if happiness has a voice, it would go soprano.

Biore Cleansing Oil, Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturiser, St.Ives Apricot Scrub, Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, Givenchy Wake-up Skin Make up Base, Vaseline, The Body Shop Lip Scruff.

Again, this is a beauty related post. I felt like I didn't do one in quite a while, and while I am at it, a little note or two if I may :) I know when you're speaking of skincare, it could be quite tricky as not everyone reacted the same way as not one skin's condition is similar to another. Same goes to makeup products but that I'm not too worried about.

Okay,things I'm about to mention here are purely 100% experience-based and it is for my own that I claim. I just hope to help out a bit if any of you readers are curious and interested but at the end of the day, you must always, always stick to what your dermatologist had recommend to you to use. Believe me, I've had many past experince during my teen years where I believed I have tried all different brands that while it might seem fun to do back then, I have had to pay the consequences of it now. I don't have the perfect skin like I used to-now I have acne scars, bad, bad eye bags and under eye circle (yeah I don't sleep), redness on my nose and uneven skintone. What's important that first of all, you've got to consult a dermatologist first, or do your own research on a product that you think might suit you. The time has long past for tacky product packaging to catch our eyes- we should be concerned on whether they really work or not.

Alright, I don't know why that intro turned up a little long but anyhoo, let's get on to the products.

Oh, first thing first, I have normal-to-dry skin. I have dry T-Zone and i'm oily on the cheek area. My breakouts are hormonal, or when I'm just too lazy to care on about my skin, which I wouldn't be now. (let's all crossed our fingers, ey?)

I cleansed my face daily using Cetaphil. It's basically just a normal cleanser that is perfect even for sensitive skin. I bought it at Vitacare for less than RM20, if I'm not mistaken. I could say that this cleanser works just to wash and clean the face, it doesn't improve the skin's condition nor does it make it worse. So it is one of the safe options out there in my opinion (and again, experince). I've used this for more than a month now and I have not had breakouts from it. Then, twice or three times a week, I would use my St.Ives to exfoliate the impurities on the face. The Apricot one that I have now is specially formulated to prevent blemishes and clean pores. I don't have big, open pores but I do need to get the dirts out of the system and to prevent blemishes so I used this product. It's suitable to use even on my dry skin as it's not over-drying and it really does refreshes the face. I don't use a toner (which is bad, I know) but I haven't found a good one yet and I think that with the dry skin I have, I need to focus on giving it moisture first? I don't know, I'm on a trial basis here :)

So toner skipped, I used two moisturizers for my skin. Not all at once but I will use them alternatively every other day. The one I used to use before was the Clinique Dramatically Different Mouisturizing Lotion. If you don't know by now, this product has been raved by many. I admit that it does work and it absorps to the skin really quickly so you don't feel like you're wearing too much on your face. What I don't quite like about it a bit is that it makes my skin feels like I haven't put anything on (which is sort of the point when you know the product absorps fast), but I think I would prefer the ones that I can see the difference it made to my face once I had it on. I know my skin is moisturise enough, but I can't see it, you know what I mean? And I like to use a lot of this at once when in actual, you only need a teeny bit to last on your face. So I used this, if not, my current fave is the Neutrogena Oil-Free Mouisturiser. Current fave because, it moisturise dry areas and control shine in oily areas of the face. Haven't I mentioned my skin condition already? And this works wonders. I absolutely love this moisturiser to apply before I do my makeup. It doesn't cause breakouts either and it makes my skin feels totally moisturising. I wouldn't mind to go on and say that it is my best dupe for the Clinique one.

Then I would use the Givenchy Make-Up Base after I apply my moisturiser for a good ten-minutes and before I apply my foundation and the rest of the makeups I want. This one had SPF 15 in it and it really does make my makeup stay all day long. It evens out my skin as well, I sometimes only wear this and a powder and are ready to go.My face doesn't feel sticky at the end of the day, but I know that this is a high-end one and I really wanted to find a good drugstore make up base to replace this. I am thinking of getting the Revlon Beyond Natural Primer or if not, I'll just get another one of this.

To remove my makeup at the end of the day, I'll go for my trusted Biore Cleansing Oil. At first, the cheap deal at Watsons and the cute packaging sold me ( I know, talk about earlier motivation aren't we?) But once I used it, it really does work to lift up all the makeup, even waterproof mascara and eyeliner. I admit that it is advisable to get a separate eye makeup remover as this one comes out quite strong for the eye but if you know how to work it out avoiding close contact with the eyes, then I'll think you'll be safe. Also, a cleansing oil works well on dry skin like mine because all the gel and cream one sucks. I have used a ZA one and my makeup was still intact. So I would suggest getting an oil-based makeup remover (preferably this one!) if you have dry skin.

One of my pet peeves is having chapped lips. So what i used for my lips are Vaseline and The Body Shop Lip Scruff. I think that I have had it with balms because for me, they are either too sticky, too smelly or too fancy for my liking. Vaseline is more of a versatile product to me and I like to just scoop a little of the amount with my finger and work my way on the lips just as I like it. It works just as well as any other lipbalms, maybe even better. I like the polish sheen that it gives on the lip, it's kind of like a just-out-of-water look rather than a rich look that lipbalms used to give, if you know what I'm saying. Then once a while, I would use the lip scruff from Body Shop to exfoliate the dark cells on the lips (sometimes your lips looks black like a smoker, that is why) It works just like a face scrub, only for the lips. The formula is this: if you have even lip color, it would be easy for you to pull off any lipstick color, so you wouldn't go wondering why does the pink lipstick doesn't look as pink on you?

That is it for my skincare routine. I have omitted the face mask simply because it is still my old and trusted Himalaya. This collection wouldn't last long either, as I'm always on the hunt to find the perfect product, one after another. But for now, I can safely say (after you've receive dermatologist's recommendation) that these above-mentioned products do work.