Wearing Three of Something lace dress, Boohoo sunglasses, Hello Parry earrings, Dainty and Bold necklace

Usually around this time of the year (call it what you may - Summer/Fall, trans-seasonal, Sydney PMS-ing), my skin desiccates into the likes of dry cereal flakes and raisins in a bowl of Special K. And believe me when I say that no amount of organic soy milk -- in this case, moisturiser -- can combat that. 

However, in the few weeks since I've taken up the Skin Republic four-week challenge, I've had considerably less skin dryness as the colder weather sets in. I went through four Collagen Infusion Face Masks - once a week, and at night time before bed. Although the instructions on the packet suggest that I take my mask off after twenty minutes, I usually sleep with the masks on. This is okay because all of the Skin Republic masks are hydration masks, so they do not have the drying effect that mud masks do that will dry your skin out if put on for too long!

After four long weeks, my skin has dramatically improved, even though the most visible period was the first time I used the mask. It's easy to forget and take for granted the difference after three long weeks of enjoying lovely, glowing skin (see picture above!), but I thought the best way to capture my first impression is the next-day email I sent to the girls at Skin Republic to share my excitement. This is ACTUALLY an extract of the email I sent her (Alex, I hope you don't mind me sharing this :P):

Boy, I was SOOO wrong! It's never too early to take preventative measures against facial wrinkling. In fact, our skin dries out really quickly without us knowing it! For example, when you're scrubbing makeup off your face, the chemical dries your skin out. That is why it is incredibly important to tone and moisturize after cleansing. And on top of that lots of H2O and a hydration mask weekly for water retention. This gives off that glowing, dewy look that is all rage in the beauty world right now, because it symbolizes youthfulness.

At the risk of sounding vain, there's something about collagen that now makes my eyelids flutter. In my defence, and with the help of an elaborate scientific research study, wait - who am I kidding?! Google, collagen is a protein that connects our cells, tissues and organs. As we age, our overall collagen level declines. So to put simply, companies like Skin Republic has now created collagen that will give us the 'protein of youthfulness' we had when we were little.. so why not embrace such technological advances?!

Not to blow my own horn or anything, but I can now claim that I love protein just as much as my new gym-loving neighbour aka Hollywood hunk from Current Issues in Management Accounting. (hehe)

Take their skin care quiz here to find out which one suits you, or check out the one I used - Skin Republic Collagen Infusion Face Mask Sheet here.  

Photo by Michelle Xu