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

Frugal so far I've actually done pretty well so far with the Mizon good night! Have used it a couple of times, and am liking the glowy effect. I tend not to know whether something silicone-y doesn't work for me until I've used it for a month or two - by which time the pores are well and truly clogged! I suspect if I wash this off carefully each morning, it will be ok, but time will tell

Are you supposed to wash off the night masks in the morning? I have the Mizon Good Night White one coming soon.

Cornwall, I just use a flannel and water in a morning as always & my skin has not protested

I'm still mooching...have found some cheap royal jelly serums I'm going to look up shortly -see if they're anything like the propolis ampoule.

I thought so Cornwall - everything I've read suggests you need to cleanse properly in the morning so that the occlusive ingredients are washed off...

Lucysmam never try this at home but when I was 13 and gullible a classmate recommended an anti-acne toner. It was basically vodka. Not a miracle cure for acne obviously!
Wombat oh that's good! Absolutely loving the idea of a propolis serum. I have a major thing for beeswax, so definitely putting this on my list!

Checking back what we discussed on the old thread...
Sleep I've really liked lactic acid products in the past, might have to revisit.
Knittingbat you'll have a lovely stream of parcels. Those eye makeup remover pads sound fab, I use a similar product.
Chester thanks for getting us to 1000 posts. Just wow - when the last thread started, I thought it would fizzle out after five or ten posts!

oooooh, just had a thought, foot peely socks! Bet I can find some cheap ones of those...although I live in flippy flops when it's sunny & that's not ideal for peely feet

Ah, no, no chance of me trying that. Would have to buy vodka for a start & that's a rarity these days!

A great post on Peach & Lily: Korean Skincare - Back to the Basics. No need to buy exactly those products, use what you have, this just gives some general principles.

hmmmm, I'm struggling to find any information about these royal jelly ampoules so think I'm going to skip ordering one of those and keep looking.

Marking my place - ot but had a horrid incident where my phone was stolen .. All my photos and lists and contacts were lost which was worse than losing the phone :/ have replaced it now and happy that I posted my shopping list on the previous thread so I can still buy the bits I wanted to lol

I've been using the tony moly massage pack for the last 2 days and my skin has been so clear and pores a lot smaller. It doesn't last til the next evening though.

I've picked up a few bioessence bits and a whitening essence which is really lovely to pat onto the skin in this heat

Seen lots of birdsnest kits out here - anyone knk what these are and what they do?

Mowglik sorry about your phone. My iPhone was stolen a couple of years ago and it was awful.

I haven't figured out bird's nest yet but here is an intro. When I lived in New York, I enjoyed shopping for food in Chinatown and found the weirdest things there. Bird's nests were actually quite tame as you could buy also bull's penis (sliced) and chicken's feet Apparently one of my favorite markets has a fabulous second floor that is full of sheet masks and cosmetics - I never went there, I had no idea...

Here is a pretty thorough review of one of the bird's nest kits.

I went for the green tea latte cleansing foam off my list in the end. I don't need it at the moment but probably will by the time it gets here.

Mowglic, my phone being stolen would be a nightmare I have that much stuff on it Glad you're sorted.

Morning all, today. Got a parcel with Mizon Apple peeling gel and the long name serum samples I ordered with a bunch of other samples. This time from BeautynetKorea I'm sure I only ordered them last week, so very quick.

I've used the apple peeling gel just on my hand, it has sugar in it although you can feel it, it's not at all scratchy and very light but it's so satisfying seeing all the dead skin coming away. I'm hoping it'll be a gentle way of helping my post retin a flakes.

I'm on day two of the Missha bb cream (No 21) It's very good, I keep using too much a little seems to go a long way.

My Biore 50+ sun cream arrived, way ahead of my other orders which makes me nervous that my older orders might not turn up!?
Anyway, the Biore. It goes on like a dream. Smells a bit like lemon meringue pie, absorbs into the skin beautifully, leaving no trace whatsoever, no white caste, nothing. Amazing. I went on ebay and bought another immediately (I'm a red head so I have to take sun block really seriously!). Ive officially found my holy grail sun block. Would highly recommend.

Oh my god! Parcel from Missha (when I got in from yoga, spot the desperate 40 something trying to stop time ). The samples, samples everywhere. I've barely looked at my sheet masks I was so excited and HAD to come and post on here where people would get it. I'm supposed to be out in 10 mins and I'm still in my yoga kit!

Lucy (prays she's remembered the name right) if you want to get into perfume as well go on the Nose.fr website (it has an English language version). You plug in what you've worn in the past and it comes up with suggestions and you can then buy samples, they do your 5 recommendations for €10 €1.77 postage and packing. Normally you get two extras as well. It is ridiculous fun and really interesting as well because you rate them and then they suggest more. I am trying not to get locked in a cycle of just getting eternal sets of samples failed.

I'm excited now about my Biore Coconut! Wish it would come soon, no point in all this lovely skin care if I slap gunk on top! I'm very fair too, my nose went a bit red yesterday even with the factor 50!

I'm so sad to say this but I think I know what was causing my spots. I do think it was silicones after all which basically means all my new Asian products :( I decided to abandon mizon good night and snail gel until my skin cleared, but yesterday afternoon I applied the biore sunscreen and by the time I cleansed in the evening I had even more red bumps, like blocked pores/little pimples really. And that must be full of silicones to make it so smooth? Does anyone on here struggle with silicones and if yes, how do you find the biore? I love the feel of it, am so hacked off with my face right now...

I've heard great thing about the Korean products from many of my friends. I finally got the chance to try a facial peel myself and I have to say, It was really quite good.

The products themselves are plentiful and great value if you notice the difference in quality. For example, I've found it's much cheaper and better than your average 'own-brand' stuff.

MrSlant, yes it was me! ...no you should not have told me that at all

I shall investigate next time I have some spendy cash, thank you

ilove, that's a real shame The only thing I had a problem with so far was a sample of Lioele waterdrop sleeping pack. Shame because it felt really nice going on, and I could have been tempted into full size, but I woke up to a handful of little pimples.

Ilovetosleep I am very sorry to hear this Maybe you are sensitive to silicones the same way I am to oils? The tiniest bit and my pores clog up - silicones on the other hand are my 'safety' products. Wonder whether within-thread swaps or a sale list here would help you? Again, really sorry, did not see this coming

I am a skincare novice but I have quickly learned that one person's HG can be another's worst nightmare! It seems that one cannot generalize at all, each person is highly individual and different things are problematic to each of us. So please do keep this in mind when reading other people's reviews.

MrSlant Missha samples are fab aren't they? I have so many that I had to organize a different box for them so that everything has a fair chance of getting tested and used up. Although missha.ee is a bit more expensive than missha.de, the insane amount of samples the friendly Estonians send make it really worthwhile. I think it is a great sales strategy - I immediately started liking them and am going to be a returning customer. I also appreciate that they go through the hassle of setting up businesses in Europe and complying with EU regulations.

Newsreader the apple peeling gel sounds lovely! I really like Missha BB creams, they do not suit everyone but are fabulous on me. And I also need very little - alarming really as I have homehow managed to accumulate several tubes of them plus a cushion!

Coconut Biore makes wearing sunscreen fun! I have reverted back to my old Chanel spf 50 sunscreen because I want to use it up because it was mega expensive but I really miss my elegant Asian sunscreens every time I put it on.

Nathalie welcome! My RL friend who is an AB veteran - her Western cosmetics collection is epic too. She says that what hooked her was high-end quality at supermarket prices. My experience so far has been the same!

Newsreader, glad you liked the first glimpse of the apple peeling gel - I have that coming through hopefully soon!

Received the Missha Magic Cushion today, great delivery from Estonia! It looks much more expensive than I first thought but as I'm already wearing make up, I'll give it a go tomorrow. Received a lot of samples including some snail BB cream. Its all very exciting!

Oh I've found you - had a little panic attack there at having lost my favourite thread, although my bank account heaved a huge sigh of relief.

I'm currently using my Missha snail trial pack and enjoying it - I've noticed a huge difference in my skin in the last few weeks, but don't know if it's just because I'm paying more attention to it or the products I'm using.

I'm very lucky I don't really get spots but I have really big pores down the centre of my face and my nose is quite bumpy with the craters. If anyone can help me with something for these that will last all day I'd be really grateful.

I'm off on holiday in July so can't order anything from Korea now because it won't arrive in time, but I keep going back to Missha.de because it comes in a week.

Missha sent me some sample BB creams, the first one I tried was number 21 and I didn't like it at all, was a bit grey for me. But today I'm trying number 23 and it looks really well - I think the coverage is the same, (less sticky) than my Yves St Laurent foundation I wear usually.

has anyone here tried the cosrx bha skin returning emulsion? I got some with my lot of samples and used it this morning. It felt wonderful to put on and made made skin look amazing. Well I think it was that, I have so many layers of products but that was the new one I added this morning!

still impatiently waiting for the snail bee stuff................................................