Organic Skin Care Blog – Product Reviews & Healthy Skin

Happy new year everyone! First post of 2018 and it's an empties post! What better way to start out than by showing you my last set of empties that I've managed to use up in 2017? I figure all these empties officially give me a clear pass to keep hauling and procuring more makeup, skincare and beauty items in 2018! :P


Anyway, like the previous empties post, this round of empties also consists mostly of skincare. I do realize that I tend to use up certain skincare items (lotions, sunscreen, serums, cleansers) much faster than makeup, particularly colour makeup. I guess there's only so much blush a girl can apply before looking like a clown, but you can slather lotion on your face until your skin is basically dripping in liquid, oops. (Not that I haven't done that at all, oh no, not me, I mean, that would be so weird, who does that... *looks away and whistles*)


Last round of empties from 2017: Mostly skincare, especially cleansers
So, without further ado, let's start on part 1 of this round of empties. Today, we'll be looking at the various cleanser and makeup remover products - I figure cleansers (what with washing old skin and makeup away to reveal the new skin underneath) are tangentially related to the new year and thus a suitable way to kick off the empties post!Continue Reading . . .

It's been a while since my last empties post in October last year, and since them, I've accumulated a loooot of empties to show you guys! To be clear though, not alll of these are my empties, there are a few bits and bobs in there that are contributed by my mother and sister, because they do help themselves to some of my skincare products from time to time! I'm happy to let them indulge though, because to be honest, I obviously have way more skincare than I can ever use up!


The products I (with a little help from mum and sis) have used up really run the gamut - every step of the skincare and makeup routine is covered here! But because this would be too long of a post, I've split it up into two. For today, we'll just cover the acne skicare (unfortunately this is all mine, my mum and sis have way better skin than me, sigh), lotions and toners, as well as cleansers and makeup removers.


So, without further ado, let's get started! I'm officially going to cram a bunch of mini-reviews together into this blogpost, so let's hope this doesn't end up being too long!
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Yes it's another empties post! And this post is pretty mega, hence the two-part split. And that's just for skincare - the makeup empties post is a separate post too, to make sure the individual posts aren't too long. So yes, I have indeed been a good girl and using up my products and not wasting them (a perpetual beauty junkie problem it seems)!


Above you can absolutely see the mess of empties, running the gamut from sunscreen to serums. I could probably do all those empties in one sitting, but the post would just be very long. So this time, we'll just be focusing on oil cleansers and makeup removers, normal cleansers, face masks, sunscreen, lotions and toners, and moisturizers! In other words, we'll just be looking at the stuff in the photo today, which is still quite a lot.


Empties: cleanser, makeup remover, lotion, toner, sunscreen, and moisturizer
I realized that quite a few readers seem to like my empties posts (and you can see all of them here) - perhaps, it's because with all my science-y skincare reviews, some readers are curious to know what exactly remains in my stash and gets used up at the end of the day. I suppose the idea here is that if I used up something, then it must be really good! The truth is that it kind of depends - some of these empties I've had for a long, long time, and for various reasons take longer to use up, and some were very quickly made favourites or staples and get used up much faster. As we go through the products, you'll see which is which!
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This is a pretty major empties post, because the last time I blogged about my empties was half a year ago in December last year (it was also a pretty large post, that I split into two parts, part 1 and part 2). This time around, I have even more stuff!


The nice thing about empties is that, for me, using a product up comes with a sense of accomplishment (as in, hey, I actually stuck to something long enough to use it up!) and also a sense of permission (as in, hey, I've used up a lipstick, now I can buy another lipstick)! So for a beauty junkie like me, it's both gratifying and enabling!



Obviously, there's a lot to go through, so without further ado, let's jump right in!
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Cetaphil Oily Skin Cleanser is basically the oily skin version of its famous Gentle Skin Cleanser, and if you've read my previous review on Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, you'll know that I hold it in high regard for being exactly what it says on the bottle - a gentle cleanser suitable for sensitive skin. I've been trying the Oily Skin Cleanser lately, and I'm glad to say, it also lives up to its expectations too!


I've been a diehard user of the original Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser over the years, and the Oily Skin Cleanser was a newer addition to my skincare routine. Like the original Gentle Skin Cleanser, the Oily Skin Cleanser also isn't harsh, and also a pretty good choice for sensitive skin, too. But, there are some differences between the two, which we'll explore in a bit more detail as we move through the review.


Cetaphil Oily Skin Cleanser: Like the Gentle version, it cleanses without being harsh
Of course, we're going to begin this review by looking at the ingredients list, in order to better understand what's in the cleanser and how it works!
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Labo Labo, a subsidiary brand of Dr Ci:Labo, is a Japanese skincare brand, with an emphasis on simple products that give results, driven by science. The brand also believes in minimizing some ingredients that could be perceived as problematic by customers, such as fragrance, colouring, and mineral oil. Recently, they've launched their Labo Labo Super Moist 5H5C skincare range, which is a moisturizing line that also targets the first signs of aging. The Super Moist line consists of the Super Moist W-Washing cleanser, the Super Moist Lotion, the Super Moist Gel, which is basically a lightweight gel moisturizer, and the Super Moist UV Cream, a sunscreen.


As you can tell, the range is pretty much a simple skincare routine unto itself - cleanse, lotion, moistuizer, and sunscreen. You'll notice that there's the tagline "5H x 5C" on the packaging of the products too. That refers to the brand's claim that the products have 5 kinds of hyaluronic acid (Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Acetyl Hyaluronic Acid, Hyaluronic Acid Hydroxypropyltrimonium, Hyaluronic Acid Dimethyl Silanol Hyaluronate, and Sodium Hyaluronate), as well as 5 kinds of collagen (Hydrolyzed Collagen, Water-Soluble Collagen, Succinyl Atelo Collagen, AMPD-Isostearoyl Hydrolyzed Collagen, and Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Collagen).

In addition to collagen and hyaluronic acid, the products also contain EGF (Epidermal Growth Factor, which shows up in the ingredients lists as rh-Oligopeptide-1), which is a kind of protein tht is thought to stimulate cell growth, which could be useful in topical applications, and could potentially be useful in wound healing. There are also 3 types of plant ingredients (Brown Algae, which shows up in the ingredients lists as Eisenia Arborea Extract, Glucosylceramide, and Millet Seed Extracts). So between the plant extracts, proteins, and hyaluronic acid, there's something for everyone in this range!


Labo Labo Super Moist 5H5C Skincare Range: With 5 kinds of collagen, 5 kinds of hyaluronic acid, EGF, and 3 plant ingredients
Collagen, hyaluronic acid, growth factor, and plant extracts - it sounds exciting, doesn't it? And of course, you're probably wondering, wht would this look like in the products, and how would they work? To find out, let's take a closer look! This is going to be a long review, with 4 products to look at in-depth, so I hope you're ready!
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Cetaphil's Gentle Skin Cleanser has been one of my staple products for awhile, but I've just never gotten around to actually doing a proper review until now! I'm sure you've heard of it, unless you've been living under a rock. It's pretty popular as "the cleanser for sensitive skins". One of my roomates back in University (a long, long, long time ago, before this blog was started even!), once commented when she saw the Gentle Skin Cleanser in my skincare stash, "Oh, you're using that! That's the one all the sensitive skin people use!" When you get to that point, you know the product has quite the cult following among its users. It's not just among users though, some of the dermatologists I've been to have also suggested this product as one of the affordable but easily available gentle cleansers for sensitive skin, which is how I started using the product in the first place.


Obviously, as you can tell, I've used the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser since before I even started this blog - and in fact, before I even started University (now that's even longer ago!), and it's still in my beauty stash to this day. There is one sitting right at my sink, in the largest size you can buy, right now. Yet, I've never actually written a proper review on this cleanser, although I did mention in this beauty box review that I've been using Cetaphil for a long time. I put it down to the fact that sometimes, simple everyday products often get less attention than the flashier, newer things, and with new skincare products flooding the market all the time, it's easy to often overlook reviewing the daily staples.


Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser: A famous cleanser that is also one of my personal favourites
Well, not any more! Finally (after years later), I am getting around to giving this a proper review. And as with always, I like to start with the ingredients list, to take a closer look at what's in the product.
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The Face Shop's Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam and Real Nature Mask Rice are some fairly popular products from the brand, and this year, they are banded together as a set for The Face Shop's Christmas 2015 Around The World collection! I have a few items from the Around The World collection, but I thought that I'd split my review of the collection into 2 parts, so that the post wouldn't be too long. In particular, I've noticed that the Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam seems to be quite widely used, so I thought that this set deserved a little more attention on its own!


Although both products are rice-themed, and thus actually quite compatibly packaged together, they don't actually come from the same skincare range. The Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam is one of several Rice Water-themed skincare items, including a cleansing oil and a cleansing milk. The Real Nature Face Mask Rice, meanwhile, comes from a range of Real Nature Face Masks - in addition to Rice, you have Real Nature Mask Aloe, Real Nature Mask Green Tea, Real Nature Mask Kelp, and quite a bunch more. In the Around The World gift set, you get one cleanser together with two of the sheet masks.


The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam and Real Nature Face Mask Rice: Comes in a set as part of the Around The World Holiday 2015 Collection
Anyway, without further ado, let's start our look at both the Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam and Real Nature Face Mask! Of course these are super cute and very gift-able as a set, but let's look at the ingredients in the product, and see how they work!
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I'm always discovering new ways to buy more makeup and beauty products from, and recently I was introduced to BonjourHK's onlince website! I'm actually somewhat familiar with Bonjour, as it is a chain of stores across Hong Kong selling beauty products at accessible prices, much like Ulta (if you're in the US), Watsons, Guardian or Sasa (if you're in Asia). When I visited Hong Kong 3 years back, I stepped into quite a few Bonjour shops, although I didn't buy anything (I ended up with the smallest haul ever - sigh!). But the thing I liked about Bonjour is the eclectic mix of brands and products - there's everything from mainstream brands to niche Asian beauty brands I've never heard of before.


I actually never realized that Bonjour had an online website, but they do! And the website has pretty cheap shipping (which is free if you buy above a certain dollar amount threshold), and they ship internationally, too. And of course, the range of brands and types of products are just as varied as ever - there's everything from skincare to makeup to skin devices, and the brands range from fairly mainstream Asian brands (like DHC and Hada Labo) to more niche ones (like Choosy and Yu Mei). I was super excited when the package arrived, right on time within the 7-21 days window stated on the website.


My BonjourHK Haul: Includes brands both fairly well-known, as well as some undiscovered gems
The mass of products above, as well as the fact that I actually want to do a mini-review for each product rather than just run through the haul, means that this post is going to be pretty long (and photo heavy). So if you're going to read onwards, don't forget to buckle up before you go! And if you're all ready, let's just head straight into my product-by-product quick review!
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