Ponds Acne Expert Pore Conditioning Toner: Review

Okay, so recently, I've been getting messages from younger readers asking me what skin care product they can use for themselves. This is actually a really hard question for me as I'm very careful when I recommend products for all of you out there. I don't really want to recommend anything that would not be suitable for anyone.

Honestly, I don't really have a full grasp of what products aren't really suitable for younger skin because when I was younger, I pretty much just used commercial facial washes and toners. Other than that, I applied nothing on my face except (of course) for my spot treatment. So I'm just going to put this DISCLAIMER out there. I did not study dermatology so I'm not really a skin expert. However, if you're interested to know what I used when I was younger, then keep on reading. :)

As I've said, during my teenage years, I only used commercial facial washes and toners. And just like the majority of adolescents out there, I wasn't spared with having problematic skin. At the young age of 13, I have declared myself to be an unfortunate oily, acne prone, sensitive skinned person. Like any other teenager, I used products that are meant to help with these problems. One of the products I've used would have to be this Ponds Acne Expert Pore Conditioning Toner.

When I was younger, I was only staying away from products that cause peeling mainly because these chemicals are deemed as 'too harmful' by my parents. So basically, I never get products that cause peeling over-the-counter. If I do get a product with peeling effects, it would always be under the direction of a professional, a dermatologist. Otherwise, I play it safe with products like the one I mentioned.

Ten years ago, my breakouts aren't as severe as now and a regular toner such as this is enough to keep my face blemish free. This particular product has Tea Tree and Salicylic Acid, which are both good acne fighting ingredients. This is best suited for my delicate skin as the other popular acne fighting product, benzoyl peroxide, causes me redness and irritation. Needless to say, this toner from the brand Ponds was able to help with my mild skin problems without causing any allergic reaction.

This particular toner is available in leading groceries, convenience stores, supermarkets, drugstores and the like so you definitely won't have a hard time getting one. It is also fairly cheap and works well.

To summarize, I still wouldn't want to recommend anything for a teenager to use as part of his/her skin care routine but if you ask me what I used during my time, it would be simply this toner right here. I was also able to try an astringent from another brand but I'll leave that out for my next post.

Belo AcnePro and Hygienix (Sample Room): Review

Another Sample Room haul! Yay! I don't know about you but I always feel like a winner whenever I chance upon available samples that I like from the Sample Room website. For new readers out there who haven't read any of my Sample Room posts before, click on this link to enlighten you on what the site is all about.

 

Even after about more than a year of sampling, I only have limited amount of Sample Room points. How I wish I was a partner blogger or a VIP! But despite that, I am still able to get samples that are quite useful, not just for my blog content, but also for my day to day life.

My most recent snag before this was a cosmetic product, a lip product to be more exact, from the brand called Colour Collection. This time, however, I jumped on and tried this new skin care revolution from the brand Belo. I got both the face wash and toner. And with the little number of points I had remaining, I also got a handy dandy sanitizer spray from Hygienix, all included in just one shipping. Yay!

I was very excited to try this out as my previous post about Belo has got to be one of my most viewed posts. While I tried hard not to expect so much from the products (my previous review didn't exactly sing on a positive note), the promise of this bee venom technology that I only used to see in Korean skin care sets made me walk on blind faith. Without having any experience on any of the products from this line, I claimed that this product would be nothing but epic! I was convinced that this was the cheaper alternative to the organic skin care set I'm using or the dermatologist prescribed products I was using before. With many good reviews and being the editor's pick of the month (of Sample Room), I was very excited when the delivery man dropped this package off our doorstep.

 

 

I thought it was love at first use. I particularly liked the scent, the consistency and how it left my face after lathering/applying but my oh my, the disappointment it has caused in the form of acne. It started at the edges of my eyebrows and at first I thought it was the result of an unresolved hormonal imbalance from a previous monthly visit. But the more I used the product, the more pimples it creates. Yes, it does have a little bit of a calming effect-- to the person not on the zits! You see, the scent is just oh-so-divine. It's the perfect combination of powdery and flowery scent. I simply love it. But you know how they say "Sometimes love ain't enough."? I think I may have solved the mystery behind it by the use of this.

This product hates my face as much as I love its scent. While I would normally not give up after just a week of usage for a particular skin care set, I will make this an exception as I already had a not-so-good experience with the brand before. I don't want to linger on this set when I know my organic skin care takes better care of my skin.

To be fair, however, the line didn't dry up my skin. In fact, it left it soft and well moisturized. The only problem was it was causing more troubles than relief. And so I have decided to just let this go, just like Elsa's song. I passed both products (face wash and toner) onto my sister who offered to continue using it. If I get the chance to, then I might go back to this entry and update you guys with what happened to my sister's skin.

For now, I would say that this is a good product. A good product for someone else. For an acne prone, oily, sensitive skin person like me, I wouldn't recommend this as it broke me out like no tomorrow.

As for the sanitizer spray, I don't really have any complaints whatsoever. I like that it's compact, easy to use and gets its job done. Other than those, I have nothing more to say.

Have you noticed that most of my posts recently are skin care related? Haha. I'm not sure why but I have so much skin care stuff left for review. My next skin care post will be about a product that works well for cystic acne so be on the lookout for that! In the mean time, watch out for my next post, which will most probably be a makeup or hair product, just for a bit of a change.

CELLBN Skincare Set: Review

I know it took me such a long time to finally review (or rave on) this product for you but that's only because I want to try the brand thoroughly. Despite the fact that I got the product for free (through a giveaway), I still wanted to give my honest opinions on the product. And I didn't think that rushing would be any good for anyone. So after a good long month, I have finally decided to give my two cents on this skin care set from the Korean brand CELLBN. I have the toner, serum and moisture cream with me. But before anything else, let me leave you this video of my first impressions on this particular product.

 Click on the photo above for the video. Make sure to open it in a new tab/window so you can continue reading this entry easily. And if you're curious, this particular video was taken a month after continued use. I wrote down all my first impressions before to preserve what I first thought of the products. :)

The things such as smell, consistency, packaging, of course, did not change so I won't be going through that any more. My short video above already covered that up. I also won't be digging through what each product promises to do and its ingredients as i have already posted an overview of these three products that touched through those. What I will be talking about in this particular entry is the all over effects of the set after a long use. For reference, I will be talking about the CELLBN Damage Multiaction Toner, CELLBN Damage Precious Serum and the CELLBN Damage Deep Moisture Cream.

 Before using CELLBN

But before I go into the effects, let me take this opportunity to tell you about my skin condition before I used the set. I had oily, acne prone, sensitive skin. Well, actually, I still do. But back then, I had dry patches around my nose brought about some acne-related skin care products. You see, my previous skin care routine was from a dermatologist. It was an effective set that helped control my breakouts and help deal with the scars that are left behind. It had its merits but disadvantages cannot be avoided as well. Most of the products in that set had micro-peeling properties. This resulted in redness and peeling. There were also noted stinging sensations whenever I try to apply my topical antibiotics. In general, I felt like my skin became even more sensitive. But then again, I was scared of trying out other products as there is a possibility that I might break out again, and it's definitely something that I don't aim for.

Then come the opportunity for this particular skin care set from Korea. Honestly, I didn't know anything about the brand but it was organic and it came from a reliable website called WishTrend. So I took a leap of faith and I'm glad I did. One month ago, I had pretty decent skin with occasional breakouts. Now, I still have hormonal acne here and there but I felt like my skin has improved over all!

 One day after

I personally didn't see any improvement immediately after using the products but on the day after, my mom complimented me for having a fresh look, immediately after getting up from bed. I thought it was bogus as I didn't really think a product can have such immediate effects but to be honest, I felt good about myself that day.

 One week after

After a week, I have noticed that my skin condition has improved a lot. There was no stinging sensation at all, no redness and most of all, the dry patches are gone! For a makeup enthusiast, having those dry patches sail away is something to be excited about as makeup application will be much easier. And it did! Gone are the days when most of my makeup would gather around dry patches of skin on my nose, chin and even worse, on my cheeks!

Two weeks after, I felt like my skin looked brighter and healthier. It's quite hard to explain as I didn't really notice my pores getting smaller and the acne scars didn't ultimately fade away but there was something about my skin that made me look fresh and dare I say, youthful! For the record, I am only 24 years old so I don't really categorize myself as old but there has been some rejuvenating effects and I can't deny it.

To date, I still use the same product day and night. I tried going back to my old skin care routine just for an experiment but I couldn't last for more than 3 days as I was getting bugged by my old skin horrors of redness, stinging and patches almost immediately from the start of the study. Needless to say, I really think this set is a big improvement on my previous routine and I'm not even sure if I will be able to let go of these products in the future. I highly recommend these products. Get it through WishTrend!

Celeteque Dermoscience Acne Solutions Oil Control Toner: Review

I may have mentioned this a couple of times before. Sometimes, being a beauty blogger is hard because you always want to try out new things to share with your readers. I also experience that from time to time but there are also times whenI try out one product and I don't find anything new or bad with it that I don't even know what to write. That very thing happened to me when I used the Celeteque Dermoscience Acne Solutions Oil Control Toner with Aloe Vera and Chamomile Extracts.

 Bought at Watson's.

 Budget friendly at PHP75 for 65 ml and PHP117 for 125 ml.

 Simple directions.

Celeteque is a good local brand. I've read countless of reviews online about how good their products are that I want to try them out for myself too. I've always had mixed feelings regarding this brand because it's always been a hit or miss for me. Back then, I saw a review from Janet's blog and I was convinced to try this one out.

This product is a well known product to control acne. As you all probably already know, I have oily sensitive acne prone skin. I think I have the best skin type to try out products like these so I went out and bought one.

During the course of my use (of the product), however, I didn't really feel like anything new happened. My skin did not dramatically improve but it did not worsen from its current state either. Basically, I feelt like the product was just so-so.

I really want to write more on this just so you have more idea but I honestly don't remember anything that stood out to me during the time I spent using the product so I really can't lengthen this post anymore. Let me just leave you with what their website says about the product.

CELETEQUE DermoScience™ Acne Solutions Oil Control Toner has Aloe Vera and Chamomile Extracts that help soothe the skin while removing the last traces of stubborn dirt.

Oh, and some of you may be waiting for my introduction post on the Korean organic skin care set (CELLBN) that I recently received but I still haven't transferred all the stills so please wait patiently. Hehehe. Sorry for the delays.

Watsons Green Tea Antioxidant Oil Control Facial Toner: Review

Hi guys! Another review from me! Yay! It's been so long! Today's review, however, is not a good one. Last month, I bought this toner at Watsons called Watsons Green Tea Antioxidant Oil Control Facial Toner. What lured me to buy the product is the nice scent and of course, the reasonable price of (around) PHP89.00. This toner smells really refreshing but it BROKE ME OUT! U_U

At first, I thought the whole acne drama was all because of my period and my hormones. I stopped using it, had my  facial and waited for my face to clear up. A few days ago, after my face has fully recovered, I decided to  try it again just to see if it really was the product that made me break out or if it was just a coincidence. Sad to say, it wasn't. I just used it for two consecutive days and it broke me out so bad. My forehead is now filled with huge red zits all over. I feel really ashamed to go outside (especially at work where I'm required to tie my hair up and put my bangs away from my face). I would take pictures just to prove it if it didn't embarrass me so much. Yes, that's how bad the situation is right now. Sad to say, I won't be recommending this product for other people to use.

To its defense, my sister uses the product for herself and it did not cause her to break out. In the end, I just gave her the product.

Pros:
- nice smell
- reasonable price
- easily accessible
- doesn't leave skin dry

Cons:
- BREAKS ME OUT like there's no tomorrow!

Now is it worth it? For me? NO!