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asian cosmetics BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: 3CE Water Wrapping Facial Mask

6. June 2015

// PR SAMPLE / KBEAUTY //

Can you believe that the 3CE Water Wrapping Facial Mask is the first product I’m trying from 3CE?! Those who love asian beauty products will have heard of this brand previously. The May beauty box send by BNTnews contained mainly sheet masks and the 3CE Water Wrapping Facial Masks were part of them. Since I’m a dry skintype I’m always happy about moisturizing products, especially about moisturizing sheet masks, and I think I have found a new favourite moisturizing sheet mask here:

3CE stands for 3 Concept Eyes and was launched in 2009 as a cosmetic brand by Stylenanda. The packaging of the products is similar to MAC cosmetics and mainly black with the triangular logo displayed on the product. Although very simple I think that this kind of packaging looks somehow very trendy. The price of Stylenanda’s 3CE lies in the mid region, but since it is more expensive than Etude House for example, I never ended up buying any 3CE products. The 3CE Water Wrapping Facial Mask are available as single sheet masks or in cardboard boxes containing 5 sheet masks.

The cardboard box and the sheet mask sachets have the same design. They are black colored and have the product name written on it. It looks like a sketch or a doodle. Some waterdrops and an inforgraphic on the key ingredient make the packaging look pretty cute, too. The backside of the masks and the cardboard contain the description of the product. The description is written in Korean only on both, but you can find English description on the official Stylenanda page.

The 3CE Water Wrapping Facial Mask is a hydration solution mask, as the name already tells us. It is supposed to deliver the moisture deep into the skin layers in order to prevent dryness. The two key ingredients of this sheet mask are hyaluronic acid and mineral-rich Alaska glacial water, which are perfect for moisturizing dry skin, since both these ingredients have moisturizing properties. Moreover the sheet mask promises to be non-sticky and refreshing and contain a moisture rich essence which has soothing properties. Also the cotton sheet is made from super fine fibers and is supposed to give you a velvety smooth feeling.

When opening the sheet mask the first thing I recognized was the thickness of the cotton sheet. From all the sheet masks I tried this is probably the thickest one. Nevertheless, the cotton sheet mask is soaked in lots of essence. There is also quite a good amount of left-over essence in the sachet to be used on your neck. The essence used in the 3CE Water Wrapping Facial Mask is not that watertype, clear and super runny essence, but a milky essence which reminds me of japanese lotions. It feels more creamy than watery and I really do like that feeling. The sheet mask is so heavily soaked with the essence that it doesn’t dry out quickly either. The cotton sheet mask is super smooth and I can imagine that people with sensitive skin will definitively like the feeling of that mask. I love the feeling it has while on the skin (velvety is definitively the right word to describe it) and I totally agree about the points that the mask claims to do. After using it the skin feels refreshed and moisturized. When the essence is absorbed it doesn’t feel sticky afterwards, which is also a point that I really like about the mask.

The 3CE Water Wrapping Facial Mask fulfills all the claims it has: it is deeply moisturizing, it is not sticky and refreshing, it contains a nice amount of essence and it has the most velvety smooth sheet mask I tried! Regarding all these point I can say that I love this sheet mask and that it has become one of my favourite moisturizing sheet masks! The only downside is, that it is more expansive than other sheet masks, but definitively worth a try! On the official Stylenanda page it retails for 4 US$ each. The box with 5 sheet masks costs 18 US$. You can also get the box from W2Beauty for 24.84 US$.

This product was provided to me by BNTnews for reviewing. Don’t forget to visit the other BNTGirls Doris, Celine, Alene and Bella and check out their reviews. 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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asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program Part 1

5. June 2015

If I’m buying cosmetics I’m usually on the hunt for budget cosmetic finds. I’m not a person longing for luxury cosmetic brands, because in my experience the cheaper ones do a good job, too. When I received the May BNT Beauty Box there was one item which looked like a high-end brand to me from first glance: the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program. This anti-wrinkle kit is a skincare program designed for 28 days of use in order to boost your skin with Jeju horse oil and EGF for a timeless and younger looking skin. This is probably the most expensive cosmetic product I have tried in my life so far! In this post I will show you the content of this kit and include my first impression. I didn’t use it for the full 28 days yet, so I will be making a second review part for this product, where I will take a closer look at the ingredients and show you some before and after pictures (if there is any difference). First, let’s take a breath and look at this amazing and elegant packaging:

Coréana is quite a well known Korean company with the motto “art through nature”. It has quite a variety of brands, like Senite or Biodefense and many more. Sho is one brand of Coréana using horse oil as key ingredient. Horse oil or “Mayu” has been very popular in Korea in the last months, esecially during winter, because of its deeply moisturizing properties. The Sho EGFactor line combines the horse oil with EGF in order to have even more anti-aging properties. This Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program contains two items: an ampoule and eyecream.

The items are packed in a beautiful box, in golden and brown colors. It is a hologram on the box, so you see if it is an original product or a fake. The logo of Sho shows a horse and reflects the key ingredient. You can flip open the lip and you will find the logo with the horse inside aswell. the inside of the box has a golden color, too.

You can already tell from the packaging that this is a more expensive product. The is even a transparent paper with golden imprints to separate the lid of the box from the products.

Finally, you’ll find the ampoules and the eye creams inside. There are two seringe shaped eyecream containers and 28 small vials with the ampoule. To be honest, I thought there would be one eye creeam container and I was totally surprised to see the two seringes inside the box.

Even for the products the colors are in brown and golden. The eyecreams even have some beautiful golden embroided ornaments and really look pretty.

Ususally, the eyecreams I have used were either packed in a regular tube, or a jar. I have never seen an eyecream packaging like this.

You can twist one end of the seringe to open or close it and by pressing on that end you can push out some eyecream from the tube.

The material is plastic, but it seems good quality plastic, too. If you press down the bottom you’ll get a nice dollop of the eyecream, which is more than enough for the eyes. The eyecream is a creamtype one, which is supposed to treat and brighten the eye area through a soft, easily absorbed texture that suits even sensitive eyes. The eyecream has a light floral scent and absorbs quite quickly. It doesn’t feel greasy or heavy. Each of the eyecream seringes contains 10 ml of eye cream.

The ampoules contain 2 ml and each ampoule is designed for one use. The 2 ml seem small but it is more than enough for the face AND the neck. The ampoule is designed to prevent the skin from dryness while preserving oil-moisture balance. In order to open these small vials you have to push aside the golden cap. I found it quite difficult to open so far, but maybe I’ll get the hang of it :’D

The consitency of the ampoule is not oil-like, but rather like a gel-type emulsion. It has a clear, light golden color. It is a bit sticky and takes quite some time to absorb, but it isn’t greasy at all. The scent is the same floral scent as the eye cream has.

As I said at the beginning: I didn’t use the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program for many days, so I cannot tell you any details about how effective it is yet. So far I didn’t react negatively and I’m really curious if there is any difference after the 28 days of use :D As for the packaging and the overall design, this kit is definitively eyecandy! I hope this first impression made you curious to read my second part of this review in a couple of weeks. I will include the ingredients and give a final verdict for this product then. What is your first impression on this anti-aging kit? It may be a pretty present for next mother’s day, do you agree?

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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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advertorial beauty other Wishtrend

Wishtrend June 2015 Promotions

4. June 2015

It is time for the June promotions and gifts for our shopping experience at Wishtrend. Yeah! If you don’t know Wishtrend, but love Korean or asian cosmetics and skincare products I can recommend you to check out their online shop, especially for one of my favourite products, the O.S.T. Vitamin C Serum. You’ll also find some products sold at Wishtrend on my Top 20 favourite product list for 2014, like the Klairs Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil. Also, they have listed the brand COSRX, which is gaining a lot of popularity these days. Recently, they have even added Mizon products! Here are the coupon codes for June:

As usual, I’ll start off with the 5 Us$ referral coupon you can receive if you are a new customer. The principle is easy as 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.

Second, there is also a 10% discount coupon available for April. Below, you’ll find the coupon code for this:

Coupon Code: WISHJUNE2015
Requirement 1: Shopping cart order must be 55 US$ and over to be able to use the 10% off coupon
Requirement 2: Coupon code cannot be combined with any other discount or voucher code.
Only valid until the end of June 2015

The second promotion code is a special gift you will receive by using the code below. The voucher is valid on any orders at Wishtrend! You will receive in addition to the free samples you’ll normally get a Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Mask (1.99 USD valued) as a FREE gift. There are no limits or conditions!

Voucher Code: WISHGIFTJUNE2015
ANY ORDER
Only valid until the end of June 2015

I would advice you to check out their “Free Shipping Area”, so you don’t have to spend the saved money for shipping costs. They have quite some nice items available there, changing from time to time. At the moment they are providing the OST Vitamin C serum for 14.99 US$ in their free shipping zone!

I did a couple of reviews on various Wishtrend products in the past. You might like to check these out, if you are interested in purchasing these:

COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner

I’m from Honey Mask

Boutique Bebe Hair Salon Protein Treatment

COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch

ElsihaCoy Aloe & Lavender Mask Sheet

Berrisom My Lip Tint Pack and Lip Tint Cleanser

OST C20 Pure Vitamin C21.5 Advanced Serum

Confume Argan Treatment Oil

Pongdang Donkey Milk Emulsion

Klairs Rescue Moisture Kit Part 1 and 2

Berrisom My Lip Tint Pack

CareLab Powerful Pudding Mask

Klairs Gentle Black Deep Oil Cleanser and Sugar Facial Polish

Rojukiss Multi Vita Cleansing Powder

Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask

Damoae Therapy Shampoo and Tonic

Skinmiso Rice Foam Cleanser

Klairs Illuminating Supple BB Cream

O.S.T. Pure Vitamin C20 Serum

Wish Formula Panda Eye Essence Mask

ONL Saladit Essential Juice Sheet Masks

Do you have any favourite item from Wishtrend? What would you love to try from their products?

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asian cosmetics beauty PR Sample q-depot review

Review: The Face Shop Face It Power Perfection BB Cream

3. June 2015

// PR SAMPLE / MAKEUP / AFFILIATE LINKS //

It’s been some time since my last BB cream review, although BB creams are why I started blogging in the frst place. There are so many to try, especially in the asian market, and The Face Shop Face It Power Perfection BB Cream is one of them. This BB cream is supposed to be a total skin treatment with lifting, moisturizing and correcting properties. and was send to me by a new Korean cosmetics online store named Q-depot.

The Face Shop is a Korean brand that “shares the benefits of nature”. It launched in 2003 in Korea and tries to bring together science and nature in their cosmetics products. They have a huge range of items and most of the items I tried from this brand I actually did like. The Face Shop Face It Power Perfection BB Cream is an all-rounder BB cream formulated with omega-3 and vita skin complex to nourish and moisturize your skin. The BB cream comes in 2 shades: 01. bright beige and 02. natural beige. I received shade 02. The BB cream also has SPF37 and PA++ and has some sun protection properties.

The Face shop Face It Power Perfection BB Cream is also available in two sizes. You can get either a smaller tube of 20 ml, or the larger tube as I’m showing here with 40 ml of product. Both versions are packed in tubes with a pump dispenser, which is the best way to pack a BB cream in my opinion (apart from Pacts/Cushions). The signature color of this BB cream is purple and the tube looks quite elegant in my eyes. It is not something fancy or super cute, but it looks nice on the shelf, too.

The cardboard box packaging contains English and Korean description. You can find the ingredients on COSDNA, too. They are mostly green labelled and safe to use. Since this BB cream has a SPF 37/PA++ it contains titanium dioxide, zinc oxide and ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate for UV protection. It also contains niacinamide and other some plant extracts and moisturizing ingredients. This BB cream has a shelf life of 12 months after opening.

As you can see, the tube has a pump dispenser which is protected by a clear, purple colored plastic cap. The amount of one pumping is usually enough for the whole face, let’s say 1.5 pumps if you need some corrections and whant to cover your neck, too. It is super easy to use and the pump works prefectly fine.

Below you can see a swatch of The Face Shop Face It Power Perfection BB Cream in shade 02. natural beige. I swatched it on my hand. It looks quite light in the image and also lighter than my skintone, but can be blended in to fit. The consistency of this BB cream is quite creamy. It has a matte finish and a medium-high coverage, which can be layered. The BB cream has a light floral scent, like most BB creams do.

Below you can see my face before and after the application of the BB cream. I don’t have skin troubles in terms of many pimples, but my skin is not even colored and I have some redness here and there. I have used my regular creams/skincare in the “before” image already. After using the BB cream my skin looks more even and the color differences of my skin are corrected. Although it has a matte finish and my skin is usually quite dry it didn’t get flaky and looked nice even after 6 hours. Also, it didn’t have a white or greyish cast after using it. The texture isn’t heavy either, despite the fact that the BB cream has a creamy consitency.

My conclusion for The Face shop Face It Power Perfection BB Cream is, that this is a good and solid BB cream and nice for daily use. If you are looking for a BB cream with matte finish you might want to try this, even with nomal/dry skintypes. I would not say that it is the most moisturizing BB cream I have tried, but it isn’t heavy and isn’t drying. Nevertheless, I would not skip using your regular skincare creams before :D

You can get this BB cream at Q-Depot for 25.79 US$. The smaller tube of 20 ml costs only 15.29 US$, which is quite a regular price for BB creams of that size. They offer free worldwide shipping from 69 US$ onwards. Also, they have a promotion were you can get 5 US$ coupon upon signing up for a minimum purchase of 69 US$.

It is also available here:

W2Beauty for 25.97US$ (use coupon code berries10 for additional 10% off and free shipping)

Amazon.com for 20.74US$

Amazon.de for 19.03€

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://q-depot.com/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series

1. June 2015

As a child I’ve been very curious about ancient cultures, like the egypt, roman or greek. I read so many children’s science books back than and I knew many of the facts by heart. Today, I almost forgot everything, but nevertheless the topic still makes me very curious. I received this Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask series with my BNT News Box a couple of weeks ago and- apart from the fact that I love sheet mask- this mask series made me very excited because it has sheet masks for each day of the week related to the greek gods who are behind them.

Forencos is a Korean brand which sells enviromental cosmetics since 1988. The brand has quite a range of skincare and makeup products, but in the internationally known skorean online shops they don’t have a lot of products from this brand, which is why it is quite unknown. They have 7 main issues within their brand philosophy: skin rejuvenating, skin refreshing, skin revitalising, skin relieving, skin regeneration, skin revival and skin resolution.

The Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series is a sheet mask series containing 7 sheet mask for daily use. Normally, I do not use sheet masks daily, but I heard many (koreans) do that. Honestly, on most of the days I forget or I’m to lazy, tired or busy :D Having a sheet mask series like the Forencos Sele Project Silk Mask Series is great, because each of the sheet masks is themed for a day of the week and each weekday is translated to the ancient greek good for that specific day. This way even a person like me is motivated to keep using the sheet mask on a daily basis.

As you can see from the images, each of the 7 sheet masks comes in a different color and has a different key ingredient. These sheet masks consist of two steps. Each mask has a sachet with a mask base ampoule attached, which contains 2 ml and is used before applying the sheet mask. The week starts with Tuesday, the Forencos Hephaestus Volcanic Ash Detox Silk Mask. Hephaestus was the ancient greek’s god of metallurgy, fire and volcanoes, which make Jeju volcanic ashes the key ingredient of the mask. Volcanic ashes eliminate dead skin cells and clean and contract pores. Wednesday‘s mask is dedicted to Poseidon: The Forencos Poseidon Caviar Moistuire Silk Mask will provide your skin with moisture and increase the collagen production. The key ingredient are caviar extracts which have a similar texture to skin it in terms of amino acids, minerals and vitamins. On Thursday it is the Dryas Tee Tree Relax Silk Mask. Australian indigenes were already using tea tree leaves to cure infectious diseases. Tea tree oil, the key ingredient here, is amazing at calming and soothing the skin.

On Friday you can use the Forencos Midas Gold Regenerating Silk Mask, which treats wrinkles and helps blood circulation while delivering minerals with 24k pure gold. For Saturday the Forencos Gaia Mayu Elastic Silk Mask helps to make the skin more elastic. Mayu, or horse oil, is similar with human sebum and helps control its secretion. It also contains ceramide for skin regeneration and elasticity. Forencos Helios Black Pearl Whitening Silk Mask is dedicted to Sunday. Pearl was even loved by Cleopatra for its high mineral and amino acid concentration as well as for the bioactive substances it contains. It reinforces skin’s immunity and acidity for a bright complexion. Last but not least, the week ends with Forencos Selene Swallaw’s Nest Total Care Silk Mask on Monday. Swiftlet’s bird nest contains 2000 times more sialic acid that human saliva and 200 times more than royal jelly for a total turnover: moisture, elasticity, skin tone, it cleans and protects the skin (if you are interested in other bird’s nest products read my review on SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua Eye Patches >>here<<).

Unfortunatelly, apart from the sheet mask names you’ll not find any other English description here. Everythink is written in Korean, even the ingredients. I would have loved to read more about that specifically, since the advertised key ingredients sound nice. As I said, these masks consists of two steps, a base ampoule and the sheet mask. Each sheet mask sachet shows in an image how to use the ampoule in a first step and add the sheet mask on top. The Hephaestus Volcanic Ash Detox Silk Mask is the only exception as it seems (at least this is what I interpreted from the images). First of all, this mask is the only one which is soaked in a brownish, almost creamtype essence. You have to put on the sheet mask first and wait until it dries off. I waited for almost 1.5 hours, but the mask only dried partially. Nevertheless I took it off and the feeling was a bit like using a peel-off mask. I expected a tighteing effect and it was indead tightening, especially while the mask was drying. Unfortunatelly, I had the feeling that it was too drying on my skin.

I used the ampoule after the mask in this case, hoping that it would somehow moisturize the skin after the tightening mask, but the ampoule is a very sticky, viscous and rich one with a milky color. It feels like putting liquid glue on your face and has an instant warming effect. I think it is designed this way to keep the moisture inside the skin. I don’t know if it was correct to use the ampoule afterwards, since my skin was so dry. MAybe I should have used a moisturing toner before. It even didn’t absorb that way, so I had to wash my face because I could not bear the sticky feeling.

All the other masks of the Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series are liquid essence masks. For the other sheet masks I first used the ampoule and added the sheet mask on top. I had no problem with the other masks and all of them were really refreshing and nicely soaked with the essence. The sheet masks themselves contain silk, as the name suggests. They are thinner than regular cotton sheet mask, but not as thin as some other maks. They didn’t dry out either. The fit of the masks was not perfect for me, but this is something which depends to your face and the shape your face has. The scent of all the masks was the same. It was quite strong and noticeable and had a soap scent. I would have loved if the scents were slightly different from mask to mask, for example that the tee tree mask smells of tee tree oil. Unfortunatelly, because of the really rich and sticky ampoule, the sheet masks leave the skin quite sticky even after they absorbed fully into the skin. But I must say that putting a sheet mask on top of the ampoule still leaves the skin better than using the ampoule on its own.

All together, I like the concept of Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series. It is nice to have a specific mask for each day of the week and the relation to the ancient mythology is a nice idea. I also like the idea of having a boosting ampoule before using the sheet mask. I didn’t like the ampoule in this mask series too much, because of the super sticky consistency. The warming effect it had might be good to open up pores for example, but I cannot imagine that the ingredients of the sheet mask essence can penetrate through this thick and gluey ampoule. My skin felt moisturized afterwards, but I couldn’t see any real differences between the single days although the key ingredients were supposed to be different in each mask. It would be nice to know how the sheet masks perform on their own without the ampoule for example. I hope that I can try these masks again in the future and maybe I can make some more indeep review of specific single masks of this series. This Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series containing 7 sheet masks retaills at the official Forencos page for around 21 US$. As far as I checked it, it wasn’t available at any other of the online stores I normally buy Korean products from.

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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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asian cosmetics beauty review Wishtrend

Review: COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner

28. May 2015

// SKINCARE / KBEAUTY / AFFILIATE LINKS //

Finally, here is my review on the famous COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner. I’ve read so many reviews about it that I knew I had to try it! I loved my Klairs Supple Preparation Toner, but since I emptied it quite quickly there was time for a new product to try.

COSRX is an affordable Korean brand “offering good quality beauty items for 10 years”. The brand name is composed of COS for cosmetics and RX for prescription. Brands like Ciracle and C20 (yes, the famous vitamin C serum) are also part of COSRX. One of the rather popular skincare lines from COSRX is the AHA/BHA skincare products. I’ve also bought the COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum and the COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch.

The COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner is an astringent toner with exfoliating properties, which prevents whiteheads, blackheads, and blemishes. The toner is thereby not only addressing troubled skin types, but also dry skin types promising hydration and exfoliation in order to fight flaking skin. The toner comes in a typical packaging for COSRX products. The packaging design is simple: the toner comes in a milky plastic bottle inside a cardboard box. the cardboard box contains very clear descriptions in English and Korean. I really appreciate the list of advice they put in English!

The ingredient list for the COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner is quite short and all the ingredients are listed on COSDNA and are safe to use (click >>here<<). The toner contains willow bark water and apple fruit water as main ingredients. Both have a concentration of 10%. The willow bark water has astringent and anti-inflammatory properties, so it is really a useful ingredient. Apple fruit water on the other hand only has fragrance properties. It would have been great if there had been 10% of apple fruit extract instead of water because the extract has skin conditioning properties! Glycolic acid (an AHA) and Betaine Salicylate (a BHA) are the two ingredients which are giving the name to this product. BHAs and AHAs are chemical exfoliators, which work their wonders in low pH. But, these two ingredients are only in a 0.1 % concentration each, so the exfoliating effect is not comparable to high concentration BHA/AHA products.

As you can see above the concentration of the AHA and BHA is written on the label of the bottle. The bottle contains 150 ml and according to the description on Wishtrend the COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner has a pH of 3.9 (I measured a pH of 4 with pH strips). The production and expiration date is printed on the bottle of the tube.

I’m using this toner in the mornings and evenings by spraying it on a cotton pad and blotting the cotton pad over my face, especially over my T-zone. After applying the toner I use Vitamin C serum or other BHA/AHA products.

I do love the spraying nozzle. It sprays a fine mist of the product, and it helps not to use too much of the toner accidentally. Also, it is very hygienic to use, because neither your hands nor the cotton pad touches the nozzle. the toner is a watery, clear solution with a hint of a fruity scent which disappears immediately. The toner also absorbs fast into the skin and does not feel sticky. It works super good with the OST Vitamin C21 serum, and after using it for a month I feel my skin around my nose and forehead feels smoothened. Since I don’t have a lot of troubles or blackheads/whiteheads I cannot say anything about its effects on those problems, but I feel that it works well with my skincare routine. And most important, the COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner didn’t break me out either.

I’m personally very happy with this toner, and it looks like a perfect addition for my skincare routine. I love the feeling of it being not sticky and I like the short ingredient list. Also, it works great with my vitamin C serum and makes my skin feel smoother. If COSRX would change the apple fruit water to apple fruit extract I would love this even more! You can read another positive review on the COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner on Moi Sanom’s blog 35th Of May >>here<< (interesting for troubled skin types). Also, take a look at this comparison review between the COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner and the Mizon AHA BHA Daily Clean Toner by Cat from Snow White And The Asian Pear >>here<<. I didn’t try the Mizon toner myself but seems that for her the latter works better. It is a good product worth trying, but as you can see it can be different from skin to skin how good this works. The COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner retails for 16 US$ Wishtrend and Beautytap. Also check out my page for coupons and discounts >>here<< to save some bucks!

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asian cosmetics beauty Born Pretty Store NOTD PR Sample review

Review: Peacock Feather Water Transfer Nail Stickers from Born Pretty Store

27. May 2015

In my last nailart I showed you the dotting pens from Born Pretty Store and how to create a simple cherry blossom nailart. Today, I’m showing you some Peacock Feather Water Transfer Nail Stickers, which I received from Born Pretty Store, too. I’m not a pro considering nailart, but I liked the peakcock feather design of these water transfer nail stickers.

As mentioned above, I received this set of double-ended dotting pens from Born Pretty Store. Born Pretty Store is an asian based online store selling very affordable products, reaching from accessoires to make-up and beauty products. They have a super huge amount of all kinds of nailart products and tools. This Water Transfer Nail Sticker is available in different patterns. Butterflies and flowers are also available for this specific product number. Each sheet contains 20 stickers, so you can use it twice. The feathers have different sizes, so you can put the larger stickers on your larger nails, like thumbs, and the smaller ones on the other fingers.

The backside of the water decalls shows the description on how to use them. Basically it is very easy: You have to soak the stickers in water first, then adjust them on your nail, remove the excess water, wait until it is dry, add clear nail polish on top, wait until it is dry, remove excess water decal by simply peeling it off (as soon as you put the clear nail polish on top of the water decal the uncoated water decal can be easily peeled off). Also, the instruction on the back of the package says, that you should blow dry the water decals. I didn’t do this…actually, I only dried the nails after the application of the stickers with help of a tissue and continued with the top coat directly. And it worked super well.

As you might know by now, I’m pretty obsessed with red nails and lips, so I tried the decalls on my red painted nails. I’ve used one coat of Etude House Play Color Nails Polish in shade 52. afterwards, I added a sticker on each nail and sealed it with top coat. Here is the result:

The peacock feather design is really pretty, but it doesn’t show off nicely on darker nail polish shades. I would advice you to use sheer nail polish, although I would have loved to see the design on red nail polish, too. You can get this Peacock Feather Nail Art Water Decals Transfer Stickers for 0.99 US$ per sheet from Born Pretty Store. I think it is super affordable! You can also use the promotional code KBX31 for 10 % discount on your order. They do offer free international shipping by the way. I think these water decals are worth a try, they are cheap, long lasting and they have a lot of different styles available at BornPrettyStore. I will definitively check out some more.


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.bornprettystore.com/, which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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beauty beauty boxes

Unboxing: Rossmann Schön für Mich Beauty Box May

21. May 2015

// PR SAMPLE / BEAUTY / UNBOXING //

A few days ago I posted on Instagram that I received the Rossmann Schön für Mich Beauty Box for May, which is a monthly beauty box by the German drugstore company Rossmann. The beauty box contains some of the Rossmann beauty brands, but also other known drugstore brands.

I must say that I love the beautiful packaging of the box. It fits nicely to the month and the feeling of spring and summer. I will definitively keep the box for storing some of my makeup products (I’m working hard to get rid of all the products I’ve hoarded, but somehow there are always new products I’m intrigued to try :’D).

Similar to other beauty boxes, you’ll find a product description card inside. It is beautifully wrapped with a pink ribbon.

I was surprised how heavy the box was, but a glance at the product description card revealed, that this beauty box was filled with really a lot of products! Considering the price of 5 € this is really amazing!

And even more surprising was, that all the items were fullsized products! The first thing I saw, were the two new Nivea creams I spotted during my last visit of a local drugstore. I even had the new Nivea Care Face and Body cream in my hand and was thinking about buying it that day. Luckily, I didn’t, since I can now try it anyways :D Another item I was thinking about buying recently was the Max Factor Pastell Compact Blush, which is included in this box, too!

Here are the products I received with the Rossmann Schön für Mich beauty box May:

Isana young cleansing line

Isana was named Synergen before. This is a drugstore brand by Rossmann. The box contained a cleansing water, a softpeeling, cleansing tissues and an eye makeup removing cleansing gel. The product line has a light pink color and reminds of Johnson & Johnson’s beauty products (called “bebe” in Germany). I’m looking forward to try the eye-makeup-removing cleansing gel especially.

Nivea Men cream

This is the men’s version of the widely known Nivea cream. It comes in a dark blue tin to look more appaling to men and has a more man- and aftershave-ish scent. The consistency is less thick than the Nivea cream and not that greasy.

Nivea Care face and body cream

This new version of the Nivea cream is a simple but effective moisturizing cream and suited for body and face. It absorbs faster and is less greasy than the standard Nivea cream. Is anyone interested in a comparison?

Essence perfume #mymessage-luck

There are different versions of this perfume in the may boxes. My version displays a clover and is called “luck”. A sweet-fresh but light scent.

bebe Young Care (Johnson’s) Smoothie Shower Gel

The card says the box contains a body lotion, but I received a shower gel. I think the boxes either contain the body lotion or the shower gel. Nevermind, the scent is amazing! And I was curious about this new line before anyways.

Palmolive Aroma Sensations Feel Glamorous Shower Gel Peeling

This is a shower gel and a peeling on the same time. The scent is fruity and really perfect for spring and summer. And peeling your body is important, too. I cannot wait to try this today :)

Max Factor Pastell Compact Blush

This pretty blush in shade “seductive pink” is my favourite blush at the moment. It looks like a natural warm pink color on my cheeks and is a perfect daily useable blush.

I’m super happy about this box and I think that it contains great value for a fair price. If you love drugstore brands, you will like the Rossmann Schön für Mich beauty boxes, too. The boxes each month are limited though and they are raffling each month to select the persons who will be able to get it. For more information check out facebook. If you are curious for any specific product from this box leave a comment and I will try to write a review.

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asian cosmetics beauty PR Sample review Wishtrend

Review: I’m from Honey Mask

20. May 2015

I’m a fan of all forms of masks: sheet masks, gel masks, packs, massage packs, wash-off masks, leave-on masks, DIY masks…and all these other great deep treatments for your skin. When I heard about the I’m from Honey Mask I was directly temped to try, but I hesitated to buy one of these. After a while the I’m from Honey Mask started to become super popular and it seemed to be appearing everywhere. When Wishtrend offered a sponsoring opportunity for their affiliates I was participating right away and luckily I was selected to review this mask. Unfortunately, the mask kept being out of stock due to popular demand and I didn’t receive the mask until around three weeks ago and I’m loving it since the first time I tried it!

I’m from is a Korean brand with the motto “a good cosmetics with a good ingredient”. They are using natural ingredients in their cosmetics and want to be honest and quality provider. They have three promises to their customers, being 1. open composition, which means known ingredients, 2. Honest Farm, meaning honest ingredients with true origin, and 3. being free of harmful chemicals. The I’m from Honey Mask is packed in a cardboard box with a simple design. The paper has the pattern of honey combs imprinted, which is a cute idea. If you look closely (or click and enlarge) you will see the pattern on the cardboard box.

The description on the box is written in Korean only, but you can find very detailled English description on Wishtrend. So what is so special about this mask? Since honey has been one of the trends lately in Korea, there were released quite a bunch of honey containing products. The I’m from Honey Masks points out, that it differs from other honey containing products in the point that it contains 38.7 % of real herbal honey from Jiri Werl-peyung vill. In contrast to other products using honey essence, this product uses real honey as a whole ingredient. That means 38.7 % is real honey, which means three tablespoons honey per each I’m from Honey Mask jar (120 g). 61.3%, that means the other parts of the masks are ingredients which help the honey to better add its nutritions to the skin. These ingredients are Lotus Water, Macadamia Oil, Beeswax, Sophora extract, snail slime filtrate, jojoba seed, sunflower seed oil, grapefruit extract, bamboo water and so on. Below you can see a full list of the ingredients including their safety. You can also look up the ingredients on COSDNA >>here<<.

If you are curious about the Korean description you can enlarge the below image to have a closer look at it.

The mask itself comes in a glass jar and looks like the jars you get when you buy honey. The I’m from Honey mask looks like those thick and sugary honeys, rather than the clear liquid honeys. Since most of the products are natural the ingredients might separate after a while. When I opened my jar for the first time I observed this separation, but after stirring it, the consistency becomes homogenous again.

The I’m from Honey Mask comes with a spatula to scoop the mask out of the jar and it has a plastic lid separating the lid of the jar with the product. Unfortunately, the plastic separator is not closing very densly, which is why my mask was leaked out a bit, when it arrived. Since the mask has a honey consistency it is also similar sticky (because of the sugars) to honey and it was a bit of annoying to clean it up.

The color of the I’m from Honey mask is golden, with a creamy consistency. As said before it is similar to honey and therefore has a sweet honey scent and it quite sticky. Since it is a wash-off mask the stickiness is important, because it helps the mask to stay on your face instead of dripping down the whole time. After washing off the mask (I recommend lukewarm/warm water) the skin feels very moistuized and glowy and really super soft and nourished. Below you can see a swatch on my hand, and how the product looks once spreaded in a thick layer. after washing it off (I used it for around 10-15 minutes here) the skin on the right side of my hand looks much more healthy and glowy than the other side. A very light and pleasant honey scent remains on the skin, too, and upon touching the skin you will feel the difference between the skin where you used the honey pack and the untouched skin. It feels like you’ve used a good hand cream and makes the skin very smooth in these areas.

I also heard that honey has good anti-inflammatory properties and reduces redness of the skin. It has been used in ancient times, by the pharaos in egypt for example (one of cleopatra’s beauty secrets maybe?!). I luckily don’t have too bad skin at the moment, but nevertheless I can show you how the mask effects the skin in my face after using the pack for around one hour. The longer you wear the mask the more you can benefit from the ingredients inside. You can click on the image below to view it enlarged. My skin is more of the dry type, although as summer comes closer it tends to be normal (that means oilier) on the T-zone for example. My cheeks are regulary the driest parts of my face, so I show them below. I don’t have much of redness at the moment, only a few small dots, but nothing too grave. After washing off the mask you can see that the skin looks more healthy and glowy. It is noticeably softer when touching it and the skin feels less dull and firmer.

I would love to know how people with more troubled skin experienced this mask. For dry skintypes this one works magic. By the way, the longer you wash it of the less glowy the effect is, because you wash off the oils. So if you are concerned about oilyness I can recommend you to simply wash it off longer.

Honestly, I’m obsessed with this mask. I love the touch of the skin afterwards and it is the perfect pampering for dry skintypes. The scent is super lovely and makes it really tempting to eat the product. For dry skinned people it is definitively a must! But I think it has a lot of benefits for troubled skintypes, too, because of the known anti-inflammatory effects of honey for example (if anyone has made such experience feel free to leave a comment :D). After all, I really like the ingredients used for the mask, especially since I didn’t expect it to contain snail filtrate for example. If you are allergic against beevenom or honey, or in general natural ingredients you should check the ingredients before using it and/or make a patch test. I’m sure I will repurchase it once it is finished…to be honest, I’m almost half through the mask. Luckily, I have a bunch of sheet mask reviews ahead, so I will have to stopp using the I’m from Honey Mask until those reviews are done, haha. Since the I’m from Honey Mask is so popular it is discounted on Wishtrend to 28.43 US$. You can also chose an option to get the mask together with a silicon brush for applying the mask. I used the spatula and my fingers, which works fine aswell. Check out the May promotions on Wishtrend before grabbing those. Also, keep in mind their friend-referral program: You can receive a 5 Us$ 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. And if you have a blog/vlog yourself you should check out Wishtrend’s affiliate program! They are offering monthly sponsoring opportunities for their affiliates.

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beauty empties

Graveyard: March and April empties 2015

19. May 2015

Here are my product empties for March and April and a quick impression on each product. I’m a bit late for the post, but hopefully you like it anyways :) As usual, I didn’t include any sample sachets or sheet masks masks, because it is too messy to keep these.

1. Rosemine Floral Remedy Foaming Cleanser. Repurchase? Maybe someday. I have to many cleansers right now.

You can read my review on this foaming cleanser >>here<<. I love the packaging and it had a nice scent. The foam was thick and soft and the cleanser contained rose petals.

2. Happy Bath Rose Essence. Repurchase? I would love to!

This bath and shower cream had the most lingering and nicest rose scent! If you are a lover you will love this…but I remember it was marked quite expensive, sadly.

3. Shib Jang Ceng Chun Ji Heang Hand Cream. Repurchase? Yes, please.

This moisturizing and nourishing hand cream has a long name, but nevertheless it does a great job as hand cream. It contains ginseng extracts, shea butter and olive oil and was not sticky, not greasy and I loved using it!

4. Lush Whoosh Shower Jelly. Repurchase? No.

I like the idea of shower jelly and it was quite fun. Nevertheless, this specific product scent was nbot my favourite, but I could imagine getting other versions of it.

5. Kerastase Elixir Ultime. Repurchase? Maybe.

I received this hair oil trial the last time I was giving my hair a cut. It is a nice and lightweight oil and I could imagine to try it again. Unfortunately, Kerastase products are quite expansive.

6. Boutique Bebe Hair Salon Concentrate Protein. Repurchse? Maybe.

You can read my review >>here<<. I enjoyed using these two hair treatments and I can imagine that I would repurchase them again from time to time.

7. Mise en scène Perfect Repair Treatment Pack. Repurchase? Yes!

This treatment was georgeous. It made the hair super soft and easy to comb after an instant. Although labelled for twice a week use I was using it almost every second day because I loved the effect. I would like to repurchase this again. Although I read in some that they think the scent is old-women scent, but I got used to it and even liked it after all. I still have the Mise en scène Perfect Serum and I’m planning to write a comparative post between a couple of hair oils.

8.Dewytree Real Collagen nutrition serum. Repurchase? Maybe.

There is still an upcoming review for this :D I enjoyed this serum and I love the pump bottle it has and the subtle rose/flower scent.

9. Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream. Repurchase? Maybe.

a hydrating cream which contains hyaluronic acid and is very nice on the skin. You can read my review >>here<<.

10. Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum. Repurchase? Maybe.

Another hydrating product from the Klairs Rich Moist soothing line. I was enjoying all the products, especially in winter. Read my review >>here<<.

11. Klairs Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil. Repurchase? Yes! As soon as I’ve finished my other cleansers.

This is the best cleansing oil I have tried so far and I can recommend you to try it! Read my review >>here<<. I love the scent, I love how it cleanses. A great product!

12. Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner. Repurchase? Yes!

Suprisingly, I fell in love with that toner, although I thought it will be my least favourite of the Klairs products. It has a nice pH of 5 and is really a good preparation facial toner. Read my review >>here<<.

13. Hanskin Bio Origin BB creams. Repruchase? Maybe the ampoule BB.

I wrote a comparison review on these two BB creams >>here<<. I liked the ampoule BB better than the other one, but both are descent products.

14. COSRX Natural BHA Skin Returning A-Sol. Repurchase? A good product to have in case of emergency!

I received this selfmade trial version of COSRX Natural BHA Skin Returning A-Sol in a giveaway by Sam Murakami from ColorCrush (check out her blog/videos). Thanks again for the lovely giveaway, dear ♥ I must say I had a positive impression on this product and I would love to try it for a longer time, if I have some more skin troubles (hopefully not). This treatment contains propolis, AHA/BHA and works great on troubled skin. It has an acid pH of 4 and should be used after a pH lowering toner and before your other moisturizing steps (including moisturizing toner/essences/serums/creams/ampoules etc). It is on sale at Wishtrend atm!

15. Yadah Vita-Whitening Aqua Gel and Puregreen Moisturizing Cream. Repurchase?No.

These two sample sized creams were a dissapointment. First: the lids were not closing properly, so I assume that some of the product either leaked out or evaporated/dried up after a while, although I didn’t open it before. Due to this my skin didn’t like the creams. One was to heavy balmtype and the other didn’t absorb either.

16. Tonymoly Eggpore Nose Pack Package. Repurchase? These, or other nosepacks.

I like to use nosepacks occasionally, although they say they are not good. But I love the feeling of seeing some dead skincells and dirt and babyhair pulled of by these kind of patches, although it is quite gross, especially when my bf does use these :D

Do you know any of these and did you try them yourself? What is your opinion on these products I showed above? I’d be happy about your comments ♥

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