My new favourite moisturiser – which I’m about to finish off! 🙂
While I am head over heels in love with makeup, I’ve got to admit that I’m more obsessed over skincare. I can wax poetic all day about how having clear, healthy skin is the key ingredient to looking good. No matter how much makeup you put on, at the end of the day, if your skin isn’t properly taken care of, it will show. Unless you use some magic called Photoshop or slap a filter on a selfie.
Great skin has a lot to do with genetics and I thank all the saints for letting me come from bloodlines that don’t have any skin problems. I’m pretty sure both my mom and my dad, as well as my grandparents on both sides, never had a tough acne problem. Come to think of it, the best example would have to be my grandma (dad’s side) who just turned 95.
My grandma when she was younger. I think this was in the early 40s. Isn’t she a beauty? 😉
And this is her just a couple of weeks ago during her 95th birthday. Look at her skin! It’s too beautiful for a 95 year old! And I’m not just saying this cos she’s my grandma who swears by how much I resembled her when she was young. 😉
But my grandma, who already had great skin to begin with, didn’t keep her skin healthy just by letting it be. She nurtured it and kept it hydrated. According to my dad, she has always (and still is) been religious in applying her creams and moisturisers. I started taking care of my skin quite seriously at age 23 and now that I’m 25, I can honestly say that I’m gonna be making my grandma proud. 😉 Moisturiser has also become my religion and I intend to stay devoted till I die.
This early, it’s been paying off. One time, my husband and I went to Jurlique to get our facials done. During the skin assessment, the attendant had nothing bad to say about my skin. “You have normal skin. No, it’s not dry at all. It’s so clear and smooth. You can get any type of facial you want.” I had to endure my husband teasing me about it afterwards that maybe I shouldn’t have spent money in getting a facial at all since my skin was already getting top marks from the attendants. I can’t live without it. I like getting cleaned. Sue me. My husband, meanwhile, has sensitive skin. He’s had a tough bout with acne when he was younger but now, it’s clearing up. And it’s nothing that regular exfoliating and moisturising won’t be able to clear up in no time.
But I’ve had my fair share of problems too despite having no genetically-passed-down nuisances with my skin. There was a time when I was neglectful. Back when I was working for TV, there were times when I’d forget to put on moisturiser and I’d feel like my skin is extremely dry from all the makeup. There were times when I forgot to take off my makeup (eew!) after a long day and I’ll just end up crashing on my bed and sleeping because I was too tired. Back then, I definitely looked older for my age and I noticed that there were wrinkles that were starting to form on my forehead. Ack.
Now that I’m more of a good girl when it comes to taking care of my skin, it’s gotten so much better. I clean thoroughly and moisturise lavishly. Since then, I’ve been getting compliments on how I look younger for my age. Some people here in Malaysia even think that I’m a foreigner with a student visa which often makes me go “REALLY??”. I even fight the urge to thank people profusely when they tell me this. That would just be too weird.
So bottom line is: Keeping your skin hydrated is the way to go. (This isn’t just for people who have normal and dry skin. If you are oily, they have specific products to take out excess oil and properly hydrate your skin.)
In the past couple of years, I’ve also tried several moisturisers and so far, I’m gonna have to say Ziaja’s Natural Argan Oil Protective Face Cream is high up on my favourites list.
The ingredients, for your reference. 🙂
In case you haven’t heard of the brand Ziaja yet, it’s a Polish brand known for producing “pharmaceuticals and high-quality cosmetics based on natural ingredients for face, body and hair care”. I’ve also used their Phytoaktiv Cleansing Milk and it’s such a great product! I reviewed it a couple of months ago and you can read that here.
So. The Natural Argan Oil Protective Face Cream. Where shall I begin? First of all, I’m crazy in love with it. It’s been doing a great job in improving the elasticity of my skin. I pat it on at night and I wake up with a refreshed face every single morning.
I’ve been going through an argan oil phase for quite a while now and that’s why my friend Michaela gave this to me as a gift on my birthday last June (only got around to using it a couple of months later). At first, I would alternate this with pure argan oil as my night time moisturiser but after a while, I started using this daily and will just use the argan oil on my hair.
As far as consistency goes, this cream is very thick.
This moisturiser is very thick but it has the consistency of glue so it’s not your usual moisturiser that glides on easily. What I do is I spread it over my face just a bit then pat it on.
Not easily spreadable but is does its job well. I’ve learned that patting it on is way better.
Breaking it down, here are the things I loved and hated with the product:
Pros:
- The argan oil component is definitely a plus. I’ve been addicted to it as it’s crazy effective in making skin clear, supple, and radiant. Some might say that products that only have argan oil as an ingredient are less effective compared to using the pure oil itself. However, I never had the same conclusion with this moisturiser. My skin feels the same way it would after using pure argan oil and letting it stay on my face all night.
- It’s a steal at US12.99 (Php580.39, MYR44.71, EUR10.53). For my readers from Manila, my friend Michaela got this for me in Beauty Bar but you can also order it online here.
- It does its job very, very well.
- I love the clean, un-sweet scent.
Cons:
- The consistency is that of industrial-strength glue so it’s not that spreadable on your face. You tend to use a lot of it on one go.
- It’s not locally available in Malaysia.
So the question is – will I repurchase? Definitely! But only if I can find it here in Kuala Lumpur. Or if I can bug my friends from Manila into buying a couple of tubs and tell them to bring them to me once they visit so they can sell it to me! I have qualms about shopping online when the orders will be coming from a continent away. First, the waiting time will kill me. Second, there might be customs/duties that I might have to pay. I’m not sure whether I’ll get an exemption for such purchases since we’re supposed to have tax and duty free purchases while on post. I’ll ask my husband.
More than halfway through my small tub.
Anyhoo, that’s all for now. 🙂 If you’re planning to purchase this product, I hope this review helped!
More later! And don’t forget to moisturise every night! Bisous!
Love,
Carol
