Grace Kingdom Beauty

As a beauty industry expert, people are curious what are my favorites products. I have published some of them in my previous blog but this time, I am putting a “time-limit” to the products- they have to work in 15 minutes or less!

Olay Sensitive 4-in-1 Daily Facial : I found this facial cloth cleans my face better than other cleansers on the market. However, I use 2 cloths at a time. The first one is to remove my make-up, including my eye-makeup. The second one is for through cleaning. I have sensitive skin. Most of the cleansers out there either dries my skin out or leaves a residue behind. Again, this is an easy to use, travel-friendly product. Just pack a few pieces of the dry cloths and you can take off make up/clean face any time. I however, do not care for the wet wipe version as it does not work as effectively in my opinion.

Dr. Denese Hydroshield Eye Emulsion: This is a gel- like eye product actually you will see a difference after one application. The lines around eyes are much diminished due to its clinically tested technologies. It instantly absorbs without leaving residues. It does not make your mascara smear throughout the day either unlike some other eye creams can potentially interfere with eye make-up.

Almay Smart Shade Anti-aging Make-up: This is a hidden gem in make-up. I have ditched expensive foundations or the trendy BB creams for this. I use the light/medium shade which gives me a pore-less porcelain look. Depending on how hard you press this product onto your face, you can actually create different “shades” as this product when you dispense it, it is white. Upon rubbing, you get your skin shade. For areas like forehead, under the eye, I try not to press as hard so you can create a 3D look without using highlighters or bronzers. It’s all in the application.

GrandCentralBeauty SMART Skin Perfecting Mask: This is a 15-minute mask that you combine the active powder along with the concentrated booster and your very own tap water thus an engaging fun mask! You will create a nice thick pink mask which upon application, you get a cooling sensation. You peel it off after 15 minutes. You can examine your own skin texture and pores with what you just peeled off. What left behind is Smoothing, Moisturizing, Anti-aging, Redness-Reducing and Toning Effect thus it’s called “SMART”. This clinically tested product is also travel friendly due to its innovative package- it comes with a travel band and a dish. I even use the mask on the airplane! You don’t need to rinse off afterwards!

Joico Ice Spiker Styling Glue: If there is one hair product I cannot live without, this is it! This product is very versatile. As how it’s marketed, it is fabulous to create a spiker style which many kids love as they don’t even need to comb their hair the next day! For a grown woman, I dispense a dime size and mix with water to make hair more volumized especially on the top so my face appeared to be longer. It also stays in the hair with a wet look which many people commented on the natural shine of my hair! Additionally, this product can be used as a temporary perm. You apply it and wrap with rollers and heat with a hair dryer. Voila, a safe party perm in 15 minutes.

Suave Extra Hold Shaping Mousse: This is my favorite mousse for years as it works and inexpensive! It transforms my bed hair to naturally manageable. I use this as my hair primer before Ice Spiker and sometimes before hair spray. I also apply this mousse around the ends so the hair looks healthy. I have naturally dark hair. I do not tolerate any product that leaves white residues as it will appear as dandruff. This mousse never fails my no-residue test. Sometimes I use it on wet hair and I can also create ringlets on my bone-straight hair using it.

Pantene Dry To Moisturized Conditioner: Yes I do use salon hair care but when economy is tough, I look no further than Pantene conditioner. All the hair chemists know that as long as you have a good conditioner, the shampoo does not matter. You can use a dish detergent if you choose but you must use a good conditioner. What is a good one? It must feel like a butter all the way to your toe during rinse and you are not supposed to HEAR any squeaky sound during rinse. Pantene conditioners are often the benchmark for many companies as they are really cost-efficient!

ABOUT GINGER KING: Ginger King is an award-winning cosmetic chemist who has been passionately creating beauty products from concept to finish for over seventeen years. She is well versed in innovative concepts, creative product formulation, advanced technology applications, ergonomic package development and impactful competitive analysis. Ginger has developed over hundreds of products from hair care to skin care, and sun care to color cosmetics. For more information please refer to linkedin.com/in/gingerking.

Skin Care is simple! It’s really 3 important steps to achieve the fountain of youth, Exfoliation, Moisturization and Sun Screen. Among these, exfoliation should be on top of the list as who wants to put on tons of expensive products on dead skin cells?

There are many types of skin exfoliation: Physical, Chemical, Enzyme, Mechanical, Fish-Biting and Rolling Peels (the last two are popular in Asia).

The physical exfoliators use polyethylene, aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide or shells of fruits; This type of exfoliators tend to be harsher and may not be suitable for sensitive skin.

The chemical exfoliators use Alpha Hydroxy Acids which are more gentle than physical exfoliators. However, depending on how the product is formulated or what percentage is used, there can be some discomfort, skin-reddening or stinging sensation.

There are also enzyme exfoliators using enzymes from fruit to eat away dead skin cells for a temporary skin softening effect. Lately with the technology advance, Clarisonic brushes have also become very popular. Just don’t forget to wash or change the brush heads!

In Asia, you can even find the popular rolling peels claiming to get rid of dead skin cells instantly but it’s in reality rolling of the cellulose or carbomers from the product. Or you may find yourself sitting in a pool of fishes for them to eating off your dead skin cells. All of these exfoliators are meant to give you a clean skin canvas so your moisturizers can absorbed easily instead of laying on dead skin cells.

There are pros and cons in each exfoliation method. The most obvious one is skin sensitivity. By constant exfoliating your skin, your skin layers get thinner and may dry out if you do not put on a moisturizer right after. However, proper exfoliation (2-3 times a week) can give you a healthy and glowing skin complexion.

So, is there one exfoliation product I absolutely love? Sure! This magic skin treatment starts like a peel and ends like a polisher with instant skin smoothing and radiant effect. I can even leave it on without rinse if I choose to! This product will be available soon in NYC on Chinese New Year. I will reveal where you can get it on my comment thread when it’s time!

Exfoliate Away! Moisturize! Sunscreen! Have a healthy & glowing skin complexion just like your 2013!