Obsessed with Asian/Korean Beauty Products Vol 6

[FrustratedFrugal]

Past volumes here.

I tried to post on the previous thread and realized that it was full.

Anyone still around?

I have a parcel from Korea waiting for me at the post office. Can't wait.

Ah well the non prestige ones from Lululun are utter crap. I ordered the Gold/White Prestige ones last week as recommended by someone else on here but they might use methylparaben, I'd have to check. I'm not completely anti-paraben and though prefer not to have them, methylparaben is a low offender on my list if it's at the end of an INCI in a non-daily product. Be warned though that some of the My Scheming ones, not the ones you picked I think, have mineral oil expensive mistake. MS and L'Herboflore both use methylisothiazolinone as a preservative instead which doesn't even protect against fungals (I've seen some nasty moldy pics here and there) and is also shit for sensitive skin. I think it's more likely that I reacted to that at random (since it's not the same in every mask) than the fragrance, or a combination thereof.

Well you have the us.cosme.net which is in English but doesn't really show much of the rankings, just the semi annual ones, but if you go to the Japanese cosme.net and switch on the Google translate you can see the rankings per products week by week based on sales with lots of user reviews, they have seperate rankings for a whole load of categories. The anti-aging category has a variety of products but there's a separate mask ranking too, etc. Interestingly enough you often see a lot of WB brands pop up and hardly ever a Korean, but I like them as an indicator of what's new and catching on in Japan since they're quite obsessive about it .

Hello everyone - time for an AB update! After a year I am finally coming to the end of my pot of Mizon snail cream - I do love it, it doesn't break me out so I think I'll buy again. I still have battles with PIH, scarring and cysts - but my skin is looking clearer at the moment.

I have tried out a couple of primers - the Etude House baby choux in Peach and the Etude House Beauty Shot Face Blur. Out of those, the baby choux works better for me - it makes my skin look creamy, stays put and seems to even everything out. Plus it's cheap! About £6 on eBay. However it is quite pale - if you have a medium skin tone I think it wouldn't be for you.

The beauty shot face blur has slightly less coverage and gives a shiny appearance in my opinion - not 'dewy', more 'all over shine' - which isn't so much my thing. It seemed to make my make up wear faster, too. But it does even out skin tone, so there's that.

Next challenge is to work on the 'tretface' which has appeared since I upgraded my Tretinoin to 0.5% twice a week. Not quite sure how to do that without clogging my skin - anyone have any suggestions for nice light layers of moisture that haven't broken them out?

Botemp it's often so hard with these AB INCI lists. That's why I thought I'd try the My Scheming, though I think that I'm going to wait till we get back from holiday as they might not arrive on time.

Oh oh I sense cosme.net is a rabbit hole I could waste spend a lot of time in...

Newbie to this thread, hi everyone. On here to see what products people have success with for large pores / red tones and generally annoyingly oily tzone but maturing skin!

No wish to hi-jack the thread which seems to have graduated beyond BB creams but posted on a separate thread & didn't get much of a response. I bought Missha M Signature BB cream in 23 natural yellow beige. It is too dark for my fair neutral skin tone. Thinking of Missha Perfect Cover in 23 has anyone used it. Other than that one of the BB creams that seem to suit all skin tones Skin79 or Lloeie. Please can anyone advise my skin is combination dry.

botemp you were right, as usual. Most of the My Scheming masks do contain mineral oil , including the HA black one. Strangely enough the black pearl doesn't, so I ended up ordering a box of just those, as I found someone who promised faster (free) delivery.

I still have one Casmara mask. I had a huge insect bite on my cheek, so though I was planning to use it last week I didn't want to take a chance...

Did I say, about a week ago, that I was done with summer beauty shopping?

wombat I don't have your type of skin and haven't used tret, but I do use retinol 1%, and when I sometimes get dry patches on my chin, I use Clarins Lotus Oil. I recently received GWP the Caudelie Vinosource Riche cream (very thick), and that also helps. I try not to wait more than ten min after applying the retinol and then continue with HA serum etc. I've also read that some ppl mix tret with moisturizer. Maybe that helps?

bobble I ordered a skin79 BB a few years ago (I have medium light skin), but found the colour very yellowish/ gray, so never really used it. I use Clinique CC cream in medium light which for me is a perfect colour match (the colour changes slightly after a few min, so you have to wait a bit to judge). I have normal-dry skin.

Yes, Aurora, AB INCIs are a bit of a minefield. I think I'm a bit complacent as WB brands who say no parabens, no mineral oil, etc. tend to avoid a set of common controversial ingredients so you sometimes miss it. Mineral oil is often termed as something else which is even more frustrating. There's a lot of faux 'natural' in AB, especially in K-Beauty unfortunately and it only seems to be getting worse now that it's a trend. Japanese consumers seem a tad more critical overall but I've come across some odd ingredients on there too.

I'll let you know how the Naruko masks I ordered turn out since they seem to be free of a lot of controversial ingredients although I'm yet to pinpoint what exactly they use for preservatives . I think it's hardest with sheet masks as they are relatively low cost items so not much money is spent on elegant formulations, etc. I also get a little complacent when the prices creep up, I still want to try the Minon Amino Moist Masks which on paper sound absolutely perfect for me and are highly rated but at €4 each I struggle to justify the price.

Welcome Chicinwellies, I'm not exactly oily but have some enlarged pores in the nose area. Others had success with CosRx BHA but for me Paula's Choice BHA 2% works far better. For redness anything with 4-5% Niacinamide will help for evening out skin tone.

Bobble I think you should easily be able to get a (deluxe) sample on ebay in that shade for a few £, Missha samples are easy to get on there. Like Aurora though, I find the yellow tones quite gray, and the pink tones too ghostly when I was able to see them in a physical store recently. I think it's because the Asian beauty standard is to appear fairer but it could just be down to the fact that I have neutral undertones so I'm difficult to match.

Maybe a stupid question, but are Korean BB creams that much different from the WB versions? I've never been overly impressed by them or CC creams but it may just be me since I don't get on much with most foundations either.

botemp I agree re the INCI and one has to keep checking as formulations change.... And well, horse oil is natural, after all

Don't know if the Korean and WB BB's differ that much, besides in terms of colors. I haven't looked at any new ones in a couple of years since I'm so pleased with the Clinique CC. In general I found BB too thick and mask-like. I use CC for very subtle effect, mainly to even out tone and brighten (no make up make up or if I'm lazy or have no time), or otherwise still have 3/4 bottle of the old YSL Touché Eclat.
On days I don't use either I sometimes use one of those Guerlain perfecting powders. The effect is very subtle but noticeable.

Hey botemp - if they are the same gold white Lululun that I have then yes, methylparaben is the second to last ingredient.

I received a free Minon Amino Moist mask with the July issue of Voce magazine (Japanese magazine) - I haven't tried it yet.
This issue also has an article on the 60 best sheet masks

kiwi sounds like an interesting article ;)
In Japanese, I assume? What are the top ten?

Ooh kiwi I'm curious too on the top ten and how you like the Minon mask when you try it. I just looked up the website for that magazine and am now intrigued by the Queen's Premium Masks that are highly rated by them, I have yet to find a full ingredient list but the promise of no fragrance, no alcohol, and no parabens while full of anti ageing properties for a relatively low price sounds great. Unfortunately I haven't found an international seller yet but since they're new I'm assuming they'll come soon enough.

Ooh two parcels in two days :) I have my Hadolabo cleaners now. Think I will try those for a couple of weeks and see how my skin reacts before adding anything else new. Those who double cleanse, do you do it morning and night or just at night? Any other tips? The instructions are all in Japanese (I hope I actually have the right thing here, they could have sent me any old thing.....)

Latest samples: TonyMoly My Sunny Perfecting Sun Block, Etude House Moistfull Collagen Cream, Etude House Moistfull Collagen Water JellyCream, TonyMoly The Fresh Phytoncide Pore Gel Cream, TonyMoly Prestige Jeju Wild Ginseng Cream, Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint. No idea what any of these are, off to Google :)

I only double cleanse in the PM and only if I've used SPF or base, so not if I've stayed home at the weekend or so.

Thanks Aurora :) I don't think I've felt this excited about washing my face since using those awful washing grains from the Body Shop in about 1988!

Keith - did you get the Hada Labo oil cleanser? I'm using it now and it's good, really does the job and emulsifies well.

I was running out of low ph toner so I went western and bought Thayers witch hazel rose toner

I am super impressed so far, it's ph 3.5 and alcohol free plus it has some aloe so it feels hydrating.

Keith you were the oil cleansing virgin weren't you? Do let us know how it went!

I'm the same as Aurora, double cleansing only when there's enough makeup and/or SPF on there to warrant it. Most mornings I don't even use a cleanser and stick with water only. It's much kinder to my skin but I think it'll be a different story if you're oily.

Does the Thayers smell nice Lumpy? I've been on the lookout for a nice rose water toner for a while but the majority either have awful ingredient lists, are seriously overpriced, or don't really smell of roses.

It smells fresh, rosey and witch hazelly, which I really like. I've just used it to swipe off last nights residue.

The ingredient list is lean and clean too.

I'm a sucker for anything smelling of (real) rose!!! I had one of those cans of Melvita rose mists, but for some reason it made my face break out in red patches???

If you like rose this spray is gorgeous. I use it to mist as an additional hydrator or spray it onto a cotton pad.

I'd looked into the Melvita one but like so many others it has Sodium Benzoate in it which when combined with Vitamin C can form Benzene which is highly carcinogenic (not random scaremongering, actual fact). It actually really bothers me that this isn't mentioned on packaging at all as it's not really common knowledge.

I used to really like the Santa Maria Novella rose water (though I mostly used it to iron with) but that has a lot of odd ingredients, although I haven't checked recently as they must have reformulates since some of those ingredients were restricted by the EU.

A 100% distillate sounds good Lumpy but how reliable are those Amazon INCI descriptions really? The company website is of little use unfortunately.

Initial report back on the Hadolabo cleansers - I've got the Gokujun cleansing oil and the matching foaming cleanser. Have only used them over a couple of days so far so can't report on any real effects yet.

Very impressed by the cleansing oil. My skin is oily but sensitive and I was worried that the cleansing oil would be heavy or gunky. It's not either, it emulsifies beautifully and cleans off really well. I haven't noticed any sign of my skin being greasier after using the oil.

The foaming cleanser I'm a bit more ambivalent about. Loads of people raving about this cleanser on the internet. However, my skin felt quite tight after using it as a second step, and was crying out for moisturiser more urgently than it did when I washed with my old cleanser (good old Simple soap, on a recommendation from a nurse friend years ago). I certainly don't feel that I want to use it on its own.

Going to give it a couple of weeks and see how my skin looks. At the moment I'm double cleansing in the morning too, but ideally I'd like to find a cream or gently foaming cleanser that I can use on its own in the morning in the shower. Not going to mess about introducing anything new at the moment though until I see how the double cleansing works out.

Keith, I really like Cosrx lox ph good morning cleanser, particularly used with a bubble net. I use that in the morning after a swipe with some micellar water, then double cleanse each night.

how annoying botemp !!! And one would think it was possible to somehow trust organic brands.... Ah well, that will be the last time I buy something from them.
I guess I should be grateful my skin reacted to it then, haha!

Aurora and botemp - the masks aren't categorised from 60 down to 1. Rather they are just 60 of the best sheet masks (I'm not sure who decided they were the best) and are divided into various categories eg. moisturising, whitening, lifting etc.
It's interesting but overall there aren't many that are in the office range I'd pay ie. Under ¥100 per mask.
Plus I'd prefer to analyse the ingredients myself so I know what I'm paying for

How's everyone doing in the heat!

My OST serum arrived and I am really happy with it, it has a satisfying tingle on application. I am using my sap serum in the morning and the ost in the evening when I can bugger about with wait times.