chemical exfoliants

I used to use the St Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub endlessly, but my skin wasn't great and I eventually learnt that physical exfoliants aren't actually that good for the delicate skin on your face (plus, the little beads are awful for the environment). So on the hunt for something a little less abrasive, I came across the Ren Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask. Unfortunately for my face, I left my bottle in New York whilst travelling and coming home this summer, so I had to find some new options to fill in the blank since I couldn't find a way to get the Ren face mask in Hong Kong. On my mission to obtain the Alpha-H Liquid Gold (which I've heard the blogosphere rave about endlessly), I picked up a couple of other things that have made it into my routine.

1. Mario Badescu Skincare, Glycolic Acid Toner

I've never been one for toners - the first time I ever used one (some Neutrogena thing that came in a blue bottle back in the day), my entire face went red, blotchy and a little itchy and I declared 'toner - never again'. After realising that my face seems to love things with glycolic acids in them, I figured I'd give this a try, and I love it. Since I've started using this, I haven't had a bad breakout (knock on wood), and my skin feels a lot less clogged up.

2. balance Me, Radiance Face Mask

After using this a couple of times when I was feeling a bit 'bleugh I don't know what else to do, I guess I'll do a face mask', I find that this doesn't particularly make your skin "radiant" but it just hydrates the skin. It's a thick white cream with little particles in it which I guess "polish and smoothes" your face, but compared to chemical exfoliants, I really don't think it does much. It's nice that it's supposedly 98% natural origin, and it's just a simple mask that hydrates and isn't too harsh on your skin.

3. Alpha H, Liquid Gold

Now this is la crème de la crème; this is a concentrated glycolic acid thingmabob that I use on nights that I feel like my skin needs a bit of a pick-me-up (a.k.a. after a long night out and I've maybe consumed one or two drinks). It stings a little when you put it on and you can leave this just on your skin overnight for a more intense treatment, or put on a face cream over it - what I normally do. It seems to have made a huge difference to my skin since I've added it into my regime, so it'll be sticking around for a while.