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Unboxing: Mishibox November 2015

2. December 2015

And here is another unboxing, but this time I’m super excited to introduce to you my first ever Mishibox! Yeeeii! I was eagerly waiting for the moment Mishi Box would start shipping to europe and finally I’m able to try them on my own! This monthly Korean beauty subscription box is packed with with a combination of 4 – 6 deluxe-sized samples and full-sized Korean beauty products from a wide range of Korean brands. Today I present you the content of the Mishibox November 2015:

MISHIBOX is a U.S.-based online retailer providing a wide selection of Korean beauty products. Apart from their online store they also offer a monthly Korean beauty subscription service that delivers a combination of 4-6 deluxe-sized samples and full-sized Korean beauty products. This way they are trying to help you to discover your favorite Korean beauty products. Their aim is to make Korean beauty products easily accessible to everyone regardless of where you live or what language you speak. Mishi (pronounced “me-she”) is their bunny mascot! When I first discovered about Mishibox I directly subscribed for their newsletter, because they planned to deliver worldwide one day. When I received their Email that finally Mishibox was shipping to Germany aswell I was sooo happy! And here it is finally, my first Mishibox:

The pink box was filled with 6 products in total, 2 of these being sample sized products, one mini-sized product and 3 products in full-size. Each box comes with a product description card, which is very detailed and even reminds us how we can distinguish between expiration and manufactured date and were we can find the list of translated ingredients. I really like the effort they put into the box by translating all the ingredients for example. You can even participate in a Mishibox Selfie Contest in order to win something! So lovely!

The theme of the Mishibox November 2015 was snail mucin. Two of the full-sized products are using snail mucin in their ingredients list. The variety of different brands in this box is nice, too: we have known brands like Etude House, Tonymoly and Secret Key, but also less known brands like D’Ran and White Cat. The product types are also versatile. Although all the products are skin care items you will find a cleanser, a sheet mask, a cream, a toner and emulsion, and an eye cream. It’s almost a complete skin care routine! Below I will go into the details of each of the products. Nevertheless, I will do a full review once I’ve used the products for some time.

The main product for me was the D’Ran Wonder Snail Treatment Cream. This nutrience-rich and highly moisturizing cream is perfect for upcoming winter days. Snail mucin is the key ingredient here and it contains 10% of it. Some other nice ingredients of this cream are Glycerin, Silkworm Cocoon Extract, Niacinamide, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Panthenol, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (jojoba) Seed Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Camellia Sinensis Callus Culture Extract and Human Oligopeptide-1 (also called EGF). The jar comes with 100g of content in a beautiful jar, too. It retails for 43 US$ which is super expensive, but it makes me even more happy to find this in a 20 US$ subscription box! I’m looking forward to use this cream, especially since I already tried a product from D’Ran before and was happy with it. Other than the one product from the past, this brand is hardly known to me.

The second item containing snail mucin is the Secret Key Snail + EGF Repairing Eye Cream. This eye cream is supposed to be very popular and it comes in a typical eye cream type. Snail secretion filtrate and EGF are the key ingredients here aswell, but it also contains some plant and fruit extracts and even some fermented plant extract. The tube contains 30 g and retails for 17 US$.

I was very happy to spot a sheet mask from the new brand White Cat. I just recently reviewed their eye balm and this is now the second product I can try from this brand. There were three types of this sheet mask which were selected randomly for each Mishibox in November. I received the White Cat Charcoal Pore Tightening Mask, which is directed towards pore care as the name already suggests. The masks from White Cat are free from paraben, mineral oil, benzophenone, petrolatum, imidazolidinyl, urea, talc, silphate and BHT. and I’m still loving their logo with the white cat :D The White Cat sheet masks retail for 3 US$.

The Tonymoly Fresh Cleansing Tissues in Mishibox November 2015 are provided in a miniature size. These water-type facial cleansing tissues contain baking powder for removing makeup and I’m not sure whether I like that or not, since baking powder is usually drying on my skin. But it also contains 5 natural oil ingredients to moisturize and nourish the skin. I will definitively try these, but I’m not sure whether I will like them or not. :D This small packaging of 15 tissues retails for 5 US$.

The last two items in Mishibox November 2015 were the two sample sized bottles from Etude House Age Defense line: there is a bottle of the Age Defense Essential Softener and a bottle of the Age Defense Essential Emulsion. I love these kinds of miniature bottles, especially for travelling! I didn’t try any products from Etude House’s Age Defense line yet, so I’m curious about these, too!

My first impression of Mishibox and their subscription box is very positive. Although all the products in their November box were skin care products there for items for almost all skin care routine steps. The themed ingredient snail mucin was included by two full-sized products containing snail mucin. The variety of brands was well balanced with known and unknown Korean cosmetic brands. The total value of 68 US$ for a subscription box sold at 19.95 US$ is awesome! If you are interested in Mishibox you can use my referral ID and get a discount code for $5 USD off your order (min. $30 USD) for your first purchase. At the moment their box subscription is closed due to high demand, but you can put your name on the waiting list. Mishibox also has a product store where you can buy a specific product, too. Until 4ths of December they are having Blackfriday sales with up to 30% off by using the coupon BFSALE2015. Did you try Mishibox already? How do you like their subscription box? Did you know any of the products I received?

Fell free to join my giveaway with Japan Candy Box, too! Did you see it already?

Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.mishibox.com/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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Review: White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm

24. November 2015

White Cat was absolutely a unknown Korean brand for me until I received the White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm from BNTnews this month. This multifunctional eye balm can be used either before or after makeup and works as a primer, but also has anti-aging benefits and improves wrinkles and dark circles. It is useable on the rest of your face, too, for example on the T-zone or on your lips as lip balm. It seems to be really a nice multipurpose product in a super adorable packaging!

White Cat is a Korean brand using safe natural ingredients for all ages and preferences.Their products are designed to be natural friendly, hypo-allergenic and keep your skin healthy and beautiful. I really like that their official web page is also available in English. All their products seem to have a typical design in pink with leopard print all over. The logo displays a white cat, therefore the name, too. The packaging is really pretty and cute in my eyes.

The White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm combines 12 berry ingredients: Chinese matrimony vines, raspberries, amqui berries, korean black raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, acai berries, bilberries, black currant, cranberries,blueberries, and raspberry vine. These berries are rich in antioxidants and therefore have great anti-wrinkle and anti-aging properties. They provide moisture and nutrition. White Cat also claims to uphold the principle of paraben-free, artificial scent free, and artificial color free. They do not use any of the 20 toxins used in cosmetics as announced by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). The other ingredients have been added to COSDNA and you will find that the list doesn’t contain any unsafe ingredients, but some minor irritants. If you know that you can react to any of the ingredients make sure to patch-test the product before. Half of the ingredients lists consist of the berry fruit extracts mentioned above, but you will also find titanium dioxide (UV protection), squalane (moisturizing), and beeswax (nourishing, emollient) inside this balm.

The White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm comes in a cute pink jar containing 15 g, which is quite a lot for an eye cream. Since it also has a balm texture it feels like forever until I will use this up. On the other hand, if you also use this as a primer all over your face as it is also recommended on the official product page it might use up more quickly. The white balm texture has a super soft and silky touch. It has also a matte finish and because of that makes fine lines less visible. It feels very light on the skin, too, but still provides moisture. I liked using this during day time before my makeup, but it also can be used above the makeup. If you want to use it above your makeup you should be very careful with the amount, because otherwise it may be cakey. Just put on little by little in order to prevent this. Also, if you use this on your eyelid you also have to be more careful with the amount of balm, otherwise it will settle in your eye crease. The White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm also is practically scentless. If you stick your nose into the jar you will recognize a faint berry/oil scent, but actually, you smell nothing if you use the product.

Below there is an image of the skin under my eyes without and with the White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Cream. you can see how the balm blurrs the area under my eyes and makes the deeper lines less noticeable.

All in all, I’m happy about getting to know a new Korean brand. The packaging of the White Cat products and this White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm is adorable and looks nice on the dressing table among all the other cute Korean products I have. I also do like the silky balm texture and that the balm appears to be matte while still being moisturizing. And of course, it is multi-functional, which is always a plus! All in all, I’m happy with the White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm. Hopefully the White Cat products will be getting more popular and we will be able to try other products from this brand. Retail prize for the White Cat Super Berry Silky Eye Balm is 32000 Won, which is around 32 US$ depending on the exchange rates.

This product was provided to me by BNTnews for reviewing. Don’t forget to visit the other BNTGirls Kim, Bella, Mary, Celine, Alene, Joanne, Chermaine, ,Mitha, and Blair and check out their reviews for the August BNT Beauty Box. And visit BNTnews for the latest Korean news and trends:

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Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.bntnews.co.uk/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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Review: BRTC The First Ampoule Essence

23. November 2015

Apart from the Black Friday Deals I shared today I still have a regular beauty product review for you! Here is the other product from BRTC I was able to try, the BRTC The First Ampoule Essence. Actually, I think the full name is 1st Essence Treatment The First Ampoule Essence, but anyways… Here we have a so called first essence, similar to the Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence. I received this essence together with the BRTC Aqua Rush Cream from BNTnews, so I also used them in combination. Similar to the Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence the key ingredient is ferment filtrate to moisturize, soften and brighten up your skin.

BRTC is a ‘derma-technology cosmetics brand’ from Korea. It stands for ‘Bio Remedies Therapeutic Cosmetics’. They have products which are dermatological tested and safe for a variety of skintypes. They have different product lines each targeting another skin concern. The BRTC The First Ampoule Essence is a skin booster containing 95.3% of fermented patented ingredients and is supposed to sooth irritated skin and make it healthy. Like most of these kind of essences this product comes in a frosted glass bottle. The design is simple, too. Actually, I have the feeling that all first essences I’ve seen so far look like that :D

The cardboard box containing the bottle has descriptions in English and Korean and in contrast to the BRTC Aqua Rush Cream they even listed the English ingredients. We have here a two different ferment extracts, one from galactomyces and the other from lactobacillus. apart from the fermented extracts we have a bunch of plant/flower extracts like chamomille, hyacinth, green tea and lavender. Allantoin (soothing properties) and niacinamide (brightening properties) are also included. Generally, the ingredients lists is pretty short as you can check on >>COSDNA<<.

The claims of the product are brightening, improving skin texture, nourishing, creating a protective film, improving skin elasticity and moisturizing. I did not use this product long enough to see if it improves my skin in terms of skin texture or elasticity, but it is definitively moisturizing. Also, similar to the Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence you will feel a kind of nourishing film on the skin after applying it. I used this in the same way like I did with the Missha First Essence: in the mornings and evening after cleansing, toning and using actives I pour a bit of the essence on my hands and pat it into my skin. It has a watery, scentless texture and also absorbs very fast. What I like about the bottle is, that it has a scale on the side where you can see how much you are using.

Since I didn’t use this long enough I cannot say anything about the long term effects of the BRTC The First Ampoule Essence. Compared to the Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence I think that this one shows less immediate results. After using the Essence from Missha I have the feeling my skin brightened up directly. Also it contains many smoothing and conditioning ingredients which make the skin super soft. The BRTC The First Ampoule Essence also makes the skin feel softer, but the effect is less drastic. I do like the frosted glass bottle though and I like the scaling on the side of the bottle. Since I do not have any negative remarks on the product itself, this essence is a good essence all in all, but I still have a bottle of COSRX Galactomyces Essence to review and I would like to compare all three essences (COSRX, Missha and BRTC) together. Until then, I hope this review is still helpful! The bottle contains 150 ml and is a bit pricey with 38000 Won retail price.

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Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.bntnews.co.uk/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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Black Friday Deals

23. November 2015

It’s that time of the year: Black Friday is shortly ahead and many online shops have revealed their Black Friday Deals. I made a list of some of the deals I noticed so far. Hopefully, this is helpful for you:

I will start with one of my favourite shopping sites: Wishtrend! They have Black Friday Promotions starting from 23rd November to 29th November (CST). They discounted many of their bestselling products, reduced the value for free shipping and the best part is probably the special gift for orders above 99 US$: You will get a makeup pouch with the code WISHPOUCH. Furthermore, they still have their regular November coupons, which I listed in my post >>here<<. Also be sure to use your chance of receiving a 5 Us$ referral coupon, which you can receive if you are a new customer. It works like this: If you use my invitation code 17939205 upon registration you’ll receive a 5 US$ voucher immediately. There will be a specific field in your registration form called “friends invitation program” where you can put the code mentioned above. This way new customers can get 5 US$ off, which is a great to save some money on your first order. Below is a list of all the Black Friday deals they offer, but there will also be Cybermonday deals starting from 30th November to 2nd of December.

The next Black Friday Deals worth mentioning are the ones from MeMeBox. Unfortunatelly, this is only for US and Candian asian beauty junkies. MeMeBox has a Pre-Black Friday Color Sale, were you get 30 % discount on the MeMeBox I’m series products. From 20th-26th November each day is dedicted to another color palette.

Then, there is the Black Friday insanity schedule from 26th November 9PM to 30th November 9AM (PST). They have up to 80 % off their bestsellers. Furthermore, for the first time, they are adding vault boxes to the Black Friday lineup. Vault boxes are large boxes full of some of our most popular products (16 products in each box). Two different kinds are offered: one featuring K-beauty skincare and makeup, and the other featuring K-beauty makeup. Both boxes are steeply discounted from retail value: the K-beauty skincare and makeup vault box, worth $363 retail, will be priced at $149, and the K-beauty makeup vault box, worth $195 retail, will be priced at $79. Below are pictures for these two vault boxes:

Moreover, there will be a year of masks bundle that includes 100 of our best masks at an even steeper discount, north of 70% off. The year of masks bundle will be sold for $79, a steal for what is worth $302 retail. There is also a buy one get one free masks during MeMeBox’s Black Friday promotion. Finally, there is a surprise for their members on Cyber Monday!

Oh, and did you see that they have the new Pony Effect Brand?! I would love to try some of her items, since I love her tutorials so much. For those who are not living in US or Canada and still want to try the items from Pony Effect you should check out W2Beauty. There you can get the Pony Effect products with international shipping. When using my affiliate link for W2Beauty or enter the code 088505 in the registration form you’ll receive a 5 US$ voucher, which can be used immediately for purchases over 30 US$.W2Beauty also has a discount voucher of 10 % with the coupon W2ENDYEAR15, which can be used on top of other coupons.

Q-depot is also having Black Friday Sales from 23rd-27th November with up to 50% discount. Also, Q-depot is having a promotion were you can get 5 US$ coupon upon signing up. The coupon is useable for a minimum purchase of 69 US$.

Born Pretty Store Black Friday Deals also start from 23rd November. You can get 10 US$ coupon for 2 US$. This can be used for orders above 15 US$. The second deal they have starts on 27th November. With every order over 10 US$ you will get a 10 US$ voucher and 10 US$ giftbag. You can also use the promotional code KBX31 for 10 % discount on your order. They do offer free international shipping by the way.

Ibuybeauti offers 12 % discount for every item plus 3 % Reward Points.

Jolse offers 15 % off all products and 20% off CosRX products from 20th November unti 29th November.

Blippo is having Pink Friday Sales with up to 80% discount. They have many cute stationary and other stuff.

Etude House is having a Black Friday Sale from 25th November to 29th November (ET) with storewide 30% discount using the code BLACKFRIDAY2015 and additional 10% off their bestsellers.

Mishi Box is having 30% off everything from 27th November to 4th December with the coupon BFSALE2015. The coupon is not valid for the subscription boxes. If you’re using my referral link you can get 5 US$ off (min. order $30 USD) discount code for your first purchase, too.

Testerkorea is having up to 30% Sale from 23rd November to 30th November during Black Friday, too.

That’s it for now. If there are any other news I will update this post. Have fun shopping!

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Review: BRTC Aqua Rush Cream

20. November 2015

I definitively have been eyeing with the brand BRTC for a long, long time. Many reviews I’ve read have been so promising, and finally there is a time when I can review products from this brand thanks to BNTnews. The BRTC Aqua Rush Cream, which is today’s topic, is a moisturizing cream enriched with mineral-rich deep sea water and 8 different flower extracts designed for the needs of dry skintypes. Sounds lovely to me already!

BRTC is a ‘derma-technology cosmetics brand’ from Korea. It stands for ‘Bio Remedies Therapeutic Cosmetics’. They have products which are dermatological tested and safe for a variety of skintypes. They have different product lines each targeting another skin concern. The BRTC Aqua Rush Cream for example belongs to the Aqua Rush System, a skincare line created for moisturizing dry skin. It has a blue signature color, but apart from this the design is pretty simple and clear, kind of scientific with the illustration of a chemical flask.

What I like is the thorough descriptions on the cardboard box packaging in Korean and English. Moreover, you’ll find an instruction sheet inside the box which also lists all the products which belong to the Aqua Rush System: There is the Aqua Rush Peel Gel, Aqua Rush Fluid, Aqua Rush Serum, Aqua Rush Cream and the Aqua Rush Water Drop BB Cream. Apart from the mineral-rich seawater the Marine RX Force (TM) is the key ingredient which replenishes lost moisture and keeps the skin comfortable for hours. Apart from these the BRTC Aqua Rush Cream contains Jojoba oil and Aloe vera extracts. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a full English ingredients list, so I only did a quick “Google Translate” check as far as possible. I found some paraben within the ingredients, but other than that I was not really successful :D

The key tasks of the BRTC Aqua Rush Cream are providing intensive moisture, protect the skin, give nutrition to the skin, and calm the skin. Since it is a moisturizing cream it comes in a typical jar. Unfortunately, no spatula is included, so use your own, or only clean fingers to take out the cream. The cream has a gel-cream consistency and reminds me of other moisturizing cream-gels I tried before. But as soon as you apply the cream you will know the difference: Once applied it strangely feels more like a balm than a gel-formula. The moment you start rubbing the cream into your skin the magic starts working and the cream dissolves into watery texture! You know from my previous reviews that I love products with water drop texture, but this is so amazingly refreshing because it completely turns into moisture!

For me the BRTC Aqua Rush Cream fulfilled all its claims: it is moisturizing, calming, nourishing and is the perfect daily moisturizing cream for me. I absolutely have no negative remarks so far. It works great and didn’t make my skin break out! I think this cream will be great and refreshing in summer, too, and I also think that people in warm or hot places might like it despite their skintype. If you get the chance to try any samples of this I would recommend you to try it. The full-size jar contains 60 ml and is a bit pricey with 40000 Won retail price. I found it at Amazon.com for 37.01 US$.

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Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.bntnews.co.uk/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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Review: Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening at Home

18. November 2015

You might know by now that I absolutely love red lipstick! One of the problems while wearing red lipstick, especially the bolder colors, is that they might make your teeth look more yellowish than they are. If you are a regular tea (or coffee) drinker like me you will know about stained teeth and there is nothing worse than putting on your favourite red lipstick and discovering that your teeth are so stained that the red makes it look even more awkward…There are many ways to get rid of the stain on your teeth, including home remedies like active charcoal, using whitening stripes, whitening tooth paste,…the list goes long! But the most effective way is probably bleaching your teeth at the dentist, which is a progress which is quite expensive on the downside. Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening is a cheaper option, and the best part: you can make it on your own and at home at any time you want!

Smile Brilliant Teeth Whitening company is a US-based dental lab providing custom-fitted teeth whitening trays and the necessary equipment to bleach your teeth at home. All these can be acquired at a much cheaper price than if you make the same procedure at the dentist. Furthermore, the process itself is so easy and straightforward that you do not be afraid of doing it by yourself. I received one of their Teeth Whitening Tray Creation Kits for reviewing purpose and I am more than happy with the result! Keep on reading to see my before and after pictures of my teeth (if anybody feels offended by pictures of teeth you should stop reading at this point :D).

The Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening Kit comes in a neat box containing two trays for your upper and lower dental impressions, base paste and catalyst paste for making your impressions, and 3 syringes of the Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening Gel and Desensitizing Gel each. Moreover, there are step-by-step instructions on how to take your impressions and how to do the bleaching. Envelopes for sending back the impressions in order to receive your custom-fitted trays are included, too. The postage is pre-paid for US-customers, international customers have to pay the postage for re-sending the trays (the other postage is paid, too). Re-sending was not expensive either, I think I paid a couple of euros, but it was not much. The kit also includes a 30-days satisfaction guarantee and 2 years teeth whitening tray replacement warranty. As you can see there are also three containers of each of the two pastes for making the impressions. If your first try is a miss you have still enough paste to re-do the impressions.

Okay, let’s start with the steps you have to go through! First you have to take your impressions in order to receive your custom-fitted trays. Therefore you’ll have to mix the base paste with the catalyst paste until they form an even colored paste. Put this mixed putty into the included trays and press your teeth inside. If you have been wearing braces in the past you will be familiar with this progress from your dentist. After a while you can remove the tray and leave it to continue drying. Now, you can put the trays with your dental impressions into the envelope and send it back to the Smile Brilliant dental lab.

Smile Brilliant will now create bleaching trays upon arrival of your dental impressions. The impressions will be used to create dental models, which are used to model the custom-fitted trays. These clear colored plastic trays can now be used for your at-home-teeth-bleaching. If you already have custom-fitted trays like this you can order the bleaching gel and desensitizing gel only and use your old trays.

The Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening comes with the Professional Teeth Whitening Gel, with a concentration of 22% Carbamide Peroxide. Each Whitening Gel Syringe has a volume of 3 ml. You can use one syringe for around 3 treatments with each upper and lower tray. You can use the product daily for one week for 1-3 hours per session, depending on how sensitive your teeth are. I used them for 1 hour only, because I have sensitive teeth and I made treatments every second day. I didn’t experience any pain or tooth ache during the treatment. After the whitening progress I always used the Smile Brilliant Desensitizing Gel containing 5%Potassium Nitrate and 0.15% Fluoride Ion. You’ll need the same amount per treatment as you did for the Whitening Gel, so the Desensitizing Gel will also have around 3 applications per 3 ml syringe. In contrast to the whitening Gel the desensitizing gel is not rinsed out afterwards.

Below you can see my results after using the Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening Kit for 9 applications. I did the applications every second or third day for one hour because of my sensitive teeth. Although the progress was slower and the treatment time for each session was only one hour you can clearly see a difference between the color of my teeth at the beginning and now. Also keep in mind that I have been drinking tea everyday.

I’m very happy about the results of the Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening and although I was sceptical at first if this treatment will work for me I’m so happy I tried it. The sessions didn’t hurt my teeth and although I used less frequent whitening sessions and only used the shortest time for the whitening each treatment the result is visible. If you have been thinking about bleaching your teeth, but do not want to pay lots of money at the dentist and still have an effective result I can recommend you to try the Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening! The kit I’ve described above retails for 119.95 US$ (112.03 €). If you get your custom trays at the dentist you might pay 500 US$ and more! If you already have custom-fitted trays you might want to think about only trying the Whitening Gel (3 syringes for 34.95 US$) and the Desensitizing Gel (3 syringes for 19.95 US$). The Smile Brilliant web page is great, too, and they have very detailed information on each product and many images and step-by-step instructions on how to use their material. There is also a long list of YouTube reviews and testimonials and before and after images of people who have already used their system. Here is a link to one of the videos for example >>click here<<. It is definitively worth to check out their page. If you are interested in trying Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening you can use the coupon ‘berriesinthesnow’ for 5 % discount.

Did you know that teeth bleaching was possible at home? What methods do you use for brightening up your smile?

Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.smilebrilliant.com which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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Review: Chica y Chico Astazet 4.0

16. November 2015

// KBEAUTY / AFFILIATE LINKS / SKINCARE //

I know that many people have concerns with hyperpigmentation, freckles and dark spots from old or newer breakouts. All of these are natural, but still, we want to get rid of such flaws as quickly as possible, and so skincare products with whitening and mark care properties are usually products which interest me most. I posted on Instagram that I was using the Chica y Chico Astazet 4.0 Damaged Spot Clearing Facial Cream, and I know that many of you are curious about this product. Nevertheless, instead of posting a quick review, I wanted to use it for several weeks/months before I gave my impression for this product. After all, I ended up using the tube almost completely, but here is finally my review:

The first time I knew about the brand Chica y Chico is from Wishtrend. Honestly, apart from their super exaggerated advertorial images, I do not know much about this Korean brand. The products available at Wishtrend always look quite interesting though. They also have an official page >>here<< where you can check for all their product range. The Chica y Chico Astazet 4.0 is a cream in a series of functional skincare creams. Each cream targets a specific problem, so the Chica y Chico Astazet 4.0 contains as key ingredient Astaxanthin and has whitening and mark care properties, but there is also the Beta-Salic 2.0 (chemical peeling containing Betaine Salicylate), the Retinolin 3.0 (wrinkle care containing Retinol Q), the Tota-S 3.0 (acne care containing Totarol), the Tre-Hy 8.0 (moisture care containing Trehalose), and the Suntana 8.0 (sunscreen). I’ve also tried and used the Chica y Chico Retinolin 3.0 and the Beta-Salic 2.0, but the reviews are still upcoming.

All these functional skin care products have a similar style in their packaging: They are simple and clean in their design, each of the products has a signature color. The Chica y Chico Astazet 4.0 has an orange signature color. There is a thick orange bar where the percentage of the key ingredient is written on, which is 4 % in this case. The tiny tube containing 30 ml comes in a cardboard box. Mostly, the information on the box is written in Korean, but some of the description and the direction is written in English, too. I used this cream every morning as my daily moisturizer for around 3 months. As the directions suggest, I applied a small amount all over my face, then reapplied the cream on my main focus areas. On lazy days I only applied one layer.

You can find the ingredients of the Chica y Chico Astazet 4.0 on COSDNA. The key ingredient of the cream is the Astaxanthin, as I mentioned before. This ingredient is a strong antioxidant, so it helps the skin to recover from sun-induced damages by influencing the Melanin activity. According to the description of the product, Astaxanthin is 100 times more effective than Vitamin C or E. apart from the Astaxanthin the cream contains fermented extracts from different plants, Niacinamide, and extracts from a tropical plant called Urucum, which also is supposed to protect the skin from sun damage and oxidative stress. Generally, the ingredients look quite nice, but I will advise you to check the ingredients lists anyways, just in case there are any irritant ingredients for you.

The Chica y Chico Astazet 4.0 has a thick consistency and a yellowish color. It spreads thickly, so I would advise you not to put too much on your skin at once but work it into your skin in layers. Once absorbed it leaves the skin matte and doesn’t peel, doesn’t feel sticky and doesn’t look greasy. The finish is nice to work with during the daytime and it didn’t cause me any problems using my other products or makeup.

Speaking of other products, of course, the before and after results, I’m showing below is a result of the combination of products I’ve been using within the last three months. Also, keep in mind that the time I took the images are in summer (before image) and fall (after image), that means that my skin color may also have changed due to the lack of sun for example. My main target where my sun spots/ freckles, which I have for more than a year now. You can see that the color of the freckles has been faded within the last months of using the Astazet 4.0. My general skin color has also brightened up. Apart from the Astazet 4.0 cream I’ve been using regularly Vitamin C serum (which I’m using for a very long time, so the changes are not caused by the vitamin C serum), Tosowoong Syn-Ake Natural Pure Essence and Missha’s Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence. These products have surely contributed to my skin brightening, but they are probably not responsible for the fading of the freckles.

Do I recommend the Chica y Chico Astazet 4.0? Yes. Will this cream give you guaranteed results? I cannot say since skincare is affecting every skin type differently! But there is a chance that your skin reacts similarly to mine. When you have a look at the ingredients you will see that it contains good and potentially effective ingredients and using anti-oxidants on your skin has never been a wrong idea after all. If you are interested in trying the Chica y Chico Astazet 4.0 you can get it from Wishtrend for 18.68 US$. You can check out my posts on the monthly Wishtrend coupons in order to get some extra benefits when shopping on Wishtrend. Also, keep in mind their friend-referral program: You can receive a 5 Us$ referral coupon if you use my invitation code 17939205 upon registration and you’ll receive this voucher immediately. There will be a specific field in your registration form called “friends invitation program” where you can put the code mentioned above. This way new customers can save 5 US$ which is a great possibility to save some money.

Did you try the products from the brand Chica y Chico already? Did you know about Astaxanthin? Tell me in the comments below :)

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beauty PR Sample review

Review: Dove DermaSpa Goodness³ Body Lotion

12. November 2015

I’m one of these persons you loves a really hot shower, and I know, it is not good for your hair or skin to shower too hot, but I simply love it! That’s also one of the reasons why my skin is usually especially dry after taking a shower. But it is also one of the reasons why I started to use body lotions or creams or oils regulary after showering. Many people skip body lotion because they are too lazy, but somehow I got acustumed to it and it doesn’t bother me anymore. Therefore, I’ve tried really many different kinds of body moisturizers in my life and I also used Dove Body Lotions before. When I received the new Dove DermaSpa Goodness³ Body Lotion (or Dove DermaSpa Intensiv Verwöhnend³ Body Lotion, as it is called in German) for reviewing I was super excited to see how the new body lotion performs.

Dove is a brand within the Unilever Company, one of the biggest brands worldwide with more than 400 brands in health and wellbeing. Most of you are probably familiar with the brand Dove anyways. Dove has body and skincare products within its product range and the Dove DermaSpa line is their newest addition to their bodycare line. There are two versions for the Dove DermaSpa, the Uplifted+ for a lifting and tightening effect and the Goodness³ for moisturizing, from which I’m reviewing the Body Lotion here. The name promises a super hydrating and nourishing cream, which makes your skin feel satin-like and soft. It uses a formula with omega oil together with the so called Cell-Moisturisers®, key moisturising actives compressed from natural seed oils such as sea buckthorn oil. This deep skincare formula is paired with a Home Spa experience by using fragnances from vanilla, coconut and musk. Although the packaging of the Dove DermaSpa Goodness³ Body Lotion is simple like most Dove packagings, it has some golden lettering and a light golden cap which makes it look a bit more luxurious than the other products from Dove.

What I found a bit dissapointing was the ingredients list though. You can find the ingredients on the official Dove web pages and I added it to COSDNA >>here<<. One of the main ingredients is Dimeticone, which is a silicone. This explains already that we will experience a super soft skin. I don’t mind silicons in my body care and in general I’m not really picky with my ingredients, but I expected more than silicons from a so called “home spa experience”. Also, considering that, the second problem with body lotions and silicons is, that they may flake, since the cream does not penetrate your skin fully but lies ontop of the skin. In my eyes, a body lotion has to penetrate completelly into the skin and if it does not or takes longer to absorb it should not flake at any time.

At that point, when I discovered the silicon my excitement was lowered drastically, but still, I gave the Dove DermaSpa Goodness³ Body Lotion a chance. Let’s start with the scent: a really lovely vanilla-sweet scent, but not too strong or bothering. It has the perfect amount of scent for a body products. The texture of the body lotion is a white creamy one. It spreads easily and leaves the skin as promised silky and soft…AND luckily: no flaking! I experienced flaking a couple of times while I used this body lotion after all :/ ~~I was really happy about that!~~ Nevertheless, the Dove DermaSpa Goodness³ Body Lotion doesn’t absorb completelly and leaves kind of a tacky feeling on the skin.

Despite the ingredients list and the tacky feeling the Dove DermaSpa Goodness³ Body Lotion leaves on the skin ~~I do like this body lotion~~. EDIT: I used it up and I didn’t like that it started flaking occasionally! Definitively, it is not my HG body lotion, but it is good and useable for every day use and body care. I also do like the scent of it, to be honest. Since it is available in Germany at your local drug store for 4.95 € it is also affordable and easily accessible for me, but probably also for many other countries. If I would repurchase a Dove DermaSpa Body Lotion I would try the Uplifted+ version next time. I should prevent the signs of aging first ;D Did you try the products from the new Dove DermaSpa line already?

Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.dm.de/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

asian cosmetics beauty review Wishtrend

Review: Delight 18 I.U Whitening Cream Glutathione

11. November 2015

I’m a huge fan of products with waterdrop texture and I must confess that this was also the main reason why I bought the Delight 18 I.U Whiteining Cream Glutathione. Of course, the cute packaging and the fact that I didn’t try any product from this brand before were also some arguments, but mainly it was the fact that this product forms tiny water droplets while rubbing it into the skin. I had tried products like this before and I always loved the watery feeling. Other examples of products with waterdrop texture are the Lioele Water Drop Sleeping Mask and the Amaranth Messaline Ultra Hydrating Cream.

It seems Delight 18 is a new Korean brand and I’m really happy that Wishtrend introduced this brand in their shop. At the moment they offer 7 different products from this brand, but on the official page you will also spott a most adoreable cushion and some other products…I hope Wishtrend will have the cushion available soon. The Delight 18 I.U Whitening Cream Glutathione is a functional cream with whitening properties for the face. I.U stands for innocent (pure) and unison (harmony).

Although the packaging design is simple I really like it and think that it will be attracting many people mainly because of the packaging. The basic colors used are black, white and red. Somehow this design reminds me also of the Tonymoly Shaking Tint Delight …is it a coincidence that both of the have the word “Delight” in their names?! The description on the packaging of the Delight 18 I.U Whitening Cream Glutathione is in Korean only, but you will find the English description on Wishtrend.

The two main functions of the Delight 18 I.U Whitening Cream Glutathione is to whiten and to moisturize the face. The key ingredient for whitening is Glutathione, a tripeptide formed from the three amino acids cysteine, glycine and glutamic acid. It works as a major antioxidative and usually in our bodies prevents us from oxidative damage. It is also used as a whitener because of its ability to to inhibit the melanin synthesis. All the ingredients used in the Delight 18 I.U Whitening Cream Glutathione are listed on >>COSDNA here<< and you will see that the list of ingredients is quite short and positive. You will also find titanium dioxide for brightening and UV protection and also niacinamide. Nevertheless, I would still use a sunscreen, like with any other functional BB/CC cream.

Apart from the moisturizing ingredients in the formula the main key to give a feeling of hydration is the waterdrop-forming formula. Below you will see how the white thick Delight 18 I.U Whitening Cream Glutathione starts to form the tiny droplets by rubbing it into the skin. Because of this watery formula the product seems to glide over and into the skin and feels really refreshing. The scent is a clean, creamy scent, which is lingering on the skin. I do like it, because it is such a clean scent. By the way, don’t put too much cream on your face at once. Because of the formula it is better to apply little by little and rub it into the skin until absorbed before adding more. Oh, and the cream comes in a pump bottle, too, which makes it super easy to use and is more hygienic than a jar (the inside bottom moves up the more you use and if you look closely in the pictures you can see that I have used 1/5 of the total volume of 30g).

When applying the cream it will directly brighten up your complexion. The skin looks brighter and also less dull. Also, it corrects the skintone and makes your complexion look more even. It is also not sticky, nor dioes it have a greasy finish. The finish of the cream on its own is skin-like and neither glowy, nor satin-like. If you apply hydrating ampoules and creams underneath the Delight 18 I.U Whitening Cream Glutathione will keep the glow these products give you.

My verdict for the Delight 18 I.U Whiteining Cream Glutathione is really positive! I’ve been using this on my no-make-up days and I can just use it like this as a substitute for any BB cream or CC cream. If I want more coverage I still prefer using a BB cream or foundation, but for lazy days and an okay or good skin condition this is absolutelly perfect. It brightens up the skin and makes you appear more awake and healthy. I would definitively prefer this over any CC cream with low coverage, especially because of the hydrating water drop formula, which feels super nice on the skin. After being so positive about the Delight 18 I.U Whiteining Cream Glutathione I would love to try out other products from this brand! If you are interested in trying the Delight 18 I.U Whiteining Cream Glutathione you can get it from Wishtrend for 23.50 US$. You can check out my posts on the monthly Wishtrend coupons in order to get some extra benefits when shopping on Wishtrend. Also keep in mind their friend-referral program: You can receive a 5 Us$ referral coupon if you use my invitation code 17939205 upon registration and you’ll receive this voucher immediately.There will be a specific field in your registration form called “friends invitation program” where you can put the code mentioned above. This way new customers can safe 5 US$ which is a great possibility to safe some money.

Did you try the products from the brand Delight 18 already? What are your impressions?

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asian cosmetics beauty review Wishtrend

Review: ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Ampoule Toner

9. November 2015

After I used up the COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner, I stumbled over the ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Ampoule Toner, a multi-use toner for face and body containing hyaluronic acid. Moreover, it has a slightly acidic pH of 5.5 so it was a great substitution for my previously used pH adjusting toner. I really like this toner a lot and I’ve already used it half way up…sadly! :'(

Wishtrend has quite a range of ElishaCoy products and I usually do like their products, too. The brand is a Korean company focussing on natural ingredients. They are quite popular for their “Always Nuddy” BB creams. They also have a couple of sheet masks and I even reviewed one of their masks in the past (Aloe & Lavender Mask Sheet). The ElishaCoy Moist Up line consists of quite some products, which come in a pink signature color. Apart from the ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Ampoule Toner there is a cream, a cleansing water, a bubble cleanser, a serum, and a sleeping mask available on Wishtrend. The line is designed for moisturizing the skin with help of the key ingredient hyaluronic acid.

The ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Ampoule Toner comes in a 200 ml bottle made of hard plastic. The bottle is delivered in a cardboard box with a simple and yet beautiful flower design. The pink bottle itself looks really neat and pretty, too. The cardboard box has Korean and English descriptions written on it. The ingredients can be checked via COSDNA. The lists contains a lot of different fruit and plant extracts and moisturizing ingredients like panthenol, trealose, and the previously mentioned hyaluronic acid. It also contains niacinamide and biotin. The only irritating ingredient is alcohol, but although I usually feel with products containing alcohol that they are drying I do not have the feeling here.

According to the discription the minerals and fermented flower extracts in the ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Ampoule Toner help the skin to retain a balanced oil-moisture level of the skin. As you can see below the bottle is used up already halfway, and I didn’t experience any irritations or negative effects while using this toner. First thing you will notice with this clear toner with a liquid, waterlike consitency, is the scent! It has a fruity scent which I absolutelly love! I’m using a cotton pad and apply the toner on my face as first step after cleansing my face. The ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Ampoule Toner absorbs quickly and feels hydrating, leaving the skin soft and refreshed. It works also nicely with the products I’m usinmg afterwards and I had never had any problems of clumping or flaking of the layered products with this toner.

Honestly, I’m super obsessed with the ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Ampoule Toner! I love the packaging, the scent, the feel it leaves on the skin! My only concern is the alcohol, which might not work for senstive skintypes. Normally, when I’m using products containing alcohol my skin can react to it, but strangely, here I do not have any problems with the formula. The other ingredients included are really nice, too, and it has a pH between 5-6 (I remeassured with my own pH stripes), which is lovely, too. I like it so much that I ordered the ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Mild Cleansing Water recently, and I’m super eager to try it out and hopefully love it, too! If you are interested in trying the ElishaCoy Moist Up Hyalurone Ampoule Toner you can get it from Wishtrend for 23.99 US$. You can check out my posts on the monthly Wishtrend coupons in order to get some extra benefits when shopping on Wishtrend. Also keep in mind their friend-referral program: You can receive a 5 Us$ referral coupon if you use my invitation code 17939205 upon registration and you’ll receive this voucher immediately.There will be a specific field in your registration form called “friends invitation program” where you can put the code mentioned above. This way new customers can safe 5 US$ which is a great possibility to safe some money.

What is your favourite toner at the moment?

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