Ever since I dove into a more active lifestyle — aka going to the gym at least three times a week and then running errands after that — I’ve become more obsessed at finding the best skincare products for me. I can’t really wear foundation to cover my blemishes or use highlighter to make my face luminous when I’m about to sweat on the elliptical machine (although I’ve seen some girls do — no judgments, just a friendly reminder to be careful ‘cos it could lead to skin breakouts). 

I tried lots of moisturizers, serums, and different sorts of masks. But before I share my skincare adventures with you, let me just point out my skin type first… I have a combination skin type (oily t-zone and the rest is either dry or just alright), and my skin isn’t sensitive to breakout, although I do react badly to products that are super scented. 

Olay is my holy grail skincare brand. My skin loves Olay and the Regenerist Micro-Sculpting serum is one of my staple and favorite products from this brand. It moisturizes so well and keeps my face soft. In terms of skin brightening, this does not disappoint at all. The same goes for the other moisturizers under their Regenerist line. It has a subtle floral scent that doesn’t give me breakouts. I keep this serum on my bedside table, right next to my Kiehl’s midnight recovery serum which is also one of my holy grail skincare products. I super highly recommend this serum!

One of the first Neutrogena products I’ve used since my pubescent acne years. This baby blue gel smells fresh and feels refreshing and cool when applied on my face. It’s very moisturizing, and my favorite part about it is that it is SPF 30, which makes it perfect to wear during day time. I like to use this product right before I apply makeup cos it makes the application of my foundation smoother. However, I’m not exactly fond of using it without applying any makeup on top of it cos it turns my t-zone a tad bit oilier after using it for 5 days straight. I’m still keeping the product though, cos it is a fairly good moisturizer / primer before makeup application, but I wouldn’t recommend it to girls with oily skin type. It could work for those with dry skin type. 

Vanessa (the blush queen as i call her, she owns maybe what — a hundred blushes now?) and a lot more bloggers I follow raved about Laneige’s Water Sleeping Mask, so i took advantage of Althea’s promo and got this on a good bargain. I’ve tried those famous sheet masks, which some of it i loved but i ended up ignoring all of them cos of this sleeping mask. You guys this is one of the best mask ever! I put this on before bed and wake up feeling like Galadriel of Lord Of The Rings. It makes my face plumped, glowy, and beyond satisfied moisturized. Keeping this jar for a very long time with me cos I only use it once or twice a week — anything more than that will start making my skin oily. 

“YouTube made me do it” — there was a point in time where almost every single international beauty guru I love on YouTube raved about Origins Ginzing Moisturizer and eye cream, so as soon as Origins launched in the Philippines I went straight to Makati and grabbed one. Their SAs were so helpful and generous in giving me samples and I really enjoyed my visit there. Unfortunately as much as I really wanted to like the stuff my youtube idols loved, their orange scented Ginzing moisturizing didn’t work for me. Yes it is super moisturizing but it also made my skin oily and shiny so I am tossing this into my blog sale bin, and hopefully it could find its way to someone who will fit well with it so it won’t go to waste. 

This is one of my few “sample products success stories”. A blogger from Indonesia sent me a sample sachet of the It’s Skin serum. Not knowing what on earth Its Skin is I wasn’t too excited to try it, but then by the time i finished up the sachet, i noticed that my skin was extra soft, matte, and glowy so i searched back and forth for it and finally found it on Althea. It’s a good serum especially for the price of PHP390! One thing it does so well aside from moisturizing is making my skin baby soft and matte. I love this serum and I’m keeping it. The only disadvantage is that the effectiveness of the serum seems to stop after awhile, so I only use it at least twice a week and interchange it with my other serums. 

Hope this quick skincare run down helps! Have you tried any of these?