Obsessed with Asian/Korean stuff - taking your skincare to level 5!

[FrustratedFrugal]

Are you curious about Asian/Korean beauty products?
Please join us and share your experiences and questions!

Check out past threads for product and vendor recommendations.

Remember, orders of £15 or less are VAT free!

Some deets about myself:

Fair skinned. Blue/grey eyes. Blonde hair. Oily-to combination skin. Early 30s.

jackie you might like the DHC oil then. It really is a lovely oil and smells great too. Only downside is the price. You can pick up 70ml sizes (around £9 on amazon, maybe cheaper on ebay?). That way you can try it without commiting to full size. (Also makes it easier to travel with).

With normal skin you are pretty lucky that you might be okay with most cleansing oils. Some of the more popular oils you could check out:

Innisfree juicy apple
Skinfood black sugar oil
Kose softymo
The face shop rice water cleansing oil

Geordie are you looking specifically for primers or other products to build up an AB routine?

If it's primers I know zero about them - just had a look through my samples to see if I have any primers I could send you but haven't.

If you are looking for other products might be useful to post your current routine/products so we can see what is missing and give you some suggestions.

mintbiscuit very interested in trying a primer as at the moment I only use BB cream and my skin is a little uneven from acne scars.

Other products: a natural lip tint would be nice for the gym.

And I'm always on the lookout for interesting eye shadows.

I might let the other ladies help you out with recs for those Geordie. Make up isn't my specialist subject .

Have you checked the asian beauty subreddit out? m.reddit.com/r/AsianBeauty
It's really useful and gets lots of traffic.

To start you off on the primer search m.reddit.com/r/AsianBeauty/comments/31pniq/asian_beauty_makeup_primerthe_best_and_the_worse/

And lip tints - m.reddit.com/r/AsianBeauty/comments/3pc90d/best_lip_tint/

(Sorry if links don't work. I'm not really sure how to do them!)

Hth

Thanks so much mint. I've just bought Etude House Beauty Shot Face Blur! So excited.

Has anyone tried Peri's Ink lip tint? It's supposed to be like tattooing your lips (slight exaggeration). I just wish there were more color options other than orange, red, and pink. I've settled for Etude House Kissful Tint.

Cannot wait to start my KB stash!!

Do you guys do swaps here?

Hi geordie sorry I dont have that egg pore sample, its a tony moly egg pore nose pack which is different i think

We do occasional swaps if someone mentions they have a product thats not working

I found you again!
Bedtime for me but I'll be back in the morning to read about some snail.

I have just purchased the following, in addition to what I mentioned above:

TONYMOLY Panda's Dream Brightening Eye Base.
ACNE PLASTERS FROM 3M NEXCARE.
SNAIL HYALURONIC ACID LIQUID.

Anyone tried these bad boys?

Found you!
Recent purchases-Saint Peau snail emulsion. Lovely, makes my skin very soft and smooth.
Secret key colour recipe moisturiser gel for dd17 in yellow. Loves it, fresh and moist.
Secret key Snow White cream, which I could actually wear alone, smells lovely, evens out imperfections. Just a bit waxy.
Holika holika 5 second start hyralonic acid. Big bottle, alternate with retinol a.
Waiting on mizon snail gel.
Just a quick question, does everyone wear sunblock every day? Even in the depths of winter when it's been grey and awful for months?

I wear spf50 every day, especially because I use retinA and acids. I have still developed a couple of sun spots, so not sure it will cut the mustard in high summer tbh - I use the Biore watery essence spf that people have recommended on here.

Although maybe I just spread it a little too thinly.....

For some reason my skin has lost its sparkle. It just feels dull. I haven't changed my routine so perhaps it is hormonal? Im thinking of heading into retinol territory to put a halt to the wrinkles that are emerging and to help the dullness. What would you recommend? I already alternate cosrx BHA and AHA every day.

Hi Grin,

I was also alternating cosrx aha and bha and have since tried some retinA too. It is harsher (even the really low strength 0.025%), so I now give myself a few days grace after the retinA with none of the above and then a few days back on the cosrx - I prob use retinA once or twice a week. Otherwise I end up peeling a little.

I still use all the other stuff after and on the days I don't use actives. - serums, etc.

What bargains have you guys bought this week/month?

Come on! You can't get me hooked, then go all silent

Geordie,

Mine are all reorders of things running out:
Hada Labo gunkyjun toner
Biore watery essence spf50
House of Joseon cream

My OST c20 has nearly finished but has oxidised, so useless. Must order some more....

wicked, can you tell me briefly why each product is so awesome? Thanks in advance :)

Not sure if my recent purchases are bargains but I just bought miss flower and mr honey essence oil that I've been lemming for a while - can't wait for that to arrive! Also reordered OST vitamin C, my third repurchase, and Cosrx pimple patches, another repurchase.

wickedfairy just wondering what your skin type is? I really like the sound of the joseon cream but not sure if it's too heavy for oily skin?

mowglik if you are oily I doubt you will like the joseon cream. Also the cosrx rice sleeping mask you could cross of your list (you mentioned it before). I'm testing this at the mo and whilst I love the effects for my retinol ravaged skin, I think the palm oil in it is causing CCs! I'm lemming the miss flower oil too! But it's either sold out or the price is too high. You must report back!

geordie I've been hauling quite a bit this month (even though my skin is still struggling with retinol and I promised myself it was a no buy month )

MBD sheet masks (guys have you tried beautius.com? They have great customer service and selection of masks)
My scheming masks
Lovemore masks
Sulwashoo ex white cleansing foam (omfg this is the best 2nd cleanser I have tried yet)
Freeset Donkey milk aqua gel masks (dammit. The whitening ones work great on me but these ones do not agree with my skin - up for sale if anyone wants them)
Dr jart+ ceramide cream (yet to arrive but I'm on a ceramide buying frenzy at the moment - see next products!)
Skin watchers Ceramide toner
Cosrx honey ceramide cream
Scinic aqua AIO ampoule (bought the honey which is lurvely but a tad sticky so wanted a comparison. Holy cow how big are they?! I've started adding them to my body moisturiser to use them up and my skin is freakin soft!)

Grin if you are thinking of retinol I really recommend the skinceuticals stuff (comes in 0.5% and 1.0%). My skin is pathetic and weak so I've started on the 0.5%. This stuff is potent! However I'm slowly starting to see results - less breakouts, more even skin tone, improved texture.

wicked I've purchased some retin A cream 0.025% on t'internet. Haven't tried it yet but wondered if you had ever tried retinol and, if so, what was the difference in terms of irritation? (Or anyone else that has tried both)

slinky I wear spf 50 everyday - it's part of my routine. Even if I'm not going out. UVA rays are the ones that cause wrinkles and the levels are pretty constant throughout the year. And they penetrate glass! I figure if I am spending time/money/effort on my (aging) skin, I should make sure I don't undo all my hard work!

mint I love my scheming masks - my fave brand after which is MBD and Tosowoong (deep sea). Thanks for the heads up on the joseon and rice mask, I'm still lemming them a little bit though will probably end up buying them and selling on.

I use skinceuticals 1.0 and its strong! I stopped using it over Xmas hols and then used it twice in one week and my skin was sore..I layer it over all my other products atm so it's less potent. Re retinols I use rosette ceramide gel and it really helps to prevent sensitivity post retinol use - love it!

I bought the rosette gel a while back and am going to patch test this week. Slightly concerned about the macadamia nut oil in it breaking me out. Using cerave PM lotion in the PM but need something lighter for AM.

Does it play nicely with sunscreen? The Joseon cream doesn't.

Mowglik - I have dry skin and find the Joseon cream nice and fairly rich. I think it would possibly be too rich if you have oily skin though.

Mint - I have never tried retinol, only retinA. I started with 0.025% and am now on 0.05%. I only use it once or twice a week. I also like to use aha/bha from cosrx aim addition to some nights with no actives, so that is about all I can manage!

Thanks re the joseon cream I managed to get a sample from a nice reddit AB lady so will see how it feels. Despite having oily skin I love rich oils and cream :/

I just opened a sample of cosrx all in one snail cream and was really impressed by it! Really emollient but not heavy at all. May get a few more samples of this to try as a daytime moisturiser

mint I use the ceramide mostly in the pm but a few times I have used it before sunscreen in the morning and it's been absolutely fine. Because it's a slightly sticky gel you need to leave time (2-3 min) for it to sink in but then sunscreen is fine.