Obsessed with Asian/Korean stuff - taking your skincare to level 4!

[FrugalFashionista]

Asian and Korean skincare products are a big thing right now. We love them!

Tailor your routine here!
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
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
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

Orders from outside the EU: £15 or less are VAT free!

Best blogs and other resources
Reddit Asian Beauty
Fifty Shades of Snail
Snow White & Asian Pear
Skin & Tonics
more resources here...

Vol 3 of this thread here, Vol 2 of here and Vol 1 here

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

oooh, peel off lip stains sound interesting! We're just decorating the reception venue for tomorrow - it's as mental here as it was with two exciteable girls

Oh god the clown mask

Lip stain ordered and I have made a note not to send the clown mask to Scrambled

I think I need peel off lip stain - what did you go for?

Lucysmam I went for the cheapest option I could find on eBay of the berrisom. It isn't a shade I would normally go for so will probably look like scrambled's picture as I'm that pale and have red hair

They had the set on roseroseshop cheap (but I didnt check the postage cost). I haven't looked yet to see if there are any other brands so if you find some could you post some links?

I'll have a look later on once I get sorted (hopefully my hair dyed and fake tan done) and post anything interesting I find

I'm at least one page behind y'all but fluider stuff apparently works better in cushions than creamier stuff.

Scrambled good luck with the move!

Thanks Frugal!

Funnily enough on my frantic de-cluttering just now I've found the first Laneige refill that was just that bit too light for my summer skin. I probably won't be that shade again until about February and have worries about the hygiene of cushions, so decided to bin the liquid and have washed the sponge, pad and compact thoroughly. It's now sitting in some Milton to sanitise it.

I hope that will be enough to clean it thoroughly before I add my DIY concoction when it's totally dry!

ooh, just sat down. Hair is dyed (not brilliant but it's ok for diy), hairdresser friend sorted to come and blow dry me in the morning then put velcro rollers in...Manuka Honey sheet mask finally on for 20 before I head to bed!

Still need to fake tan and give my finger nails a quick coat of polish tomorrow.

Anywho - m0gz, I've found lots of peel off lip tints - 99p here but not sure of brand.

1.59 here.

Berrisom here

Think I'll order one of the 99p ones for a play about with.

There are probably others but I just searched for lip tint tattoo for tonight. I'll sit and have a search using different combinations of terms after the weekend knackered already.

I'm compiling my next 'haul' list! What's everyone's must have items or favourite novelty items? I have a couple of weeks to wait for dp to work enough overtime for me to have the same spends as he has to go away but am giving myself approx £50 budget for AB re-stocks, novelty bits and a couple of new things to try out & want to have a list sort of organised.

Scrambled please let me know how your DIY cushion experiment works, I still have a bit of Missha Magic Cushion left (the sponge is drenched and goes on and on) but when it is gone I will sanitize it and experiment with DIY refills. The cushion has been a lifesaver this summer, I have been far too busy for a full routine but have managed to look decent because the cushion is so quick to apply. I've done only one sheet mask in my new address! I also kept the cushion in my hand luggage (=not in the mini plastic pouch) during my flight and it was fine! (They confiscated my souvenir, a 125ml jar of rhubarb rosehip marmalade, so they were pretty thorough.)

Hello again, I was wondering if there are any decent UK toners? And if I have an oily t zone should I be moisturising it? I currently don't

It depends what you want the toner to do? UK toners tend to be more astringent & shrink pores making them look smaller by drying up the oil iirc.

I have very oily skin & have been moisturising - it seems to be less oily now than when I joined this thread

I came back to praise last night's honey sheet mask - my cystic spot has shrunk back to just a(nother) red mark this morning!

With double cleansing you don't need a traditional western toner. An alcohol-free non-astringent one would be ok if you think you need it. I have a Muji sensitive toner which is OK - if I feel like I need an extra cleanse (or if a sheet mask leaves a weird residue that makes me itch) I swipe it over. It's only available from Muji concessions in Selfridges stores at the moment though.

As lucysmam says, what do you want the toner to do? Moisturise, refresh, adjust the ph balance of your skin after cleansing?

Frugal I'll let you know! I'm going to have a bash at making up some custom foundation this morning once I've dealt with the animals kids.

Scrambled, would you like to deal with mine as well? They're very bouncy this morning

That's great that your skin is less oily than it was lucysmam, I'll tentatively start to increase my moisturiser and see what happens. In terms of toner, from what I've read I thought it was necessary in a korean style routine to allow other products to be absorbed better. If it's not imperative then I'll leave it and maybe jump to essence/serums. I've only just started double cleansing but am intrigued to try adding more stages and hopefully improve my skin.

I agree with Lucysmam I have a very oily t-zone and have spent years using almost any product withi he word pore on it, hot cloth cleansing, clarisonic etc all stripping the oil only to get nowhere fast.

Now I'm using a Korean beauty routine I'm far less oily, I rarely see an oily face in the mirror during the day. This is also partly due to the fab zero sebum powder. It takes a while to adjust your way of thinking, but more layers of targeted lighter skin products really helps.

I have a post office card, I'm hoping it's the scinic ampoule that I feel I've been waiting for ages for because I thought I'd ordered in July only to realise I hadn't.

Ah, then I'm afraid that your best bet is K-beauty, LadyErrant. What you're referring to are First Essences and hydrating toner/lotions. I don't think there's anything comparable in western beauty for the first, and I don't really rate the affordable western beauty options for the second.

For hydration Hadalabo is very well regarded, as is Whamisa organic flowers. I have a Muji one which is pretty good and has a less slippery texture than Hadalabo, good as a starter lotion I think.

For First Essences, there are loads! Missha Time Revolution, Tosowoong First Essence, IOPE Bio Conditioning Essence - all have had rave reviews. I have Goodal which is great for us greasy of skin as it contains lotus flower (and smells divinely of lychees!) which has a sebum-reducing effect while helping all the grits slide out when you oil cleanse. It doesn't have the skin conditioning effects of some of the others though so I may get one of them too in a month or two.

And finally, the way to apply your essences, lotions, serums and moisturisers - pat it on! It seems to both apply more effectively, almost pushing it deeper into your skin, but not leave you with a greasy feel like smoothing on can.

Lucysmam they are feral this morning, don't think I could handle more!

I've made my cushion foundation up. I was very distracted by the kids trying to kill each other so goodness knows what it will look like on. Having a clean skin morning so will apply later on before I go out.

News I am loving the no sebum powder as well - I find that I still feel a bit by the end of the day & my face feels ready for a wash but I don't look an oily mess anymore

99p peel off lip stain ordered - will report back when it gets here.

Scrambled mine are giddy and very talkative and LOUD!!! Oh so very very loud!

I've done it. Slightly on the light side (too much Calico I think) but other than that, it's great! Goes on just like a ready-made cushion, good coverage but not heavy, doesn't settle in my pores. Also felt very cool going on - how?!

Really love it. Will do this again. But with more of the darker shade next time!

Lucysmam I ordered a lip stain from your links also, I think the £1.59 ones so we can compare when they arrive.

Scinic honey ampoule is finally here with no leaking, it's a huge jar so should last ages.

I ran out of DIY Vit c serum last week and haven't bothered to make any more, I've been enjoying a faster routine without all the waiting etc, but my skin is t looking as good so I think I need to make some more.

Oh, we can compare m0gz's Berrisom with the cheaper ones and see what the differences are then. That'll be handy.

I'll have a better look on Monday and see what else turns up.

Thanks, that's really helpful

Scrambled thanks for the update! Really looking forward to customizing my cushion.

I ordered my first essence from Missha Germany two weeks a go and it still isn't here