Second Pregnancy Skincare List

Hello, long time no see!

After my last post about two years ago, I'm finally writing here again.
Right now I'm in the middle of my second pregnancy (6 months) so I'm gonna write about skincare products I'm using this time around.

The main issue for my skin during this pregnancy is dryness. My body got very itchy especially on my arms and legs, there was no rash and the blood test results were fine so I assume it's just hormones. What helped me a lot was using Urea shower gel and lotion religiously.

For my face, I use;

1. La Roche Posay Effaclar Cleanser

This was what I was using when I found out I was pregnant. It works fine though I can replace it with Paula Choice's Clean as well and see no difference.

2. Kose Softymo Cleansing Oil

I had gotten back to using micellar water again (cuz I ran out of my Shu Uemura cleansing oil and they are too expensive) even though I don't like how many cotton pads waste it produced. I found out about Softymo from a friend's instagram and tried ordering it through eBay. It does what Shu did without the hefty price tag.

3. Avene Thermal Spray

This acts as a toner and light moisturiser for me. I never had a good experience with toner, I don't know why. I tried Clinique's, Nivea's, Estee Lauder; all resulted in a pimple in a few days time. I know it's the cause since I made sure to try one new product for some time instead of introducing several at once.

The thermal spray works nicely on me and I love the convenience of a spray instead of using a cotton pad (I don't know maybe I just have a thing against cotton pad lol). It doubles as a setting spray and if i want to refresh my make up later in the day, I made sure to spray this first.

4. Laneige Water Sleeping Mask

I was guilty of not using moisturiser due to my oily skin. I know I should use it anyway even with oily skin but I just can never bring myself into it. I asked a friend to bring me this from Singapore and it did all the wonders for my skin. When I apply it before bed I can feel it set and plumping my skin. I woke up with balanced skin and very nice to touch (touching your face is not recommended btw ^^;) It's a bit funny reading the application instruction, first step; dot the cream on your face and spend 3 seconds to inhale the relaxing scent (?). Err... I tried but with a toddler around I think I'm more concerned about the skincare benefit instead of the scent.

5. Avene Gentle Purifying Scrub

Something new I added to the regime due to the coming winter. Since I loved the thermal spray so much, I thought it'd be better to pick a scrub that contains the thermal water as well. I hope it will make the scrub less harsh and adds a bit of moisture afterwards. Can't say much about it for now as I've only used it twice.

I think that's it for now! I'm gonna write about my make up routine next time I guess (since I pretty much wear the same things). I hope it won't be another two years till my next post ;)

Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso

After hearing lots of good things about this blush, it became one of the top in my wish list. It's a shame though Milani is not available in Netherlands (or Europe, come to think of it). I found some of their products at boozyshop.nl but for some reason they just put Milani stuff in the website but marked them "sold out" every time (what's the point?).

Then one day I thought I had enough products to justify a purchase at cherryculture.com ;P It's a US-based website that sells drugstore products. I ended up ordering two NYX butter glosses, two Jordana eyeliners, one pencil and one liquid; and Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso :) The price for the baked blush is $6.99 but they had a 20% off code so it was basically $5.60 (or around €4.20). 

Pregnancy Skincare

Hello! 

Yes, I'm sorry for being MIA for a long time (it's been almost half year!). The reasons were this and that, from simply didn't feel like reviewing, then holiday, and finally, pregnancy :)

I am 19 weeks pregnant right now and due in February. I thought I'd write about my pregnancy skin care here in the blog.

During the first trimester I didn't feel like wearing make up AT ALL. I rarely did my hair either despite the horrible structure I have. Mostly I put it in a ponytail and smeared some SPF on my face then got out of the house. It wasn't because of morning sickness, mind you, I didn't get any morning sickness at all. I just had a weird bitterness in my mouth on random days but nothing bothered me too much. After the 14th week, however, I felt more like myself again and started putting some more make up and back straightening my hair ;P 

Before I was pregnant I was all about acne treatment and balancing/exfoliating my oily skin with BHA. Since we were trying to conceive, though, I tried to limit BHA in my skincare products. And when I was confirmed pregnant, I gave it up fully. 

Products I used before:

1. Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Oil-Free Acne Wash

2. Paula's Choice BHA Gel

3. DiorSnow UV Shield Moisturizing UV Protection

4. Mario Badescu Drying Lotion

Most of these (1, 2 and 3) contained Salicylic Acid, which was why I stopped using them. I still would love to use DiorSnow but sadly I ran out of it. 

Right now I use:

1. Nivea Daily Essentials Facial Wash Gel

2. Nivea Daily Essentials Light Moisturizing Day Cream

These first two were very easy to find at the drugstore and considerably affordable. Sometimes Nivea products went on sale or in a buy 1 get 1 free offer so I can always buy more. It's very simple and although I don't see huge improvement or so, I just love that it didn't break me out. I tried using Cetaphil for some time when I ran out of the cleanser, but it resulted in little bumps. Once I got back to this it all went away again. I guess my baby was telling me to use this instead of Cetaphil ;P

3. Mama Mio Tummy Rub Butter

This was fairly recent. During my first trimester I used Palmer's Stretch Mark Cream and even though I think it worked well enough, I was intrigued to try this one (sucker for good reviews). Compared to Palmer's, this has thicker consistency and fresher scent. Palmer's scent somehow reminded me of white bread with chocolate sprinkles, I don't know how that's possible. Mama Mio's scent was more lemony and reminded me of the spa session we had during our honeymoon ;)

4. Shu Uemura A/O Cleansing Oil

I used to use Bioderma to remove my make up at night. At some point I realized how many cotton pads I wasted while I was using it. During our vacation, I managed to grab this cleansing oil at duty free counter, so I thought I'd give it a try. I love how I only need this and water to remove everything (I rarely wear mascara but I think this will work quite well for that too). At first I used this then my Nivea cleansing gel to wash my face once more, but after some time it grows on me to leave it as is. So at night I only cleanse with this and leave it moisturizing my face afterwards. That way it didn't break me out either, so it's very convenient :)

I had some thoughts about purchasing a serum to add to my skincare routine but so far I haven't found anything that suits me (price-wise, formula-wise). Right now all these products work well for me and I am not sure I want to try anything new because I can't really predict how the reaction would be :) 

I think that's it for now, let's close this post with a little bump picture ;)

Bourjois Blush in 34 Rose D'or

Having heard that Bourjois actually owned Chanel cosmetics brand, I heard some of their products are cheaper version of Chanel's. Their blush is said to be similar to Chanel Joues Contraste without the €38 price tag. Let's see :)

Spring Must Have: OPI Sparrow Me the Drama

Spring is finally here (well, at least for a few days) and I know one color that I have to take out of my nail polish drawer once the sun is appearing. It's OPI Sparrow Me the Drama. This polish came out during spring two years ago in OPI collaboration with Pirates of the Caribbean, I didn't realize it's been that long since.