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*** Oct 23: A very special new post is up! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy your stay ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ***

Friday, October 23, 2026

[Sponsored] Tage Retinal Dual Volume Multi Balm + Retinal PDRN Pore Vita Cream Review

[Disclaimer]: The links in this post are affiliated and if you choose to make a purchase with any of these links or use my coupon code, I will earn a commission from the sale (thank you if you do so!). As with all my reviews, sponsored or not, this post will be my 100% honest opinion based on my personal experience with the product and I never use AI for this blog. I am not a dermatologist or professional skincare expert. Your experience with these products may vary from mine.

Hi angels, I hope you've been well! This is a special collaboration post that has been very kindly sponsored by Tage. Today I'll be reviewing their Retinal Dual Volume Multi Balm and Retinal PDRN Pore Vita Cream which were gifted to me by the brand.

About Tage

Tage is a subsidiary brand created by Benow, which is the parent company behind many globally renowned kbeauty brands like numbuzin, fwee, and KNOCK. First launching in March 2026 with a diverse line of UV protection options, Tage quickly established their position in the market as "k-suncare specialists". To further expand on their vision of what sun care truly means, Tage developed and launched a second line of products focusing on reversing the traces of sun damage. With both of these product drops combined, they created the ultimate Shield & Repair sun care arsenal.

Important Notes

Before getting into the reviews I just wanted to further emphasize some key points for you to keep in mind. I've been using retinal products in my skincare routine for about a year now so I have some experience with how it works with my skin and am able to incorporate and use these products with ease. If you are a beginner, have sensitive skin, or use other actives in your skincare routine please do your research to understand and avoid any potential interactions retinal may have with them. Always patch test and wear sunscreen if you are using retinal products in your daytime routine as retinal speeds up skin cell turnover and new skin cells are more vulnerable to UV damage.

For these reviews I wanted to accurately show each product's abilities so I only used these 2 products in my night-time routine, every day for a week straight. I used the retinal multi balm stick exclusively on my neck and the retinal A cream exclusively on my face. I did not overlap the 2 products just so I could show the the results in this post objectively but you can definitely use both together in your routine! I followed my regular daytime routine which you can check out the details for here.

For the before/after photos I did my absolute best to take them in the exact same setup/lighting and angles but I'm only human so they may not be exact 1:1 comparisons. I did not use any editing on these photos and they were all taken with my iphone. I did use a colour depositing treatment to tone my hair so in the "after" photos my hair color is more copper.

Tage - Retinal Dual Volume Multi Balm Stick

The Tage Retinal A Multi Balm Stick is formulated with retinal, volufiline (6% concentration), and collagen which work together to target volume loss and the look of fine lines or wrinkles. 

Retinal supports new skin cell turnover which helps with concerns like discoloration and volufiline is a natural plant extract that is believed to mimic the effects of injectables like Botox and filler (you may have seen it go viral online as a famous breast-volumizing ingredient!). 

Together these ingredients have been formulated into a convenient balm stick form with a unique tear drop shape to help get into all the contours of your face and neck. It's gentle enough that you can use it in both your day and night-time routine, or even on the go, but please make sure you follow up and with an ample amount of sunscreen in the day to prevent UV damage.

My Thoughts

I thankfully don't personally struggle too much with fine lines or wrinkles yet so I decided to use this on my neck as I do have very prominent lines there. The texture of this product feels a bit like chapstick but it's not sticky or wet so it's quite comfortable to have on. Here's what my neck lines looked like before I started using this retinal balm stick:
I wasn't sure what a "good" amount to apply was so I just ran the balm stick over my neck horizontally a few times then vertically across from one side to another. Here's how my neck looks after about a week of continued use:
Here's a side by side comparison of the before and after results. It was hard to recreate the exact photo so please excuse that the first photo is slightly darker 
(ᵕ⸝⸝• ᴗ •)
before & after 1 week of using the tage retinal multi balm stick
I would say I noticed a little more softness in my neck lines (especially the very bottom one) after a week. It's not the most dramatic difference but I was honestly surprised there would be much improvement at all from just using this once a day. I think if I were to diligently use this two times a day or more, or in conjunction with my regular skincare products, I may be able to see the compounding effects more clearly. Used as a standalone product in my night-time routine, I would say that this performed well, kept me hydrated, and offered some improvement to the concern I was trying to address. Overall I'd recommend this product over other balm stick product I've tried in the past!

Tage - Retinal PDRN Pore Vita Cream

The Tage Retinal PDRN Pore Vita Cream is formulated with retinal liposome (2% concentration), PDRN, and Adenosine. This gentle and low irritation formula is perfect for beginner retinoid users looking to target pore and wrinkle concerns. 

PDRN has been a very trendy skincare ingredient in the last few years. It's commonly extracted from salmon sperm (though there are animal-free plant based sources too) that activates adenosine A2A receptors on skin cell surfaces to promote cell growth and repair. 

Adenosine is used in skincare for its anti-aging, skin-soothing, and restorative properties. It works by boosting collagen and elastin production while also calming irritation which makes it an effective and beneficial ingredient for people with sensitive skin.

Together these ingredients provide gentle pore and wrinkle care while also supporting the skin barrier. This particular formulation is also light enough that it didn't feel uncomfortable on my oily combination skin.
This cream has a thicker, almost butter or ointment-like texture. It sinks into the skin beautifully and doesn't leave a tacky or greasy feeling. It's not the most hydrating moisturizer I've ever used so it felt a bit lacking for me to only use this for a week, but I think it would perform wonderfully and effectively as an occlusive layer over other products in my routine so that's not a huge concern for me.

Though the formulation is lightweight and gentle, this cream is recommended for night-time use only. Be sure to patch test if you're trying for the first time or have sensitive skin and always wear sunscreen in the morning!

My Thoughts

I have some blemishes and noticeable pores on my cheeks and around my nose so that was the primary reason I originally introduced retinal into my routine. I was particularly interested to see if this Tage cream could outperform my current retinal products.

This is what my skin looked like before, as you can see I also had a few small breakouts near my jawline:
This is what my skin looks like a week later! My complexion has definitely improved and my pores are looking better as well.
In the side by side comparison you can also see the acne spots are almost completely faded and gone! I was really fighting the urge to put pimple patches over them because I wanted to protect the integrity of this review. I was nervous they'd leave a blemish but I'm super happy they were taken care of without any additional targeted treatment ദ്ദി˙∇˙)ว
before & after 1 week of using the tage retinal PDRN pore vita cream

Final Thoughts

I am really impressed with the quality of these products and my results are surprisingly good for just a week of use. These products are also extremely affordable on Yesstyle and Amazon so I think these are fantastic cost effective beginner retinoid options if you've been thinking about adding some to your routine! Given the positive experience I've had so far, I'm super excited to explore the rest of the products this brand has to offer, especially the sunscreens in their first drop. 
A huge thank you again to Tage for sponsoring this post. I look forward to future collaborations and highly recommend you guys check out their products if you haven't already. They are available on Amazon.com and Yesstyle.com. You can also use my influencer coupon code NASSST on Yesstyle to get a discount on your order. This code stacks with other promotions so you could get some pretty good deals if you order during any of the huge sales seasons like Black Friday/Cyber Monday or Christmas!

If you have any questions about these products or want to explore more from Tage, feel free to DM them on instagram (@tage_global) or check out their linktree. Their team is very friendly and would be more than happy to assist you!

That's all for this post, I hope you found this helpful and informative. Let me know what you end up trying and how you like it! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a fantastic day ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡
#RetinalStick #Retinal #Volufiline #tage / #RetinalCream #PDRN

Friday, October 2, 2026

[Nov 2024] Company Holiday Parties

 
Hello again angels!! I can't believe it's Friday already. I hope you've been enjoying all the updates this week. We're almost into the 2025 backlog so I'm looking forward to finally talking about some of the more positive and interesting things in my life (˶˃ᆺ˂˶)
At the end of the year my company likes to throw a themed holiday party. In 2024 it was tropical island themed which... was definitely a choice cause it was freezing by then Σ(°ロ°)

Still I wanted to be a good sport and try dressing to the theme. I obviously had to go full gal for this so I put this outfit together and bundled myself under a long trench coat for the chilly commute to the venue (ง'̀-'́)ง
I feel like I didn't really have the time or energy to do gal make for most of October and November that year so I put in extra effort for this look and took a bunch of pics to lift my spirits.
The party was fun and I really appreciated that everyone dressed up more for this theme than the last one but maybe it's just because Hawaiian/tropical themed items are a little easier to buy compared to "snow disco/ball"?? (╭ರ_•́)
We also had a smaller dinner for just my team and it was really nice. 
This was a really cozy way to wind down from the crazy launch season and end the year. 
That's it for this post! Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next one.


Thursday, October 1, 2026

[Nov 2024] Usher: Past, Present, Future Tour

 
Hello angels, I hope you're having a great day. I wasn't sure if I wanted to make this post because I was disappointed to learn that Usher ended up touring with Chris Brown this year. I think to be fair to myself I'll just keep this one short so I don't provide these weirdos with more support.
I got my nails done earlier in the week and went with this sparkly nude design. I've always loved a scatter gem moment so needless to say I was obsessed with this set.
It was already cold and rainy here in November so I bundled up as best I could while still trying to look cute. I feel like I ended up going for a very millennial outfit ꉂ(˵˃ ᗜ ˂˵)
I was lucky to have gotten really good seats thanks to AMEX and coincidentally our friend Vivian also went to the concert and was sitting in a row near us. I've never really run into friends at concerts like this before so that was fun.
The show itself was really enjoyable and I felt super nostalgic listening to all these songs that came out when I was a teen. Just really unfortunate that I can't really enjoy them the same anymore. I'm genuinely so sad that Usher would associate with someone as shitty as Chris Brown in big 2026 ૮(◞ ‸ ◟ )ა
Besides that, the concert was awesome and I had a lot of fun. Usher is a really good performer and the crowd had great energy. I hadn't been to a concert in a while so it was nice to finally get out to one. I hope I get more opportunities soon but idk I feel like music is kinda blah these days. I'm really only looking forward to seeing BIGBANG. 

I did rediscover my love for theatre after New York so I've been seeing a lot of musicals since then, but that's a post for another time.
Thank you for reading! See you later ⊹ ࣪ ˖


Strawberry On Top Of Cupcake