REVIEW: Sidmool Skin Science Sparkle Toner

In my previous post, I spoke a bit about toners--whether you should even bother with one, what a noted skin doc had to say, and my own opinion. From this post onwards, I want to dig deep into each of the toners I use, and what makes or breaks the deal for me.

Cleansing toners
Cleansing toners my favourite type of toner as it takes off any leftover residue post cleansing. We all have post-cleansing residue, it's just that it's not very obvious on the skin, which is why I like to swipe across a cotton pad soaked in a cleansing toner, over the face and neck area. Sometimes, I even go further and swipe a fresh cotton pad on my arms. Try doing it, I bet you'd be surprised.

SIDMOOL SKIN SCIENCE SPARKLE TONER
Sidmool is a Korean skincare brand that promises advanced and clinically-proven ingredients such as Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate, Astaxanthin, Ginseng and Sea Buckthorn. The brand also promises high concentrations of active ingredients, which means they don't put in anything (like water, which is usually the first ingredient listed on a toner) that will dilute the efficacy of the product.

Just look at this inci list:Ingredients: Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate, Saccharomyces Ferment, Saccharomyces/Astragalus Membranaceus Root Ferment Extract, Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Extract, Morus Alba Bark Extract, Magnolia Kobus Bark Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Leaf Extract, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Betaine, Astaxanthin, Wild Ginseng Root Extract, RH-Oligopeptide-1(Human Oligopeptide-1), Copper Tripeptide-1, Lecithin, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract, Water, 1,2 Hexanediol, Olibanum, Adenosine, Caprylyl/Capryl Wheat Bran/Straw Glycosides, Fusel Wheat Bran/Straw Glycosides, Polyglyceryl-5 Oleate, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Glyceryl Caprylate

Fermented skincare ingredients
You will see a lot of fermented ingredients on this list and for a good reason. Fermented skincare is a huge trend in Korean skincare, which is popular for its experimentation with strange-sounding ingredients (snail slime, donkey milk, bird's nest anyone?). Anyway, fermentation is a process by which yeast helps produce enzymes, amino acids and antioxidants, which by way of fermentation get super-charged and hence, are able to benefit the skin immensely.

This inci list promises Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate, Saccharomyces Ferment and Saccharomyces/Astragalus Membranaceus Root Ferment Extract. 'Saccharomyces', which literally means 'sugar fungus' is the scientific name for the yeasts used in fermentation, specifically baker's yeast. The history of fermented skincare lies in the youthful hands of workers who were brewing sake for many years. The men were old but their hands were freakishly young, soft and wrinkle-free. The first product to use the fermentation technology in skincare was SKII in its Pitera essence.

Coming back to this inci list, you will also see that glycerin is the ninth ingredient on the list whereas in most toners, it's the first or the second. Suffice to say, the first eight ingredients were enough to make me click that Buy button.

 
Packaging and user experience
The toner comes in a pump style bottle. The packaging is faultless and I like how the bottle is clear so you can see how much product is remaining. The product has an earthy petrichor-like aroma, which I find pleasing. Sidmool recommends that you pour a little amount on your palms and rub it on the face. How incredibly impractical! I use it with a cotton pad. The toner cleans the skin really well but leaves it a bit tacky. The tackiness dissipates after a minute or so.  

Price and where to buy
Usually, I put in info about price and where to buy the product. But let me warn you, this product is incredibly difficult to source if you're living outside of Korea. Prices differ on where you buy it from. So, if you're considering getting it, please do a thorough research. I had purchased it via a third party called Avecko, who purchased it directly from Sidmool.

Worth the hype?
So, was this toner worth the hype? Nope, it wasn't. Even after using the bottle way past its halfway mark, I couldn't see any difference in my skin. With such classy ingredients and their supposedly high concentrations, I had expected a lot more out of this. At best, the Sidmool Skin Science Sparkle Toner is a maintenance product, so I had to demote it from the treatment toner to the cleansing toner category.
 
In my next post, I will talk about Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion. Stay tuned!

Is a toner really necessary?

On my way to an event about 'laser treatment for skin' conducted by a few of Mumbai's renowned aesthetic medical practitioners, I was debating about which toner to buy next. Toners serve a variety of purposes, from taking off any leftover residue (even after you have had a go with your cleanser), exfoliating the skin, calming sensitive skin to leaving a layer of hydration on the skin. I have all four varieties and a couple of favourites in that, but the one I find indispensable is the first type--the skin cleansing one. Let me clarify, I love cleansing and I love my cleansers, but my pores behave like a deep cave with dark recesses that house gunk, which can only be pulled out by a cleansing toner.

I had reached the venue, and the skin docs began talking about general skincare, giving tips and busting misconceptions. While I was enjoying all that, the subject of toner came up, especially for oily skin. My ears perked up and I was eager to hear what the expert had to say.

Avoid toners, he said! Shattering the long-held belief of the holy grail of skincare--Cleanse, Tone and Moisture--he silenced the audience but went on to explain how toners are unnecessary imports from the western world and we Indians do not need them, including oily skin types. What he meant was that we don't need the traditional alcohol-based toners that used to wipe away cleansing creams of the yore. Yes, before face washes came into the picture, women used to use cleansing creams, which were greasy and hence needed an alcohol-y toner to take it all off.

While I wouldn't degrade all toners (like I mentioned above, a few of them have something extra to offer), I agree with the skin doc in that I absolutely hate toners with alcohol. Any self-respecting beauty company ought to throw out such toners because in today's age, cleansers have become advanced thus eliminating the need for a strong-burn-your-skin alcohol-based toner. India is also catching up to the alcohol-free toner trend, with Plum being one of the early adopters.

In my next post, I will share a bit about my current toners, why and how I use them, and a few that are on my wishlist.

Why the PH value of your cleanser matters!

As much as I love Clinique and its bestselling Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm (one of my favourite cleansers), their other cleansers do not make the cut. All because of ingredients that raise the PH level of the product. A recent example was this cleanser, given to me as a sample.

PH value of 7-8 indicated by the strip turning blue

One of the things you need to be careful about when putting a cleanser on your face is its PH level. PH (stands for potential for hydrogen) is a "figure expressing the acidity or alkalinity of a solution on a logarithmic scale". If you put that down on a simple scale, it would look something like this:

Image: drypharmacist.com

Our skin is slightly acidic by nature, with a PH of 5.5.

Image: happyskincare.com.au

This PH of 5.5 is necessary for the skin to maintain its healthy state. A disruption in this level can cause the skin to either burn (if it goes to the acidic level of 4 or lower) or be vulnerable to infection (if it goes to the alkaline level of 7 or above). Did you know that there are microorganisms on the skin that protect it from skin infections and serious skin conditions like acne and rosacea?

When you use conventional soap or face washes with a high PH (anything above 5 is potentially damaging), you're getting rid of the healthy microorganisms that are keeping the skin healthy and immune to infections.

Harsh cleansers may give you that squeaky clean feeling that immediately feels fresh, but that's actually a warning sign that you have gone too far. What these cleansers are really doing is stripping the face of its natural moisture barrier and healthy microorganisms along with the dirt and grime, making you feel "clean".

On the other hand, if you use a cleanser with an optimum PH (5.5), it still removes the dirt and grime but does not disturb the moisture barrier.

I'll be honest and say that not all cleansers are created equally. The majority of cleansers on the market, irrespective of how big a brand is, are high in PH. Which is a shame because they mess up the skin, cause acne and other conditions and then make you buy another product to deal with that condition. A vicious cycle that must stop!

Using harsh cleansers also strip away more oil than is necessary, leaving the skin dry and irritated, and then causing it to produce more oil (sebum) to compensate for the loss. This, in turn, makes the skin more oily, which makes you think that you need an even stronger cleanser. Another vicious cycle that must stop.

So, treat your skin wisely.

1) As a rule of thumb, avoid cleansers that create a supreme lather. 9 out of 10 times, they are loaded with harsh detergents, which help create that rich lather.

2) If you have to use a face wash that lathers, try to find a cleanser that has the right PH value, although such cleansers are rare. In Indian brands, Just Herbs is on the right track with its Silksplash face wash. I have tested its PH more than once. (A thorough review coming up soon)

PH of 5 indicated by the strip turning yellow

3) Cleansing oils and balms are much better to clean the skin with as they are essentially oils, so you're using oil to remove dirt and grime, and not harsh detergents. This takes some time to getting used to but your skin will thank you for it. If you're in India, The Body Shop's Camomile Cleansing Oil is a great cleanser to try out.

Overseas, there are plenty of cleansers (face washes, oils and balms) that are made keeping the right PH value in mind but here in India, such cleansers are hard to find. I have listed two good ones above, and I will update this post as and when I find more.

Lastly, remember that PH is not the be all and end all of great skin as there are several factors at play, but if you are having skin troubles and were wondering how to deal with them, this is a good place to start at.

Hope this was a helpful post. :)

Lookfantastic launches its Indian site--but wait, is that really good news?

Being a skin sleuth, I'm always on the lookout for great value in skincare/makeup, especially when I'm stalking browsing online shopping destinations for beauty products. A discovery I made yesterday was the Indian site of lookfantastic.com, a UK-based shopping site for hair and beauty products.

Now, you'd imagine me squealing in delight when I chanced upon the Indian counterpart of the popular website. My initial thought was that finally, we Indians can now access some of the most coveted beauty brands like Alpha H, Aromatherapy Associates, Eve Lom, Elemis, Omorovicza and others right here in India. No more stalking the international site.

The Indian website also says this proudly, "Bringing Lookfantastic to India'. Surely, this must be a godsend to us.

Sadly, not all things that appear promising in the beginning turn out so. And here's where I got down to some serious sleuthing. A comparison between the two sites. Warning: nerdiness ahead!

Lookfantastic UK	Lookfantastic India
Free worldwide delivery if you make a purchase over GBP 50, which thanks to Brexit is now INR 4518.	Free worldwide delivery if you make a purchase over INR 6,000. So, wouldn’t it make more sense to purchase from the international site? Just saying…
If you are spending less than GBP 50, the tracked cost for India is GBP 9.99, translating to INR 902.	If you are spending less than INR 6,000, the tracked cost is INR 1,000. So, there’s no clear advantage over the international site.
Prices are listed as prescribed by the brands	Same here, except that in some of the large-format Indian departmental stores like Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop etc., you’d find the same products for a lesser price! For instance, the Elizabeth Arden Eight-Hour Skin Protectant is priced on this website for INR 2,592 whereas the last time I checked in Sephora, Mumbai, it was priced at INR 1,800 or thereabouts. How is that even possible?!
Delivery times are listed as per UK delivery timelines	Same here, which baffles me because international delivery to India takes much longer, and longer still if the order gets stuck in customs. However, the wording on the Indian site regarding shipping/delivery is identical to the international site. Which brings me to the false impression one gets that when you are shopping from the Indian site, you are getting the product from within India, hence, in a quicker timeframe. Not true! Your order will still be delivered to you from the UK, which beats the purpose of the Indian site.
Reviews—the all-important factor, next to price, that makes a buyer click ‘Add to Cart’. The reviews are left by international buyers, naturally as it is an international site.	Same here, which is logical to an extent, except that when buyers comment on shipping/delivery times, they are talking about their own countries.   Indian buyers need to take this into account when reading the reviews that are automatically replicated from the international site onto the Indian site.
You get almost any brand that you can think of here, especially convenient when you are looking for specific products that are not yet released in India. For instance, the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Oil, which I have had my eyes on for a very long time.	You don’t see all of the brands listed on the international site here. I was so hoping to see the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Oil on the Indian site.
You can buy fragrances from the UK site. I had my eyes on the much-talked about Chloe.	No mention of fragrances here

The only good part about this whole branching out initiative is that your orders, be it on the international site or the Indian one, are synchronised so you can have a uniform record of everything that you do. If anyone can give me a valid reason as to why I should buy from Lookfantastic India, as opposed to Lookfantastic International, I'm all ears! For now, I'll stick to the international site, thank you!

Thanks for making it this far.

Have a lovely day!

Do you really need sunscreen on a cloudy day?

Image: monsoonsalon.com

Ah, the relief that monsoon brings—cool rainy days to beat the harsh summer heat, especially in a hot, humid city like Mumbai. While I know that friends in UK, US and other places are enjoying their summer and clear skies, for a change, we Mumbaikars are rejoicing the refreshing monsoon.

A change in the season usually indicates a change in skincare too. So, while I’m ditching the cooling ingredients that were my go-to in the summer, talked about in detail here, I’m more careful than ever about continuing using sunscreen.

Many people, including my beloved husband, believe that ‘no sun = no sunscreen’. Not true! Just because you cannot see the sun does not mean its rays don’t reach you.

UVB rays (which cause burning/tanning) and UVA rays (which cause ageing) are nasty things that must be avoided, not because you care about vanity but to prevent skin cancer.

On cloudy/rainy days, you may not get burned by the UVB rays as the clouds block them, UVA rays still manage to get through the cloud cover and cause skin damage. Experts even say that if the UVA rays bounce off the edge of certain clouds, their intensity increases. Furthermore, if the cloud cover is thin, they may not be able to block even the UVB rays.

Bottom line is ‘don’t forget your sunscreen’.

Enjoy your monsoon!

Grease be gone: Why blotting papers are the ultimate summer saviours

Keeping in line with the summer theme, here's another product type that is essential for those who live in hot, humid climates. The Blotting Paper. A nifty little pack that I absolutely cannot live without, be it summer or otherwise, but especially during summer.

The concept of a blotting paper is simple--it's made out of absorbent fibres, not paper literally although Clean & Clear make one that is papery/plasticy and absolutely terrible, but I digress. So, good blotting papers are thin soft papers, almost linen-like, that you gently press on the skin and voila! The grease is gone and you're left with fresh-looking matte skin. And I'm not exaggerating; the gratification you get when you see the grease (and sweat) on the paper cannot be underestimated.

It is important to note that the skin needs both moisture and oil. So, depriving the skin of these two essentials in the hope that you won't get oily during the day is a big mistake! Instead, give the skin what it needs so that it doesn't overcompensate for lack of oil--the skin will always produce oil because that is how it functions--it needs oil to protect itself from dryness, environment, etc. But you can use blotting papers to keep the excess oil at bay. 

Most papers contain oil-absorbing agents or are made out of materials such as flax seed, yam or hemp. The Palladio Rice Paper ones contain rice powder, while the Glo Minerals blotting papers are made from abaca tree leaves. The Boscia Clear Complexion ones are dusted with willow bark and bamboo extract. Sadly, the ones available in India don't quite do the job. So, the three blotting papers that I like come from Korea and Japan.

1) DHC Oil Blotting Paper
These were the first ones that I tried and I love them. The pink packaging is cute but can fray over time. The oil blotting paper itself is slightly smaller in size compared to the Innisfree one mentioned below but you get 100 sheets in one pack.

2) Skinfood Natural Fresh Oil Blotting Paper
The Skinfood oil blotting paper made from natural hemp is cheaper than the DHC one and comes in a more practical packaging. There is a rubber-like flip open packet, which keeps the papers secure. Also, you get 100 sheets in one pack so overall, these are my new favourites considering performance, price and packaging.

3) Innisfree Eco Beauty Tool Oil Blotting Paper
These get the job done but come in not-so-great packaging. The oil blotting paper itself has one side textured, which gives a good grip on the face, while the other side is polished smooth, which unfortunately slides on greasy skin. Also, you get only 50 sheets in one pack. So, yeah, will not repurchase these.

The best part about blotting papers are that they are inexpensive (anywhere between 3-5 USD or 180-300 INR) and last a long time. One pack usually contains about 100 papers and depending on your usage, it can last anywhere between one to three months.