K-Skin Care Product Reviews: Skin Care Newbie Edition
Opening Remarks
(in retrospect, because I forgot to write this at the beginning)
I’m not quite a complete skin care noob, but I’m close to one. This, however, is my first time experimenting with a proper and thorough facial skin care regimen. I’ve had some previous, positive experience with Korean skin care products (versus mostly horrible, but admittedly not very deep or varied, experience with American brands), so when I decided to try and Be An Adult about my skin when it started getting worse in my twenty-fourth year of life, I turned immediately to Korean products. I chose YesStyle to buy from because I have a lot of experience buying from YesAsia, and I like a sense of familiarity.
I have what is generally called combination skin, but in doing research to prepare for this purchase I ran across the term “dehydrated and oily” which I think might be more accurate. Skin flakes coated in oil? Oh yes! (Oh NO.) Blackheads and whiteheads are my biggest problems, followed by some bigger cysts, and in the winter my skin can get quite dry in the non-oily areas, but that’s not a problem yet this year. With that in mind, I both looked for independent reviews along with combing through YesStyle for the “combination/oily” recommended products with the best reviews.
Some of these products are no longer available from YesStyle, but others in their line are, or in the case of the clay mask I think they just changed the packaging a little.
The Face Shop - Rice Water Bright Cleansing Light Oil
DISPENSE INTO PALM, NOT ON FINGERS. It’s a very liquid oil, so while I was expecting something more like the thickness of olive oil (I have zero experience with oil cleansers) the reality is more like… I don’t know. I had a little bit of a hard time applying it before I went for the “smoosh my hands over my face” technique, which… probably isn’t what you’re supposed to do. I was also a little distracted from washing it off because I had forgotten to pull back my loose hair in the back, but it seemed to rinse easily.
Currently my face feels a little dry, especially my forehead, but some of that flakiness is because I’ve really needed to tend to my face… oops. Didn’t think to mention the condition of my face before I started. ^-^; It was pretty oily and gucky feeling in the shower, however.
Innisfree - Jeju Volcanic Pore Cleansing Foam
I’ve seen great reviews for the cleansing oil all over the place, but at this point I could not tell you why this is the foaming cleanser I picked from all of the “For oily or combination skin” ones given that it only has one (pretty good) review on YesStyle. It’s been… 2/3rds of a month since I made the order because it took a long time to ship.
Upon using it, if my opinion doesn’t change with my use my hunch must have been right! The smell is almost a non-smell, the lather on the brush was nice and I can tell just from touching my face that it’s significantly cleaner without having that weird, too-tight feeling that I had with another Korean cleanser I once used… I think it may have been the Skinfood Egg Foam one? (Yes, it was that one.)
Etude House - My Beauty Tool Facial Cleansing Brush
I really enjoyed the brush, though it may have just been feeding into my wet shave fantasies. It was easy to use (aka hold on to) and to clean, I didn’t have to use that much cleanser with it and it was definitely gentle. I had an easier time keeping track of what had been washed with it than with hands alone.
Skin feels generally in better shape at this point, but I can still feel those little flakies.
Tony Moly - Appletox Smooth Massage Peeling Cream
Ahh, chemical exfoliators, how I love you. Some years ago I bought some products from Skin79 that included a chemical exfoliant, and I loved that stuff. In doing my research for this order I also stumbled upon something that said the chemical ones were better for SOMETHING about my skin, which is why I got one instead of something like the famed Black Sugar Scrub. Don’t ask me which thing it was.
The giant apple does not lie: This stuff smells exactly like a freshly cut Granny Smith. This is a big plus for me, but if for some reason you don’t like that smell… Do not buy this. The texture is definitely a cream, and while the tingling isn’t very strong you can tell that chemicals are at work, so if you’re very sensitive to that this probably wouldn’t be for you. Washing off was… odd. I felt like I had a hard time washing it off completely, though I am terrible at washing my face in a sink without resembling a hippo playing in a pool. After giving up, once my face was dry I could tell there was a lingering amount of something on my skin, but not necessarily in a bad way? The exfoliation is noticeable, but nothing revolutionary.
At this point the flakiness of my forehead has been reduced, but is still dry. Nose area feels in good condition. Chin and cheeks don’t feel bad but aren’t too noticeably improved, but that has to be cut with deeper pore problems on my chin and the fact that I have an intense amount of vellus hair in what I refer to as my Lady Chops area.
Innisfree - Jeju Volcanic Pore Toner
I have no experience with toner. This is literally the first one I used, and it took an embarrassingly long time for me to figure out how to remove the plug… Anyway. When I made my order I didn’t include anything like cotton pads or whatever because I told myself I would buy local ones! … Which means I had to apply this with my hands, which really wasn’t all that bad.
The toner has next to no smell, and an interesting texture… You can really feel the dissolved volcano bits in it that you have to shake to incorporate. Since I have no experience with these I can’t really say much in comparison to what a toner experience is supposed to be like, but there was a pleasant hint of a tingle, my skin is no drier than it was before, and the cheek area in particular feels nicer in a sort of nonspecific way.
Innisfree - Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask
Okay, so clay masks are weird. I’m pretty sure all of them are weird, but THIS ONE! … Putting it on was weird, but not difficult at all, and it rinses off your hand easily. It has a smell, but it’s a very mineral-y, nonobtrusive smell. The tightening sensation is odd, but goes with the territory. Washing it off… For someone as face-washing impaired as I am it wasn’t easy. Water got everywhere. My hair is slightly wet now. It took a while.
BUT MY FACE. It’s so pettable now. Cheek-feel is most greatly improved, followed by nose and chin. Forehead is still dry feeling, but the rest of my face has a pleasant moisturized, soft feel. Anyway, super great.
Etude House - New I Need You, Rice! Mask Sheet
Picking face masks, to me, is basically like putting my hand in a closed box full of nice things and pulling one out. I know some are better than others, and some might help me more than others, but they’re all just sort of… There. So I just picked one that seemed to do things that might suit me more, had reasonable reviews, and wasn’t super pricy. That was my logic behind picking these.
Immediate statement: This is CREAMY. Most of the face masks I’ve had before were more jelly/clear types, but this one looks like lotion. Smells vaguely of that general sort of skin care chemical smell, but not in a bad way. The fabric of the mask seems like quite good quality and is thicker than ones I’ve had before, however the cut out for the mouth area is awkwardly small.
Post Mask: The cream in the mask, almost all of it went into my skin. Like, to a somewhat startling degree did the cotton sheet get sucked dry. The residual, however, does NOT want to absorb on a quick time frame, either on my face or hands, so I’ll make a note on how long before my skin just feels like skin again and I move on to the next step, because right now it just has that lotion sitting on your skin feeling.
… After 30+ minutes I’m giving up. It’s still tacky feeling on my hands and face, but not horribly. *Note it takes most lotions a reeeaaally long time to absorb in my skin completely. I have a genetic disorder that affects collagen, so I’ve got a lot of weird stuff going on with my skin that may or may not be relevant.
Innisfree - Green Tea Fresh Essence
Another product I have no reference for. The smell is pleasant but a little strong, in sort of generic “fresh” way. The consistency is a sort of a medium-heavy gel, and easy to apply. It also seemed to have the effect of making the leftover mask sheet cream absorb better? It definitely changed the texture of the moisture on my face. *Only complaint is that the built in pump seems temperamental.
Currently my face feels generically moisturized, in that not all of it has absorbed yet kind of way instead of just being in good condition. Flaky feeling on forehead almost completely gone.
It's skin - Power 10 Formula VB Effector with Vitamin B6
This stuff has a STRONG smell, with a distinct chemical odor. I don’t mind it, but when I opened it up around other people it made my father start sneezing. The directions said 2 or 3 applications with the pipette, but I would recommend 2 because the three I used was… a lot. It’s very runny, so make sure and keep track of where it’s rolling down your face. While it says it isn’t an oil, it feels rather oily to me (it feels oiler than the oil cleanser), but not exactly in a bad way. It definitely is taking a while to absorb into my skin, but that’s probably because I used one pipette too many.
Innisfree - The Green Tea Seed Cream
It’s clear that this is part of the same line as the essence, as they smell almost exactly the same, though this one has a slightly stronger “fresh” scent. Before I put this on my skin still has noticeable product on it, especially my cheeks. My forehead, especially the center area, says it could do with some more.
This cream has a pleasant, very light and cool feeling texture, and it leaves a nice silky quality to my skin that wasn’t there before. I can’t comment exactly on how fast it absorbs due to the rest of the other products. The smell is really nice once it’s on your face.
Pure Smile - Choosy Lip Pack (Milk)
Please note that the packaging seems to be telling me I can also put them on my nipples, which is… interesting.
So these are a Korean product, but packaged for Japan, and very… odd. The patches themselves are sort of like if you took konyaku jelly and made it very thin and durable (I imagine they’re silicone). The “Milk” scent actually means coconut scent. They conform to fit your lips very well. *Odd Note: While sheet masks make me feel like I’m bonding with my inner serial killer, these things make me feel like the serial killer’s victim. (If you’re into kinky stuff these would be great. Just sayin’.)
After use… I have mixed feelings. The part of my lips that it touched are softer feeling, though I’m not sure about plumpness, but due to the set of my lips there was a small but significant amount that didn’t get touched. So depending on the shape of your mouth and how you apply them might make these work better or worse.
Etude House - My Lash Serum
Very little smell, easy to apply even for me (I am not a regular mascara user), and doesn’t hurt at all if you accidentally get some in your eye. Which I may have done.
End Comments for First Wash
I am generally very pleased with the products I got. Nothing immediately made my skin itch or go red, which was always a possibility with some reactions I’ve had to western products. Application was generally easy and straightforward, except for those products that are always going to be difficult (clay mask, looking at you). I do feel a little overworked at the moment, but that’s because I know no one should actually use all of these at once. >_> However, even after going above and beyond what one should do at once nothing feels truly irritated, except perhaps my eyes, but that’s due to accidental brush poking and not so much what I used…
Second Wash
I intended to wash my face in the morning, but stuff came up that I missed it. A few hours after I used ALL THE THINGS everything had absorbed well and my skin simply felt nice and soft, and the quality of my skin around the pre-existing spotty areas was noticeably improved. For my second time around I only used the things that are to be part of the daily regimen: Oil Cleanser, Foaming Cleanser, Toner, Essence, Serum, Cream. Except, of course, I forgot the toner this time…
- Opinion on oil cleanser remains the same (positive), especially because I remembered about dispensing it into my palms.
- I’m still as much of a fan of the foaming cleanser and little brush.
- I… forgot the toner, which may or may not have had much of an impact on the following products?
- The pump on the essence leaves a lot to be desired. It dispenses a tiny amount, and not reliably the same amount each time. Using this one also felt very different using it after cleansing instead of after all of the other products I’d used. More isolated it left a certain heavy, tacky feeling immediately after applying, but did seem to absorb well after a few minutes.
- Two pipettes of the serum is definitely enough. Otherwise, same positive opinion.
- I used a little too much of the cream because I was talking to my sibling and not paying attention… oops. While things like initial application feeling and smell are the same, at the end of this run instead of the first I am left with a different feeling. While skin texture feels good, there’s much less of a moisturized feeling, especially in my forehead. While I think this would be an adequate/good routine for in the morning (I’ll have to do it properly in the morning to make sure), without the extra moisture from the sheet mask I think a more potent sleep cream would be called for.
Morning Wash
Some interesting changes here. My opinion on the Oil and Foam Cleansers (and the brush) is very high. I had my eye on a particular small blackhead and after using each one it got noticeably less prominent, though the pore itself was still enlarged (I look forward to my second clay mask). The toner made a HUGE difference on the products after it. Like, I couldn’t believe just how much actually using the toner did to the essence. It applied more smoothly to my face, and absorbed much, much faster. On the other hand, however, was that the two pipettes of serum took longer (3-4 minutes instead of 1½ or so) to absorb to what I felt was a good point to move on from. The general effect from the inclusion of the toner also carried on to the cream: I used less of it, and got more of a moisturizing effect.
I think I’m just going to think of the eyelash serum as mascara practice at this point…
Final Scores (So Far):
- Rice Water Bright Cleansing Light Oil: A+ (It really is as good as they say.) Would Buy Again
- Jeju Volcanic Pore Cleansing Foam: A+ (Didn’t dry me out, immediately noticeable effect on blackheads.) Would Buy Again
- My Beauty Tool Facial Cleansing Brush: A (Really like using it, but not sure on its stand-alone value.) Would Buy Again
- Jeju Volcanic Pore Toner: A+ (Had a great effect on my skin and for the rest of the regimen.) Would Buy Again
- Green Tea Fresh Essence: B (Really don’t like the bottle, but the product seems to do its job well.) Will Not Buy Again (due to pump)
- Power 10 Formula VB Effector with Vitamin B6: B+ (Application is odd, and while short-term moisturizing is noticeable, long term effects are unknown.) Would Probably Buy Again
- The Green Tea Seed Cream: A (Very nice facial cream/lotion with a good skin-feel and absorption rates, but more for day than night use.) Would Buy Again
- My Lash Serum: A* (That asterisk is for the fact that I don’t know how well it works for me yet, but currently it’s easy to apply and doesn’t irritate my eyes, and I have REALLY sensitive eyes.) Would Buy Again (if it works)
- Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask A+ (~Amazing~) Would Buy Again
- Appletox Smooth Massage Peeling Cream: C+/B (My initial impression wasn’t too great, not bad but not great, but I have a suspicion this might be a better maintenance product than for that initial scrub down.) Might Buy Again
- New I Need You, Rice! Mask Sheet: B (It’s a good quality sheet mask and the moisturizing effect was great, but that ABSORPTION TIME. The next time I use one I will definitely do it at the end, which, admittedly, is probably when you’re supposed to use them.) Will Not Buy Again
- Choosy Lip Pack: C+ (Not good but not bad. I’ll have to try applying it in a different way next time.) Will Not Buy Again
Parting Remarks
Nothing irritated my skin, and I have the kind of skin that gets irritated IMMEDIATELY. My mother said, when I asked her, that my skin looks better than it has in a long time. I’m overall very pleased with my purchases. (I just don’t look forward for the inevitable crud in my skin all coming out… yech.)
Source: Me. :3 All products purchased from YesStyle.com
Made on request by benihime99!