Sabi nung tita kong kawork kanina, “Amira, you’re glowing.” Siyempre, naniwala naman ako kaagad. Kasi sa bawat araw na pagkikita namin (5 days a week) for almost a year, ngayon lang niya pinuri yung pagmumukha ko. Malamang kabisado na niya yung itchura ko saka kung ilang pieces yung pores ko sa nose so I’m sure, something has really changed within me. Char! Akala ko tapos na yung topic, tapos after a while, nagtanong na si Madame. “Did you start using anything?”. Gusto kong sabihin na “I woke up like this” pero dahil tita nga, I’m sure di niya magegets yun. So ayun, napalaban nanaman yung English ko.

“Tell me your routine and what products you normally use”. Jusko, demanding din itong si Tita. So biniro ko na, “okay fine I’ll explain it to you but you have to remember that my English has a time limit and expires in the next 30 minutes.” Natawa siya. Lagi kong linya yan sa mga ka-work ko so akala nila it’s just banter. Di nila alam reality pala.

Bago ko sinimulan, nagpa backstory muna si ate girl. I used to hate skin care routines and/or putting anything on my face when I was younger. Luckily, my face cooperated and would normally give me 1.5 pieces of pimples everytime I’m about to have my period. Promise. For some reason, hiyang yung balat ko sa boiling temperature of Tuguegarao. But when I moved to UK (arrived during winter season), my skin was shookt! Nagadjust ang lola. The worst was there was a point na nag Edsa people power and mga pimpolette sa fez ko. Lurkey. So I had to do something. Take note, my skin is not perfect and I have yet to achieve yang kutis porcelanang paandar pero nakakahappy na madaming trial and error ang naganap until I finally found what was working for me. Baka guni guni ko lang yung effect ng mga gamit ko pero tumalab naman sakin so keri!

1. Facial Wash/Cleanser: Garnier 3-in-1 Charcoal Wash/Scrub/Mask (£4.99 but bought it for £3.29 at Superdrug)

Sabi nga nila, the first step to a happy and healthy looking skin is finding the right cleanser. Sabon lang dati, sapat nako. Pero nung nagkaroon ng rally sa face ko, kinailangan ko ng matinding pademolition so nagbasa basa ako, kelangan daw talaga ng proper facial cleanser para todo aksyon. My go to product range is body shop (Alternate ang Vit. E and Tea Tree range) pero I’ve discovered this recently and it worked well with my skin plus, mura lang siya. And since tamad din ako mag apply ng kung anik anik sa pez, this pretty much covers my major concerns: blackheads and impurities (taray may pa impurities nang nalalaman). So panalo!

2. Toner: Wonder Pore from Etude House (£5-6)

I didn’t really get the point of toners and I thought keri na ng simpleng hugas hugas lang. Since I got more and more interested in skin care, I understood why this is necessary lalo na for my skin which is combination + large pores + acne prone (at the time). The usual, I started with Body shop’s toners but it made me breakout more. So I stopped, then when we went home sa Pinas, I thought of hoarding korean products and ito siya! Bought for only 400 php (£5-6) for this size and sulit na sulit na siya! I started using this last December and so far I think I could make it last till April. In terms effect, well effect siya sakin. Anjan parin yung pores ko pero there’s noticeable improvement.

3. Moisturiser: Body Shop’s Vitamin C range (£16) / Simple moisturiser (£2-3)

I’ve thrived on moisturisers for the last 4 years. Sabi ko nga, dito lang ako natuto sa UK gumamit ng mga ganitey. I remember the time na I was so clueless about skin care and what not, halos every week ako magpalit. The first one na nakahiyangan ko was Body Shop’s Vitamin E Sorbet which I did use for a while until one of the ate’s in the store forced me to switch to this! It smells so good, is lightweight and feeling lang glowing and fresh!

At dahil nakahiyangan ko na siya, I tried to find something I could use during summer and luckily, meron siyang version na with SPF which costs £15. Mas thicker lang siya in consistency pero pak parin. What I normally do is I try to buy every month ng stock pero mabenta tong product na to so may times na out of stock siya.

If sa kamalas malasan naubusan man ako ng stock, I use Simple’s Light moisturiser kasi bukod sa friend siya ng skin ko, murang mura din siya mga besh (£2-3 for 125mls). So pag tag hirap din ang lola niyo, this is my go to alternative hahahha.

4. Serum

I started using this when I had breakouts. As in lahat ng may tea-tree (Tea tree scrub, toner, serum, and spot treatment) willing na akong ilagay sa pez!  Out of everything, ito yung tinuloy tuloy kong gamitin. Apparently, serums have high concentrations of active ingredients that can penetrate deeply into the skin which makes it more effective.

5. Mask

I haven’t heard of this before until my hubby bought it to help treat his acne problems. So nakisabit kang ako and I’m impressed! My skin feels healthier, clean and parang nag stretch din siya. It’s available in Amazon, around £10 (for this size roughly 20 quid for the bigger one)pero sulit na sya cause more or kess you’ll need just 1 spoon plus apple cider and youre good to go!

I’m no expert, and I consider myself a noob sa mga ganito and also I don’t have the perfect skin but what’s important is if it works for you, then bongga! If not, edi on to the next one davah!? May nabasa din ako from somewhere saying if you’ve already found what suits you, stick to it. Mga beauty gurus jan, is that chrew? I’m still learning a lot so penge din ng tips!

PS. Padaan din ng pagmumuka ko charooooot