Serious hydration.

One problem I encountered during Europe trip was dry skin. Honestly, looking back, I was such an idiot for not packing moisturizer. The one good thing I packed was sunscreen; the bad thing was I packed a matte one and only 1 single sachet of a moisturizing one. As much as I was having a great time with sightseeing, I was panicking with my skin situation. 

Thankfully, during our stop in Portugal, I was able to go to some shops to look for a good hydrating moisturizer. Nothing fancy or expensive, just something that could help me until this trip is done. Upon roaming, I stumbled upon a little shop called Douglas.

Douglas reminds me of Watsons, Guardian, and Boots, sans the pharmacy department. There were makeup, hair, and skin products of every brand and every price range. Some brands were familiar, some were new to me. I got a little help from the beauty consultant and she recommended me this little kit that seriously rescued my drying and flaking Asian skin.

Here I have the Douglas Aqua Focus Discovery Kit which contains three travel/sample sized products: a hydrating serum, a moisturising gel cream, and a moisturising eye contour gel. This kit is the one with prickly pear and Swiss glacier water and if that combo doesn't scream hydration, I don't know what will. As soon as I read those words in the box, I grabbed on to it and never let go. I just KNEW this was it. Let's do a little background dive, shall we?

A little description from the product box: "Discover the moisturising effect of Aquafocus products through three daily steps. It combines the renowned hydrating properties of Swiss glacier water with the antioxidant ones of Prickly pear."

This box has samples of the serum, the gel cream, and the eye gel but the Aqua Focus line also includes a variety of face masks, face scrub, hydrating water, makeup remover, eye patches, and ampoules. This line focuses on hydration and is geared towards dehydrated skin.

So according to the beauty consultant the order of application is as follows: serum, gel cream, eye gel. Before I review them, let me just say this: these products smell AMAZING. They smell really fresh with a hint of fruit. Not the sweet fruit type of smell, but the fresh fruit kind of smell, if you know what I mean. I freaking love it. Douglas, please make this scent into a body mist!

The serum has a milky appearance and a thin consistency upon blending. It's not too runny that it starts dripping but not thick that it's difficult to spread. A little goes a long way and get absorbed pretty quickly. It leaves a tiny bit of tackiness on the skin which makes it a good base to layer on. It's not hydrating on its own; you really need to use the gel cream on top for a good dose of hydration.

The gel cream has the same milky appearance but it feels thicker when blending it out. You can really tell that this one is the hydrator because it feels very cooling on the skin and it takes a little while to set. Once it gets absorbed, the skin feels so plump and rejuvenated and the daily application of this combo really helped in sorting out my dry skin. It's amazing what the products contained in two small bottles can do.

The eye gel was a bit of a bonus product for me, one that I can either use or leave out. Since the tour got me a bit sleep-deprived, I thought I might as well use it too. The eye gel has a transparent gel appearance and a little bit goes a loooooong way. A pea-sized amount is enough to cover both undereye areas. While it didn't really get rid of my dark circles, it helped with keeping it hydrated and looking fresh and I bet that concealer will apply and blend beautifully with this underneath. This is the product that really surprised me as I didn't think I'd love it as well. Oh, and a little tip? Put this eye gel inside the fridge and let it cool. It feels so freaking good when it's chilled!

(Left to right: serum, gel cream, eye gel)

This kit is seriously my miracle workers during that trip because it sorted my skin instantly. It only took a few days, maybe a week, to get my skin back to normal. I got to pack them home since I wasn't able to finish them during the trip- that's how little you need. Currently, I'm still using and loving the eye gel. I'm not using the serum and the gel cream daily but I do reach for them on times when I feel dry patches on my skin or when my skin needs a big boost of hydration.

This was such a great purchase and would you believe me if I told you that I got this for only €5? INSANE. I was willing to spend more for skincare just to sort my skin problem out but all it took was a €5 kit. See, you don't always have to splurge! You just have to look around and try out things to discover gems. Bummer that Douglas isn't available here in Asia, though!