Is our skin type fixed? Set in stone? Does oily skin mean it never gets dry or dehydrated or dry skin never breaks out? Combination skin…. Suffering all the time…

Not really –For the lucky lot with great skin… they just will not be able to understand this at all – they can use pretty much anything…

But for the rest there is a silver lining. It’s a bit like an early wakeup call where we get into better habits by necessity and so end up better off by the end of it all. Like what would have happened if I had given up bad habits and started eating better and exercising sooner like ten years sooner :)

I read forums, journals …. All sorts of stuff. A big reason for this was that I had a lot of skin problems which couldn’t be fixed by regular skincare and I couldn’t stay non-stop on prescriptions so I really needed an alternative. 

I’ve learned some pretty amazing things, ways of having general skin issues under control by making changes in my routine/ products. Seriously amazing stuff is easy to find online, once you know what you are looking for – having said that – research a bit before doing what’s being said – by research I mean NOT something repeated by another blog or magazine but something more …. Especially for serious stuff. Research papers are great for that.

I was reading up on plant oils/ serums for hair and someone had asked what they ought to do because she had used an oil mask right after a shampoo and her hair wouldn’t get dry, not gonna happen

I have used oil masks with similar results. The oil trapped the water! 

Facial Serums specifically facial oils, or body oils…. Why we love them (even though I got oily/ combination skin). 

Basically it does exactly what happened to wet hair, it locks in moisture and there is no better way of seeing it in action.

How that happened… this directly relates to how we ought to use facial oils.

As hair is harder to dry compared to skin it amplified the effects of the oil. The oil trapped the moisture (water) in hair and this is what we have been looking for with skincare, lock in moisture - keep skin hydrated, supple and luminous!!

We’ve read this on – how to use for all kinds of oils and serums and even regular moisturizers in skincare. Apply on damp skin! It can’t be emphasized enough. To get the most out of our facial serums/ oils use it on damp skin, freshly dried skin – no exceptions…

Cleanse -> Towel Dry -> Apply moisturizer/ Face Mist -> Apply Facial Serum (on damp skin)

If skin is not looking dewey or damp or moisturized there is no moisture to lock in, it evaporated already. Use a mist again or moisturize again, get skin slightly damp and then use the face oil/ serum.

This makes a huge HUGE difference in – TEWL (trans epidermal water loss). We keep reading about this and now we can see a real difference and what to expect. I cannot emphasize this enough… for easier DIYs test all the oils you can get your hands on till you find the one you love. 

So we already accept that all skin types including oily/ combination can get dry. And all skin types need food and need healthy fats. Just like we can’t survive on water even when we are trying to lose weight.

So our skin needs Hydration (water) + healthy fats at a minimum to keep it looking good. This is where plant oils have a big advantage over synthetics because they come with trace elements, vitamins, essential fatty acids – rainbow of skin foods especially when we compare it with mineral oils.

If you are prone to fungal infections research a bit and look for plant oils with lauric acid or natural antifungals and it really helps including those in daily skincare.

Facial serums last a while, only really need a few drops so a 30 ml can easily last 9 months or more. I like to store them in the fridge sometimes to keep them fresh longer.

We do get asked this. Many many people can get away with using organic extra virgin olive oil, it’s an amazing plant oil and similarly quite a few of us don’t break out with mineral oils/ petroleum based products either.

Serums though have been formulated, tested, reformulated, retested as many times as needed to get a specific kind of balance with a particular effect in mind. There were people who only worked on this serum till it got to where it is now and testers who went through the entire phase, THANK YOU ALL!!! This is how Timeless, our facial serum happened. 

We love glowing dewey skin, our favorite skin type, healthy skin. The radiant look – who doesn’t love this really??? Timeless has a specific skin feel, it’s very own scent from the blend of plant oils and essential oils. 

We wanted something to specifically form a protective barrier on skin and give it a superfood boost without clogging pores while locking in the moisture. It’s silky, luxurious, it lingers, it gets its golden colour from sea buckthorn seed, the unique scent comes from the combination of oils.

It gets us through humidity, through air conditioning dryness through it all still glowing…. :)

If you have already got our Timeless Serum use it!! Don’t let it sit on the shelf, don’t feel lazy about it, don’t forget about it, it can be used in sooo many many ways and it is sooooooooooo gorgeous.

We love it and shamelessly want you to love it too.

PS… Beauty lies within…We only help enhance it XO

Love Yourself

TIMELESS : Facial Serum

GLO : Body Serum

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Next: Plant oils and a few misconceptions around them

WHAT WE KNOW:

SKIN TYPE: Oily/ Combination

PRONE TO:

ACNE – usually food/ stress/ late nights make it worse

INFECTIONS – fungal/ bacterial (Candida infections)

ASHY/ GREY LOOKING SKIN – patchy/ uneven skin tone

SOME MILIA – not too bad (tiny white bumps near eyes)

BUMPS ON THIGHS – folliculitis (from living in yoga pants and tights)

From the previous blogs we now kinda see how and why I turned to more natural or less processed ingredients in my skincare and especially what I gave up – all time favorites like oil free products, getting squeaky clean, washing and washing and cleaning and cleaning…. We now look at some of the other changes I made and what my skincare routine looks like now.

THE OTHER CHANGES I MADE:

I have CFS, probably candida related, the other changes I made were: cutting down on sugar – this was a big one because - 2 sugars with every cup of tea.

SLEEPING! SLEEPING REGULARLY!!! I tried (not always successfully) to get into a routine especially sleeping. I’ve never been someone who could be up all night and then look good the next day. So I stopped doing that completely. I try a minimum of 7 hours every night, I try very very hard.

DIET: What worked personally for me – eating more nuts, I don’t really love them particularly but I had seen the difference healthy fats made to my skin and I just added this to my diet. I didn’t see any weight gain, I still stay the same weight.

I love fruits & veggies so that has always been to my advantage.

When the changes were happening, I just felt good, I had energy and not terrible skin, I did have to stick to a skincare routine but the rest of it required less work. 

I had successful makeup free days – I could ditch the concealer.

Looking back now – it’s now been a couple of  years with a few setbacks (old habits returning); I can see how it very gradually changed, for the first few months it’s difficult to notice but after that when it all comes together, it really can be amazing. 

PRODUCTS I USE & WHY I THINK IT WORKS

It’s always a journey but I now had identified most of my triggers and was on my way to making it better.

WHAT WAS I LOOKING FOR:

I needed Natural alternatives, Natural antifungals, antibacterials to target breakouts, healthy fats to help my skin recover its natural glow. With healthy fats I was looking to prevent my skin from overproducing oil/ sebum which would manage both the dehydrated, dull appearance and the greasiness.

Wanting to try something which didn’t have any harsh chemicals, wasn’t overly preserved I slowly changed my skincare routine to what it is now. 

DAILY – SKINCARE ROUTINE

During the day: Regular moisturizer, makeup, Formula 5 on breakouts if I don’t have any important stuff – formula 5 will leave a shiny spot

Nightly routine: 

This doesn’t change, and is super super important. This affects what my skin will look like when I wake up and it’s something I stick with religiously.

Remove makeup

Cleanse/ Shower

Moisturize

Godmother all over face and on any areas with acne/ bumps/ redness like back especially in the (maybe because of my hair) arms or legs, sometimes neck (under my chin). When I wax/ shave.

Formula 5 on any breakouts

2 – 3 TIMES A WEEK:

Dry powder mask with Neem for acne (Not launched yet)

Timeless : Facial Serum

Glo : Body Oil

WEEKLY SKINCARE ROUTINE:

Cocola Polish – for body, I regularly exfoliate every week, sometimes more often, helped with the bumps on bum and thighs because I love wearing tights/ yoga pants.

Dry mask as a pick me up before a dinner date (help bring circulation back into my skin to brighten and glow)

SOMETIMES:

Cocola Polish – For face - Not very regular with this if I’ve been using the dry masks regularly

NEVER EVER… leave without the core, the basic foundation of your skincare. After all what my skin looks like affects what I might feel like in the morning… We all have it, our skin fix, what we need when our skin is freaking out… what makes everything better

For skincare I could never ever do without Godmother and Formula 5. I travel with these in my handbag. I need it during the flight and I need it after, if I cannot find anything else I will use a thick layer of Godmother as a mask and let it sink it while I bathe. If I have it, I can get away with my eyeliner and lip gloss. My skin is problem skin, I accept it, I treat it well and in return it is good to me...

GODMOTHER – Learn More

FORMULA 5 – Learn More

Start your very own skincare journey or rather a different lifestyle...

PS. Beauty lies within XO

Sooz

Beauty Activist

TIMELESS : Serum

CRYSTAL SKIN SET : for problem skin

COCOLA : Face + Body Polish

GLO : Body Serum

DRY MASK : Under Formulation

HONEY ENZYME MASK : Under Formulation

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Previously: SKINCARE JOURNEY : PART IV 

Next: FACIAL OILS : Is it for everyone?

WHAT WE KNOW:

SKIN TYPE: Oily/ Combination

Prone to:

ACNE – usually food/ stress/ late nights make it worse

INFECTIONS – fungal/ bacterial (Candida infections)

ASHY/ GREY LOOKING SKIN – patchy/ uneven skin tone

SOME MILIA – not too bad (tiny white bumps near eyes)

BUMPS ON THIGHS – folliculitis (from existing in yoga pants and tights) 

From my experience with switching to natural ingredients. I decided to tackle a few things which really bothered me/ my skin/ general stuff. 

I've been there... you don't need to. 

I used to do allllll these things but not any more, infact I even use a dry mask instead of a cleanser fairly regularly ( so proud of me!)

Products with Harsh Chemicals: Not for every single issue

Why? Because everytime I used something very strong for the pimples, I had to follow it up with with something for a rash. It had become a monthly routine. For skincare, topical use, creams I started looking at natural substitutes with natural anbacterial and antifungal properties. Something which would help me keep my skin clean without tormenting it. 

Getting squeaky clean: Stop this altogether - its terrible for skin

I had been using a lot of oil free cleansers, washing my face multiple times, I don’t do this anymore. I switched to gentler cleansers, normal skin type, wash my face twice a day. I used the oil papers (the blue ones) and it would turn a dark blue - instantly, I ditched those too and just used normal tissue. Swapped my makeup remover to an oil cleanser. 

I used to have an oil factory - face & hair, not any more!!

Oil free products: Stopped looking for these altogether

Our skin like our bodies needs healthy fats. My usual skin care had mineral oil, petroleum by products which didn’t work for me, it usually resulted in breakouts - oil factory problems again. 

What I needed was NOT oil free products, I needed a better/ cleaner option, I needed healthy fats. 

The greasiness, wanting to clean as much as possible, running away from moisturizing oils and butters. It’s counterintuitive but always choose healthy fats NOT fat free - do it…. I did…. You must do it…

It wasn’t the oils that were the problem, it was the type of oil - every product I had been using had petroleum by products/ mineral oil/ harsh chemicals. That was the real problem, I needed natural oils and gentler stuff coz my skin had got into crisis mode… it needs MOREEE TLC.

I recommend these changes to everyone – friends… family…. despite how oily/ sticky our skin might feel, it always needs healthy fats to live on, to clean itself out, to help it glow. It can glow like a light switch went on somewhere, it really is possible.

When our skin gets healthy fats it doesn’t go into survival mode and doesn't produce a ton of sebum. Don’t starve our skin XO

Don’t go away, we will next talk about the other changes and my new skincare routine. It might be a bit long-ish post so please bear with me XX

PS. Beauty lies within…..we only help enhance it XO

Sooz

Beauty Activist

Previously: Skincare Journey Part 3 : (I Changed…)

Interesting post on how our Crystal Skin Set helps problem skin, all healthy fats, no harsh chemicals, preservatives and words like a charm: LEARN MORE 

Next: NATURAL SKINCARE JOURNEY : PART V

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What we know:

SKIN TYPE : OILY + COMBINATION

SUSCEPTIBLE TO:

ACNE – usually food/ stress/ late nights make it worse

INFECTIONS – fungal/ bacterial (Candida infections)

ASHY/ GREY LOOKING SKIN – patchy/ uneven skin tone

SOME MILIA – not too bad (tiny white bumps near eyes)

BUMPS ON THIGHS – folliculitis (from living in yoga pants and tights)

I did something dramatic, I wouldn’t part with my skincare collection for a while since they were supposed to be amazing and I paid good money for them, but I did. Not in one swipe (attachment…) but slowly cleaned it out, anything more than a year old which I wasn’t using was gone, to never be bought again, same for anything that didn’t show any results. Bye bye junk and no more wasting money.

It should be easy since we are very limited by space in Hong Kong but somehow I manage collecting stuff.

I was finally left with very few products like an everyday/ normal lotion, I had been using for many  many years, I started adding Olive oil or coconut oil from my kitchen cupboards to my routine, used more of the diy scrubs, we traditionally use a lot of botanicals/ grains like buckwheat in skincare.

And slowly things started changing – I didn’t notice it for the first few months but it was happening. I started experimenting with more plant oils and botanicals which would address my skin type and I was impressed, seriously impressed. I’m relatively familiar and comfortable with real - natural ingredients in skincare but I now had gained more confidence in the ingredients. I had already been off of fluconazoles for more than a year – it had been a part of my diet and skincare routine my entire life.

By the end of this I was off all my fluconazoles, ‘traditional’ anti acne skincare, hong kong foot problems… It does give me a sense of freedom.

I have to work at it, my skincare routine still has a minimum of 3 – 5 steps, it is still a process but it has given me more control over how to manage my skin type, my skin looks good. And because I do care and now I can have better no makeup days – it’s all worth it for me because it’s working…

Don’t go away, we will continue next to : Types of products I stopped using 

PS... Beauty lies within - we only help enhance it XO

Sooz

Beauty Activist

Next:

Next: SKINCARE JOURNEY : PART IV (What did I really stop doing - using)

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PREVIOUSLY: MY SKIN TYPE & MY LIFE WITH OILY + COMBINATION SKIN

More about me:

SKIN TYPE: Oily/ Combination

SUSCEPTIBLE TO:

ACNE – usually food/ stress related. Late nights make it worse

INFECTIONS – fungal/ bacterial (Candida)

ASHY/ GREY LOOKING SKIN – patchy/ uneven sometimes tired skin tone

SOME MILIA – not too bad (tiny white bumps near eyes)

BUMPS ON THIGHS – folliculitis (from living in yoga pants and tights)

SCARED OF:

Using makeup all over my face – maybe it’ll clog my pores and result in a massive breakout???

HOBBIES:

Eating Spicy food

Having fun with the fam

Sleeping in

Looking at my zits secretly

Running HK trail Section 1 – not so often these days

I have mostly oily/ combination skin, oily hair and I’ve struggled with all the problems anyone with this skin type might have and more.

Growing up I had bad acne like most teenagers. I also am very prone to infections, if I get a small cut it will probably get infected. I used a lot of oil free stuff, medicated washes, douches trying to get squeaky clean.  I yo yo’d between antibiotics and antifungals both topical and oral. After using it all I still had weird dry, grey, oily skin days.

It was a bit depressing, being told I had dry skin by the ladies selling cosmetics and talked to about the t-zone problems by ladies selling the other stuff. Basically I had dry skin with pimples… so uncomfortable. I liked running so I still had to deal with the other skin and nails stuff.

And so my collection of skincare products kept growing and growing and it can get a bit out of control. I’ve bought pore minimizers which ended up being more of pore maximizers, blackhead removers working like blackhead highlighters.

I had my bedside table full of all the skincare products I would buy, each supposed to do something amazing. Between that and trips to the doctors  - I had kind of had enough...

Don't go away, next week we continue onto what changed XO

PS. Beauty lies within XO

Sooz

Beauty Activist

Next: NATURAL SKINCARE JOURNEY : PART III (I Changed & Things Changed )

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What’s been going on with the stuff I Used…

I spent a lot on skincare of all sorts –even the most basic stuff starts adding up.

My Skin suffered

Spent a lot of time – looking for stuff that might work

Did my skin enjoy all the harsh stuff I was putting on it? – nope

What happened: Dry, Patchy, Greasy, unhappy looking skin

My Skin type: oily/ combination – prone to breakouts on my forehead, around my mouth, neck

SHOP our CRYSTAL SKIN: BUY NOW 

More Information on our creams:

GODMOTHER: LEARN MORE

FORMULA 5: LEARN MORE

INTERESTING READING: SKINCARE JOURNEY I - WHAT'S NATURAL SKINCARE REALLY...

NEXT:  Sooz’s experience: SKINCARE JOURNEY II- MY SKIN TYPE

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‘Natural’ skincare Product – (What does it really mean!)

What is the meaning of ‘natural’ in skincare products?

The word ‘Natural’ evokes a certain emotion is us, when I see ‘natural’, I picture something ‘green’, something unprocessed, smells of leaves and pine, floral scents, vast open spaces, sound of running water…

I’d imagine it would be different for most of us, maybe smell of the beach, different sounds perhaps, birds, bees…. All sorts, the list can go on and on.

How does this translate into products?  When I see this word - natural, I associate it with something free of pointless stuff, I believe these products would be made of ‘real’ ingredients, less processed, wouldn’t read too much like a chemistry book.  Where an ingredient is present for an actual benefit to my skin, where it all comes together like an orchestra, like everything has a purpose and it comes together to make something great. It doesn’t need to do everything, it just needs to do what it says it would. I’d like it to have safe packaging, of course it needs to be cruelty free - non negotiable; and as small a carbon footprint as possible.

Like a delicious marmalade made from real oranges and real sugar in a nice glass jar…

Unfortunately in the reality of the cosmetic and skincare world the word natural is ambiguous, vague at best. It’s kind of problematic for everyone, artisans creating great products and consumers looking for good ‘more natural’ products. If you think about it and even talk amongst your friends who like natural products you will realize everyone has a different understanding of it and actually the surprising thing is that it’s very difficult to get everyone to agree and get them on the same page. There basically is no way really pinning down what natural is…

Everything available for sale today, all the products out there, they are all produced from what’s on our planet or what’s in our environment or a combination of stuff. Some of the ingredients are minimally processed – a good coconut oil, while others can be totally man made or synthetic like silicones or carbomers or whatever. They all go through some processing to be free of impurities and safe, they each have their pros and cons.  

 A good example of how the word natural can be misleading would be a lotion or a bar of soap:

Every lotion has water and water is naturally occurring, when a lotion which is basically an emulsion has 80% water and whatever percentage of oils, butters, emulsifiers and yes a lotion MUST always MUST have preservative since it has water. It’s really in all honesty already 80% natural before adding anything else to it because 80% water... Does it mean it’s great? Don’t know… We need more information.

If we look at soap, we couldn’t possibly make it without lye (sodium hydroxide) and we can’t get lye without processing ie wood ashes in the good old days. But soap is great, a good soap made with great skin foods - oils and butters will have amazing nourishing and conditioning properties. It would do wonders for your skin, produces no plastic waste if packaged correctly, it doesn’t need a preservative. A good bar of soap actually lasts a long time so even an expensive bar in the long run isn’t all that bad.

All this does create a bit of a dilemma or for me - major confusion, so now what do I do when all I want is a good product, something that would help my skin recover from all I put it through (I put it through a lot!!! I live in HK). Because finally I decided to get it together, I decided I’m going to try to do the right thing for myself, my body, I will eat well, I won’t just wear spanx (I might), I will exercise. I will use good stuff on my skin because I'm important. Just putting some concealer on is not good enough for me anymore and yes I may still use concealer :p, I want to look better without makeup too and I want my makeup free days to not be hideous days.

Now what can I do about choosing the right products. To make this more understandable next time we will talk about my skin type, kind of problems I usually have and finally how I got around managing it.

PS. Remember… beauty lies within 

XO

Sooz

(Beauty Activist)

LOVE YOURSELF

NEXT: SKINCARE JOURNEY II - MY SKIN TYPE

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You can Shea me NOW

Most of the Shea comes to us from Africa, it really does look like butter just a bit grainier. Usually ivory to a yellow color with no smell to a fairly strong toasted scent depending on how it was processed: filtered and refined. It’s fairly easy to get shea butter in almost all its forms – wild crafted to refined, the smell of the unrefined shea can be overpowering for some of us. This can be quite a turn off but don’t give up on shea yet – regular shea is pretty darn amazing on skin. It is used successfully in products like: anti acne as well as eczema prevention. Great for babies, unless we have a nut allergy or maybe allergy to latex we can all use some shea in our lives.

It’s pretty great: Totally non comedogenic : does not clog or blog pores - trueee.., a very strong moisturizer, high in natural vitamin a, vitamin e, healthy fats.

It’s known to be used for a variety of purposes, skin conditions like eczema, moisturizing acne prone skin, inflammation, boosts collagen products, cellular regeneration, very nice to use on dry cracked skin, soothing for skin exposed to sun or wind. You will find it in products for reducing/ preventing stretch marks, blemishes, anti aging.

At So Good Botanicals we love natural ingredients because of the rainbow of vitamins, fats, trace elements they bring to our skin.

From Nature to US XOXO

Did you know:

·Shea comes from Africa, it’s usually listed as ‘Butyrospermum parkii’ on labels.

·  Products which have a lot of Shea Butter can go grainy overtime (rainbow of all the different fats melting and cooling at different temperatures)

·  This graininess doesn’t affect the product, only the texture

Easy DIY:

Melt 1:2 Coconut oil to Shea butter together, store in a jar. Use this on cleansed skin, leave on for 10 – 15 minutes and wipe off with a damp warm towel, moisturize as usual.

It’s pretty nice to do this 1 – 2 times a week and a great pick me on Fridays after work/ before heading out again. No more cakey & powdery, patchy makeup :)

Products we make which have Shea Butter:

LOVESTUCK: Skin Protector Cream – LEARN MORE

GODMOTHER: Skin Warrior Cream – LEARN MORE

FORMULA 5: Spot Treatment Cream – LEARN MORE

COCOLA: Face + Body Polish – LEARN MORE

LOVE YOURSELF

WHY DO WE LOVE COCONUT OIL?

Coconut oil in the kitchen and coconut oil in skin care – amazing! It has been used in skincare products in its raw form in many traditional skincare routines, it’s used on hair, body – pretty much everywhere.

With different types of coconut oil available, we love using Virgin but it’s great in pretty much all its forms. If we need it to be liquid at cooler temperatures fractionated coconut oil works pretty well and we can still smell the coconut.

Coconut oil’s fatty acid profile is pretty amazing: we love it for its therapeutic qualities and its delicious smell. It is a fairly light feeling oil, more slick than tackiness, delicious smell. Where it really packs a punch is with its Lauric acid content. It has around 50% Lauric acid (a fatty acid, basically a type of fat, not acid how we know it in everyday language) which is a very strong antibacterial & antifungal. With a lot of skin issues revolving around some kind of inflammation from trapped sebum/ growth of germs, coconut oil can be pretty amazing just on it’s on.

Although coconut oil can be pretty controversial with people swearing by it and others totally against, we love it.

How we like to use it:

On its own it makes a great makeup remover – it’ll remove the most stubborn waterproof eye liner.

Great used on tips of long hair as a leave in conditioner detangler

Oil treatment for hair – leave overnight, somehow our experience with wavy hair has been very nice with help retaining curls without the frizziness.

It has a drying effect on some skin types but blended at right proportions with other botanicals/ oils it’s pretty nice.

Strong antibacterial/ antifungal properties make it really good in places which get hot, sweaty and smelly – keeping us germ free. Runners/ atheletes… Great for feet and toes

Very nice in Body scrubs for skin which gets bumpy from wearing leggings/ tights.

Have you tried oil pulling? We haven’t been able to really be able to state how helpful it is but try not to eat it while oil pulling.

When using pure/ natural products always start with using the very tiniest amount, you will be surprised by how little you really need.

We've listed some of our products with coconut oil below but we love using coconut oil and can't say enough about its amazing antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral properties. Even when using it as Fractionated coconut oil or just ordinary good coconut oil from the super market we cannot stop raving about it's uses.

When used correctly, in the right proportion it can benefit almost all skin types, it's so amazing at speeding up healing. 

PS. Always remember...Beauty lies within XO

Our products with Coconut oil:

GODMOTHER: Skin Warrior cream - LEARN MORE

LOVESTUCK: Skin Protector Cream - LEARN MORE

COCOLA: Face + Body Polish - LEARN MORE

FORMULA 5: Spot Treatment Cream - LEARN MORE

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