Finally getting around to blogging about one of my favorite skin care products: the Konjac Sponge! Originally created in Japan, there are many different kinds to choose from, made by many different brands. The first one that I tried was Boscia’s Konjac Cleansing Sponge with Bamboo Charcoal that I bought at Sephora. I found that it provides effective yet gentle exfoliation, and overall I love Konjac sponges so much that it has a permanent position in my skin care routine.
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
I have done so many reviews of products, and talked about how I’ve solved individual skin problems, but I just realized that I never blogged about my whole skin care routine. It’s taken a few months of trial and error, but I’ve finally created a routine that keeps my skin looking and feeling its best.
(And I know I’m doing something right when I haven’t had a single hormonal cystic acne for 3 months, now! First time since I was 14 that I haven’t had problems with cystic acne.)
I’m a big believer in living according to the seasons. The activities I do, the food I eat, and of course my skin care routine, reflect the changing seasons. My routine is also slightly different for the day and at night. I also have some favorite weekly treatments, too. But all my skin care products have pretty much one thing in common: moisture. In the winter, I focus on adding extra moisturizers to my skin because nurturing my moisture barrier has been the best way to keeping acne, rosacea, and enlarged pores at bay.
But I am always experimenting with new products, and I’ll write if I’ve decided to permanently include something in my daily or weekly routine. I’ll definitely do a Summer Skin Care Routine update, because I’m sure I’ll have to change some of my products for the changing weather.
Happy New Year!! 明けましておめでとう!! I hope this blog finds everyone happy and well in this new year!
As a child in Japan, my favorite holiday was New Year’s. I always had so much fun visiting my Japanese family, playing special New Year’s games with my cousins, and eating good food, which always included lots of mochi! Oh, and of course receiving otoshidama (little envelopes filled with cash) from my family and my mother’s friends and coworkers wasn’t bad either!
In Japan, like everywhere else in this amazingly wide world, New Year’s is a time for reflection, gratitude, joy, hope and excitement for what the future will bring. And it’s because of this sense of hope and excitement that I always make a New Year’s Resolution every year. Even if I don’t keep the resolution for the entire year, I think that it’s a great way to make (or attempt to make) positive changes in your life, and what better time to do it than at the beginning of a New Year? So the following are my skin care resolutions – Skinsolutions – that I’ve decided to do in 2015.
My skin has already improved SO MUCH in these last few months, and I hope to continue to see more improvements as I continue to follow these skinsolutions. I hope that they’ll help your skin too!
Warning: The product that is the subject of this review is NOT food. Do not eat, lick, or taste it, no matter how wonderful it smells and how hungry you are.
I felt the need to warn everyone because every time I use Skinfood Black Sugar Strawberry Mask, I want to lick it out of the jar! It smells like the most delicious strawberry jam, and I love smearing it on my face. This mask makes me hungry for strawberry rhubarb pie, and as a bonus it’s a really gentle exfoliating mask!
I’m not exaggerating when I say I’m probably the pickiest person alive when it comes to foundations, including BB creams. I have incredibly high standards (some would probably say impossibly high) and in the past I’ve mostly dealt with disappointment. Usually because I have a hard time matching my skin color. And when I do find the right color, it causes acne, or doesn’t cover my pores enough, or doesn’t provide enough coverage, or is too thick and looks like a mask. Really, there are so many different reasons why I’ve never been able to find one that I really like, and I’ve returned dozens of bottles and tubes to Sephora over the years.
Despite my previous failures, I haven’t stopped trying to find the perfect foundation. In the last two months alone I’ve bought and tried 3 different foundations, plus dozens of samples. They didn’t make the cut. I don’t even consider it worth my time to review them. But I’m happy to say that I finally found one that I think is worth my time to review and to keep using: Missha M Signature Real Complete BB Cream. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty damn close! And this product is yet another reason why I *heart* Korean skincare!
I first read about this toner on Kerry’s blog, and I immediately became curious about adding a mild AHA exfoliator to my skincare routine. But there were very few reviews out there on this particular AHA product, so I was a little nervous about trying it. In the end the minimalist ingredients won me over. And I’m so glad to have tried Silk Naturals 8% AHA Toner! I’ve been using this for a month, and overall I’m really satisfied with the results I’ve seen.
Ever since SK-II’s Facial Treatment Essence grew in popularity, several Asian companies came out with their own – and much cheaper – versions.
Mizon Skin Power Original First Essence is Mizon’s interpretation of SK-II’s Facial Treatment Essence, and I got it on a whim because I found it on sale and I’ve always been curious about trying a fermentation essence.
The last time I was living in Japan (yikes, already almost 10 years ago!), I tried several different sunscreens, and I remember being really impressed with them. Even 10 years ago, Japan was more advanced than what we have in the US today. The Face Shop Sebum Control Moisture Sun was the first time I used a Korean sunscreen, and it did not disappoint! And it also confirmed to me that Asian companies just understand how sunscreens are supposed to work and feel on the skin.
In a previous post, I reviewed Nature Republic’s Super Aqua Max Moisture Watery Cream. You can read my original post here, where I went into detail about the feel and moisturizing effect of this cream. Overall, while I liked the cream as a day moisturizer, I wasn’t really sure how beneficial the ingredients were, so ultimately I gave this moisturizer an 8/10, but I only gave the ingredients 7/10.
Well, on a particularly boring evening, I decided to actually do some research on the dozens of different extracts in this moisturizer, and I am now pleasantly surprised with what I found! Nature Republic Super Aqua Max Moisture Watery Cream is actually filled with antioxidants and soothing ingredients, some have been used for centuries in Chinese medicine. I realized that I needed to update my original review and give this moisturizer a new grade. So the following is an expansion on my original review, with more details on the ingredients.
kabukigirlblog.com 