Beauty editor and columnist Kim Reyes Palanca is a member of the tightly knit community of beauty editors, writers, experts and enthusiasts in the Philippines. A wife and mom of two young boys, Kim has always been someone who I’ve always admired because of so many things, one of which is her approach to beauty.
Kim recently introduced the Philippine beauty community to a skin-care line called Pure Culture, a marine-based microbiome-friendly beauty brand centered on nurturing the Philippines ecosystems.
Pure Culture is made in the Philippines from 100 percent natural ingredients. The sustainable brand is in ocean-friendly packaging and 1 percent of sales goes to rewilding Philippine oceans.
“We are proud to be the first Philippine brand to be Safe Cosmetics Australia-certified,” said Kim.
Among the ingredients that Pure Culture’s products contain are green caviar or lato (Ecocert COSMOS Natural certified), cica (Natrue certified), MicroSilver BG (Ecocert COSMOS Organic certified), New Zealand marine algae (Natrue certified), probiotics, vitamin C, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid.
As someone with sensitive skin, I’m always on the lookout for good products that would work for me. So here are Pure Culture’s products and what I think of them:
Wild Algae Super Tonic is a multi-use toner-and-essence hybrid. You use it after cleansing to soothe and calm skin. It’s in face mist form but being very economical and mindful when using my beauty products, I spray this on my palms before applying it on my face. This contains MicroSilver and green caviar. The feel of this is light but not watery and once applied, has a slightly sticky feel that disappears in seconds. For the day, I use this after cleansing and before sunscreen application. For the evening, this is the second step after cleansing.
Wild Algae Glow Up Serum with vitamin C and hyaluronic acid is my favorite from the line. The texture of this serum is still liquidy but thick. I use a drop on my face and neck after the tonic.
Wild Algae Quench Creme is a moisturizing skin milk that’s very light in texture. This is best applied after the serum. I personally need something heavier but this is great for those who are intimidated by moisturizer and are using it for the first time.
The Pure Culture skin-care line has been created for all skin-care types. For more information about it, follow @kimpalanca and @purecultureph on Instagram. Pure Culture will be launched in February.
Image credits: JULIANA MAXINE C. VASQUEZ