Skincare by Moonlight: 2019

Did you know I only have one face? My cleansers stash doesn't know that.

It's been ages since I truly updated this blog and would like to ~~briefly~~ (ha, no) outline my current routine. I've been trying to keep my routine fairly stable because it is the only way to test if products really work. That said, I am nowhere near as rigorous as some so please take my results with a hefty dose of skepticism.

In the morning I cleanse with a swipe of KEEP COOL Soothe Water (gifted by the brand) on a pad, while in the evening I double cleanse with either DHC Deep Cleansing Oil or The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Rich Cleansing Oil (gifted by a close friend). Sometimes, I mix a pump of each of those oils because they combine to make a long-lasting grits-busting facial massage oil cleanse. For my second step of double cleansing, I use either COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser or Hada Labo Gokujyun Foaming Face Wash. When I am feeling tired and lazy I skip oil cleansing and just wipe my face with cleansing water before using my second cleanser. In the picture above you will see a lot more products than what I have listed here. That is because most of the images in this blog update are doing double duty as part of the #ABnewyearstashchallenge over on Instagram. Some of the cleansers are unopened, some of them have been pH tested and then given away to Glowies with less sensitive skin, and some, like the Nooni Snowflake Stick Cleanser are so close to being finished that I'm only using it as a convenient travel cleanser.

My toner stash and a lovely chunk of my favourite gem; dioptase

I use a plethora of toners after cleansing because I have a serious skincare boner for toners. Toner boner, ha! Typically, I splash the toner onto my palm, spread it across both palms, and then rub/pat it into my skin. Occasionally I use a pad to swipe the toner on but that is pretty rare for me. So what do I use and in what order? We-ell, lemme tell you!

Skinfood Tea Tree Clearing Toner - mildly astringent, alcohol-free, watery and absorbs nearly instantly, it appears to assist my other acne-fighting products
Hada Labo Gokujyun Lotion Moist - packed full of glycerin and different types of hyaluronic acid, very hydrating, somewhat thick and sticky, a routine staple for me
KEEP COOL Soothe Toner (gifted by the brand) - lighter than Hada Labo but still very hydrating, it cuts the stickiness caused by the Hada Labo
Mebika Moist Lotion - full of ceramides and different forms or rice bran, it can cause stickiness and oiliness if used for the 7 skin method, 1 layer helps to keep my skin hydrated while my serums have time to work
Eleven Huesday Deeply Control Balancing Toner (gifted by Korean Kiwi Beauty) - this is just a wee mini-size bottle that won't be in my routine long enough to evaluate it fully, but this toner appears to split the difference between exfoliating and hydrating.

Now onto serums! I am super interested in the idea of skincare 'actives' that are not acids or retinoids, although I love those too. All the serums that I have tried to date have much slower, and more subtle effects than the more powerful actives I use. Initially, I was disheartened by this lack of visible progress and I began to give up on the category of serums as a whole. Thankfully, I have implemented a new serum testing process that shows measurable results.

I'm From Ginseng Serum - this is one of the serums that I felt wasn't doing anything at all so I shoved it to the back of my skincare shelf for several months. Recently I have begun using it again as just a single drop swiped over the deep line that runs horizontally across my forehead. I'm keeping an eye out for changes but I don't expect to see anything for at least a month.
TMYS 01 Iconic Brightening Essence (gifted by the brand) - at first I thought this serum was useless too. I figured that it was going to be all hype and nothing more, but I was proven very, very, wrong. I place this on 6 specific points on my face and carefully make sure not to spread away from those places. Because of this method I can see a distinct line of brightening in each area of application. It took one month before I noticed any changes but now they are obvious even to the untrained eye.
Eleven Huesday Anti-Stress Recover Serum (gifted by Korean Kiwi Beauty) - I am absolutely blown away by this product. I saw initial results within a week!! I use only one drop that is spread across both of my cheek bones and nose because these are the areas with some of my most persistent acne, bumps, irritation, and redness. This serum deserves its own post so I will say no more for now.

You may have noticed that I touched on actives without actually placing them within my routine. This is because I am reevaluating which actives I use and when I should be using them. Actives that I tend to use before toners are The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution, COSRX BHA Blackhead Power Liquid and/or The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% Solution (blog post here). I also use The Ordinary Retinol 0.5% in Squalane, but I usually apply that near the end of my routine. It is nearly empty and so I will be opening the 1% retinol bottle next.

After my serums have had a few moments of uninterrupted rest on my skin I like to follow up with products that go over my whole face and neck. Also, now is when I use eye creams generally, and didn't I say my routines tend to be a bit extra? What I actually meant was that my routines are extra AF! To me, my routines feel normal and not overly long but when I type it all out I realize that I have written an essay.

So, eye creams. I need to write a separate blog post about them too because I have been running a year-long eye cream experiment complete with progress pictures. In short, I use one eye cream on my right side and another on my left side, then after two months I switch the sides. The eye creams I am using this minute are Swanicoco Biologia Fermentation Care Eye Cream and Elizavecca Gold CF-Nest White Bomb Eye Cream. I am diligent about making sure I apply eye creams regularly in order to maintain the integrity of my eye cream experiment, but I do fudge with their placement in my routine. Sometimes I apply them immediately after serums but before full-face treatments, and other times they go before my final creams. Occasionally, I apply them last of all (but only when I forget to use them earlier).

The skincare community is so wonderful that we now mail sheet masks and hand written letters to one another.

Now we get to full-face treatments! This is when I use Scinic Honey All In One Ampoule (blog post here), and/or a sheet mask. I sometimes use my sheet masks after just one layer of toner, or after toners but before serums, or after the serums have had a wait-time but before other full-face treatments, or after full face treatments but before creams, or... You get the idea, I get sheetfaced whenever I damn well please.

Another type of product that I love to use before creams are gels and emulsions. I have several open and I typically only use one per routine so these generally aren't layered over one another. I generally, but not always, use these post sheet-masking:

Hanyul Pure Artemisia Watery Calming Gel
Benton Goodbye Redness Centella Gel (see a full review and a comparison with the Hanyul Calming Gel here)
Hanyul Pure Artemisia Watery Calming Fluid

My stash of creams is rather over the top admittedly

Since we are back to creams, let's finish up my routine outline now. After the gels have absorbed I apply a layer of Cerave Moisturizing Lotion or its store-brand dupe; Life Brand Moisturizing Lotion. I have several creams open at this moment but I don't use them in every routine. I'll give each one a little summary:

KEEP COOL SHINE CREAM - tone-up cream that I consider to be more of a makeup item than a skincare product. I don't use this almost at all. All Keep Cool products shown here were gifted to me by the brand.
KEEP COOL OCEAN CREAM - imagine if the famous Laneige Water Sleeping Mask actually smelled good and came in a better packaging format. I genuinely love this one!
KEEP COOL SOOTHE CREAM - a fully mousse textured cream that soothes redness and absorbs into skin weightlessly. Lovely, but too light for harsh, dry winter weather.
Eleven Huesday PHA Refining V. Ceramide Cream - I'm in the middle of testing a batch of Eleven Huesday products, all of which were gifted to me by Korean Kiwi Beauty. This cream sits halfway into the category of 'actives' and I'm still figuring it out.
LadyKin Affinitic Snail Cream - newly opened because I have no other snail in my routine and I haven't for some time. I'm hoping for a hydration boost when I use it before applying my Cerave Moisturizing Lotion.

At this point is when I would apply facial oils, or The Ordinary Retinol 0.5% in Squalane. Of course, that is for the evening routine only because during the day time I often drastically cut back on the number and type of products I use. My day time routine concludes with the application of sunscreen and my evening routine concludes with a sleeping pack. Respectively those are Secret Key Thanakha Mild Sun Cream SPF47 PA+++, and COSRX Ultimate Nourishing Rice Overnight Spa Mask.

Masks and Morganite

I use two different lip sleeping masks as well because once again; I am extra AF. The Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask is overhyped and underwhelming. It's a decently nice berry-scented lip balm with a big big price tag. I love the Aritaum Overnight Lip Mask because it actually lasts all night. It's sticky and highly occlusive and my lips have never been happier.

So there you have it! A huge overview of my routine and products and more information than anyone ever needs! If you actually read this far you are truly a knight and a scholar and a Glowie (^‿^)

January 29, 2019 4 comments

Benton Goodbye Redness Centella Gel and Mask Pack

It seems strange to me that I am reviving this dormant blog for what is essentially a sponsored review. However, I frequently butt up against the character limits imposed by Instagram and that frustrates me to no end. I guess micro-format blogging doesn't suit me well :)

Benton sent me their latest product; Goodbye Redness Centella Gel, for the purpose of review. Due to the nature of gifted products, this review is coming out a bit earlier than I usually prefer. Therefore, I will consider this as a thorough first-impression review and then do a longer term updated review in the future. I generally need to have used at least half the product before I truly know how it works for me.

There are some key points that Benton emphasizes about their new product; one of which is that the word "redness" in the title of the product is meant to encompass "skin concerns, irritated skin, blemishes, and uneven skin tone". Benton states that their gel:

"contains more than 80% of natural Centella Asiatica ingredients harvested in Korea."
"allows instant nourishment and hydration while actively soothing irritated skin to help skin become healthy and clear."
"does not have oily ingredients and instead, Chamaecyparis Obtusa Water, Houttuynia Cordata Extract, and other botanical hydrating ingredients."
"[allows] consumers of all skin types, including people that tend to stay away from oily products, to use without discomfort." And also "consumers with dry skin can use the gel before applying cream to maintain oil-water balance."
"contains Centella Asiatica Extract harvested from eco-friendly Korean plantations, which is good for soothing, protecting, and healing the skin."
"is free of artificial fragrance, volatile alcohol, PEGs, and other harmful ingredients."

Centella Asiatica was definitely the star ingredient of 2018! This skincare darling has been making appearances in nearly every brands's product line up, across every price-point. So why is Centella so hot right now? Let's take a closer look at it!

Zoolander reference because I'm super old now, apparently

Centella Asiatica is known as Gotu Kola in India and Sri Lanka, Yomogi in Japan, Ssuk in Korea, Huanghua Ai in China, and Cica in France. Cica is a shortening of the word 'cicatrice' which is French for 'scar' because French pharmacy skincare brands were the first to internationally popularize the use of Centella Asiatica for the treatment of scars. They were not the first to use Centella though, and credit for knowledge of its medicinal uses belongs to India and China.

Centella also has a charming story to help back its popularity. To quote Benton once again: "Centella Asiatica is also known as Tiger Grass because it is said that tigers lie down in Centella Asiatica grass after getting wounded and their wounds would heal after being in contact with the grass. It is also known that the herb is used to cure skin diseases, used as remedies, and [as a medicinal plant] in parts of India. Centella Asiatica is used as the main ingredient in many ointments because of its famous skin soothing and healing properties."

Western Medicine doesn't have a lot of studies to back up the efficacy and use of Centella Asiatica, but there appears to be a fair amount of research and writing about it from non-English sources. Like most plant extracts, it is the components inside that do most of the heavy lifting. The active components of Centella Asiatica are madecassoid, madecassic acid, asiaticoside, and asiatic acid. It is important to note that plants are not consistent in the amount and types of active components that they produce due to things like soil quality, water quality, harvesting technique, and extraction technique. By sourcing their Centella from one specific location, Benton is doing their best to maintain a consistent level of active components.

The megaphone and the little bump caricature are.. something

I have been using the Centella Gel on my face since December 26, 2018. I typically apply it during both my morning and evening routines, after my serums but before my creams. My routines tend to be a bit extra so I was able to incorporate the gel without disrupting my other products. Speaking of which, my very first impression of the Goodbye Redness Centella Gel is that it plays nice with other products. I have not experienced any pilling or difficulty in layering the gel with any of my other skincare steps.

I've goofed around with its placement in my routine just for the sake of experimentation but in general I prefer to use Benton Goodbye Redness Centella Gel post-serums and sheet masking. I already had a gel in my routine; the beloved HG-status Hanyul Pure Artemisia Watery Calming Gel. In this review I will compare them against each other.

I have used, emptied, repurchased, and gifted to friends and family, whole 250mL tubs of Hanyul Pure Artemisia Watery Calming Gel. When I was selected to review Benton's new gel I thought to myself that there way NO WAY it could ever usurp my beloved Hanyul. After using them side by side for two weeks, I can maybe admit that Benton is giving my beloved a run for its money.

Speaking of money, let's talk about cost: the price for Benton's 100mL tube ranges between $16-20 USD. I have paid anywhere from $15-25 USD for the 250mL tub of Hanyul depending on where it is being stocked. That gives us a comparative cost of $0.20 USD per mL of Benton versus $0.10 USD per mL of Hanyul. So the Hanyul is literally half the cost! However, the Hanyul gel can be a little harder to get reliably outside of Korea. Being an Amore Pacific brand, Hanyul is dead easy to get in Korea, but I live in Canada so I must rely on various online retailers to fulfill my needs. Benton also needs to be purchased online, but due to their prolific presence on the sites of English-speaking retailers, they are very easy to get. Benton even has their own eBay store which makes things extra easy to access.

See? So many jars of Hanyul!

The next easiest talking point is packaging. Benton's tube format is much more hygenic and portable than the huge tub of Hanyul Pure Artemisia Watery Calming Gel. I have considered decanting the Hanyul into a tube for easier portability but I absolutely love the *poof* of fragrance that I get every time I dig in to the jar. Benton Goodbye Redness Calming Gel is unfragranced and has no detectable scent to me. For folks bothered by fragrance, this is a huge boon.

Naturally, the ingredients of both gels are extremely different because they feature different star ingredients. For Benton, Centella is the star as well as the darling skincare ingredient of 2018. Let's get into Benton's ingredients:

Centella Asiatica Extract (80%), Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol (Ecocert), Arginine, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Gluconate, Chamaecyparis Obtusa Water, Propanediol, Butylene Glycol, Enantia Chlorantha Bark Extract, Oleanolic Acid, 1,2-Hexanediol, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Houttuynia Cordata Extract, Asiatic Acid, Madecassic Acid, Asiaticoside, Madecassoside, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Hydrogenated phosphatidylcholine, Sucrose Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol

[EDIT JANUARY 12, 2019 - Benton has additional information on their dermatological testing that I missed earlier. My bad, guys. My bad]

They provide a n-value!

Benton claims that they have had their gel tested dermatologically and that it has an irritation value of 0.00 (non-irritating). To be perfectly frank, I don't know what that means. Is there a standardized irritation patch test used in dermatology and cosmetics, and is there a certification/validation process? I don't know. In my personal experience, ingredients that are non-irritating to some are highly irritating to me. I'm looking at YOU lanolin. Nothing in Benton's ingredient list is irritating to my skin but you need to check and test for your own personal sensitivities.

For me, this gel feels very cooling and soothing. I like that the cooling sensation lasts and that it isn't due to the addition of menthol or mint oils. I really do feel like this Centella Gel gently lowers the surface temperature of my skin, which is often overheated. I think that excessive heat and irritation causes inflammation and acne along my cheeks so I love that this gel works to soothe my skin. The Goodbye Redness Centella Gel is also quite hydrating. I think that if you live in a humid climate, or if you have very oily skin, you will be able to use this as your final moisturizer. I live in a very dry, very windy climate so I need heavier occlusive layers to hold my hydration in. Nonetheless, I can remain comfortable for some time with just the gel on my skin before I apply my creams.

Before & After, separated by about 15 minutes and a slightly different camera angle

I attempted to take before and after pictures, as you can see. It was difficult to really see the difference at first until I was extremely zoomed in, and even then the difference can perhaps be attributed to slightly different lighting. When Benton says "Goodbye Redness" I do believe them but not in an immediate redness-reducing way. It's more that soothed skin is less red overall than flushed, hot, or irritated skin. And actually, my skin is better right now than it ever has been since my early teenage years. Perhaps if my skin was more irritated (no thanks) then the immediate difference would be much more visible. In any case, my skin has been feeling good lately and this gel may be playing a part in that.

So would I recommend buying it? Yes, I would.

If you like the ingredients and you want to add a gel to your routine, then go for it! The tube packaging and the easy accessibility make Benton Goodbye Redness Centella Gel a good choice for both experienced skincare buyers and k-beauty newbies alike. Therefore I rate this as a 4/5

4/5 - I like it. I would strongly consider purchasing it again or even gifting it to a loved one

To see how I create my rating, click here.

As of right now the Hanyul Pure Artemisia Watery Calming Gel is still my favourite gel moisturizer, however I need more time with the Benton Centella Gel in my routine before I make a final judgement. I am experimenting with using the Centella Gel around my eyes before eye cream and I feel comfortable doing so because of the gentle ingredients and lack of fragrance. If it can work nicely with both the sensitive skin around my eyes and help my eye creams to work better then I will let the world know!

January 08, 2019 No comments

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