How to get smaller pores with drugstore products!

Besides eye makeup (excluding eyeshadow) and lipsticks, I hardly touch any face makeup (foundation, powder etc) from our local drugstores such as Watsons or Guardian.

Not because I've too much money in hand to spend a few hundred bucks on high-end brands all the time, (cause I don't) but it's just that I've really sensitive skin and as much as possible I'll avoid buying things that I feel skeptical about.

I have no idea why or when I started to have such thoughts drilled into my head, but I always had a bad impression of makeup that are lower in price. I guess just like many other people, we have this misconception that expensive stuff are always better than cheap stuff. And cheap stuff are only cheap for a reason - Which is that they aren't good.

Most of my face make up cost an average of $50, and they can range to as high as $90. Hence, I feel a lot poorer each time I walk out of Sephora.

I tested out a decent amount of brands to know how my skin works and what I look best in by now... And since my skin condition got a lot better recently (thanks to IDS) I thought it was time I gave drugstore products a try; and that's when I went on a hunt at Watsons and Sasa the other day.

 My great monthly expenses on high-end products, as mentioned earlier on, is yet another reason to give drugstore-products a try. I mean besides it being a very "Singaporean" thing to get cheap stuff, we are all looking for alternatives to spend lesser whenever possible. If $50 could get you 10 bottles of foundation, I'm guessing there's no reason why one would rather spend that $50 on one bottle instead, if both products work pretty much the same way.

Just because it's expensive and "branded," they may not necessarily work for you nor your pocket.

Moving on...

First, I restocked some of my fav products from Silkygirl; such as their eyeliner in brown and black, eyebrow pencils, and their new moisture lip balm as well, which I will talk about in my next post. Moving on, I also got some super lustrous lipsticks from Revlon, that I love love love! Last but not least, the only face product at Watsons that caught my attention was the new Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC cream stacked neatly on the front shelves of the store.

As you can see, I've extremely visible pores and that's probably my biggest worry when it comes to skincare problems. After all, pores unfortunately become more visible with age. And based on some information I've garnered online - once enlarged, pores can never return to their original size. *Screams*

I honestly would go without any foundation or BB/CC cream if my pores weren't that obvious, but they are this bad probably because my skin's  rather oily and I didn't conscientiously take time and effort to take care of my face in the past = Sebum = Wide pores.

That being said, besides looking for skincare products to help reduce my pores, I've always been in search of makeup that could do the job.

The Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC cream, combining 7 benefits in 1, claims to

1. Evens skin tone appearance
2. Minimizes the look of pores
3. Enhances brightness
4. Visibly smoothes fine lines and wrinkles
5. Reduces the look of spots
6. Hydrates for a firm look
7. Replenishes moisture

In case you aren't certain of what CC Creams are; They combine anti-aging (AA) benefits and beauty balm (BB) to create an all-in-one beauty solution. Olay CC Cream also offer longer-term correction benefits, to reveal the 7 signs of youthful skin. - See more (here)

I'm pretty darn amazed! I'd love to say that I'm right about how cheaper products don't work, but I have to admit that I'm wrong about this for sure.

Retailing at SGD32.50, I think I've yet to come across anything cheaper than this with better benefits. I tried out many other pore minimising products before and they usually either don't work for me or have a really thick consistency. In the end, it just looks really obvious that I've layers of makeup on. 

Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC Cream however, with its many perks and airbrushed finish, are the reasons why it's the highlight of today's post.

I've been using it for a week now, and if there's one thing I'm not really fond of, is that it doesn't really last me through the day (given how I spend at least 8 hours outside on a daily basis) due to its light texture. I guess I can't exactly put the blame on the product after running a full day of errands. Nonetheless, I do like it for how it evens out my skin tone, moisturises my skin and gives me a flawless finish with its pore minimising effect. Not to mention, it doesn't grease up halfway through the day unlike many other products - When you have just the right amount of sebum, it helps protect your skin. But if your skin has too much of it, you'd end up battling acne, and if it has too little sebum, you could end up with dry, cracked skin. Therefore, since the Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC Cream moisturises and it's non greasy, it'll work just right.

Something I'd recommend if you're looking for something close to a tinted moisturiser, with definitely more benefits. Good for everyday use and since it's just 50g, you can pop it into your bag and easily touch up along the way without it caking up. Pretty light in coverage though, so it's something you'd have to consider if you're looking for something that's able to cover up spots and blemishes.

Comment and let me know if you have other ways on how to get smaller-looking pores! :)