Obsessed with Asian/Korean stuff - taking your skincare to the next level!

[FrugalFashionista]

Asian and Korean skincare products seem to be a big thing in skincare and beauty right now.

Interested in the following?

• finding a great sunscreen
• tailoring a multi-step ritual to your skincare needs
• talking about geisha beauty rituals
• learning what snail slime, bee venom and starfish have to do with beauty
• plumping up your skin with sheet masks and sleeping masks
• experimenting with essences

Please come here and share your questions, experiences, links and best shopping tips!

Misss, I've been re-using too.

I have a sample of the Lioele waterdrop sleeping pack waiting upstairs for me...it was meant as an incentive for an early night instead of mooching about t'interweb browsing reddit, ebay and looking up beauty products...that went well

Frugal I am! It's divine. I can't believe how my skin felt this morning. And I've had no sleep (newborn). A random bloke at toddler group commented on how much better my skin looked this morning. It's far from perfect but it must have looked different.

Having said that I've never used any sleeping packs (I'm a novice) but am very impressed. I also only used half of it last night and have used the second half tonight.

I've ordered the full size Missha Time Revolution longer name borabit ampoule after trialling it using the 20 piece samples from eBay. I love it!

I'm fully on board with the lighter more watery things doing my combination skin way more good than overloading it with heavier western products. Even the Mizon snail repair eye cream is really light weight in texture. My skin is loving it and I usually get some serious hormonal acne around this time of the month but nothing, a tiny spot that was calmed over night but that was it.

The Benton Snail Bee essence is amazing, it really smooths my skin out and I feel like it helps let the Time Revolution do its stuff better. I can't say how but both combined are really working for me!

I wish my CosRX toner would hurry the hell up since I ordered it at the same time as the Benton and the Time Rev samples

Can't wait for the starfish cream too!

I want my packages to come. I'm in deep post envy here. I'm going out tomorrow so I expect they will all come tomorrow. I want snail gel and starfish cream!!

Well I went to bed with the mizon night mask (thanks for the tips frugal! All good except I've already new woken up twice by screaming 1yo and have been up for an hour now, so no wonder my skin is so tired looking.

Next purchase - I want to order Hada Labo. I can find many super hyaluronic acid moisturising lotions in ebay or amazon but few that contain the word gokujyun - is this a different product or the same thing?

Ilovetosleep awww my sympaties, that sound like a dreadful night. My Hada Labo here. Let's hope you'll sleep better tonight!

Sorry about atrocious spelling, still half asleep.

Questi0ns that's fantastic - a compliment at a toddler group , you are in the AB hall of fame now! Sulwhasoo is my dream sleeping mask, just have to figure out how to get it past customs.

I did about an hour of parperwork last night re Italian customs and filed in the documents. Today is a national holiday so nothing is moving. My poor snail bee is there waiting...

Amazing- you make me excited for my Benton snail bee essence to arrive. It was dispatched on the 21st. Although now I'm wondering if o need something else to go with it, like the Missha First Time Essence or Missha long name ampuole.

I found out that a work colleague is also a kb junkie, got into it on a trip to China,she loves sulwhasoo and get this-HAS A FRIDGE FULL OF SHEET MASKS! She may be my new bestie.

Well, the lioele sleeping pack felt really nice last night when I finally put it on. Just a little thicker than water consistency & absorbed with no stickyness...but...I've woken up to 4 or 5 little white headed pimples & that's the only new thing I've used There's still some in the sachet too but not sure about using it now.

On the plus side, my face is lovely and soft!

Wahoo, the post has come! Hello Laneige water sleeping pack, Scinic propolis ampoule, Mizon good night sleeping pack and Retin-a. Also had some interesting samples, but I might wait for my breakout to settle down before I try anything.

Your post comes early Wombat Ours doesn't show up until 2pm ish usually.

I'm interested in what you think of the propolis ampoule and will look out for updates on the retin-a too. I still can't decide whether to try it

Chester, definitely try the Missha Time revolution essence. You can get 20 samples for under a fiver on eBay. I think the routine order is cleanse, tone, essence, ampoule/serum, eye cream, moisturise

The Postie arrived with a little something for me too. Étude House Wonder pore corrector and rosy tint lips and five samples I ordered of Miissha BB cream to test shades from SingSing Girl all arrived at the earlier date estimated with no less than five samples. One of the samples is unknown as there's no English.

The rosy tint lips so far is great, I'm normally a Clinique chubby stick girl for daytime lippy, I want something light, subtle and easy to slap on. Chubby sticks are £17.50 this stuff £5 and I love it. Will see how long it lasts today although I have already got a lippy stain on my coffee cup so ...

Unknown sample is the bottle shaped one on the left if anyone knows what it is?

ooh I have the exact same mystery sample today MrsGuyGarvey! Anyone? The CosRX AHA/BHA toner has arrived

I have stayed in and I am now hanging around door ready to pounce if postie chaps...

Ooh so many parcels arriving! Am still waiting on Starfish, and am going to order the hada labo today.

So, I wore Mizon good night sleep mask last night, over boots p&p serum and my light REN daytime moisturiser. I so want this mask to be a favourite product and I'm definitely giving it another shot, but my face is so dry today! In fact I am having a bad face day :( I don't know if its the sudden cold weather, or the LRP Retinol, or the fact that I have introduced quite a few drying products over the last few weeks (AHA,BHA,Retinol) and have yet to find a moisturising solution effective enough for me. Today my boots BB cream seems to have disappeared within a couple of hours and left my with patchy bits of flaky MAC mineralize powder. I usually look quite glowy with that combo! I did leave off my City Block which I guess was another moisturising layer of sorts - frankly no chance the sun will get any rays past these clouds today.

I think my skin is just seriously dehydrated and I Know I need to drink more water. But I flit from day to day unable to establish exactly what kind of skin I actually have!

I'm currently tempted by Benton Snail Bee Steam Cream and Missha longer name essence or ampoule. But on the other hand I'm still not convinced the Asian products are working for me (but they work for so many other people can this really be the case!?) I also want to try Hylamide (saving up boots points for that one) And a Vit C serum.

Make up wise I am looking for a primer (can you let us know how the Pore corrector is MrsGuyGarvey)

Also keep flicking between this and the CH thread which isn't helping me narrow anything down!

Ilovetosleep are you sure it is not overexfoliation? Sounds like physical exfoliants and retinoids together are maybe compromising your barrier. Ime you first have glassy smooth skin, then it goes rough and irritable. After retinoids, many people experience extreme dryness (that's why I am reluctant to use them) - you might be able to slather on the heaviest-duty moisturizers out there, the Mizon stuff is probably too light. It might be smart to go slow with the acids and exfoliate less frequently? I overdid BHAs in the past and my skin became angry, red, flaky, dry and extremely reactive.

Unknown sample: Missha Cho Ba Yang essence or similar?

Thanks frugal. I think the Mizon stuff is much too light for me, you're right. Shame I bought so much of it! I have starfish to come - is that much the same consistency? I think I might shelve the retinol for a while and return to it when my skin feels more balanced. I also thought maybe instead of doing my Nip & Fab glycolic every AM and the salicylic every PM, I might just do it in the evening but alternate the two products? They're both pretty mild as far as acids go, I think.

Amazing and MrsGuy is the mystery sample a Sulwhasoo one? Check out the design of the packaging here can't tell what it's a sample of, though.. Alternatively it looks a bit like this Missha Golden snowflake essence reviewed here

Ilovetosleep Sorry to hear the Mizon isn't working out for you yet. It does sound a bit like retinoid dryness to me - perhaps you need extra moisture to combat it, or to introduce retinols more gradually? Maybe an extra layer of moisturiser under the Mizon? A thicker cream like the Benton one does sound like a possible option. However don't give up on the starfish - I find it quite moisturising, and it also layers quite well with the Mizon snail gel under it. It's a thicker texture (but still fresh and non-oily - 'bouncy', sort of), and seems to keep my skin dewy for longer. Maybe a hyaluronic acid essence/hylamide thing under it would attract more moisture to the skin.

Sleep the acids slough off dead cells by loosening the structures that bind keratinocytes together. There is only so much you can exfoliate, the base cell turnover rate is the limiting factor, and if you exfoliate quicker than you can regenerate, it is not going to help. Daily AHAs was overkill to me, I scaled back to twice a week, and now I think I have a nice balance. I use very weak BHAs every two days. My skin stays clear but I don't get that awful tight dryness I got back in 2013. Retinoids are a commitment, some people get minimal side offects, others major ones. I believe going slow and introducing new things gradually works best. Here is a good brief overview what AHAs, BHAs and retinoids actually do. It might be that when you skin overcomes the extreme dryness, the lighter weight stuff works again.

Lucysmam that sounds like a wrong product for your skin type! I get whiteheads from products that are too rich/occlusive! It sounds like you won't need this type of product!

Ohwhat I also discovered that I have a RL friend who is into AB and has been doing it for a while. Have not checked her fridge Super exciting!

Btw I just saw a Vichy Aqualia Thermal Sleep product displayed at our local pharmacy! See this story. I'm sure we'll have a LRP sleeping mask soon

Loving the unwrapping of the parcels!

We are celebrating a national holiday, so no postal services today, but we had a glorious morning in Ostia Antica exploring ruins that still resemble a living, functioning city. Ancient Romans had bars that look exactly like our neighborhood trattoria and they also had takeaway food - and they spent their afternoons in spas and had elaborate makeup routines...

Yes, I thought so too Frugal. I'll go back to basics for a few days while they clear off. Shame because it was nice feeling on my face.

Hi all, been trying to make my way through the thread to gather recommendations for my shopping in KL in a couple of days and have amassed a huge list!

I've been using the laneige sleeping mask for the last 4 days and I love the sheen my skin has in the mornings. We're in ac or by the sea a lot of the time so even though I have oily skin it needs a little more hydration and this has made my skin feel really good. Also love love the scent of the sleep mask. I prefer this to the bioessence sleep mask in CHs cult beauty box.

I'm going to have a look at more reviews of leneige stuff! Also, any recommendations for BHA toners? In the meantime, my mammoth list which will have to be whittled down somewhat!

Innisfree no sebum miner powder
Goodal waterest toner and water oil
Mizon returning starfish cream
Mizon snail repair gel cream*
Nixon good night white sleeping mask
Dr jart firming sleeping mask
Sulwhasoo overnight vitalising mask
Innisfree green tea
Innisfree wine jelly
Goodalls want night sleep cream anto wrinkle
Tony moly honey appletox cream
Hado labo arbutin lotion with vit C*
OST c20 pure vitamin serum
Benton aloe BHA toner
My beauty diary black pearl mask
My beauty diary hyaluronic sheet mask
Um37 rose Cleansing stick or melting cleansing balm
Mizon AHA BHA toner
Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Borabit Ampoule
Tony moly magic tomato massage (brightening)
Holika holika wine therapy sleeping mask anti wrinkle