Review - Garnier Light Complete White Speed Super Essence

Hello gorgeous! 

I’m back today with an update on Garnier Light Complete White Speed Super Essence. I had used it for one week and let’s dig in on how this Super Essence works on me.

Let’s talk about the packaging and the texture first. The packaging is in small tube dominated with white and yellow colors (Garnier White Speed color). The tube has a screw top instead of pop cap. The serum texture is quite runny, so please be careful when you opened the cap. I usually will open it with the mouth of the tube facing up, that way the serum will not spill out easily. The serum color is like diluted milk, almost transparent color. 

Due to the light and runny texture, you don’t need a lot of it to apply to your face and neck. I like how the serum is light and absorbed quite easily on the skin. The scent is refreshing with a little bit of lemon scent. No need to worry because the scent will fade away quickly. I apply it evenly to my face and neck twice a day before my moisturizer. 

During my usage of Garnier White Speed Super Essence, I felt that my skin started to feel really dry starting on the fourth day. My So, I added SK-II Facial Treatment Repair C before applying Super Essence. I also opted my creamier and high hydration moisturizer to seal everything up. My skin felt better, but until day 7, my skin still felt dry and started to look a bit dull because of it. 

My utmost skin problem is my skin pigmentation aka spots all over my face. I tried many spot controlling products but to no avail, the spots are still there *cry* even though they claimed to make the spots disappear or fade away. Well, guess what? Not even close to fading away. Garnier White Speed Super Essence is no exception, also failing on controlling my spots. But, I did notice that my acne scars disappeared rather quickly than usual and leave my skin smooth again. As for the brightening effect, I could not say much because my skin is already on the fair side, so there are not much difference between before and after.

So that’s my take on Garnier Light Complete White Speed Super Essence. I also inserted an image of Garnier Light Complete White Speed guidance in applying the skincare products to get that bright and lovely complexion. Hope this review will help you and have a lovely day, gorgeous people!

Cheers,

Stef

PS: The product is sponsored by Garnier Indonesia for review purposes but rest assured that all reviews in my blog are based on my personal experienced despite being sponsored or bought personally. 

Sulwhasoo Basic Essential Kit

Hello gorgeous! As I promised before on my instagram account a few weeks ago, I will share my experience in trying Sulwhasoo basic skincare set. I am grateful I got the chance to try Sulwhasoo basic skincare set. I got mine from Sulwhasoo counter a while ago by reposting their picture on my account. It is a small sample, honestly it did not enough for me to give or show you considerable changes on my skin since the application of the skincare. But at least, by using it for 1-2 weeks, I could try and see if it agrees with my skin. I have not changed my skincare for the last 5 years. Yes, there are some trial here and there, but I always come back to my basic skincare which is from SK II (you can read my skincare regime here). But now, along with my beauty addiction adding up, I have more knowledge about more products worth to try. 

Sulwhasoo has been capturing my interest with its holistic approach skincare by not only using natural ingredients but they also pay attention on the method of the production; a Korean traditional heritage.

The set contains of a sachet of Gentle Cleansing Foam, a sachet of First Activating Care Serum, a vial of Essential Balancing Water, and a vial of Essential Balancing Emulsion. The cleanser and the serum lasted for 5 days (used twice a day) and the vials lasted for around 2 weeks (used twice a day). Please note that the duration here is what I experienced and I have small face so I did not have to put a lot amount of product on my face.   

 

I follow the instructions inside the packaging of the kit. 

First, I started with cleansing my face with the cleansing foam. It is in clear liquid form and I usually created the foam by adding a little bit of water after I dispensed it on my hand. Lather it all over your face and neck then rinse with water. I am happy that the cleansing foam did not make my skin dry. 

After preparing my skin with SK II Facial Clear Lotion as a toner, I continued it with the First Activating Care Serum, which is their best seller. The serum is a boosting serum that claims can boost up your other skincare products to its optimal result. It is said that it helps to maintain your skin moisture and balance it so your other skincare will be absorbed optimally by the skin. The serum color is golden brown and the texture is light. Apply it to your face and massage your face a little bit and warm it up by wrapping your face with your palm at the end of the application.

The next step is the Essential Balancing Water that acts as balancer and delivers deep hydration. I love how it felt on my skin. The gel-like texture is absorbed by my skin well, leaving it so hydrated and I felt that it soothe my skin down. 

The last step is Essential Balancing Emulsion. This is a moisturizer that is formulated with Korean herbs to make a softer and smoother skin. It is a very light moisturizer; the texture is not creamy, it glides and absorbed easily by the skin too. But even though it’s light, my skin felt soft and hydrated well after the application. You can add another layer of moisturizer if you felt that the emulsion is not enough to hydrate your skin. 

All of the products mentioned have herbal ginseng-ey scent that I found lovely. It is calming and soothing. But I understand that not everybody fond of a scent (or an herbal scent) in their skincare, especially when you have a sensitive skin.  I would suggest to trying them out first on the counter or asking for some samples to bring home. 

So, what is the verdict? I love it!

I am very glad that my skin did not acting out and no breakout at all during the trial *phewww*. My skin felt soft and smooth during the trial. It is a great basic skincare set which you can tweak here and there by adding other products such as serums or moisturizers to layer around. It will work wonderfully for you who have normal to combination skin. Will I purchase the full size products? I might, maybe after I finished my current skincare. 

Last week, Sulwhasoo just launched their newly improved First Activating Care Serum EX. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to go there and try them out. It is said that its new formula is able to deliver better results due to the upgraded JAUM Balancing Complex^TM with Sulwhasoo’s proprietary technology to take the benefits of medicinal herbs to a higher level.

Anybody has tried the basic essential care yet? If yes, kindly let me know how it works for you. Have a wonderful Sunday, peeps!! *kisses*

Cheers,

Stefi

Daily Skincare Regime

Happy New Year Gorgeous!!
I wish you an amazing year full of joy, peace, adventure, and wisdom. May all your resolutions will come true! I am very excited with this year because I have a lot of things I want to achieve. One of them is maintaining this beauty blog and share my love for beauty products to the readers.
As my first post in 2015, I would like to share about my daily skincare regime. Lo and behold, this sharing will take you quite some time to read since there will be a quick review as well on the products that I use. 

A polished skin is necessary if you wanted your makeup to look good and sits perfectly on your face. Everybody has different skin type and condition, and it’s sure not an easy journey to find your best skincare regime or combo to get that healthy glowy skin. But nowadays, there are a lot of skincare products on the market that I believe can cater our skin’s needs and it’s a matter of trial and error until your skin get that perfect combination of products and finally can perform its best.

As for me, my skin type is normal to combination but has the tendency to get dehydrated. You can see it easily after I clean and wash my face, the skin is pretty dry and need quite moisture to make it not look dull. I don’t have a lot of problems with acne, just occasional zits that comes with my PMS period. I have big pores and some acne scars around the cheek that I wish I can photoshop in real life as well as the persistent eye bag that makes me look tired all the time.

I started to use skincare more than just facial wash since I was in senior high school. I started with using facial moisturizer. Gradually, I added toner, serum, and sunscreen. My skincare regime nowadays involves cleansing oil, facial wash, toner, essence, serum, moisturizer, sunscreen, and a frequent exfoliant. Occasionally I will slap on some facial mask when I feel my skin needs a boost up. 

Without any further due, let’s go to the details, shall we?

Cleansing

Kose Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil

La Roche Posay Physiological Cleansing Gel

The Body Shop Aloe Gentle Facial Wash

The first step is cleansing. In the morning, I would only wash my face using La Roche Posay since I do not put makeup on at night, so gentle cleansing is enough. As for night cleansing, I always do double cleansing by using Softymo cleansing oil first to remove all of my makeup and then followed by Garnier facial wash. I would lather my face with the cleansing oil first, massage it a bit to make sure that no traces of makeup left. Afterwards, I wash my face. 

Facial wash is the part of my skincare which I experiment on frequently because that’s the part which I know will least irritate my skin unlike trying on new serum or moisturizer. Unfortunately, up until now, I haven’t found my HG facial wash. I need something that I can feel that my face is squeaky clean when I wash it but without drying it after wash. You know that dry almost chalky feeling on your face after you wash it? Well, me no likey those kinds of facial wash. This is my first time using The Body Shop. I chose it because it is aimed for sensitive skin, so my thought it will not make my skin dry. It actually not, yeayyy!! When you press the pump, the foam will come out and usually I use 2 pumps for my face and my neck area.

You might ask why I dont just use LRP then? Before this variant, I tried the Toleriane line which the after wash effect is making my skin a tad dry, so I decided to get the more moisturizing one and the SA recommended me this line. I would say this cleanser is more like Cetaphil Daily Cleanser. The texture is the same and has no fragrance as well. I’m not saying that it doesn’t clean well, it’s just I don’t get that clean feeling washing my face with it, just like what I experienced with Cetaphil. Yes, it did not make my skin dry but I just don’t feel clean, if you know what I mean. So, I decided it will be best to use it in the morning for the non makeup face.

Toning and Prepping

SK II Facial Clear Lotion

SK II Facial Treatment Essence

As you can see in the picture, my skincare line consists of many SK II products. I have been using them for around 4 years and find it a trustworthy product, that’s why it’s hard for me to experiment with other skincare brands. 

I think I don’t need to explain a lot about these 2 products especially because many of you would know how it works. After cleansing my face, I would tone it with the clear lotion and continue with the Facial Treatment Essence aka The Miracle Water. I used to spritz it using an atomizer but then decided to just pour it on my palms and then pat it to my face and neck. It’s a bit plentiful but my skin feel so hydrated after I do it hence the result is better on me. Some people say that you can use it as a face mask or to compress your acne to clam it down, but I never tried those, so I cannot comment on that.

Serum and Moisturizer (See picture above)

SK II Cellumination Essence EX

SK II Stempower

SK II Cellumination Day Surge UV SPF 30+++

A line up of SK II products waiting after the skin is prepped. The Cellumination Essence EX goes first. This serum has been my HG for achieving that glowy smooth skin texture. No more dull face whne you’re friends with this serum. It brightens and evens out your skintone, giving a supple glowing from within skin. This is the previous version before they launched the Cellumination Aura Essence just a while ago. 

As for moisturizer, I use two different kind for day and night. I am very happy that SK II launched Cellumination Day Surge UV SPF 30+++ to complete its Cellumination range, so without hesitating, I changed my Cellumination Deep Surge EX moisturizer with this one. In my opinion, it is the perfect day moisturizer for it contains broad sun protection spectrum compare to the Deep Surge (it has no sun protection) yet it doesn’t feel too heavy on your skin for daytime use. The texture is just a bit stickier than the first, but its fine by me. 

Anti aging product is essential to use as soon as you feel, well.. aging. I think the ideal time to start investing on your anti aging skin care is when you’re 25. Usually you’re also in the age where budget is not so tight anymore so you definitely can afford the “advance” skin care line. If you’re now more than 25 years old, fear not, but you better start browse and googling which anti aging products that can accommodate your skin issues. Better late than never, yes? The phrase aging gracefully is not without a work you know ;)

2 years ago I discovered SK II Stempower moisturizer. Attracted to its promise that it will enhance the ability to renew itself and makes the skin look firmer, I purchased it. It also mentioned that it will tighten the pores too. I love this red jar a lot and the texture is actually pretty light so you can use it for day time moisturizer. But I use it as my night time moisturizer because it doesn’t contain any SPF and I believe that an anti aging product works better at night when we are sleeping. After application you will feel your skin smoother and it is firmer in the morning after. SK II also has the Stempower Essence, an anti aging serum to be applied before the moisturizer. Experiencing satisfaction with the moisturizer, automatically when it launched, I want to complete my anti aging line with the serum, but unfortunately the ingredients in the Stempower Essence is a bit rich for me. My usually free of zits face got visitors. Even though that the zit came one after the other one’s gone, still I felt that something was not right, so I stopped the serum application and my skin went back to normal. Considering that the serum is too rich for my skin, I gave it to my mom who is in her 50s. As it turned out, my mom loves it to bits because she found it helps with her aging skin. So you might want to try it first for at least a week to see if the serum works well for you. 

Sun Protection

Ettusais UV Block Base SPF50+ PA++++

When I am out and about, I would add more sun protection to protect my skin better. Currently, I am using Ettusais UV Block Base SPF50+ PA++++. The texture is a bit thick but it is still easy to spread on your skin and my skin absorbed it pretty well too. I love the scent of it which I would say a bit herbal-ish similar to tea tree scent even though it said that its fragrances free. I also have other sunscreen sample from Lancome and Shu Uemura, but let’s talk about it more on a different post.

Exfoliation

Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant (Salicylic Acid)

This is my HG liquid exfoliant! Found out about it recently and I would say it’s a must have product in your skincare arsenal. This exfoliant claims to shrink enlarged pores due to its ability to exfoliate skin’s surface and the inside the pore, leaving the skin surface smooth, unclogged pores, and improving skin’s turnover rate. I love what it did to my skin, it really shrinks my pores because it cleans my pores well and my skin texture also feel smoother. The direction is to use it daily but I only use it 2 times a week. At first you may use it 3 times a week, but after you see that your skin condition improving, you might want to reduce the frequency because too much exfoliation will not give you better result. Don’t forget to use sunscreen every time you go out of the house because BHA usage leads to more sensitive skin towards the sun exposure. You only need a small amount of it so this is a good investment because one bottle will last you for quite a while.

Booster

SK II Facial Treatment Repair C

SK II Whitening Spots Specialist

Sometimes, our skin needs more that the usual regime. I call it skin booster. My go to skin booster are SK II Facial Treatment Repair C and SK II Whitening Spot Specialist. I usually put on the Repair C 2 times a week to increase my skin’s moisture level and to improve the texture. I use it before the moisturizer at night and the next morning my skin felt so supple and smooth, plumped but not puffy, ready for the day. It also claims to reduce the appearance of fine lines but that is something that I haven’t really noticed.

SK II Whitening Spots Specialist comes to the rescue when I feel my skin tone is dull. It will give me brighter complexion within a week or two. Brightening or whitening products can dry up your skin, so I usually use it before my moisturizer at night so I can slap on extra moisturizer to keep my skin hydrated, something I cannot do on daytime. Hopefully this product can also help me in reducing the appearance of skin pigmentation or spots. 

Well, that’s my skincare regime on a daily basis. Hope my sharing can help to give some insight for you in terms of picking the right skin care that suits you. So far, I’m pretty happy with my regime result. I will update you again if I decided to change it. Thank you for reading my quite lengthy post.

Toodles,

Stef