South Korea is the land of Skin care products.  My Panget noticed on this trip that the skin of the Koreans that he has seen were mostly flawless.  I told him, it's because of the their 10 step skin care regimen.  He looked at me and repeated - 10 steps?  I said yes!  I am one who is very very very lazy in putting on moisturizer.  I have been told to start doing so as early as my teens, but well - I'm lazy.  I am very masipag though, when it came to washing my face.  My mom introduced me to Shiseido when I was in my teens - I used the Pureness line, it was for younger skin.  I swear by it and up until in my late 20's I was still using it.  I guess when I was younger, I didn't have a problem with acne or dry skin.  It was only when I got pregnant that, well - I needed to use moisturizers.

One thing I dislike with moisturizers is the feeling that my face is sweating after I put them on.  I only have one moisturizer that I like - it's a local brand, Celeteque and the reason is because, when I put it one, my face absorbs it immediately.  I'm very lucky that I don't experience any irritation.  But as the years passed, I felt that I needed to up the dose of the moisturizer I put depending on the weather.  When I travel, I bring a small tube of Celeteque and an imported brand, for the past 3 years I have been using Clinique when I go to somewhere cold.  But late last year, I noticed some bumps on my forehead and cheeks when I used Clinique.  A HS batchmate who's a derma told me to stop applying it, and within a day or two, the bumps disappeared.  I still use Clinique when I feel that my skin is extra dry.  I still rely heavily on my good old Celeteque.

So on this trip, I asked friends on recommendations.  Most of them recommended Innisfree, it's a brand that is not found here in Manila.  They were raving about the toner and moisturizer and make-up.  It was a good thing that my friend Kath asked me to buy a toner for her, the staff gave me samples to try.  I tried it when we got back to our Airbnb apartment, the next day - there were bumps.  My skin was irritated - so I stopped.  I then asked my beauty guru - Rowena her recommendation, she said Laniege.  I have been reading about that brand from her for years.  So when my Panget and I saw a store, we went in.  I only asked the staff to give me a toner and moisturizer for dry skin.  She handed me the Water Bank line.  I didn't try the product anymore, I thought to myself - bahala na.  It was only when I got back to Manila did I try the product.