Q&A: Skincare/Makeup Basics - Where to Start? (Part 4)

Assalamualaikum and hello hello my beautiful people!


Busting my ass for another part of this series. Fuhhh. Of course there will be lots of parts, I haven't even cover the makeup part yet. LOL. Anyways, for today's part I'm gonna talk about night creams and serums.

Pic from here

First of all. Must put disclaimer. I copy pasted from the Part 1.
(Please read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 first if you haven't!)

So for your information, I have oily combination skin. Oily in the T-zone, dry around my mouth/jaw area. I used to stick to products for oily skin but now campoq-campoq je. I think I also have acne-prone skin, kalau salah makan ke salah pakai product ke mesti breakout and mesti dapat cystic acne, the most annoying acne. Dalam bahasa Melayu, jerawat batu. Annoying kan? Dah la besar pastu takde mata nak picit macam mana. LOL.

Disclaimer: Whatever products that I recommend to you, that does not mean the product is suitable for your skin. You have to really use them for more than 10 days and if after 2 weeks you still get breakouts, it could mean you are allergic to one of the ingredients or your skin just do not want to cooperate with the skincare. I suggest you guys to go to any skin clinic or beauty salon just to see what your skin analysis. I honestly think going there helps a lot because you can't really self-diagnose stuff right? Haha.

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I sembang-sembang about day moisturizers in part 3 and I didn't include night creams because it was already too long so I continue in this part lah ya? Hahaha.

So night creams. Why do you need night creams? Aren't moisturizer enough? Yes of course you can use your moisturizer but at night, I personally think you need more good stuff ya know? Day moisturizers has thinner consistency and less moisturizing compared to night creams. But some people might say, well still moisturizing on me blablabla and does not feel sticky and oily the next morning blablabla.

I think most of us know that at night time, usually our body macam heals itself from anything. Like it does more stuff than when you're up. Ala, just like your brain la. Science stuff lah, when you're asleep your brain activity would spike up. Heh camtulah. Entah aku tak pandai sains sangat tapi macam tu lah lebih kurang with your skin. Hahaha. Skin tends to repair themselves when we are asleep, kan bila kita tidur when wake up the next morning kita rasa fresh kan. Haaa gitu kan.

There are no rules set in stone in skincare but of course you know which is which and whatnot right? Okay some articles mentioned you can't use day creams (with SPF) for night time just because the ingredients can be comedogenic aka clogging your pores. I already covered this in Part 3 okay?

Now I already talked about types of moisturizers, humectants and emollients in Part 3. I personally prefer humectants because emollients could make me break out and honey, I do not want that.

So usually for night creams you need to choose whichever that are infused with great ingredients like AHA/BHA, Retinol, Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Green Tea, Resveratrol, Grape Seed, Curcuminoids, Ceramides... etc. You guys can read more from the link below.

Source: http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/skin-care-ingredients

Since I am in my late 20s (sobs), I need that extra ummppphhh in my skincare ya know? I am now using Hada Labo Retinol Lifting and Firming Cream but I don't know how concentrate the retinol is. I wanted to try other retinol creams but they're quite pricey my eyes just fricking burn. Plus, if I'm pregnant or breast feeding babies, I can't use them. But hey I'm not expecting but I have to be ready ya know? But from what I've read here, other ingredients like AHA/BHA (less than 2%), Niacinamide, Vitamin C, Peptides are safe while pregnant/nursing but still, you should consult with your doctor first okay?

I have used lots of different night creams and for night creams I prefer them to be thick and creamy. I've read some articles that creams are bad for acne-prone skintype but if I use a very light cream, I will get dry flakes around my mouth area. It's not a pretty look okay! So yeah. If the cream wasn't moisturizing enough for me, I would use face oil on top. Face oil is amazing but you just need to know which oil is good okay? Some oils are comedogenic so watch out for that. I'm not gonna cover face oil so much because it's just a personal preference ya know? Some people prefer face oil for night time, some doesn't. Oh and please don't use coconut oil as it is comedogenic. You can use it to remove makeup and all but make sure you remove all of the oil residues okay?

Anyways, next item on the list is serum. The final part. I mean not final part on your skincare routine lah, my post part lah... Ok...

So what the heck is a serum?

Serum is a skincare product you can apply to your skin after cleansing but before moisturizing with the intent of delivering powerful ingredients directly into the skin. Serum is particularly suited to this task because it is made up of smaller molecules that can penetrate deeply into the skin and deliver a very high concentration of active ingredients. This makes them a great tool for targeting specific skincare concerns, like wrinkles. Goodbye, signs of aging!

(from here)

So basically serum is a concentrated ingredients, like a targeted treatments for your skin ya know. Like you know there's a vitamin c serum, retinol blablabla and I love using serums because I can feel stuff happening on muh face ya know.

You don't have to have serums in your skincare routine, but if you could afford it, why the heck not. If you want fast effect and whatnot, get a serum. Because of its potent ingredient, it definitely helps preventing stuff happening on yo face or repairing maybe, depending on what your skin needs.

I personally love to use serum because I can see it's working well on my skin at least. Yes, they can be pretty pricey but when you see the results you wanted, of course you would feel like ahhhh best bucks I've ever spent kan? I do not have specific kind of serums that you need. Like I said, it's all depending on what your skin needs. If you have pigmentations, go for Vit C. If you have texture and large pores, go for Niacinamide.

Serums too have lots of types, water-based, oil-based, basically depending on what you need. I have used an oil-based serum before and to be honest, I LOVE IT. Not only it's doing something but it gives some extra moisture on yo face ya know?

So Pah, what serums do you use? To be honest, I just got into this serum hype so I don't really know that much. I can only tell you guys what I have been using for the past year and which product helps a lot. First one, I think I mentioned it so many fricking times already, of course the Bio-Essence 24K Bio-Gold Gold Water. It's not a toner and it's a gold infused product. I don't really know what's the gold function in the Gold Water but since I am using it religiously, I can see that my skin texture has changed a lot. I also use the Niacinamide Booster from Paula's Choice and that helps a lot too. My skin is sooo much better than before and my makeup goes on very smoothly. Weee.

Of course you guys need to your own research on which serum is suitable for your skin issues and whatnot. If you don't have any issues, maybe you could use vitamin C serum because it can make your skin looks brighter lah apa lah. That is totally up to you actually.

I think that is all for the skincare basics... Makeup basic is next!

So stay tuned for part 5 lah. Hahahaha. I know I promised to post it like every week but damn son I've been out of funk and not inspired but I'm always on Instagram if you have questions and whatnot. I can answer them straight away okay?

So yeah. Thank you for reading.

Of course, do your research and google the right thing and you'll be safe.

Stay gorgeous! <3


.iffahs.



MOOOOOAAARRRR
THE INGREDIENTS YOU NEED IN YOUR NIGHT CREAM
6 Tips To Help You Choose An Effective Night Cream
The ABCs of Anti-Aging
Best UK night creams in 2016 for oily and dry skin
Is It Bad to Use Moisturizer with Sunscreen at Bedtime?
Your Say: Do you use different skincare products for day and night? Must you?
The Difference Between Day and Night Creams

What You Need to Know About Face Oils If You Have Oily Skin
Why Rosehip Seed Oil Is My Skincare Superstar (Health Benefits and Uses)
What Is Face Serum, And How Does It Work?

Review: Himalaya Herbals Nourishing Skin Cream
Review: Yves Rocher Ovale Lifting Redensifying Night Care
Review: The Body Shop Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream
Review: Hada Labo Retinol Lifting and Firming Cream
Review: Nutox Serum Concentrate
Review: The Body Shop Vitamin E Overnight Serum-In-Oil
Review: Garden of Eden Rosa E Pigmentation Serum
Review: Paula's Choice RESIST 10% Niacinamide Booster