Review: Etude House Skin Mal:Gem Toner - Smoother

It's been a long time since I've changed toners. The Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner has served me well. It got rid of the pimples I kept getting from clogged pores, and it's been in my morning and night time skin routine for the past 3.5 years. But around half a year ago, I started getting pimples again. Nothing big, maybe 1-2 clogged pores that turned into pimples on the sides of my face, but there was always one there! I was hoping Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner would save me, but unfortunately, it didn't do anything this time. And then I remember one of the previous commenters (sorry, I forgot which post it was or else I'd write your name here!) suggested I try Etude House's mal-gem line of toners.

Review: Kate Super Sharp Liner vs Etude House Drawing Show & Proof 10 vs L'Oreal Lineur Intense

This is probably the oddest (in terms of the brands I selected) eye-liner comparison of all blogs. But I thought it would be a waste to not review these four eye-liners and I was too lazy to do four different posts so I decided to do a comparison. I'll be comparing a Japanese eye-liner: Kate Super Sharp Liner (far left), two Korean eye-liners: Etude House Drawing Show (second left), Etude House Proof 10 Gelquid liner (third left), and a North American eye-liner: L'Oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense (right).

Review: Etude House Wonder Pore Corrector

I've always used Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever Pore Primer Essence as the last step of my Morning Skincare Routine to control the oil production on my face throughout the day. I've been noticing though that it works well during dry winters, but when I'm putting on high SPF (i.e. oily) sunscreens, the oil control isn't strong enough. But I've always been a fan of Etude House's Wonder Pore line (I'm still using their Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner toner) So this time when I saw this in Seoul I decided to buy a tube to try.

Review: Etude House Collagen Eye Gel Patch

For those who follow me, if you're wondering why the background looks different, that's because I just came back from Seoul! Hehe. So I'm actually backtracking because I tried this eye mask while I was in Seoul, and this picture was taken in my hotel room. I really love The Face Shop Raspberry Lines & Lift Collagen Eye Patch from my first trip to Seoul. But despite its effectiveness in taking away all my fine lines and eye bags, it is quite pricey and the effect only lasts around a day. I've heard of the Etude House eye patch before so I made it one of my goals to try it out while I was in Seoul.

Review: Etude House Face Conditioning Cream Light SPF25 PA++

It's been awhile since I've posted this many reviews in 2 days. This is what happens after you disappear from civilization for one month to study for exams. But it's all good, now I've got summer holidays to catch up on everything. This is the third and last free sample that I got from my order of Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever Pore Primer Essence.

Review: Etude House Play Therapy Soft Clay Pack (Pore & Sebum Care)

Ordered another tube of my Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever Pore Primer Essence and got this as a sample. I love clay masks for pore cleansing and refining and overall skin brightening. So far the Origins Active Charcoal Mask has been my go-to clay mask, but because it's quite steep in price I'm always interested in trying out other ones. I've tried Skinfood Egg White Pore Mask, which helped in refining my pores only after I've cleaned out most of the stuff with Origins. Etude House Wonder Pore Clay Clear Pack/Mask didn't do much for me. Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask is probably the most popular of clay masks in Korean skincare and I would say is the runner up to the Origins Active Charcol Mask.

Review: Sulwhasoo Snowise EX Whitening Line

After trying out History of Whoo Seol Whitening line (I've separated my review for the CC Sun Cream from the same line here), I switched to try out its biggest competititor, Sulwhasoo Snowise EX Whitening Line. I used it for a month. Reading reviews, I've heard better things from History of Whoo, but personally I've had better success with Sulwhasoo products so I still wanted to give it a try. Last year I experimented with my own made up combination of Hadalabo Shirojyun Whitening Essence and The Saem Chaga White Liposome Biocellulose Sheet, which worked, but I'm always into trying new products, especially whitening products. Give me my white pearly skin!

I actually tried out the Sulwhasoo Snowise EX Whitening Eye Treatment first before I tried the rest of the line so I've posted a separate review of that here.

My Night Skincare Routine

And here is my night skincare routine. For those who are interested in my morning skincare routine, you can check that post out here. Basically, in this post I'll be talking about the skincare products I use at night and summarize how the product is effective for me. If you're interested in getting more details or to look at the product description, I've already written a separate review for each of these products and I will provide their respective links below.

And if you're wondering...the green elephant at the bottom of the photo is to hold the yellow sample up :D

I should mention that this is my skincare routine during fall, winter, and spring. During summer, I need to use a whitening line to try to revert my tanned skin back to its original color so my night routine is totally different.

Before I delve into my routine, let me tell you a little bit about my skin as these products are targeted towards my skin's problems. I have oily/combination skin and large pores. If I ignore my large pores, 2-3 of them like to transform into pimples especially when it is that time of the month. In addition to the pores on my cheek area, I have some dark pigmentation and little bumps from the crazy acne I had 3 years ago. My skin color is very dull and has this jaundiced, unhealthy yellow tan. I also have very dark circles under my eyes and many fine lines under my eyes. As a result, my eyes look much older than the rest of my face.

My Morning Skincare Routine

It's finally here! For those who have commented on my blog and asked me to write a post about my daily skin routine, I apologize for the wait but thank you for your patience! Basically, in this post I'll be talking about the skincare products I use every morning and summarize how the product is effective for me. If you're interested in getting more details or to look at the product description, I've already written a separate review for each of these products and I will provide their respective links below.

I should mention that this is my skincare routine during fall, winter, and spring. During summer, I need to use a whitening line to try to revert my tanned skin back to its original color so my morning routine is totally different.

Before I delve into my routine, let me tell you a little bit about my skin as these products are targeted towards my skin's problems. I have oily/combination skin and large pores. If I ignore my large pores, 2-3 of them like to transform into pimples especially when it is that time of the month. In addition to the pores on my cheek area, I have some dark pigmentation and little bumps from the crazy acne I had 3 years ago. My skin color is very dull and has this jaundiced, unhealthy yellow tan. I also have very dark circles under my eyes and many fine lines under my eyes. As a result, my eyes look much older than the rest of my face.

For those who read the title of this post, yes, I'm gonna split my morning and night routine into two posts because they are quite different and putting them together would be too messy. I'll probably do my night skincare routine next week.

Review: Etude House Be Clear Moisturizer SPF30 PA++

Finals are coming up so I will be in hibernation, but before that I thought I'd make this post. I've been looking more into moisturizers with SPF because summer is coming along and I don't want to get tanned. I have oily/combination skin, so I really want something light. Last summer, when I went to Asia for a little more than a month, I tried Hadalabo Shirojyun Arbutin Whitening UV Milk SPF20 which didn't really live up to its "milk" name because it was pretty greasy and made my face pretty oily after several hours. I got a sample of the Skinfood Gold Kiwi No Sebum Matte, which was on the other extreme, because it felt like I was putting white flour on my face.

Review: Etude House Collagen Moistfull Firming Eye Cream

I wonder how much money I've spent on eye cream samples so far. Probably enough to buy a jar of nice Shiseido eye cream! Nothing seems to work very well except for Skinfood Salmon Brightening Eye Cream, which I bought a full jar of because there were no samples. Yes, this is my attitude these days when I try new eye creams these days. I actually never thought I'd try this eye cream but I've read reviews and they haven't been that great. But I saw it on eBay for $2 including shipping so I thought, well, why not? Fortunately, this time I was pleasantly surprised.

Review: Etude House Collagen Moistfull Cream

Oops! As you can see in the photo, I only remembered that I didn't take a photo after I used it.. This was a complimentary sample from one of my internet purchases (too many, forgot which one already -_-). I've already tried the Etude House Collagen Moistful Enriched Cream at night so this time I tried using this cream during the day.

Review: Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil #5 Gray

I previously bought Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil #1 Black Brown and I was curious to try other colors. I decided to be courageous and buy the #5 gray color. Not the dark gray, but gray. I was a bit scared it might not turn out well so I decided to be safe and just buy the refill, which is cheaper. 

Review: Etude House Wonder Pore Clay Clear Pack/Mask

I've tried two products from the Etude House Wonder Pore product line so far: Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner toner and Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever Pore Primer Essence. Both have exceeded my expectations and are now added into my daily routine. Seeing the great success I've had, I'm definitely going to try the rest of this line! That's why I decided to buy samples of their pore clay mask. 

Review: Etude House Silk Scarf Shampoo and Conditioner

I've been wanting to try the Etude House Silk Scarf shampoo and conditioner ever since I bought and tried the Etude House Silk Scarf Moist Hair Mist and Etude House Silk Scarf Repair Hair Essence with pretty good results. A new seller popped up on eBay selling these so I decided to buy them. Lucky me because the seller increased them in price soon after!

Review: Etude House Lip and Eye Remover (makeup remover)

Is it just me, or does this look like Lancome's Bi-Facil makeup remover? They even share the same blue/clear colors! I've used Lancome's Bi-Facil before with good results, but it was a bit expensive at $27 for 125ml. After that, I decided to try Skinfood Milk Shake Point Make-up Remover, a cheaper alternative. That one was as effective at removing my eye makeup as Lancome, except it gave me blurry vision (since it's not clear, so whatever goes in is like milk going into your eyes). So I decided to try this one out.

Review: Etude House Baking Powder Cleansing Foam Moist

I got this as a complimentary sample on one of my bigger Skinfood purchases. I've been on a staple routine of using Skinfood Egg White Pore Foam in the morning and then Skinfood Black Sugar Scrub Foam at night. I've been satisfied with those two products and have already ordered another one of both. But it never hurts to try new products and I always like to believe that there's something better out there.

Review: Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever Pore Primer Essence

The reason why I use primers even though I don't wear foundation is because my face becomes an oil mine throughout the day. And since I leave home at 7am and don't get back until 5pm, there's lots of oil (especially when I'm busy and forget to use my oil wipes), which clogs up my pores and I've seen those little red bumps from where my large pores are grow to becoming new red and inflamed pimples.. I've tried to use pore refining serums before like the Skinfood Fresh Apple Sparkling Pore Serum, but it would end up caking with my day cream because the consistency of these pore serums are so matte and powdery. I've tried the Skinfood Fresh Apple Smooth Pore Cream which also acts as a primer. It helped control my oil by halving its production but I wanted to see if other products could do more. After reading some reviews, I decided on trying this one.

Review: Etude House Silk Scarf Moist Hair Mist

My hair is a dry frizzball. It's also thick in that I have a lot of hair making my hair as a whole thick, and also every strand is thick. Very beneficial in the long-run when I get old and I start losing hair, but meanwhile I have to find something to tame it down! I've tried almost, if not all, of Skinfood's hair products. I've tried Skinfood Avocado Leave-In Fluid which wasn't too helpful, Skinfood Argan Oil Silk Hair Essence which was helpful but not enough and made my hair really thick =\, and Skinfood Extra Virgin Olive Essence which does wonders for my hair but I need 8-9 pumps every time so I'll use up one bottle in 1.5 months. I bought this mist with the Etude House Silk Scarf Repair Hair Essence, which was similar to the Skinfood Extra Virgin Olive Essence but not as good.

Review: Etude House Collagen Moistfull Enriched Cream

I've always wanted to try the Etude House collagen line and luckily this was a complimentary sample that came along with the Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil that I bought on eBay. I'm going to be 25 soon so I want to incorporate an anti-aging/anti-wrinkle prevention product into my skincare regimen.