Before and After Pictures

Hi there!

So today I went back to Sune and Jenn, the funny lady that she is, said I need to post pictures of myself after using the products.  Or even just swatches of the BB Creams.  Now, since I am writing this at 10:15 PM, I"m not going to do swatches of BB Creams.  However, I did take some photos of my cheek before and after my skin care regime.

Before

This picture was taken right after I washed and dried my face.  Notice the redness in my cheeks and the slight pigmentation from previous break outs (a wonderful reminder of why I should be very careful with what I use on my face).  I don't have huge pores but they are noticeable, especially to my hawk-like eyes.  

Products used:

1. Laneige Sensitive Gel Cleanser

2. Elisha Coy White Balancing Skin Repair Toner 

3. Laneige Sensitive Essence 

4. Laneige Water Bank Moisture Cream

5. Naruko Taiwan Magnolia Brightening and Firming Serum

6. Naruko Magnolia Brightening and Firming Night Eye Gelly

*tonight is the first night I've used the Elisha Coy toner so after a few weeks I will write a review on it*

 After

I pulled my hair back with a terry cloth head band so that I don't have to deal with my hair getting all over my face.  You can still see some of the pigmentation on my face but there's less redness on my cheeks.  Also, the pores look significantly smaller.

Now, obviously I have waaaay more than a simple 3 step (cleanse, tone, moisturize) routine and slightly more than a 5 step routine (double cleanse, massage/facial mask, moisturizing toner, essence/emulsion, moisturizer) and I do it for a reason.  I have extremely fickle skin.  ANY little thing can make me breakout, including forgetting to change my pillow cases after a few days.  I should note that I try not to sleep on the same side of a pillow case more than once a night before changing/washing it.  I also have very dark circles under my eyes and unfortunately this is hereditary for me.  I get about 9 hours of sleep a night so that the circles don't get darker but I use an eye cream every night and day to ward off any premature wrinkling in that area.

Some nights I'll use a mask/sleeping pack/exfoliator but I really base it on what I feel my skin needs at that particular time.  It's been very dry in San Francisco these past few days so I started using my face cream instead of my emulsion as a moisturizer.

I obviously don't have perfect skin but I like to take care of it.  It's a very relaxing ritual that helps me wind down from a long day at work.  I would never take this long on my skin if it wasn't something that I enjoyed.  I usually like to put on some music or listen to one of my favorite TV shows while I'm doing this.  My advice is, if it feels like a chore to you don't do it.

That's it for now!  Look forward to "Before and After Pictures: the AM edition."

Cheers!