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After suffering from dry skin in the past cold months (not that I’m complaining about the cold), I was thrilled to receive a box of new beauty loot from Beauty Bar so I can give my face some much-needed TLC and prep it for the hot summer season that’s definitely upon us.

Beauty Bar’s new round-up of summer skincare essentials from Fancy Handy and Patchology deserve a spot in every beauty aficionado’s regimen—I’ve already included them in mine. Here are some of the must-try products you can now grab in stores:

Fancy Handy

I’m so happy to be introduced to Fancy Handy. This Spanish cosmetics brand makes me feel like a kid again with its unique and colorful products—not to mention making my skin look and feel younger. I love the adorable packaging, refreshing fragrances, and that element of surprise when you open the box and try the products with effective ingredients. It added an element of fun to my beauty routine!

My favorite Fancy Handy product is the Fresh Face Amber Face Cleanser—now my bathroom counter staple. Amber extract is rich in antioxidants and an effective protector against free radicals. It has a cooling effect—perfect for hot and humid summer days and nights. It leaves my skin feeling refreshed and hydrated. Face washing became more than routine—I actually look forward to it! And the best thing about it is how it makes my skin better: My skin looks healthy, bright, and revitalized; and feels soft and supple after each wash.

I really adore Fancy Handy’s packaging. For instance, the Banana Hand Cream is super cute—the packaging looks like an actual banana, whose nourishing benefits are infused into this product. It contains a high amount of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals like potassium, helping moisturize skin and making it look soft and smooth. I don’t really like eating bananas, but I love using and bringing around this cute bright yellow banana-shaped tube in my summer tote.

Then there’s the Cactus Face Cream, its green pot shaped like a cactus! Cactus has many benefits for the skin, like its intense capacity to keep the skin naturally moist, more elastic, and healthy. And we all know that in summer, our skin needs to stay extra hydrated so it won’t overproduce sebum and make us look greasy. It’s great whether you have oily, dry, or sensitive skin.

Besides these, Fancy Handy has other products like body creams and a wide variety of fragrant fruity lip balm flavors (Mojito, anyone?).

Patchology

Sometimes, I’m too tired and busy to be bothered with all the steps of my regular skincare routine. So when I feel like skipping most steps, I put on a face mask. I definitely enjoyed road-testing those of Patchology. This American brand began changing the game ten years ago with medical patch technology. Patchology continues to cast ripples, this time in the beauty world, with a vast lineup of effective products that fit right into our modern, on-the-go lifestyle. Whether it’s a quick five-minute fix or a long evening of unwinding that you’re looking for, Patchology delivers products to match your beauty needs and the amount of time you have for them—no matter how short.

There are quick fixes like FlashPatch 5-minute Rejuvenating Eye Gels, Hydrating Lip Gels, and Sheet Masks for when you’re on the go; or daily essentials like the Lip Service Gloss-to-Balm Treatment for daily use.

My favorite Patchology mask is Moodmask The Good Fight Clear Skin Mask that targets breakouts with its trio of powerful ingredients: tea tree, willow bark, and green tea. Tea Tree and Willow Bark help slay the bacteria than can cause bad-skin days, especially when summer gets extra humid, while soothing peppermint reduces inflammation and slows the production of bacteria-trapping oil. It smells good, but not in a spa-like way; it’s more fruity, like grapes. The mask feels soft and creamy to touch, and not sticky or greasy. It had a bit of sting or maybe a cooling feel, but regardless, it feels so refreshing. My skin has been feeling fatigued and rough lately, so this mask was a soothing treat before bedtime. It’s recommended you leave it on for at least 10 minutes or even longer if you like (I left mine on for 20-25 minutes). My skin felt fresh and hydrated after removing the mask, and the next morning, it felt smooth, soft, and plump to the touch—it felt younger! My face really needed that extra boost.

Other must-try Patchology masks are the FlashMasque Hydrate Sheet Mask, FlashMasque Illuminate Sheet Mask, and FlashMasque Milk Peel Sheet Mask—all of which you can try (before you buy more) when you get the Perfect Weekend FlashMasque Trio that’s also great to pack when you travel this summer (I always need to mask after a plane ride, especially red-eye ones).

I also experienced a couple of firsts with Patchology. Its FlashPatch Hydrating Lip Gel is the first lip gel patch I’ve ever tried, so I guess it felt weird at first. My husband laughed when he saw me put it on, haha. But it doesn’t feel sticky or greasy, so after I got over the unfamiliarity, I was fine. The lip gel contains green tea extract, a potent antioxidant; peptide complex to soften fine lines; and niacinimide to plump and hydrate your puckers. It felt cool, refreshing, and soothing on the lips. It’s recommended to be left on clean lips for five minutes, but I left mine on for over 20 minutes, just because I felt my chapped lips needed all the moisture it could get. Lately, my lips have been extra dry, either from the weather or matte lipsticks or both. When I removed the lip gel, my pout felt so soft and smooth—ready for smooth application of more matte lippies, haha. There was still a bit of dryness on certain parts, especially around the peeling middle, but my lips’ general condition improved greatly.

Patchology’s FlashPatch Rejuvenating Eye Gel is also the first eye gel I ever put on. It contains caffeine to brighten and depuff, Centella Asiatica to promote collagen production, and Portulaca Oleracea Extract to brighten the undereye. Like with the lip gel, I placed the pair of gels on my clean, dry undereye area (read: no other skincare product). You can keep it on for at least 5 minutes or longer if desired, so I went ahead and left it on for 20 because my undereye area looked more exhausted than the rest of my face and I have dark undereyes. Place the pointed corner toward the inner corner of your eyes to target crow’s feet or on the outer corner to target undereye bags. After application, the skin under my eyes not only felt revived, it also felt smoother. While it didn’t completely make it disappear, the shadows under my eyes somewhat lightened. The gel addressed puffiness, fatigue, and dryness of tired undereyes.

You can get both gels in the Patchology FlashPatch Wink & A Kiss 5-Minute Eye and Lip Gels, which contains two pairs of each, perfect for your summer trips and whenever you need to multi-task and put both on.

In the Philippines, Beauty Bar is under Stores Specialists, Inc., with stores located at Alabang Town Center, Central Square in Bonifacio High Street Central, Eastwood Mall, Estancia Capitol Commons, Robinsons Galleria, Glorietta 2, Greenbelt 5, Lucky China Town, Robinsons Magnolia, Robinsons Midtown, Marquee, Mall of Asia, Paseo de Sta. Rosa, The Podium, Rockwell Power Plant Mall, Shangri-La Plaza, Trinoma, and UP Town Center. (Please open a store in Iloilo!) Visit beautybar.com.ph, Beauty Bar’s Facebook page, or ssilife.com.ph for more information.

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