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!

Bigbuttons- what strength of retin-a are you using? I'm finishing off my tube of LRP redermic r and then going to take the plunge. Where did you order it from?

my c serum is a little more complicated, but I bloody love it. Once you have ingredients it's very easy to do, just requires a little patience waiting for the crystals to dissolve!

chester I use the .1%, it's strong. It's taken me a while to get to 3 days in a row. I get mine from pharmacy geoff U.K. I would start off with .025 if I were you

frugal you asked about shades of th Aqua Petit Jelly, I think the no.1 shade would be perfect for you.
I am in between NW10 and NW 15 depending on brand, and use Missha no 21. I have the Petit Jelly and once blended it's a little too pale for me. I think I should have gone for the second shade.

bigbuttons I've been doing that morning routine with wait times for a few days and I saw a big difference too - would really recommend everyone that uses actives try the wait period where poss and see if that boosts the performance of their actives

Is the Cosrx a-sol recommended as a pH adjusting toner? Just been looking into that and tried witch hazel as a stop gap and thinking to order étude pore freshner to fill this gap

Bigbuttons - I don't use a cream moisturiser in the mornings, I replace it with the Heliocare. I have used the Lettuce and cucumber watery cream under it the last 2 days though (sample) and that was fine. Maybe that's what makes it less greasy for me?

I'm very confused by all the Vitamin C talk. I have a huge tub of Holland & Barratt vitamin C powder that I use in my bread-making, can I just mix a bit of that with water to make a serum? Surely that would be too strong? What would be the best thing to do? And since I have reactive skin, is it even a good idea for me to try it?

scrambled yes you can use that. It might take a while to dissolve. You have to be very patient. There is a good link up thread about a simple serum and the ratios for different %.

mowgilk it's amazing the difference a little wait time can have isn't it? It's funny with the a-sol. No one really knows what it is supposed to do! But bloggers seem to really like it. The woman on 50 shades of snail uses it as a skin prep. She does warn that it might reduce the efficacy of the acids a tiny bit because they are being layered in top of the a-sol.But since she uses it that way and really knows her products I am happy to do the same, especially as it will help reduce wait time.
She recommemds A-sol then vit c, wait 20 then use BHA wait 30 then use AHA wait 30. I find if I start my routine early, put an acid on then go about doing my normal stuff that it is easily do-able.
What people seem to like about cosrx acids is that they are very gentle but very effective.
I put on the different acids throughout the morning whilst I am getting myself and everyone ready for school/work. So I soon as I get up I wash my face and wait 20 mins.

I find the difference they make is so amazing that they are the mainstay of my routine. I could skip the later steps but could never skip the acids!

Well I've just made a batch of 5% vitamin C serum, it's in the fridge now and will see how I get on. The H&B stuff is pretty fine ground, it says it's quick dissolving and it only took about a minute to be completely dissolved. I boil-sterilised everything I was using except for the bottle lid, which I miltoned. Overkill? I hope not.

I'm a pretty keen baker and have made my own face creams etc in the past so I would like to stress that I did not do this in a slapdash way! I happened to have all of the requisite ingredients and dark bottles etc to hand, so thought 'why not'?

Should I use this in the mornings? I think I would like to use it at a different time of day to my BHA, as I'm worried about irritating my skin.

My foot peely socks are here...will try them tonight & see how they peel. Also missed something too big to go through the letterbox - too early to be the Hada Labo I ordered on Friday so I'm guessing it was the bowl/measuring spoons/spatula/mask brush set I bought for my diy adventures.

Scrambled, I too boil sterilised everything before making my vitamin c serum. I don't think it's overkill really - you don't want to put any nasties on your face!

I've been using it in a morning & the bha at night. Not enough time for waiting for two things in a morning here (probably is tbf but always seems rushed).

Thanks lucysmam, I shall give it a go tomorrow morning. Even though I don't use the BHA every night I think I'd rather keep them apart for now.

As suspected I just received a customs charge for the Innisfree products. £12! No way am I buying from them again! Slightly shady eBay sellers all the way now

Last night was sleeping mask-free and I looked very tired this morning. Mostly due to DD2 and her flexible approach to night-time slumbers, but I've had a few awful nights where I still woke up looking fresh and healthy thanks to the sleeping pack. I really want to use them every night, my skin loves them.

I use mine in the morning and my naicinamide serum at night.. My crystals take ages to dissolve I think because of the ratio of crystal to water. 1 teaspoon ascorbic acid to 3.5 teaspoon of water.

I got a parcel from Korea from Jolse-bae! My Cosrx stuff is here! AHA/BHA and Blackhead power, no leaking! It took just 24 days, very excited!

Button thanks so much for your schedule and waiting times tips.

An aphorism from Cosrx packaging:

"Keep all the cosmetic products in order but do not make hassle."

Very interested in your thoughts on those Frugal, I'm thinking about ordering all three COSRX products (staggered though to give enough time to see if I react).

Did you get samples? There were loads in my Jolse order - made me a very happy bunny

Scrambled broken nights are awful, sending you some energy right now ~~~~~

Sleeping packs suit me too, I look far more rested in the morning, my skin feels ready for a new day. Got two new samples (Liole and Tony Moly) to try

The Tony Moly package has a picture of the sun and moon kissing. The full name:
Intense Care Dual Effect Sleeping Pack - Good Sleep Mechanism Technology

frugal looks good!
I have 2 cosrx winging their way to me. Today my sulwhasoo ginseng renewing cream samples arrived. i'm well impressed. they took only a week!

Enjoy!

An article about modern day geisha here, I'm only half way through but it's interesting. According to that, they don't strip their skin with a zillion lotions and potions to remove make-up but apply a barrier instead to stop getting clogged up and opt for much lighter skincare.

Thanks Frugal, I need it! Hopefully I can get some more sleep soon, she's had a nasty cough for ages that keeps waking her but it seems to be getting better - she was only up twice crying last night. I thought only newborns were problematic sleepers, little did I know.

That looks like a great haul, would like to know how you get on with the Cosrx as it's on my list to buy when I've used up my Paula's Choice. I see you've got one of those nose strips too. I got a couple in separate parcels, are they those harsh pore-stripping patches I used to use as a teen, or are they something gentler? I've been debating whether to bin them unopened.

Arghhh I'm so confused. Do we need something to lower ph prior to using a BHa? If we're using vitamin c serum and an acid does the acid go after a wait and on top of the Vit c? Doesn't it take the Vit c off?

Newsreader - I could be wrong but I think it's ok to use a BHA - wait 15 mins and then use the Vit C? I've been doing some research and that's the conclusion I've come to since I won't be using any other actives other than retinol at night but I could be wrong!

Anyone using the CosRx BHA Liquid? What are your thoughts on it? I've been using for about two weeks now but don't feel its doing anything....maybe my skin is too thick anf intolerant to bha

I really like the Cos RX aha/bha Yazzy. My skin is a lot smoother and no gunky pores since I started using it. Something the clearasil and nip fab pads didn't manage. I've really overhauled my routine though so it could be down to that.

I've just found a couple of informative pieces about layering Vitamin C and BHA/AHAs.

Reddit discussion

Snow White and the Asian Pear

I'm sure there's many more too, as we're definitely not the only people confused by the place of actives in your skincare routine.

Frugal I had a sample of the Tony Moly sleeping pack, it's fabulous. Better than the mizon one which I think is giving me whiteheads. I think I'll buy the full size and also the red wine one too.

Nobody responded about the O Hui foam - hasn't anyone else had a sample? Also is there anyone in Newcastle? I've just seen a link to a shop called Mask House

No, I've not had one, sorry Phantom.