My 3-Step Weekly Ritual: The Face Shop Black Head EX Smoothing Cleansing Oil, The Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion, Skin Food Peppermint Pore Diet Mask Peel Off

Well, that is kinda long title...
Anyway, this time I want to share to you about my effort to maintain my facial skin. Many females spend extra time and budget for that, and so do I...sigh..

For my weekly routine, as you can see in the title, I use 3 products from 3 different brands (what can you expect from a beauty blogger? Of course most of us are skin care maniacs).

1st STEP: THE FACE SHOP'S BLACK HEAD EX SMOOTHING MASSAGE OIL

As someone who has a strawberry nose and naturally bumpy facial skin, of course I need something to help me extracting the black heads. Recklessly squeezing my nose only scored me even worse condition of enlarged pores and even more strawberry nose look (red and bumpy..what else?). Then I tried to browse for another ways to cleanse my skin, I came across a post about massage oil specifically made to help us removing the black heads. This kind of product is meant to soften the blackies so it will be easier to remove later.


My choice fell to this Black Head Ex Smoothing Massage Oil by The Face Shop. The only brand I know to have such product. The oil is packed in a 30 ml glass bottle with a dropper. Inside you can spot tiny black granules. The texture of the oil is quite thick, not as runny as baby oil for example, it is more gel-like. The smell also pretty nice although I cannot really define what kind of aroma is that.

I applied the oil on my well cleansed face, paid special attention to my T-zone, where most of my black heads resided. I massage it in circular motion for about 3-5 minutes (during the massage, you may see that some of the blackies are extracted) , then I let it stay on my skin for about 1 minute before washed it away with water / warm water. 


By then, we can move to the next step...


2nd STEP: THE BODYSHOP'S VITAMIN C MICRODERMABRASION

Here comes my favourite...
I've been using this microdermabrasion cream for about 1 year and a half, and it stays as my favorite peeling cream as well as my favorite TBS product aside of their perfumes. I've used this product alone for my weekly ritual for quite long time before I made it a 3-step like now.


This one helps me a great deal to remove dead skin cell and get rid of the dull looking skin. I love the scent also, zesty orange scent, very refreshing.The texture is creamy with scrubs on it.


To use this product is pretty simple, just like any other peeling products, you need to massage it on your WET or at least DAMP skin, I cannot recommend it to be used on a completely dry skin (I've tried before and well..it was unpleasant). Massage it for about 5 minutes before rinsing it off completely. I can always feel my skin is a way smoother and softer after the peeling. It simply works for me. Usually I wash my face with face wash, SK II, after the peeling. Then you can dry your face to move to the next step...


STEP 2.5: UNRECOMMENDED SQUEEZE
I have this behavior of squeezing my strawberry nose, it always gives me a certain pleasure to see the blackies pops out and away...huhuhu...but of course dears, this is not so recommended action.


3rd STEP: SKIN FOOD'S PEPPERMINT PORE DIET MASK PEEL OFF


Now we come to the final step, mask, to prevent pores enlargement, and for me, also to make my pores behave better than before (I am trying to reduce their size).


As to fulfill the purpose, I got myself this Skin Food Peppermint mask with Pore Diet as its middle name. This one is a peel off mask.

Packed in a tube with 120 ml volume. This mask looks and scents like a..toothpaste.
Well, a tad bit runnier than the actual toothpaste I must say.

I can say that I quite like this mask. I like the soothing minty tingling feeling too. I need to apply it thick enough, if it is too thin then it will be a trouble to peel it later. Needs about 10-15 minutes to make it completely dried and peel - able.

oho..that's me! 


When you peel it off, sometimes there will be some layers that are quite stubborn to be removed, some people try to scratch them off. One tip from me, you can rub them off by the aid of your face cream / moisturizer. I suggest to use moisturizer after you are done with the mask so your skin will not feel tight. Just use your regular moisturizer, depends on the time (day or night).


By the end of this treatment, I could see my skin very well cleansed, 80% of blackies are gone.


One more important thing, since these steps involve peeling / skin-exfoliating product, they are not recommended for readers with sensitive skin. And result may vary depends on the skin type and condition of each individual.


Thanks for reading and don't hesitate to share your experiences too!