2 016 is winding down. Itโs been 7 years and a half since I wrote my first post.ย Whether youโreย a long-term reader of RatzillaCosme or youโre hereย for the very first time, massive thanks for your continued support!ย Beauty products are highly subjective, but I always try to cater for a wide audience.ย So I hope youโve found my words relevant and useful to you.
On this note, I bring you my personal favourites this year. If you missed last yearโs top picks, you can check it out here.
POWER PLAYER
A new skin care discovery this year that has become a permanent fixture in my bathroom drawer is Makeup Artistโs Choice (MUAC) Mandelic Acid Peel. I hate its packaging (itโs impossible to control how much liquid you pour out using itsย screw top cap!), but everything else is brilliant. I havenโt touched my BHA/AHA since I started using it! Just twice a week at nightย is enough keep my pores very clean, skin super smooth, bright and more toned. Usage: Iย apply the liquid with my fingers on clean, bare skin then leave on overnight. I donโt get aย tingling or burning sensation upon application and no redness or flaking the day after either. (My skin is normal and very resilient. If youโre new to chemicalย peels or you donโt have my skin type, Iโd strongly suggest following productโs direction โ rinse it off.) I currently use the 40% strength but I did start with 25% at the beginning, which is gentler and cheaper.ย I have the 30ml size โ 25% is US$17.85 HEREย while 40% isย US$24.25 HEREย โ which seems to last forever.ย 2 fluid dram sample is also available.ย Makeup Artistโs Choice (MUAC) is online-exclusive and ships worldwide.
MULTI-TASKER
Kuramoto Bijinโs Komeyu, which I wrote about its full-page review back in October 2015,ย is another product that has made way into my beauty essentials. The scent/odour-free beauty oil has no โjunkโ (just pure cold-pressed Japanese rice bran and germ oil) and itโs naturally packed full ofย nourishing and antioxidative goodness. I mix a drop or 2 with my moisturiser if my skin needs the extra boost, use it straight as an undereye treatment, or smooth a few drops to the ends of my hair. Itโs my go-to beauty oil! You can find it onย Amazon USA for US$16.59+ย HERE.
REKINDLED LOVE AFFAIR
I have a rekindledย love affair withย Estรฉe Lauderย Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup this year.ย It lasts for ages and ages โ itโs like glue! As it has high coverage, itโs best applied very sparingly โunless you actually want a heavily made-up look. I usually mix it with a face-finishing product (generally a moisturising primer or sheer BB/CC cream) to create a perfect customised base. (Iย have absolutely no qualmsย with itsย pump-less,ย screw cap packaging. I tightly cover the opening with my cleanย thumbย then give the bottle a good shake. I use the foundation that gets on the finger for the whole face. Super quick and completely mess-free!)ย The finish is beautiful and it doesnโt slide, dry-up or sit in the creases. Brilliant stuff! 30ml bottle is US$39.50.
CHEAP AS CHIPS
Iโve gone through countless tubes of Biore Skin Care Facial Foam in Moisture (2016 Formula).ย I use this as a face and body wash. I canโt find anything I donโt like about it โ fresh, non-aggravating washing that leaves no feeling of dryness or tightness after rinsing even when the skin is slightly dry and flaky.ย Itโs also ridiculously affordable. A big 130g tube costs less thanย ยฅ300 HEREย from Amazon Japan! You can also find it from Amazonย USAย HERE.
OFF THE BEATENย PATH
Itโs ashamed Dr. Ci:Labo products arenโtย more readily available in stores (even in Japan) as theyโre fantastic! Stores usually only stock the current best-sellers, so once summer is over, โoff-seasonโ gems like UV & White Moisture Milk (2016 Formula) are next to impossible to find in-personย โ ordering directly from its official online store is your best bet. You might have remembered it being featured in my annualย SPF50+ PA++++ sunscreen round-up I did early this year โย do take a look if you havenโt (its ingredients are there). It gives brilliant water/sweat/sebum-resistant protection against UV rays and air pollutants while imparting a soft-focus finish that works beautifully on normal skin. 60ml bottle isย ยฅ3,780.
How did you discover it was safe to leave chemical peels on overnight? Iโve never heard of anyone doing that before.
Even if I had resilient skin, I would be terrified of applying it to my skin at night and waking up with a chemical burn! Did you seek the advice of a dermatologist or esthetician beforehand, or did you experiment on your own?
Mandelic acid is the mildest so that worry hasnโt once crossed my mind. For me, it was just a natural course of progression since Iโve never experienced any immediate sensation or side effects with it. Most chemical peels (except for glycolic) will self-neutralise after a few minutes โ they donโt keep working.
Do you leave peels containing glycolic acid on your skin overnight as well?
I donโt use glycolic acid but itโs not a good idea. Glycolic acid is non-self-neutralising (the only one) so it will continue to exfoliate as long as it is on the skin.
It looks like Japanese women are not big fans of AHAs, BHAs and other acids. Is that correct? They donโt have a large selection of products having those acids.
Selection-wise is more or less the same as the Western market. The Japanese ones just tend to have much milder formulas.
The ingredients of the Dr. Ci:Labo sunscreen are amazing. I love that it includes some vitamin c derivatives as LAA breaks me out. Itโs pretty pricey though for the size.. I may order it just to try anyways! Thanks for posting your 2016 best of list!