Did you know that your beauty regimen at night is just as important as your routine during the day? Oil and sun protection are your top concerns when the sun is out. However, it's easy to overlook dehydration and insufficient nourishment at night. This is the reason you sometimes wake up with a dull and tired-looking face!

Night time is the best time to allow your skin to recuperate from the day's stresses. It's when your body is resting completely that it is able to better absorb any nourishment you care to shower it. If you don't have a good night regimen yet, here are five things you can do that'll help you wake up with glowing skin every morning!

1. Double-cleanse your face. There's cleansing with facial wash, and then there's a thing called double-cleansing. This is a simple technique where you use a makeup remover first before you lather with your facial wash! It's okay to wash your face only once during the morning, but at night you would have accumulated a lot of dirt, oil, and bacteria on top of your makeup. It's absolutely important to be able to remove ALL of that before you move on to the rest of your night routine.

You can use a cleansing oil or water-based makeup remover to wipe off the makeup. Then, proceed to massage your face thoroughly with your preferred facial wash. I like the foamy ones, I feel they clean better. If you have dry skin though, you should go for non-foaming, non-soapy cleansers to keep your moisture barrier intact.

2. Allow your skin to indulge in a rich moisturizer. Due to the humidity in the Philippines, most of us prefer to use light, maybe even water-based moisturizers. These are great to wear during the day, but at night, we need something more moisturizing.

Ola! It's almost the end of July. Next week I'll be in Hong Kong with my parents, a trip I'm looking forward to! It's going to be my first time there so I'd love to read your advice on where to shop and eat. ;) I'm not looking for makeup per se. I'm more interested in clothes and shoes at bargain prices. 

Anyhoo, today I'll be talking about the latest products from Celeteque. It's been a while since I've used Celeteque, so the level of quality in its products is a surprise to me! The BB Cream and Brightening Body Cream are pretty good, ha. I'll be reviewing them quickly in this post.

The Celeteque Anti-Stretch Mark Cream has elastonyl (to improve elasticity), phyto collage (derived from soybeans, for plumping), alchemilla vulgaris (herb that has medicinal qualities), and shea butter, four ingredients that are said to lessen the appearance of stretch marks. It is recommended for women who just gave birth, to help stop stetch marks in their tracks as the skin tries to regain its elasticity. 

And here is the star of the trio, for me! The Celeteque Multi-Benefit BB Cream (P325) brightens skin instantly and has a yellow-neutral tone to it that should match light to medium skin. It has the texture of a long-wearing face base - it's water-based, a bit difficult to spread, and sets completely in half a minute. It kinda reminds me of the Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Foundation (liquid) and Estee Lauder Double Wear Light in terms of texture.

Last Thursday the Philippine press had the privilege of being one of the first in the world to see Shiseido's latest skincare line. The presentation was held at the Shiseido headquarters in Tokyo, and boy was it such an eye-opening hour and a half! The Japanese principals first discussed their research findings on the new generation - their motives, aspirations, and lifestyle trends.

The Shiseido headquarters

Did you know that in Japan, the average age is 46 versus the Philippines' 21 years old? The Japanese opt to make fewer and fewer children, and this has brought a lot of uncertainty to those in their early 20s and 30s. Instead of being with family that is directly related to one another, there is now what is called a "happy collective". Young people would forge solid relationships with those their own age, to sort of take away the loneliness of living alone, which appears to be the custom in Japan.

Shibuya, the pulse of Tokyo

There is also an emerging middle class that prioritizes not only value in their purchases, but in also patronizing a brand that they can relate with. The relationship is more like a patron supporting an artist.

The world is a huge place but there are two cities that I want to see in my lifetime: Tokyo and Paris. I have always assumed that I will be able to visit them when I'm 30 or something - traveling in your early twenties while paying rent in an upscale city, well, it doesn't compute. But thanks to Shiseido I had the opportunity to see Tokyo last week. I'll be sharing with you some of the beautiful sights to be found in this mega city, as well as the latest innovation from Shiseido!

But wait, why did the brand decide to bring the press to Japan instead of just holding the usual launch? The new line of products is a special step for them, they explained, because it is the first time that they'll be tapping the younger generation. Shiseido is thought of as catering to an older market, but they want to change that.

They wanted us to experience Tokyo - the luxe yet composed atmosphere of Ginza (the business district), the healing environment of the Meiji Jingu Shrine (a forest in the middle of the city), and the electrifying, high-energy streets of Harajuku and Shibuya (food and fashion reign supreme). We also visited the Shiseido Museum in Kakegawa, and where it all began in 1897 - the Shiseido Parlour and the Shiseido flagship store along the Ginza strip.

By visiting all these places, we are able to understand the brand at a deeper level. We have seen Shiseido's awe-inspiring past, its present, and perhaps even its future. Are you ready to see it as well? 

Let's go on a trip! :)

This week was supposed to be Skincare Week but with an impending trip I wasn't able to photograph everything in time! Oh well. I'll have a proper themed week next week once everything has settled down. ^_^ For today I will talk about the latest innovation from Clinique - a fresh take, rather, of one of their most-loved products of all time!

Clinique recently held an intimate and utterly dainty event at R-Space, Makati. The whole area was lit up in a soft honey glow, with accents of yellow on a cream background. It's such a lovingly styled event - something I always appreciate as it helps me sort of "feel" the brand better. I mean I know what it is and what kind of products it makes, but I am out for the story - not for a plain catalogue.

Clinique has always been known as a sort of clinical skincare brand. Modern, ascetic even. This time it is presenting a warmer, happier face to the world. Clinique loves good skin, but now it's all about good skin with a smile. :)

Should I invest more on a cleanser or moisturizer? :) - Amor

Hi Amor! Ideally you'd spend for both since these are the two most important beauty products for your face, but if you only have a limited budget yet still want the best - I say splurge on a moisturizer! Facial washes aren't really meant to stay on skin, so any active ingredients they may have won't get the chance to work properly. Those Vitamin E, green tea, chamomile oil and other similar chorva? They won't make a difference on your face if delivered via facial wash.

However, some facial washes have certain ingredients that absorb oil (commonly kaolin clay or any type of clay) and possibly dry up pimples (salicylic acid). These ingredients can have an immediate effect on skin! Good cleansers with these potent ingredients that work WITHOUT drying up skin can cost a pretty penny. It's a thin line. That's why I don't mind coughing up for my  Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleanser.

Expensive moisturizers do make a huge difference on skin, in my experience. They have all sorts of cool ingredients that can give you what your skin needs.

When someone asks me about makeup in person, I always tell them: don't get me started, because I'd be hard to stop once I get rolling! I can spend an hour (or more) just talking about cosmetics, and a good fraction of that time may or not be spent giving the other person a mini-make over. Haha. I always jump on the chance to educate and inspire the best I can; it seriously makes me happy!

But makeup is just really the tip of the iceberg. If you don't have good skin to begin with, your makeup won't look flawless no matter how expensive it is. So always prioritize treating your skin first and then maintaining it to the best of your ability. You'd be happier and more confident knowing that makeup is just an option for you and not a requirement.

Anyway, today I want to talk about the VMV Hypoallergenics ID Monolaurin Gel (P710 /120 ml). It's basically a clear face and body gel that can be used to treat pimples and sweat acne, as well as a primer to keep oil at bay. It only has six ingredients, which I will break down for you so you can see how this intriguing gel works.

The main ingredient is alcohol. I know there are a ton of people out there saying that alcohol is bad for your skin, but there is bad and good alcohol! Good alcohol is not a common allergen/irritant or VMV won't put it in their products. If there's one thing you need to know about this brand, they are incredibly anal about ingredients! They base their choices on studies published in peer reviewed journals and even publish research on their own.

My allergy kicked in a couple of days ago, right smack in the middle of a busy day. I started sneezing uncontrollably and just generally feeling like crap. Eyes red, nose puffy, a wake of crumpled tissues in my path. Ugh. I don't even know exactly what I'm allergic to - my guess is it's pollen or grass. It happens only once a month, when the condo's gardeners tend the grounds.

Anyway I decided to break out my Shiseido White Lucent Power Brightening Mask (P3,250/ 6 pieces) to somehow help my skin recover from the dullness brought by the allergic reaction. It worked! I've tried it once before but didn't really notice the individual effect since a Shiseido facialist used it as part of a service. (Yes they do facials in Shiseido boutiques, fyi. Ask them about it some time.)

Anyhoo I'm so happy that this is a mask that works with my skin, instead of against it, for I have a history of breaking out with masks. That's why I rarely use them, whether they're mud or essence based. I didn't react with the White Lucent mask which is ++++ points in my book!

I used it after cleansing with my facial wash, then left it on for ten minutes as per instructions in the back.

Random rants on social media don't do anyone any good - in fact, your friends may get irritated, screen you while scrolling, or worse, unfollow you. It's difficult to empathize when you have your own life happening around you. You don't honestly care when others do it, so why should others care about your daily lows?

But that's not the point, is it. You'd rant anyway because putting it out there is a lot like blowing out a bubble. All the stale air is in there and you just...let it go. Disappear into the atmosphere. Watching it burst where everyone else could maybe see it makes you feel like you've accomplished something relevant. Doesn't matter if the soap gets in their eyes.

Random ramble. :) Today I'll be reviewing the Shiseido Instant Eye and Lip Makeup Remover (P2,150) for you!

Yes it's that expensive. It's easily the priciest makeup remover I've tried per mil. 0_0 I actually considered buying a foundation or concealer instead of this (they cost much less) but I badly needed a good remover for waterproof mascara and other long-wearing makeup. I've tried a sample of this Shiseido remover before and liked it enough to get the full size.

So is it worth the expense? Okay I'll be honest with you - there are cheaper high-end makeup removers that work just as well. I would recommend this if you:  

• Have sensitive eyes and skin. This is the gentlest eye and lip makeup remover I've tried. It doesn't sting, doesn't cloud the eyes even if you soak it in for a minute.

It was only a matter of time before Etude House, the Korean beauty juggernaut, came out with their very own CC cream. I find it to be a unique product because unlike the other CC creams I've tried, this is a white cream with tiny pigment spheres! It's sheer but gives this glow-from-within finish, as if there's a softly lit light bulb trained on my face. Can't think of a better way to describe it!

The Etude House CC Cream in Glow is off-putting at first because it starts out very, very white, like a kabuki mask. But as I rub it starts to slowly blend in to my natural skin color. There's still a bit of whiteness due to the SPF30, but it's not obvious unless you flash a bright light. I love the finish; it's subtle enough that it's difficult to capture on camera! There is shimmer in the formula although it's very fine.

Here's a quick run down!

What I love about the product

• Its main purpose is to correct and care. It corrects the dullness and uneveness of my skin, while moisturizing and protecting it from the sun at the same time.
• Gives a soft focus, glow-from-within finish (with a bit of vigorous blending). It also sort of counteracts the yellowness of my skin, and gives it a more neutral tone - if that makes sense.
• This CC cream is an excellent makeup base!

Hey there Ms. Liz. I always see advertisements of Diamond Peel/ Chemical Peel, Microdermabrasion, etc. around the mall. I haven't tried any of those except for a basic facial that extracts comedones. I don't have pimples, just the occasional ones during my time of the month or if I forgot to wash my face. I just have bumps scattered on my forehead, visible pores around the nose area and a few bumps as well.

I'm only 20 and I'm scared those services might harm my facial skin and would turn out worse. So my question is when do we consider getting a diamond peel? Or is it required to get a diamond peel once in your life? Should I get one? - Nerys

Hey Nerys! I've tried quite a lot of facial treatments in my beauty blogging "career", and the truth is I have regretted most (not all) of them. Let me describe my skin condition back then: I had serious acne, from white heads to cystic ones, and they left very serious blemishes that would take months to fade away (still, luckily). I would get some sort of elaborate facial and my skin would look great for a few days, and then I would break out heavily for the next week or so. What a vicious cycle!

The worst thing that I think I did to my skin is the chemical peel (blue peel). The 7-day peeling process was traumatic, and on top of that I now have very fine wrinkles on my forehead due to the peel. I am 25, and I have wrinkles on my forehead. Wtf, right?

Physical and chemical peels work by scrubbing and burning the top layer of skin away to force a new, younger layer to emerge. Diamond peels involve a diamond-tipped, rotating drill that clears off the skin's top layer. Diamond peels are a form of microdermabrasion, which is basically a process that involves some sort of machine to scrub the skin. Chemical peels usually involve mild acid to burn the skin, and can thus penetrate deeper than physical peels.

The thinnest layer of skin in our body is located under our eyes. It's a sensitive area, prone to hyperpigmentation due to allergies, fluid buildup, or excessive sun exposure. It also shows the blood vessels which is why some people have a bluish or purplish tint around their eyes.

The best way to solve dark circles (if at all possible in your case) is to get a lot of sleep and hydration. Drink water generously and don't forget to apply a moisturizing eye cream to keep that area elastic and plump! If your dark circles are hereditary or caused by age, then there's not much you can do except to use a bangin' concealer or undergo cosmetic surgery.

My point is that eye creams can only maintain the best possible version of your eye bags. They can't dramatically lighten dark circle or remove wrinkles, any more than what your skin would naturally allow. :) That being said, I do believe in using eye creams precisely because of the maintenance. When I stop, my bags look saggy, wrinkly, and ugh, papery. My current eye cream is the Clinique Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector (P2,450)!

This eye cream promises to lighten dark circles over time but I suggest you don't expect that. It does help improve the appearance of under eyes instantly due to the very fine mica shimmer in the formula and the slightest hint of tint.

Morning! So, I decided to do a Clinique Week because I've been receiving a lot of wonderful products from the brand lately. These are the latest releases so some of them might not be availble yet but you can ask your preferred counter to reserve. ;) To kick off the series, here's a review of something I've been using whenever I get the chance!

CC creams have brought a lot of confusion when they started popping out last year. What are they, really? Do you need them? It depends on your preference and skin type so there's no definite answer to that. But I can tell you that CC creams are specifically for color correction, with a focus on skincare rather than the cosmetic effect. CC creams are for treating and maintaining skin, not for covering it up the way BB creams would.

That said, I am loving the Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream (P1,850) because it is my ideal face base. I don't need to layer moisturizer and/or sunscreen, foundation, and powder on a day-to-day basis! I apply a generous amount on my skin, wait for it to dry, and voila - nice, primed skin that doesn't need layers of product to achieve.

Okay let me break that down in a neat list, before I degenerate into a raving maniac. :P

Why I LOVE the product

• It has this lightweight, non-greasy texture that melts on skin and somehow makes it look brighter. 

What, you say, Gluta-C? Seriously? Yes Virginia! Gluta-C is marketed as a skin whitening brand but for me that's just an aside. I actually have the Gluta-C Whitening Gel and I'm pleased that it does seem to even out dark areas in my body, albeit slightly. I use it on and off, when I remember. What more if I use it like twice a day?

But I'm not going to review that now. Today is all about the new Gluta-C Intense Whitening Body Scrub (P99.75)! It's my current body scrub and I think it's pretty good. It has smooth, tiny plastic beads to exfoliate dead skin. These beads are mixed in with a creamy base that prevents the newly rubbed skin from drying out.

The Gluta-C scrub has a floral, soapy, slightly powdery scent to it. It's very clean and fresh. It's not chemical-y - something I appreciate in my body products!

Julia of Bless My Bag first got me interested in the Nivea Baby Smoothy Cream (P167) when she raved about it last year. Then, Dinna Vasquez, an editor at Manila Standard, told me on Twitter that she couldn't live without it! I take raves seriously, especially when they're from people I respect, so I hunted high and low for this moisturizer.

It's not easy to find. It's usually out of stock, or simply not available in the baby section of drugstores and supermarkets. I finally got hold of in the Mall of Asia Hypermarket some months back! It was in the bottom of the Nivea baby section then. Anyway, true enough, this "miracle" cream is something special.

This is designed for baby skin, so it's gentle and tested to be hypoallergenic. It doesn't contain parabens, alcohol, and colorants. It also contains natural calendula which is a well-known herbal remedy for wounds and skin irritations. It's meant for the sensitive skin of babies, but surprise - it's also great for big girls like us!

I haven't tried the famous Embryolisse moisturizer, but people say that this is a good dupe.

Pond's joined the BB cream bandwagon rather late, but they believe they came out with something that's totally worth the wait. True enough, the Pond's Flawless White and Age Miracle BB Creams (P399) did not disappoint. It's fairly good considering how much it costs.

I'm pleasantly surprised by how nice the texture of this Pond's product is! It's water-based and therefore non-greasy, and it does help brighten and even out the complexion instantly. It's easy to apply and it also dries in a few minutes. You won't even need a setting powder if you're not particularly oily, but if you want to extend the wear time then you must set it with foundation or at least a face powder.

By itself, this BB cream lasts for about 3 hours before it starts to fade. I don't like to think of it as foundation - it's really more of a skincare/ makeup base, the way BB creams were originally supposed to be.

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.

The AC Clinique line of Etude House is designed to prevent and heal acne, and until recently only features facial wash, toner, and moisturizer. Two new products were recently added to the collection (labeled "intense") that have the sole purpose of spot-treating pimples as they come. I've tried the famous AC Clinic Intense Pink Powder Spot and it's just okay. It's like calamine lotion - smells like, looks like, feels like. I reckon it would also be useful on rashes and other skin irritations. ;)

The star of the collection for me though would be the Etude House AC Clinic Intense Red Spot Balm (P628 when packaged with the facial wash). This is the real deal! It was one of those things that have been sitting in my "to review" box for weeks, until I took it out for a test drive because of extreme annoyance. I had these two large red pimples on my right upper and lower lip (like star-crossed lovers UGH) and they are just not budging after more than a week. That's abnormal for me!

So I thought hey, why don't I try that Red Spot Balm over there. Boom. The two very angry pimples calmed down in an hour, and stopped swelling completely after six hours. No kidding. The next day, they're gone!

How often do you use hand cream? I admit I can be pretty lazy most days. I usually put off using hand cream until my hands can't take the dryness anymore - by that time, they're already so wrinkly and hard! Yuck. That's a bad bad habit because the hands, other than the neck, betray our age sooner than we'd like. That's why it pays in the long run to use a specialized moisturizer for them.

I've recently been enjoying the Bobbi Brown Extra Hand Cream (P1,700). It's a 50ml tube of moisture-boosting cream that contains shea butter and clary sage to improve our hands' moisture barrier, glucosamine to gently exfoliate, and licorice extract to help lessen discoloration.

This is a very heavy cream - a little goes a long way, and it indeed helps soften super dry hands instantly. It's like you coated your skin in this cocoon of smoothing, reviving oil! This actually has avocado and corn kernel oil for that purpose.

Running out of clever introductions here so I thought I'd get right to the point. :P Today I want to talk about a few Shiseido stuff I received a couple of months ago. They are expensive, true, but if you don't mind then they are definitely worth the splurge. 

When I first saw the Shiseido Luminizing Satin Eye Color Trio in RD299 I thought, boring. Gold, violet, and white? Surely there are more interesting, exciting combinations out there! But I should know that it's not smart to judge an eyeshadow palette by how it looks in the pan. I guess I better show you!

Absolutely lovely, yes?