Review: Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Hydro-Gel Mask

I bought this mask during my first trip to Korea at the duty free in Incheon because I wanted to use up all my won. Those who read my blog will know how I rave about Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Sleeping Mask, which I use in my Night Skincare Routine, and Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream, which I use in my Morning Skincare Routine. Needless to say I was expecting great things from this 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: Missha Super Aqua Refreshing Cleansing Foam

I've tried another cleanser from the same Super Aqua line, Missha Super Aqua Oxygen Micro Visible Deep Cleanser, and was very impressed with its truly "deep" cleansing compared to the other cleansers (details in my blog post here). However, the only problem was that you needed to wait for this cleanser to bubble, which is impossible for me because I'm always in a hurry in the morning. So when I got this sample with one of my orders, I thought, maybe this will give me the deep cleansing without the wait time?!

Review: Missha Dong Baek Gold Shampoo

Excuse the bad photo with my stuffed animal in the background..forgot to take a proper photo before I ripped it open. I got this as a complimentary sample. Didn't know Missha had hair products, but not surprised since Korean cosmetic brands seem to have a product for any part of your body. Dong Baek means camellia according to Missha's US website. According to wiki, camellia oil is commonly used in hair care. In Japan, high grade Japanese camellia oil is called tsubaki oil. I guess that's where the Shiseido Tsubaki comes from.

Review: Missha Super Aqua Oxygen Micro Visible Deep Cleanser

This was the second and last complimentary sample I got from buying my Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil Refill. The first one was my previous post, Missha Time Revolution Immortal Youth Cream. I think this is the first time where I've gotten 2 samples where both actually wow me enough to consider buying the full product. Usually at least one of them is going to be some inconsequential hydrating fluid or aqua base cream that only moisturizes my skin (if only that was the only problem on my face)! And to think that I got these 2 great samples from buying a $4 eyebrow pencil refill!

Review: Missha Time Revolution Immortal Youth Cream

I got this as a complimentary sample from buying my Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil Refill. I used it yesterday and I only looked it up a few minutes ago to realized how expensive this cream is. Very grateful that I got this as a free sample!

Review: Missha Time Revolution Aqua Youth Cream

Got this complimentary sample along with one of my purchases once again. How many sub-lines does the Missha Time Revolution line have? There's the Time Revolution Wrinkle Care Melting Rich Mask Cream and there's the very popular Estee Lauder copycat Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Ampoule. There's probably more that I just haven't had time to look into...

Review: Missha Time Revolution Wrinkle Care Melting Rich Mask Cream

Missha has too many products with similar LONG names for me to keep up with. I wasn't aware about this product until I got the complimentary sample. But I have some fine lines on my forehead right now and have been trying out anti-wrinkle creams so I'm happy to stumble upon this sample.

Review: Missha Super Aqua Oxygen Micro Essence Peeling Gel

Finally got a sample of this! Ever since I bought Missha Super Aqua Detox Peeling Gel, I've been meaning to try this one to compare. At first I was planning to buy some samples to try but luckily I got one for free.

Review: Missha All Around Safe-Block Mild Essence Sun Milk SPF45 PA+++ (sunscreen)

School has been getting busier since finals are coming up and since I've decided to enroll myself in all sorts of extra-curriculars because I just love to torture myself ha ha... Anyways, this is a sample I got from one of my internet purchases. [Update Jult 7 2013: Also bought the full version]. The only other UV/sunscreen "Milk" that I've tried is the 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! Let's see how this fares

Review: Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Ampoule

What's with Missha and their crazy long names! My last Missha review was for their Near Skin Firming Peptide Intensive Lifting Cream which also has a long product name but at least it has "firming" and "lifting" so I know what the product does. This product's name doesn't even tell me what it does! What's night repair? Science activator? Time Revolution?

Review: Missha Near Skin Firming Peptide Intensive Lifting Cream

I actually didn't know about this product until I got this as a complimentary sample. But it basically hits what I need now: firming and anti-wrinkle serum. So I was pretty happy to try this out because I've been using Skinfood Gold Caviar Collagen Serum which hasn't done much for the fine lines on my forehead. Same with the cream version.

Review: Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Skin Treatment (toner)

I got two of these from my Missha purchases in Korea and another one from my recently purchases from Missha.ca summer sale. They were coupled with a sample of Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Essential Moisturizer which sadly I can't use because I'm allergic to it. I was actually a bit afraid of using this snail skin treatment in the beginning but fortunately I didn't get an allergic reaction.

Review: Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Essential Moisturizer

I bought this when I went to Korea and didn't try it until I got back. I also bought the Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Sleeping Mask that I am still using with good results.

Review: Missha Super Aqua Detox Peeling Gel

I bought this on a whim on my way out of Incheon Airport because I knew I needed a peeling gel to replace my Origins Modern Friction scrub. I wanted a chemical peel because I found that the Modern Friction scrub was a bit too rough on my skin and didn't really do much when it came to my blackheads.

Review: Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Sleeping Mask

I bought this along with Missha's Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Essential Moisturizer in Korea. I had an allergic reaction to the moisturizer but luckily this one was fine. The sleeping mask only has 15% of the snail extract though, compared to 40% for the moisturizer and 70% for the cream. I've also reviewed Missha's Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream and you can find that post here.

Review: Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream

Snail mucin has already been the rage in Asian skincare for a few years, but I didn't know about it until this summer when I went to Korea. Jumping on the bandwagon, I decided to buy some snail cream for myself. Since I have combination skin, I thought buying the Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Essential Moisturizer would be less oily than the cream even though the moisturizer only contains 40% of the snail mucin while the cream contains 70%. I tried the Essential Moisturizer when I returned home and got an allergic reaction =\. My chin area and right lower cheek broke out in red bumps every time I used the moisturizer...so after 4-5 tries to be sure it really was the moisturizer, I have since given it to my mom to use. Luckily, I was given a few samples of the cream (6 to be exact) so I could try it out.