (making you look old). That's not sexy. This is a personal decision and I don't pass judgment on anyone who chooses to do so. 

3. Drink lots of water. Water is good to flush out toxins from your body and it's just good overall to keep your body hydrated.

4. Do not touch your face. You have a million germs on your hands from everyday things; don't transfer that onto your face because you can clog your pores with gunk.

5. Wash your pillow cases! I wash my sheets, blanket and pillow cases about once a week. I used to wash the pillow cases every two days because I was afraid they were harvesting germs.

6. Do not pick at your zit(s). Sometimes I find that picking at a zit can cause another one to appear relatively close to the original one. Plus, picking at them will make the healing process take longer.

7. WASH YOUR MAKEUP BRUSHES! I wash mine after each use, but I can only afford to do so because I have a gazillion brushes, but I would recommend people to wash their makeup brushes after about every 3 uses. If you're breaking out and use brushes to apply your makeup, it's probably best to wash them after each use. Think of it this way.. would you apply makeup with your fingers without washing them beforehand?? Alright then!

8. Wash your hands. Using hand sanitizer is simply not enough. If I could, I would have a sink and soap next to me at all times.

9. Sanitize everyday things. Ladies, if you are breaking out on the side of your face that you hold your phone to, it's probably your phone that's making you break out. Use disinfecting wipes to get rid of bacteria on your everyday items, like your phone and your desk/table.

_____________________________________________________________

Here are some products that I really like to use occasionally to further keep my skin clear.

1. Acne.org's "AHA" which contains 10% glycolic acid. I would recommend people use this after their acne has calmed down. AHA basically gives your skin a mild chemical peel. Think of chemical peels as an exfoliation for your skin. It will get rid of dead skincells and promote skin turnover, which will ultimately help fade acne scarring faster. I use this maybe once a week and I only at night. When I wake up the next day, I find that my skin is softer and smoother. I would recommend this product to anyone, whether you have acne or not. It's a super gentle peel and works well with all skin types.

2. Origins Clear Improvement Mask. I like to use this mask once a month. I used to use it more often, like once every two weeks because my skin used to be super oily all the time. This mask consists of China Clay and clay is typically used in masks to absorb oil, and that is why I mainly use this product. For girls, our skin changes constantly depending on where we are in our menstrual cycle. For me, my skin is excessively oily once a month and after using this mask, I find that my skin is not as oily. :)

3. Biore nose strips. Even though the regimen I talked about here, keeps my skin clear of acne, it doesn't necessarily get rid of my blackheads. I only get blackheads on my nose and I looooove using the Biore nose strips because it completely takes care of that. If you have blackheads elsewhere, just use a pair of scissors to cut the strips into the size that you need. Also, just note that these strips are not meant to be used on pimples. It will just further irritate the area you are breaking out on so please avoid those areas. After using these strips, be sure to wash your face again and rinse with cold water to close up your pores.

Hope this post was helpful. Have a great day. :)

Kim

Yen's Girls' Night Out Smokey Look

My really close friend, Yen, came to me Saturday night for a smokey eye makeup look. She showed me that she was wearing a royal blue dress and we decided on adding gold to the eyes for a glamorous look. Here are the photos:

With just foundation

Without any lip products

All done!

People have been asking me to post the products I used. So here you go:

FACE:

loreal true match liquid foundation
laura mercier translucent powder
benefit hoola bronzer
mac peaches blush
mac pearl highlighter
nars albatross highlighter

EYES:
mac feline kohl pencil
mac carbon eyeshadow
makeup forever aqua cream #12
mac amber lights eyeshadow
bobbi brown gel liner in black
chanel inimitable mascara

LIPS:
tom ford blush nude lipstick
mac going casual cremesheen glass

<3,
Kim

December Shopping Spree

I have been shopping A LOT this past month. I recently got a job as a freelance makeup artist for Chanel and the dress code is all black, so I ended up buying work pants, a blazer, a dress and some tops. Other than that, I've been buying other random things. My family and I don't really celebrate Christmas, don't put a tree up, don't really exchange gifts, but this time of the year does make me feel like SHOPPING! lol. So here are some of the things I've picked up recently. BTW, I don't really like to shop in stores... I like to shop online most of the time. And just a warning, some of these things are not makeup related. Just wanted to share. :)

MY NEW BLACKBERRY BOLD 9900! 

MAC's Dazzlesphere in Plum (without flash)... Loving this 

With flash

the colors on my hand without flash

with flash

Urban Decay's Naked2 Palette

Love the packaging. sturdy and pretty. I'll do a more in depth review
on how I like the colors and what I think about it compared to the first one.

Things I got for my goddaughter <3

Things I got for my friend's son <3

Hope everyone has a great week.

<3
Kim

Acne & My Miracle Finds

The bottom line is: ACNE SUCKS. But it's normal and natural and that makes it suck even more. Here's my story and what has worked for me. Hopefully, it helps someone who is dealing with the same thing.

Having had acne since I was 13, I have never ever ever ever ever ever gotten compliments on my skin before... EVER. And it's been a long and painful journey finding products that work for my skin. This past summer, my skin was breaking out really bad. I didn't want to leave the house or hang out with friends. I avoided the sun at all cost. I washed my face twice a day and took care of it best I knew how. I have tried a million things and that includes salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, Proactiv, Murad, doxycycline, clindamycin, birth control pills and sulfur. I remember about 5 years ago, my doctor put me on oral antibiotics for my acne and it made me so sick that I went to work this one morning and threw up. It was awful. Proactiv worked at first, but did not completely clear my acne and then my skin eventually got used to it.

Murad also has a 3-step system for acne-prone skin and after my mom urged me to try it out, I went to Sephora to get the set. After a week, my skin was so irritated, so raw, so painful. I continued to use it because people were advising me that that's normal as an initiative reaction. Two more days of using it and I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I remember the products burned so much after every application that I almost cried. Literally, it felt like it was tearing my skin apart. When I went home on the weekend, my mom was shocked at what Murad was doing to my skin and she took me to a dermatologist the next day. The derm gave me products to soothe the irritation. Ever since then, I have been pretty skeptical and afraid to try new skincare products.

Anyway, over this summer, my skin got the worst that it's ever been. It was frustrating and embarrassing. Nothing worked. Some days I remember feeling really down about myself. Anyone who has or had acne knows how discouraging it is to look for products that are compatible with your skin. And you guys know how irritating it is when a friend bitches about having 1 measly, teeny, tiny zit that looks non-existent. *rolls eyes

So, I was watching random youtube videos and came across one with a girl talking about products from acne.org and how it completely cured her acne. Out of curiosity, I looked up the site and basically acne.org is a community website where people talk about what has worked for them to get rid of their acne. The founder of the website was an acne-sufferer and he created a 3-step system that worked for him. His regimen included a cleanser, a treatment and a moisturizer. The cleanser and moisturizer do not have any ingredients aimed to help acne, but instead just soothe and moisturize since the "treatment" can be drying. I was, of course, skeptical of trying the products at first, but I figured what the heck. I bought all three products. About 2 weeks into using it, my skin hurt. It was dry, patchy and flaky. I didn't notice it doing anything for my acne either. I stopped after two weeks because it was painful. Within a week, I started breaking out a lot more. Then I decided to give acne.org another try. This time, I didn't use their cleanser or moisturizer. Even though it's marketed as being gentle, I didn't think it was working with my skin. I started using Neutrogena's Oil-Free Acne Wash. When you're using an acne treatment, your skin usually gets dry and this scrub will get rid of dead skin cells and bacteria to help promote skin turnover. I used to use the super popular St. Ives, but because the scrub particles are made from crushed apricot seeds, it was too harsh for my skin. This Neutrogena scrub has little beads that exfoliate without being too rough.

Then after washing and pat-drying my skin, I use Acne.org's treatment. The treatment is a gel that has 2.5% benzoyl peroxide in it. The creator basically believes that 2.5% is the perfect percentage because it will take care of the acne without excessively drying your skin. I really like that it's a gel product because once it's dry, it doesn't have any white leftover residue that cream products leave behind.

After letting the treatment dry, I apply my moisturizer. I found this Oil-Free Neutrogena Moisturizer for sensitive skin to be AMAZING. It gives me just the right amount of hydration without the nasty heavy cream feel that a lot of moisturizers have. Since using this product, I don't find the acne.org treatment to be too drying.

I didn't get the same reaction as the first time I used all three acne.org products. The second time around, I used the treatment once every two days. After two weeks, I started using it once a day. Then I eased my way into using it twice a day. I didn't see results right away. About two months into this regimen, I noticed that my acne was slowly going away and my skin was a lot smoother and clearer. It's been five months now and my skin continues to look great. Like I stated earlier, I'm not used to getting compliments on my skin and lately, my friends and family have definitely taken notice of the difference. I feel like my confidence has improved tremendously since I've completely gotten rid of my acne. I'm not even afraid to go without makeup nowadays, which I have never been comfortable with!

I do want to say that this regimen is mine and I'm not saying it will work for everybody, but it's worth a try. I really do stand behind acne.org's treatment because it is the only thing that has completely cleared my skin. I have not had a breakout for about 5 months. My skin used to be really really oily and since using these products, I feel like my skin has kind of normalized. When I say I used to be oily, I mean I used to have to blot my skin with oil-blotting papers or a blot powder 5-6 times a day. Even after about an hour or two of applying makeup, my skin would just look like an oil-slick! Now, I blot my skin once and it's usually after wearing my makeup for about 6 hours! 

I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this post and that it helps someone. :)

Love you guys,

Kim

2-Day NYC trip

This past weekend, my boyfriend, our ex-roommate and I went to NYC and we had so much fun! My boyfriend's friend, Pauline, lives there and she kindly let us crash at her place the whole time. I would travel to NY just to eat GOOD food... seriously, why are the foods there so amazing!

Anyway, I'm writing this post to show you guys the makeup I brought to NY with me! Because we were only going for 2 days, I needed to pack light... OMG, is that even possible? I know, I had separation anxiety  being away from my whole collection, but I kept telling myself I was going to see it when I got back home. LOL.

So, this is what I brought with me:

brushes, foundation, concealer, mascara, Urban Decay primer, NAKED palette, eyeliner,
blush, loose powder, red lipliner, red lipstick, bronzer, Carmex

Here are some things I would also recommend you bring with you when you travel:

face moisturizer, eye cream & eye drops

Why eye drops you may ask? I always tell my friends that the color of the whites of your eyes will make a difference whether you have makeup on or not. Blood-shot eyes are never sexy. When the whites of your eyes are as white as they can be, you'll look more awake and brighter-eyed.

And of course I couldn't not shop in NY. I bought my godbabies some I [heart] NY shirts and I also bought some work clothes and makeup for myself. As a Sephora V.I.B. I got a gift card for $20 off $40 a few days ago, which I really wanted to use. So here's what I got:

Ran outta eyelash glue so I picked up DUO Dark Tone. I also picked up
Makeup Forever's 5 Pan Camouflage Concealer.. I love this palette for the
color correcting tones.. You can only get this palette at MUFE boutiques.
And I got the pink camouflage concealer. Can't wait to test these babies out.

Hope someone out there finds my posts enjoyable. :)

Til next time.

Kim