Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! I hope you're all close to your loved ones, eating yummy food, and collecting loads of ang pau :)

Here's a quick video I filmed to help you realise the potential of your skincare. The application of skincare is something that isn't stressed enough, but if you do it properly, it really helps your skincare absorb and work better on your skin.

These tips are very commonly known, but most people don't realise their importance. I hope you enjoy!

Products mentioned in this video:

SK-II Facial Treatment Essence

SK-II Stempower Essence

Read my reviews of both these skincare products in My New Skincare Routine and the Update.

Chinese New Year is almost upon us! All 15 days of Chinese New Year (plus an extra day if you count the Reunion Dinner) carry their own meaning and tradition, and I have compiled a list of products and tips to get you through these 15 days in style :)

Here's a little calendar that I put together myself, and listed below it are product descriptions and my reasons why I chose that particular product.

Reunion Dinner - Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream - Intense Hydration

This facial cream is absolute magic. It is intensely hydrating, and yet it manages to be so lightweight that I can barely feel it on my fingers when I scoop it out of the jar. This is one of Kiehl's latest launches (though the Ultra Facial Cream has been around for some time now, the Intense Hydration version is new), and I can see this fast becoming a favourite amongst Malaysians with oily and dry skins. This fluffy cream is perfect for the Malaysian humid weather, because it hydrates without weighing down or greasing up the skin. This was love at first touch for me, and I highly recommend using it to prep your skin before makeup as well as to add hydration throughout the CNY period and beyond.

Day 2 - Senka Perfect Cleansing Oil

Senka is quite well known for their foaming facial cleansers, but it is this cleansing oil that I really like from their range of products. The CNY period will be chock-full of (pore-clogging) long days, smoke (from all those darned firecrackers), and greasy food. Make sure none of that stays on your skin before you hit the hay by maintaining a double-cleansing routine - using an oil cleanser to remove dirt and makeup before following with a cream cleanser to finish the job. This particular oil cleanser is very effective, and washes away makeup much more quickly than some other oil cleansers I've tried. What's more - it is actually possible to use this in the shower when you have wet hands (with most cleansing oils, it is imperative that your hands and skin are dry when you apply them, otherwise they won't work). It leaves the skin soft and clean after.

Day 3 - Aupres Aqua Active Sleeping Mask EX

Traditionally, Day 3 of Chinese New Year is a day for staying home. The Chinese believe that receiving visitors on Day 3 is bad luck, and so this is the best time for you to pamper yourself and catch up on some beauty sleep. Slap on some Aupres Sleeping Mask to increase cell turnover and replenish your skin's moisture levels, which you most likely lost through common Chinese New Year activities. This increases the radiance and luminosity in your skin. This mask is hydrating and has a lovely relaxing baby-powder scent (it is marketed as lavender but doesn't really smell like lavender to me) so it helps you sleep. Perfect for days like this.

Day 5 - Hydrate your body!

You should always remember to drink plenty of water no matter what it is that you're doing, particularly since most of what makes Chinese New Year what it is, is the cookie-alcohol-gambling combination. Drink enough water to care for both your body and your skin's health.

Day 6 - China Glaze Ruby Pumps

Happy Chinese birthday, everyone! A South East Asian Chinese tradition is to 'lou sang' - which basically is everyone gathered round a table, tossing a 'Chinese salad' of sorts with their chopsticks. Make your hands stand out with my favourite red nail polish - China Glaze's Ruby Pumps. This is a gorgeous true red with tonnes of red glitter. It looks so beautiful on the nails, and the colour is perfect for ringing in the lunar new year!

Day 8 - Benefit Porefessional: Agent Zero Shine
Day 8 is when most people offer prayers late into the night, so keep your makeup looking fresh and matte with the Benefit Porefessional Powder, which reduces the appearance of your pores and keeps oiliness and shine at bay. Unlike other powders, this one absorbs oil beautifully, so when you re-apply it throughout the day, it still feels as if you just applied your makeup. The best thing about it is that it has a brush built in and can be used over makeup, so it's the perfect thing to toss into your purse for touch-ups throughout the day.

Day 9 - Shiseido Perfect Hydrating BB Cream
Give your skin a little rest from heavy coverage foundations with this hydrating BB cream from Shiseido. Why I like it? It gives great coverage (I would classify this as a medium coverage foundation), and goes easy on the skin with its oil-free texture, antioxidant ingredients, and UV protection. This reduces the appearance of pores, helps cover acne scars, evens out the skin tone, and gives the skin a lovely luminosity. Any extra imperfections on the skin can be covered with a little concealer and powder.

Day 11 - Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in Drama
These are the most fantabulous lipsticks in the world. Somewhere between a MAC cremesheen and the YSL Glossy Stain, this lipstick was inspired by Japanese laquerware, and provides a creamy, glossy, pigmented finish. Though creamy and glossy, this lipstick lasts forever on the lips, and barely needs touching up throughout the day. The colour 'Drama' is the perfect red for the Chinese New Year season, and the tiny wand applicator makes touching up on the go so easy and quick.

Day 13 - Simplicité Exfoliating Face Treatment
Day 13 is known as the day of cleanse, when the Chinese take a break from all the rich foods and drink herbal soup to cleanse their system. Take this opportunity to draw impurities from your face as well, using the Simplicité Exfoliating Face Treatment, which draws dirt and impurities towards the surface of your skin so that you can treat them. Follow with something like the Simplicité Waratah and Beetroot Plant Mask for a full-on treat for your skin.

Day 14 - Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage
The combination of food and lack of sleep is bound to cause a couple of break outs (unless you are blessed with perfect skin, of course), so I highly recommend the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage concealer to hide them until they go away. The peachy-toned colour is perfect for under-eye circles, and by mixing the two colours together, you can custom-create a colour that is perfect for your skin tone, depending on which area of the face you need to cover. The texture of this is also perfect, because it is thick and pigmented enough that it will cover almost anything and won't budge once you apply a bit of powder to set it, yet light enough that it is easy to blend and won't cake on your skin.

Day 15 - TheBalm Mary Lou-Manizer
You all know I adore this highlighter, because it is so natural that it resembles a cream highlighter, but its powder form makes it so much easier and quicker to apply to your skin. The finish of this luminizer is one of the prettiest I have ever seen in a highlighting product, and even though I've gone through my fair share of highlighters, this has managed to stay at the top spot until now (this was one of my first ever highlighter purchases). Day 15 is a day of lanterns and fireworks, so use this highlighter to illuminate your best features - you will look gorgeous in that candlelight!

Cleaning makeup brushes is very simple. Here are some tips that you may or may not already know.

- Deep clean your brushes at least once a month

- To deep clean your brushes, simply place your brush cleansing solution into a wide, shallow dish, and swirl your brush into the solution to clean it. Then, under running water, swirl your brush into the palm of your hand to remove the dirt, makeup, and cleansing solution. Repeat until the water in your palm runs clear.

- Be careful to stay away from the ferrule of the brush (the metal part holding the hair), because wetting the ferrule can loosen the hairs and cause a lot of fall out.

- Spot clean your brushes each time you use them. To spot clean, spritz some brush cleanser directly onto the brush hairs, then swirl the brush onto a clean towel (or wipe) to clean.

- Once cleaned, brush hairs should be squeezed gently with a clean, dry towel. Then, place the brushes, laying them flat, onto the towel, preferably with the hairs sticking out over the edge of the counter, so that they dry all over. Doing this prevents excess moisture from seeping into the ferrule and allowing mould to grow.

Here are some products that I use to clean my makeup brushes, and that I have been absolutely loving.

Daiso Sponge Detergent

This is the product that the entire beauty blogosphere has been buzzing about for a while now. I purchased mine in Malaysia, and have been using it non-stop ever since. This deep cleans makeup brushes beautifully and effectively, and keeps the bristles nice and soft. Deep cleaning should be done once a month, at the very least, to get rid of bacteria lingering deep within the bristles of your brushes.
I also like to mix a few products in with this - pure mineral water, a teeny, tiny bit of alcohol, and a cheapie hair conditioner, to spritz onto my brushes before I spot clean them right after they are used. It works beautifully, and I have the added benefit of nice-smelling brushes ;p

Dove Beauty Bar

Another product that I love to use for deep cleaning is the Dove Beauty Bar. I learned this method from the gorgeous Kimmi at ThePlasticDiaries, and this is the method I use when I go on extended trips (usually to visit home), or when I can't be bothered with the Daiso detergent. I was lucky enough to get a couple of sample-sized bars in goodie bags, and I am loving how convenient they are!

All you have to do is swirl the brush under running water onto the soap bar, and your brushes are thoroughly cleansed and remain nice and soft. Another plus point? These beauty bars are SO affordable!

Makeup Removing Wipes

These products are my absolute favourite for spot-cleaning brushes. I spot-clean my brushes every time I use them, and makeup removing wipes are so convenient to have whilst I am applying my makeup. I clean my brushes, my hands, and remove any makeup mistakes with these wipes.

As mentioned earlier, I have a simple spray formula that I mix up using the Daiso detergent, which I spritz onto my brushes, then swirl into these wipes to cleanse and dry them slightly, and then I place them lying down with the bristles sticking out over the edge of my makeup drawers to dry.

My current favourite makeup removing wipes? The Dove Beauty Cleansing Wipes. These are very gentle but effective, and don't contain alcohol (since my spray already contains alcohol, I don't want to overload my brushes with alcohol unnecessarily).

I hope this post was helpful! x

However, a lot of people also know that the wrong foundation can give you the most unflattering ghostly-white skin in flash photography. The good news is, that avoiding certain products when you know that you will be photographed can eliminate that dreaded flashback completely! I myself am no stranger to the dreaded phenomena, as you can see in the picture below *cringe*

Here are some things to take into account:

SPF

Sun protection is essential in the afternoons, but the Titanium Dioxide contained within almost all sunscreens is the major cause of flashback in film photography. There are also claims floating about the interwebs that Titanum Dioxide combined with Zinc Oxide can cause more severe flashbacks - though I am not personally able to comment, not having tried a product like this.

Please note that a small amount of SPF in foundations is not detrimental (which is why you will find that most foundations do contain a small amount of SPF, and can be used without issue), however you should try to avoid anything with an SPF of 30 and above.

Please also note that this applies purely to film photography! Digital photography is largely unaffected by SPF with regards to flashback on camera.

Silica

Setting powders that contain silica (the Make Up For Ever HD Setting Powder is a cult favourite) are preferred over regular setting powders, because these powders mattify the skin, and give you a tiny bit of flashback on camera, which contributes to a perfected, airbrushed effect. Using silica based powders is perfectly fine, as long as you don't use too much.

Another thing to take into account is that silica powders have a mattifying effect, and should not be used on a dry skin type! Silica powders were made to sink into normal to oily skin, and to absorb the excess oil. Applying the powder to a skin without any moisture would basically just cause the product to 'sit' on top of your skin, therefore causing a white flashback.

The best way to apply these powders is with a soft, sparsely packed brush. Tap a tiny bit of the powder onto its container's lid, then swirl your brush into it, and tap off the excess before you apply it to your skin.

Mica

Some mineral foundations contain a high amount of mica in them, and should be avoided in flash photography, as they can cause quite severe flashbacks.

When you are going to be photographed, opt instead for a liquid foundation or cream foundation, which have the best finishes, both in photography and in real life.

Shimmer

Shimmer is the cause of a multitude of things gone wrong in flash photography, but shimmer used and placed correctly can also look beautiful on camera. 

As a general rule, brightening products should be avoided, especially underneath the eyes and in the contours of the face. I highly recommend purchasing your products matte, and then adding shimmer only where you need it.

One thing that you should take into account when buying a shimmer-based product is the type of shimmer contained within the product. For the most natural finish, choose a cream-based shimmer that is multi-coloured - with flecks of gold, pink and purple. These reflect the light in the most natural way, and give your skin a beautiful, natural glow. Avoid shimmer that is only one colour, and that looks too 'bright' or 'neon'.

To sum this piece up, I offer one last piece of advice. Always, always check your face before you leave the house! The best way to do this is to take a 'test shot' of yourself with a camera, with flash.

I hope this post helped you! x