The 7 Day Sheet Mask Challenge

After much contemplation, I decided to join the 7 day sheet mask challenge. I will update my day to day progress here, while I will also review the selected mask daily (the ones I haven't reviewed yet, ofc). I'm still contemplating whether I will post my daily pic, but in case I want to do it later, I have my before pic in hand.

 
I will use the mask every night before bed. As I'm not sure what sheet mask my hand will use tonight, I'll update you ASAP.

Ciao!

Skin Care Routine

A couple years ago I was really into the multisteps K-skincare routine (read more on SokoGlam by Charlotte Cho and Peach & Lily by Alicia Yoon). If my memory serves me right, I had about 12 steps at that time. Then things happened and I couldn't continue to do so.

As of now, my only skin care routine consists of:

• daily facial wash with Garnier Sakura White Foam,
• sheet mask (was very rare during the last 1,5 years but a bit more routine since I started this blog),
• and BB cream (I use BB cream from UniHealth called U-Claire, but not daily. Not intentionally, but mostly out of forgetfulness). 

My facial wash

My BB cream

I know, I know, I was being ungrateful to my skin, so from today onward (actually it's night time here) I pledge to use my BB cream daily. I feel like I've gained momentum from since started this blog, so I will ease my way into them once again. 

Here's the plan. For the next 7 days I will use my facial wash twice daily (at morning shower and before bed). I will also use my BB cream daily, every morning before I go to work. During this period I will also start my 7 days sheet mask challenge as now I've fell in love with sheet mask once again (actually I never really out of love with it, we just grew apart :P). I'm gonna use them before I go to sleep.

Why the 7 days period? Only because I want to see the effect first, in term of allergic reaction. My skin is really sensitive that products that I've consistently used in the past might not work now after a prolonged period without them.

After each 7 days period I will add one product until I have the perfect routine in terms of what my skin needs, availability (including budget), and time.
  
I know it's minimalistic, but, hey, it's only the start. I want to live my 30s life gracefully. And as a part of that, I want to be a responsible and accountable adult.

Review: Celebon Cucumber Collagen Essence Mask

I have a bout of common cold (due to excessive workload and sleep deprivation) and early stage of acute sinusitis for days now. I suspect that I have dehydration because my lips are chapped for a couple days already.  This noon I was surprise of how my skin looked like. There was a very visible line on my forehead when I raised my eyebrow (other than my scar from childhood). I thought that it's a cue for me to use the sheet mask.

Once again I randomly picked a sheet mask from my fridge, and it turned out to be the cucumber variant of Celebon. It claims to give convergence, moisturizing, and soothing effects. I don't even know what a convergence effect on skin is. A quick consultation to Google didn't tell much, but Junjun guessed that it might mean evening out skin tone.
 

I bought this one from Century pharmacy for IDR 16,500+ (on 25% discount) earlier this month. It was made in Korea. Just like the green tea variant (review here), the package also include a member of Gfriend at the front. Her name is Sowon (as mentioned on the package). Here's what the package (and Sowon) looks like.

The mask is made from the usual cotton cloth although I think it's a little bit thicker than other brand that I've used so far. It was easy to put on my face and stayed there until I took it off, unlike my previous experience with another mask (detailed here). I was in upright positions, be it sitting or standing, almost the entire time and it stayed there.
 

It covered most of my face nicely, just like the green tea variant. Well, I guess they use the same template since they're from the same brand. 

I don't smell any scent from this variant, eventhough I suspected that it has cucumber scent since the green tea variant has the same scent as its name. I guess it was due to my rhinosinusitis which makes my nose get hyposensitive to any smell right now. I might have to confirm this suspicion next time. 

I'm not sure how long I used it, but it definitely was longer than the suggested time (15-30 minutes). It was refreshing the whole time though, and I don't think the fact that used it almost immediately after I took it out of my fridge matters much because, well, the refreshing feeling lasted the whole time, not just at the beginning. Unlike the green tea variant, I didn't get any itchiness even when it's about to dry. After the application, I tried to squeeze the sheet and got around two drops of serum, which I applied back to my face. I also squeezed the leftover serum from the package and patted it on my face, neck, and palms 2 times.  

I'm happy with the result. I use Face Age Recognition Scanner from AT apps (it has 3.2 stars on Google play) to check the result (Click here for more info on why I'm no longer use the built-in-age detector of my phone cam). Prior to applying the mask, it said I look 30 (my original age). After that? Well, I'm proud to say that according to the app I look 26. Not bad. Two hours later, I still feel the moisture on my skin. The previous visible line on my forehead gets soften a bit. Maybe with consistent use it will really make it invisible. 

 

Ingredients: water, glycerin, butylene glycol, Cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit extract, hydrolized collagen, Aloe barbadensis leaf juice, Portulaca oleracea extract, beta-glucan, panthenol, tocopheryl acetate, polysorbate 80, disodium EDTA, xanthan gum, methylparaben, fragrance.

Verdict: will buy it again.

The Reason I'm no Longer Using Built-in-Age-Detector Function of My Cellphone Camera

I bought a new cellphone, the cheap Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 earlier last month. For the first week, I was really into adjusting with this cellphone and exploring many functions (I was a Symbian user turned Blackberry user turned Samsung android user before) that I stumbled upon the age detection function of the camera and of course I was having fun with it for weeks that I even use it for mask reviews (here and here).

That was until I realized that to detect age and gender, the Beautify function of the phone should be turned on (it was on by default in the Low setting as far as I can remember). For the sake of fairness, I have then decided not to use it any longer, hence the no review period. Plus, it doesn't really give stable detection, hence the age range that I used before.

I found this android app, Face Age Recognition Scanner by AT apps, on Google Play the other day. Since it has mostly good reviews there, I reckon I can use it for the next reviews, that is until I have time (which will be coming soon since I'll head back hometown for vacation. Yay!) to set my own sheet mask review parameters as a supplement for the narratives.

Have good day and may you guys enjoy my blog more.

Review: Celebon Green Tea Collagen Essence Mask

Yup, another face mask review. Well, the last view weeks are kinda busy weeks, most nights I only got 3-4 hours of sleep so I think I need the help of face masks to help me look fresh. This time I tried the green tea variant of Celebon. There's no specific reason really, I was just randomly picking it from my fridge. The package claims that the mask is good for firming, moisturizing, and health. But beware, the package actually says that this mask should be kept at room temp. Sigh. Too late for me. And I also don't have the will to get its "sisters" out of my fridge now. Plus I've seen on variety shows that there are Koreans and Japanese that kept their face masks in the fridge. I'll try to find the scientific reasoning behind the appropriate storage condition when I have time. :D

I bought this one from Century pharmacy for IDR 16,500+ (on 25% discount). Or was it buy 2 get 1 free with original price around IDR 25,000+ from Guardian pharmacy? Sorry, I can't remember this one, because aside from recent purchase earlier this month from Century, I also bought several variants in May from Guardian.

It was made in Korea. I'm sure you've guess that from the hangul on the pic and the lady. Actually I'm not sure who she is, my sis said that she's a famous girlband member but for the love of God I can't recall her name and I'm too lazy to look at the trash. Anyway, Mr. Google told me that her name is SinB from Gfriend (yep, that's the girlgroup's name). I'm not really a fan of Kpop and my Kpop personas knowledge are very limited and usually based on the frequency of the said person's appearance on selected variety shows that I follow.

The mask is made from the usual fabric although I think it's a little bit thicker. It was easy to put on my face and stayed there until I took it off, unlike my previous experience with another mask (click here to read the detail). I even rolled left and right on my bed while the mask stayed still.

                                                            
It covered most of my face nicely. The upper edge was very near to my hairline, maybe only a few millimeters left. The side edge only left about 1 cm uncovered in front of my ears. The part that was supposed to cover my cupid bow did its job well. The minor shortcomings maybe that it couldn't cover the whole length of my nose (about 1+ cm from the tip of my nose stayed uncovered) and the lip hole was D-shaped, so maybe it will be more suitable with people with ascended lip corners (like Kim Soohyun) but less suitable for people with descended lip corners like me (and Song Joongki <3<3). Well, anyway, it only covered some tiny bit of my lip corners, so no biggie. Ah, another thing! The chin part is quite lengthy that I could fold it so that my submandibular area also got all the goodness juice.

This mask is perfumed with green tea scent. It was very soft though, and I adapted to the scent quickly. Midway of application I couldn't smell it already. Plus I like green tea scent, so the fact that I could smell the scent at the start did not bug me. 

I use this for a little over an hour (maybe 2 minutes?) although the package suggests to use this 15-30 minutes. When it was getting dry, I got some kind of minor itchiness on my face, but I usually feel that with this kind of fabric plus I never get redness afterward. After the application, I used the leftover serum on my face, neck, cleavage, and both sides of palms 2-3 times. I then squeezed the package real hard (yea, I'm kinda frugal) and got enough to use it on my forearms.

The result? I'm delighted with the result. Well, tell you what, my phone cam recognise me as 21-24 y.o. female, compared to 22-27 y.o. before application (right after I washed and dried my face). Two hours later, I still feel the moisture on my skin. Moreover, it kind of help in "hiding" my atropic stitch scar on the forehead. But I don't see any visible brightening effect from this variant.

 

Ingredients: water, glycerin, butylene glycol, Camellia sinensis (green tea) leaf extract, hydrolized collagen, Aloe barbadensis leaf juice, Portulaca oleracea extract, beta-glucan, panthenol, tocopheryl acetate, polysorbate 80, disodium EDTA, xanthan gum, methylparaben, fragrance.

Verdict: will buy it again.

Review: Esene Face Mask

Tonight, a little over midnight, I feel the urge to use face mask after binging on K-variety shows and got overly jealous of their skin, especially those of my age and beyond. Even with HDTV, I can barely see any fine lines on their faces. Sigh. I envy you guys.

Fortunately I splurged on some instant face masks (or face packs as some would say) earlier this month, and I've kept them in the fridge for a week, so why not. I bet it'd be cool and refreshing.

Anyway, here's the product that I tried: Esene face mask gold variant. I bought this one from Century pharmacy for IDR 16,500+ (after 30% discount). It was made in PRC.

 

Looking good, right? My thought exactly, so I tore the package and to my surprise it's really slippery with jelly like consistency and I found it hard to put on my face while in upright position. Gravity and slipperiness are not suitable for each other this time.

On top of that, it didn't fit for my face. The forehead part were too short that it stayed 2 cm under my hairline. When I tried to bring it up, my eyes should stay close, but in the original position, the part that was supposed to cover the cupid bow covered my lip instead. The arcus of eyes and lips didn't help either because they're much less curved than other brands. Mind you, I don't have big eyes or thick lips and other brands like nuface or celebon are fine for me, but I don't think me and Esene are made for each other. Maybe if you have very small or single-lidded eyes or thin lips Esene will be nicely fit you (not very sure though), but in my case I had to tear each corner a bit. Aside from that, the chin part fit my chin perfectly.

This mask is perfumed. It was a soft floral tone (I think it's rose) and it didn't go away for the whole period when the mask was on my face (50+ minutes, the package stated to put on the mask for 15 in text instruction but 30 minutes in the image actually). The problem is I like my face packs non perfumed and even if it was, I like it to go away quickly because it can get uncomfortable for me. I'm not really a fan of rose fragrance.

Originally the sheet was thick but after 30 minutes it became less thick. I hope my skin absorbed all the goodness in it because after about 50 minutes of using it my face looked brighter that even my phone cam recognise me as 21-22 y.o. female (it was 22-23 y.o. just prior to using this). Then again, the effect of glitter might play some part (yes, the mask is glittery. I feel like I was a Cullen for a sec :D).

The plus side is, the leftover serum is plenty. I patted some on my neck and face that wasn't covered by the mask, 2 cm below hairline and 3+ cm in front of both ears, and still have this much. I keep it in the bottle atm. I think I'll use the leftover serum later. :P

Ingredients: aqua, betaine, carbomer, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol, PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil, potassium hydroxide, fragrance.

Verdict: won't buy it again.

Welcome!

I made this blog to start fresh, not only in blogging things, but also in life. Like everybody else, I've encountered many things in life and I have my take on things, which may or may not be important for another but sure are important to me. Nevertheless, I'd like to write them down as a reminder for me (maybe my own pensieve?) and share them to the world in hope that they will somewhat be useful for someone out there, including you, dear reader. :)

I guess this is it for the welcome post. I hope you enjoy my articles. And since I'm not an English native, please be easy on me.

Cheers!

ps: If you're looking for the old blog with the same URL (It's me!!!), then I'm very sorry to tell you that I've took them down forever. I hope you get the same enjoyment from this new one, if not more. :)