It all began with my skin losing its firmness and elasticity but during that time I was too busy fighting with the sudden breakouts due to hormonal imbalance to notice it.
Then fine lines, one by one, creepily forming into a fleet of army and crawled onto my skin silently. Before I knew it, they have already marked their territory but instead of preventing their settlement into wrinkles, I have rebelliously thought that a few lines may even helps my chubby baby face looks a bit wiser.
Soon my skin became rough and dull but I blamed it on the too many late nights of tele-conferences with my counterparts stationed at the opposite pole and indulged in more minutes in bed the morning after.
So, as if to punish my ignorance, hell finally broke loose and one day, I found myself waking up with my skin as dry as the Atacama desert.
There, I learnt that parched skin has a weaker topmost layer and unable to retain its own moisture. Dehydrated skin is also more vulnerable to exterior aggressors like pollutions and UV rays. And that sparked my crazy quest to find a thirst quenching remedy to resurrect my skin, only to be disappointed by the insane amount of tubs and tubes that I have tried over the years.
These moisturizer, day cream, night cream and whatever name they are called, none was able to improve my skin condition. Nope, I am not implying that these products are not worth the dollars, in fact I buy the explanation from the many beauty advisors of their own respective brands that their products have failed to deliver their promised miracle is because my poor dehydrated skin has difficulty absorbing them.
Or was that so?
My blind faith of buttering on moisturizer religiously was a little shaken when attending a beauty workshop and heard the celebrity makeup artist saying that moisturizing is actually not necessary, especially in the climate of ours.
Then while flipping through a women’s magazine at the hair salon the other day, I cam across an article quoting Dr. Obaji with the same theory, claiming that moisturizer has no long term effect on our skin at all.
To moisturize or not to moisturize?
I was confused but at the same time I was secretly hoping that my newly acquired information could make sense. God knows how time consuming it is to apply layers after layers and how much money I have wasted all these years on such moisturizing stuff.
So I decided to give the theory a run.
On the first day after the skipping the last step of my skincare regime the night earlier, I woke up without feeling much of a difference on my skin. However, my makeup has refused to adhere properly and my skin felt tight and uncomfortable after washing at the end of the day.
On the second morning I woke up with my face slightly oily probably due the skin’s own sebum secretion to protect itself from the drying air-condition. The pores around my nose area were visibly more noticeable and again, I have a hard time putting on makeup.
By the fifth day, lines and wrinkles have obviously deepened and my skin had become so parched and dry that it started to itch and flake.
My conclusion: Moisturizer by itself may not have any long-term impact and normal skin may do without it but for dry and dehydrated skin, a skincare product with hydrating properties is a savior. Since damaged skin has difficulty retaining its own moisture, a topical moisturizer would help to at least replenish and trap moisture while acting as a form of protection layer against exterior stressor.
And that brings me to my latest haul, NeoStrata Bionic Lotion from their Restore range.
NeoStrata Bionic Lotion
I have great faith in NeoStrata ever since I have started using Skin Active Line Lift in August. With the measurable improvements that I have seen on myself over the past two months, I was confident that this Bionic Lotion would redeem my skin from my failed experiment.
Formulated and dermatologist developed to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles as well as antioxidant protection, this Bionic Lotion contains Vitamin E and helps to smoothes and moisturizes dry skin. It is hypoallergenic, fragrance free and suitable for all skin type including sensitive skin and can be used on the face and body.
Unlike creamy textured moisturizers that leave my skin feeling greased, the Bionic Lotion is relatively lightweight, colorless and odorless. It has a slight starchy texture but dissolves and disappears into the skin quickly and I like how it soothes and pacifies my thirsty skin instantly. Besides my face, I have also applied the lotion on my legs and amazingly, the stubborn patch of dry, peeling skin on my right leg has smoothen out and healed within a week!
Life Little Tales 