Obsessed with Asian/Korean stuff - taking your skincare to level 3!

[FrugalFashionista]

Asian and Korean skincare products are big thing right now. We love them!
Tailor your multistep skincare routine here! (or see this pic)

Some of our favorite products so far...
Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF 50 Sunscreen
Missha Magic Cushion BB Cream #21
Lioele Dollish Veil Vita in Purple
Holika Holika Petit Jelly BB Cream
CosRx Returning A-sol
Scinic Propolis Serum
Mizon Hyaluronic Acid Serum
Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Ampoule
Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail products & trial kit
Mizon Snail Repair Cream
Mizon Returning Starfish Cream
Mizon Good Night White Sleep Mask
Innisfree Wine Jelly Sleeping Pack
My Beauty Diary Imperial Birds Nest and Hyaluronic Sheet Masks
Innisfree Trouble Care Sheet Masks
Innisfree Real Squeeze Sheet Masks
Tony Moly Avocado Mask
Nexcare Acne Patches

Our favorite sellers:
UK-based Bits and Bobs of Beauty
EU-based Missha.ee, Missha.de
Korean Innisfree
On eBay f2plus1, sing-sing girl, Iamlove, blueprint21
Orders from outside the EU: £15 or less are VAT free!

Blogs and other resources
Reddit Asian Beauty, Fifty Shades of Snail, Snow White & Asian Pear, Skin & Tonics
more resources here...
Vol 2 of this thread here and Vol 1 of here

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

Hi lucysmam, will let you know how I get on with the bb cream and will try to get a decent pic showing the colour on my skin

Welcome GERTI! Wow, you have gotten started some superb products, no wonder that you are a hardcore fan already My snail bee is still in a customs warehouse but I am so happy that these products are helping you! I have only one Korean powder, the Innisfree No-Sebum compact, really happy with that! The peach sake series sounds yummy though, here is one review! And the Biore sunscreen has been a game changer for me, I enjoy wearing sunscreen these days!

I'm just marking my place, I am still following this thread but waiting for my skin to properly repair itself before re starting my korean skincare adventure! I've learnt (and spent!) loads and have some lovely new things to try out but I think I damaged my skins moisture barrier when I introduced too many active products at once and I wanted to give my skin a fortnight of basic skincare and super moisture to get it back to normality.

For now though I thought I'd spread the word that masque bar sheet masks are on offer in store in boots £6 for a pack of three, they're made in Korea but with western branding and the snail one (anti wrinkle) is really nice. Not tried the brightening one yet. Good for a quick sheet mask fix for those of your with a long wait for a Korean delivery!

BTW I've been researching getting the essence elsewhere as it's pretty expensive for K-beauty (but worth it). Has anyone tried Unique4U.net?

I would like to try a buying site like Avecko, especially as the essence is half price right now on korean Memebox which currently works out at about £9. However it's a bit terrifying, especially taking the shipping costs into account. I'd need to ensure that I got free shipping on the products I buy from the original site, so that I can reap the benefits!

Hmmmm, it can't have been reddit I was reading on about fakes...I can't find it on there

I shall keep hunting...

Thanks wicked, will keep my eyes open

Which shade missha bb cream should I get?
I'm celtic pale

And in other news, the only place you can buy Muji stainless spatulas in the UK is... on the Muji website . You can't even order into stores. What the heck is the point of that then? The postage cost is more than the product!

I'll use the black cotton-buds I bought today (anti-bacterial coating) until I can get some spatulas. I hate dipping my fingers in jars, it doesn't seem hygienic.

I am baffled, I cannot for the life of me find the page I was reading about fakes should have saved it!

In other news fancy sheet mask link from reddit - I've looked on ebay but can't find them

Hello all,

I'm very interested in trying out some asian skin care products, but not sure where to start. I have a friend travelling to Korea later in the year so can ask her to bring back a couple of things, but will have to be very specific.

I can't use oil on my face at all as I'm very acne prone, and I'm allergic to parabens. Is it worth trying sheet masks?

I would describe my skin as sensitive, acne prone, but dry at the same time. Any recommendations would be hugely appreciated!

I feel so left out as I'm still waiting for things to arrive!
Australia is technically closer to Korea then the UK but my items take twice as long to arrive (you think a Royal Mail is bad? Try Ausrtalia Post!).

Also just marking my place on the new thread. so happy to see how popular it is, such a wealth of knowledge!

I got a bad breakout since trying the Ã?tude House Collagen Mask so I'm also giving my skin a break! I'm going to continue trailing the Skin Returning A Sol since its supposed to help breakouts but I'm reverting back to my western products for now. I'm absolutely dying to try the rest of my products but unfortunately a sheet mask has let me down! Since having the breakout I researched a bit deeper and apparently they're not great for reactive skin due to the rise in temperature; this can irritate skin and make it breakout.

My Mishha BB cream arrived. I haven't yet trailed it but first impressions are that it is a lot more grey in tone than Aqua Petite Jelly. It's also a lot thicker in consistency, rather like a foundation. It is more matt and might be somewhat drying so dry skins steer clear! I already prefer the cheaper Aqua Petite.

Sorry I can't look back, I'm on my phone. To the poster who was wondering which shade - I'm very pale Celtic and the Aqua Petite Jelly in the lightest shade is perfect, I suggest samples first if you're unsure.

Gouda I have the same skin type and had a bad reaction to a sheet mask so I would be wary. Perhaps try a couple anti trouble ones and see how you get on?

I'm also reactive to oils, have yet to find one my skin can tolerate. Alot of people on reddit with our skin type have got on very well with baby oil as a cleanser, not sure about that one

Euphemia, reposting two old swatch pictures, I'm Nordic pale (cool/neutral-toned NW5-15), normal high street foundations are always a bit too dark, yellow or orange on me. Dr Jart and Missha BB creams are great on me, but if you have yellow undertones, the Holika Holikas may be a better match.

Sorry, cross-posting with Gertrude, go with the Holika Euphemia!

Gertrude hoping that your skin will calm down soon!

Ilovetosleep great to hear from you!

Sorry for the multiple posts, keep getting distracted!
Could anybody comment on my current PM routine please?
I cleanse with effaclar, then apply BHA, wait 20 odd mins and apply a retinol cream. Most nights I don't use moisturiser cause I inevitably break out. (I know, but I'm scared!) I have an aloe propolis moisturiser on order.

Is it OK to use these two actives together or is this too harsh for the Skin?

goodness, how about the snail gel cream. I've had a double check of the ingredients and can see no parabens in there.

I have oily skin but it hasn't made it any worse at all - in fact; I'd say it's less oily now and is very soothing/calming/cooling. I've used it on sunburn and dp's bike related grazes too...it's becoming a bit of a "go to" in this house

Gertrude, it's me faffing about which bb to try (again)! Frustrating not being able to scroll on the app, isn't it!?

Gertrude, so long as the actives are in the right order then I think you should be ok to use them at the same time.

Gouda you should read ingredient lists before ordering and patch test! I checked my My Beauty Diary Hyaluronic and Innisfree Real Squeeze Masks, no parabens listed in either. But with sensitivities, please be extra careful!

Your skin type sounds a lot like mine, I cannot use oils at all, am sensitive, have an unknown cosmetics allergy (MI? bismuth? - not paraben though) and dry. Sheet masks have been very good for me. I get acne from moisturizers but sheet masks suit my skin. Some people get acne from them though so YMMV (your mileage may vary).

GrinandTonic Italian post is even slower... I found on Instagram a fab new Australian K-beauty shop. I love browsing #kbeauty #koreanbeauty #asianbeauty... Will post the name if I can find it...

The Aussie seller I found on Instagram are aniqa_australia and they have this lovely Cremorlab intro kit and many other lovely things...

Hey Scrambled had you used the Mizon snail gel before you moved on to the cream? I think I need something with a bit more moisture and was going to order the Mizon cream but quite often react to silicones so your post has made me think. I've been taking it slowly with the Mizon snail gel and the Mizon white sleep mask and so far so good.

Lucysmam God, I know!
I've took a quick swatch pic which might help you, not as professional as Frugal's but I did my best!

Thanks Frugal, I think they're in the right order but can't be sure, trial and error I suppose!

Thanks Gertrude, is 01 the aqua beige? I might try that one (I'm sure someone will take it off my hands if it's not right ). It doesn't help that I don't have a branded one to try and match to, I've just muddled along on own brands and cheapies for a goooood while.

Have any of you who have had Benton products had a problem with them? I keep being drawn back to their steam cream & snail bee essence but am still wibbling about putting them on my list

Baby oil as a cleanser?! I suppose it would work. I just checked Cosdna and it seems like the Aloe one would be a good bet if you suffer with acne. The original one seems to have a high acne trigger.

Just checked and the body shop one has several high acne triggers, which is a surprise to me because I actually find it really gentle and I could break out if I even look at a chip

Woah, I took a break to watch Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and forgot to refresh - got a lot of catching up to do.

Silverstreaks I think you may have confused me with another poster? I haven't got the Mizon snail cream, because I didn't get on with the Mizon Snail Gel I don't blame you though, these threads are getting huuuuuge and I'm very confused about who's who and what they're using. I think I need another spreadsheet