If you missed my information-studded post about skin dehydration, you might be unaware that I learned a lot of helpful stuff about skincare last week. It was during the Neutrogena event last May 23, 2011 at Momo Cafe, Ayala Gardens that I was able to enjoy co-bloggers' fun company while educating ourselves with the things that can stop us from having a radiant, supple and youthful-looking skin.

Here are the photos I took during the event:

Donna of mylucidintervals & Julia of blessmybag
Donna's taking photos of the skin hydration tester that Julia's pressing onto her hands

Czar Carbonel, from Ogilvy, the young lady in that colorful checkered polo --- she's so fun to talk to!
Seated on the table are (clockwise): K of whenchichitsthepan, Lauren of iambourgeois, 2 ladies seated near the cafe's walls whom i unfortunately never got the chance to talk to, and there's Donna and Julia

The folks I'm seated with are Ms. thirstythought herself, Kryz, and there's Vince Ong, an intern at stylebible.ph
The guys standing up are among the pillars of the event, Gwen and Gabby

Ah, foodies! Loved the tall glass of peach drink.

And since I didn't have the guts to ask any of my new acquaintances to shoot a photo of me, the BF and I camwhored at Bonchon Chicken (which was a coffee shop away from Momo Cafe) after the event!

The Neutrogena event was such a fun evening! The people I mingled with were so cool and awesome, I barely remembered I was there for a cause! Neutrogena will unveil a new line of products soon and my co-bloggers and I can't wait for that big revelation. Well what d'you know ---- that's TOMORROW! :)

To date, the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel liner I reviewed some couple of months ago has been the only gel liner I often reach out for that worked well with my oily, monolids. You might remember my Faceshop felt tip liner horror story... that wasn't much of a good buy for my type of lids.

Immediately after Maybelline gel liner application

I have monolids (can you recall how much I basked in the sea of eyelid tapes and glues) and liner transfer and smearing, whether cream, liquid or gel, are common problems. With the Maybelline gel liner, my only worry is that it mildly smears on the upper part of the lids.

Here are 2 photos taken 4 hours after liner application:

mild smearing 4 hours after application

smearing barely noticeable when I fully open my eyes

My other gripe is that it can be tough to remove. But other than the mild smearing and the stubborn gel during cleansing, I am highly recommending this gel liner to those who have a similar eye type like mine! Maybelline's product topped my previous HG, the Fanny Serrano gel liner, since the former still has a creamy consistency during the entire time I've been using it (7 months).

I love my Golden Bow earrings from Julu Jewelry. If you can still recall, I sounded really ecstatic when my orders from Steph, owner of Julu, finally reached my doorstep!

Julu Jewelry Golden Bow Earrings in Deep Sea Blue

It's been 5 months since I've been wearing the pair and they are still in top shape! No fading, no changes in the quality of the stones. The deep sea blue heart design. They are still absolutely perfect as when I first saw them!

I absolutely love my Julu Golden Bow Earrings!

It's having a dehydrated skin!

Our no-nonsense brochure at the Neutrogena event

Two nights ago at the Neutrogena event, I learned tons of skincare deets that will definitely equip me in my battle against dull, aging and problematic skin. We talked about the skin's hydration levels, and despite my skin hydration test results being in the normal range, I'm still a bit worried about the lack of ample moisture in my skin (40-90 is the normal range, my test result came out 47. <40 meant dehydration, while >90, overhydration. my number indicates that i'm 8 little steps away to skin dehydaration any minute).

Skin Hydration Tester. 0-40: Dehydrated; 40-90: Normal; 90 and up: Moist

THE PROBLEM WITH SKIN DEHYDRATION

...is that you begin to experience some or all the following on your skin: fine lines and wrinkles, roughness, lack of radiance and clarity, itching, flaking and scaling, and uncomfortable tightness.

Nobody needs to go through premature aging. All you need to do is identify what causes dehydration and match an antidote to each cause.

DAILY CONDITIONS THAT CAUSE SKIN DEHYDRATION

Whether you have oily or dry skin type, nobody's excused from skin dehydration. With the various conditions around us that can easily strip our skin off its moisture, no one's excused from not using a moisturizer. Let's look at the most common things that can dehydrate our skin:

Now that you have identified some of the common causes of skin dehydration, I bet you have means of addressing each of them. :) You may share tips that you swear by using the comment form.

SKINCARE MYTHS

The event was truly very enriching. We even busted some popular myths regarding skincare:

MYTH 1: Oily skin need not use moisturizers. Oiliness is all about OIL and moisture is all about hydration or WATER. Our skin has both of these components in it and it is vital that there is a balance between the two.

Putting on moisturizers DO NOT aggravate an oily-skin type. Rather, if you have oily skin and skip on moisturizers while exposing yourself to the numerous dehydrating conditions above, you'll oil up all the more because the lack of moisture signals the oil glands to produce more oil to compensate for the lack of water.

Moisturizers are a must even if you have oily skin. What you'll have to be keen on is the type of moisturizer that will not be too icky on your face (choose gel-type or water-based ones).

MYTH 2: Drinking 8 glasses of water a day (or even more, if you can) is a sure way of hydrating the skin. Nope, this isn't a foolproof way of getting your skin hydrated.The water you take in will first be utilized by the other (importantly functioning) body organs, and the skin, the largest organ in the body, is humble enough to receive it last. Topical hydration is still the best and surest way to ensure that your skin is not dehydrated.
  

A FOOLPROOF SKINCARE REGIMEN

And because I broke out real bad from my ex-HG Clinique DDMG (Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel), I'm in dire need of getting a good moisturizer. It's the best way to foolproof-ing anyone's skincare routine.

I'm currently using HHN Sunflower Beauty Oil mixed with my evening topicals, but I find that this product isn't the best bottle to use during the day. I've tried a couple of brands for everyday use but each one of them seem to be a bit on the heavy side for my sensitive and slowly exfoliating skin. 

I'm still on the hunt for the perfect day moisturizer so that my '47' skin hydration test result does not nosedive to a dehydrated level (less than 40) due to my prolonged exposure to airconditioning, coffee intake, sun exposure, mismanaging stressors and my lack of sleep!

Sue me for blog neglect! I've been unbelievably busy for the past several weeks and I missed all my favorite blogs!

If there's one thing I've learned during the long hiatus, it's the importance of observing a good sleeping habit. Due to the unbelievably huge workload and a not-so-awesome time management skills, I sleep 3 or 4hours tops everyday. I hit the sack at 3 or 4AM and have to rise at 7AM for school. Thanks to that unhealthy lifestyle (plus the scorching Manila heat), I broke out real bad on the chin area. It's not the toothpaste nor the pillow... it's the increased testosterone levels resulting from the terrible sleep pattern I developed.

The grapes of wrath: I broke out very similar to this one. Sigh.

My unhealthy sleep pattern gave me cystic acne that grew like a bunch of grapes on my chin

Thanks to my derma, I finally gave in to reviewing my lifestyle and revamping it in a healthier way. I was also given:

Prednisone 20mg x 2tabs/day for 2 weeks (this is a very maximal dosage for my present weight): this caused my cystic acne to calm down a bit. But they are still on my chin. Ugly. Grape-like and ugly. Eeeew. (Wallet damage: 100+ pesos for 14tabs)

Afaxin (Vitamin A), 50,000 IU x 1tab/day for 2 weeks: If you've got zits that are truly stubborn, this one really helps since it ups your immune system. Google retinol (this is Vit A's name) and its effect on the skin and you'll want to add this up on your meds counter. After 2 weeks, I can maintain with 25,000 IU/day. (Wallet damage: ~20+/tablet at Mercury... ~17/tab at Watson's)

Facial +TCA: Thank heavens I was able to squeeze in a derma trip to Doc Six Foronda last Tuesday. It's been eons since I last visited and I'm glad that today, I have improved a lot. The grape-like cystic zits (yes, eeeew) on my chin have been busted! I've also peeled from the TCA and now I'm glowing!

a lecture on: (1) testosterone levels increasing when stressed out, (2) stress managment, and (3) why zits grow like grapes on the chin area (the glands in this area are so close to each other that when one gland gets inflamed, the ones surrounding it are most likely to swell up, too --- now, the Grapes of Wrath Theory is explained).

Also, despite the hiatus, I'm discovering new skincare and beauty products like:

• Kanebo Freshel Cleansing Oil (it works as well as Shu in removing makeup+dirt)

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• Pure Beauty Cleansing Oil (I saw them on the racks and I'd like to look for reviews on them)

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• Human Heart Nature Sunflower Beauty Oil (moisturizer at night! I started just last Saturday)

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Anyway, I'm getting back to blogging! :) Thank you to those who dropped me messages while I was away... i'm just so embarrassed that I couldn't respond to them ASAP.