Review: Skinfood Omija Whitening Serum and Skinfood Omija Whitening Cream

 

I received one of these samples during my shopping spree in Korea and another from buying a Skinfood product on eBay. Whitening is one of my top concerns and I've tried products from the Shiseido's White Lucent line, including their Intensive Spot Targeting Serum on my WHOLE face (yes I dumped my whole wallet on this product because I just recovered from one-year stress-induced acne explosion and I was desperate for something to heal my scars) and HadaLabo Shirojyun line (with great results, especially their Arbutin Whitening Essence and Arbutin Whitening Mask).

I bought the Skinfood Omija Whitening Mask to try before and it wasn't too impressive, but I thought I'd try these samples during the weekend so if anything happens I can always hide at home!

Description (taken from eng.theskinfood.com):

• A serum/cream that brightens skin using a patent-awarded Omija herb complex and ingredients producing skin-lightening effects.
• Serum: After toner application, apply an ample amount onto the face with gentle strokes and leave until it is completely absorbed.
• Cream: After emulsion application, apply an ample amount onto the face with gentle strokes and leave until it is completely absorbed.

My impression:

This was just a one time use sample so I didn't expect it to whiten my face overnight, but I wanted to see if it bring out an overall "brighter" complexion to my face by evening out some of the redness and dark spots on my face. Some may think I'm expecting too much from a one-time application, but I have this goal set in mind because I HAVE experienced an overnight brightening effect with the HadaLabo Shirojyun Arbutin Whitening Essence.

From its creamy texture for BOTH the serum and cream, I can say that for those who have oily or combination skin like me and want to whiten their skin, the Omija Whitening Serum and Cream are probably NOT for you. It's definitely not for me.

I put the serum on after toner application as per instructions. The serum didn't really look like a serum. From the serums that I've used, usually I find that they're either really oily or really watery because they contain a high concentration of a certain chemical, and so the serum's consistency depends on the chemical. With this serum, its consistency resembled a moisturizer, or a lighter version of a cream. When I put it on my face, it felt quite occlusive and I didn't feel the same light, refreshed feeling that I get when I put on Missha's Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream. Since it seemed quite rich, I put this on in the evening and thought I'd wait awhile for it to absorb before I put on the cream. When I put the cream on before I slept, which was 4-5 hours later, it still hadn't fully absorbed.

The cream is much like the serum in terms of consistency, just slightly thicker.

The next morning, it had absorbed, and as expected I didn't notice much of a whitening effect on my face. BUT I saw some 5-7 small red bumps on the sides of my face where I have recently been getting pimples (not my T-zone surprisingly despite its oiliness). My overall face also seemed redder than usual and not as even toned (granted, I did not put on Missha's Super Aqua Cell Renew Sleeping Mask before I slept last night on purpose to try this out).

I wasn't too surprised that I experienced this small breakout though because I did think that the serum and cream were quite rich and that I felt that my skin was occluded rather than refreshed once I applied them.

If you have dry skin and are looking for a whitening cream, then perhaps you could give this one a try, though I would recommend trying the HadaLabo Shirojyun Arbutin Whitening line first because that contains hyaluronic acid as well which retains moisture in the skin.

Summary:

Too rich for my combination/oily skin
Too occlusive, felt like my skin couldn't breathe, wasn't very comfortable
Small break-out (small little red bumps on the sides of my face)
$22 for 50ml of serum and $22 for 50g of cream on eBay

Quality: 1/5 because it gave me a small breakout, led to more redness on my face, and was too rich and occlusive for my skin


Value: 2/5 because one jar does contain 50ml and I guess for people with dry skin the richness may be beneficial

Repurchase? No. The more whitening products I've tried, the more I've realized HadaLabo's line is really not bad.