Vicco tumeric cream and DIY tumeric/lemon mask

I recently read a glowing review of this cream over at refinery29 and decided to give it a go since it's only around $7USD a tube (I got mine on amazon).

I've been using this every night for about 3 weeks and can easily say it will be my new go-to night cream. It lessens the red marks from acne, prevents breakouts (but not completely), and even nipped a cystic pimple in the bud before it could become a huge problem. It is not as much of a miracle cream as R29 makes it sound. I still have red marks from previous acne flare-ups, but, even if it's temporary, they are lessened. And, the anti-acne properties make it a keeper. (and it doesn't seem to be staining my sheets.)

Problem is, this is hard to find in Japan. So I tried a DIY turmeric and lemon facial mask. It seems to be giving me the same benefits, but with more drawbacks: it will stain your skin and any fabric it comes in contact with. It takes a good scrub and a few cleanses with my bioderma make up remover to get the yellow off my face.

Final verdict is: buy the cream when you can. In a pinch, do the DIY mask a few times a week, when time allows.

2014 Year end awards: Buy these now!

These are the things I can whole-heartedly recommend:

Heroine make mascara

Heroine make mascara remover

Evangelist BB cream

Muji lipstick

SK-II stempower

Bifesta facial cleansing wipes

Tiare body oil

Beauty Pride's APPS+E(TPNa) shampoo and conditioner

Drybar dry shampoo

Traveling with Japanese luxuries: prepping to conclude an 18 hour flight looking fabulous

I always leave my flight looking oily and gross. So, I put together a little carry-on love to attempt to remedy that situation.

First up are the Bifesta facial cleansing sheets (550 yen). These oil and fragrance free sheets are supposed to give you a deep clean. I use these facial cleansing whenever I start feeling oily during a flight, and also in the bathroom of the airport when I arrive at my destination. Result: absolutely fabulous. Love these. They take off all my makeup and leave me feeling squeaky clean, and they give me a clean canvas for a fresh make-up application at my destination airport bathroom without having to get water all over the place and risk messing up my bangs.

I've been using the SK-II stempower as my morning and evening moisturizer, and am loving the mochi-like feeling it gives my skin. Japanese flight attendants use this instead of a facial mask on planes and swear that it helps them remain looking so positively fantastic throughout a long-haul flight. I can attest that it lives up to this claim!

Before settling in for a sleep, I slip on my Dr. Scholl compression leggings. My hope is to stave off bloating and uncomfortableness! I use these around my house, and love how they massage my legs. I've also found that they really do reduce leg and ankle bloating.

Then, before I pop on my noise-reduction headphones hooked up to my ambient noise app, I put on my Kao Megurythm heated eye mask, in lavender. These always put me right to sleep here at home, and really help when I'm wedged in an economy airplane seat! Note: I've been trying out the different aromas (rose, yuzu, and unscented), and so far I much prefer the lavender.

Other items in my beauty carry-on: travel toothpaste and brush, hand sanitizer, pepto bismol (um, airplane food?!?), a sleeping pill, deodorant, perfume, and make-up.

And, make my hair look great upon final exit of the airplane, I use this fantastic dry shampoo from drybar.

I have to say, I looked really marvelous for coming off an 18 hour flight. Paparazzi ready!

Monoi Tiare body oil

This was one of those purchases made after reading an "if you can't get to the tropics, at least you can..." articles. Moni Tiare oil is one of the major tourist purchases in Tahiti. I've always wanted to go to Tahiti. So I can buy the oil, right?

A 400 ml bottle goes for about $10 on amazon and can be found on Amazon Japan as well.

This is my favorite post-bath oil. It's thick. It reminds me of Tropicana tanning oil from my childhood. It has a similar smell, although less coconut and more Tiare. It reminds me of a wonderful vacation I had in Anquilla with my entire extended family. It is a vacation in a bottle.

The smell is strong, but not so strong as to be offensive. It permeates my bathrobe and my bed linens and transports me to a vacation-y place. Love!

Suhada shizuku pack gel

This is an extremely popular night cream that sells for about 1500 yen at most drug stores. When you put it on after cleansing your skin, tiny water droplets appear. The effect is nice, but I've found that it prohibits me using it during the day because it makes my skin too moist to hold onto any sort of makeup. I use it as a night cream for anti-aging since it contains Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid. At one point it was highly rated by users of cosme.net.