Korean skin care review: Sidmool and Innisfree

I've forgotten to post up my gmarket hauls when i got these items in January 2012. But anyhow, here are the reviews of 3 items from my haul.

Sidmool's enzyme cleansing gel.

I've been using this since January on a twice daily wash. This item foams up like a foam cleanser but is very gentle and does not strip your skin dry.
In addition, it can remove mild makeup, bb creams, sunblock too.
I've been using this as my sunblock remover in the evening and so far so good. No breakouts from clogged pores, so i  suppose this cleanser does remove and clean your pores from sunblock.
The trick is to wash your face twice with the cleanser. The first wash, there won't be much foam, but on the second wash, it'll be easier to swirl all the foam around your face and massage it gently.

As i have sensitive skin, i try to use natural stuff on my face as much as possible, and am trying to cut out most of the chemical nasties. This item is great and does not aggravate my sensitive, prone to redness skin.

Rating: 8/10, good for sensitive skin




Innisfree ecosafety no sebum sunblock
7-free, oil control 100% mineral filter,
SPF35PA+++
with organic sunflower oil and green tea

This sunblock, hmm, i was attracted to it because it says 100% mineral filter. Which suits my preference now for natural skin care. Chemical filters are supposedly very bad for the skin. Mineral filters are physical blockers like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide which are not supposed to absorb into your skin. They sit like a protective barrier on top of skin and gets washed off by sweat, wiping, foam cleansers etc.
There is slight nude tint to it but when you smear it on your face, it gives a slight whitish cast which most mineral filters will as they are physical blockers and they are white in solid form.
I'm fine with the slight white cast as it sorts of give me "better" looking skin.
However, this sunblock is quite drying for me. Perhaps its because of the "oil control" factor that gives this dried out feel. I use this when my face feels extra oily.
I don't have the ingredients in english though.

Rating: 6/10, suitable for very oily skin




Innisfree eco natural suncare bb sunbalm
with sunflower. SPF50PA+++
Enriched with organic, sunflower, and organic lavender, organic chamomile , eco natural BB matches your individual skin tone.

As you can see, i have reached the bottom of the pan already.
I really like the feel of this on my skin. It does smoothen skin out a little, but what i like about it is the feel. It does not dry and pull and tug at my skin, instead it leaves my skin feeling hydrated and comfortable. This it the number one thing that i look for in skin care -- comfort and hydration. It does leave me looking oilier than the no sebum sunblock, but i can deal with it by just blotting my skin with tissue.
I much prefer this over the no sebum sunblock.
The tint is for darker skin though. As i do not have fair  skin, it suits me quite well. On certain days it does make me look a little darker, but mostly , it suits my skin colour quite well.
I wish i could get the ingredients list in english, i want to see if they have any nasty chemicals in there. I'm trusting that chemicals are a minimum since the title of the item is "eco natural suncare".
So far, no breakouts from this item or sensitive redness or itchiness.

I'll be restocking this item for sure.

rating: 9/10, good for sensitive skin

Ohui the First Essence: short rambling

Intro to Ohui The First line:

OHUI’s top premium skincare created with state-of-the-art bio-science technology
StemSP, which stimulates the skin’s mother cells, has been developed to rejuvenate the skin.
OHUI The First, a basic skin care line by OHUI, turns aged skin like that of a baby by stimulating the skin’s mother cells. They contain key ingredients that rejuvenate the skin, including stemSP, which is structured similarly to human growth hormones, and Pycnogenol.


A key ingredient of OHUI The First is stemSP, which is a protein that stimulates the skin’s mother cells. Although the skin has only 3% stemSP, it is important in stimulating the skin’s stem cells, which form 90% of the skin.

StemSP plays a critical role in maintaining the skin’s homeostasis and metabolism and helps the skin restore its health and youth on its own.

In addition, OHUI The First contains Pycnogenol, one of the world’s top three natural antioxidants. Extracted from pine bark indigenous to the pristine French coastal region, it is an antioxidant known to be ten times more effective than vitamin E.


Today i'm gonna ramble on one of the products in this line, which i think is the main core product of the entire line:

OHUI THE FIRST CELL REVOLUTION ESSENCE

Unfortunately i do not have the ingredients list but this item contains the revolutionary rHSCP (recombinant Human Stem Cell Protein). It is combined with skin metabolism stimulants like EGF and FGF to increase density and elasticity to aging areas. The highly enriched essence tightly pulls together skin texture to help skin quickly returns to its young and healthy state.

At first i did not care for the texture of the essence, after a few hours or so, i felt my face getting slight oiliness.

However, on first use i could feel a difference in my skin texture already. I put in on the first night and the next morning, my skin felt smooth to the touch! No irritation whatsoever.

I stopped using it after a few trials, because i felt it didn't do much for my skin. Skin did not brighten it still look a tad dull, skin did not plump up like while i was using the Whoo's Hwanyugo, skin was just normal looking. The only positive factor seemed to be no irritation and skin was smooth to the touch. However, you  can't tell the smoothness unless you feel/touch the skin.

Then i started breaking out all over my jaw line and chin. The breakout even started spreading to my cheeks. I've never had much of a break out, maybe occasionally but never with this continuous non-stop jaw line acne. It was painful and irritating and nothing seemed to work on it, not the benzoyl peroxides, not the BHA or AHAs.... nothing. They just pop out one after another. It was ugly.

I didn't know what's gotten into my face that cause the onslaught of acne and it was so sudden it took me by surprise. It also upset me a lot because i've never faced with so much acne before. It was terrifying.

I tried every single cream/serum/ etc in my possession for acne and in desperation i reached for Ohui's The First essence as my very last try before i go to a dermatologist. I slapped in on my face and my jaw line at night, it calmed the irritating acne and it didn't itch that much.

The next morning when i woke up, i was astounded. My jaw line acne has not only calmed down, in fact it has stopped erupting, stopped growing. I was so excited and continued with the essence for up to 5nights. To my amazement, my existing acne flattened out, each and every one of them, they turned brown and is no longer red or filled with pus. I also didn't have any new acne forming nor popping out! hurray! my nightmare is over!!

My skin has calmed down within 1 week of use of the essence. This stuff is amazing . PERIOD. Now it's back to my normal skin again albeit still with the sensitivities. At least i don't have that horrendous onslaught of acne anymore.

You've gotta try this, and to every female (and males too!) suffering from some sort of acne, get this!! it's a MUST! not a must try, but a MUST HAVE!

Small warning though: it can be a little tacky in humid hot weather and it made my skin oily after some time, but the pros far outweigh the cons!! that's why i only use it at night.

Rating: 10/10!!

Korean skin care review: History of Whoo HwanYu Go

History of Whoo's most prestigious and highly luxurious line of skin care; Hwanyu line.

Consists of three products:
Hwanyu Cream,
Hwanyu Essence and
 Hwanyu eye cream

From LG's website:

Hwanyu  line is a product line created through a three-year joint study of Oriental medicinal materials and blending technologies conducted by researchers at the LG Life Science Research Center, professors of Oriental medicine and a group of Oriental medicine practitioners.



The line contains some sixty Oriental medicinal ingredients, including the rare snow lotus. It helps to regulate the skin’s metabolism and rejuvenates skin to make it bright and radiant.



Hwanyugo means “return to the skin of youth,” A blend of over 60 kinds of Oriental medicinal ingredients, including snow lotus, which blossoms only every seven years, 35-year-old wild ginseng harvested in the deep valleys of Gangwon Province, Siberian young antlers and dongchunghacho, regulates the skin’s metabolism and maintains its balance.



Snow lotus, a rare plant, is considered a very valuable Oriental medicinal plant because it is found only in the Xinjiang Uighur region of Tibet and in the Himalayas and can be gathered only in July and August when the flowers have bloomed. It is blended with 60 different Oriental medicinal ingredients and featured as a key ingredient in the premium cream that restores health and youth to one’s skin. 

Only 35-year-old wild ginseng – known as an herb of eternal youth for Emperor Shi Huang of Qin of China - collected in the wild valleys of Gangwon Province will be used to enhance the skin’s defensive mechanism and improve a wilting appearance. Wild ginseng also repairs dry skin that lacks vitality and nourishes aged skin. 

Given that this is the highest-priced product introduced by LG H&H, only about 10,000 products will be sold annually targeting a limited number of VIP customers, including famous figures desiring the finest quality premium cosmetics. 


Various Oriental medicinal ingredients such as dongchunghacho, reishi mushroom, pine mushroom and fleece flower root work together to improve the skin’s metabolism and create more radiant and firm-looking skin.



The design of the vessel for WHOO Hwanyugo Cream was inspired by a traditional Korean earthenware jar. Metalwork has been used to engrave a Chinese phoenix in its lid. The image of a Chinese phoenix soaring high with its wings fully extended, clutching a cintamani (a magical jewel) under its chin was borrowed from an ancient gilt bronze incense burner from the Baekjae Dynasty, national treasure no. 287, to symbolize the gracefulness and prestige of the premium cream. 


Jin-seok Kim, manager of the WHOO BM team at LG H&H, said, “Based on professional and scientific efficacy, it embodies the value of the finest quality premium cosmetic in Korea. Through first-rate marketing and product quality targeting a limited number of specific customers, the brand’s value will be enhanced by its scarcity.” 

The hwanyugo or hwanyu cream sells for 60 ml, 680,000 won!! Talk about expensive!

From the whoo website:
We extracted ingredients of 'Gihyeoljeong' which are the key materials of Hwanyu and about seventy ingredients of traditional Oriental medicine as if we boil down the best medicine. Such ingredients will remove complex trace of time on your skin because they were compounded through principle of "Masters and Servants". which controls the essence inside and outside of the skin and enhances the efficacy of medicines, and removes toxin and makes such ingredients penetrate deep into the skin.

My experience:
A very luxurious cream that smooths on like silk! i really really love the texture and the smell/scent is heavenly! No perfumes or odd artificial fragrance, just an oriental herb scent that is very relaxing. I find inhaling it while smoothing it on clears and relieves the mind. It's like aromatherapy, soothing.
Just a small amount will suffice. I usually use half a pearl's size or even less; but that's because the cream is just too precious, too scarce, and too darn expensive!
However, i find that because it is so potent, that little bit is more than enough to nourish the skin. Too much and one might find yourself breaking out in no time.
This cream is highly soothing to my sensitive skin and at any time i feel like a dry draught i smooth a little on and voila! It instantly soothes and calms my skin. My skin tends to get irritated with bumps and itchiness whenever there is a dry spell. This is a skin saviour literally.
I can feel my skin drinking in the luxury of a silk river, and in a few minutes while the cream sinks in, my itchiness and sometimes "raw" feeling, is toned down. By the next morning, my skin is back to being nice and soft.
Sometimes, when my skin is particularly stubborn and highly irritated, it takes about 2-4 days using the hwayugo for it to calm down.
This stuff is potent!! and deserves HG status for my sensitive skin.
Well, if you use it long enough on a daily basis, it promises to take 10 years off your skin!! Astounding!

However, i cannot afford the luxury of using it everyday and thus, not able to reap the highly raved anti aging benefits of this potent and scarce cream............ what a pity!
I only use it on an occasional basis whenever irritation rears up. It's my SOS.


Do note that I have sample sizes of this cream, not the full size. I also have the essence and eye cream in samples sizes, both of which i have also used.

Since its hot and humid in my country, i only use either the cream or the essence alone, and never both together, it's just too much for my skin to handle.

The essence works just as well as the cream except it is less creamy. Sometimes i prefer to use the essence when my skin is oilier, other times i normally have preference for the cream.

Tip: Since i only use very little each time, warm that little bit between your fingers and let it melt. Then pat the melted cream on your face. I usually dab at the areas that need nourishment/soothing most and then i try to spread it out over my face by sweeping my hands over my skin and lastly, cup your hands over your face to promote absorption. The scent is very relaxing.
If there is any left, dab it under your eyes where wrinkles are prone!

Highly recommended for those who can afford it and i am absolutely 101% sure of its anti aging benefits. Will it erase 10 years from your skin? well, maybe not 10, but i'm sure it'll do wonders for your skin!

Rating: 10/10!

BB cream review: Berrisom skin recover blemish balm

Time for short review on Berrisom's BB cream.--- skin recovery blemish balm.

They have two bb creams in their range, the other is the perfect cover primer BB.

A multi functional BB cream with certified anti-wrinkle, whitening and UV protection. Corrects skin tone and conceals imperfections with natural coverage. Soothes and recovers skin with Madagascar camphor tree, oriental herbs and mineral complex.


The ingredients list:
contains their in-house AO5 formula which is the basis of every product in Berrisom.
Their AO5 formula consists of potent antioxidants to combat free radicals and keep skin clear~Elderberry, blackberry, cranberry, camelia and evening primrose.

I must say, this Bb cream is really nice. The colour fits me to a T and the coverage is just nice for me. Not a lot, yet enough to keep skin looking polished and fresh.

here's a swatch on the shade and texture:

It has a slight pinky tone and greyish tone in the swatch. However, when blended out on skin, there is no gray cast and the pink cast seems to disappear too.
Texture wise, blends and spreads out nicely. It does sit in the pores, you need to use a brush or foundation wedge to even it out, not a big issue. It does not feel heavy at all.
No heavy scent, just a creamy floral perfumed scent which isn't overpowering.



How it looks on my skin :
Before:

After:

Can you see the difference? I can see a huge difference. My skin tone evened out and it brought a glow and radiance to it, don't you think so? Doesn't the skin look more polished and refined?

You can control the coverage by adding more where needed. Coverage is more than light. But it's not heavy. It can be considered slightly sheer too.

However, this is for DRY to normal skin types only. Because there is no oil control at all. I get oily T zone after a couple of hours, but it does not disturb me. I just blot it with tissue.
Staying power wise, it is mediocre. Nothing to shout about.

It hydrates my skin very well because it is for drier skin types and i love its texture and its colour. I also love the radiance and glow i get from it. It looks so natural like a second skin.
So far i've had no break outs from it.

It is fairly easy to remove to, just with a makeup removing cream and a foam cleanser will do.


Rating: 9.5/10.

It's almost perfect, the best BB cream i've used so far.

Introducing Re:NK in Can you Hear my Heart Korean drama

Can you Hear my Heart is now up to 28 episodes.
Just two more episodes and it'll be ending.

Kim Jae Won is great! so is Hwang Jung Eum. They are so cute together.


The drama,  heavily "advertises" Re:NK, a Korean skin care brand!
Kim Jae Won is the director of Re:NK in the drama. With his pasty and "white" face, he is a walking testimony for the skin care brand. His skin is super smooth like baby's bottom and there is not a single pore or blemish close up! His skin is perfect! But it is too casper-like. In fact, it is absolute "white".

Take a look at his oh-so-perfect skin:

My gosh! i can't believe what i've been seeing. His skin is just too smooth. And seriously, there are no pores visible at all on all his close up shots. Even Hwang Jung Eum, with her radiant, smooth and healthy looking skin, close up shots made her pores visible.
He should be crowned king of porcelain and flawless skin! there is no maiden comparable, seriously!



Here are some of the shots from the drama with the backgrounds of Re:NK in them.

Re:NK has a few skin care lines under its umbrella:


Their whitening line, cell luminous:

Face up line:

Essential Moisture Line:

Extra Moisture Line:

Skin Renew Line:

Time Lab line: (to turn back time for your skin?)

Sunscreen UV line;

Men's line:

They also have make up products but i did not get the details on them.


The whitening cell luminous line seems to be the more popular line. And i would love to give it a try too.


Their spokesperson is Ko Hyun Jung:

She is born in 1971, making her a beautiful woman of 41 years in age.
she is super gorgeous for her age!
I would suppose than Re:NK serves to cater to the women above 35. As such, the products may be too rich for younger skin types.


Do let me know if you have tried out Re:NK's products.............

Snail Creamzzz................... review + rambling

 it is now the snail cream craze going on in Korea. There are so many brands coming out with snail creams and i have not tried them all.

Here's little overview on the benefits of snail cream:
(taken from http://www.acnescarscream.com/heal/81237-1129.php)
When applied to clean skin, the snail serum will fuse with your skin cells and:
* Promote the natural healing processes of your skin.
* Enhance the skin's ability to recover from the effects of dangerous agents and traumas caused by accidents.
* Dissolves dying cells, and abnormal keratin plugs, and uses their amino-acids and other elements for the rebuilding of healthy molecules to replace blemished skin.
* Triggers the orderly repair and regeneration of flawed and sun burned skin cells.
* Promotes the development of the water holding carbohydrate molecules within the skin.
* Improves the capability of skin to emit antimicrobials and kill microbes.
* The bioactive ingredient is enclosed in liposomes for deep penetration into affected cells and slow delivery to guarantee your cells are furnished the bioactive molecules up to 12 hours after application.




I thought i'd do a review on 2 brands of snail care that i've been using........
1. Elishacoy: skin repairing snail cream, skin regeneration
2. Secret Key :Snail + EGF repairing cream


Packaging, size, description
Comes in similar coloured transparent/white tubs with cocoa lids. Both in heavy glass material.

Both are 50g tubs :

Elisha's has a description on the back in English:

Elisha's has 91% snail extract, but i'm not very sure about SecretKey's. I remember reading it in their official website somewhere in the Q&A section but i can't seem to find it anymore. If i remember correctly it is about 70-85% or so snail extract. So the percentage of snail extract is considered high. Secret Key's comes with EGF too! I'll update on the exact amount of snail extract once i look it up.



Ingredients:
Ingredients list for Elishacoy's:

It has slime extract that boosts skin resilience and flexibility and forms a healthy moisture barrier over the skin. Contains adenosine and peptides to enhance skin density and glow to prevent skin cell damage and strengthen skin. Hyaluronic acid, aloe vera and 12-tea complex provide ample moisture and nutrients and enhance the moisture retention capacity of dry skin that easily feels tight . Phyto-TF, an all natural plant extract, protects and calms tired skin.

Secret Key's ingredients list:
Nada! sorry i can't read Korean. But it sure has EGF and Snail extract!



Price:
Elisha's i bought at 22500wons but it they reverted back to the original price which is about 45000-49000 wons now. They gave me free samples of their snail mask and eye masks........... good value.
They've also come out with snail essence and eye balm now.
Circled in pink below:

price for secret key's:

i got it as a set with full size toner, emulsion, eye cream, essence for about 77000 wons. Very good value considering that they are large full sized products. It also came with freebies such as the hydrogel mask sheets and sample sizes of the products.
For the cream alone it is on 53% sale at 9900 wons and this has been going on forever! The original price is supposed to be 26000 wons but it has yet to revert to the original price.



Texture

 Elisha's is a thin almost emulsion-like cream in white that spreads ever so easily because it isn't thick. It's like a gooey pudding cream.

It absorbs pretty easily too.

The scent is a mild creamy scent. nothing overpowering. Overall, pleasant.



Secret key


Presents a thicker and richer white coloured cream. 

It's much more thicker than Elisha's and you just need a little as it can be quite heavy for oilier skin types. I have dehydrated combo skin and i find that i only need a little to spread all over the face. The scent is strongly perfumed. My skin did not react to the scent. The cream somewhat calmed my easily agitated skin as snail extract is a natural anti-irritant and is good for acne skin types.
Again, it comes with a gooey texture thanks to the snail extract.


My experience
I've been using both alternating between them over my Hera skin care usually at night. I prefer to use Secret Key's at night because i find it much more oilier. Elisha's is a lot lighter in texture.
Snail creams gives a somewhat mattified velvet finish to the skin.

Both snail creams give a temporary effect of whitening and evening out skin tone. They also gave a "lifted" "tightened" feel to the skin! It is anti-aging! Secret Key's provide a more bouncier fuller feel, this would be because of the EGF ingredient perhaps.
I don't really have acne scars so i cannot testify as to whether they help in lightening them.
Did it refine my skin texture? I still don't see any of those effects yet. Perhaps i need to use a little longer.

Which do i prefer?
Secret Key!!  I did try out the whole line of secret key's: toner--> emulsion--> essence-->cream--> eye cream
I'll tell you more about the effects of using the entire line later.
Although secret key's snail cream was oilier and heavier and much more perfumed, somehow my sensitive skin preferred this over Elisha's more natural one.
Secret Key's doesn't dry out and "pull" my skin as much and it felt more moisturising. Elisha's really pulled my skin a lot and it left me with taut pulled skin.
Secret Key left me with bouncier and juicier skin. It seems to lift sagging skin too. It must be the EGF ingredient in it.
You can see from the pics above i have used much more of Secret Key's snail cream. Elisha's tub is still pretty much full!

What propelled me to purchase Elisha's was their ingredients list and the description:
"slime extract that boosts skin resilience and flexibility and forms a healthy moisture barrier over the skin. Contains adenosine and peptides to enhance skin density and glow to prevent skin cell damage and strengthen skin. Hyaluronic acid, aloe vera and 12-tea complex provide ample moisture and nutrients and enhance the moisture retention capacity of dry skin that easily feels tight . Phyto-TF, an all natural plant extract, protects and calms tired skin."

Reading that you'd thought that it'll be good for sensitive, easily irritated skins and provide ample moisture to dehydrated skin.
Alas, but it failed in all ways. It made my skin taut and dry. I'm not sure why. Having contained all that calming non-irritating and moisturising ingredients really contradicts the way it made my skin feel. Sad

Anyone out there had much better luck with Elisha Coy's snail cream?


However, i must add that Secret Key's, although preferred over Elisha Coy's, still gives me a taut and pulled feel. I wonder if all snail creams will this way. So i'm not particularly liking or favouring snail creams for now. I do not like how they pull my skin so.

ps: i'll not give up on snail creams yet and try other korean brands!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those who are Elisha coy's natural ingredient fans, it's snail line is having a sale on gmarket:

Limited edition repairing snail cream packaging 50g tub
skin repairing snail essence 40ml
snail repairing snail eye balm.




Secret Key has come out with a new Gel cream version
i suppose it'll be less heavier and oilier than the cream i'm using