What have I emptied this month?

The month of February has arrived, though it feels just like yesterday that we entered 2019. My resolution this year somehow stays the same: making use of all I've got before purchasing new ones. This goes mainly for make up and skin care products, since last year I wasn't careful with my skin care spending. 

Despite my inability to regularly blog even this year, I'll make an effort to review some products I've used and emptied, and new ones I've bought. Don't count on me, I might disappoint you. 

First up! Moisturizer.

My brand loyalty is so low I almost never repurchase a particular product more than twice. That goes for my day moisturizer. I'm always on the hunt for a new, more exciting release from various cruelty free brands I've never tried before, so it is a given that my empty and my newbie will always be different.

The moisturizer I've emptied this month is from a Korean brand, Leegeeham's Grow cica cream. The name itself is quite self-explanatory. With Centella Asiatica as the star ingredient, this product is formulated for acne-prone skin. When I have breakouts, this cream will help heal any active acne and its scar. The texture itself is quite balmy and occlusive. It leaves your skin somehow silky and moisturized, but applied too much, it will make my face oily and it just won't absorb well into the skin. 

Psst... this cica cream is the affordable alternative to the popular Dr. Jart's cica repair cream. What makes LGH's even better is its cruelty-free status (yes, Dr. Jart is sadly not CF).

Notable ingredients: niacinamide, squalane, panthenol, madecassic acid, asiaticoside, asiatic acid, madecassoside, centella asiatica extract

The replacement I picked for my day moisturizer comes from a local Indonesian brand, Skin Dewi. This brand focuses on organic and natural skin care, and all their products rely heavily on plant extracts, CBD oil, or essential oil. The one that I bought is called Calendula Soothing Gel.

It's an extremely lightweight soothing gel that won't be hydrating enough for drier skin type, yet it's perfect for my morning routine. I have oily-combination skin, and since I use a hydrating essence and a moisturizing sunscreen in the morning, this gel alone is enough to lock moisture.

Another great thing is that this gel is formulated with multiple calming properties, making it phenomenal for days when your skin barrier is compromised, or when your skin feels extra sensitive. The only downside is the price. For 30 g, this gel costs around $50. 

Notable ingredients: camellia seed oil, oat, calendula & chamomile extracts

Another empties also come from Skin Dewi. In fact, before I decided to buy the full sized product of its calendula soothing gel, I had tried their oily skin care kit. This kit consists of hazelnut cleansing milk, calendula soothing gel, and temulawak emulsion. 

It's hard to pick a favorite among the 3 I've tried, but I guess the calendula soothing gel is the winner, seeing how I ended up getting the full size. 

The hazelnut cleansing milk worked well, and it is actually very moisturizing. It is meant for the last step of your cleansing routine, after you remove your make up and use cleansing oil/balm or whatever it is. Since it is such a gentle cleanser, its cleansing properties are limited, and it won't take off any left over sunscreen or foundation that your previous cleansing product somehow fails to remove. If you wish to really get a thorough cleansing, you will have to dispense more of this cleansing milk, or really massage and work it on your skin for 3 minutes. For me, there are better alternatives out there that can clean any dirt and residue effectively with only half the effort (like Krave Beauty's Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser). 

The temulawak balancing emulsion also did okay, and I actually quite enjoy the herbal smell that comes from temulawak (javanese turmeric). BUT it is freaking expensive. A full size with only 30g of product will cost you around $100. Considering its less-than-stellar performance, I'll just give it a pass.

PS: I despise their mini bottles. They put 5g of product in a 5ml bottle, so the product doesn't fill up even half of the bottle. As a result, the dropper barely even works, which makes it hard to dispense the right amount of product onto your hand. I always ended up shaking the bottle, getting too much or too little. Weight and volume aren't the same, yo! I've complained about this, and thankfully Skin Dewi responded quite well and asserted that they were planning to change their mini bottles anyway. 

Last but not least, I have 2 eye creams to talk about this month. The one I've used up is Nature Green's expert eye gel serum. Nature green is another local brand that claims to use only natural and organic ingredients. 

I initially bought it due to many impressive reviews from people who saw improvements in their fine lines after using it. Sadly, it didn't do anything but moisturized my eye area. :( I was actually quite disappointed as the ingredients list looks promising. It contains ginseng and niacinamide, for example, that should be good for anti-aging and brightening. 

Saddened by the ordinary performance of this eye gel, I decided to try Biossance. Fully aware that I couldn't afford the full size, I went for the mini kits. One of the products included in the kit is this squalane + peptide eye gel. 

It claims to help with dark circles and puffiness, but I have yet to see any significant result. Then again, I never expect an eye cream to magically get rid of my puffy eyes and dark circles as they're mainly caused by my lack of sleep and (sometimes) poor diet. So far, I've enjoyed using it. The cream sinks fast onto the skin and leaves the skin hydrated and smooth. 

I don't think I'll repurchase the full size, though. I want to try a more potent eye cream exclusively made to reduce the appearance of wrinkles & fine lines. If you have any recommendation, please tell me! ;)