Beauty Info： Skincare System - Toning after lotion

New Skincare System: Toning After Lotion

In Japanese cosmetic industry, big brands such as Cosme Decorte (Kose) & Albion advocate a skincare system: lotion first then water. The idea is to start loosing soil of the skin then watering.

First of all, your skincare regime must have such instructions to be followed, otherwise if you are using the skincare system to reverse your daily skincare routine, it works worse.

The purpose of toning after lotion is to let oil content of lotion creates right moisture balance in the corneal layer, leaving the skin supple. Owing to the oil lubrication, water content of toner can condition skin, no longer only stay on corneal layer, thus it gives the skin a dewy, fine texture.

To my opinion, the effect of this skincare system might vary. Point of view from chemistry, lotion should not contain high molecular weight ingredients and also avoid ingredients such as silicone and silicon derivatives (dimethicone, cyclohexanone) because these will obstruct penetration to the skin.

Meanwhile, if you have oily skin, I can clearly tell you that this skincare system is not suitable, it will cause congestion of oil sebum and stimulate more pimples. Toning after lotion skincare system is only suitable for dry skin and combination skin.

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Product Comment：Trilogy Cream Cleanser

Trilogy Cleansing Cream is formulated with their signature ingredient, rosehip oil and glycerin to cleanse oil dirt and soften blackheads.

Containing rosehip oil and evening primrose oil as well as nourishing components of jojoba, almond, carrot and calming chamomile oil & lavender oil. A small amount will effectively remove make up, sunblock and environmental grime, suitable for dry skin and combination skin.

Balances the skin's moisture and leaves skin feel smoother, this aromatic cleanser is spreadable and work perfect for the following step.

Aqua (water), glycerin (vegetable), rosa canina (rosehip oil), oenothera blennis (evening primrose oil), buxus chinensis (jojoba oil), prunus dulcis (almond oil), aloe barbadensis (aloe vera), wheat straw glycosides, cetearyl alcohol, daucus carota sativa (carrot oil), aurantium dulcis (orange flower oil), pelargonium roseum (rose geranium oil), boswelia carterlii (frankinscence oil), lavandula angustifolia (lavender oil), chamomile rectita flower oil, citurs grandis (grapefruit seed extract), tocopherol (vitamin e), phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexyglycerin, citral*, citraniol*, citronellol*, limonene*, linalool*

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Beauty Tips: Scar Lightening

When you have pimples or acnes, there are always open wound after extraction. Here I advise you to use rosehip oil for better wound recovery. Rosehip oil contains plenty of vitamin C, which helps in promoting cell renewal, thus it helps to lighten scars, especially newly formed scar on the face & body.

You can add 1 or 2 drops of rosehip oil to your moisturizer before application. Apart from it, rosehip oil can be applied topically as a moisturizer, it is advisable to be diluted with other base oils such as jojoba oil, olive oil or sweet almond oil to reduce tingling effect or redness that may happen to some people. In addition, rosehip oil can only be applied during night time because it contains tretinoin (vitamin A), a photosensitive compound. For maximum result, mix 4 drops of lemon essential oil in 10ml rosehip oil for scar lightening.

Wheatgerm oil can be an alternative for rosehip oil if rosehip oil is not available, it could also be consumed (1 teaspoon daily) to contribute same function as rosehip oil because both of them contain vitamin E.

Brands recommended: Trilogy rosehip oil (all tns outlet), florame rosehip oil, why not? wheatgerm oil

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Beauty Food： Essential Fatty Acid (EFA)

Essential fatty acids are fatty acids that must be obtained from the diet for good health because they cannot be constructed within body. EFA have a vital role in the health of our hormones, and they lubricate all our tissues including the fatty layer just beneath the skin.

These “good fats” are known as omega 3, 6 and 9. Omega-6 oils, which include linolenic and gamma-linolenic acid, are found primarily in raw nuts, seeds, legumes, borage oil, grape seed oil, primrose oil, sesame oil and soybean oil. Omega-3 EFA's, including alpha-linolenic acid, are found in fresh deepwater fish, fish oil and certain vegetable oils such as canola, flaxseed and walnut oils. While most of us get an abundance of omega-6 from vegetable oils, we don’t get enough of omega-3.

Omega-3 have an anti inflammatory effect in the body, and are extremely beneficial for helping most skin conditions ranging from inflamed through to dry skin. Sun exposure increases the need for EFAs as UV diminishes EFAs already present in the skin.

Most of us are seriously deficient in essential fatty acids. It is therefore no surprise that we see increasingly numbers of our friends and family coming down with skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis and other disorders such as arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and arthritis. Found in high concentrations in the brain, EFA's aid in the transmission of nerve impulses and are needed for the normal brain function and development.

EFA's improve the quality of both skin and hair. Whether your skin is dry or oily, it will benefit from the balancing abilities of EFA's. An EFA deficiency gives cause for concern. Skin cells require a steady supply of EFA's to retain their youthful quality. If you want our skin cells to absorb all of those expensive moisturizers and treatments you so carefully apply, consider EFA supplementation to be an inexpensive addition to your skin care program.

EFA's do not tolerate heat well, so in order to benefit from them you must either take them in supplement form or without processing or cooking. Heating them will not only destroy them, but convert them into dangerous free radicals. Always look for cold pressed oil for better quality and this extracting method is the best way to preserve phytonutrients and EFAs from crops.

Hormone balance: GLA (EPO, borage oil)
Antioxidant: vitamin E (wheatgerm oil), OPC (grapeseed oil)
Scarring: wheatgerm oil
Nourishment: Udo’s oil (omega 3,6,9), flax oil, walnut oil, olive oil
Constipation: sesame oil, coconut oil

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Beauty Tips： Massage

Some ask “Why can't I see the difference when everybody says this product works marvelously?” Besides congestion of dead skin cell, the root cause may lie in the procedures. Be patient when you apply skincare, tap and massage lightly and slowly for every single item. If you simply spread them on your face, the effectiveness will definitely go below expectation. As much, massage will help skincare with active ingredients penetrate into the epidermic of skin and perform their duties; meaning to say massage can enhance the overall performance of the skincare.


However, different types of skincare require different way of massage techniques.
1) Emulsion. Warm emulsion in your palms to activate it before application for better absorption. Lotion and moisturizer have thicker texture, you have to massage every part of your face from the centre to upper and lower parts in circular motion, the oil will ease the motion and I usually massage until it is fully absorbed. If it is still greasy and sticky, simply spray some water and continue massaging.

2) Essence/Serum: light fluid or gel is fast-absorbable, over massaging will harm epidermic and may cause collagen to break, thus form wrinkle. To avoid this, pump a small bit of serum and spread it evenly on the face and massage lightly.


3) Eye cream/eye gel: skin of eye area is the most vulnerable part of the face, it is five times thinner than other parts of the face, and therefore applying eye cream on the eye areas must be done gently and lightly with fingertips.


Massage is useful for all skin types, except for inflamed and acne prone skin. Massage will stimulate it and cause tingling sensation on the skin.

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Beauty tips：Application of Skincare after Cleansing

Toner, serum, essence, ampoule, moisturizer, sunscreen, foundation and so many more, you may confuse the sequence of these items. Which one should be used first for better results?


Follow these golden rules:
1) water first, then oil;
2) small molecules come first, big molecules come after

So, let’s start off by talking about water based small molecules, usually ampoule (the only product I could think of is Dr Hauschka rhythmic conditioner or Intensive serum), then followed by water based big molecules, toner; after that followed by oil based small molecules, serum/essence, at last should be oil based big molecules, moisturizer/lotion.

In the morning, we will still wish to apply some protective sunscreen and foundation, after applying all this functional skincare, you should end the routine with mega-size molecules sunscreen as protective layer to protect our skin from UV rays and also minerals from cosmetic, before any make up.

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Day cream vs Night cream

Cleanser, toner, serum can be used throughout whole day, why are they day cream and night cream?

Of course you could stick to a moisturizer that could be used during day and night time. The reason why product formulation specialists separate day cream and night cream is because they serve different roles.

Day creams are usually lightweight in texture, highly spreadable and fast absorb-able. It acts as a protective layer to lock moisture from toner or hydrating gel, nourish skin lightly, contributing light and non-greasy feeling to let us apply sunscreen, foundation or etc afterwards. Hot and humid weather will trigger more sebum secretion on face; day cream can keep our face as refreshed as possible the whole day. If you feel comfortable with matte look, just look for certain moisturizer containing oil absorbing mineral-based fillers such as Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate; another alternative is dust some loosing powder after sunscreen or mix some loose powder with sunscreen.

Night cream acts as a mechanic to repair damaged skin tissue caused by free radicals, it is thicker and heavier compared with day cream. Our skin can absorb more oil to moisturize skin during night time, some hormone-triggering plant extracts and essential oils (such as rose, geranium, jasmine) function at the same time.

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