Mad About My Skin: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Review: Skinfood Platinum Grape Cell White Sun Essence SPF50 Pa+++ (sunscreen)

Third product review from the Platinum Grape Cell line. I've also reviewed Skinfood Platinum Grape Cell Essence and Skinfood Platinum Grape Cell Cream. The essence gave me quite impressive results considering it was only a one-time use sample so I was looking forward to trying this one.

Review: TonyMoly Floria Whitening Capsule Essence

I also got this as a sample when I bought TonyMoly Snail Eye Masks in Korea. I've tried the TonyMoly Floria Whitening Sheet Mask from the same line, which actually had impressive overnight results. It's the weekend so I had the opportunity to try this essence as well.

Review: Kose Softymo Nose Clean Pack (charcoal nose strips)

I used to use Biore nose strips before but gave up because they cost quite a bit and did practically nothing to my blackheads, and I had a lot back then--both in number and size. When I went to Japan I saw these nose strips by Kose that were incorporated with black charcoal. I've been using Origins Active Charcoal Mask and charcoal has been very effective in sucking out the impurities and dirt from my pores. From what I remember, this was pretty cheap too compared to what I paid for Biore nose strips.

When I was in Korea, Etude House were selling a whole bunch of masks for "10+10." That is, buy one set of 10 sheet masks, get another set free. Each set was $10, so basically each mask was 50 cents. Who can resist?

When I use a sheet mask I look for several things. First is, of course, effectiveness. Second is whether or not it can stick on my face and feel comfortable (or even better, I don't feel it being on my face after awhile). This is because I don't have the patience nor the time to sit there for 25-30 minutes. I need to be doing something while I put on this mask and if I need to fix it every minute because it's falling off my face then that's an instant fail. Third is whether or not it absorbs. If I don't feel a difference in the wetness of the sheet mask after 30 minutes.. then there is a problem with the compatibility of the mask with my face.

Its name isn't very indicative but this is actually a peeling mask. I bought this while I was in Korea. For those who are unfamiliar with Sulwhasoo, it is one of the two famous Korean brands that is separate from Skinfood, Missha, etc. that have only recently gained international exposure due to the popularity of BB cream. Their products are mostly for mature skin, but there are two products that are used with great praise for younger, 20-30's skin. One of them is this. The other is the Sulwhasoo First Care Serum.

My face has been looking a bit dark and uneven despite using Missha Super Aqua Detox Peeling Gel every two days and I had a new pimple pop up. Not sure what's wrong with my face this week.. maybe the stress is coming along. So I decided to try something new for my face and opened this mask.

Review: Nature Republic Snail Therapy Mask Sheet

When I was in Korea, cosmetics stores like to lure people in with samples. Nature Republic lured me in with this snail mask. I actually forgot what I ended up buying once I went inside the store...maybe their eye masks? Well whatever it is I'm sure it's in my room so I'll find out eventually

When I use a sheet mask I look for several things. First is, of course, effectiveness. Second is whether or not it can stick on my face and feel comfortable (or even better, I don't feel it being on my face after awhile). This is because I don't have the patience nor the time to sit there for 25-30 minutes. I need to be doing something while I put on this mask and if I need to fix it every minute because it's falling off my face then that's an instant fail. Third is whether or not it absorbs. If I don't feel a difference in the wetness of the sheet mask after 30 minutes.. then there is a problem with the compatibility of the mask with my face.

Review: The Face Shop Raspberry Lines & Lift Collagen Eye Patch

First eye mask review! The criteria I have for eye masks is similar to sheet masks. First is, of course, effectiveness. Second is whether or not it can stick on my under eye and feel comfortable (or even better, I don't feel it being on my under eye after awhile). This is because I don't have the patience nor the time to sit there for 30-40 minutes. I need to be doing something while I put on this mask and if I need to fix it every minute because it's falling off my under eye then that's an instant fail. Third is whether or not it absorbs. If I don't feel a difference in the wetness of the sheet mask after 30 minutes.. then there is a problem with the compatibility of the mask with my under eye.

When I went inside The Face Shop store in Korea, this eye mask caught my eye. Not because it had great design, but because the eye mask was packed in packages of literally 300 eye masks. It was like a huge cube. The salesperson said this was a very effective eye mask and customers come in and buy them in hoards of...300. Since the fine lines under my eyes were starting to bother me, I decided to buy a package myself. I had to keep asking and asking until I got the smallest package that the salesperson was willing to give me, which turned out to be 20 pairs of eye masks.

I tried this yesterday and I tried the Skinfood Platinum Grape Cell Essence two nights ago. Anti-aging is one of my concerns as I'm in my mid-20's and I need to start adding it into my skincare regimen. I'm already starting to see fine lines on my forehead. Whitening has always been a concern for my skin because I get tanned very easily and my skin color is always very dull and "dark," not the tanned healthy dark but the stressed out lack of sleep malnutrition kind of dark (even though I may not be stressed and I'm eating enough). The Platinum Grape Cell line from Skinfood is advertised for both anti-aging and skin-brightening effects--sounds perfect for my needs!

Review: Skinfood Tomato Wrinkle Sun Cream SPF 36 PA++

After trying out the Skinfood Gold Kiwi No Sebum Sun Matte SPF35 PA+++ last weekend, which turned out to be a nightmare, I was a bit hesitant to try this. But I didn't have anything to do until the afternoon, so I thought I'd have adequate time to wash my face if anything goes wrong.

Anti-aging is one of my concerns as I'm in my mid-20's and I need to start adding it into my skincare regimen. I'm already starting to see fine lines on my forehead. Whitening has always been a concern for my skin because I get tanned very easily and my skin color is always very dull and "dark," not the tanned healthy dark but the stressed out lack of sleep malnutrition kind of dark (even though I may not be stressed and I'm eating enough). The Platinum Grape Cell line from Skinfood is advertised for both anti-aging and skin-brightening effects--sounds perfect for my needs!

Brief post before sleep. This is the last product I have from the HadaLabo Shirojyun Arbutin Whitening line. You can read my reviews about the Arbutin Whitening Essence, the Arbutin Whitening Mask and the Arbutin Whitening Lotion and Milk in their respective posts. I originally bought this because I thought whitening + sun block = the ultimate whitening skincare product!

Review: HadaLabo Shirojyun Arbutin Whitening Lotion (aka Toner) and Milk (aka moisturizer)

I've already reviewed two other products from the HadaLabo Shirojyun Arbutin Whitening line: the Arbutin Whitening Essence and the Arbutin Whitening Mask. Since I bought the whole line, I thought I might as well write a review on this as well to give some pointers for those are considering on purchasing this.

I admit, I am desperate for an eye cream. So desperate that I bought 3 different eye creams at the same time. I have another 3 coming my way. I've also recently started Skinfood Salmon Brightening Eye Cream for my dark circles. There were no samples of that for sale but I was so desperate I bought the whole jar of 30g. At first I was so scared that it wouldn't work out since I already have a whole 30g Laniege Water Bank Eye Gel sitting in my bathroom collecting dust. But fortunately it's been the most effective dark circle eye cream yet! But I digress..

The great thing about eye cream samples is that one sample will last you 4-5 days applied twice daily and even more if only used daily. So a few samples is enough to tell you whether or not this product is worth buying. I got 8 samples of this product because the eBay seller ended up giving me more than what was told on the website (which was a pleasant surprise)!

Recently I've been worried about the fine lines under my eyes but dark circles have been my biggest concern for not just my eyes but my whole face ever since... high school. So far I've tried Shiseido's White Lucent, Origins GinZing and A Perfect World with White Tea, Clinique's All About Eyes and All About Eyes Rich, Jack Black Protein Booster Eye Rescue (yes, this brand is for men; now you know how desperate I am for an eye cream) and a bunch of other things I don't even remember. Shiseido's White Lucent and both Origins products were money down the drain. Clinique's All About Eyes Rich actually did show some improvement but I wasn't completely satisfied. After reading some reviews and since I'm still on my Skinfood craze I decided to buy this.

Review: TonyMoly Floria Whitening Sheet Mask

If anyone has been to the tourist spots in Korea, you will recall that there are girls outside cosmetic stores trying to lure you in with freebies. When I was passing TonyMoly's store, the girl outside was giving out whitening masks as freebie. Since whitening is one of my top concerns so I'm always interested in try out new products, I took the bait and went inside the store! I ended up buying three TonyMoly eye masks. I used one while I was in Korea and I haven't used the other two yet. Will get to trying and reviewing them another time.

When I use a sheet mask I look for several things. First is, of course, effectiveness. Second is whether or not it can stick on my face and feel comfortable (or even better, I don't feel it being on my face after awhile). This is because I don't have the patience nor the time to sit there for 25-30 minutes. I need to be doing something while I put on this mask and if I need to fix it every minute because it's falling off my face then that's an instant fail. Third is whether or not it absorbs. If I don't feel a difference in the wetness of the sheet mask after 30 minutes.. then there is a problem with the compatibility of the mask with my face.

Review: Skinfood Rice Mask Wash Off

I bought this along with my Skinfood Black Sugar Scrub Foam (one of my two favorite products from Skinfood currently) when I was in Korea (as you can see with the price tag on top). I read some reviews and it said this mask brightens the skin and contains some small beads for exfoliation so I thought, why not?

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.

This is not a new product that I've been using but a product that I go back to every so often because it gets me results. Whitening is one of my top concerns and I'm always curious to try different products, such as the Skinfood Omija Whitening Mask, Cream and Serum, but I find that I always come back to this one. I went to Asia for one month this summer. I get tanned very easily so as you can expect, I got a lot darker. I came back and I knew I needed to do some intensive whitening to get my skin a bit lighter (I don't think any product can actually revert my skin color all the back to what it was before summer).

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!

I don't live near the equator, but I understand the importance of wearing a day cream with a small amount of SPF protection because UV rays lead to wrinkles, and also darken your scars. I've got acne scars from a year ago that haven't completely gone away and I definitely don't want those to go darker or slow them down from brightening. And since I'm almost a quarter of a century old, which is the age you start using anti-wrinkle products, it sounds reasonable to protect myself from the cause of these fine lines and wrinkles: the sun.

I already forgot how I got this sample. Either from my Skinfood purchases back when I was traveling in Korea or when I bought some Skinfood products on eBay. I love to try out samples during the weekend because I'm not as pressed for time and if anything horrible happens to my face, I can always just hide at home.

That strategy was put into great use with this product...unfortunately.

Review: Royal Honey Mask (peeling mask)

This was an unexpected find. I got this sample along with my Skinfood purchases back in Korea. I have tried the Skinfood Royal Honey Eye Cream from the same Royal Honey line and I wasn't too impressed so I didn't expect much from this either. But it's the weekend and I like to try out samples during the weekend because if all goes wrong and my face becomes a swollen potato, I can just hide away at home :)

When I first read "Royal Honey Mask," I thought it was just going to be a nourishing moisturizing mask for people with dry skin. Then I read that it was an exfoliating peeling mask! Ever since trying Missha Super Aqua Detox Peeling Gel and getting unsatisfactory results, I've been wanting to try out other peeling gels. The Saem Dr. Beauty Micro-Peel Soft Gel was more effective, but this brand is still quite new so it's impossible to find it on eBay. For those who may not know, peeling gels are basically exfoliators without the beads. I used to use the Origins Modern Friction but I found the beads were too rough for my skin and didn't really get rid of all my blackheads or anything despite the roughness.

I bought 3 eye masks from TonyMoly back in Korea and they gave me a sample of their whitening mask as a gift. The only whitening masks that I've been using are sheet masks, notably Hadalabo Shirojyun Arbutin Whitening Mask and The Saem Chaga White Liposome Mask. For wash off, I've tried The Saem's Gem Miracle Black Pearl Oxygen Bubble Mask, but I find that gives more of a brightening effect rather than whitening in that it makes your dull skin look more radiant. Whitening, to me, is more like trying to even out the color of your dark spots so your skin looks whiter as a whole.

Review: Etude House Snail Darling Sheet Mask

I also bought this mask while I was in Korea and tried it in Korea so I don't have a photo of it myself (picture taken from etude house official website). When I was there, what I would do is buy one mask and use it that same night. If it gave me a good feeling or even better, if I could see the results immediately, I'll go and buy a pack of 10 the next day.

When I use a sheet mask I look for several things. First is, of course, effectiveness. Second is whether or not it can stick on my face and feel comfortable (or even better, I don't feel it being on my face after awhile). This is because I don't have the patience nor the time to sit there for 25-30 minutes. I need to be doing something while I put on this mask and if I need to fix it every minute because it's falling off my face then that's an instant fail. Third is whether or not it absorbs. If I don't feel a difference in the wetness of the sheet mask after 30 minutes.. then there is a problem with the compatibility of the mask with my face.

Review: The Saem Cell ReNew Anti-Wrinkle Mask E.G.F + Snail Complex + Syn-Ake

This mask was the reason why I started getting interested in snail mucin products. Before going to Korea, I've never heard of The Saem before. The only brands I've heard of were the ones with popular BB cream lines like Skinfood, Missha, TonyMoly, Etude House, Baviphat. But after trying this mask out I decided to try out more The Saem products and even bought some of their other masks to try out, like The Saem Chaga White Liposome Biocellulose Sheet (Whitening Mask).

When I use a sheet mask I look for several things. First is, of course, effectiveness. Second is whether or not it can stick on my face and feel comfortable (or even better, I don't feel it being on my face after awhile). This is because I don't have the patience nor the time to sit there for 25-30 minutes. I need to be doing something while I put on this mask and if I need to fix it every minute because it's falling off my face then that's an instant fail. Third is whether or not it absorbs. If I don't feel a difference in the wetness of the sheet mask after 30 minutes.. then there is a problem with the compatibility of the mask with my face.

Review: Skinfood Argan Oil Silk Hair Essence

I've been using Skinfood's Extra Virgin Olive Hair Essence for awhile now and it's been great. I have always thought that my hair was a lost cause, and that nothing short of a perm can change this dry frizzball. But then the essence made my hair silky smooth. The only problem I had with it was that I needed 9-10 pumps to get that effect and the bottle was only 60ml. This is Skinfood's other hair essence, and I know that argan oil is used in other brands to treat dry hair as well so I thought I'd try this one out.

Review: Asience Inner Rich Hair Treatment

This was sitting in my cupboard for awhile until a bit over a month ago. I always thought hair treatments take a long time and are a hassle. But my hair is a dry frizzball and since I've cut my hair to a bit less than shoulder length the frizz is going crazy on me. So I decided to take a look on how to use this treatment and it actually wasn't that complicated at all!

Review: HadaLabo Shirojyun Arbutin Whitening Mask

Last review of the 3 whitening masks that I tried out this summer! I'm almost caught up with all the skincare products that I crazily bought and tried this summer. Almost.

Sometimes you don't appreciate a skincare product until you use something a lot worse or a lot more ineffective. That was this mask for me. I first bought 2 boxes of 4 of this mask 3 years ago in Japan. I still had 2 masks left and eventually forgot about it. I didn't think much of it because it was the first mask that I've used and I thought all whitening masks do the same.

When I use a sheet mask I look for several things. First is, of course, effectiveness. Second is whether or not it can stick on my face and feel comfortable (or even better, I don't feel it being on my face after awhile). This is because I don't have the patience nor the time to sit there for 25-30 minutes. I need to be doing something while I put on this mask and if I need to fix it every minute because it's falling off my face then that's an instant fail. Third is whether or not it absorbs. If I don't feel a difference in the wetness of the sheet mask after 30 minutes.. then there is a problem with the compatibility of the mask with my face.

Review: Skinfood Omija Whitening Mask Sheet

While I was in Korea, I'd often buy just one mask to see if it's effective and was compatible for me. If it was, I'd go back and buy a whole pack. So I bought one of this to try while I was there.

When I use a sheet mask I look for several things. First is, of course, effectiveness. Second is whether or not it can stick on my face and feel comfortable (or even better, I don't feel it being on my face after awhile). This is because I don't have the patience nor the time to sit there for 25-30 minutes. I need to be doing something while I put on this mask and if I need to fix it every minute because it's falling off my face then that's an instant fail. Third is whether or not it absorbs. If I don't feel a difference in the wetness of the sheet mask after 30 minutes.. then there is a problem with the compatibility of the mask with my face.

Whitening is one of my top concerns, if not the top. I'm surprised I haven't written anything about whitening products yet since I've tried a TON of them especially over this summer. Most of my whitening products are sheet masks though because I've found that a lot of whitening creams and cleansers don't do much...

When I use a sheet mask I look for several things. First is, of course, effectiveness. Second is whether or not it can stick on my face and feel comfortable (or even better, I don't feel it being on my face after awhile). This is because I don't have the patience nor the time to sit there for 25-30 minutes. I need to be doing something while I put on this mask and if I need to fix it every minute because it's falling off my face then that's an instant fail. Third is whether or not it absorbs. If I don't feel a difference in the wetness of the sheet mask after 30 minutes.. then there is a problem with the compatibility of the mask with my face.

I've been using Lancome's Bi-Facil Eye Makeup Remover to remove my eye makeup. It works great: takes everything off with 2-3 wipes, doesn't sting my eyes, and my under eyes don't feel dry at all after wiping all those layers of concealer off (I have huge dark under eye circles so I need to double up on concealer).

But I'm always interested in trying new products because I always believe there's something better out there. Either better in quality, better in value, or both. The only thing I don't like about Lancome's is its price: $27 for 125ml. With tax that comes out to be around $31. So when I saw this makeup remover by Skinfood selling for $10 for 160ml, I decided to try this one after reading some good reviews.

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.

I've been alternating this with Skinfood's Black Sugar Scrub Foam, because I was afraid scrubbing my face day and night would do more harm than good. So I use the Egg White Pore Foam in the morning and the Black Sugar Scrub Foam at night. My large pores on my face is one of my big concerns and since Skinfood's Egg White Pore Mask was such a success for me, I thought I'd try out this foam.

I bought this product a few days after buying Skinfood Fresh Apple Pore Toner because they both target pores and I wanted to compare them. My pores are quite big and recently all my breakouts are from this area so I've been desperate to find a toner that can help with that problem. This toner has been out in the market for longer than Skinfood's so there were many reviews, some of which raved about it.You can also use this as a mist and a mist container is included in the 500ml version, but since I wanted to try it out first, I only bought the 250ml version.

Review: Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Concealer Cream

I've been using this for a bit over a week now...and I totally forgot that I haven't written a review about this yet until I got a timely comment about my eyes today: "Wow, why are your under eye circles so crazy? Are you not sleeping enough these days?" We went onto another subject, but I really wanted to tell them that I've been sleeping a nice consistent 7ish hours everyday for the past week! Ah, genetics...

For my anti-wrinkle eye cream reviews (because I have fine lines under my eyes already sadly), here are my reviews for Skinfood Royal Honey Eye Cream, which didn't do much for me, Skinfood Gold Caviar Double Collagen Eye Serum, which is my favorite anti-aging eye cream so far, but it was so-so for the fine lines under my eyes but pretty good for the firming of my under eye area, Skinfood Platinum Grape Cell Eye Cream, which was also so-so for the fine lines but didn't firm my under eye area, and Skinfood Black Raspberry Eye Cream, which didn't do anything and had an awful smell.

Review: It's Skin Prestige Creme Hand D'Escargot

I've actually never heard of the brand It's Skin before going to Korea this summer. I researched about it and saw its claim to fame with the snail cream and using Nichkhun (member of the popular Korean idol group 2PM) as their endorser. As I already had my heart set out on buying Missha's Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Moisturizer for my face, I didn't really want to buy snail cream for the same function. They had a ranking of the best-selling products on their store, and I think this hand cream was ranked 4th, so I decided to give it a try.

Review: Skinfood Egg White Pore Mask

One of my main concerns for my skin are my huge pore mines. My breakouts are usually from the areas where my large pores are, and just having those huge dark holes on your skin is a bit unsightly. I've tried pore refiners from Shiseido, Clinique but those never really did much for me. I tried Skinfood's Peach Sake Pore Serum a few years ago too and I wasn't that amazed by it either. I knew egg white is often associated with dealing with pore problems, so I decided to buy this when I saw it in Korea.

I bought this along with the Fresh Apple Sparkling Pore Toner and 5 samples of the Fresh Apple Sparkling Pore Serum because I highly anticipated this line, which targets enlarged pores & oily skin. I read from other sites that this one is more of a primer to put on during the day to smooth out your skin before makeup. I don't put foundation on my skin, but after washing my face and toner it can get a bit red and some bumps may show so I wanted to put on the primer just to give me skin an overall smoother look before I head out, as well as minimizing the appearance of my huge pore mines and oil control. For my other primer review, please look at my Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever Primer Essence post.

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.

I actually bought and used this first before trying out Skinfood's Extra Virgin Olive Essence mainly because I was initially hesitant to put something so oily on my hair. I thought my hair would become a shiny oil slick. There was also more product in this one (110ml vs 60ml) and I knew avocado was very rich and moisturizing so I gave this a try first. I've also tried Skinfood Argan Oil Silk Hair Essence and you can read that post here.

The black sugar mask has long been a best-seller for Skinfood in both Japan and Korea. At the time, I ran out of cleanser and was in need of one so I decided to buy this over the black sugar mask. I use this at night because I feel that I need the mild scrub to get rid of all the dirt and oil that I've accumulated over the day.

Review: Skinfood Extra Virgin Olive Essence

Finally! A review for haircare :D

My hair is a dry frizzball. I use conditioner and it helps but it's not enough. The past few years I've been ironing it like crazy to make it smooth and it's damaged my hair by making some strands thick in some parts and thin in others, creating even more random curls and frizz. I've always thought that my hair was a lost cause and that I could never cut it short because then my hair wouldn't have the help of gravity pulling it down and I'd have the hair of a lion. That is, until I met this product.

I think I've tried almost, if not all, of Skinfood's hair products, like the Skinfood Argan Oil Silk Hair Essence and Skinfood Avocado Leave-In Fluid. I've also tried the Etude House Silk Scarf Repair Hair Essence. You can check out those reviews by clicking on their respective names :D

I've been using Origins Zero Oil toner for awhile now but thought that I'd try a new toner since my pores were still big and the oil control on my face could be better. As mentioned in my earlier post, I was excited about this new Skinfood line for enlarged pores & oily skin, so I bought their toner, 5 samples of their sparkling pore serum, and their smoothing pore cream to try. At $19 for 160ml, it was pretty expensive compared to your usual Korean skincare prices but it was still cheaper than my Origins toner.

I got 3 samples of this from my The Saem mask purchases in Korea and thought it worked well so I bought the whole bottle on eBay. This is The Saem's best selling product, but I think this brand is still fairly new so it was harder to find sellers compared to those for Skinfood, Missha, Etude House, and so on.

I read that Sulwhasoo is one of the two famous Korean brands that is separate from Skinfood, Missha that have only recently gained international exposure due to the popularity of BB cream. Their products are mostly for mature skin, but there are two products that are used with great praise for younger, 20-30's skin. One of them is the first care serum. The other is the Sulwhasoo Skin Clarifying Mask, which I also bought, but I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet. This thing is pricey, I think $80 for 60ml? But I've heard such great reviews about it so I decided I would splurge and give it a try.

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.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I have fine lines/wrinkles right under my eyes. I think (or I hope) that these are mostly due to dry skin and with proper moisture, they will go away. Since I heard a lot about this moisturizing eye gel (the words "water bank" certainly got me interested) I decided to splurge (I bought it for around $35) and buy this jar to see if it can really help me.

As if dark circles that can pass for eyeshadow and puffiness isn't enough for my eyes.. I have fine lines/wrinkles right under them too. I think these are still mostly due to dry skin and with proper moisture, these lines go away significantly. But that only happens when I literally slab on layer after layer of eye cream right before I sleep...which is not economically sustainable and not possible to do in the daytime. I got one sample of this royal honey eye cream which lasts 5-6 generous applications.

[Edit Oct 22 2012]: I have since tried more anti-wrinkle eye creams. For those reviews, here are my reviews for Skinfood Gold Caviar Double Collagen Eye Serum, which is my favorite anti-aging eye cream so far, but it was so-so for the fine lines under my eyes but pretty good for the firming of my under eye area, Skinfood Platinum Grape Cell Eye Cream, which was also so-so for the fine lines but didn't firm my under eye area, and Skinfood Black Raspberry Eye Cream, which didn't do anything and had an awful smell.

My pores have always been a problem for my skin. I have quite a bit of blackheads on my nose and pretty big, visible pores on the cheek area right beside my nose. 80% of my breakouts come from there. I was using a cleansing oil for awhile (I later learned that people with oily/combination skin should NOT use cleansing OIL...stupid me) and 100% of my breakouts came from those places with large pores. During my crazy acne phase I would have one HUGE pimple on the top of my nose every 2 months making me look as if I'm some Rudolph mascot for my school....

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.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Monday, September 24, 2012

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Saturday, September 22, 2012

Friday, September 21, 2012

Monday, September 17, 2012

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Saturday, September 15, 2012

Friday, September 14, 2012

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

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Saturday, September 8, 2012

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

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