Obsessed with Asian/Korean stuff - taking your skincare to level 2!

[FrugalFashionista]

Asian and Korean skincare products seem to be a big thing right now - we are falling in love with quite a few things...

Interested in the following?

• finding a great sunscreen - here's a thread favorite
• tailoring a multi-step ritual to your skincare needs - here are the basics
• talking about geisha beauty rituals - you'll probably need to read this
• 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!

Vol 1 of this thread here

Oooh, that was quick. I ordered some stuff from the German Missha site and they dispatched it 2hrs after receiving my order. Impressive.

I have fairly invisible pores but some foundations really magnify and highlight them. Have not figured out how and why but some super siliconey things do this to me.

If Asian BB cream is too much like a foundation, try a CC cream.

Italy has become a tropical country. Mornings are extremely hot and humid, and every afternoon this week there has been a 4pm violent thunderstorm. Outdoor plans nixed = sheet mask time for me after DC and DH are fed and homework is complete...

Does everyone else use their sheet masks twice? Seems far too wasteful to chuck them when there's so much product on them.

I am looking for something to fade pigmentation marks, sun spots. Can soneone please recommend? I have dry skin type, not spot issues.

Would I be looking at vitC stuff or some other whitening serum? Thanks!

Mitzy- I use my sheet masks twice because there is so much liquid in the packs!

My. zombie cc cream and racoony hydo eye patches arrived today, can't wait to try tonight. However, no samples! Despite a little ad in the packages to say $0.00 to 100 5 samples or 22 bottle samples (roseroseshop). Cheeky buggers.

ohwhatfuckery I have my eyes on the racoony eye masks (mainly for the cute factor). Let me know how you get on!

wicked yes for pigmentation look for Vit C, but niacinamide has been a hero ingredient for me. Arbutin is another common ingredient for fading pigmentation, as is liquorice root and of course AHAs like glycolic acid.

My first korean products arrived today!! The Mizon Good Night Sleep Mask which I will be trying out tonight and Holika Petit BB Watery. The BB looks like it is very very light and pink toned so that may be a let down.

Gertrude I've been using proper pharmacy grade stuff from eBay, starting at the lowest strength 0.025 and still on once every third night

Wombat the raccoony eye masks are DD2's favorite - we don't have them but if she could pick one thing, that would absolutely be it. I also found a Berrisom raccoon sheet mask with placenta, provenience unknown

Thanks Wombat - what actual products do you use please? Especially the niacin... one?

I have some glycolic acid (bravura) already. Was thinking either vitC or something with the niacin.... in it. I have a few sun spots I want to get rid of and generally lighten the freckles I have (lots) to have a more even skin tone.

Also, what order are they used in and when (am or pm) and what are you definitely not meant to do, re combining, etc?? Thanks

Mitzy, yes, I re-use them too. It seems wasteful not to!

I'm just in from Rainbows - head is frazzled from 9 chattering 5-7yo's so plan on a , a sheet mask and finding something to read. Anyone seen any interesting links about?

Newsreader that's how I started out. Worked up strengths and now use it nearly every night. I sometimes break for some Liquid Gold. The flakiness has stopped.
When I was flaky ( sorry I can't go back and see who it was) I used to rub a wee bit olive oil on face then shower. Once out shower I would tepid cloth cleanse giving the flaky parts an extra polish then a once over with toner. My worst outbreak of flakiness hit my cheeks at a time when DP was growing a beard. I had flaky beard rash round my mouth and chin plus flaky retin a cheeks.

wicked Things I have used with niacinamide in:
Alpha h liquid gold night serum (smells weird, has glycolic, and niacinamide in - really effective product but fairly expensive (£40 ish) and not especially luxurious feeling. I will re-buy once no spend June is over.

Scinic propolis serum (got this from ebay, it's lush! 95% propolis, 2nd ingredient niacinamide)
CosRX galactomyces 95 white power essence (just got this today so haven't tried it yet)
Mizon returning starfish cream (a holy grail product for me)
Mizon good night white sleeping pack (bit silicone-y but moisturising)

Lucysmam I'm binge-reading Joyce Kong articles from Refinery29

Someone on these threads used nipple balm on lips, but of course Koreans have inverted the trend...

More on bouncy, jiggly, Jell-o creams

Gertrude you did very well getting it all for that much!

I've been using the Holika Holika Aqua Petit BB cream for a couple of weeks now, and absolutely LOVE the stuff (definitely the best I've tried to date). I find that it looks particularly good if I apply it with my fingers, let it set then use my Sigma flat topped kabuki brush to buff it into my skin. You can then layer it where you need a bit of extra cover, it doesn't cake, so no need for a separate concealer. Who's have thought that a product that looks like its designed for a little girls dressing table could be so marvellous

I'm also really liking the Sulwhasso balancing water and balancing emulsion. I'm using it in the morning after acid toning and vit C serum, and before Biore sunscreen & the aforementioned BB cream. The Sulwhasoo products seem to provide really good non greasy hydration, think I'm going to order a bulk pack of samples so I can fool myself into believing they're not that expensive...

Frugal, I'll take a look. Thanks for the recommendation.

Wombat, tell me more about the propolis serum

I'm going to test my diy vitamin c serum in the morning...still a bit unsure about the oompa loompa thing but figure I'll soon find out if it's going to make me look like I've had a bad spray tan

Sheet mask is calling my name from the fridge...

Gah. I was trying to up my retin a to nightly. All seemed to be going well and all of a sudden my face has had a major meltdown. Terribly terribly sore, red and sensitive and itchy! Even under my eyes. I'm going to have to lay of everything until it calms down. I look ghastly!

Thank you for your help yet again, Frugal - I've decided to try the Sum37 cleansing balm followed by the Hada Labo hyaluronic cleanser. Will report back.

Also sent for a long list of products from Missha.ee and hoping I'll get loads of samples to play with.

I was just reading that link on bouncy creams with much interest because I discovered that my skin reacts amazingly well to the water based products.

After a lifetime of using heavy, oil heavy western products on my dry/dehydrated skin, this is a huge surprise, but the difference is amazing.

Might also order a few Face Shop products; I remember buying loads from them when I was in Seul and really enjoying using them.

Just saw this on reddit; Jill Stuart, a Japanese brand.

No idea if the products are good, but the packaging is AMAZING!

my starfish cream has arrived from cosmetic love after all! Hurrah! And with quite a few samples, 5x tony moly sleep pack and 2x cosrx snail all in one cream
Am just gutted that I chose this morning to test a new BB cream as now I can't try the starfish cream too :(

I forgot to mention earlier...the sheet mask is the remains of the green tea/glycerin I made yesterday, with a little snail gel mixed in. I had to warm it slightly to get the snail gel to melt in (bain marie) but it feels much more like the packaged ones I've been using so definitely need to find a base with the same sort of texture/consistency. I left more moisture in the mask itself as well tonight, I've had it on since posting earlier on & it hasn't dried out yet

(I think the snail gel would melt in better in warm-ish liquid to start with than warm-ed up iyswim?).

And the mix of green tea/glycerin/snail feels nice on my hands too.

Any ideas what else might work as a base, with the same ish sort of texture as the essence on a bought mask?

oh! I don't know where the face came from in there, only just noticed it

bigbuttons I'm having the same problem! Not retin a but overdid the retinol and today my skin started off burny and now have developed red patches around my eyes and on my upper cheeks :( was really looking forward to trying out some new products too..

Any idea how long it takes to heal and to steer clear of normal products?

I am using cetaphil and argan oil and my skin feels comfortable but looks awful

littlemys I was really tempted by a trial set of sulwhasoo but it was ££ compared to other brands..still tempted though. I used the overnight vitalising mask and it made my skin feel lovely and plump