Going foundation-free

I started wearing foundation full-time when I was in university. Tinted moisturisers, B.B. creams, foundations... I have tried them all. B.B. creams were prolly the most fun to use because they came with a gazillion other skincare benefits and also, they give you the much-envied, flawlessly dewy Korean skin. Unfortunately, for me, they gave me a bunch of blackheads too. My facial therapist explained that because they are so good at being resistant to sebum and perspiration, it becomes really difficult to clean them off completely. Hence, the clogged pores.

So, in my later years (Lol.), I stuck to Bourjois' Healthy Mix Serum, VMV Hypoallergenics' Illuminants Brilliance Finish 25 Powder Foundation (Which I still love very much and have a spare each in my stash.). However, two Septembers ago, my skin got really sensitive. It was dry, irritated and peeling everywhere. The more I tried to cover it with foundation, the worse it looked. And that was when I decided to go foundation-free.

The first day was pretty 'scary'. I mean, of all the times to decide to go barefaced, I did it when my skin was at its crappiest?? Lol. But it was okay. Just like pimples, no one really bothered. And I felt like my skin could breathe! With the help of some Chinese meds, my skin eventually healed and I didn't go back to foundation. Of course I use a concealer every now and then to hide pesky spots but, I quite enjoy the feeling of not having a layer covering my skin. Also, I find my skin a lot healthier now. :D

Here are my top 5 tips on going foundation-free.

1. Exercise and drink lots of water.
   Skin is a reflection of what's going on in our body so do take care of it! I think it's virtually impossible to have sufficient rest (Hahaha.), so I try to accomplish other things instead like exercising at least once a week and drinking about 2 litres of water every day.
2. Invest in good skincare.
   Knowing what goes into the skincare products we apply on our face is important. I research and read online reviews before buying new products and I always do a patch test.
3. Apply sunscreen.
   I cannot stress the importance of sunscreen enough. As I get older, I find myself getting more freckles and moles. And after long hours under the sun, my skin just looks battered. I carry an umbrella everywhere I go.
4. Don't pick your skin. That pimple will go away.
   Again, as I age, my skin takes longer to heal. But it will heal. So don't delay recovery by tampering with pimples because breaking the skin might just cause more infection.
5. Pamper your skin.
   Every week, I give my skin a good scrub and a nice mask-ing session at least 2-3 times. Scrubs remove dead skin so that skincare can sink in better and masks contain an intense concentration of ingredients to treat and repair our skin.

Maple Holistics Silk18 Natural Hair Conditioner

I love BuzzFeed. I take their quizzes regularly, watch their Tasty Instagram videos when I'm bored, get my current affairs knowledge from their News section and of course, read every beauty article they published. In last month's beauty news, they featured 28 Things That'll Help You Get The Best Hair Of Your Life. And on the list was Maple Holistics Silk18 Natural Hair Conditioner (USD15.83, with shipping, from beloved Amazon.).

Steeped in a base of water and Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, this conditioner is jam-packed with 18 different silk amino acids, Phytokeratin, oils like Jojoba and Argan and an organic blend of Pomegranate, Hibiscus, Green Tea and Sea Buckthorn to help calm and hydrate frizzy tresses. Made in USA, it is cruelty-free and does not contain any artificial fragrances (Natural Vanilla is used!), colouring and sulfates.

I have been using this for about a month now and I have completely abandoned my L'Occitane conditioner in favour of it. In the mornings, I slather this on, let it soak in, wash it off, apply my L'Occitane oil on the ends and I get the most obedient hair ever. My hair doesn't get as messy and frizzy as it usually does as the day goes on, and it keeps its shape. And despite the conditioner's oil contents, my hair doesn't get weighed down. Also, the vanilla scent makes it smell so homely and so very safe. ◡̈ Definitely a keeper!

Dressing My Nails in Innisfree

I came to appreciate nail polishes when I was in university. Classes were dreary and I decided to paint my nails a different colour every week, just to cheer myself up. So even though it was such a pain to wait for the polishes to dry completely, it became my relaxing/ telly time. 6 years on and it's still therapeutic for me.

Technology has come a long way and after experimenting with various brands like O.P.I, Essie, Orly, The Face Shop etc., I have found my favourite a.k.a Innisfree. The nail polishes go on smoothly, dry quickly and are really long-lasting. Also, they are incredibly affordable at SGD4 per bottle.

Innisfree's Nail Base Coat (SGD6) and Nail Top Coat (SGD6) are staples. And I also really like their Nail Gel Top Coat a lot too. It made my previous set of nails so shiny and colourful for 1.5 weeks before chipping. I wanted to feature that in this post actually but I took the wrong one. Also, I'm not sure if it's still available because the last Innisfree store I visited didn't have it. Let me check and I'll do up another post then. ◡̈ Spotted it at Takashimaya's Innisfree outlet!

Anyway, back to this post. Here are my nails, freshly coated in Innisfree. Unfortunately, I can't remember the numbers for these polishes because they are printed on the sticky tape that you have to remove. They are in the usual range though. And they are actually more purplish than they appear here. The purple base is #63 and the glitter is #80.

I'll be penning down my journey with this set of nails so that you can see how great Innisfree nail polishes are and be convinced to buy truckloads of them. This way, Innisfree will be encouraged to come up with more nail colours and I can be happy for the rest of my life. Hahaha. Kidding. Maybe not. But I do really want to share their greatness. Not going to buy other brands unless they have got more interesting/ prettier colours.

Day 0 Each nail has 2 coats of the base colour and every alternate nail has an additional coat of glitter. It took about 1 1/2 episode of The Vampire Diaries (An hour. Also, rewatching TVD. Soundtrack is great and Ian Somerhalder is gorgeous. His eyes are so pretty. ♥_♥) to dry completely, through the layers. Went about the rest of my day as usual and not a single nail was mucked up, which you have to understand, was quite a feat because I'm not exactly dainty.

Day 1 Had a final fancy meal with family and Z at Lei Garden Restaurant in CHIJMES before the sis jets back to the U.K.. I really like the spring pancakes that you wrap the Peking Duck in but Dad doesn't. Anyhow, the service is great and prompt, and it's a nice place to dine with loved ones. Went to work after that and worked out a little while watching the beginnings of Klaroline (Hehe. ♡). And here I am, with my Innisfree nails report. Not a chip in sight (Well, it's only day 1.) and the glitters are firmly sealed in. :D

Day 3 It was back to work for me today after completely losing my voice last Wednesday. It was absolutely terrible not being able to talk and/ or having your own body cut you off mid-sentence. The sister thought I sounded a lot like Chewie from Star Wars and decided to play soundtracks of him growling every time I tried to say something. ಠ_ಠ Anyway, while washing my hair today, I felt a strand get caught underneath the nail polish. Turned out to be my middle finger. Still, it looks alright. Glitters are still intact. ◡̈

Day 6 And yay, it's Chinese New Year break!!! Teehee. Can't wait to wolf down all the Bak Kwa, even though I still think that Ba Kwa produced during this festive period is just not as good as the non-festive period ones. 😕 Back to the nails... The middle one kinda took a beating over the past couple of days. And a glitter bit on my index finger came off. But it still looks alright overall. Hoping that it will last through the festive bingeing!

Day 8 CNY was great! Dipped my hands way too many times into the Bak Kwa and Pineapple tart jars that more of my nail polish came off. Hahaha. Oh gee, I hope I didn't swallow any of the flakes accidentally. 😕 Anyway, other than the index and middle fingers, the rest actually still look pretty good but my nails do grow pretty fast, huh?

Day 12 Today's the end of this set of nails because I have a work event on Friday and also, I'm dying to paint my nails black again (After Friday.). Heh. My ring finger's nail polish has started to chip but after 12 days, my nails still look decently presentable. :D It's almost two weeks! For the curious cats, my right hand, which is the dominant one, fared just a tad worse. Most of the chipping happened on the index and middle fingers.

So, there you have it, my 12 days of pretty nails with Innisfree! I hope this entry has been a good review of Innisfree's nail polish formula. ◡̈