asian cosmetics | Berries in the Snow

Review: Laneige Water Bank Essence

21. February 2015

// KBEAUTY / SKINCARE / AFFILIATE LINKS //

This review was in my draft for quite a long time and it is only a short one, nevertheless I would like to share it with you, since I know that some might be interested in products from the Laneige Water Bank line. This review is about a deluxe sample from Laneige’s Water Bank Essence. I reviewed the Laneige Water Bank Eye Gel a while back and it is one of my favourite eye creams in terms of hydration so far.

Laneige is a Korean brand, part of the Amore Pacific Group. The brand name comes from the french word for snow which is “la neige”. The brand name reflects the beauty of young women between 24 and 32 years by focusing on water as source of life. Therefore the products design is more mature and clean, reflecting the image of moisture obtained through water. I’m only showing pictures of the sample sized product, but the full-sized Water Bank Essence comes in a blue glass bottle and looks exactly like that mature and clean product. The deluxe sample has a simple plastic packaging in light blue and doesn’t look anything special.

Although it is a sample product it comes in a pump dispenser like the full-sized product. The deluxe sample contains 15 ml in contrast to the 60 ml full-sized bottle. I’m always very happy about pump dispensers, since it makes the application always more easier and it is more hygienic, too. I needed two pumps from this essence each time I used it on my face. This essence can be used in the morning and in the evening after cleansing and before using your regular moisturizer and it is supposed to give your skin more and long-lasting hydration for the whole day.

The sample product doesn’t come with much description. The back side of the product contains some information in Korean, but other than this there are no more details here. You can find an English description on Laneige’s official US homepage >>here<<. Note, the essence is called serum here…I don’t know why. Also, if you buy this from Korean suppliers, there are two versions, the Water Bank Essence and the Water Bank Essence EX. The latter is the improved version of this essence and doesn’t contain alcohol as second ingredient, so I would recommend you to use the new version. The main ingredients for this moisturizing essence are Hydro Ion Mineral Water, Quinoa extract, Olive Squalane and Tilandsia Extract. You can find a list of both the Water Bank Essence and the Water Bank Essence EX ingredients >>here<<.

The Laneige Water Bank Essence is a milky, runny liquid, which can be spread easily and gives your skin a light moisturized feeling and a velvet-y finish. I really liked how the essence makes the skin feel on its own. If it absorbs it is not sticky. Moreover, it has the typical fresh and nice Laneige scent, which I liked for all the products I tried from this brand. If you have dry skin like I do I would not only rely on this essence for moisture, but also add some cream afterwards. All in all, this is a solid and nice essence and I would love to try the full-sized product in future. The downside is, that it is more expensive brand than regular drug store brands, but I say it is definitively worth a try. 60 ml retail for 46.01 US$ at W2Beauty for example. If you use my affiliate link 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$. What is your favourite essence at the moment? Did you try any products from the Laneige Water Bank Line?

6 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Etude House Missing U! Hand Cream Pink Dolphin

16. February 2015

Here is a quick review of the well-known Etude House Missing U! Hand Cream in Pink Dolphin. I received this item as part of a MeMeBox and I was very delighted to see this product at this time. In first place, the packaging was absolutely lovely and I wanted to try one of Etude House’s hand creams anyway.

Some words about Etude House to start with: Etude House is one of the best known Korean brands for cute packaging. If you are a lover of cute, girly and pink packaging, reminding you of being a child and the princess you always dreamt to be, THIS is your brand. Their packaging is usually so adoreable that you cannot keep yourself from impuls-buys – only because you saw the packaging…Also here, the packaging design looks lovely. The Etude House Missing U! Hand Creams are no regular tube hand creams, but they are packed in a container. There are four different types, each shaped like a specific animal. The hand cream I’m showing here is supposed to be a pink dolphin, although I thought it is a duck or something like this. The other animals available are a seal, a penguin and a panda. Each of them has another scent symbolized by a flower held by the animal. The Etude House Missing U! Pink Dolphin shows a rose shaped flower.

Apart from the container even the cardboard box is beautifully designed and displays an island and palms and ocean. The description is in Korean and English. The cardboard box is made from recycled paper and is printed with soy ink, too. The ingredients are mainly shea butter, herbal extracts and olive oil in order to provide moisture to your hands. The full ingredients list is also displayed on the cardboard box and you can have a look at it on Etude House Global site too. According to COSDNA the hand cream contains safe ingredients.

I really do like the container of the Etude House Missing U! Hand Cream, but I musst say that the volume of it, being only 30 ml is quite few compared to drugstore tube hand creams. The hand cream has a shelf life of 12 months after opening. On the bottom of the container you’ll find the production date of the cream.

Etude House Missing U! Hand Cream is a cream type hand cream. It has a light structure and feels watery upon application. The cream has a rose scent which is lovely.

Each of these Etude House Missing U! Hand Creams retail at 4.50 US$ on the official Etude House store. I personally think the price is quite expansive for a hand cream of this volume, but it is most likely a result of the cute container. Actually, after emptying this container you can still use it for either other creams or anything else you want…or just as decoration.

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asian cosmetics beauty PR Sample review Wishtrend

Review: Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 2

10. February 2015

A while ago Wishtrend send me the Klairs Moisture Rescue Set for reviewing purpose, which contained a skincare routine in form of four products from the brand Klairs. As you might have seen from my previous reviews of this brand I really do like their products and this is why I’m really happy to be able to review these items for you. I devided this post into two parts and they gonna be picture-heavy. Yesterday I posted Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 1 about the Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner and the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum. Todays review will be on Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 2 and I will talk about the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask and the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream.

Klairs is a Korean brand sold on Wishtrend. It is eco-friendly, claimimg to produce products which are animal-testing-free, alcohol-free, paraben-free, and articial-color-free. Their products adress people with sensitive skin and people who want to moisturize their skin. I reviewed the Klairs Illuminating Supple BB Cream and the Klairs Gentle Black Cleansing Combo before, which both convinced me in their effects. I was interested in this Rescue Moisture Set especially, because as you know, my skin tends to become drier in winter as it is right now. This set consists with everything you need for a solid skincare routine, starting with toner, serum and moisturizer. The mask sheets on top are a great addition for days you want to treat yourself with extra moisture.

After the toner and the serum application I talked about yesterday we arrive at the most important step in your skincare routine. At least in my opinion a good daily and nighttime moisturizer is the important step I would never miss. The Klairs Rescue Moisture Kit comes also with a moisturizing cream for your skincare routine, the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream. This cream is available from Wishtrend for quite some time, and in contrast to the former versions, the new version of this moisturizing cream contains more product for the same price. The volume changed from 45 ml to 50 ml, which is nice. The Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream is a rich moisturizing cream for normal and dry skintypes. It is designed to give immediate and long-term hydration for a radiant complexion.

The cream is targeting people who:

– need a moisturizer for your dry skin.
– want a moisturizer cream that reduce’s the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and dry rough skin texture.
– want your skin to deliver a soft and glowing appearance
– want the best face moisturizer that will cure skin peeling and flaking.
– want to relieve the feeling of tight itchy dry skin.
– want a moisturizing that has a creamy texture that absorbs evenly into the skin, leaving the skin feeling smooth to touch.
– need a creamy moisturizer to serve as a better, more hydrating base for makeup.

Typically for Klairs products, the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream comes in a cardboard box made of recycled paper. The box contains a detailled description Korean, but it also mentions some of the points which are important for Klairs products in English, like that the product is alcohol-free, artificial color-free, artificial fragnance-free, paraben-free, no animal testing and respect the enviroment.

The cream itself comes in a jar made of sturdy brown colored plastic. You can see the product through the jar. The design fits to the other Klairs products and I like its simplicity. Unfortunately, the cream doesn’t come with a spatula. The ingredients are listed on Wishtrend and according to COSDNA this cream doesn’t contain any red flagged ingredients. Most of them are green or yellow flagged. There are some ingredients which can be irritating to some people, so please be sure to check the ingredients if you know that you are sensitive to special ingredients. The cream contains Glycerine and Hyaluronic Acid as main moisturizing ingredients, but also a lot of plant extracts. Moreover it contains yeast derived Beta-Glucan, like the other Klairs products I described in the first part of the Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit.

The label of the jar contains some shorter description, mostly in Korean. Like the other products it also lists an official webpage and an email address for contacting in case of questions etc. I like this idea especially. It even lists a phone number!

Below the lid of the jar you’ll find a plastic cover protecting the product from dirt. The production and expiration date is printed on the bottom of the jar.

The expiration date is in two years, but th shelf-life for the cream after opening is 12 months. The Klairs Rich Moist soothing cream is a cream type moisturizer. The cream has a rich and creamy structure, but melts easily into the skin once distributed. It has a herbal and refreshing scent and feels cooling upon application. Normally, I don’t like herbal scented product, but I must admit that I do like the scent here, maybe also because the product feels refreshing and cooling on the skin. After the cream absorbs it leaves the skin smooth and gives it a moisturizing glow, but no greasyness. I also would say, that despite the fact that the skin looks more glowy the finish of the cream is on the matte side, maybe a bit silky.

All together, this cream is my favourite from all the products I tested in this Moisture Rescue Kit. I love the finish of the cream and I love the refreshing effect of it. It provides a good amount of moisture for my dry skin, but it is not too much and can also be combined with a second lighter moisturizer like an emulsion if you need more hydration. Also, makeup application afterwards is no problem, since this cream provides a good canvas for other products, too. The jar retails for 23.99 US$ on Wishtrend and I think that it is a normal price for a lot of Korean moisturizing creams. I would not mind a larger volume nevertheless and a spatula. :D

So, apart from the regular skincare routine steps, like toner, serum and moisturizer, the Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit also came with a couple of sheet masks from Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask. I reviewed these sheet masks previously >>here<<. I think that this moisturizing sheet mask is a perfect masks for using multiple times a week, maybe some of your prefer even a daily use of hydrating masks and this one is definitively a good choice then.

Similar to the other products of Klairs, the design is simple and contains a lot of text. Here, all the text is written in English on the front side of the sheet mask sachet. The back side contains the description in Korean, but the ingredients are listed in English. You can also check the ingredients on COSDNA. Similar to the toner and the serum it contains one red flagged ingredient, which is the preservative Methylisothiazolinone. The key ingredient of this mask is hyaluronic acid, which is the second ingredient in the list. Apart from this a couple of plant extracts are also part of the ingredients for this mask. It also shows in some images how to use the mask. This sheet mask is an essence type sheet mask made of 100% cotton. It feels very smooth upon application, is soaked well with the essence without being too dripping. It is a refreshing and hydrating mask and you can boost the effect by putting the sheet mask into the fridge before using it, so it has a cooling effect, too.

I think that this mask is a good every-day mask. It fullfils all the expectations you have for a moisturizing mask. The scent is pleasant and not too strong either. It is also affordable and retails for 1.99 US$ on Wishtrend. If you buy 10 masks you’ll even get 3 for free additionally, and if you buy 20 masks you will get 10 for free. So if you are a daily sheet mask user you can even safe some money here.

I hope you liked the two posts about the Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit. I tried to put as much helpful information as possible :) I made a post about the promotions from Wishtrend for February >>here<<. 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. If you did not, please check out the first part of the review about the Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit >>here<<. Below you will find some other reviews on Klairs products which I did before:

Klairs Gentle Black Deep Oil Cleanser and Sugar Facial Polish

Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask

Klairs Illuminating Supple BB Cream

2 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty PR Sample review Wishtrend

Review: Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 1

9. February 2015

A while ago Wishtrend send me the Klairs Moisture Rescue Set for reviewing purpose, which contained a skincare routine in form of four products from the brand Klairs. As you might have seen from my previous reviews of this brand I really do like their products and this is why I’m really happy to be able to review these items for you. I devided this post into two parts and they gonna be picture-heavy. Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 1 will talk about the Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner and the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum. Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit Part 2 will be about the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask and the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream.

Usually, the first step after cleansing your face is to balance the pH of the skin and helping it to keep moisture by using a toner. This is different from western astringent toners, which tend to be an additional cleansing step here. By giving the skin moisture and an adequate pH it helps other products of your skincare routine to be more effective, too. The Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner claims exactly to have this fuction. It is supposed to be a good start for your facial skincare routine. According to the very throout description from Wishtrend this toner is designed for people who

– need a facial toner that re-hydrates and refreshes skin.
– prefer an alcohol free toner that neutralize skin surface impurities such as excess sebum.
– want a gentle yet effective toner for everyday use.
– have sensitive skin and need products that are free from chemicals and harsh ingredients.

It sounds like a good toner for almost everybody according to the description. The packaging of this toner fits perfectly to all the other products from the Klairs range. It is a simple and yet vintage-like design, focussing on few decorations but a lot of text on the packaging. If you have several Klairs products together they look quite pretty together in the bathroom. The Klairs Supple Facial Prepation Toner comes in a hard plastic bottle. The plastic is brown, but you can see through it in order to check the amount remaining in the bottle.

The labels contain a clear description in Korean and English. The ingredients are also listed in English. You can also find the ingredients in the product description on Wishtrend. The ingredients can also be checked via COSDNA. Mostly they are green flagged, but there is also one red flagged preservative included (but in a small quantity, as it is almost the last ingredient on the list). Apart from this it contains a couple of plant extracts and hyaluronic acid as moisturizing ingredient. Moreover the key ingredients are phyto-oligo and Betaglucan for antiinflammatory effects. The pH of the toner has a weak acidity and lies at 5.

The bottle has a regular drop dispensing opening which is closed by a white plastic lid. Although the bottle is of hard plastic you can lightly press it and make the toner come out more easily. The toner itself is transparent and a bit less runny than water. It feels thicker than water, too, but I wouldn’t call it geltype, yet. It feels refreshing on the skin and has a light scent which is a mixture between herbal and flowery scent. After it absorbs the scent is not noticeable anymore. Also, it doesn’t leave stickyness or greasyness on your skin.

All in all, I like this toner. The pH it provides is perfect for other products to be effective. It feels also quite moisturizing, refreshing and isn’t sticky or greasy. I would say it is a perfect toner for everyday use. What I don’t like about the toner is the higher price compared to other toners. The 150 ml bottle retails for 21.99 US$ on Wishtrend. It still lasts for quite some time I have to admit though (I’m using it for almost three weeks and I’ve only used 1/5ths of the amount). The opening is easy to use. I directly applied it on my hands, but you can also use it with a cotton pad. Alöl in all, I’m totally happy about having this toner in my skincare routine at the moment!

The next step in my skincare routine using the Klairs Moisture Rescue set is the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum, a serum designed to boost the moisture level of your skin and give your skin a healthy and moisturized glow. This serum is designed for people who

– have sensitive skin that needs a calming, soothing serum lotion for sensitive skin.
– have dry, dehydrated skin that needs deep long-lasting moisturize.
– want to smooth and reduce redness and irritation on your skin.
– want to cure your skin constant flaking and peeling.
– want to smooth out fine dehydration lines.
– want to prevent the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

We have here a very basic serum focusing on moisturizing properties, perfect for dry skintypes. On the other hand this serum is designed to have soothing properties, too, so people with irritated skin are addressed aswell. Also here the design fits to all the Klairs products, having a lot of text on their packaging instead of cute or colorful illustration.

The serum is delivered in a cardboard box, unlike the serum, which was only packed in plastic. The cardboard box made of recycled paper contains descriptions in Korean and English. You can also find a detailled description on Wishtrend.

The serum comes in a pump-type bottle made from brown see-through plastic. The pump comes with a protective cap, too. The serum is clear and more of a gel-type consistency than the toner. It has the same scent as the toner, which is a mix between herbal and flowery scents. The ingredients are listed on COSDNA and a lot of vegetable plant ingredients are part of it. also Hyaloronic Acid is the second ingredient in the list, providing moisture. Phyto-Oligo is also listed as main ingredients here. The lists also contains two red-flagged ingredients which are Triethanol amine and the same preservative used in the toner called Methylchloroisothiazolinone. If you know that you react to those two ingredients I would advice you to not use these two products or be careful and make a skin reaction test before. I didn’t have any negative reactions on my skin while using any of the products from the Klairs range yet. After using the serum on the skin it feels almost creamy rubbing it into the skin. It feels moist and hydrating, but it also leaves the skin noticably softer. Also here I didn’t experience any stickiness after it fully absorbed into the skin.

Also for the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum I can say that I was positively surprised how I liked the serum. The feeling of it on the skin was nice and also the point that it wasn’t sticky. This made the application of other products afterwards and of any makeup much easier. I also do like the pump -type bottle. What I don’t like is the small amount of only 50 ml. I used up more than 1/3rd of the bottle already within the three weeks of use. The price on the other hand is relatively normal for a serum. The bottle retails for 22.99 US$ on Wishtrend. The serum is available with free shipping right now!

Both these products are nice products. If I had to choose which one I would by myself from the two mentioned I would choose the toner propably, but only in order to buy a serum with other properties, like anti-aging, etc. I also made a post about the promotions from Wishtrend for February >>here<<. 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. I’ll try to do the post about the second part of the Klairs Moisture Rescue Kit about the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask and the Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream as soon as possible and I hope this review was helpful for you, too. See my other Klairs product reviews here:

Klairs Gentle Black Deep Oil Cleanser and Sugar Facial Polish

Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Sheet Mask

Klairs Illuminating Supple BB Cream

Do you have any favourite product from Klairs? What are your experiences?

3 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: A’Pieu Apple Acid Visible Peeling Gel

30. January 2015

// KBEAUTY / SKINCARE / AFFILIATE LINKS //

Did you like my review about the Meishoku Peeling Jelly? Then you might be interested in A’Pieu Apple Acid Visible Peeling Gel, too. Similar to the product by Meishuku this peeling gel works with apple acid extract and other fruit extracts to chemically exfoliate your skin.

First of all, some words about the Korean brand A’Pieu: The name comes from french language and is supposed to mean “basic”. The brand is targeting a younger audience and providing the elemantary steps and products for your skincare routine in the 20s…but I think you can also use it in your 30s or whenever you want :D The packaging of their products is cute and adorable, without being to princess-y, like Etude House, for example. Here, the packaging of the A’Pieu Apple Acid Visible Peeling Gel is rather simple, but by having some apples printed on the front it gives it a bit of a cute twist. The peeling gel comes in a simple tube containing 100 ml.

The backside of the tube contains Korean description only, which makes it difficult to understand the directions or know more about the ingredients. Like most peeling gels it is supposed to be used on the dry and clean face. After massaging the gel into the face it will form crumbs/ agglomerated product which help to create a peeling effect. This product uses apple acid and other fruit extracts for chemical exfoliation. These fruit derived acids are also known as AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids). They exfoliate old keratin off your skin, which becomes smoother this way. This has the effect of a brightened up dull complexion, too. It also helps to free blocked pores and to help dry and flaky skin to get smooth again. The crumbs you get with these peeling gels are no dead skin cells, it is just the way the formula of peeling gels work. The result of these peeling gels are therefore not correlated with the amount of peeling crumbs while using. You will feel the effect in the smoothness of your skin after using such peeling gels.

The A’Pieu Apple Acid Visible Peeling Gel has a gel type and milky formula. The color is a very light green and it has the scent of green apples. I would have preferred sweet apple scent instead of green apple scent, but I know there are some lovers for this type of scent. The product itself feels a bit grainy on the skin when you massage it and soon enough it forms some peeling crumbs.

After using and washing the peeling crumbs of the skin feels softened and clear and the product does a good job in general. Comparing it to the Peeling Jelly from Meishoku I like the one from A’Pieu less. I had the feeling that the Meishoku Peeling Jelly was less drying and also more convenient to use since it could be used on wet face, too. I also did like the scent more. But if you want to try an affordable peeling jelly or it is your first time using AHAs in your skincare the A’Pieu Apple Acid Visible Peeling Gel is a nice product. It retails for 15.61 US$ at W2Bauty.

What is your favourite chemical peeling product?

10 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover

30. January 2015

// KBEAUTY / SKINCARE //

After I fell in love with the Skinfood Rose Essence Soft Cream Blusher I had no choice, but trying out other products from the Skinfood Milky Rose collection. I bought the Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover from the same line and I’ve been using it for quite some time. This is also one of the items which were mentioned in the previous guestpost by Chie here. Here is my impression of this make-up remover:

Skinfood is one of these brands which are competing with Etude House in terms of design– in my opinion at least. It is a Korean brand with vintage appearing design of their products which occupied my heart very quickly. The products are using the beneficial effects of ingredients, which are familiar to us in terms of “food” like vegetables and fruits. Their motto “Food that is good for your health, is also good for your skin.” reflects this brands’ ideology nicely. Their spring make-up collection of 2014 was called “Milky Rose”and the design of the products offered within this collection is beautifully selected, showing vintage-style rose drawings and pastell pink packaging. The design is really beautifully chosen and fits perfect for a spring collection. Apart from the Skinfood Rose Shake Poinr Make-up Remover liptints, nailpolish, blusher and a make-up fixer were offered.

As you can see, the make-up remover from this line is no exception and has a beautifully designed packaging with rose printing. The Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover comes in a hard plastic bottle which has a transparent pink color. You can see the two phased removing liwuid through the bottle and it appears in a soft pink color. The Skinfood logo, the little angel, is engraved into the plastic bottle.

The backside of the bottle shows the description of the product in Korean and English. It also has the production and expiration date printed there. The bottle contains 160 ml make-up remover. The main ingredient of this product is Rosa Centifolia Flower Water. The scent of the Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover is therefore a nice rose scent as I expected and it is one of the reasons I love this product. Apart from the scent Rosa Centifolia Flower Water is a great ingredient with lots of benefits. The obtained water from these flowers contains the etheral oils and lots of beneficial substances. Also, the pH of rose water is lower than pH7. I meassured the pH of the Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover and it lies between 5-6. Also, the rose water has soothing and astringent properties, which makes it a good product for sensitive skin.

The remover is a two phased liquid. The instruction says to shake it before using it. Once you shake it, the phases combine to a milky fluid.

Since the cap has a small hole for dispensing you can use it easily on a cotton pad. I would have preferred if it came with a pump bottle, because that’s even more convenient, but since you have to shake it before using it it is only a minor comment.

I used a selection of various make-up products on my arm and wiped it away with a soaked cotton pad and as you can see it removes all the products easily. The product on the right is mascara, and when I removed the mascara it was not fully dried yet. This leads me to my only complaint about the Skinfood Rose Shake Point Make-up Remover, since it does have problems to remove dried fibertype mascaras with one cotton pad only. I didn’t have any problems removing eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipsticks, but it needs some extra wipes for mascara.

Although this product shows some weakness in removing some stubborn mascaras I still love and recommend this to 1. rose scent lovers and 2. people with sensitive skin. This remover makes the skin feel soft after using it and it didn’t feel any irritating, neither did I feel that my skin is feeling dried. It is available at testerkorea for 6900 Won (around 7 US$) which is affordable, too. I really like and use this almost every day before cleansing my face :)

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asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: A’Pieu Creamy Butter Shadow

24. January 2015

// KBEAUTY / MAKE UP / AFFILIATE LINKS //

After I tried the Innisfree Eyeshadow Stick I was curious for more creamy eyeshadows. Originally I planned to buy the Innisfree Mineral Single Cream Shadow, but them I came acroos the A’Pieu Creamy Butter Shadow and I fell for the beautiful packaging design of these cream eyeshadows. Although I’m not a daily eyeshadow wearing person I directly bought two shades from this :D Here is my impression:

First of all, some words about the Korean brand A’Pieu: The name comes from french language and is supposed to mean “basic”. (I didn’t know a word like this in french though and I didn’t find any proper translation. Did anybody else have a look for that?:D) The brand is targeting a younger audience and providing the elemantary steps and products for your skincare routine in the 20s…but I think you can also use it in your 30s or whenever you want :D The packaging of their products is cute and adorable, without being to princess-y, like Etude House, for example. The A’Pieu Creamy Butter Shadows have also a beautiful packaging, which has a vintage flair and looks absolutely adorable. These cream eyeshadow pots are available in five different shades. I chose two of them being No.4 Cranberry Kiss and No.5 French Cocoa.

The cardboard box contains a lot of description, but it is all in Korean unfortunately, except the name of the shade. The eyeshadows have a shelf life of 12 months after openeing. The main ingredients are mango powder, marine collagen, licorice extract and ruby powder.

Inside the cardboard box you’ll find these super pretty jars.

The jars are made of clear hard plastic and a screw-type lid which looks like tin (proberly also plastic). The packaging looks sturdy and of good quality. Although so simple I really love it. It looks classy and elegant on the same time ♥

The cream eyeshadows in the jars look solid and at first glance and not creamy at all, but the formula melts away once you dab your finger onto it. It feels very soft and smooth. The formula is designed to be used with your fingers, so the cream eyeshadow gets the right temperature and blends into your skin properly.

The A’Pieu Creamy Butter Shadows have a good pigmentation. They are easy to blend, but you can also build up the color and make it more intense. Since it is a cream eyeshadow you won’t have any problems with fall-off, either. These eyeshadows have a glossy and pearly finish and are longlasting, too.

I love these two eyeshadows and I love how easy they are to apply ♥. The packaging is beautiful, too, and if you are an eyeshadow lover I can recommend you to try these. If you are an eyeshadow beginner you should try these, too, because of the easy apllication with your fingers. Or try the Innisfree Eyeshadow Stick! The A’Pieu Creamy Butter Shadow retails for 12.51 US$ at W2Bauty.

Did you try any of the eyeshadows from A’Pieu? Which one is your favourite?

18 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty KollectionK PR Sample review

Review: Innisfree Skinny & Jumbo Dualcara

23. January 2015

// KBEAUTY / MAKE UP / AFFILIATE LINKS //

It is not too long ago that I reviewed the Innisfree Soy Essence Volume Mascara, but I couldn’t resist to try the Innisfree Skinny & Jumbo Dualcara. I loved the idea of having a two sided wand applicator with one small and one thicker brush.

Innisfree is an eco-friendly Korean skincare and makeup brand focusing on natural ingredients and recycle packaging. The design of their products is simply and neat and nicely reflects the ideology of the brand. Innisfree products are ususally free from harmful ingredients, but for this mascara I couln’t find any ingredientslist. This dual wand mascara (or dualcara) comes with two different wands and makes it easier to design your lashes this way. The packaging is black and white mostly, with some stripes around. It is simple, but yet doen’t look cheap.

It has some short description written on it in Korean and it also has the production date printed on one side.

I had another dualcara in the past which had one side a white/transparant mascara to volumize and another black side for the color. That mascara had both containers in the middle part and the brushes on each ends. Other than that mascara the Innisfree Skinny & Jumbo Dualcara has the two containers on each ends and the brushes in the middle. The container for the skinny mascara contains 5 g of product, whereas the container for the jumbo mascara contains 7 g. The skinny brush has a diameter of 2.5 mm. This brush makes it easy to reach all your lashes, even the tiny lower lashes in the corner of your eyes. You can also use the skinny brush on your upper lashes to give them a perfect curl and define them nicely. The jumbo brush is thick and has a S-curved shape. The tip of this brush is formed like a ball. This brush gives the volume to your lashes and also curls them.

The formula of this mascara is film-typed. It doesn’t smudge and holds the curl all day. Below you’ll see how my lashes look like without and with mascara. You can see that even the small lower lashes look more obvious using this mascara. My upper lashes appear more curled and thicker, too.

I’m using this mascara almost daily now, because I love the two brushes. It makes reaching the lower lashes so much easier! I can recommend this mascara to you. There are other mascara by Innisfree called Skinny Longlongcara and Skinny Microcara and I saw Pony using one of them often in her tutorials. If you cannot decide wether you’ll like such a skinny brush you could also try out this one. this way you still have the ususal thicker brush in case you do not like the skinny wand. I received mine from KollectionK and it retails 18.23 US$. It is also available for 19.36 US$ at W2Bauty.

What is your favourite mascara?

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

asian cosmetics beauty honestskin PR Sample review

Review: Nature Republic Collagen HD Essencial BB Cream

22. January 2015

Here is the last review from the products I received in the honestskin Special Gift Event, the Nature Republic Collagen HD Essencial BB Cream. I only have tried a few Nature Republic products, but I like their brand’s appearance and often also the packaging which reminds me of Innisfree. This BB cream claims to be formulated with 502 mg Triple Collagen Complex and be very nourishing for your skin. It should give your skin a radiant glow. Let’s see how this BB cream worked for me:

Nature Republic is a Korean brand focusing on natural cosmetics. Their brand ideology is to take what nature gives and use it for our benefits. They focus on specific natural ingredients from all over the world. Their packaging reflects this ideology by using recylcled paper and soy ink for their cardboard boxes. This is also one of the reasons the brand reminds me of Innisfree. The Nature Republic Collagen HD Essencial BB Cream comes in a cardboard box like this. The packaging design is simple, but contains a lot of description on the sides. Most of the description is in Korean, but you’ll also find a short description and ingredients list in English.

The ingredients of this BB cream are mostly green and yellow flagged according to COSDNA. You can look up the ingredients >> here <<. This BB cream contains Titanium Dioxide and Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate for UV protection. It has SPF 27 PA++, which is nice. It also contains soluble collagen and hydrolyzed collagen as moisturizing ingredients, but also some plant extracts. What I really like about the cardboard packaging is the braille for blind people, so they now what they are grabbing.

The Nature Republic collagen HD Essencial BB Cream comes in a plastic tube packaging. Unfortunatelly, the tube doesn’t come with a pump. The tube contains 50 g of BB cream which is a good amount and will last you for some time. The plastic tube has a good quality and doesn’t seem to be any cheap plastic at all.

A short description is written on the backside of the tube in Korean. You’ll also find the production date imprinted on it.

The BB cream itself comes in only one shade which is a lighter one. It has a creamy, lightly fluid structure and a slight scent, which is not overpowering. The scent isn’t recognizable after application anymore.

When performing an oil test on a blotting paper you’ll see that it shows some oilyness after 1 hour. I have dry skin, so I didn’t see any oilyness on my face while wearing, but for oily skintypes it could be better to use a loose powder over this BB cream.

Here you can see how it looks on my skin. I applied my normal moisturizing skincare routine before. After it adsorbed I applied the BB cream with my fingers. The coverage of this BB cream is medium, but buildable. If you have only some red spots like I do in the image, it will cover it up properly. I would not say that this BB cream has a dewy finish. It has no matte finish either, so it is something inbetween. You see that my skin has the same dewyness it had after moisturizing. I think this BB cream adapts nicely to the skintone and leaves a natural finish. I also like that it doesn’t give a white cast in flash photography. The staying power is not super long, after some hours it tends to fade away, especially at the T-zone. If you have very dry skin it might get flaky, so I would advise you to use a facial mist inbetween.

All in all, this is a nice BB cream for a adequate pricing. It looks natural and doesn’t make you look like a ghost. The coverage will be good enough for people with only light skin concerns. The Nature Republic Collagen HD Essencial BB Cream retails for 12.78 US$ at honestskin Unfortunatelly, this item has been discontinued by Nature Republic :(. Did you try out this BB cream already? Do you have any favourite BB cream from Nature Republic?

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asian cosmetics beauty honestskin PR Sample review

Review: Iope Super Vital Cream VIP Kit

15. January 2015

Here is another review from the honestskin Special Gift Event about the Iope Super Vital Cream VIP Kit. This kit comes with 5 products from the Iope Super Vital Extra Moist line, and honestly speaking it is the first Iope skincare line I’m trying. I was really happy therefore, that this kit was part of the gift event I received.

Iope is a Korean high-end brand and part of the Amore Pacific family, similar to other brands like Laneige, Innisfree and Etude House (and many more of the known Korean cosmetic brands). The brand focusses on innovative biological technologies in their cosmetics. Thus their brand image and approach is not cute or girly, but rather mature and scientific. The product packaging reflects this by being elegent and high quality. Also here the Iope Super Vital Cream VIP Kit comes in a golden reflecting cardboard box. It looks very luxurious (but makes photography hard due to reflecting material).

The description on the packaging is not very detailled and it is in Korean only. Probably it lists what kind of products is included in the VIP kit. This set contains 5 products in total: The Super Vital Extra Moist Softner (20 ml), the Super Vital Extra Moist Emulsion (20 ml), the Super Vital Extra Moist Serum (5 ml), the Super Vital Cream Bio Intensive (7 ml), and the Super Vital Extra Moist Eye Cream (3ml). You’ll find some of the ingredients for the products on COSDNA (Softener, Emulsion, Serum, and Cream). Most of the ingredients are green flagged, but you’ll find some irritating ingredients like alcohol, PEG and Triethanol amine. You’ll also find some great ingredients like niacinamide, titanium dioxide, ascorbix acid, and various plant extracts. You’ll also find caffeine in some of the ingredient lists.

The products in this kit are all travel sized and come in a plastic packaging. Unlike the fullsized products, the packaging looks less sturdy and elegant, but still the golden color of all of the products gives it a luxurious touch. The softener and the emulsion do have normal bottle packaging. The serum comes with a pump dispenser. The cream comes in a tiny jar and the eye cream in a tube. It was harder to get ptoduct out of the softener and the emulsion, because the plastic of the bottle is very hard. You have to shake it a couple of times. The pump dispenser also needed a few pumps before the first product could be pumped out. Other than this the packaging was fine. The back side of the tubes, bottles and jars contains a short description in Korean, too.

I swatched the five products on my arm below and as you can see the softener is a liquid toner with a bit of a gel-like structure. It has a soft flowery scent and feels moist on the skin. After a few pats it will absorb and leave your skin soft. The eye cream has a rich creamy texure which melts away on the skin nicely and leaves the skin moisturized and nourished. The eye area feels hydrated for quite a long time. The serum has a gel – like consistency and the same flowery scent as the softener. it has a slight stickiness to itself, but feels also moisturizing. It is not oily after application. The emulsion and the cream are my favourites out of this set. The emulsion has a light milk-type formula. It feels lightweight and yet deeply moisturizing. Actually, although I have dry skin I only use the emulsion during daytime, because it delivers enough moisture especially with the serum in advance. The cream has a butter-like creamy texture and is a VERY rich cream. I’m apllying it during the night and the next morning my skin is still moisturized and my T-zone is even shiny. Both have a very nice flowery scent which I liked a lot.

The Iope Super Vital Cream VIP Kit is very recommended to people with dry to very dry skin. Also people with dull skin will like this. The products in this kit are highly moisturizing and very nourishing. The Super Vital Cream Bio Intensive cream is not recommended for people with oily skin. It made my dry skin oily on the T-zone when I applied it over night. People with super dry skin might love to try this out. The eyecream was rich and hydrating and is great for people with lines. The extra moisture and lipids will make your lines appear finer. If you only have dry lips you might want to try the Laneige Waterbank Eye Gel instead. A downside is the price, of course. Since it is a high end brand the Iope Super Vital Set with the fullsized items (not the travel sized items I showed you here!) retails for 95.34 US$ at honestskin. Before you go ahead and buy the fullsized product I would advise you to look for a trial kit like the one I showed here.

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