Friday, August 23, 2013

[Product Review] Neesya and My Quest For Brighter Skin

Brighter and clearer skin is one of my neverending quests.

From puberty, I have had oily skin, pimples and then after I started using makeup, no one taught me to double cleanse, use toner and all that jazz. I learnt it the painful way. I went through a bout of really bad skin, with cystic pimples all along my jawline no thanks to a psycho ex.

And then a friend introduced me to Korean skincare earlier this year and I was using this cream that made my skin considerably less oily and it shrunk most of the pores on my cheeks too! Save for the little scars and sunspots I managed to accumulate over time, I can now gladly say my skin is is pretty good condition :D minus the occasional hormonal spots and enlarged pores on my cheeks.

Cynthia most kindly invited me to the launch of Neesya Skincare in Subang Parade a gazillion weeks ago and I ended up being horribly late and I had to navigate the mall, which I haven't been in more than a decade :p

I received 3 products from the event and I've been testing them for a while. 

The brightening trio. L-R:
Lumi°™ Brightening Enzymatic Refiner (75ml)RM 35.00
LumiScience°™ Illuminating Essence (65ml) RM 79.00
Lumi°™ Brightening Overnight Mask (75ml) RM 59.00

First up: Brightening Enzymatic Refiner:

This gel has a rather thick and cloudy appearance. Lightly scented, a medium layer is recommended on cleansed face and left on for 5-10 minutes. DO NOT EXCEED RECOMMENDED TIME!

I used this after my shower and cleansing my face. So while this was drying on my skin, I applied lotion to my body and cuticle oils on my toes, taking the time to massage in.


                
Just out of the tube and spreaded out.

Upon squeezing it out from the tube, it has a slight soothing fragrance and a gel-like texture. As a refiner (as per the name on the tube), there's no peeling action or scubby bits in the formula. It's just.... a gel. Hahaha...

It becomes transparent upon application however, areas that were too thick, still had the same cloudy white color :p. It felt kind of cooling, like mint, but it was not unpleasant.

I left it on for about 5-ish minutes and wet my fingertips to gently massage the semi-dry gel in circular motions. It had become very thick after 5 minutes so I had to wet my fingertips a few more times to be able to massage without dragging at my skin. I then used a wet towel to wipe off the residue.

I felt my skin was most definitely smoother, it was as if I had done a scrub as my skin looks brighter! If only my skin looks like that permanently!

After wiping down with toner, it's time for the Neesya Illuminating Essence.



A transparent thick liquid, this has the same light pleasant scent and silky texture. It first feels sticky when you pat it on your skin but a couple more patting motions and it's all fully absorbed in to your skin. It doesn't leave my skin feeling sticky or tacky, nor does it make it extra oily. With brightening/whitening products, I have heard that some of them can leave one's skin very dry but of course, with my combination skin, I didn't experience any dry skin at all.


I have paired it in several ways. After cleansing my face and my toner:
1. Before my serums
2. Before my Neesya Brightening Overnight sleeping mask
3. Mixing in with my Laneige sleeping mask

I personally feel, with my Laneige sleeping mask, I find the best results when I mix the recommended 4 drops into my dollop of jelly mask. 

With my Neesya Brightening Overnight Mask, the result was even more spectacular! I woke up to find a pimple scar turn from a slight dark red to a pink-er tone! Talk about magic!

             
 It's also slightly cloudy and has the same light scent as mentioned in the previous products. 

Texture-wise, it's a little more runny than the Enzymatic Refiner and I think I actually squeezed a little too much as my face was rather tacky after massaging it in but I left it as such since I did not manage to do any masks the whole of last week. It has a very slight tingling and cooling sensation after I've washed my hands but not the bad kind of tingle. 

The second time I used it, after spreading out, you can barely see or feel it on your skin as you can see in my above picture :D

As a lazy girl, I totally am digging the Overnight Mask as it saves me time. I'm not a fan of wash-off masks since the application already puts me off so sheet masks and overnight masks are my favourite. One single application has given me pretty good results so I hope with regular application, it will help reduce my scars.

I included the Illuminating Essence in my daily skincare routine and I personally feel that it has helped to lighten some of my 'new-er' sun spots acquired during my most recent diving trip in Langkawi.

Here's a makeup-less face to scare the bejesus out of your living soul if you're reading this at night. Sorry for the image being so blur, I took this in the morning, right after I washed off the Overnight Mask and I think my phone is still snoozing. It wouldn't focus properly. 


That's the angry looking pimple scar on my cheek and some sunspots way further up. 

I'm going to attempt to do the whole routime at least twice a week for another month or so and then we will see the effects. Let's just hope I am diligent enough to stay to my routine.

Neesya products are very affordable, considering that each time, you only use a 10 cent size of the essence and the old 50 cent size for the refiner and overnight mask. Neesya products can be found in Subang Parade and The Mines Shopping Mall. 

For more information, do visit their website or their Facebook page.

Happy weekend!