One of the best things that you can do for your skin is to get a bottle of Cure Natural Aqua Gel (P1,500 at Beauty Bar). I have yet to meet a person who didn't fall on her toes (figuratively) to buy this after a couple of tries! This is actually a cult favorite product in Japan, changing the way women exfoliate their skin for many years now. I'm happy to announce that it's finally here in the Philippines!

Okay let's backtrack a little bit. I tried Cure about two or three years ago, when a friend gave me a sample. I felt it broke me out (my skin was extremely reactive then) so it dropped from my radar. Fast forward to today. I got a bottle of this early this year and held off using it for a month. When I felt that my skin could take a breakout, I finally tried it and holy cranberry - it is amazing! I didn't get any pimples too.

But wait, what does Cure do exactly? It's a gommage exfoliator. It's a gel product that hardens into soft, paper-like bits as it dries. These bits, when massaged onto the skin, exfoliate gently and thoroughly. I cannot emphasize enough how thoroughly this gets rid of dead skin and even mild blackheads! My skin feels squeaky clean after I rinse it off. Think of a newly washed plate, and how the surface is so clean that your fingers get some resistance when you drag it. That's what a newly "Cured" face feels like.

Since I started using Cure twice a week, the tiny bumps around my eyes, nose, and chin have significantly lessened.

Whew, what a busy Friday. How's yours? Hope you're going somewhere fun tonight. :D I just want to pop in and share a review on a soap I am loving right now: the Earth Therapeutics Loofah Exfoliating Soap in Oatmeal & Honey (price to follow).

I'm the type who can't take a proper bath without using a loofah. It makes me feel cleaner, as if all the dirt and grime are completely washed away. My usual routine is liquid soap + loofah. Simple really but a loofah soap like the one for Earth Therapeutics simplifies my bath routine even more!

It smells like honey, as promised. It's very relaxing in the bath but don't expect the scent to linger outside.

Now, I've tried other exfoliating soaps before but this one actually exfoliates.

Last Christmas, Tony Moly sent me a package that contained one of their best sellers: the Tony Moly Appletox Smooth Massage Peeling Cream (P525), cutely nicknamed as the Appletox. I've never used it until last night mainly because I'm anxious about breaking out. I've never used a Tony Moly skincare product before so I really took a chance here!

Since I had a bit of free time last night and needed to get rid of some dry skin anyway, I decided to try the Appletox. It's supposed to be a face mask-cum-exfoliator as it dries into flakes you can rub off. 

How to use the product. Apply a light layer all over your face. Wait for it to dry, usually in 10 minutes or so. After drying, gently massage the mask off your face to get rid of deep-seated dirt and peeling skin.

Exfoliators are useful in removing product build-up and other accumulated junk on the skin's surface. They also clean up dead skin and pore blockages, two common causes of acne. Nonetheless, you don't actually need to use exfoliators everyday. As with everything else, use them only when you need them!

That said, many exfoliators out in the market now have a tendency to be harsh on skin. Their scrub beads can be abrasive and the formula drying so they may do more harm than good. If you feel that your current exfoliator fits that profile, then perhaps it's time to switch to something more gentle yet equally effective.

Say, the new White Result Exfoliating Gel (P300 ish), for instance. It is a gommage exfoliator that starts out as a gel and dries to form physical scrub.

This Exfoliating Gel is mostly water infused with botanical extracts like bilberry, sugar cane, and citrus fruits. It also has moisturizing ingredients and film-formers in the ingredients. Once it's massaged (a minute or two), it becomes this soft, papery film that scrubs out all the junk on your face.

Observe:

Thw White Result Exfoliating Gel starts out as a cloudy gel

While browsing for information about the Offects Exfoliating Cleanser (P2,600), one word really stood out: aggressive. The famous skin doctor, Dr. Zein Obagi, claims that the Offects line has a high concentration of ingredients compared to normal skincare. It's supposed to be potent to ensure that it works. Scary? A little. But if you have really bad skin then the newly launched Offects products may help you out.

The Offects Exfoliating Cleanser is supposed to ease oily, acne-prone skin, and blemishes. It's also for those who have a tendency to have blackheads and whiteheads and unexpected acne flare-ups. That's soooo me. Additionally, it's a great-smelling scrub that doesn't dry up my face even though it exfoliates.

I tried the Offects Exfoliating Cleanser without knowing what it's supposed to do. I wanted to be surprised, actually, and while I don't normally do this I trust the Obagi name. So did it work?

I have never heard of lulur before the kind folks behind Asian Secrets clued me in. So what is lulur? There is an ancient Indonesian custom that requires future brides to apply a luxurious body scrub mix 40 days before their wedding.  The lulur is traditionally made from jasmine, ground rice, green tea, scented moisturizing oils, and yogurt. This practice of applying lulur originated from the palaces of Java, and is intended as a purifying, beautifying ritual to prepare brides-to-be for the big day.

Of course, you don't have to be a bride to reap the benefits of lulur! It's for every woman (and man, if they are so inclined) who loves having radiant, soft skin. 

Finally, lulur is here in the Philippines. The brand is called Asian Secrets - apt, if I may add, since this beauty ritual is indeed one of Indonesia's best-kept secrets. It is marketed as a luxe whitening body scrub, formulated to target dark skin areas like armpits, elbows, knees, and the singit. 

Asian Secrets is available exclusively in Watsons and Beauty by SM. 250g/P130 and 135g/P80

What I love about this product:

• It's a gentle yet effective exfoliating scrub. I hate abrasive scrubs that feel like my skin is rubbed raw! The lulur felt light but still left my skin feeling squeaky clean after I rinsed it off. 
• It's creamy and moisturizing. I didn't have to apply lotion afterwards. No kidding. This is a huge achievement for a body scrub. I scratched a fingernail on my arm and look ma, no dry white lines!