SkinCareBoutique

Exfoliation is an important step in your skin care regimen to ensure that your skin remains radiant and clear.  With time, dead skin cells accumulate on the surface of your skin, making your complexion appear dull and also clogging pores, which can lead to acne breakouts.  Exfoliating helps to remove these dead skin cells, deeply cleanses your skin, and prepares your skin for the application of serums and creams, optimizing their effectiveness. Tiffany - InStyle Magazine 2016 My favorite exfoliation product is the  Amore Pacific Treatment Enzyme Peel .  I first heard about this product in a 2016 In-Style magazine article featuring the beauty products used by the former Girls Generation member and K-pop artist, Tiffany, who has absolutely beautiful skin.  After also reading stellar online reviews (4.7 out of 5 stars from more than 1000 reviews on Sephora.com), I had to try it and have been using it ever since. The Amore Pacific Treatment Enzyme Pe...

Like your skin, your lips also require special care to look their best.  We are moving our mouths and lips continuously every day and we also expose our lips to makeup and different foods and drinks.  Your lips are actually structurally different than the other areas of your skin and this difference makes your lips more susceptible to dryness and irritation.  While all skin is made up of three layers - the dermis (the deepest layer), epidermis (the middle layer), and the stratum corneum (the uppermost layer), our lips are unique in that the uppermost protective layer, the stratum corneum, is significantly thinner than anywhere else on our body.  Furthermore, our lips contain little to no melanin, which is the natural pigment that is responsible for our skin and hair color and also provides some protection from UV radiation.  Our lips also do not contain any sebaceous glands making them more prone to dryness. My lips are always dry and unfortunately flaky, so I...

Here's my review of a few of the sheet masks that I've used recently! Rose Gold 24 Mask (by 23 Years Old) ~ This mask claims to be "the best solution to help your dry skin problems." ~ It is "formulated with rose water, rose oil, and gold for a gently hydrating complex."  This mask also contains centella asiatica extract, chamomile flower, and tea tree leaf oil, which are great to reduce inflammation.   ~ After cleansing, apply this mask for 10-20 minutes. ~ This mask is a custom "full sheet" mask, which was unique in that it also covers your lips!  There are the usual openings cut for your eyes and a small slit cut for your nostrils, however there is no opening cut for your mouth!  It did take a few seconds to get used to the sensation of the mask over my lips, but in the end I really liked it and appreciated that my lips, which are always very dry, were also able to benefit from the great ingredients in this mask.   ~ This mask ...

I have previously reviewed my daytime eye cream, the Innisfree Orchid Eye Cream, which is a great, light-weight product that focuses on moisturizing and brightening, however as I am in my thirties and starting to get fine lines around my eyes, I also wanted to incorporate an eye cream that focuses on fighting wrinkles and the signs of aging.  Thus, over the past two to three months, I have been using the Clarins Extra-Firming Eye Wrinkle Smoothing Cream before bed. What does this eye cream claim to do?  Clarins states that this eye cream "visibly firms and reduces the look of fine lines, wrinkles, and fatigue."  It's featured ingredient is shea butter , along with Damascus rose, blackcurrant bud extract, and vitamin E (tocopherol).  Shea butter is made from the nuts of the karite tree in Africa and is a rich moisturizer as it contains a lot of fatty acids that are very beneficial for the skin around the eye, which has decreased amounts of moisture-producing ...

Troiareuke is a Korean professional prescription skincare brand that is very popular in the K-beauty world.  Troiareuke is founded upon the idea that a "personalized skincare prescription gives the best solution for different skin types and skin disorders."  Their products are also used by skincare professionals and aestheticians in over 5,000 beauty spas, primarily in Korea and Hong Kong.  Combining their various products, Troiareuke recommends specific "skin recipes" for each skin type and concern. Troiareuke has also come out with three cushion products - the Troipeel H+ cushion, the Seoul Aesthetic cushion, and the ASCEN A+ cushion, all of which are composed of 99% skin care and only 1% makeup !  In this blog, I will be reviewing the Troiareuke ACSEN A+ cushion . The Troiareuke ACSEN line (ACSEN stands for ACne + SENsitive) is formulated for sensitive and acne-prone skin.  The ACSEN line features ingredients such as centella asiatica that helps to re...

When anyone talks about their skin care regimen or recommendations, one step that is often overlooked and forgotten is the step of cleaning their makeup tools.  Like many of you, I use my makeup brushes and sponges or Beautyblenders on a daily basis, using them to apply everything from foundation and concealer, to eyeshadow and blush.  We don't often think about it, but every time we apply these brushes or sponges to our skin, they are not only accumulating excess product, but also bacteria.  These bacteria can lead to unwanted skin or eye irritation and breakouts.  We do our best to use amazing products and spend the time to cleanse our skin well - don't follow it up by spreading bacteria over your skin with dirty brushes or sponges! How often should you cleanse your makeup tools?   ~ Foundation and concealer brushes should be cleansed once per week.  These brushes are used over the entire surface area of the face and over areas with acne, which contai...

Recently, you may have noticed more and more skin care products on the market that contain the ingredient, birch tree sap or birch juice.  Birch tree sap is a skin care ingredient that was introduced and made popular in Korean beauty products, which have often been utilizing birch tree sap in place of water, with Western brands such as Origins following suit. What is birch tree sap?  Birch refers to a group of tree species most commonly found in the northern hemisphere of the world.  The extracts, leaves, and bark of various birch trees have been used in everything from teas and flavoring, to building skateboards and furniture.  In the realm of skin care, we shall focus on the tree sap of the specific species of birch called Betula platyphylla , which is obtained from the Japanese white birch or Siberian silver birch trees.   Birch tree sap is an ingredient that deeply hydrates and brightens your skin.  It is packed with numerous nutrients that are ...