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

Christmas celebrations will start tomorrow, so you should be done with your gift shopping by now. In case you aren't though, troop to VMV Hypoallergenics to get rescued! They have gorgeous holiday sets available, like this one:  

There are tons of sets out there but I think VMV trumps them all. The packaging is gorgeous - boxes come with tissue and some fluff inside, neatly tied with a grosgrain ribbon accented with mistletoe - plus you get products that your recipient will probably love. It looks expensive (but it's not since one set is on averge P1,500). It's already wrapped. The products of VMV are amazing. 

Everybody wins!

The set I have here is called Merry Goin' Round.

The other day, a package arrived from Pond's. One of its contents was a gold box:

With a note:

The first thing you'll notice about the Shu Uemura Cleansing Oils is the price tag. They're quite expensive, there's no way to get around it! I used to think that there are equally good alternatives and for a while I've even used some like the ones from Muji and Pure Beauty, which are less than P500 for a big 200ml bottle.

However, when I got sample bottles of the Shu oil, I found out why it was so expensive. It is the best makeup remover + skincare product I've ever tried! And you know I've tried quite a number of them. Thus, I committed to a 450ml bottle of the Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil (P4,000).

What I love about it:

• Removes all makeup (except long-wearing, waterproof mascara) in a jiffy. I use less than one pump for my whole face and just massage gently to dissolve the makeup. It gets rid of waterproof eyeliner and liquid foundation, primers, lipstick, and powder makeup. They all wash off.

• It's skincare. Ever since I started using it, my skin looked better.

Skincare, whether you are a man or a woman, is not an option. There's no stigma when women take precious care of their skin, but men? It seems that the prevailing thought is that if you're a guy and you use something other than soap and shampoo, you're considered metrosexual or even gay. That's unfair and quite counterproductive. If men can't not brush their teeth, then they also can't not use a proper facial wash, toner, and moisturizer.

Maybe the stigma lies in how products are packaged. Let me share a conversation I had with someone from a giant skincare company. The rep remarked that they are surprised that their new facial wash (then) was so successful, even men were buying them. It appears that men thought the new facial wash was for them simply because the tube was black.

Maybe guys don't feel as shy about skincare when the packaging is very much male. What do you think? If that's the case then they will love Watsons Men skincare line, with it's macho metal tubes and sporty bottles.

Cinderella was my favorite fairy tale when I was a child. But now that I'm a little older and consider Cinderella as stupid and weak (well not counting Drew Barrymore's Ever After), my favorite is now East of the Sun and West of Moon. The heroine in that story has more guts and determination than all Disney princesses combined. That's the kind of girl I want to be when I grow up!

Anyway! This whole flashback is brought you by Majolica Majorca's latest collection called Glass Trick. It pays homage to the immortal glass shoes that generations have come to know and love (at some point...), and features glossy and shimmery products that mimic the effect of glass. 

I'm going to review the whole collection quickly, so you know what to check out!

Dress Glove Cream (P325). This is a hand cream that has the sweet scent of the Majoromantica Perfume. It also has fine shimmer, so it makes hands sort of glow.

Remember my war with acne around three, four months ago? It's almost over now. I'm enjoying relatively good skin lately since the pimples have stopped. Well, I still get one or three on occasion but they're not cystic. It means they don't leave a deep mark and it's easier to get rid of them.

Anyway, I have recently re-discovered these acne drying products I bought from the House of Obagi three months ago. I got two new (thankfully small) pimples last week so I needed a quick fix, and thought of giving these Acne Clearing Solutions another chance.

Why another chance? Well, the last time I used them, they dried up my skin quite horribly. My face felt rough, dull, and flaky. After that I swore off using them because it took my skin weeks to recover! But I think I was just applying them incorrectly. I used to pat two squirts of the liquid all over the affected area and, predictably, that area became extremely dry (Duh! Why didn't I think of that earlier). Now I use a cotton bud to apply the product only on the pimple itself.

Works like magic, I tell you. My pimples dry up overnight. That's awesome considering that these Acne Clearing Solutions cost only P500 for one bottle.

A few weeks ago Lancome Philippines invited bloggers to visit their Greenbelt 5 Atelier. It's my first time to actually go inside so it was, to say the least, an interesting afternoon for me!

The atelier is posh, all gleaming glass and silver panels decorating the bright interiors. I immediately scoured the displays for makeup (surprise surprise?). Hehe.

One of the brand's latest foundations - Blanc Miracle

The makeover table

We all have pores, but some of us have bigger pores than others. A lot of beauty products claim to cure you of them but the truth is that they can't work miracles - if you have large pores, you will most probably have them forever! It's just how your skin is. Short of surgery, the next best thing you can do is to use makeup and skincare that hides and fills pores.

One of the most promising pore fillers out in the market is the newly-released Z-Pore (P1,600). It's literally an instant pore-refiner since the silicon-based cream is super fine, slipping into those holes like a boss. It also has a matte finish that smoothens and evens out skin. 

I'm not going to scare you into using sunscreen. Seriously, you won't die extra ugly if you don't wear sunscreen. You'll just have a few sunspots, more wrinkles, and uneven skin, but really, nothing life-threatening! 

Now we have that out of the way, let me tell you about my new sunscreen discovery, the VMV Hypoallergenics Armada Face Cover 30. It's great! Now I understand why it's such a popular SPF product, after years of hearing about it from friends and magazines extolling its virtues.

The VMV Armada is a non-greasy, light day moisturizer that protects your face from sun damage while offering maximum comfort. It doesn't feel like a blanket of oil and sweat on my face. Better yet, it didn't break me out! I find that most SPF products give me pimples, but that's not the case with the Armada. It didn't block my pores either.

Are you sick and tired of your blackheads, white heads, and pimples? Tell me all about it. I know how it feels to try lots of treatments and products, get so hopeful, and still end up where you started. It may be that your acne is a genetic pre-disposition, which means that there's not much that you can do to cure it except lessen the appearance and discomfort.

My ongoing battle with acne

But maybe, just maybe, you are doing a few things that you don't know causes or worsens acne. Acne is generally caused by over-production of oil, bacteria, and uncleared dead skin cells which clog pores. Using the wrong product will trigger acne, but sometimes it's what you do rather than what you use that causes the problem.

Here are five common habits that cause acne. Any of these sound familiar?

1. Over-drying your skin. It sounds like common sense to strip your face of oil to prevent more oil, so a lot of people use drying products such as harsh facial washes, alchohol-based toners, and abrasive exfoliators to get rid of the sebum. But it doesn't work that way.

Lulur originated from the royal palaces of Java, Indonesia, and was used by brides-to-be in a beautifying ritual shortly before their wedding. Since lulur came to the Philippines last year, it became an instant hit! It cleansed and smoothened skin wonderfully so it's no wonder that more brands are coming in.

When I heard about the Purbasari Lulur Mandi Putih, the first thing I wanted to know was if it would match or even best my favorite lulur scrub - Asian Secrets. I don't want to play coy. Both products are housed in the same jar, they also look and feel the same, and can be both be purchased in drugstores for P130. Which is better? 

The first thing I noticed about Purbasari is the smell. I didn't particularly like it. It's this heavy, soapy, grandma smell that turned me off. I didn't want to use it but for the sake of this blog...it was a pleasant surprise.

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?

We've been taught that a basic skincare regimen includes these three steps: cleanse, tone, and moisturize. We cleanse twice a day because we need to get rid of the dirt our face accumulates during the day. We moisturize because we need to maintain our skin's moisture barrier, thus preventing dry, flaky skin. But why do we need to use toners?

Toners are used after cleansing to remove leftover makeup, dirt, and oil which your facial wash may have missed. They're also good for disinfecting and calming the skin due to their alcohol content and added ingredients (such as rosewater and tomato extracts, for example). 

But the fact is, you don't need to use toner all the time.

I was skeptical the first time I saw the Jane Iredale Magic Mitt (P895). A product that removes makeup only with warm water? Is that possible? Yes it is, actually, but warm water doesn't really take off makeup completely, especially mascara, eyeliner, and heavy concealer. You need an oil-based makeup remover for those products.

I saw the owner of Jane Iredale Philippines test the Magic Mitt on Shen around a month ago, but still, I didn't believe that it was an effective makeup remover. Until I tried it out for myself.  

What I LOVE about the product

• The microfiber cloth removes makeup effectively and completely (not counting waterproof mascara) with only warm water. Water-soluble mascara/ mascara that dissolves with warm water, waterproof concealer, eyeliner, heavy liquid foundation, eyeshadow over primer, lipstick - the Magic Mitt takes it all off!

Did you know that what you put in your hair can make you break out? The usual culprits are hair styling products, but shampoos and conditioners can also get to your face and cause pimples or irritation. That's why it's important to pick hair products that work for your skin, not against it.

You already know that I love the Sebamed Face & Body Wash because it's great to use when my skin is being extra sensitive, dry, or just plain breaking out. I recently got hold of its perfect partner, the Sebamed Everyday Shampoo! 

So what is it? The Sebamed Everyday Shampoo is an extra mild cleansing product for your hair. If your skin is sensitive, irritated, or inflamed, this is a good alternative since it calms the skin down.

Expect me to be excited when one of my favorite brands comes up with something new. This time, Clinique is bringing in a reformulted version of one of their best-selling products, the Clinique Turnaround Concentrate Radiance Renewer (P3,250) and the Lid Smoothie Anti-Oxidant 8-Hour Eye Colour (P1,550).

The Turnaround Concentrate is a "fast acting exfoliating serum that instantly creates a luminous-from-within radiance. Reveals skin's finest texture, too. Works to optimise natural cell renewal, gently, continually, unveiling skin that's brighter, healthier, more uniform." Intriguing.

I really need to be visit drugstore aisles more often. It seems that I'm missing valuable news! If a reader didn't tell me about the new Asian Secrets variants, I wouldn't have known until oh I don't know, next year. Tsk. Anyways, yes it's true: there are now more Asian Secrets products to love!

AS now has two more versions of its best-selling lulur scrub: Licorice and Mulberry Extract (purple) and the Seaweed Extract with Vitamin E (blue). They both smell nice, though they're more on the soapy kind.