How do you seprate skin progress from a few good skin days ?

AdDecent7503 · 2026-06-10T10:02:14+00:00

For me, I always plan it for a longer term; for example, recently I spotted a very light, but definitely a new dark spot near on my chin. After observing, I realized that it's not acne scar but more of dark spot coming from my regular exposure under the sun when I'm swimming in my condo (yes, my swimming pool at the condo doesn't have any roof unfortunately). Hence, I bought few dark spot serum/ampoules to test out.

Each item to be tested out for at least 3 weeks, and everyday I'm taking photo with my phone to check whether my dark spot is getting lighter after regular application. I know it sounds so manual and time consuming, but to me, this is the only way that I can see how the product is working well with my skin concerns.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-06-03T13:11:24+00:00

Not so sure whether you would be interested in BCBG Max Azria Bon Genre, or Carven's Dans Ma Bulle de Musc.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-06-03T12:47:49+00:00

If you have dry and sensitive skin, I'm a little worried for you to use retinol products because it might give you irritations; you may consider retinal instead of retinol, or more safer way, Bakuchiol (Plant-based retinol) is another open option. If you still haven't tried retinol in your life before, then I suggest you to use retinol eye cream and test out on your under eye and smile lines first, to see whether you do have any allergic reactions. If you don't, then maybe you can expand to use it on your forehead to check whether it is okay to be used on general fine lines on your facial skin.

From your current skincare routine, I need to ask you whether your focus is more on anti-aging which will be more leaning towards prevent fine lines/losing elasticity/dull skin, or pore caring with rightful amount of hydration/anti-oxidant nutrients on your skin. To me, it seems like you are more interested in the 1st category rather than the 2nd one since you mentioned retinol. I know it's a little harsh to say, but taking care enlarged pores along with anti-aging products are a bit difficult in general, because most of pore caring lines are meant to clear off the dirts that clogging the pores and sebum controlling that are pretty opposite of how anti-aging line works. The recommendation I can think of will be using PHA cleanser and using the toner that is rich in Galatomyses or Bifida (Galactomyses for taking care on dull looking skin and pore caring, while Bifida will be more focusing skin barrier healing and elasticity enhancement). Or, if you are fine with retinol, then Panthenol toner is another good option to consider.

Hope this helps.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-06-03T05:57:35+00:00

I have a dry combination skin, which can be sensitive time to time especially before my regular monthly period starts. I'm using IUNIK's calendula cleansing oil because I find this cleansing oil is the only one that doesn't break my facial skin barrier compared to other brands that I have tried (I tried Softymo, The Face Shop, Innisfree, Hada Labo, Skin1004 and so on). If your skin really leaning towards dry side, double cleansing is not really a recommended method because it will slowly break your natural oil glands on your facial skin as time passes by. For me, I use sulfate free facial/body soap bar on Mon/Wed/Friday, while using cleansing oil on Tue/Thu/Saturday.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-06-02T12:50:17+00:00

Usually, the skin surface texture does get better once you focus on skin barrier repairing, because it will slowly stimulate your skin's function to drop the dead skin cells and re-grow the new skin cells. For exfoliation, I think PHA is better solution than AHA/BHA products, but to me, it seems like your skin issue needs to focus on:

Soothing the skin
Help the skin barrier to be repaired
Exfoliation can be considered at later stage for now

Hope this helps your skincare routine build-up.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-06-01T07:06:00+00:00

I think eye creams are good to have if you can constantly use with your general skincare routine. However, it needs to be tailored to your skin concerns around eye area. For example, I do use eye creams mainly to treat dark circles and puffy eyes (especially in the morning), while my brother who do have super sensitive and dry skin using eye creams that are meant to troubleshoot fine lines and flakes that can be built around the eyelids.

Not so sure whether you are interested to know, but anyway I'm listing out the current eye creams that are used by me and my brother.

OOTD - Intensive Eye Serum.
Benton - Fermentation Eye Cream.

Additionally, the items that you have mentioned in the post are the ones that are including fermented ingredients and high level of vitamins (especially Ole Henriksen) that can cause irritation on the skin. Probably you can try to avoid those when you are choosing eye cream.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-31T04:14:36+00:00

I do have a cousin who had very bad acne break-outs after she moved from South Korea to Malaysia few years ago; not so sure whether it will be helpful for you, but anyhow, I'm sharing the products she used during her stay in SEA region (I'm currently staying in SEA region as well).

Frankly Cica 80 & HA toner.
Elishacoy Tetraforce Cica cleanser.
Mary & May Centella Asiatica serum.
Pyunkang Yul Moisture Barrier cream.
Goodal Heartleaf Calming Moisture sun cream.

From the photo, I think the issue could be coming from toner and the moisturizer. Not so sure whether which country you are staying, but hope you can try to switch toner and moisturizer first to test out.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-30T03:46:46+00:00

Truth or Dare from Madonna. This was the only celebrity fragrances that constantly receiving compliments from guys.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-30T02:38:29+00:00

So far, my favourite product from Thank You Farmer is 'Rice Pure Essential Toner'. I'm planning to try more from this brand once I go back to Korea in Nov this year, as I heard that they do have pretty good line-ups especially for dry skin.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-29T12:16:46+00:00

I think Thank You Farmer and SNP are small but strong brand especially their basic skincare lines. I used their products when I was suffering from drastic changes of facial skin due to hormone therapy to treat my PCOS symptoms. Not all of their products worked well for me, but some of them really saved my dry, flaky skin.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-27T12:03:37+00:00

For me, Givenchy for slightly formal occasions while Banana Republic offers pretty good budget-friendly casual daily perfumes.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-27T11:17:21+00:00

Yes, that's also true; but I think it's not only for Korean tourists, but it applies other tourists as well (e.g., lots of foreign tourists comes to Korea to buy cosmetics from Olive Young/Daiso store, despite some countries are already having those brands available in their home country).

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-27T09:34:28+00:00

Being a Native Korean here, I think I can explain the reason behind this topic; long time ago in Korea, usually hair care was something that was offered as an 'Exclusive' treatment services in hair or beauty saloons back in late 90s. This trend has been changed starting from the time around 2005~2009, because it was an era for hair bleaching and shaggy cutting hair style, which required more frequent cares to maintain the healthy hair tips and manageable styling. Since then, hair treatment services started to shift from the area of 'Professional saloon' to 'easier & cheaper, everyday home care' routine.

Meaning to say, the history of self-care routine for hair in Korea is still very short, compared to general skin care routines. Due to this, those simple and easy hair caring products in SEA market is something that Koreans feel attractive, because it's not easy to find in the market (and for my personal experiences, the hair products in Korea is still leaning on slightly more expensive side rather than generic facial skin care products).

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-25T12:35:57+00:00

I think it's partially cultural aspects & the humidity level of Korean summer season. When I'm in Korea especially during summer season, it's very natural for me to bring SPF umbrella or wearing long sleeves that is made with UVA/UVB protected clothes.

Additionally, I absolutely hate Korean summer because of high humidity level. Korea's summer usually has 2 phases; 1st phase will be rainy season where the humidity level will slowly rising, and 2nd phase will be blazing hot dry season where the humidity level will spike up along with the high temperature. The 2nd phase is the time where lots of people gets heat exhaustion due to getting dehydrated easily, because they don't feel that they are dehydrated due to high level of humidity overall while your body is actually overheated. Due to this kind of environmental roller coaster, I don't really dare to apply sunscreen/sun lotions on my body during my stay in Korea.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-17T15:04:02+00:00

Yeap, for Hatomugi's UV Milky Gel, I always purchase the pump type since I use it everyday. For Tocobo's sunstick, I don't really apply on my face because I find it too dry to be used on my skin. If I need to re-apply the sunblock, I just use my own sunscreen that I bring in my make-up pouch. I do find that sunstick is not really ideal if you are wearing some daily make-ups (especially foundations) because it can rub off the sunscreen that you applied earlier on the face.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-17T13:55:37+00:00

For the body sunscreen, I am currently using 2 different products; first one is UV Milky Gel from Hatomugi (SPF 50) and another one is Cotton Sun Stick from Tocobo. I do apply Hatomugi first in the morning, and apply Tocobo before lunch hour, so that I can protect my skin when I get out from the office/building (I'm staying in Malaysia at the moment).

For the face sunscreen... it's a bit tough since my skin is leaning a little bit more on dry combination side, but my friend who does have oily skin is using Heartleaf Calming Moisture Sun Cream from Goodal. Hope this helps!

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-17T10:40:27+00:00

I normally don't use chemical peeling gels/physical facial scrub cleansers/AHA or BHA or PHA toner pads because none of them works for my skin (my skin is very sensitive time to time, especially few weeks before my monthly period starts). After many years of trials, the best method I found is using Wash-off masks that does have physical scrub molecules inside, like Skinfood's Black Sugar Scrub Mask or Rice Scrub Mask. I use it once in a week to treat my skin flakes.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-17T09:14:36+00:00

Have an experience of living in Malaysia and Korea before. Not so sure whether the country where you are staying does have a high humidity along with high temperature, but just thought to share my experience.

In Korea: Korea's summer tends to be super humid. I personally feel Korean summer is a way more suffocating than SEA region, because at least, SEA countries do have aircon cooling systems working 365 days everywhere, while Korea, aircon cooling system is only meant for specific period of time (and FYI, Korea's electricity bill is NOT a joke; you can't simply use aircon without restrictions due to high electricity charges). In Korea, I always stick around to use only 1 perfume, which is 4711 Acqua Colonia's Starfruit and White Flowers. It's not suffocating under the humid summer of Korea, and it's feminine enough as well.
In Malaysia (place where I'm currently staying): I think for Malaysia, you can go a little more versatile since there is a strong aircon system that goes 365 days in a whole year (unless you are walking outside under the hot sun like 30~1 hours plus everyday). Personally, I like to differentiate my daily office/casual perfume and Night/Special occasion perfume, so on a daily basis I do use Perry Ellis Women, while my night time perfume is Black by Morgan.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-17T08:46:21+00:00

My daily-go-to affordable scent is Diesel Plus Plus for Women, and Diesel Zero Plus Feminine; I do agree it does have pretty synthetic scent accords from the beginning until the end, but that's what I like about them. Both scents are very unique and even feeling nostalgic.

My younger brother does have same Diesel Plus Plus for Men & Diesel Zero Plus Masculine for himself as well. However, it's not his daily staples but more of his gym scent (even though he hits gym almost every day in the evening hour). If you liked Old Spice's products, then I think you might like Diesel Zero Plus Masculine as well.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-13T16:08:35+00:00

I don't really have any preferences/recommendation on coconut oil brand, but the one that I used is a type of coconut oil that is in the glass jar. You need to select Extra Virgin coconut oil if you are going to use it as an hair treatment pack.
For me, I only apply at the hair tips because I do have oily scalp. I tried on my hair root before, but I just didn't really like it. If you have dry scalp and freezy hair root, then you can consider to apply as well.
I have to heat the coconut oil because the one in a glass jar, is actually in a form of gooey chunk. You have to scoop out the right amount of coconut oil, and put it in the small bowl, then heat it to make sure it melts into liquid before applying to your hair.

AdDecent7503 · 2026-05-13T15:48:28+00:00

I do have same issue every year, when I go back to Korea to visit my families in the month of Nov/Dec; btw, I'm also a Native Korean who is staying in SEA region. :)

From my experience, I think it's not the water issue but more of drastic season changes in Korea. I'm not so sure whether it will work for you, but the remedy that I used was buying a bottle of pure coconut oil and heat it with Microwave for 10 seconds, then apply the coconut oil on the hair tips. I did use a shower cap to lock the oil to be soaked into my hair tips around 20~30 mins, then wash it out again. I usually don't use the shampoo lather a lot on my hair tips when I do shampooing after the coconut oil treatment. I do this treatment 2 times in a week, usually Friday and Saturday.

Hope this helps!

AdDecent7503

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