Chizu Saeki's famed lotion pack routine

Chizu Saeki is famed for her lotion pack routine which was published a few months ago.
She widely encourages women of all ages to keep their skin moisturised by using lotion masks on a regular basis.

I shared her tips here.

1) First, pour a 500-size yen amount of moisturizing lotion onto a pre-wetted cotton-wool pad

2) Next, pull the pad apart into five thin layers

(3) Leave opening holes for the nose and mouth in one of the layers, and covering the lower half of the face with it

4) Finally, use the other pieces to cover the forehead, left cheek, right cheek, chin and neck — in that order — and leaving them there for three minutes


You can order the book from Amazon :
The Japanese Skincare Revolution : Have The Most Beautiful Skin Of Your Life
Korean Beauty Secrets : A Practical Guide To Cutting-Edge Skincare and Makeup

Interview with Chizu Saeki

This is an interview with Japan’s top beauty expert and lifelong aesthetician Chizu Saeki as derived from Talking Makeup

Many women feel they need to spend a lot of money on expensive cosmetics. On the contrary, you encourage women not to spend a lot of money. What are some inexpensive but effective steps to maintaining beautiful skin?
1. Get to know your skin well.
2. Care about your skin.
3. Desire to be beautiful.
4. Put that feeling into your hands, and use those hands to touch and massage your face and warm up the skincare products you apply to it.
5. Thoroughly remove the makeup you’ve applied.
6. Frequently apply lotion masks.
7. Use serum.
8. Seal it off with cream.
9. Protect your skin year-round.
These points are always the same. Rather than buying a variety of products, I recommend practicing these basic steps, with feeling.

At what age should women begin to be concerned about aging? What basic steps should women take to protect themselves against the hands of time?
Nowadays our skin is at higher risk of sunburn due to global warming and destruction of the ozone layer. Growth generally stops at around age 25, and if you want to stay there, you need to take proper care. If you so wish, you can keep from looking a day older even into your thirties and forties. Different people live in different environments, eat different foods, and live different lifestyles, but my advice to everyone is to take preventative measures. Protect your skin from the elements regardless of age and, when you’ve reached a certain age, give it nutrients by feeding it serum. There’s really no set age at which you should start caring for your skin. Know your skin and incorporate what you feel you need. To young people, though, I’d like to warn against excessive use of skincare products. Your skin is still well balanced as it is, so don’t rely too much on cosmetics. Use lotion masks, protect your skin, and please do moisturize it.

Is there one beauty tool that every woman should have?
Your will and your hands. It’s your own hands and the desire to be beautiful that will do the magic. Don’t think that simply using cosmetics will make you beautiful; be responsible for your own face, and use your hands to the fullest. How much value you draw out of a product is really up to you.

Any quick and easy tips on how to defy age?
Well, always thinking “quick and easy” leaves everything half-baked. How you use your time is up to you, and it’s important to make skincare a part of your lifestyle. But when you only have so much time and can’t do everything, the most important thing is to eat-in a balanced manner. Your skin’s luster is dependent on your physical health. If your body isn’t well nourished, neither is your skin. Cosmetics help you take in from the surface what you can’t take in orally, but your beauty really comes from what you eat. Eating only what you feel like eating can give you a lopsided diet, and your body, never mind your skin, will be a wreck. There’s a lot of information out there nowadays on healthy eating. The key is to be conscious of what and how you eat, and to continue eating in a balanced way. I always make an effort to eat moderately. I have yogurt, tomato juice, and fruit every morning, and I make a point of eating things in season. Small efforts like these go a long way.

Why is it important to massage and tone muscles in the face?
Just as our bodies age internally over time, so does our skin-although of course there are factors other than age acting on the skin. The face is especially vulnerable because of all the muscles, as you can see from how wrinkles in the face run both vertically and horizontally. Massages help the muscles stay in shape, keeping your skin looking young and healthy.

Review on Cure Natural Aqua Gel

Cure is a new exfoliant product from Japan which Watsons have been selling at its stores a few months ago. According to its link, its being sold every 20 seconds which is pretty remarkable, considering that there are so many different exfoliant products being sold out there in the market. 

Cure Natural Gel which is made of 90% hydrogen water and natural plant extracts, is a gentle and natural exfoliating gel which removes dead skin. It contains no preservatives, fragrance, artifical colourings and alcohol, making it suitable for even sensitive skin. 

After cleansing, I dab my face with a tissue paper to keep it dry, before using this gel. Massage in a circular motion as what I usually did for normal facial scrubs and you will actually see all the white particles on the face which are actually the dead cells. 

 Its quite satisfying, knowing that you are clearing all the dead cells, revealing soft radiant skin. I could feel my skin being smoother immediately after rinsing with water and the softness and smoothness continued well throughout the next day. 

Make-up goes on well and you can feel an incredible softness to the skin. Its gentle enough not to irritate the skin. What I am put off is the smell. A medicated with chemical sort of smell which I did not really like. 

Where To Purchase : Yesstyle

 Ingredients :

Water, Glycerin, Crosspolymer, Dicocodimonium, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Gingko Biloba Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract and Butylene Glycol

Review on Avene Thermal Water

Avene is one of those brands which invokes positive feelings in me.
I like this brand mainly because it involves thermal spring water in all of their range which is supposed to be good for sensitive skin.

Its unique composition, clinically proven by over 300 studies calm, soothes and softens the skin and restores skin’s natural balance.

According to Avene, Avène Thermal Spring Water has a low mineral content (207mg/l) and therefore respects the natural balance and the sensitivity of the skin without causing dehydration or irritation like other high mineral content thermal waters. It is bacteriologically pure, with a neutral PH (7.5) and rich in silica (14mg/l) which soothes sensitive skin.

Tested by dermatologists, its particularly suitable as essential care for sensitive, hypersensitive and allergic skin

Its recommended to use Avène Thermal Spring Water for
- Sunburn
- Diaper rash
- To set makeup
- Facial redness
- Sensitive skin
- Irritation

This is actually my 4th bottle and I usually use it as a toner.
Initially, I started out with using this whenever my face is slightly red, usually in the mornings before I go to work. I will spray this Thermal Water onto the skin in a fine mist and then pat dry after a few seconds.

Gradually, I treat it as a toner.
Nowadays, after cleansing, I will spray this Thermal Water onto the skin then move on to my serum while my skin is still damp. Serum is best applied when the skin is damp. With this Thermal Water, it helps to reduce the redness as well as avoid using too much of the serum which can gets abit oily at times. For me, its actually a 2 in 1 solution.

Occasionally, when my skin is splotchy red, I will use thin cotton pads and douse it with this Thermal Water and do a mask. 5 pads in total, 1 for the forehead, 1 for the nose, 1 for the chin and 2 on both cheeks. My skin feels immediately soothed and rested.

There are 3 sizes for the Avene Thermal Water. Perfect for every need. 

Keep in the fridge if you like to it to be an invigorating boost.

Get yours from HERE with free shipping and free samples. 

Review on Biotherm Biosource Foaming Invigorating Cleansing Water

Before I was using Dermalogica cleanser ( read my review here), I was using this Biotherm cleanser regularly.

This cleansing water magically transforms into an airy and light foam cleanser and I really love this. Once the cleansing water is pumped out, it turns into white airy foam to be used to cleanse your face. Its actually quite fun. Unlike normal foaming wash, which is usually quite drying, this cleansing water-foam cleanses my skin pretty well and is quite gentle on my skin.

Active Ingredients :
- Coco-betaine
- Trace mineral system (copper, zinc, manganese, magnesium)

This cleanser is recommended for normal to combination skin.

However, my skin have become dry as I get older and this cleanser does not seem suitable for me anymore as I experienced a tight feeling after every wash which meant the cleanser is wrong for me. And thats how I came to use Dermalogica cleanser thereafter.

If your skin is normal to combination type, I will recommend you to try it.