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

Lee loo welcome, I'm worried that you haven't fully embraced AB and think you ought to order a few more products

Oh, that advert is amazing! I particularly appreciated the pop art with the woman crying that she couldn't apply it when she wanted, and the slogan - RETINOL. Complicated but attractive. Lichtenstein would have approved, I'm sure.

Has anyone used an eBay seller called iamlove shop? They seem to have the best price on the Cosrx Propolis ampoule that I want, including shipping. Probably works out at about £13. I'm trying to find samples to try it out online but think I may have to bite the bullet and buy the full size.

Does anyone know about the source of ingredients in the snail stuff? I have read varying accounts - some say it's made from snail secretion alone, some say it's from snail flesh itself, some say the snails are squashed to make them secrete? If it's either of the latter, there is no way that this is cruelty free skincare.

Vegan the cushion has a sponge through which the product comes ( by pressing harder you can get more) and the puff sponge is just a flat sponge to apply it. So you have two sponges working together. This way you get minute amounts distributed quite evenly. You can probably do that with a regular sponge too but I am a bit impatient so I tend to get blobs of product... Asian stores sell inexpensive replacement sponges and puffs (missha.de too) so if you just want to try one you can order some when you are ordering somehing else.

I know we have quite a few cushion users on this thread now, come and tell us how you are getting on!

I have put on at least three layers of snail slime already and haven't put on the final sleep-in layer yet. I love Missha Super Aqua Snail stuff, the best fit for my skin so far...

Re snails, not sure how the slime is produced, have heard about snails on treadmills but would not be surprised if biochemists were actually making a bioidentical mucin (ie, something that it chemically like snail slime but is made in a chemical plant). Based on my perfume hobby I know that naturals generally tend to be really expensive and cosmetic chemists have long ago figured out how we get a credible rose and violet to every drugstore. Snail products are huge in volume but still affordable, so I think it could be like dimestore rose water (=phenoxyethanol) or truffle oil. (The truffle part is a single molecule aromachemical made in a plant in New Jersey, not something pig-harvested.) But no real info here. This would be a great Reddit question.

Sleep fingers crossed!

More on escargots

Thanks frugal, must say, you are extremely knowledgeable, you seem to have a real passion for it all, it's good to read your posts :)

Thanks for the advice. :)

Gertrude - yes, there's so many products to try, I ended up making a list of what I'd ordered as I was tempted by so many things and didn't want to order duplicates.

Lucysmam - maybe my cleansers are too drying. Its a bit miserable as I'd just built up a collection of muslins! Oh well, perhaps these Korean bits will be even better?

I've been looking at oil washes, but some (like the Holika Soda one) seem to be based on olive oil, which apparently isn't recommended as it can cause blocked pores. I do like the sound of the Su:m37 one, if I can find somewhere to buy it? ... or maybe something else? ... too many choices!

Thanks Frugal I apparently do use Micellar water too (the soap and glory one) as a first cleanser / on days I can't be bothered to wash 'properly', but I don't really feel clean unless I've washed something off! I'll try and look into the PH balanced information - there's so much to take in, isn't there?

I used the Skinfood honey essence after cleansing and toning today and that really felt nourishing, so I'm happy with that.

Scrambled I've used iamlove very recently. Parcel took about 10 days to arrive, price marked down on package and a few samples thrown in too

NewsreaderChic and I thought I'd been pretty restrained! I'm sure I will be buying more if these work well... or if other people are trying more things.

I have used Iamloveshop and never had any problems. Other sellers I have used on eBay are rubyruby76, Jolse, but my favourite seller is f2plus1, also known as beautynetkorea, they are very reliable, fast shipping and are usually the cheapest.

leeloo, I've been using Skin Food Black Sugar cleansing oil since Weds evening. reddit post in praise of it here. It smells divine! Isn't too oil-slick oily iyswim. My skin's never felt softer after cleansing & I'm still using up my super cheap Wilko cleansing foam as my second cleanse.

Pores seem to be less noticeable - I think this is a combination of everything maybe. The scented-ness hasn't broken me out. &! I only paid a fiver ish for it.

I was eyeing up the HH soda one too but went with this based entirely on the descriptions of the scent that I read & am pleased with it (I've never tried the ocm by the way, always expected oil-slick-ness).

Happy free-range Peruvian snails? The slime is harvested, the wild snails are then released. I am a bit suspicious though because they also mention the substance they extract. I found a super obscure scientific paper, someone has figured out long ago the chemical composition of snail slime, it's a soup of amino acids and long sugars. Not sure whether it is cheaper to harvest it in the primordeal Andean forest or cook it up in a plant somewhere... Another Peruvian export, cocaine, is still cheaper to grow.

I also learned that garden snails have fairly colorful sex lives - Caitlyn Jenner sounds quite boring in comparison

Ok, I think I am going to embrace the Hada Labo love that has been going on and try the Gokujyun HA Lotion 'Light'. I just cancelled my internet page & can't remember what it was actually called so will have to hunt it down again tomorrow though .

Does anyone here have oily/spot prone skin & use it?

Am also going to see if I can hunt down a slightly cheaper sunscreen mist than the Missha one for the time being.

Frugal, I am intrigued by the actual snails being used in beauty treatments as mentioned in your link, but too squeamish to actually google & see what comes up .

What do I do tomorrow night? I'm off out for a girls night so plan on a cleanse, peeling gel, toner and hyaluronic mask before I go. Shall I just cleanse and sleep mask when I get home or do the whole routine again?

I just did cleanse and moisturise plus HA sleeping mask on Weds night Cornwall, it was late by the time we got home & dd to bed. My skin was still fine in the morning. I think it's time consuming to do the whole thing after a night out but the make-up/general daily grime still has to come off

I've been browsing 'Haul' posts on reddit & spied a pumpkin sleeping pack in one...anyone tried it or had a sample?

Lucysmam I have oily combo skin and have been using just the original HAdaLabo. I follow up with a red wine sleeping pack and my skin is great in the morning. I then just wash with a warm flannel in the morning.

My Hada Labo sunscreen is here! All the way from Japan with a lovely note and an origami flower. It has started to rain but I will try it out tomorrow. Already tried a little on back of hand and it makes my city block seem so heavy and greasy. Must finish city block even if it means using it on my neck and chest!!

Thanks Vegan I've been reading reviews of it on and off all night (really should go to sleep!) & it seems the light one was specifically formulated for oily acne prone skin. I might have a hunt for samples of both in the morning to try out

I think I need something a bit more heavy duty around my eyes. The Mizon snail eye cream is nice but too light weight for my current needs. I'm suffering badly with hayfever which hasn't helped but in general I have dehydration around my eyes and fine lines.

Any suggestions? I'm considering the starfish eye cream or the Missha Time Revolution eye stuff since I'm getting on well with other things in those ranges

Amazing I happened to layer the Missha eye serum with the Mizon eye cream. Eye area is more hydrated than usual but I still have some fine lines there. Haven't tried the starfish eye cream but the jar is super pretty

Someone asked about rosacea, a great discussion on Reddit last night.

Thanks Lucys

Decided against Secret Key and bought Tony Moly Galactomyces Essence instead - any experiences?

For anyone interested in peeling gel, I tried the Tony Moly Floria Peeling Gel. Totally different to the Mizon Apple one. This starts to 'peel' as soon as you apply to skin, was quite difficult to rub off the skin as it would stick in tiny little lumps and took me ages making sure I had removed it all. It smells gorgeous though and did leave skin feeling smooth.

Frugal thanks for the link! I've often wondered if I have rosacea, as I've always been prone to flushing and excessive redness after exercise/drinking etc, along with the cystic acne. GPs have been a bit crap whenever I've gone in about my skin though.

Anyway, I can report that the Benton Snail Bee High Content mask is brilliant for highly reactive skin like mine, so I should think that the essence is the same. The only problem is that there have been some issues with contaminated Benton products due to the lack of preservatives. I don't know if the essence was one of the affected products though.

Mizon whitening sleeping pack arrived today, plus a bee cream sample. Think I've got enough stuff to keep me happily trying out for a while.

I'm on the hunt already, ready for ordering next week. Have found this Japanese Kose Fasio sunscreen spray, and a LRP one to look up (but that's French, I believe?).

I also wondered about how something like P20, the apply once for all day protection ones, would fare under make up -I've never tried one to know what their consistency is like though & sunscreen is fairly pricey for experimentation.

Have also found Muji and DHC ones but their spf isn't as high.

Never thought I would actually spend time researching sunscreens...it's another of those things I would usually have just picked up whatever was there sort of thing.

Sorry about spamming S&B with BB cream swatches but just in case someone very pale needs a comparison pic, here are Revlon Colorstay in Ivory, Missha Magic cushion #21, Lily Lolo Blondie, Lily Lolo China Doll, Missha Perfect Cover #13. I'm very pale and cool/neutral toned.

Will shut up about base makeup now