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

They call that essence 'racist' on reddit

I've only been using my vit c serum a week ish...must have a close up study in the mirror soon for reduced old acne marks.

My cucumber mask was nice and refreshing. Still can't get the liquid quite right - it dried out quite fast & didn't feel quite right either. I'm guessing maybe it's the glycerin that gives the texture though & didn't put any in this time.

Wombat I have to say my skin was nice. It looked all shiny but in a good way. No breakouts overnight and skin didn't feel like it needed exfoliation this morning. I use an acid toner in morning if skin feels flaky from retin a. I would need more than one try in case it was a fluke. I will see if I get another sample.

how beautiful is this whitening/anti-ageing cream!

glowing review here

Dafty I might have to try and find a sample too...

Wombat, that cream looks beautiful.

Gosh, some of these bloggers are dedicated. I followed SWATAP's link on buying from Avecko to the fanserviced page and am completely amazed that she taught herself the Korean Hangul alphabet and Korean grammar in order to buy skincare and cosmetics.

Oh Wombat I want that. The pot is even prettier than the starfish pot. I should maybe read the reviews first...

That's a great diagram lucy thanks

Morning all

The postie has just been with my Missha Creamy Latte Green Tea cleansing foam. Would it be really bad not to finish off my old one

I'm impressed with the seal inside the tube - never had a face wash with a seal before (probably because I usually buy cheapies!).

It has a really nice, delicate, green tea fragrance to it & appears v. creamy texture wise. I'll try it out later on (looking forward to taking off the day already) - wonder if it'll foam as much as my old one with it being creamy. Frugal, was it you with the chocolate latte one? Did it foam much?

Also have samples of Innisfree Apple Juicy Cleansing oil, Etude House Baby Choux Base mint choux and Missha Signature Complexion Co-ordinating bb. They like long names, don't they

Meant to say as well -with me going back out yesterday in the sun, I put some more sunscreen on. The Coppertone spf 50 milk I've been using, patted rather than smooshed on over make-up didn't disturb it! I'll be buying some more of that as well as looking at sun hats. Still tempted to try one of the sprays though, if I ever make my mind up which one!

I've been pondering for a while now so would like some opinions please.

We always struggle to find birthday/Christmas gifts for my sister - she pretty much buys what she wants when she wants, has a lot of disposeable income, travels a lot...

Would one of the trial sized sets of products make a nice gift, do you think? They're all nicely packaged & look more upmarket from what I can see.

Or a selection of something...not sure what though

Any thoughts?

The cleansing foam sounds lovely, lucysmam. I adore all things green tea, that's going on my 'products I covet' list I think!

My skin is looking ok today. Still a couple of residual spots but they're shrinking fast, and the PIH scars are definitely fading. This is a good skin day for me. So despite having very little sleep (thanks DD2 ) I'm just wearing a swipe of BB today (Lily lolo, not Korean but I like mineral makeup).

I started using the tea tree essence last night, I couldn't wait. I swear it's behind today's good skin. Funnily enough I think my skin needs even more moisture now - I've switched to the hyaluronic Muji toner and have added an essence to my routine and still feel like my skin needs more. Tea tree essence review to follow!

Lucysmam If she travels a lot I would be tempted to get her a selection of sheet masks. They'd be great for plane journeys.

Ljh Tea Tree Essence 90. Packaging is practical not pretty. Squat glass bottle, dropper lid which has an airtight seal inside. It claims trouble control, moisturising and power brightening.

It's a clear liquid, watery, with a light moisturising feel. It sinks in practically instantly and leaves skin feeling soft, no tackiness. Barely any scent - maybe a slight aroma of tea tree, but you have to get your nose right in the bottle to smell it.

As far as does it do what it says - I've only used it last night and this morning, but already my persistent spots are smaller and I can't feel any breakouts forming. This is practically unheard of . My skin feels soft and hydrated, not greasy. I want to touch it all the time but I'm resisting!

Morning all - woke up to the best skin ever this morning - tried mizon snail gel cream yesterday and wasn't sure of it at the time as it made my skin very shiny but my skin is very even toned and bright and no spots or anything even though I layered on the products

One other thing I did was use a birds nest collagen mask and halfway through I took it off and applied Dr jart radiance serum then replaced the mask to seal it in. Will be doing that more often I think!

Mowglik that's fab! I am so happy for you!

I'm also feeling much better. Last night everything felt pitch back, our big move back home from Italy coming far too soon (in less than a month), Nanny's situation awful, DD2 feeble and not eating, and an overdue work project I am editing a hopeless mess.

Today is totally different: Nanny has a new operation date (Monday next week!). DD2 was able to go back to school and I've been able to focus on editing the book, getting through a difficult passage (never ever write anything without getting the metastructure sorted out first - doing it afterwards is slow and painful).

And I have just received a parcel from Korea! It's the Innisfree no sebum mineral compact. It's über cute, green and rounded in a distinctly Asian way. I dabbed a tiny bit on my nose and it seems very effective too!

Asian Beauty is really great for dealing with life stresses I patted on a thick layer of Mizon Starfish and Good Night last night. They are pretty unbeatable together, my skin is so smooth and refreshed!

Lucysmam my chocolate latte cleanser is not super foamy. SLS is the high-foaming ingredient and if you go SLS-free, you'll never get the same degree of lather, but your skin will thank you. Koreans use a 'bubble maker' sponge with some cleansers but I've been fine using it just as a cream cleanser. I was tempted by the green tea one (love everything green tea, I even make matcha ice cream) but chose the chocolate one because the product description stated that it was meant for dry skin. I like it a lot and DD1 adores it,, my only reservation is that it is probably high pH. But my skin seems to be fine with that.

Scrambled so happy there are no new breakouts, the tea tree stuff is on my list too! Hoping very much that the great progress continues!

So pleased today is better, Frugal. Fingers crossed it's all smooth sailing now.

I like the no-sebum powder too, I thought it would be really white on your skin but it's not. I've found I prefer to use a small powder brush instead of the puff provided. Such cute packaging too.

V quickly, what's Hanbang? I keep seeing some bloggers talking about it but have no idea what it is. Google hasnt been much help for once.

scrambled I think Hanbang means traditional Korean medicine. Often fermented herbal ingredients in the products as far as I can make out.

Lucysmam I think sheet masks would make amazing presents! What a fantastic idea! Trial kits too, but perhaps you'd have to know the person's skin type quite well.

frugal what a hell of a week you've had! So glad AB is coming to the rescue..

Thanks Wombat! That gorgeous cream you linked to was Hanbang, it's what got me wondering.

Thanks for the good wishes everyone!

Wombat the House of Joseon cream is one of those things that instantly makes me feel better. So pretty, and the ad is lovely too

Frugal, I've seen the bubble makers, might order a cheap one as a 'see what it does' thing. I'm not overly bothered about bubbles as such, just wondered if it was bubbly iyswim.

Glad today is going better than yesterday and that your dd is back at school. Will your nanny's op definitely go ahead now or is it a wait and see what happens next week sort of thing?

You sound very busy...baking/packing/decluttering/writing...my head would be frazzled

Scrambled the LJH essence sounds good. I'm sort of torn between trying tea tree or propolis

I'm meant to be cleaning and sorting paperwork today. So far I've cleaned from top to bottom & done some washing. I got slightly distracted by the big mirror so had a good mooch at some of my old (and more recent) acne scars.

There was a rather red one on my right cheek which appears to have lost most of it's redness over the 4 weeks I've been doing this. Most impressed!