That I must have!
I love to drink sake (an alcoholic drink made from rice), because it helps me sleep better in a much more natural way, than sleeping pills. Some of my guilty pleasure cocktails made with sake are: cucumber saketini, ginger saketini, lychee saketini and watermelon saketini — yummy!
For my go-to skincare for age spots, sun spots and dull skin — I must have my “rice broth” with me where ever I go! According to Medical News Today, women in Asia have used rice water as a hair treatment, making their hair softer, smoother, longer and stronger. In addition, rice water also has skin benefits. It had helped damaged skin heal for those who had dermatitis.
This precious rice broth, an ancient skincare secret called Pitera™, is a very special ingredient for my skin’s needs. I’m obsessed with beauty and healthy skin, so I highly regard Pitera, which Japanese scientists discovered incidentally in the 1970’s, when they noticed soft tender hands of sake brewers that sharply contrasted with their wrinkled faces. This is an amazing gift of nature that has been transforming skin for generations. Recently this spring, SK-II launched a new Facial Treatment Essence. It’s what I use for clear, bright, dewy, naturally beautiful and younger looking skin.
This essence contains over 90% Pitera to help remove dark spots, reduces wrinkles, make skin brighter and more radiant — and it’s even gentle enough for babies’ skin. Now some professional makeup artists and celebs use it too. Even men such as James Corden use it too. Mai Quynh used it on Chloe Moretz who attended the Met Gala red carpet. I absolutely love the iconic pretty limited edition 2019 bottle of this Facial Treatment Essence that features a powerful over-spill of vibrant and colorful graffiti patterns and splashes of confetti petals.
For my summer and weekend getaways, business or holiday travels, I try my best to pack light, with all of my beauty must-haves that will help make me look my best, without taking too much room in my travel bags or luggage. Here are some of my to-go items that help keep me looking my best and feeling most confidant, without too much fuss.
Good Science Beauty is wonderful for the entire family. I first discovered Good Science Beauty at last summer at Indie Beauty Expo, which brings together editors, influencers and top indie brands. What’s special about Good Science Beauty, founded by Dr. Suzanne Saffie-Siebert, PhD, is that my whole family and I love science — and we all can finally agree on one skincare brand. Dr. Saffie-Siebert spent approximately 10 years developing a unique technology to make skincare products more effective — it’s called Good Silicon+™. All of its products consist of a unique combination of proven key ingredients that boost each other’s performance to solve a specific skin problem. Its patented Good Silicon+™ technology combines these ingredients in silicon, lipids and amino acids, preserving them in their active form and protecting them as they’re carried deep within the skin. This helps stimulate natural collagen to promote long term skin health. For all those who love science and feel it’s the answer to almost all problems, then Good Science Beauty is a must-try.
iT Cosmetics Confidence collection is my favorite anti aging skincare collection by Jamie Kern Lima. It works wonders for me and helps me achieve beautiful and healthy results for my sensitive, aging skin, thanks to its skin-friendly ingredients. My summer beauty must-have is the Confidence in a Foundation, because it’s incredibly light, delivers long wear and full coverage for 24 hours. As a result, I can be confidant all day and all night long — even when I sweat. When I want a natural, no make-up look with a hue of color, Confidence in a Cream Rosy Tone Moisturizer is my preference. It’s quick absorbing and is enhanced with rosy tone pigments to revitalize my skin. This is a great moisturizer for my aging skin, because it’s rejuvenating, as it gently exfoliates and stimulates surface cell renewal to make my skin look healthier and younger.
LiftActiv Peptide-C Anti Aging Moisturizer, by Vichy Laboratories (a dermatologically-proven skin care brand renowned for its clean, safe and effective products), helps fix multiple signs of aging such as: dull skin, loss of contour definition and loss of firmness. What I love about LiftActiv Peptide-C Anti Aging Moisturizer is that it’s 100% paraben-free, allergy tested, ideal for sensitive skin, and tested under dermatological control for safety. It contains an allergy-tested fragrance featuring light floral scents, which I’m absessed about. Per internationally recognized Dermatologist and Neuroscientist, Dr. Gilbert, MD PhD FAAD, “Peptides are one of the anti aging ingredients that I recommend the most to my patients to combat collagen loss. Vichy’s Peptide-C combines Phyto Peptides with Vitamin C, as well as the proprietary Vichy Mineralizing Water, which helps strengthen the skin’s barrier and protect against everyday aggressors. These three ingredients combined help to create a triple threat against signs of aging, for strong healthy skin.” If you’re looking for a high level, derm-grade, anti aging moisturizer by a brand that’s renowned for providing pure, yet potent formulas to help maintain skin health, then this is a must-try.
Nutrafol is the secret to beautiful and healthy hair, from the inside-out. What I love about this, is that it offers a 100% drug-free product that is clinically shown to improve hair growth performance for both men and women. Instead of using drugs to treat hair loss, it’s a good idea to try a natural, holistic approach such as Nutrafol. It’s developed by researchers and scientists, approved by over 1300+ physicians and loved by the world’s top stylists. It helps optimize the balance between safety and performance that focuses on each person’s special needs.
Olfactory NYC bottles your fragrances at its shop after you pick out your favorite scents, so you get the highest quality ingredients that are certified safe by IFRA. For those who only want the finest natural and sustainable ingredients for your fragrances, then Olfactory is a must-try. It’s renowned for custom fragrances for those who desire a personal experience without pretentious fancy labels and aggressive sales people that spray colognes and perfumes in the air at department stores. It uses the top quality ingredients and keeps the packaging sweet and simple, in order to deliver quality fragrances at reasonable price points. What’s special about the brand, is that after you customize your fragrance, you can label it with a loved one’s name to make it more sentimental.
TIZO Sheer Botanicals SPF 45 Sunscreen is one of my favorite sunscreens, because this is an all-mineral sun protection for both the face and body. It’s sheer, silky, free of chemical sunscreen filters and is reef and planet-friendly. I like that it’s healthy and very good for my skin, as it includes only titanium dioxide and zinc oxide — ingredients that create an invisible barrier on top of the skin and safely reflect away harmful UV rays. The photostable skin protector will not degrade in sunlight and spreads easily to a soft, virtually invisible finish that is water-resistant for up to 80 minutes, which is a plus now that the summer is near. TIZO products are free of dyes, fragrances, preservatives, phthalates and parabens, which I know will keep my skin happy and healthy.
Winky Lux Matcha Collection consists of: lip balm, lip scrub and face mask. I enjoy drinking green tea, because it is loaded with antioxidants and nutrients. I also look for green tea or matcha (high quality green tea with more potent source of nutrients than steeped green tea) in my skincare regimen, because I believe in the saying, “You are what you eat.” Applying green tea to skin promotes DNA repair, prevents skin cancer, reduces irritation, redness and swelling. For those who haven’t tried Winky Lux’s Matcha beauty products yet, you’re in for a healthy and yummy treat! Its Matcha Lip Balm contains vegan green tea extract and coconut oil to moisturize and protect lips all day long. The yummy Sugared Matcha Lip Scrub consists of both sugar and green tea extract to exfoliate and moisturize sun drenched lips. My guilty pleasure is the Melting Matcha Fask Mask, because it works wonders to brighten and soothe my dull, tired skin.
