My full beauty kit featuring my skincare favourites. Mini reviews included.For the most part, I’m a skincare minimalist when I travel. Cus aint nobody got time.

Sometimes, though, I prefer going all out. Because I foresee stressful work trips and I want to ~self-care~. Definitely not because I packed at the very last minute and can’t get my sh*t together to decant everything and I have luggage anyway so bring all the skincare!!!

I change up my skincare routine quite often, although I do stick to the basics such as face cleansers quite loyally. I tend to stick to products within the same brand/product line because I find my skin is a lot more tolerable when I do that.

This was meant to be a short post, but I rambled onto a mini review of sorts of every item. Enjoy?

The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Light Cleansing Oil

I love using cleansing oils as a first cleanser and I’m not picky on product. I find most cleansing oils do a sufficiently good job since its primary purpose is to remove most of your makeup.

I’ve been enjoying using the rice water cleansing oil by The Face Shop recently. This was cheap, and it was even cheaper when I purchased this in bulk in Korea recently thanks to tax refund. There’s no mineral oil in this, and the formula uses mainly rice bran oil and jojoba oil to as removing agents. This does a good job of removing most of my makeup and it has a pleasant scent. I love massaging this over my face and my eyes.

The oil was decanted in an Etude House sample bottle of their cleansing oil, which was actually good too. Face Shop’s was cheaper.

Cosrx Low-pH Good Morning Cleanser

My second cleanser is the Cosrx Good Morning Cleanser. Since I discovered this a couple years back, I’ve not used any other face cleansers. Contrary to its name, you can most definitely use it at night as well. This is a mild cleanser which smells freshly medicine-y from the tea tree in it. Despite the astringent tea tree, this is such a gentle cleanser that does not strip skin, yet can remove any residue from my oil cleanser well.

Foreo Luna Mini

Especially for trips where I know I’ll have product on my face for long periods of time, I like to bring the Foreo Luna Mini for an extra deep but gentle clean. I use this with the Cosrx cleanser.

The Luna mini uses super soft silicone and ultrasonic vibrations to deep cleanse skin. I basically slather cleanser over my skin, and run this over sections of skin. The device would pause to signal it’s time to move to another section, but I generally follow gut and I end before the full minute recommended by the device. It feels like nothing is happening on your skin because it’s that gentle. A quick touch over my smooth-as-a-baby’s-butt nose is enough to indicate that it’s definitely done some serious deep cleanse.

Not a cheap product, but you get what you pay for. I’ve used plenty of cleansing devices and none is as effective yet super gentle as the Foreo Mini. I find the Foreo Luna mini one of the more underrated skincare products in the industry.

Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner

Do I even have to explain? Klairs Supple Preparation Toner is one of my top favourite hydrating toners. The toner is chock full of my favourite ingredient of late: Centella Asiatica, a powerful antioxidant that is also soothingly hydrating. I have the scented version, and the scent (which comes naturally from essential oils) helps to calm my senses down.

Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Serum

Lately I’ve been taking a break from my retinol use, and going back to using the Vitamin C serum from Klairs. Vitamin C is one of my most favourite ingredient to apply on my skin and I consider it a beauty all-rounder. This one from Klairs is top choice for effective and affordable Vitamin C. My only issue with vitamin c products is that they degrade quite fast, and typically you have to use it up within three months of opening.

Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin E Mask

This a fabulous accompaniment to the Vitamin C serum due to the Vitamin E content in the mask. This was a travel favourite of mine as an all-rounder moisturiser.

Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream

As much as I enjoy using the Klairs Vit E mask as an intensive moisturiser, it’s not exactly… beginner-friendly. You do need to have control over the amount to get a workable layer for the day and night time.

Which is why I love the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream, a lighter, simpler moisturiser that I can just slap on my face and call it a day. It’s called a cream, but it’s more accurately a lotion that absorbs extremely well and quickly. This deeply hydrates skin, yet does not feel greasy at all. It also has ingredients within to help soothe the skin and I got to use that to full effect when I felt a little sunburnt recently. This calmed my skin down considerably.

In fact, this works so well and in a lot of situations that if I had to pick just one moisturiser to live with for the rest of my life, it’d be this.

It also comes in a travel-friendly tube. At 60ml, this is TSA-approved too.

Skin Aqua Sunscreen UV Super Moisture Essence SPF50

If you can’t tell from its lengthy name, this sunscreen is a Japanese product. Skin Aqua is my favourite sunscreen at the moment, I love it for its lightweight, moisturising formula that does not leave any white cast on my brown-ness. This is also much cheaper to get in Japan. When a client was in Japan recently, I asked (begged) him to bring back some tubes if he came across any. Today I’m indebted to my friend and have never been happier with a drawerful of Skin Aqua sunscreens. This is fragrance, alcohol and mineral oil free.

LVLY Lip Balm

I purchased the LVLY lip balm while in Prague out of necessity, and tried this since it was cheaper than EOS lip balms. This is a German drugstore product and elusive to find. When I learnt another client was visiting, I had to make my tiny request. Today, I’m indebted to yet another person and am also happier with a drawerful of LVLY lip balms.

The best, AFFORDABLE, lip balm that I’ve ever used. If ever a European drugstore is accessible to you, seek this out. The main ingredients in this are seed oils, cocoa butter and manuka honey, as opposed to mineral oils or petrolatum, which are in a lot of drugstore lip balms and really do not do decent jobs at hydrating lips AT ALL.

Rose Quartz Roller

Crystal rollers traditionally come in Jade variety, though Rose Quartz and Obsidian can be found too. I’m unclear if crystal rollers have any long-lasting effects; personally I prefer a stronger massaging effect to really tone and pull the face. Crystal rollers are a lot gentler but much easier to travel with.

Still, I like having my Rose Quartz Roller handy for those odd mornings when my face and eyes are extra puffy. In the nighttime, I find it relaxing to treat my face to a nice guasha rolling treatment as well. And rose quartz is supposed a crystal that gives off good vibes, and we could always use more of that.

Chanel’s Gabrielle EDP

Not really a skincare product, but this is a staple in my beauty kit. I love perfumes, and Chanel’s Gabrielle is quickly becoming my signature. Not so much because I only want to use that – more so because it’s the only perfume I have in a smaller travel-friendly size.

Gabrielle is feminine yet sophisticated that mellows to a floral linger. By that I mean the scent gets faint – and I’m perfectly fine with this. I’ve gotten compliments on the scent only when I lean in to greet-kiss. It’s not offensive at all, and perfect for professional events.