Hello everyone, how is your week going so far? I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Sydney where we attended a friend’s wedding and held Mr BB’s 40th birthday bash with his family and friends. I always love going to Australia and it feels like it was way too short this time, but we’re going back for Christmas end of the year and we usually stay at least two weeks.

Since I did an updated skincare routine for my face, I thought I would share with you my skincare routine for my body. This winning combination has kept my skin smooth, hydrated, and fairly clear. When I travel, I can’t really keep to this routine so I know when I go back to it, my skin improves by leaps and bounds.

First, I start off with some dry skin brushing. I can’t tell you how important this step is – you don’t see immediate results but after a few weeks, my skin just looks and feels so much smoother and bump-free. So when I travel, I just don’t think lugging around a big long brush makes sense luggage-wise so I use a nylon bath towel which works okay but I think the circular motion of brush bristles somehow delivers better results.

I then lather up my shower gel or cream of the moment with a nylon fluffy scrub. Right now I’m obsessed with Weleda’s Wild Rose Shower Cream which smells just amazing. It’s extremely easy to make rose-scented products smell cheap and nasty but the Weleda one is light and fresh. Also, the shower cream feels luxurious and moisturizing while doing a great job cleansing. I’m currently trying to stock up on this product whenever I’m travelling because it is so ridiculously expensive in Japan (like almost 3000JPY).

After which, I follow up with Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap in Cherry Blossom using my Clarisonic on my chest, shoulders, and back. I like double cleansing these areas because they get clogged very easily.

After patting myself dry, I splash on some Bioderma Sensibio Lotion Normal to Dry Sensitive Skin on my chest and back, and then smear on Neutrogena Oil Free Moisture Sensitive Skin on those areas as well. My chest and back areas are prone to dehydration and if I don’t moisturize them, they would over-produce oil and lead to break outs.

For the rest of my body, I will put on some Jason Natural Vitamin E oil and then layer with body butter or milk by Korres (not pictured here) because the weather is still pretty dry.

That’s my body care routine and I try to stick to this as religiously as I can. I try not to skimp on bodycare products because they really are worth it to maintain healthy smooth skin.

What’s your must-have bodycare product? Do share your routine!

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Thank you for all your positive feedback on my 7-Day Salad Handbook (have you had a salad today?) and don’t forget to take part in the Mandom Barrier Repair giveaway (it ends on June 30) — lotsa goodies to be won!

Now before I dive into my review of the acne products from Neutrogena and Clinique, can I just say that my bathroom has never looked so dull? Why do manufacturers have to come up with such plain, clinical designs for acne/sensitive skincare products? I would feel better just for a teensy bit if I had something cute and pretty to look at on top of acne problems….Okay, rant over…

I’ve used most of these products for two months now so I think I have come to some fair conclusions.

I wouldn’t say this transformed my skin but I think it helped to keep clogged pores at bay — it’s not a miracle god-send type of product but it’s a light oil-free moisturizer with salicylic acid that reduces the occurrence of getting clogged pores. It doesn’t feel effective during intense breakouts, but then during such times, nothing feels like it’s working either…

I think this is still a good option because it doesn’t make my skin feel oily though it is a little too light so I need to put on a serum to counteract that slightly tight feeling I get after putting it on. Despite my seemingly lukewarm feelings towards this product, I have re-purchased this four times already (it’s a small tube and I use this twice a day) so I’ve been using this for about four months. I have repurchased this because I cannot find a better substitute to be honest.

Let me come straight off the bat and say, this spot treatment actually made my skin worse. I find that if I put it on a spot, especially a cystic one, I actually get a cluster of acne around the original one. Gross but true…It happened so many times that I have half a mind to toss this one into the bin after this review!

This Clean & Clear Persa Gel-10 on the other hand reduces and dries acne quickly. I can see a big difference overnight so I’m forever using this. Forever and ever. Even if it means buying it online on Drugstore.com and shipping is ludicrous.

For the Neutrogena Acne Stress Control product, I really wanted to like this because I read so many good reviews on Makeup Alley and Paul Begoun’s Beautypedia ranked this as an exceptional acne product but it made me break out in a red rash on my face in less than a week (applied twice a day). I refused to believe this wasn’t working for me so I cut back to once a day but my skin was really in a mess so I stopped using it shortly after.

I tried using it on my chest and back but again I broke out in a rash. So now I use it once or twice a week and I have no rashes. I’m actually doing a combination of things to improve my body acne (I will elaborate this in another post) so I’m not sure if this product actually works in aiding that, so this will probably not be a repurchase for me.

I got the Neutrogena Rapid Clear product because it also had outstanding reviews but thankfully I only tried it on my body because I had more acne (not sure if this was due to the product or my errant hormones) and rashes in just two days. I would have died if my face suffered in the same way — I wouldn’t have been able to leave the house.

Anyway, I tried to cut back on using it from twice a day to once a day to every other day but it just got worse so I’m junking this. But having said that, I have trouble throwing away almost full tubes/bottles of products that don’t work for me. I hope that with enough time, I would just toss them out!

I have read that people with sensitive acne-prone skin have allergic reactions to common acne treatments like salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide — the horror! I don’t think I’m allergic to salicylic acid per se — maybe the amount and frequency matter?

As a final note on coming off the pill (read about my story stopping the pill here), I have despaired over this many times but I think time does heal. I feel that this past month has been an improvement over the past several months. I expected to break out like crazy because I always do in two-week cycles but so far everything is under control. Do not give up!!!

Do you have any acne treatments you love? Please share if you do!

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Hi my dears, I’m a little peeved that the Fukushima nuclear reactor situation is at level 7, revised from level 5 — the international media had quite a field day bashing Japan and this level 7 thing is just a definition based on the total amount of radiation released into the atmosphere since the explosion on Mar 12. This does not mean the Fukushima nuclear reactors have become worse — in fact the daily amount of radiation released is lowering.

That’s not to say the situation isn’t serious — it is — but I do find comfort that the total amount of radiation released thus far is only 10 per cent of what Chernobyl did (also rated 7). Please note that Tokyo is far from the disaster (250km!) so we are all safe here and life is going on as per normal. For radiation concerns, please read this post I wrote.

Again, I implore those who are following the crisis from overseas: do not believe fear-mongering reports by international media sources. I’m not naive nor am I being “pro-Japan” but I’m seeing this from the inside and only the neighboring areas to Fukushima in northeast Japan are terribly affected. In fact, I get the sense that your average Japanese is more concerned about the victims who lost their homes, families, and have to cope with harsh conditions (click here to learn how to donate).

But onto beauty-related (and happier things)…

I know it’s has been so long since I went to Australia….I was in Melbourne in late Feb for 10 days, but hey, that gave me time to test out the products I bought. It’s a really small haul but these can’t be found or are ridiculously expensive in Japan so they are quite “special” in my book…

First up, I finally got my hands on an Aussie classic — paw paw balm. I understand there are different brands but I saw this one that looked interesting so I got two tubes for AUD6 each. What is paw paw? It’s basically papaya – how cute! Apparently it’s got amazing healing properties so perfect for nursing cracked lips and skin.

Macadamia, shea, jojoba and papaya extract all sounded very delicious indeed…

(more…)

I’ve to tell ya, I never paid attention to hand cream before this cold, dry winter in Tokyo. The super dry air actually makes me feel a little ill, and what’s also mortifying, the skin on my hands feel tight and my cuticles are peeling — ouch.

If I did buy hand cream in the past, it was because it was an excuse to have one more sweet-smelling product for myself.

I indulged in a bottle of L’Occitane Lavender Hand Lotion a couple of years ago (I still have loads left so you can tell how often I use it). It smells absolutely gorgeous and I smear it on before bed just to feel relaxed and ready to drift off into slumberland.

It’s a light hand cream that doesn’t feel sticky but it doesn’t hold up well in Tokyo’s current dry conditions. I had to re-apply it after a short while and my skin still peeled.

For a small travel-sized hand cream, I got Neutrogena’s fragrance-free Norwegian formula just before my Nepal trip in late 2007. I thought it could double up as a spare moisturizer if I ran out, but I hardly used it. OMG, the air in Tokyo is drier than Kathmandu’s. Ugh.

Anyway, it’s “functional”, as in it does the job but has a sticky feel to it which fades only after a long while but I can tell that there’s something on my skin. Also, a big blob takes a long while for it to be absorbed and I had to keep rubbing what felt like a paste on my hands.

After dropping off Beauty Box packages at the post office, I swung by the kusuriya with a mission to save my hands from further discomfort — BB Hanskin. I got the Moisture Natural Rich Hand Cream (814JPY) and not Water Drop because I need all the hydration I can get!

I read quite a few rave reviews about this Korean brand’s Super Magic BB Cream and I guess it makes sense to have some of that special touch on my parched hands. The label reads, “The cream contains glycerin and sodium hyaluronate…” so I thought, “That sounds pretty moisturizing to me!”

Verdict: There is still a very thin film of lotion I can feel, but it’s not unpleasant and it doesn’t get in the way of typing on my Mac. The scent is wonderfully light and reminds me of Crabtree & Evelyn’s Goat’s Milk range. The fragrance fades fairly quickly so it never overwhelms my nose while I’m going about my day. It’s more affordable than Avene’s famed Cold Cream Hand Cream at 1,250JPY and feels more luxurious to the touch than cheaper, less absorbent moisturizers.