The finishing touch from Pond’s Flawless White! By Rowena Wendy Lei

The final step in the Pond’s Flawless White regimen is Pond’s Flawless White Perfect Finish 2-Way Foundation Powder.

I got one in shade 01 Ivory White. I really love the silver and pink packaging that’s characteristic of all the Pond’s Flawless White products. Since my partner Cathy doesn’t normally wear make-up, she has not yet tried this.

Predictably, the powder is very light in color since it is the fairest shade.

Unlike other compacts, the puff is stored in a separate compartment below the powder. It’s actually more hygienic this way. :D

This is me after washing my face in the morning and applying sunscreen. I look haggard because I was still jet-lagged when I took this photo. I had trouble sleeping at night.

This is after I’ve applied Pond’s Flawless White 2-Way Foundation Powder in Ivory White. It leaves your face with a fair and matte finish. Since I didn’t bring my make-up with me here in Los Angeles I couldn’t test how it is as a foundation. My skin did feel nice though as if I wasn’t wearing any powder. I went out afterwards too and it worked well throughout the day.

And thus ends my chronicle on our Pond’s Flawless White Challenge. I’m just happy that I was able to share the whole experience with my childhood friend Cathy.

Trading places while keeping flawless!

Cathy kept me updated as the days passed.

She brought her entire Pond’s Flawless White skin care regimen to the US. She was quite dedicated as she soldiered on the challenge in the middle of her family’s summer vacation.

Bottom line is, she’s very happy with Pond’s Flawless White. She has never tried Pond’s products before and she was pleasantly surprised by the efficacy. She noted that they’re very reasonably priced too. Cathy has always been a very practical person so spending thousands of pesos on any single product is totally out of the question for her.

We met briefly so we could update each other on the challenge. She’s back from her family vacation, but this time I was the one who was off to the United States with my family.

I’m actually in Los Angeles right now with hubby and the kids, we’re visiting my mom who’s based here. I brought her Pond’s Flawless White and Pond’s Gold Radiance products to try. You see, Flawless White, Age Miracle, and Gold Radiance products are not available in the US. My aunt who lives next door to my mom actually commented that my skin was looking very fair and smooth, I told her it’s probably the effect of Pond’s Flawless White.

Prior to visiting The Americana on Brand, a new mall that’s mostly outdoors, Mom and I layered on Pond’s Flawless White products. You can never get too much sun protection after all. Good thing because it was really hot and sunny today.

In my next and final update, I’m going trying out the finishing touch in the Pond’s Flawless White skin care regimen – Pond’s Flawless White 2-Way Foundation Powder! If it’s anything like all the previous products I’ve been using, I’m pretty certain I’m going to love it!

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Postcards from the edge of the world By Rowena Wendy Lei

As promised, Cathy emailed some photos from her US family vacation.

She’s been on the Pond’s Flawless White skin care regimen for two weeks now. So far so good… she never steps outdoors without putting on the serum and day cream.

I’m glad it’s still working for her despite the drastic change in climate from Philippines to USA.

She even brings the day cream along for good measure. After all, you never know when you need additional protection from the sun.

While Cathy was theme park-hopping in Los Angeles, I was shopping like a madwoman in Hong Kong. It was truly challenging trying to post updates after I discovered my netbook had no ethernet controller. I couldn’t use the complimentary wired broadband access in the hotel room. I had to camp out at the lobby during ungodly hours just to email and update. ;_;

Even if I was spending most of my time indoors, I was still layering on Pond’s Flawless White products. I’m just really paranoid that way, I want to keep my skin safe from UV rays that may be emitted by indoor lights and my own monitor.

Let me share my experience with Pond’s Flawless White Blemish Protection UV Cream. It’s one of the products Cathy skipped.

It comes in this easy-to-hold plastic pump bottle. Just press and you’re good to go. I like it because it’s more hygienic this way, you don’t have to dip your fingers into a whole container full of product.

The UV cream is indeed creamy. It gives good coverage when you put it on your face. A little goes a long way so take it easy when dispensing the product.

It won’t instantly whiten your skin dramatically the way the day cream can but it feels very balanced – not dry and not greasy or oily. It has SPF 15 which protects your face from the sun and UVA + UVB rays from other sources, preventing freckles and dark spots. If you want a perfectly matte look, just pat on some powder.

Summer is here so it’s more important than ever to protect your skin from the sun. Don’t forget to slather on products with SPF, like the Pond’s Flawless White line. Your skin, especially your face, will thank you for it in the future.

Pond’s Flawless White… unbeaten across the miles! By Rowena Wendy Lei

Our team’s situation is unique. Shortly after we both adapted the Pond’s Flawless White skin care regimen, Cathy had to go to the United States for a family vacation.

As a result, we could only continue our challenge through online means like Skype video calls, Facebook chat, and email. Cathy had brought the four Pond’s Flawless White products that made up her regimen to the US. She was going to be visiting theme parks and lots of outdoor attractions with her family so she needed the sun protection that Pond’s Flawless White had to offer.

So far she’s very happy with Pond’s Flawless White. She told me that even after the challenge is over, she will most probably continue using this line as her permanent skin care regimen.

According to Cathy, her skin was getting smoother and fairer as the days passed. I told her to send me some vacation photos so we can all see how she’s doing.

We’re thousands of miles apart even as I write this post. The thing is, I’m off to the US with my own family after she gets back so it’s really quite a challenge for our team to bring it all together. We’ll be calling on our multi-tasking supermom powers for this one.

Pond’s Flawless White from day to night!
By Rowena Wendy Lei

If there’s something Cathy and I have in common, it’s the fact that we don’t go out of the house without sun protection.

Enter Pond’s Flawless White Visible Lightening Day Cream. It has SPF 15 which gives you 15x your normal sun protection.

It may look thick and creamy but surprisingly….

…it’s pretty light when you actually apply it onto your skin. It dries fast to a matte powder-like finish so you need to spread it all over your face quickly to get an even result. I actually have a lot of friends who don’t like putting on sunscreen on their faces because of the greasy sensation afterwards. Pond’s Flawless White Visible Lightening Day Cream has none of the greasiness. It’s almost as if you’re wearing face powder a short while after you put it on and there is an instant whitening effect.

For evening use, there’s the Pond’s Flawless White Re-brightening Night Treatment. It’s smooth and creamy in terms of consistency so it glides onto your skin easily. It’s very comforting to use before going to bed due to its moisturizing properties. Your skin is exceptionally smooth when you wake up in the morning too.

Although we did the initial tests on Cathy’s hand, we saw a visible difference instantly. She was amazed especially since she had never used any Pond’s product before.

As for me, just when I thought I couldn’t get any whiter, the Pond’s Flawless White line proves me wrong.

Ro and Cat's Pond's Flawless White Unbeaten favorite!

In our joint quest for fair, flawless, and even-toned skin, my childhood friend Cathy and I took it upon ourselves to live the Pond's Flawless White experience over the next couple of weeks. That meant plunging headfirst into a new skin care regimen and getting to know each and every product intimately.

Yes. We sniffed, washed, scrubbed, rubbed, and massaged each and every product on our hands, faces, necks, and wherever else we could try it on. It wasn't hard for Cathy to pick out her favorite.

She fell in love instantly with the Pond's Flawless White Spots Blocking Serum.

When we first pumped out some of the product on her hand, we were amazed by its light formulation. We were expecting something thick and heavy but this translucent serum had an almost watery texture -- which is actually good.

Due to its consistency, it goes on smooth over the skin's surface. It's not greasy and it's not drying so it works well for all skin types. Cat and I would know -- we are after all opposites when it comes to skin type. She's on the dry side while my face tends to shine like a light bulb because my skin is combination to oily.

I don't know if our eyes were playing tricks on us but we could've sworn there was an instant whitening and brightening effect right after we rubbed the serum all over the surface of Cat's hand. You can compare her hands in the photo above.

But then again, this is the product that Pond's beauty ambassador Rissa Mananquil puts on to instantly lighten specific areas of her skin. Psssst! Here's a beauty secret: Rissa told us over dinner some weeks ago that whenever she'd be bitten by mosquitoes, the affected area would darken. Rissa simply applies Pond's Flawless White Spots Blocking Serum on the bite and it would lighten in no time. This is but one of the ways she maintains her even-toned complexion.

Although my primary role in this challenge is to chronicle Cat's progress with her Pond's Flawless White skin care regimen, I too have adapted it as my own... the difference being instead of using the four basic products we chose for her, I'm going for the whole range. This photo was taken right after I applied the Pond's Flawless White Spots Blocking Serum. I have to agree with Cat -- this is definitely my favorite PFW product! Did I mention that the scent is lovely too? My daughter actually asked me what I put on my face because according to her it smelled so good.

In fact, we love Pond's Flawless White Spots Blocking Serum so much I think we just dedicated this entire post to this amazing product. I think I just found one of the prizes for Animetric's Favorite Things Year 3 in 2012, haha!

See you in the next post! We promise to show you the rest of the PFW product range and then some.

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Pond's Flawless White Unbeaten Post #1 by Rowena Wendy Lei

My friend Cathy and I go way back. We've been together since high school. It's now two decades after we've graduated and we're both married with kids. Cathy is presently a full-time mom who also manages her family's cosmetics business. Did I mention that she's a doctor too?

Prior to taking on the Pond's Flawless White Unbeaten Challenge, Cathy's skin care regimen consisted of using cleanser and sunscreen from a pharmaceutical brand. When I asked her to be my partner and official product tester, she immediately said yes. She has never tried Pond's products so she was quite excited when she got her Pond's Flawless White challenge kit.

Since it's her first time to adapt a skin care regimen that goes beyond two steps, we decided to stick to the basics as not to overwhelm her:

• Step 1: Pond's Flawless White Deep Whitening Facial Foam
• Step 2: Pond's Flawless White Spots Blocking Serum
• Step 3: Pond's Flawless White Visible Lightening Day Cream (AM) / Pond's Flawless White Re-brightening Night Treatment (PM)

It's as easy as 1-2-3 since all she has to do is cleanse, apply serum, then put on either day or night cream depending on the time of day.

I explained what each product does -- including the ones she won’t be using. I told her that she can actually replace her sunscreen with the day cream since it has SPF 15.

Excited as we both were, we opened all four products and gave them a test run on the spot -- starting with cleanser, because any skin care regimen has to start with a clean face.

We went into the bathroom and I told Cathy to squeeze a pea-sized amount onto her finger.

We decided to do the initial test on her hand. Cathy was immediately impressed by how a little product goes a long way. She noticed that there were exfoliating beads in the cleanser. Logically speaking, exfoliation can help one attain a brighter and smoother complexion since it removes the oldest skin cells on the skin’s outermost layer. This is usually what causes dullness. We both loved the cleanser's light fresh scent. It rinses off clean, leaving your skin with a squeaky clean feeling.

After cleansing, the next step would theoretically be toning. Since the Pond’s Flawless White does not include a toner, we were provided with Pond’s White Beauty Pore Conditioning Toner.

Since Cathy’s face is on the dry side, she decided not to use the toner. Fortunately, we’re on the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to skin type (I’m on the oily side) so I decided that I’d be the one to test the toner. I have visible pores to boot so this is just what I need.

Although the bottle looks very pink, the toner is actually colorless. The scent is slightly different from the Pond’s Flawless White line but it’s still pretty light.

The toner felt cool and tingly. Since it’s not alcohol-free, it’s probably better suited for those with oily complexions like mine. I was expecting my face to feel dry and taut afterwards but surprisingly it just felt very smooth and even all over.

Stay tuned for my next post for our experience on the rest of the products in Pond’s Flawless White range. :)

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