Brand Overview: Antipodes

I've been slowly transitioning my skincare routine to the more natural side and Antipodes is a New Zealand brand I discovered that makes organic and natural skincare products.

The Antipodes Manuka Honey Mask is probably their most well-known product and is what made me fell in love with the brand in the first place. Manuka honey is an antibacterial ingredient that helps to fight acne while still being nourishing for the skin. I find that a lot of acne-fighting and detox masks tend to dry out the skin; this one doesn't do that at all and is super gentle on the skin. Sometimes I get the under-the-skin pimples that are super painful and takes forever to go away, and this really helps to soothe my breakouts and reduce the redness while also giving my skin intense hydration. My face always feels super soft like a baby's bottoms after using this!

Antipodes Juliet Skin Brightening Gel Cleanser is what I've been using as my morning cleanser. What I look for in a morning cleanser is something that's gentle yet effective and won't dry my skin out, and this does just that. It contains the same acne-fighting manuka honey as the mask, as well as superfruit extracts that help to exfoliate the skin to reveal a brightener complexion. Definitely another favorite from Antipodes!

I recently ran out of my Caudalie Beauty Elixir and was looking for something cheaper to replace it, which is why I picked up the Antipodes Resurrect Facial Toner. It's a refreshing and hydrating toner that instantly awakens my skin and perks up my dull-looking complexion; great for mornings where you skin just looks tired and lack-lustre.

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French Pharmacy Skincare Haul & Review

I've always loved French pharmacy skincare brands such as La Roche Posay, Vichy, Nuxe, etc., and recently I found a site called escentual.com which sells a lot of French pharmacy skincare brands for really affordable prices. After doing a thorough research online, I made a list of a few French pharmacy skincare must-haves that people recommended and purchased them on escentual.com. The prices are significantly cheaper than what you would pay for in your local drugstores and the shipping was only $5.

Vichy Normaderm 3 In 1 Cleanser + Scrub + Mask is a multipurpose product that you can use either as a cleanser or a quick 5-minutes mask. The Normaderm line is targeted towards acne-prone skin, and I've tried a few things from this line before and loved all of them. This mask is clay-based so it helps to clear out the impurities from your pores while also being slightly exfoliating. This is great for days where I don't have the time to do a 20-minutes mud mask but still want to deep cleanse my skin.

La Roche Posay Cicaplast was mentioned in quite a few blogposts that I read and caught my attention. It is a pro-recovery gel that helps to accelerate the healing process of your skin, so it's great for people who use a lot of acne-fighting products which can be quite harsh on the skin and cause the skin to become quite sensitive over time. It contains ingredients such as copper, zinc and manganese which have been shown to speed up the regeneration of skin cells. Basically it helps you to build a new layer of skin. I find that it really helps to calm down the redness in my skin as well as making my pimples go away faster without leaving any scars. I've using it as a nighttime moisturizer and so far I'm loving it.

You guys know that I love my Dior crem de rose lipbalm, but I find that I go through it really fast and I just can't afford to use it everyday. So I picked up the Caudalie Lip Conditioner to use as my daily lip balm because it was significantly cheaper, and I think I'll save the Dior one for special occasions. I use it before I go to sleep because it is super thick and takes a while to absorb, but in the morning I wake up to super soft and hydrated lips. Definitely another love from Caudalie!

I had to get the Bioderma Sebium Pore Refiner because Lisa Aldridge mentioned it in several of her videos as her go-to primer for her clients with oily or acne-prone skin, and I always trust her recommendations since she's a professional makeup artist. It keeps my face matte throughout the day and works as a primer for my foundation to prolong its longevity. It also works as a skincare product to regulate sebum production and tighten pores over time. I find that a lot of primers can clog my pores overtime but this one doesn't and actually makes my pores look smaller.


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My Skincare Routine- Facewash & Clarisonic

Washing my face is the most crucial step in my skincare routine as no product is going to cure your acne if you don't make sure that your face is completely clean of any makeup residues before you put on any skincare product. To make sure that my face is completely clean, I usually use my Clarisonic Mia along with my nighttime facewash. I'm sure all of you know about the Clarisonic by now, but in case you don't it is basically a vibrating facebrush that helps to deep clean your pores and exfoliate your face- a skincare staple if you're a makeup wearer. I usually use this every other day, which is how often I wear makeup.

The two facewash I use with my Clarisonic are the Michael Todd Charcoal Detox Cleanser and the Origins Zero Oil Cleanser. These two are both targeted towards oily and acne-prone skin, and are both effective at making my face squeaky clean without being drying. I've noticed significantly less breakouts and smaller pores since I've started using these two products. The Michael Todd one has charcoal as one of its ingredients, which helps to draw out the impurities from your pores. The Origins one also has great natural ingredients in it including saw palmetto and salicylic acid which help to prevent future breakouts.

In the morning, I like to use something that's more gentle while also slightly exfoliating to get my face bright and smooth and ready for makeup. I usually will alternate between the Alpha Hydrox Foaming Facewash, Meishoku Detclear Fruits Peeling Jelly, and the REN Micro Polish. The Alpha Hydrox one has glyoclic acid in it, which works as a chemical exfoliant to gently exfoliate my face, while the REN one acts like a physical exfoliant. The Meishoku Peeling Jelly is a really cool and unique product in that it comes out like a jelly, but as you massage it into your skin it turns gritty, and you can actually see your dead skin coming off of your face, which gives me a strangely satisfying feeling. This contains both AHA and BHA, which again just helps to clear out your pores and exfoliate your skin.

One thing that I want to emphasize is that all of these cleansers are sulfate-free, which is the most important aspect that I look for when I buy cleansers. Sulfate is an ingredient that's found in many cleansers and shampoos; it acts as a surfactant and is what makes your cleansers foam. It is very harsh and drying on the skin, so I would recommend to read the ingredient lists before you buy any cleansers to make sure that it's sulfate-free. Follow my blog with Bloglovin

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