Someone just posted a great question on my last blog, which I promptly answered, and it inspired me to blog about it more in detail sometime soon. Her question would be a great topic for a skin care-related post! But it also got me thinking that I should open my blog up to more questions and suggestions.
So please use this space to post comments or ask questions. I would also love to get suggestions about new products to try, or questions about skin care! I am not a dermatologist, and definitely not an expert, but I will try to answer your questions thoughtfully and thoroughly based on my personal experiences and what I’ve read. If you have any suggestions on how to make my blog easier to read, etc…, I’m open to them too!
Thanks again for reading my little blog!
With Aloha,
Kabuki Girl
xoxo
kabukigirlblog.com 
I’m considering about clay mask, between Cattier clay mask and Freeman clay mask. Freeman is so popular with cheap, quantity product, and Cattier is voted to be the best clay mask in France – but still afforable. Have you tried them yet, I would love to have your opinion.
Ah, just one more question, we have morning and night routine, but what about mid-day? I find that I need to do something with my face in the mid-day, but Im not really sure 😦
P/S: I LOVE your blog, esp the thing that you hate fatty alcohol, me too ❤
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Fatty alcohols are the worst! They’re in everything and they reek havoc on my skin.
Anyway… I have tried the Freeman clay mask, but not the Cattier. I remember liking the Freeman masks when I tried them, but it was years ago, and I don’t remember what the ingredients are like. I really like Charcoal-based masks for acne and oiliness. I used to use them a lot when I was still having acne issues. Origins and Boscia have great Charcoal masks, and if you’re looking for cheaper, I think that Biore makes one too.
As far as mid-day, I don’t really do anything. When I had oiliness in my skin, I used a LOT of oil-control papers. But that was about it. It’s not good for your skin to wash it more than 2X in a day. What type of issues are you having during the day?
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So sorry for my late respond, it was Tet Holiday in my country, so I got kinda busy. Anyway, Im so happy to see your respond. Here is my issue during the day: I wear sunscreen in the morning, and in the mid day when I get home, I want to clean my face using makeup remover, but I cant cause I have to follow moisturizer after that, it may lead to the night of not doing skincare-at-all =)) *okay, it’s a joke* So can you give me some advice to make my skin feel fresh in the mid day cause Im wearing sunscreen. Ah, I just got my Evoluderm facial spray, how can I use it? Thank you ^^
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I’m so sorry, I guess I don’t really understand the problem you’re having during the day. Maybe try switching sunscreens? Maybe try a light sunscreen that’s almost liquid in consistency. Or you can follow up with some loose powder on top of it? Good luck!
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I’m considering about clay mask, between Cattier clay mask and Freeman clay mask. Freeman is so popular with cheap, quantity product, and Cattier is voted to be the best clay mask in France – but still afforable. Have you tried them yet, I would love to have your opinion.
Ah, just one more question, we have morning and night routine, but what about mid-day? I find that I need to do something with my face in the mid-day, but Im not really sure 😦
P/S: I LOVE your blog, esp the thing that you hate fatty alcohol, me too ❤
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So glad you dedicated a space for reader questions. I have recently started to really get into skincare. It feels like freshmen year in college. There’s so much to learn, and everything looks trial worthy. I have three questions that I was hoping you might be able to shed some insight on:
I have a morning and night routine. On the 2 or 3 days during the week that I need to do masks, I am not sure if it’s supposed to replace one of the routines? I usually do sheet masks at night after dinner. After I finish with the mask, do I simply go to bed, or should I layer on the serums + night cream that are part of my normal routine? Also, besides cleansing and toning, do you do anything else before putting on the sheet mask (maybe an essence?)? I rotate between the Missha Snail Hydro mask, and the Missha Pure Source Green Tea masks. The instructions simply say to cleanse and tone the face before putting on the mask.
I have oily and acne-prone skin and have been battling acne all my life. I have some super stubborn acne scars in my lower cheek area. I’ve tried the Caudalie Vinoperfect serum and the Ole Henriksen Vitamin C Booster serum. They helped lighten the pigmentation, but after a month of use, they are still obvious (at least to me). I know these products are not Korean, but I read that they are great to pigmentation. Do you have any suggestions on this type of problem?
Thank you.
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Hi Fiona, thanks for posting questions! So I’m definitely not an expert, but I can answer your questions based on my personal experience and research.
So sheet masks are basically like essences, so they’re almost like liquid. And because you generally want to layer your products thin to thick (essences before serums before creams), that’s generally why you want to use the sheet mask after your cleanse and tone and before the rest of your skin care. You can certainly do another thin, liquidy essence before the sheet mask, but you don’t have to. (I put my Missha Time Revolution First Essence on before the sheet mask.) And yes, I follow up with the rest of my night routine after I use the sheet mask. The mask is just an extra booster, and is not meant to replace your daily routine. Oh, and I love the Missha masks! One of my fav brands 🙂
Ugh, acne scars. They suck. But I’m sorry, I’m not very familiar with products for hyper pigmentation because even when I did get a lot of acne, my scars would go away quickly. So I’ve never used anything special to deal with it, just using high SPF sunscreen so that the scar doesn’t get worse. The snail cream definitely helps fade any signs of acne right away, so if you haven’t tried snail cream yet, I recommend Mizon All-in-One Snail Repair Cream. I find that I don’t need anything else to take care of acne scars. A mild chemical exfoliation may help too. AHA exfoliants help to remove the top layer of the skin (as opposed to BHAs which work in the pores), so that may help. I’ve heard good things about Paula’s Choice 8% AHA gel. Korean skin care has a lot of “whitening” products that will help with hyper pigmentation, too. I know that tomato-based products are really popular in Korea for hyper pigmentation. Just try to select a good brand like Mizon or Missha.If I do come across a good product for hyper pigmentation in the future, I’ll definitely test try it (or get a friend to test try it for me) and write about it. So sorry I can’t give you more of a better recommendation right now. Good luck!
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I realized that I only posted two questions in my previous post. Here’s my third question. From reading your product reviews and comments for each product in your winter routine, I noticed that the order of routine makes a big difference. For example, the Mizon cream is used as a treatment in your routine, even it’s labeled as a cream. I was wondering how did you determine the order? I understand that products with higher liquidity should generally go first, but it’s not always the case, so I am curious to see if and how I should re-examine my routine.
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The order of the routine is important. You generally want to go from the lightest liquid to the heaviest cream (and sunscreen at the end during the day). But yes, I do use the Mizon cream as a treatment right after my Missha First Essence. I learned to do this after experimenting a bit.
First, the Mizon All-in-One Repair Cream is a bit of a misnomer. It is creamy, but it absorbs super quickly into the skin like a light serum. And it is definitely NOT moisturizing like a cream. Mizon actually recommends using the cream before ampoules and moisturizers. Please read my review for a more detailed description. Because of it’s quick-absorbing nature, it’s best to treat it like a light serum and as one of your first steps.
Second, I use the cream as one of my first steps because I find it to be the most effective to taking care of my acne. Don’t ask me how, I just notice better results with acne-elimination when I use it as an initial step. Mizon All-in-one Snail repair cream was the first treatment serum I used when I changed my skincare to mostly Korean skin care. And when I used it first, it quickly took care of my acne. But then when I experimented with other serums, I tried these new serums BEFORE the snail repair cream, and my acne started to come back. But when I switched the routine around, my acne faded away again. Just to make sure I wasn’t crazy (or that it was just a weird coincidence), I’ve experimented with my routine several times. And based on how my skin reacts, I’m convinced that the best treatment for my acne is to use the snail repair cream as one of my first steps.
So I definitely recommend experimenting with your routine a little bit. Layer your acne treatments on early as much as possible, and don’t worry if you’re stepping out of the “lightest to heaviest” box for a product. Do whatever you think works best for your skin! No one else will know your skin better than you. 😉
Good luck, have fun experimenting, and thanks for reading my blog!
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Thank you so much for the quick responses. I will definitely keep experimenting. Keep up the good work on the blog. I am a huge fan.
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Hello I recently found your blog and so far i’m really enjoying the info and reviews you create! it’s wonderful to see you post ingredients and give meaningful insite into your reviews.
However If its alright for me the ask in your winter skincare routine you used the “thefaceshop core seed purifying essence” and I have searched every part of the internet trying to find a list of the ingredients so i was wondering since you bought it it would you happen to know what is in it?
Because i keep hearing really great things about it but at the same time find little decent info on it.
Also aside from mizons snail line how doe so other brands compare like nature republic and missha, and ext? i’m very interested in snail products because of there claims.
thank you in advance ^^
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Hi, thanks for your questions.
About the ingredients in the Core Seed Purifying Essence, I will post them when I do my full review on it. Sorry to make you wait, but I want to use the product a couple more weeks before I do a full review. Thanks for your patience 🙂
And besides the Mizon’s snail line, I have not used nature republic’s and missha’s, or any other snail line. Unfortunately, NR, Missha, It’s Skin, and the other snail lines have a lot more carrier oils in it that I’m super sensitive to, so I don’t even want to try them. Also, Mizon All-in-One Snail Repair seems to have the highest percentage of snail extract in it (92%). I know that Missha and It’s Skin Prestige cream are extremely popular, but I don’t know if they really help acne. You might be able to read some reviews on these creams on sokoglam.com. As for help with acne, I stick by Mizon’s snail repair cream. It’s inexpensive, has an insanely high percentage of snail extract, with fewer bad carrier oils.
Sorry I couldn’t answer your questions more!
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Hi, I have another question 🙂 In the morning, after I do my routine, my skin is moist and shiny due to the moisturizers and sunscreen. It makes it hard to apply makeup, especially around the eyes because i use powder. I would try to wait a few minutes for the moisturizer to get absorbed, but my skin still has too much moisture for eye shadow and blush. Do you have the same problem? What would you do?
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Hi! Yeah, I have the same problem too! I always use a primer before putting on my makeup. Or I blot my skin very lightly with a tissue to get off the surface oil from the sunscreen. You definitely need an eye primer for your eye makeup! My fav is urban’s decay’s eye primer. But elf’s isn’t bad (and it’s only $3!).
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By the way, I am not sure if I know your name, or do you prefer to keep it confidential? I’d respect it. It’s just funny when I talked to my friends about my skin issues, I’d say “I bet kabuki girl has an answer” and they look at me funny. Haha. Either way, thank you.
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Haha yeah, I am trying to keep my name confidential right now. I may change my mind, if I keep doing the blog in the long-term future (and so far I’m thinking that I will)… but for now I want to keep things simple! BTW, I am thinking of setting up a private email just for this blog so people can message me privately. I’ll provide the contact info soon!!
And thanks for talking to yr friends about me. That’s such a compliment!
Good luck with your skin issues! I know it can be frustrating, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, trust me. It took me a while to figure things out on my own (and stop following the crazy advice from my dermatologist that was only giving me more skin problems through the years). But with some research and experimentation, you’ll get there! And when you do, please write about it so that other people can get inspiration and advice from you. I consider my dramatic skin improvement to be nothing short of a miracle, which is why I’m blogging about it so much. I have accumulated a ton of info from my own research and experimentation, and I just want to pass the info along… Never thought I’d get so many people viewing and following my stuff in just a few short months! Thanks again! xoxo
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I can’t thank you enough for this blog! I’ve gotten so many fabulous recommendations for products here, and my once awful skin has taken a turn for the better.
A completely unrelated question, but what program do you use for creating your wonderful decorative collage photos on the posts?
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Thank you for the wonderful compliment!! I’m so glad your skin is getting better. Once I switched to Korean skincare I noticed a HUGE difference in my skin and I thought “everyone needs to know this!”, hence why I started this blog.
And I’m so sorry, about my collages, I don’t really want to divulge my secrets about how I do them… I put a lot of thought, time and effort into making some of them, and I do that in order to make my blog unique. I’m usually an open book, but I consider my collages little pieces of “art” (as cheesy as that is), so I’m a little more private about them.
Thank you so much for liking my blog and collages though! You’ve made my day 🙂 Please keep reading!
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Hi, I really enjoy reading your blog! I’ve pretty serious acne problems when it is winter, especially all over my forehead. I’m really grateful for what I learnt about moisture barrier in your blog! I’ve purchased the snail cream hoping that it would help to solve my acne problems. Do you mind sharing a bit more about how you completely get rid of your acne? Thanks again!
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Hi Candy, thanks for reading and your questions. Getting rid of acne is such a personal thing because it depends so much on your skin. Please read my posts under “Skin Care” for basics, but I guess these are my most important factors that I stick with no matter what:
1) Double-cleanse with a makeup remover (oil-based) and a pH balance cleanser (CeraVe is my fav)
2) Absolutely NO carrier oils that are solid at room temperature (stearates, butters, etc…)
3) Great silicone-based moisturizer that is as hydrating as possible (Nature Republic Aqua Max moisture is my fav)
4) Very gentle exfoliation every 2-3 days (like with a charcoal konjac sponge)
Hope this helps!! Remember to always treat your skin gently, no matter how awful it gets. I’ve learned my lesson from using too many harsh products for too long. Treat your skin gently and it will help it to heal itself quicker. Good luck!!
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Oh, by the way, what sunscreen would you recommend for super acne prone skin? Thanks!
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Oh this is a tough one… I was using one by The Face Shop that I liked (you can read my review). But I ran out of it and since tried others that I wasn’t crazy about. There’s one by Coppertone, Clearly Sheer Faces (SPF 50), that you can pick up anywhere. It’s not the best, and it does make me break out a little (because of a little bit of solid carrier oils in it), but at least it dries matte. Nature Republic has a new SPF 50 Gel that I LOVE. (Sunscreen Gels are the best! Why haven’t anyone created this before?!) A real review will be coming soon! Hope this helps! xoxo
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Hi I just found this section i wrote a comentary in another one, that probably should be written here, I must say again that this blog is amazing, i have read another ones, but this one makes me feel like i can trust in your criteria, please would you give me your opinion of these products? http://www.wishtrend.com/sol-kit/1183-sol-kit-gentle-black-pore-cleansing-kit-pore-care-oily-skin.html#.VqKItyrhDIU
Step1, Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil
Step2, Gentle Black Sugar Facial Polish
Step3, Gentle Black Sugar Charcoal Soap
Brand : KLAIRS
I live in a city that has a really REALLY hot climate, and a lot of humidity, My skin type is oily , I´ve seen in the last years that my pores has becoming larger, I´m abouut 6, and i have a little acne, and of course acne scars x.x.
I already bought samples of the tomato line of skinfood.
Like I said in the last coment in the other section x.x, I´m new in all this of korean skincare, would you mind to recomend me some products?
Thank you :3
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Hi Ananda, thank you for reading my blog and for your kind words! Trust me, I understand the frustration that you get from having to deal with problem skin. All I do is write what I’ve experienced and learned from my mistakes. Hope my advice will help… But let me say that I’m not a dermatologist or doctor. I’ve just tried a lot of products and done a LOT of research over the years to help myself, and I hope that it helps you too.
Here’s what I recommend: BE GENTLE on your skin. Your oily skin might be your body’s natural reaction to protect your skin because you’re doing too much to it! Your “pore cleansing” products might clean your pores out for a little, but it could end up making the situation worse because it stresses your skin out too much and so your skin over-reacts by producing more sebum. That is exactly what happened to me. For right now, do NOT use any product that says “deep cleansing” and be very careful about using charcoal soap (for now). For 1 month try only gentle, hydrating products.
Cleaning: A gentle cleansing oil AND Cerave Face wash (if you can’t get it then try to find a cleanser around pH 6.5-7)
Exfoliating: a konjac sponge that’s softened with water and soap (you can use this everyday)
Acne: if you have acne, then use a 2.5% benzoyl peroxide product (only applied at night). I like paula’s choice daily skin clearing treatment.
Moisture: PUT LOTS OF MOISTURE on your skin!! Just try it for 1 month. (If your skin doesn’t improve at least a little, then don’t continue with this) Layer an aloe moisturizer (Like Nature Republic 92% Aloe gel) AND a heavier moisturizer (like Nature Republic moisture watery cream – the pink one)
I promise that the added moisturizers will not make your skin oily. It will absorb into your skin and will probably help with the excess sebum production.
After you’ve tried this for a month and you see NO improvement, then you can add charcoal or anti-oil stuff back into your skincare. But I notice that my oily skin gets MUCH better with more moisture I put into it!
Good luck! xoxo
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Thank you so Much!
Actually I ddn´t order until I got your answer XD
My skinfood tomato samples got here, and I´m cleaning my face with coconut oil, and with the escence, cream, sleeping pack of tomato skinfood (the samples that i oredered before january XD), + skinfood eggpore mask, My skinn has improved! i had a sample of tonymoly goat milk moisture cream and a etude house sleeping pack moist up, and I could really feel THE DIFERENCE! those two really moisted up my face a lot! before that I couldnt know that. I throwed away my prducts that says deep clean, like you recomended – neutrogena deep clean- , they really were really making it worse! So I just ordered most of the products that you recomended! I couldnt find the cleanser cerave but I don´t know how I get to this excel file that were a list of cleansers and their ph level. So I ordered Missha Super Aqua Oxygen Micro Visible Deep Cleanser (ph 5,5 – 6), order again wonder pore freshner, the super honey bomb, the Nature Republic moisture watery cream, and the mizon
Snail Wrinkle Care Sleeping Pack , and the mizon snail eye cream, I’m 26 yers and I want to prevent any more damage of my skin and wrinkles XD (btw I have noticed under my eye wrinkles and a little puffy, I have seen on my mother and grandmother eye bags X.X so I hope that mizon snail eye cream would help XD) I only forgot to purchase the aloe gel, I would do it the next time, Thank you so much! I would tell you the results when I get the products, 2 months maybe.
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