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Obsessed with Asian/Korean Beauty Products Vol 6

468 replies

FrustratedFrugal · 25/04/2016 17:07

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. Grin

OP posts:
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AuroraPolaris · 16/07/2016 21:22

Lumpy please keep us updated re the serum, as I'm considering it for after the summer.

I've received my Mizon Snail Repair EX eye cream. Have only used it twice though as I haven't finished my current one. It does not feel "lush" like some WB creams but I'm pretty impressed with the INCI and am more interested in long term effects re eye creams.

Also received the My Scheming black pearl sheet masks. I've only tried it once but my skin did look pretty "bright" and felt very smooth the next day even though I was a bit under the weather so I was quite surprised. Now to try it again and establish it wasn't a coincide ;)

Also received the Anessa Perfect Facial SPF50. Off on holiday next week and will try it out then in the hope I don't react to it (though I'm hopeful as I'm getting on marvelously with the normal silver version).

botemp · 17/07/2016 15:43

Well in all fairness to Melvita, Aurora, Sodium Benzoate isn't a horrible or damaging ingredient on its own (v. natural in fact) there just is a possibility that it will react rather harmfully with Vit C thus making it carcinogenic in a reacted form but since manufacturers will never give insight into their exact formulations it's really hard as a consumer to know whether it will or not in those concentrations and/or pH levels. I do wish manufacturers would give the warning though for the possibility, even if it's slight, if they manage to warn pregnant women about retinol they can do this just as well.

Keith, is there any particular reason you're DC in the morning? I'm generally of the opinion that you clean as much as you need to, and DC twice a day seems a bit overkill and might just aggravate your skin in producing more oil since you're constantly stripping it of it.

My Naruko magnolia masks finally came in. The ear flaps are surprisingly comfy, I now wish all masks came like that since it's a very nice fit with no more dripping or flapping about the jaw area. Also really pleased with the results of those, think you'll like them too Aurora, ingredients and results wise. It's more of a creamy essence but very hydrating nonetheless, I had beautifully bright and surprisingly very even skin that lasted at least till the next day, it was very porcelain doll like. Can't really vow for the tightening aspect though. Ordered a few other singles now from Naruko alongside a box full of the Magnolia to see if there's more goodness where that came from at reasonable prices.

The Lululun Prestige Precious White/Gold masks also came in, I liked them well enough but still prefer the Red Prestige ones. I've actually been holding off purchases since the Japanese Yen went through the roof with market fluctuations carefully avoids bringing in the controversial B-word on this thread but do have plans to buy some things from Ipsa which is more of a high end/hi-tech brand from Japan. Had ordered samples for the Time Reset Aqua as a sort of FTE replacement as my Missha one is nearing the end. I liked the Ipsa one a lot and received another sample of the Metabolizer Extra 3 with it that really saved my skin from the weird dryness it's been experiencing with this odd weather. Lumpy, I know nothing of this 'heat' you speak of! Envy

Oh, another new find/discovery, I was looking into those Blossom Jeju petal masks that have a preliminary camellia oil step but had to rule them out for some ingredient or the other but I figured I can slap on a bit of facial oil (happened to have one high in camellia) before a standard sheet mask for pretty much the same effect and it's a lovely little extra treatment to perk up the skin. A sort of odd OCM-mask treatment hybrid.

Also finally got my act together and endured the sales pitch at DD, and got my hands on some lotion p50... it's safe to say it's love at first sight after only one use, the upside of having reactive skin is knowing when something is working pretty much straight away. They also had an interesting Vit C serum there which I was much tempted to purchase from Blissoma which sounds perfect for my skin but I shall buy it when I've finished the current one she says optimistically.

AuroraPolaris · 17/07/2016 20:10

botemp on a scale from one to ten how aggressive was the sales pitch at DD? Grin
So glad you too are in love with P50!! Which one did you get? It's so nice to have a HG product one knows will never need replacing, right?

Thanks for the oil under sheet mask tip. I usually do mist and one or two serums under and oil and overnight mask after, but I'll try the oil first. And those Naruko masks sound very very interesting!

As to Melvita... Well it's a bit like those formaldehyde releasing compounds which you sometimes find (or at least I did) in very "clean" expensive brands Confused so I too would like there to be a warning.

botemp · 17/07/2016 22:01

Ugh, yes it annoys me too as high end (natural) skincare is the worst with these things because they know it'll stop their already overly paranoid consumer base who only know about parabens and not much else from buying their stuff if they actually warn about it with good conscience. Makes more sense to me to just not include it, but what do I know...

Well ten is like 'you NEED the €500 facial or the world is doomed' right? So I'd say a 6 or a 7. He kept showing me things and then saying but you're too young for that now Confused I think they age me younger than I actually am. So I pretty much received the not so subtle skin analysis push again and that I really need to start thinking about their moisturisers even though my skin hates moisturisers with a passion... It was a bit of an event (as expected) and my hope of being in and out quickly just before closing time backfired on me as they seemed to take all the time in the world. Sigh, I'm thinking early morning might be the best strategy next time.

Anyhow, skin is very happy with the p50, just dabbed it on tonight again. I got the W version and I think I'll stick with that for now, I really needed to get something like it back in my routine but after the pixi glow tonic debacle that put me on the brink of rosacea I was really hesitant to get into it again but my skin is reacting a 1000x better to this than it did to the glow tonic. I don't get how that is considered a dupe for p50 though, they are two completely different products to me aside from my particular skin's reaction to it.

Do you use yours with a retinol serum btw? I know it says not to but I use such a gentle non-irritating one that I think it should be ok and isn't anything tret-like but then it does warn against it with reason...

Forgot to mention random purchase that turned out to be brilliant last time, the DHC Virgin Olive Oil Swabs are perfect for touching up make-up, especially if you're messing about with feline flicks. I initially thought I received some dried up old stock but they actually have the perfect amount of oil in there while being very thin. The fact that they're not heavily saturated actually makes them so useful for touching up without ruining everything else. Since they're individually wrapped I keep a few in my bag as well for a touch up if I need it but it's also great for getting all the remnants of mascara out of the inner corners of the eye after cleansing.

AuroraPolaris · 18/07/2016 10:07

Botemp I literally LOLed because I could picture it in my mind's eye probably more or less the way it happened ;) I'm glad they didn't try to sell you the €€€ retinol in a jar. When I went there last time it was the day before the official opening of the new venue, and the door was still locked, so I went in to the adjacent shoe shop to ask if they knew when they would open that day, so I also had to endure a pitch to buy Dries van Noten sandals (admittedly absolute lovely) and all my remarks that they were not in a colour that was practical for me or that I don't wear heels during the day anymore would help (never mind the price), and the guy ended up telling me that a woman "my age" should not wear trainers anymore (I was doing the skinny jeans, blazer and trainers look) and me pointing out that he was being absurd and that the trainers were actually YSL did nothing to appease him [grin confused]... And after all that I still had to endure the retinol in the jar saga.......

I don't do P50 and retinol on the same evening anymore simply because my face becomes very red. So I do the toner about three times a week (unless I have a problem, then might do every day, even in the morning) and retinol 2-3 time a week.
I also began with the W and then "graduated" to the regular after about half a year, but I think your skin is much more sensitive than mine.

Thanks for the cotton swab tip. Did you get them from ICI Paris? Just got the big DHC oil cleanser but still have a gift voucher they sent me for my birthday. At the moment I'm mainly doing the neutral/ gold eyeshadow bronzer thing , but will go back to kitten flicks after the summer ;)

So glad I've got my Sulwhasoo oils and the Anessa SPF to trial during our holiday.... We are going to a place we frequent and though it's in the middle of nowhere, there is an amazing pharmacy full of all the lovely French stuff. They already know me Wink and my passion for new things and are very knowledgable and generous with samples, so more fun to be had!

And DH is going to Taiwan in September and he is very well trained in buying cosmetics, so I have to start making my list ;) Any recs welcome!!!

botemp · 18/07/2016 11:41

Ugh, I know what you mean. Stores with that type of atmosphere irk me beyond belief (and Net-a-porter profits from it in return). Sales pitches that hook onto supposed insecurities (and the endless fawning over a bag or something or the other you're wearing at the same time) really put me off. I'll even butt in some time if I see them targeting an especially susceptible customer.

It's annoying because I quite like the whole philosophy on skin from Joelle Ciocco that DD follows, it aligns very much with my own so I think I'd be quite happy to do a facial (just not the €500 one) and buy more products there but the whole cultish 'exclusive' blah blah spiel just makes me circumvent it. Heck even if the online shop was more up to date I'd put in an order more often, I really don't get how stores like that conduct their business but I suppose I'm more exception than rule about these type of things. Don't get me started on hairdressers...

I think ICI used to sell them but don't anymore, their DHC stock tends to switch out a lot and their website isn't the best either unfortunately. I bought mine through German Amazon as it was the cheapest there but not by much. Feelunique might have been cheaper but then you had to put in a minimum order which they've now upped to €40(?) to qualify for free shipping.

Well Naruko is from Taiwan, as are most of the other fancier sheetmask brands. L'Herboflore has a whole bunch of other products that people seemed positive about but I have yet to see for sale. I was curious about Maskingdom which are quite hard to get outside of Taiwan and are up there in price. I've been compiling a list of my own as my uncle and his family are currently in Singapore for the month and it seems that you can get most Japanese sunscreens across SEA for reasonable prices as well as the more known drugstore at Watson's which are everywhere in SEA. Department stores will have the more high end brands from across Asia. The more popular K-beauty brands have stores everywhere too but require more effort to find.

I received a moisturizer toner sample sometime ago (yet to use) from Eileen Grace, another Taiwanese brand, didn't think much of it from the packaging till I looked up the price which is way up there for AB. I'll let you know if it's worthy of the price once I've actually tried it.

I came across a sort of Taiwanese Cosme site once with rankings, I'll see if I can dig it up again for you. Annoyingly though the Taiwanese brands are the hardest to get current INCI info on Sad.

AuroraPolaris · 18/07/2016 16:51

I actually passed next to DD today with my (very energetic) boys and thought entering with them might be the ultimate revenge/ perfect quick in and out strategy Grin cause they are going to want to get rid of me plus my two little hurricanes ASAP. I could even let them play Pokemon Go in there.... I'm sure there's one sitting on those retinol jars!
First time I was there he obvs told me everything I use is rubbish (of course he didn't answer when I said how come then my skin looks so good???) and I should immediately convert to his stuff. Then the assistant told me she "also uses" those and those products. She had so many wrinkles, and when I asked her how old she is she said she was my age Shock. Mind you he did give me some BR cream samples that broke me out....
I hear you though re those strategies tapping into women's insecurities which is in a way what most of marketing does. Tapping into some kind of unattainable aspirational life/ beauty ideal with the aid of lies and photoshop (and now YouTube etc). Well done for interfering and being a good cosmetics Samaritan!!! Let's starts a movement!!
And yeah, that is another reason online shopping is so tempting and easy and why I appreciate places that leave you alone unless you ask for help.
Thnx for the Taiwanese beauty tips. Just remembered that a relative of BIL is working there at the mo, so I might email her and ask for addresses, so my personal shopper knows where to go!

botemp · 19/07/2016 14:06

Much as I am already irrationally annoyed at the whole Pokemon phenomena... that sounds brilliant! Can't wait to find out what wrinkly monstrosity lives in that retinol jar Grin.

I don't confine myself to just butting in with the cosmetics sales people Blush. Any of those "all knowing" sales people are up for grabs as far as I'm concerned when I see those wary eyes in a fellow customer, especially if they're doing the tear down/buildning up strategy which is just plain harmful to the already vulnerable. The best part is because staff are often quite nervous to contradict another customer in fear of losing that potential sale it's actually an easy thing to do. Cosmetics are some of the worst offenders though, they've really done a good job at making it more confusing that it should be, purposely shrouding it in mystery. I wish there was some counter movement to it, I once had hope for bloggers but we all saw how that panned out...

I have yet to find the Taiwanese cosme like site again but have a look at Beautibi which is a US shopping site with curated T-Beauty and thankfully a lot have the INCI. Those Dr. Wu vitamin masks look very interesting... sorry off tangent... If there's a Takashimaya department store in Taipei I'd send DH in that direction, they're my favourite of the Asian dep. stores for pretty much anything and they gift wrap everything beautifully.

AuroraPolaris · 19/07/2016 19:59

OMG the Pokemon Go is just.... I have no words! Luckily we are going away, and my boys know they have a almost screen free holiday. But I swear next time I have to go for P50 I will take them!!!

I totally agree with you re the sales strategies, and I have also intervened in the past. A while ago in ICI Paris, can't remember anymore what the girl was telling this woman, but I told her to go to DD and get some P50, and a while ago I even dared do it at Schiphol Grin....

Compiling a long long list of Taiwanese goodies........ And tried your trick of applying oil before sheet mask this evening!

botemp · 19/07/2016 21:27

It was a good thing they were telling me I was too young for everything at DD because I was decidedly feeling like a grumpy old something or the other as I'd passed through A'dam's busier streets where I was becoming extremely frustrated with everyone either looking for Pokemon, vlogging every stupid step they took on the pavement, Snap Chatting, or taking pictures with the world's largest tablets Confused and paying absolutely no attention to their surroundings! I was amazed no one actually got hit by a tram. I did nearly get smacked in the face with a selfie stick though Angry.

We can't have a family function these days without someone permanently glued to a screen or having to witness a major temper tantrum because the Wi-Fi doesn't work. Ugh, I'm all for banning screens except mine

Staff at ICI Paris are some of the worst I have to say, but more in terms of complete lack of knowledge and way too much makeup. The other specialised shops aren't much better though which I always feel is a bit of a disservice to the brands they carry. I did hear rumours that Su Man might start offering facials in the new W Hotel look, segway back into AB so the expensive facials might have some competition Grin. I did use her serum for a bit, it left my skin extremely soft (in a good way) but didn't play so well with continued use unfortunately and frustratingly I couldn't figure out what the underlying cause was. I am curious about her other products but it's not a very big line, all made in Taiwan though Wink.

AuroraPolaris · 19/07/2016 21:39

Haha, not to mention when all those activities are often done on the bike path....

Have to disagree with you, cause I think staff at MAC counters beats that at ICI Paris in terms of piling up the make up Grin

botemp · 20/07/2016 08:09

Hmmm... MAC definitely wins in the caking department, ICI wins with slugs for eyebrows and crazy contouring. Douglas probably wins the most likely to be orange award...

must stop being so bitchy

AuroraPolaris · 20/07/2016 08:54

OMG you are absolutely right about the tangerine trend award Grin

Been looking at lovely Dr Wu stuff. Those serums look pretty serious, but have yet to check INCI

botemp · 20/07/2016 09:38

Well it's good to know I'm not alone in being distracted by Dr. Wu serums, but for once I'm perfectly allowed to since my day serum is nearing its end Grin.

I was looking at the Dr Wu Repairing System Intensive Repairing Serum With Squalane, supposedly one of the most renowned ones. Found a review and INCI here.

AuroraPolaris · 20/07/2016 13:56

The serum and and eye cream in that series look very interesting! Was also looking at the Vit C serum.

Nice blog too, though she has a pretty bad review for the new Dior chushion...

hollinhurst84 · 09/08/2016 23:59

Picked up some holika holika sheet masks from TK Maxx of all places! They were honey ones and in the sale. Anyway I got home and there's also a lot of aloe ones inside the packsShockGrin so got a bargain there
Secret key 24k moisturiser repurchased, my skin has had a massive breakout for unknown reasons and I know this moisturiser doesn't break me out so I'm sticking with what I know
Kawaii panda box for August ordered too

OneFlewOverTheDodosNest · 11/08/2016 13:37

I've been a long time lurker on these threads and absolutely love the Biore watery essence sun cream. Does anyone know of something similar that's water resistant? I really don't want to wear less than factor 50 on my face, but I hate the consistency of most western sun creams.

botemp · 11/08/2016 18:12

Thanks hollinhurst you've reminded me I've been meaning to get the Secret Key FTE rose edition before it's gone again.

OneFlewOver do you mean water/sweat resistant or properly waterproof? If it's the latter I'd wait and see what Aurora made of the Anessa one she was taking on holiday. Otherwise I think a lot of Biore users tend to go for the Milk version but it is a bit heavier. The sun killer perfect essence might be more similar in formulation.

OneFlewOverTheDodosNest · 11/08/2016 18:32

Properly waterproof - going to be in the sea so really want something heavier duty. Thanks I look forward to hearing how it was!

AuroraPolaris · 12/08/2016 08:12

I'm extremely pleased with the Anessa Perfect Facial UV (in the golden tube). We spent three weeks mostly at the beach and I managed not to tan almost at all. The texture is very milky compared to thick western SPF and skin is very smooth after application. There is a slight scent that dissapears very quickly.

botemp · 12/08/2016 08:34

Hmm, yes, v. interesting about the SPF Aurora... but what did you get at the French pharmacy Grin

AuroraPolaris · 14/08/2016 11:12

Well, I think when the time for a new thread comes we should name it xxxx plus deviations into other beauty markets, mainly French Grin

Just back and sadly I did not make any significant beauty purchases. I did get ample samples of the Caudelie Revitalift serum and their tinted moisturizer and some other things, but was not impressed by the serum and the other stuff had silicones (very uncharacteristic of Caudelie, sadly). I wanted to try try their new SPF but they didn't have it yet.

It wasn't a French pharmacy, by the way, but a very lovely Greek one, which stocks all the nice Franch brands (they even have lots of LRP stuff including make up we don't get here) and more. We didn't travel with much weight to spare, and I didn't come across anything that I "had" to have, so only bought a lovely Klorane hair UV spray w/o silicones and some "my lips but better" lip balms from a Greek mostly "natural" brand called Apivita. My DH is still shocked Grin

Reports on the Sulwhasso stuff I tried yet to come......

LumpySpacedPrincess · 15/08/2016 13:06

Sounds like you had a productive time Aurora.

I'm really happy with my routine at the mo despite finally coming to the bottom of my Joseon Dynasty cream. I replaced it with Cosrx overnight honey mask which I am so happy with, I've ordered the Rice one too and will alternate them.

I've also stumbled across these two companies via Reddit, Bravura and sr skincare

I've heard really good things about the first and have just ordered a Glycolic peel, plus their toners look really tasty. The second company look good too offering good, no frills actives.

Also still really happy with the OST C20, really effective serum. Smile

AuroraPolaris · 16/08/2016 22:04

Thans for the OST serum report lumpy. I plan to order it soon. Are you keeping it the fridge or decanting?

The rice mask is also on my shopping list, and I will order as soon as one of my over night masks nears it's end, so let me know how you get on with it.

botemp · 16/08/2016 23:33

Hmm, I'm not so sure how happy everyone else will be with a my permanent side deviations on these threads in the title, Aurora...

Pity about the silicones and Caudalie, I've been noticing a lot of brands embracing silicones like there's no tomorrow lately. Frustrating as it just balls up if you layer your skincare and I recently read it's terrible for the environment too.

I'm sure your DH will recover from his shock and know all is well in the world again when you hand over his shopping list for Taiwan Grin.

I've seen Bravura recommended on the S&B boards here and there, mostly as a dupe for the Pixi Glow Tonic and for their peels. Although I do vaguely remember that due to a change in regulations the peels and higher strength AHA were not as good anymore.

I'll have a look though as I really want some acid things for the body, I've been using the remnants of my p50 on elbows and knees which caters to them brilliantly, softening and evening out skin tone, but it's kind of pricey to use all over the body. They do do a body spritz version of p50 but I've yet to find any proper review on them.