Finding the perfect skincare products is like winning a lottery, I know I may sound OA to some but God knows how long I have been searching for one. Imagine the various amounts of skincare products my face had to take as it always had been a hit or miss for me. There were times when I felt like this certain product is going to be a hit, only to find out after 3 months or so, it would turn to a disaster, giving me unnecessary break-out episodes. To add to this, I do not have that much budget to buy skincare products that I would just end up dumping or giving away, not all brands give out free samples. (Although, I still have to find a skincare product that would lessen the flabs of my cheeky face hee hee, kidding! Perhaps one has to discover reverse osmosis for flabby body parts and cheeks.)

Anyway, when I blogged about the success of my experience with Lancome Genefique Youth Activating Serum, I did not plan on using the whole line, that’s just too much my wallet can take. But since, Lancome was generous with giving their customers jumbo-sized samples, I just had to give it a try. After almost a year of using the Genefique line, I am satisfied with how it works on me. I started to invest more on skincare products than make-up. This is also the reason why I blog less this time because I have no make-up hauls to share anymore hee hee.

VANITY.KIT’s RATING

Overall Product: A+

Value: 4/5

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 5/5

Then I got so lucky to have a friend who works for P&G ang made me try the SK-II products. Specifically these 4. After merely 2 days of using the SK-II line, my face instantly brightens up and I have seen how much my freckles/age spots lightened too.  I also noticed a more even skin tone. Since, I only have few amounts of these 4 SK-II products (read: jumbo–sample-sizes), I am wishing someone would give me SK-II shopping money so I can buy the jumbo sizes hee hee.

VANITY.KIT’s RATING

Overall Product: A+

Value: 3/5

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 5/5

I have finally found 2 skincare brands that I can alternately use and hoping that in the next 5 years or more, I would still be using the same skincare products. Now for my friends at Twitter and IG who asked how I combine all these skincare products, FYI: I do not use them all at the same time. Here is list of how I alternately use these 2 brands. I do not know if this combo will work for you too.

1st Combo:
Morning: Wash with SK-II Facial Skin Treatment Cleanser and Tone with SK-II Facial Treatment Essence (sometimes I skip this in the morning). Apply Lancome Genefique Eye and follow with Lancome Genefique Activating Serum. Lastly, moisturize with Lancome Bright Expert, then apply make-up (sometimes I use a primer or sunblock, depends on my mood).

Night: Remove make-up with Cetaphil. Wash face with SK-II Facial Skin Treatment Cleanser and Tone with SK-II Facial Treatment Essence. Apply Lancome Genefique Eye and follow with Lancome Genefique Activating Serum. Then moisturize with Genefique Night Repair Cream.

2nd Combo:
Morning: Wash with SK-II Facial Skin Treatment Cleanser and Tone with SK-II Facial Treatment Essence (sometimes I skip this in the morning) . Apply Lancome Genefique Eye and follow with Lancome Genefique Activating Serum. Lastly, moisturize with SK-II Cellumination Essence, then apply make-up (sometimes I use a primer or sunblock, depends on my mood).

Night: Remove make-up with Cetaphil. Wash face with SK-II Facial Skin Treatment Cleanser and Tone with SK-II Facial Treatment Essence. Apply Lancome Genefique Eye and follow with Lancome Genefique Activating Serum. Then moisturize with SK-II Cellumination  Deep Surge.

The constant products I always use are the first 5:

1. Cetaphil as make-up remover.
2. SK-II Facial Treatment Cleanser as facial wash.
3. SK-II Facial Treatment Essence as toner.
4. Lancome Genefique Eye Activating Concentrate as eye cream.
5. Lancome Genefique Youth Activating Serum as serum. (they say always use the serum first as it absorbs easily).
6. Then, alternating the rest of these on top of the Serum: Lancome Bright Expert, Lancome Night Repair Cream, SK-II Cellumination Essence and SK-II Celluminator Deep Surge.

I used to experiment on different make-up remover and cleansers, most of which are oil-based. But then I keep coming back to these 2 products, both very affordable and easy to use.

On days when I wear full make-up, I use the Pond’s Cold Cream (cool classic) and on regular days when I just use light make-up, I use Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, which according to my friend can also work as an acne scar removal.

This is how I use both of these products: Apply a liberal amount to the skin and rub gently in circular motion. Remove excess with a soft cloth or cotton, then rinse with facial soap/cleansers or sometimes just water.

Okay as promised, after sharing a natural beauty regimen, here are the moisturizers, cleansers, toners, facial soap/lotion, and make-up remover that I use depending on the season . Care to share yours?

I remember a friend who has wireless alarms/alarm clocks in her vanity dresser. She needs to time herself whenever she applies make-up. Isn’t that cute

FROM RIGHT TO LEFT.

• Clinique Toner for travel bag
• Clinique Rinse-Off Eye Make-up Solvent, eye make-up remover
• Clinique all about eyes. Reduce puffiness, undereye circles etc…
• Clinique Moisture Surge, very good for extreme weather condition
• Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
• Clinique Liquid Facial Soap, Mild
• Clinique Facial Soap, travel kit size
• Clinique Moisturizing Lotion, travel kit size
• Clinique Clarifying Lotion/Toner STEP 2
• Clinique Moisturizing Lotion
• Olay Total Effects 7 Signs Serum
• Regular Olay Moisturizer
• Olay Total Effects 7 anti-aging moisturizer, one is with  SPF 15
• Aveeno Skin Brightening  Daily Scrub
• St. Ives Apricot Invigorating Scrub