Skincare Advisor

Gua Sha massages have become one of my most useful skincare and self-care habits in the past year. It’s help me with reducing puffy eyes/face in the morning, ease tension headaches and my skin always look glowing after doing it! 🙌🏼😌

I got interested in doing facial massages from learning about how beneficial lymphatic massages were for our health. 🧐

In short, the lymphatic system is part of the body’s immune system and it is the body’s “toxin super highway”. 🛣️ It gets rid of waste produced by cells and moves fluid from tissues into the blood circulation to channel them away. 🏃🏻‍♀️

We can help this system work more effectively to channel fluids from our facial muscles by doing this massage with a gua cha tool or your fingers. 😇 It reduces excess water retention in the face and provides more “sculpted” look by taking away the puffiness.

Understanding this explained so much to me about why I sometimes get puffy eyes in the morning as our blood flow is sluggish during sleep. 😴

And I combine this massage with my skincare routine which makes it such a pleasure. 😍

You can use a facial oil for this massage too but I prefer using snail mucin. 🧖🏻‍♀️🐌 It provides the ideal slipperiness while being hydrating! 2 birds with 1 stone. 🕊️ 🕊️🪨

I haven’t heard lymphatic massages discussed much in the skincare community. Did you know much about it? Did you find it interesting to learn about it? 😊 🔊

*Products featured:
Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence which can be purchased from . I love getting all my Korean skincare there as they have low/no shipping fees and provide customs fee refunds too! Use my code SKINLOVE5 for more discounts and to support my page.

Focusing on hydration was the single best thing I have done to improve the condition my skin. This is especially important for acne-prone skin and masking is one of the best way of boosting hydration instantly. 😍

When I focused my skincare on hydration, I noticed that my skin is much more resilient to inflammation-led issues (like acne and redness) and my breakouts would leave less scarring too. 🙌🏼🙋🏻‍♀️

For this DIY mask for dehydrated skin, I came up with this is super nourishing combination of “boosters” using some of my favourite ingredients. 🤩 This mask combo is amazing because it doesn’t block pores, while transforming the plumpness of my skin. 🥰

Products I used together:
- 🧖🏻‍♀️ Spa Day Creamy Hydrating Mask from and this is a favourite of mine for over 2 years. It has Saccharide Isomerate which reduces dryness and binds moisture to skin for a healthy glow. And it has Cactus Extract which helps break down this accumulation excess sebum from the pores.
- 🪴 Soothing Aloe Vera Gel from .life which is 96% organic aloe vera and probably one of my most often used products for layering with masks.
- 💧 treatment lotion with 7 types of types of hyaluronic acids and Niacinamide ideal for hydration.
I find that mixing masks is a great way of using products that I didn’t love enough to use every day. 😅 For me, the Rovectin treatment lotion is one of those products that I didn’t love enough to finish. I’ve found such a great use for it! 😊

This combination works so well as it gives my skin a boost of instant hydration that I can see and feel immediately! 😍

Do you have a good way of using products that you don’t finish?

*Self purchased Spa Day Creamy Hydrating Mask & Soothing Aloe Vera Gel
*PR product Doina Snake Chain

A simple way to make your lips soft and smooth for Valentine’s Day or the perfect canvas for long wearing lipstick with this DIY lip mask. And it uses products you already have at home! 😍😙

I’ve recently noticed that my lip products isn’t cutting it for me. 💋 Like our skin, our lips also benefit from hydration and not just occlusives that stop moisture loss (like lip balms). When my lips are so dry that there’s no moisture, petroleum-types of lip balms only locking in the dry, dead skin. 😏

That’s where the organic aloe vera gel 🪴 comes in, to add hydration to my lips and it’s also anti-inflammation - ideal for chapped, sore lips. Combine that with honey which is a natural moisturiser, it makes for a treat for my lips! 🍯

Have you tried adding hydrating products to your lips before? Or am I a weirdo? 😂

Retinol + acne prone skin = purging! 😆 Since I have introduced retinol 2 weeks ago, I am going through some purging with breakouts appearing in my T-zone. 😢

I expected this as I have acne-prone skin. 😅

The tricky thing with retinol purging is that using BHAs for spot treatment will impair my skin barrier further, and cause more skin aggravation. 😩

This is my routine for tackling acne purging which focuses on calming and hydration💦:

1) 🍯Toner: I use propolis as I have found that using it reduces my breakouts. It is anti-bacterial and reduces inflammation, while hydrating my skin.
2) 🌿Serum: I always turn to Centella Asiatica serum as it’s amazing for reducing redness and soothing my skin.
3) 🩹Pimple patch: I prefer to use patches after serum (on dry skin) due to the high concentration of potent ingredients. They generally don’t have oil and won’t affect the stickiness of the patches when applied after serum is fully absorbed.
4) 🧥Protective moisturiser: It’s important to lock the hydration into your skin if you use retinol, as dehydrated skin is more likely to get irritated by it. I love using gel-creams so as not to block my pores.

I am still not sure if adding retinol into my skincare is worth is, especially having to go through purging for acne-prone skin. 🤔 I know it reduces acne and presents wrinkles in the long run, but this purging process annoys me. Haha. No pain no gain? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do you think the benefits of retinol is worth going through the purging? 🧐🔉

*Products used:
Propolis Synergy Toner (*Self-Purchased)
Pro Cica Centella Asiatica Tiger Serum (*PR Product)
Cica Spot Patch (*PR Product)
Propolis B5 Glow Barrier Calming Cream (*PR Product)
AC Fighting Spot RX Cream, BHA-free with niacinamide & zinc
The products in this entire routine can be purchased at , with extra discounts from my code SKNLOVE5 to support my page.

This might be one of the most innovative and practical products I’ve ever added to my routine! 🤩 It turns any water toner/essence, into a serum! 🥳🙌🏼 Mind blown! 🤯

My immediate idea was to use it with my favourite Mugwort Essence. Has anyone else noticed that there’s no serum in the same range? I have found this amazing solution. 🧪👩🏻‍🔬

This Super Hyalon 99% Boosting Capsule is freeze-dried form of Hyaluronic Acid in high purity and Polyglutamic Acid, both hydrating powerhouses. 💦 💦

To get this tiny white ball, the Hyaluronic Acid active ingredient is frozen at -40oC. ❄️Adding it to a toner/essence activates it and melts completely, turning it into serum texture. 🙃

Due to it’s purity, it is suitable for all skin types and perfect for my acne-prone dehydrated skin! 🥛 I am so impressed and I am absolutely loving the fact I can add it to a toner my skin already loves and amp up it’s power! 🔊

What toner would you like to transform into a serum? 😄 🤔

*Products featured:
- Super Hyalon 99% Boosting Capsule (*PR Product)
– Mugwort Essence (*Self-Purchased)
Both can be purchased at , with extra discounts from my code SKNLOVE5.