Saturday 25 March 2017

Must Love Teas!


I am never truly a coffee lover because I really don’t like the acidic aftertaste of coffee. Needless to say, I rely on tea for some pick-me-up caffeine. 

While there are some Celestial Seasonings teas in Denmark, the range is quite limited. I ordered some on iHerb and these are some of my favourites:


  • Rooibos with Pomegranate - Caffeine free red tea, ideal for evening consumption; I usually add some soy milk (or milk of your choice) to neutralise the sourness of pomegranate. It’s a very fragrant tea though. 
  • Rooibos with vanilla - Caffeine free red tea, ideal for evening consumption; I like it with a teaspoon of sugar and soy milk.
  • Honey Vanilla Chamoile - Caffeine free, ideal for relaxation and before sleep consumption. My  ultimate favorite winding-down tea. The tea is great on its own as you indulge your olfactory sensory to a hint of sweetness of honey and mysterious hint of vanilla. I am not always a chamomile fan, but this is just heavenly. I have sent to several friends in Singapore to try and they love it! I also take it with soy milk sometimes. 
  • Twinings Lady Grey - All time favorite! Get only the loose tea, the tea bags type taste a lot more bland, and if you are like me who likes strong taste (I am the “double-bagged” tea lady!), you will like the loose tea. 
I liked these okay, but they don’t make it to my favorite list - tea preference is very personal:
  • Green tea with honey lemon and ginseng - Day consumption that I alternate with earl grey tea. It’s not exactly what I like. I am not big on lemon, except when it’s infused in earl grey. 
  • Twinings organic rooibos - Caffeine free red tea. I find Celestial Seasoning’s rooibos to my liking as it has more “earthy” tones which I prefer - it’s not hard to guess since I love earl grey.
  • Twinings Pure Camomile - Caffeine free. I like it alright, nothing impressive really.


What are your favorite teas? 




Mizon Bulg Rose 90% Toner



I was using Skin & Lab Vita Energy Toner & Mist, and I have been exceptionally happy with it, but when I was shopping for replacement for the essence, I ordered this toner as well.

I have been using this toner for a couple of weeks now, and I do like it quite very much.


Scent:
The light scent of rose is not overpowering and goes away after a while.

Hydration:
I find that it’s quite hydrating, and it’s especially great for dryer climate and colder seasons.

Stickiness:
As the product claims, it’s non-sticky. (I don’t really know of any toner that is sticky though)

Pros:
Paraben free; alcohol free

I am likely to repurchase this.

Buy it here, shipping to --


Skin & Lab Bio Activating Essence vs Mizon Water Volume EX Essence

The first treatment essence that I used was SKII, it didn’t work out so well for me. I have hyper sensitive skin, and the SKII essence worked briefly for me, and then it not only stopped working, but it worked against me. 

I have been using Skin & Lab bio activating essence for a couple of years now, and I love it to bits! It prepares the skin to take in other skin products and my skin really freshens up. 

It could be my imagination, but I think my eye lashes and brows become healthier and longer too - I do pat over my eyes with this, but not with the Mizon’s because I find the Mizon’s essence drying out my eyes area.


I was out of the bio activating essence and thought of giving something else a try. My other favourite Korean skincare brand is Mizon. It’s inexpensive, but the snail cream really works wonders for me. After reading much raved reviews on this Water Volume Ex first essence, I decide to give it a try. 

I can’t say that I love this more or even equally as compared to the Skin & Lab essence. It’s not bad, but it definitely doesn’t perform better as well.

Buy Skin & Lab Bio Activating Essence, shipping to --

Buy Mizon Water Ex First Essence, shipping to --

Sunday 5 February 2017

Neocell Super Collagen vs Quamtrax Collagen


One of my staple products from iHerb is the Neocell, Super Collagen, Type 1 & 3, 7 oz (198 g) Powder. I believe it has some great beauty benefits, but I am using it primarily for my degenerative discs which I am suffering from at a young age. 

It is the only product that helps with my chronic and depilating back pain. I have been recommending this to many friends and have received many positive feedbacks for should pain and other chronic joint pains. 

When I arrived in Denmark, importing from the US becomes too expensive, so I sourced for an alternative - Quamtrax Collagen. Unfortunately, it pales in every aspects in comparison to Neocell Super Collagen. 

Quamtrax collagen has a very fishy scent which is hard for me to ignore, it does not do the magic for my back either, so I decide to go back with Neocell. 

Many people reviewed that their nails or hair become stronger after consuming Neocell, I don’t really know about that, since my nails have always been quite strong, and I take care of my hair. It is supposed to do some good for the skin too. 



Ame Pure CIT Face Roller (Micro-needling Derma-roller)




I was on Facebook (who is not!) and the advertisement algorithm was doing its thing to target audiences whose friends liked their products. It’s a smart marketing strategy (did I not share that I absolutely adore marketing strategies?) because we may not trust the company, but we trust our friends! 

So, one of my friends liked this company and I resisted clicking through their posts that pop up regularly in my feed, but one day, I just caved. I am a beauty fanatic, I am weak!

With that one click, came a series a financial consequences. I spent hours researching into derma-rollers and micro-needling! The only thing that will justify the many hours of research effort is to actually buy and try the products - Marketing strategy 1 : Me 0. 

So, this is what the Ame Pure claims that their CIT face roller does:

CIT Face Roller

The original CIT Face Roller is ideal for the following skin problems:

  • Removal of acne scars

  • enlarged pores

  • Reduction of scars following surgery or burns

  • Pigmentation or uneven skin tone

  • Reduction of wrinkles

  • Tightening of loose skin

  • Normalization of oily skin

  • smooth skin texture

Usage:

  • Each treatment course consists of 8 weeks (2 months) of rolling. 
  • To achieve optimal results, do 12-16 treatment courses.
  • Take a 4 weeks break from each treatment course and restart another treatment course. 

(Now, this part is the part that confused me before, so, it would be good to mark in your calendar and set alerts for them)
Do at least 2 times a week every second week for each course.

The schedule should look something like that:
Week 1: at least twice (Do not schedule 2 days in a row)
Week 2: BREAK
Week 3: at least twice
Week 4: BREAK
Week 5: at least twice
Week 6: BREAK
Week 7: at least twice
Week 8: BREAK

See full instruction in PDF file (enclosed with product).
The kit consists of a CIT face roller, a platinum collagen gel, and a sanitising spray. 



I chose 0.5mm needles length which should result in supple skin, reducing enlarged pores, correcting pigmentation, fixing minor scars, reduce appearances of lines and wrinkles, and acne.

For more matured skin, its recommended to choose 0.75mm needles, as the roller fixes and produces results of 0.5mm and additionally, fixes stretch mark - relevant to their CIT body roller.

Accordingly, 0.75mm needles are more effective for more severe skin problems.











As you can see, the needles are really short and Ame Pure uses surgical steel (you have to research surgical steel vs titanium needles on your own, after much research I decided on surgical steel because it’s less likely to cause infection and it is sharper than titanium so it reduces possible damages to derma cells)


WHAT IS CIT TREATMENT
âme Pure® CIT Roller is a definite skin rescue method, simple but effective and suitable for all skin types and skin tones. âme Pure® CIT Roller has laser-like results to remove stretch marks, acne scars, sun-damaged skin, lines and wrinkles.
âme Pure® CIT Roller results include skin tightening, improve skin texture, reduce pore size and improved capillary blood supply. 
âme Pure® CIT Roller creates thousands of tiny puncture wound in the skin, stimulates the release of growth factors that stimulate the production of new collagen and elastin. By creating dermal damage without the removal of the healthy epidermis, as is done in other resurfacing techniques, means that the healing time is fast and does not cause any discomfort.
Tiny micro-needles causes mini-trauma to the skin, and the skin is then induced to repair itself. This means that your skin begins to produce new collagen. The trick is, that when âme Pure® CIT Roller is combined with Collagen Gel Therapy, is the production of collagen in combination with the generation of new skin cells and old scar tissue is destroyed.
As a result, the skin becomes thicker, which reduces the appearance of scars, lines, wrinkles, and stretch marks.
In addition to stimulating collagen growth creates micro needling also channels through which any substance applied to the skin (Trans-dermal absorption) absorbed much easier. After all, the skin's job to keep things out and piercing this shield works well in breaking down this barrier for a limited period. 
This means that any topical application reaches the areas which it is intended. The accurate and minimally invasive microneedle penetration through the epidermis increases the absorption of the active ingredients in skin care products âme Pure® up to 1000 times (R 9).
Cautions:
Do not use if you are allergic to the surgical stainless steel. 
CIT Roller should be used only by you and not shared with others. 
Avoid rolling right under the eyes, on the eyelids and lips. 
Have you taken botox or fillers wait for 6 weeks after injection. 
CIT Roller should not be used directly on pimples, acne lesions, nodulocystic acne / pimples inside. 
CIT Roller should not be used on active herpes outbreak or any other form of acute infection or inflammation of the skin. 
CIT Roller should not be used on keloid and hypertrophic scarring (overgrowth of scar tissue that develops around a wound above the skin). 
CIT Roller should not be used on raised moles or warts. 
CIT Roller should not be used on eczema, rosacea, psoriasis and solar keratosis. 
CIT Roller should not be used with antibiotics. 
Do not use if you have used Isotretinoin / Roaccutane the last 6-12 months. 
Not to be used in the area where the radiation / laser treatment has been conducted the past 6- 12 months. 
Do not use CIT Roller, if you suffer from hemophilia or diabetes.

You can watch the youtube video here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAKKE-rAB3T53_GkJXy26OQ

Okay, so most of the videos shows quite relaxed faces rolling away, what they don’t share is how PAINFUL it can get! I have a super high threshold level for pain, but this is so painful!


After rolling (micro-needling) on your face, you may get really red. I have contact dermatitis, so my skin reacts more aggressively towards even light contact like carrying a bag on my arm etc. See how red my face got? The pain is usually more intense on first few rolls (each time!), then it got better. 


The workaround to reduce pain is to get a numbing cream. I am familiar with Emla as I used to work in a cosmetic surgical clinic and we used Emla a lot for laser procedures. The trick is to leave the cream long enough, apply more on forehead though, I have found the skin with less fat under it most sensitive to pain! 

Results:
(Pardon the low resolution photo)

I can’t tell if my skin actually improved. 

(EDIT 01 Apr) I was advised that I might have misread the instructions - numbers and dates are really not my forte, and irregularity is definitely not great for me, but well, we must work hard in the name of beauty preservation. :) 

Regardless, I think it also helps to plump up my skin. So I might just upgrade to 0.75mm needles roller to see if that works better. 

Have you tried a derma-roller? Share with me about your experience.