Madre Labs Concentrated Green Tea Skin Cream

I purchased a bottle of Madre Labs Concentrated Green Tea Skin Cream from iherb when I was looking through trial products. I was keen to try a EGCg product after reading The New Science of Perfect Skin and the trial price offered was tempting.  

I purchased this at a trial price of  USD$9.72 (50ml). The usual price for this product varies between USD$19.95 (iherb) or USD$22.55 (Amazon seller). 

When I first applied the cream on my face, I felt a smarting (mildly tingling) sensation around my nasolabial lines. I quickly went online and asked around. Apparently, I was probably reacting to the tea tree oil in the product. Despite forummers asking me to stop using the cream, I persisted but using less product around the laugh lines. 

I did like the cream after using it for a while (only 1/4 of the cream is left) but felt that it didn't address my hydration issues. As a moisturiser, it did fairly well in making my skin feel less tight. But I personally prefer the 'moist' feeling of my skin after using hyaluronic acid products. I must say that I felt I had clearer skin in the days that I used this cream, possibly due to the tea tree oil inside. 

Would I repurchase? Unlikely as I have tonnes of moisturisers to try out, but I would suggest that friends with oily/acne prone skin try the cream, especially if it comes back on a trial price.

You can get a discount off your first order (USD$10 off your first order of USD$40 or above by using the code: ESO758.

Skincare and traditional Chinese medicine

In a recent  feature, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner wrote about clogged pores (comedones). The article states that comedones are probably caused by dysfunction of the lungs, stomach, large intestine, liver and kidneys.

It's interesting to read about dermatology via a TCM viewpoint. The 'Western'/mainstrem perception towards skincare includes benzoyl peroxide for pimples, AHA/BHA for chemical exfoliation, retinoids to accelerate skin cell turnover etc. But in the TCM feature, the practitioner recommended facial acupuncture and cupping therapy as ways to dispel the pathogenic factors.

There are no TCM dermatologists as far as I know. Most TCM practitioners view the skin as another organ to view symptoms as any problems with skin are usually accompanied by issues elsewhere. Afterall, the skin is the largest organ in the body.

The TCM way to improve skin seems to focus more on diet and treatments which would arguably take a longer period of time to see improvements vs smearing on creams. Typically when I take a TCM-prescribed remedy, it's to fix 'heat' and 'dampness' within the body. 

I've tried acupuncture (to fix a knee problem), gua sha and cupping therapy and I would personally try to keep the needles for vaccines, thank you very much. 

But just a diet of vegetables and fruits promotes good skin health, I might consider drinking some TCM-prescribed drinks to help my skin get clear and luminous. The only issue is a need to consult a TCM practitioner (on a weekly/month basis) as the TCM belief is that the body is in constant flux and there is a need to constantly adjust the prescribed remedy.    

Note: Although it might seem that collagen drinks for good skin health comes from the 'East', there is no TCM basis for drinking collagen supplements. 

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal eyeliners

After reading raves about the Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeliners, I decided to order them when drugstore.com was having 30% off their makeup department.

 Not me

Going through the Rimmel USA and UK websites, I quickly discovered that 006 Deep Blue was a USA- exclusive shade. So Deep Blue went into the shopping basket (am a sucker for *insert country of choice*-exclusive). I thought of trying something brighter and 007 Turquoise seemed like a good choice. 

Diagonal left to right:

Deep Blue (1 stroke), Deep Blue (2 strokes), Turquoise (1 stroke), Turquoise (2 strokes)

I felt that Deep Blue is in fact closer to purple, it is very dark and very close to a charcoal grey. Turquoise, to me, leans towards teal but I do like the shine without any glitter particles. I sometimes tightline and I prefer to use eyeliners without any particles in them. 

Rimmel has a "Try It On" feature on their website which is fabulous! You can select a model similar to your colouring/ethnicity (Rimmel USA has different models from Rimmel UK), select the style of eyeliner e.g. winged, cat's eye etc, pick the shade you're interested in and watch how the eyeliner will look on the model.

With eyeliner on the right eye only (Taken from Rimmel's website)

There's even a before/after section where you can choose to see the eyeliner only on 1 eye and see the other eye without eyeliner. Great job on the website, Rimmel!

So far, I've worn the Rimmel Scandaleyes Turquoise eyeliner on two occasions. First time, I used it to tightline for a dinner party (in all air-conditioned comfort) and used a black eyeliner on top of my lashes. Second time round, it was used as 'normal' eyeliner, on top of the lashes, for a morning at the beach (typical hot humid Singapore weather) and subsequently, an afternoon out. 

The eyeliner lasted beautifully during the dinner party but didn't do so well during the second time. There was fallout onto the lower eye area but as the shade was light, it didn't look too bad.  

I do like the texture and the price (RRP USD$4.49) and will continue using the eyeliner. I will attempt to replicate what I used on my eyes during the dinner party again and see if the fallout will continue during the day.  

Disclaimer: I did not receive any payment or payment in kind for writing this blog post. Any opinions mentioned are my own.