WARNING! Tatcha Violet-C Brightening Serum Allergy!

I got the Tatcha Violet-C Brightening Serum in the 2022 Lucky Bag and after reading rave reviews about this product's brightening power, I thought this would be a staple to my daily skincare routine and how strong could an herb be? However, I developed a BAD allergy to this product. 

So the night I first used this product, I patted it on my face after putting on toner and immediately felt a slight burning sensation. I thought this was normal since I have this kind of reaction with my glycolic acid toner, so I didn't think anything of it and went to bed. But when I woke up in the morning, my entire face was swollen and my eyes had swelled up so bad that I almost couldn't see. My hubby freaked out when he rolled over and saw Snorlax.

I took a Claritin and called my doctor and the only thing out of the ordinary that I did was use the Tatcha serum. I looked at the ingredients online and saw an ingredient that seemed familiar: Angelica Acutiloba Root Extract, also known as Japanese Angelica or Dong quai in Chinese medicine. Supposively, Angelica is said to have a lot of antioxidants and brightens skin. I took this description from the Tatcha website:

Japanese Angelica Root: This edible plant has been prized for centuries in herbal medicine for its recovery benefits. It helps reduce the appearance of dark spots, discoloration, and post-acne scars from the source. It also helps to diffuse accumulated excess melanin, a cause of hyperpigmentation, resulting in a visibly more even skin tone.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Angelica_acutiloba_subsp._iwatensis.JPG

It sounds like a very nice Asian herbal ingredient but BEWARE! It's strong and there's evidence that it can cause some individuals like me to have contact dermatitis. I knew this because after I gave birth to my first daughter, my MIL gave me Dong quai to get rid of the "dirty" blood, but I developed a nasty rash all over my body and swelling in my legs. I went to the dermatologist and he told me to immediately STOP taking the Dong quai. I never thought this ingredient would be in so much Asian skincare. I would say that if you have sensitive skin, DON'T USE JAPANESE ANGELICA! Read all the ingredients in any new skincare and avoid this ingredient at all costs. I'm sure I got permanent damage to my skin, I can see more fine lines and wrinkles from all the swelling episodes I have been fighting all week.

The reason why is has such a high allergy response is because the Angelica genera contains furocoumarins  which can cause photosensitivity and cause dermatitis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelica_acutiloba).

After creating a post about it, I'm hoping that I won't forget again to check my ingredient list again.

Tatcha 2022 Fukubukuro Lucky Bag Deal

 

This is my review of the Tatcha 2022 Lucky Bag deal that I received in January, paid with my own money! I got the $100 lucky bag last year but this year, I decided to splurge and get the $200 bag. It's a great opportunity to try products that I am normally to cheap to buy or think is not a good value. In the bag you get the trial size of The Silk Cream, Violet-C Brightening Serum, the Serum Stick, Luminous Dewy Skin Mist, the Liquid Silk Canvas, and a full sized The Silk Canvas protective primer.

One aspect of my life that I think investing money into is skincare since I'm almost 40 (yikes!) and I think maintaining nice supple skin will help me save money on Botox injections and face lifts in the future. However,  I am VERY picky about what skincare lines to use and Tatcha is my #1 favorites for a few reasons:

1. Tries to be "clean" skincare. This is important to me since I don't like parabens or other nasty ingredients.

2. Doesn't smell bad. I hate strong smelling skincare... one skincare line I can't stand the smell of is La Mer. It smells like old lady perfume from the 80s and I don't think their formula is much more effective than Tatcha, I think the high price is due to all the fragrances!

3. Tatcha creams aren't heavy and I haven't had any allergic reactions or breakouts from any of their products.

4. They sell value sizes at Costco! Some of the Tatcha products can get a little pricey but their basic creams are reasonable, which to me means under $100.

OK, on to the review:

THE SERUM STICK (Full size $48):

 This is a really nice chaptick-y serum stick for fixing up cakey makeup underneath the eyes during the daytime. I think this is a good option for people with mature 50+ skin but for now, I would pass on buying since my sunscreen acts as a serum based moisturizer.

THE SILK CREAM (Full Size $125):

I was the most excited to try The Silk Cream (on the right) but didn't because of the price. I normally use The Indigo Cream, The Water Cream, and the Dewy Cream depending on what season we are in. I honestly don't feel this cream made any more difference than the other creams in terms of moisturizing and benefits. I feel that the Dewy Skin Cream actually feels more hydrating and pleasant than The Silk Cream. 

THE LIQUID SILK CANVAS (Full size $52):

The Liquid Silk Canvas surprised me the most since I like the original Silk Canvas that comes in the compact. When I went to Lake Tahoe for a mini vacay, I was having a skin allergy on my eyes from a dental procedure (doctor used Latex gloves) and my eyes were so swollen and dry from the cold conditions. I used The Liquid Silk Canvas on my eyes before putting on my eye makeup and I'm happy to say that it made my eyes look less dry and more or less normal. I think this hydrating primer is good for dry skin and I would pick it against my YSL Illuminating Primer. However, I wouldn't pick it over the original Silk Canvas compact just because I feel the compact version does such a good job filling in fine lines and large pores.

VIOLET-C BRIGTENING SERUM (Full size $88): 

I was also very excited to try this product since it sounds so cheery and the bottle is fancy but this product turned out exactly as I expected, which is that it doesn't do any better than cheaper brands like The Ordinary and The Inkey List's Vit-c serum. The Violet-C Brightening Serum is runny and I think you're just paying for the light perfume smell and the pretty packaging. Prob will not buy again but nice to try in a sample size.

THE LUMINOUS DEWY SKIN MIST (Full size $48):

I didn't even bother taking an individual picture of this product because I think it's such a bad deal. I don't know how it's a best seller and that people are paying $48 for a gimmick. It is basically a toner and in my opinion, toners shouldn't be expensive since you're going to be layering moisturizer and SPF on top of it anyways. I know you're supposed to use this mist throughout the day to hydrate your face but I didn't feel like this did didley squat for me. Maybe I will change my mind 10 years down the road when my skin is even drier.

The products that I buy regularly for my combo oily cheeks and dry eyes skin type: The Dewy Cream, The Indigo Cream, The Indigo Overnight Repair Cream, the Violet-C Radiance Mask, The Water Cream,  and the Silk Peony Eye Cream. All the Tatcha cleansers are very good too but I don't think face cleansers that I only use for 30 seconds need to be pricey, so I stick to Cetaphil gentle cleanser from Costco and DHC Oil Cleanser.

Fighting Inflation, Part 1

 HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022!

I feel like this New Year has started off to be a downer. We are still battling the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, inflation, worker shortages, high gas prices, a bombing stock market, a crypto winter.... the list can go on and on. However, I usually won't count it as a new year yet until Lunar New Year has passed which will be on February 1st this year. 

I have been partaking, and I'm sure others as well, in doing a little bit more penny pinching around the house in order to save extra money to fight inflation. We can't help that prices of everything is going up but at least we can make small habitual changes to soften the blow. Especially here in Silicon Valley, we have seen housing go up astronomically! You really can't get a decent single family home for under $1mil anymore. When I was growing up, my parents were both working class and were able to buy a 3 bedroom home about 22 years ago for about 200k. Now you have to have a high paying job at Google or Apple and tech stocks to live here, my parents didn't really invest in the stock market either by the way. And here I am, a part-time house wife, and working part-time in healthcare so I definitely feel the blow of inflation eating into my expenses. 

One huge way that I have been fighting inflation and overall saving money even before this stupid pandemic started is making my own cleaning products. I have been doing this since my babies were born because I wanted non-toxic products, but the best side effect of that is that it saves $$$. I used to spend lots of money at Target on Mrs.Meyers products but then I did more research into fragrances and VOCs and realized that their products weren't that great for our respiratory health or even that great at cleaning. 

These are my work-horse ingredients for cleaning products that make my home sparkly clean and can all be bought at cheap prices.

The baking soda I use to clean almost anything and I buy in the bulk size at Costco. I use it in combo with the Kirkland dish soap to scrub sinks, toilets, and bathtubs. I saved my old Mrs. Meyers dish soap bottles and refilled them with the Kirkland dish soap and keep it under each sink for easy cleaning. 

The citric acid has been a life saver for getting off food stains. I use it to get the calcium build-up off my pots, clean the tea and coffee residues off of the pots and mugs, and use it to get rid of stubborn stains in the toilet. 

The Bar Keepers Friend was something that I stumbled on accidentally at an AirBnB and I'm so glad I did. I use it to clean burned pots and pans, clean off burnt food from the oven, and use it to make my stainless steel sink shiny. It only costs $1.99 at Target and it doesn't smell like Ajax.

The vinegar I use mixed with water to clean mirrors, shower glass, and also make my stainless steel shiny. Vinegar is wonderful at cleaning toilets and porcelain bathroom floors, the smell dissipates after it dries.

I don't know why Kirkland dish soap gets some hate from the internet. I have found that it cleans better than more expensive brands like Mrs.Meyers, Method, and Seventh Generation. I feel that it's not as harsh either as Dawn.

One of my favorite cleaning products is concentrated Castile soap. I can be bought for ~$12-13 dollars at Target or Wholefoods. I use it in a cheap spray bottle shown on the right side. I bought that bottle at Daiso for $1.50 and have been using it for 2 years already. I just filled the bottle filtered water, add a few squirts of Castile soap and 4-5 drops of essential oil and I have a fresh home cleaner. The essential oil I use is Bergamot because it's the closest smell I can find to Yuzu. I use this cleaner to clean tabletops, kitchen/bathroom counters, food stains from couch/carpets, microwave, refrigerator, mop my hardwood floor, and it can be used as a natural pesticide in the garden! Talk about multiple uses around the house. 

The bottle on the right hand side of the Castile soap mixture is my vinegar glass cleaner. Just mix 75% vinegar with 25% water. I buy my vinegar bulk at Costco. 2 huge jugs for under $4. 

I used to use a lot of Bleach in the bathroom but since making my own cleaning products I have noticed that I have been coughing less when I clean. The only cleaning products I'm not going to bother making are laundry detergent and fabric softener, it just seems like too much trouble for me. 

I am hoping to find more ways to fight inflation and share them with the world. Especially for people living in expensive areas. Next time (Fighting Inflation, Part 2) I want to post about thrifting, which is a shopaholics way to get a dopamine hit without having to file for bankrupcy.

Silicon Valley Hapa Story

 As a New Year 2022 resolution, I have decided to get back into blogging. I wanted to get back into blogging to catalogue my life and to share my experiences living in Silicon Valley as a Hapa (Half-Korean, Half-White) to be exact, a mother of two young children, a non-tech worker living in the Bay Area, and to share life experiences and my interests. My blog will be a diary of random, outtings, recipes, skincare, beauty, and how I'm raising two beautiful girls in such a damn expensive place.