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I wrote about my skincare routine last March on my Blog.

avene spritz mist water thermal

It is interesting for me to scroll down through my old product photos and see what has changed in the past 5 months. But even more interesting is what has NOT changed. It is extremely unusual for me to use a product for a long time but I am happy to say there has been one skin serum that I have repurchased 4-5 times so far. The Lumene Time Freeze Serum  has been the best lightweight serum I have come across and it’s still the center of my current skincare routine. It has made a huge difference in my skin hydration and I can say I do see an instant skin brightening action plus some color “correction”. Actually I ran out of it during the summer while I was traveling  and I can say that I could see a huge difference for the worse in my skin without it.

For the rest of my skincare I took a different approach than what I have been doing so far.  I decided to give up on using oils all together as they seem way too heavy for me. Instead I decided to use lightweight and as natural as possible, cruelty free products that I can layer. If you have been paying attention to the  skincare trends you might have heard about the korean layering skincare craze. It’s an interesting concept of having products such as emulsions, milks, essences, serums, tonics, waters, night masks, water masks and such that they layer on top of each other. A lot of the ingredients are cutting edge naturally derived ingredients such as the ferment from sake which is a known skin beautifier. They layer anywhere from 12-18 products both in the morning and again in the evening!!! (um don’t ask me how that’s even possible :O ) Personally I have always been super super minimal in my skincare approach and my focus has been from the inside out. Needless to say living in the desert climate that California offers I can benefit from a bit more external pampering :D. Now I don’t have the patience nor do I have the time to layer any more than 2-3 products at a time but I figured I can still experiment with the concept.

So far I can say that it is working very well.

I am currently using the aforementioned Lumene serum (super light weight), a Lumene night cream, an eye cream, Oboqo marine serum(watery consistency), a new to me Australian brand that uses Wakame seaweed as their main active ingredient – Lapurete, an occasional glycol peel and a mud mask (either Lumene or Terraclay – a california clay) and a gel cleanser.

avene Thermal Water

The big spray bottle is Avene thermal water. It is a peculiar concept in that it contains just pure french thermal water that is bottled at the source with nitrogen and is completely sterile. It can be used on irritated skin, wounds, eczema, acne, dry skin, chafed skin, diaper rash  and such. I don’t suffer from none of the above but I use it as a toner and a hydration mist during the day. If I see crazy results from it I will definitely report back 😀 For now I am thinking to get the same brand emulsion gel as well. I got the water on Amazon and I was cracking up reading some of the reviews (BTW 300+ reviews and 4.5 stars) almost all reviews are over the top positive calling it “the most expensive water for face that is close to miraculous”.

avene thermal water for skin

I paid $16 for a 300 milliliter bottle so I suppose it is pretty pricey.  It is spring water so it feels great on the skin. It can be used to set makeup as well. Also the water has a great history and it has been researched since the 1700s and used exclusively for skincare with spectacular success.

lumen time freeze instant lift serum

obiqo with marine extracts intensive facial serum

I still cannot comment on any of the seaweed serums and creams )They are all working OK so far. ) other than my beloved Lumene serum and night cream which is water-based magic drops. 😀

The wakame based skincare line has an interesting website www.lapurete.com. – wakame

Actually I noticed they have an okra based skincare line as well. Sounds intriguing.

So this is my updated skincare routine. As for makeup I use 3 items only – mascara, brown eye pencil, and a bright lip balm. That’s it. No powders, bases, foundations and such.

If you have tried the super awesome Japanese or Korean skincare products let me know in case you have favorites.

For my European beauties I would love to know your favorites as I was super fascinated with the cool products in the euro pharmacies last summer but had no idea where to begin from.

Oh and for everyone that asked about underarm deodorants I still love my Alverde deodorant sprays from DM. And finally I found something on the american market that works. Alvere roll on deodorant. WORKS GREAT! And I do love to jump around like a 5 year old 😀

alvera roll on deodorant

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