[Beauty for Life] March Beauty Favourites 2019

March 2019 has been a month of change for me. I just started placement in a new place, working on something that's completely new to me; the seasons are changing and we have now officially stepped into spring. It has been a challenging month and these are the products I absolutely love which helped me through it.

REN Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic

This daily exfoliating toner (£25) is my current obsession. Formulated with AHA and BHA, it gently exfoliates the skin while removing any remaining grease and dirt on my face. This product did a great job in keeping my skin clear and smooth, as we slowly transit into damper and warmer weather, which usually gives me clogged pores and textured skin. By doing so, it also ensures my makeup goes on seamlessly. I think I will continue to love this product in the foreseeable future.

The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% in Squalane

As I stepped into my mid-20s, I start to pay more attention on youth preservation. In my search for the Elixir of Youth, the term retinol has constantly showed up as an active ingredient. Although retinol is know for it's anti-ageing properties, it is also notorious for causing skin irritations. Since I have rather sensitive skin, the idea of using retinol did cause some hesitation. It was until I discovered that The Ordinary, one of my favourite skincare brands, makes a modified version of it, claiming that it cause little irritation while retaining majority of the ingredient's magic. It almost sounded too good to be true but I am so glad that I've tried it. The Ordinary's retinol products comes in a number of different formulations. Since I have dry and dehydrated skin which also happens to be sensitive, I choose the least irritating formulation they have. The granactive retinoid 2% in squalane, is the most gentle version of retinol one can find on the market, whereas the squalane, known for its hydrating properties, gave my skin another later of miniaturisation. I've been using this product for over a month now, and my skin has became firmer and smoother, and most importantly my pores appeared smaller. It is so effective yet so affordable (£7.80 for 30 mL). I would encourage anyone to try this; find a formula that would work with your skin type and let yourself experience its magic.

Laura Mercier Secret Concealer

I have fairly dark under-eyes thanks to all the sleepless nights I've been experiencing recently. I remember meeting a friend without wearing makeup once and her immediate reaction was 'OMG what happened to you?!', thus concealer is a must for me. The problem I have is, however, I have very dry under-eyes and concealers always crease on me and just look really dry no matter what I do. I am therefore always on a hunt for a good under-eye concealer and I've tried at least 20 of them, so far. Eventually I came across the Laura Mercier Secret Concealer (shade 2, £22.00), and it is a dream come true. It's moisturising, it never looks dry on me and it never crease. I will admit that the coverage isn't the best in the world, but I can get away with setting it with a dust of powder foundation. Given how good it looks and stay under my eyes, this is my favourite so far.

DHC Lip Cream

Besides having crappy under-eyes, I also happen to have really dry and chappy lips. Fortunately, there are couple of good lip balms out there. Among all the ones I've tried, the DHC lip cream (£8.75) is my favourite especially under makeup. Some other lip balms, although they do great jobs in moisturising my lips, doesn't do well when applied under makeup. I'm not sure what's causing it but I find that a lot of them cause my lipstick to slip and make them look patchy. But the DHC one does not do that. It instantly plumps and moisturise my lips, and lip products always glides on smoothly over it. The best thing is that their new mint flavoured one is so cooling and soothing, perfect for the warmer months.

VECUA Honey Honey Luster in Koi-akane

This honey lip gloss (¥ 2,808) is my all time favourite to be honest. It's moisturising, nourishing, tastes great, and this shade is just so perfect for spring. I would admit that it has a slightly sticky consistency but since it has a good slick to it and it doesn't pull apart weirdly like some other glosses could do, it's in fact really comfortable on the lips. AND JUST LOOK AT THAT PERFECT SPARKLY PEACHY PINK SHADE!!! It's like liquidised spring blossoms in a tube.

There you have it! It's not much I know, but they are in my opinion, the best of the best. I hope you enjoyed it and would give some of them a go and let me know what you think!

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