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REVIEW [goodal] Mild Protect Natural Filter Sun Cream

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I haven't published anything on this blog for quite a long time, but here it goes- another Korean sunscreen review.

goodal Mild Protect NaturalFilter Sun Cream claims to be ''a gentle inorganic UV protectant'' that's suitable for sensitive skin (me) and is supposed to not leave white streaks.

I've been using it for about 3 months now (I repurchased it once) so I can write a decent review, without any doubts.

The list of ingredients

Pros:

* it didn't irritate my skin. And no wonder- if you look at the list of ingredients it's full of good stuff and the UV protection is guaranteed by the physical (natural) sunscreen- Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide- nothing more, nothing less

* as mentioned above, it has a lot of skin-friendly extracts- Mistletoe extract, Licorice, Opuntia and so on. The list is quite impressive- I dare to say that more than 80% of the sunscreen is those extracts. Which is a good thing, right?

* the sunscreen provides high and long protection- high because it's SPF 50+ PA +++ and long because it's a physical sunscreen and lasts longer than chemical ones

* leaves a minimal white cast. In the pictures below you can see the change in colour of my face after application- it's whiter (or rather paler). But it's not that eye-striking in the sense that there are no white streaks after application and when you apply sunscreen on your neck there's little difference between your face and neck. So I'd say it works more like a foundation (evens out your skin colour) and the whiteness isn't that irritating to your (or your interlocutor's) eyes.

* it doesn't dry out my skin which tends to feel like a piece of paper after applying the sunscreen. So I don't have to put on a moisturizer before putting on the sunscreen. It's a big plus for me.

Creepy morning face. The right side of my face (from the viewer's perspective) below my eyebrow isn't covered with the sunscreen. You can see the difference between that part of my face and the rest.

Face fully covered with goodal's sunscreen. My face looks quite pale but there are no white streaks.

And with a bit of eyeliner. I usually put on only sunscreen (no foundation or BB cream or whatever) so it's important for me to look decent. There are no white streaks so the sunscreen does its job.

Cons:

* it's expensive. At least for me. In comparison with the sunscreens I've bought so far this one was far more expensive. I purchased it for about $20 from RoseRoseShop , my favourite website to buy Korean cosmetics. You can actually buy it cheaper on eBay, but I don't trust it when it comes to buying new things- I wouldn't be able to tell if the thing I bought is fake or not. 

* it's not waterproof so if you don't watch out in the rain, it can easily be wiped out from your face (not entirely but the UV protection will drop to almost zero)

Rating: 9/10

Final Thoughts

I like the sunscreen a lot. I would've given it 10/10 but it's damn expensive as for me, a poor student. And sometimes I don't like the fact that my face looks so pale (I'm already pale and would like my face to look less pale, and more healthy). But I have to say I noticed the difference in my skin after using goodal's sunscreen- it's not (and doesn't feel) that dry and is more resilient to ''creasing''. And I love the feeling that when applying it I'm doing something really good to my skin- protecting it from the UV radiation and nurturing it with all those plant extracts.

Maybe I'll repurchase it again when I have more money. I'm thinking about investing more in my skincare when I graduate so that I can try new things and published reviews about them. I noticed that there are a lot of interesting sunscreens and other cosmetics that look promising but I've never bought them and there are no reviews nor ingredients published anywhere. And since I have to be really careful with my money, I decide not to purchase them just in case they turn awful and I'll waste my hard-earned money.
But if I don't have to be so concerned about that, I can allow myself to take some risks and help others with their purchase by writing reviews.

I hope you liked this post and/or found it useful. If you have any thoughts or tried the reviewed sunscreen, don't hesitate to leave a comment.

Ciao!

REVIEW [The Face Shop] Natural Sun Eco Power Long-Lasting Sun Cream

Today's review is about Natural Sun Eco Power Long-Lasting Sun Cream produced and distributed by The Face Shop. The Face Shop is a Korean brand, which is known for its good quality products.
So how does its sun cream present? Taking into account my sensitive, dry (sometimes normal) pale skin- not bad. It's one of the best sunscreens I've tried so far. The details below.

Ingredients

Pros: 

* minimal white cast. Blends quite well with the skin colour and could be used as a foundation because it conceals small imperfections

* long-lasting- not only it provides longer sun protection than chemical sunscreens but it's also waterproof

* high UVA/UVB spectrum that prevents photo aging

* it doesn't break out- at least in my case. Physical sunscreens (Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide) generally rarely contribute to skin irritation

* contains some skin-friendly ingredients (for example Panthenol or Nutmeg Extract)

* relatively affordable (depends on from where you buy though- I bought mine from eBay)


Cons:

* it's hard to get rid of it- I have to use olive oil to break the waterproof barrier, face scrub and cleansing cream get to my skin (which is really bothersome if you're like me and you're a lazy being)

* could contain more skin-friendly ingredients

* you have to wait about 15-20mins before heading outside- for the first few minutes your skin is oily and doesn't look aesthetically; after that time, though, it has matte finish  and there's no trace of the initial shiny face

* you have to be careful to spread it evenly to make it blend well; otherwise, the white cast will be visible

Fully blended- no white cast

Rating: 8/10


Final Thoughts

Generally, the sun cream isn't that bad- it's far better than most of the ones I've tried so far. But I'm still looking for my holy grail. I like the fact that it conceals imperfections but at the same time I'd like my skincare routine not to hide them but improve them. I also appreciate the waterproof aspect of the sunscreen that works great when I'm at work and I'm in constant danger of contact with water (or other liquids) or when I go somewhere on foot and it starts to rain (which happens quite often in the UK). But at the end of the day, when I'm usually super tired and would like to take a quick shower and go to bed, I have to spend too much time on getting rid of it. So I'd say it's ideal for people who prefer physical sunscreens, opt for waterproof cosmetics and appreciate the combination of foundation primer and high UV protection. But as for me, its bonuses are rather minuses. And at least, the white cast isn't the issue.


I hope you liked the post. You can let me know what you think about it in the comments below. :)

Healthy Ideas [1] Banana-Oatmeals Breakfast Recipe

Very often breakfast is called the most important meal during the day. It can help us to start the day full of energy or can leave us sluggish and fatigued. It's crucial to have breakfast that will make us sated and eager to face the rest of the day.

So today I'd like to share with you a recipe that I've come up with to start my day in a healthy way. Nothing makes me happier than food that is full of nutrients and yummy. When I begin another day with a thought that I'm doing something good for my body, I'm already set positive to face whatever comes next during the day. And I think it's not only me that benefits physically and mentally from taking care of the body.

I hope you'll get some inspiration from the breakfast idea below and either make it yourself or use it to create something that suits you and meets your needs and affordances.

BANANA-OATMEALS BREAKFAST

Preparation time: around 15 mins

Ingredients: 

* a glass of oatmeals

* a banana

* half a spoon of cocoa powder

* a pinch of cinnamon 

* a spoon of sunflower & pumpkin seeds

How to make it: 

Put a glass of dry oatmeals into a bowl. Boil the water in a kettle (about 1l should be enough for the oatmeals and a cup of tea, if you like). Pour the boiling water into the bowl to cover all oatmeals. Add cocoa powder and cinnamon and stir it all thoroughly. Peel the banana and cut it into pieces to cover the oatmeals. Finish with sprinkling sunflower and pumpkin seeds onto the banana. Wait about 5-10 mins to let the oatmeals absorb the water. After that time, it's ready to eat. You can add honey if you'd like to make it sweet or some nuts- up to your imagination. 

How this breakfast idea helps your body? 

1. It makes your guts work- oatmeals have a lot of fiber that helps to regulate your digestion which further increases metabolism.

2. Potassium found in bananas supports cardiovascular health by preventing high blood pressure. Bananas also contain vitamin B6- one banana provides about 25% of it. 

3. Cocoa is rich in minerals and antioxidants. It supports cardiovascular health and helps to maintain healthy brain.  

4. Cinnamon's benefits among others are fighting free radicals (it contains lots of antioxidants), lowering bad cholesterol and decreasing blood sugar. 

5. Sunflower seeds are rich in vitamins such as vitamin E, B1 and B6 and minerals: copper, manganese, selenium and phosphorus. Pumpkin seeds also contain lots of manganese and phosphorus and are a good source of magnesium too. Additionally, they provide an important mineral called zinc. 

6. A glass of oatmeals is equivalent to approximately 11g of protein. Proteins are crucial in maintaining a good condition of hair, nails and skin. 

Other benefits: 

This meal 

- is easy to prepare, 

- doesn't take too much time, 

- is tasty AND healthy 

- and, most importantly, keeps you sated for quite a long time, diminishing food cravings and helping you with controlling them.

I'm quite a lazy person so when I started my journey with healthy eating I found this breakfast idea to be really helpful in sticking to my healthy resolution. Not only it has upheld my healthy eating habits, but also has kept reminding me every day that eating healthy food doesn't have to take lots of time to prepare it and doesn't have to taste awful. This meal isn't sweet at all, I must admit that (although banana adds some sweet taste to it). But I'm a kind of person who doesn't put sugar into tea/coffee nor eats sweets. So for me the taste is just perfect. If you think you could like it more if it's sweeter, then don't hesitate to add honey which also has lots of health benefits. 

If you like the idea, used a similar one or already tried it and want to share your thoughts- don't wait and leave a comment below. Or just send me an email which you can do by clicking on the three strips in the upper left corner of the site (yes, it's the menu) where you'll find a ''Contact me'' form.

Thanks for reading and till the next post, guys! 

VITAMIN C and skincare

When I began my healthy eating journey around 2 years ago, I developed my first wrinkles. Of course, they weren't caused by my age, no. They appeared because my healthy diet wasn't that healthy. I was shocked and it made me desperately look for remedies. I was determined to find something that would reverse them, some kind of magical cream that would make my skin go back to normal. But such a cream doesn't exist. But what does can do wonders it prevention. What many people say, and who I agree with, is that prevention is much more effective in the fight against aging than trying to fix the existing skin faults. So I think it's important to talk about one of the very important active skincare ingredients that enhance skin perfomance and its resistance to harmful external factors- vitamin C. Vitamin C and its use in skincare is one of the golden skincare rules that is often overlooked.

But what is vitamin C good for?

It certainly plays an important role in our bodies. Internally, it prevents lots of diseases (due to it being a strong antioxidant that fights free radicals that wreak havoc in our bodies) and improves our immunity. How about its benefits in external application? What does vit C do when applied on the skin?

1. It protects it from photodamage thus preventing premature aging. When our skin is exposed to the sun, harmful UVA rays penetrate it and cause damages to the deeper skin layers. It may cause wrinkling, sagging skin and loss of elasticity due to the changes to collagen and elastin in our skin.

2. Not only protects it the skin from photodamage but it also helps to mitigate the already existing one. It smooths wrinkles, boosts the production of collagen and can slightly whiten unwanted pigmentation that may be caused by the sun and blemishes that are a result of break out.



There are many serums and facial creams that claim to contain vitamin C. However, not all of them will be effective- vitamin C is unstable and its effectiveness may be reduced by heat, sunlight or its derivative may not be (fully) absorbed by skin because it's not designed well enough to penetrate it.

That's why it's essential to find a serum/cream that contains stable, penetrative vitamin C and is put in a package that protects it from the sunlight. The best version of vit C appears to be Ascorbic Acid; however, there are also other derivatives available such as Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate or Ascorbyl Palmitate. They all penetrate the skin but their effectiveness may vary. When it comes to application, it's equally important to let the serum/cream absorb first before proceeding with skincare routine. Otherwise, applying something straight away on the top can lead to oxidation and make vit C inactive.

One more point to add, when going for a beauty product with this ingredient, it's essential to pay attention to how the skin reacts- vit C may cause irritation (especially Ascorbic Acid) and (it did in my case) dry up the skin. So test small amounts of it first to check your skin reaction.

I hope this short post was helpful and if you have any questions or general thoughts you'd like to share, don't hesitate and leave a comment below. :)

Healthy diet

Today I'd like to talk about a place of healthy diet in beauty. There's no doubt that healthy diet equals healthy body equals healthy skin (especially facial skin). I called this blog ''simple beauty'' because I believe that if one lives a life full of good habits, his/her beauty will be noticeable without any enhancers, such as makeup. Eating healthy food and having good eating habits adjusted to one's lifestyle doesn't only make one look better but, first and foremost, makes one FEEL better.

About two years ago you'd see me eating tons of sweets and other kinds of rubbish food every day. I was able to eat a big bowl of popcorn all by myself before having lunch or dinner and that still wasn't the limit of my stomach's capacity.
But then there came a moment I decided to change that. Unfortunately, I don't remember what actually triggered that decision (even though it didn't happen that long ago) but it was one of the best decisions in my life. What happened after that was a long period full of mistakes but the ultimate result was worth it.
I went from one extreme to the other- after extremely unhealthy eating habits (and addiction to sweets) I cut down on everything that seemed unhealthy to me, including (worst mistake I've ever made) meat. I don't think not eating meat is bad but in my case I didn't replace meat with other sources of protein. So I ended up having problems with my hair which started to fall out, my nails became bumpy, thin and got easily damaged and my skin was prone to wrinkles. Of course, I didn't know all of that when I decided to exclude meat almost entirely because it seemed full of fat and hence unhealthy. So I got wrinkles in places I'd have never expected them to appear at my age (for example wrinkles from smiling). Lesson learned- include as many proteins in your daily eating as possible (within common sense, of course).

But from the very beginning I did start eating more fruit and vegetables. Slowly fruit replaced sweets and vegetables bread (I still don't eat bread- I don't even miss it. Which doesn't of course mean I don't eat anything that had lots of carbohydrates- I do eat pasta, rice, lentils, etc.). I used to be a kid who easily catches flu or cold so I would be sick almost every month. Thank god, it changed after I changed my diet. With lots of broccoli, strawberries, carrots, raspberries, oranges I consumed lots of vitamin C, E, A and antioxidants.

I got so much into healthy eating that I began to read about it more and more and started to include other foods regarded as ''healthy''. Not all of them turned out to be beneficial (at some point I realised ''too much'' may really be too much) and I got to know food I can't eat often because it makes me feel awful (yogurt can be an example). But I was healthier than ever, felt light and energetic. I still do- if I don't overeat which happens from time to time.

I kept eating healthily but I still didn't eat enough proteins. But when I realised it was a cause of my weak hair, nails and skin, I switched to eating more meat. I also added more fish since it contains Omega-3 acids that contribute to good-looking skin. And after a while, everything went back to what it had used to be and even got stronger- I noticed more baby hairs, my skin and nails became more resistible to changes.

The reason why I'm writing all these stuffs is to show how eating habits influence the appearance and wellbeing. I think it's really important to know with what things we feed ourselves because, as the saying goes, we are what we eat. And that's true. So if you aim to make your skin perform at its best, think about how you can help it by consuming something that'll make its job easier.
Eat more food that'll provide you with vitamin C (improves the formation of collagen in the skin), E (antioxidant also called the vitamin of youth), A (helps to heal the skin), protein (to make your skin stronger and more resistant), roughage (to keep your bowels and skin happy). Drink more things that contain antioxidants such as green tea or cistus tea. And cut down on sweets (doesn't hurt to treat yourself once in a while, though) and highly processed food. Not only will it make you feel heavy and prone to break out, but it can also contribute to chronic illnesses.

I'm not an expert at healthy eating but I've been working on getting to know which food is good and which one is bad for me and I experienced the results of it myself. So if you still battle with yourself on whether it's worth stopping eating some kinds of food or not- I assure you it definitely is.

Or maybe you already have gone that way and tried to chage your habits? Share your experience below. :)

REVIEW [MISSHA] Near Skin Dustless Defence Sunblock

[MISSHA] Near Skin Dustless Defence Sunblock SPF 50+/PA+++

My skin type: dry and sensitive; when it's hot- normal

Ingredients: CosDNA

Where I got it from: RoseRoseShop

Pros: 

* amazing ingredients' list- if you look at it there are lots of skin-friendly ingredients

* doesn't break out (at least in my case- I didn't get any pimples/spots from wearing it) 

* long high UVA&UVB protection (both physical filters: Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide provide long-lasting defense against the sun) 

* easy to spread

* doesn't make your skin oily

Cons:

* made my skin too dry (I'm not sure what outcome would be if I had worn it during hot summer days- I tried it in spring and during spring time it's quite cold in the UK)

* leaves white cast (although it may not be an issue if you apply makeup on the top of it. But I wouldn't recommend it to people with darker skin types)

Rating: 6/10

The rating would be higher were it not for the white cast and dryness. To be honest, I think the dryness factor is due to the physical filters. I don't remember having a similar issue with chemical filters when I tried them long time ago. So I suppose if you've got oily/combination skin, you shouldn't have this problem. 

Have you ever tried this sunscreen? If yes, share your opinion below! :D