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asian cosmetics beauteque beauty PR Sample review

Review: Hanaka Macaron Facial Masks

21. September 2015

Here is another example of asian cosmetics and super cute packaging: The Hanaka Macaron Facial Masks! These mask packs come in small containers, which paired up form a macaron! This is such a cute idea and I fell in love with that concept directly, when I spotted these on Beauteque.

Hanaka is a Taiwanese brand. It is quite known for products with some cute packaging. The Hanaka Macaron Facial Masks come in different colors and each color is targeting another facial problem. There are 10 different kinds: Hyaluronic acid, Collagen, Q10, Arbutin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Tea Tree, Red Wine, Volcanic Mud and Glacial Mineral Mud.

I selected the Hanaka Macaraon Facial Mask Hyaluronic Acid and Red Wine Polyphenols. You can guess which color could be which :D

The Red Wine Polyphenol mask on the left (in the pink colored container) is a targeting firming, smoothing and improvement of elasticity of the skin by the antioxidants in red wine. This mask is supposed to be brightening, elastic, firming, hydrating, moisturizing, repairing, soothing, whitening, and have anti-wrinkles properties. It is suited for all skin types. The ingredients of the Hanaka Macaron Facial Mask Red Wine are:

Water, Helianthus Annus Seed Oil, Lupinus Albus Seed Extract, Cactus Extract, Phytocelltec, Hyaluronic Acid, Trehalose, Grape Seed Oil, Vitamin B5, Crambe Abyssinica Seed Oil, Red Wine Polyphenols, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Beta-Glucan, Cucumber Extract, Soy Isoflavones, Polysorbate 80, Sorbitol, Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol.

If you check the ingredients in COSDNA they do not look like any harmful ingredients. Most of the ingredients have either moisturizing or antioxidant properties.

The Hyaluronic Acid mask on the right (in the blue colored container) has the main task of replenish, retain, and store moisture. It is suited for anti-aging, brightening, firming, hydrating, repairing, revitalizing, whitening. This mask is suited for all skin types, too. The ingredients of the Hanaka Macaron Facial Mask Hyaluronic Acid are:

Water, Carbopol, Hyaluronic Acid, Arnica Extract, Cactus Flower Extract, Fagus Sylvatica Extract, Punica Granatum, Beta-Glucan, Sapphire Powder, Copper Petide, Glycyrrhizinc Acid, Phospholipids, Perfume.

The ingredients list is short and according to COSDNA the single ingredients are useable without any risk (>>here<<). The list contains some moisturizers and some ingredients with anti-inflammatory effects.

The two masks I selected have different textures: The Hyaluronic Mask has a gel-like texture, whereas the texture of the Red Wine Mask is a yoghurt texture. Both masks are wash-off masks, so you leave them on for 15-20 minutes and wash them off with lukewarm water afterwards. The skin after using these definitively feels hydrated and since both masks are cooling the face feels refreshed, too. The Red Wine mask also makes your skin feel like you’ve used some cream or nourishing moisturizer. It really feels supple and soft. The Hyaluronic Mask contains some menthol or peppermint ingredient or scent (it is not listed in the ingredients, but it definitively feels like mint- ingredient on the skin), so if you don’t like the sharp cooling effect of mint/menthol product, I would not recommend you the Hyaluronic Mask. The Red Wine Mask on the other hand had a very pleasant, creamy scent. The Hyaluronic mask makes your skin feel cooled and refreshed in first place, but I found that the Red Wine mask was more beneficial in terms of making the skin smooth and bouncy.

I like these kinds of tiny containers for wash-off masks like the Hanaka Macaron Facial Masks, and the fact that these look like macarons really is a major selling point. From the two masks I liked the Hanaka Macaron Facial Mask in Red Wine better than the Hyaluronic version. The cooling effect was too sharp for my face and I prefer the nourishment the Red Wine Mask provides to the skin and the feeling of like you just put on some good moisturizer. You can get the Hanaka Macaron Facial Masks from Beauteque for 3.90 US$ each. Each container comes with 8 g of product which is enough for one usage and covers your face properly. In order to have a cute macaron you need two of the containers. I saw there are also boxes containing 10 pieces, which look super adorable and like a perfect present. Maybe Beauteque can get their hand on these, too?!

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

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asian cosmetics beauteque beauty PR Sample review

Review: My Beauty Diary 2-Step Repair Mask Packs

8. September 2015

I chose two different kinds of the My Beauty Diary 2-Step Repair Mask Packs from Beauteque because this brand is not often seen on stand-alone Korean beauty online shops. I tried the regular My Beauty Diary Sheet masks in the past and liked them, but not the 2-Step Mask Packs. It sounds really fun, so I picked up the My Beauty Diary 2-Step Repair Mask Pack and the Fresh Repair Mask Pack.

My Beauty Diary is a very popular Taiwanese skincare brand, which has a wide range of sheet masks on the market. Their sheet masks are not expensive, but I heard that their are many fake masks on the market. It is good to know which resellers are trustworthy, before you blindly buy the masks. The My Beauty Diary 2-Step Repair Mask Packs combine a sheet mask with a cream you can apply after the mask to pamper your skin. The My Beauty Diary 2-Step Repair Mask Pack comes in a regular version (light purple packaging) and a Fresh Repair Version (light blue packaging). Both masks are formulated with snail filtrate and help to moisturize and nourish your skin. The Fresh Repair Version is especially recommended for dry and sensitive skin-types.

The packaging design of both masks is cute and the colors are very pretty, too. Both masks have illustrations of snails all over the packaging, which hints to the key ingredient snail filtrate. The backside of each sachet is filled with Taiwanese descriptions and directions. The ingredients are listed in English though. You can find English descriptions on Beauteque, too (>>here<< and >>here<<). Below you can see the sachet of the My Beauty Diary 2-Step Repair Mask Pack. It has a light purple color theme and is divided into a bottom part containing the snail mask and a upper part containing the snail repair cream. The direction is easy: after cleansing and toning you apply the mask for 20-30 minutes, then you add the snail repair mask on top to enhance and complete the effects of the sheet mask. I added the ingredients of the snail mask and the snail repair cream to COSDNA. There are some potential irritants and acne triggers included in the ingredients list like triethanol amine (snail mask) and cetearyl alcohol and myristyl myristate (snail repair cream). Also, the snail repair cream contains mineral oil. The snail filtrate is called “glycoproteins” simply, which made me first wondering where the snail filtrate was :D

The My Beauty Diary 2-Step Fresh Repair Mask Pack has a very similar design, except the colors are light blue and the illustration is a bit different. Also here the backside of the sachet is full of Taiwanese description, but the ingredients are written in English. Like with the previous mask the sachet is divided into a lower part containing the snail recovery mask and an upper part with the snail fresh repair cream. The ingredients are listed on COSDNA as well and are very similar to the My Beauty Diary 2-Step Repair Mask Pack above (snail recovery mask and snail fresh repair cream). Also here the potential irritants mentioned above are included. The Snail Fresh Repair Cream doesn’t contain any mineral oil on the other hand. The ingredients list of both products are VERY similar. Also, they feel both very similar on the skin and don’t differ in their results in any obvious way. One point, since the fresh repair mask is said to be better for dry and sensitive skin: the ingredients list here contains peppermint and menthol, and since I know that people react to this I wanted to point it out. The regular repair mask on the other hand contains licorice root extract and hydrolized rice protein, which both are quite a popular ingredients for brightening/evening out the skin tone. From using each mask only once I cannot evaluate any differences between the two masks though. Also, I do not know the concentration of the single ingredients on the list.

Regarding their performance both masks did a good job in moisturizing the skin. The sheet masks were attached to a plastic foil which had to be removed before using it. The material of the sheet mask was very thin and soaked fully with the clear essence. I would say the mask was even dripping from too much essence. The fit of the mask was not the best for me, but this depends on your facial shape after all. After leaving on the sheet mask for around 20 minutes the mask was not dried at all. I think it can be left even longer than 20 minutes. The snail cream included for step 2 is a rich and thick, white cream. It does not feel greasy, but dries off in a matte finish. It also absorbs quickly, even when you apply a thick layer. The sachet contains enough cream to really apply a thick layer, or use it at least two times. Both products, the masks and the creams have a very light fruity scent, which is barely noticeable. If you do not dip your nose right into the cream or essence I do not smell anything.

Both My Beauty Diary 2-Step Repair Mask Packs are good moisturizing sheet masks, but they do not differ very clearly from each other. I wished the ingredients lists would contain less irritants nevertheless. The idea of having a sheet mask with a second step is really a nice idea if you want to pamper your face from time to time. I also really like that the included creams dry off with a matte finish and absorb quickly, too. The My Beauty Diary 2-Step Repair Mask Packs can be bought on Beauteque individually for 3 US$ each. You can also buy it in boxes for 15.99 US$. Do you have a favorite sheet mask from My Beauty Diary?


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

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asian cosmetics beauteque beauty PR Sample review

Review: From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Pack

31. August 2015

I’m really happy about writing this review, because I really like the From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Pack. This product was kindly sponsored by Beauteque, online retailer of Asian cosmetics. Some of you might have seen the bunch of products I selected from them for reviewing on my Instagram account :) I really like using sleeping mask, since I love the feeling of my skin on the next day after using these kind of masks. Usually sleeping masks or packs boost your skin over night with extra moisture or nutrition. Since the skin absorbs and works more efficiently during night such products are always a great idea.

From Nature‘s motto is “messanger from nature’s power”, and therefore this Korean brand uses natural ingredients in their cosmetic products. eChoice is a line by From Nature, and the From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Pack is what I’m reviewing here today. According to the description, this sleeping mask “infused with jasmine, rose, chamomile, green tea, and white tea extracts, boosts its oriental tea complex that works to deliver deep nutrition, moisture, and soothing effect overnight.” The From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Pack “creates moisturizing, transparent, illuminating, and water-based bright, resilient, luminous skin.” This sounds really promising for a sleeping pack.

The sleeping pack line from From Nature eChoice comes in two choices: the From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Pack and the From Nature eChoice Fermented Beans Sleeping Pack. Beauteque is currently only offering the From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Pack. The packaging of the plastic tube containing 70 g is simple, but it shows the image of herbs and a bowl of tea (probably). The description on the tube of the From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Pack is in Korean only, but you find the instructions and the short description on Beautque, too. The ingredients of this sleeping mask are listed on COSDNA, and the list is neither long, nor harmful. Most of the ingredients are plant extracts from jasmine, rose, green tea, white tea, and chamomile. If you know about reacting to any of these ingredients you should be careful when using this sleeping mask though. apart from these the key ingredient here is the Lactobacillus Ferment, which was the main reason for me to try this sleeping msk. It has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial activity when applied in concentrations of 5% or more. It has skin coditioning properties, too. So this fermented oriental tea complex from the plant extracts mentioned above has a concetration of 100ppm, as stated on the packaging.

The From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Pack has a light and almost transparent gel texture. The scent is very pleasant and lingers on the skin. It reminds me of the Laneige Water Sleeping Pack in its structure and scent and feel on the skin. It is very waterful/moisturizing when blended on the skin, too. In order to use it you apply a proper amount to your face as last step of your skincare before you go to sleep. Next morning, you wash it off with lukewarm water. After using this the skin feels very soft and nice.

In my opinion, the From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Pack is a great option for those who find the Laneige Water Sleeping Pack too expensive. The From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Mask does a good job in moisturizing and smoothening the skin over night and costs only 12.00 US$ at Beauteque. It has a very relaxing scent, too! Also, if you like fermented ingredients the From Nature eChoice Fermented Tea Sleeping Pack is a really recommendable product to try.

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

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asian cosmetics beauteque beauty PR Sample review

Review: Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner

27. August 2015

One of the products I’ve herd of since the beginning of my asian cosmetics product addiction is the Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner. It is a must-have product for so many people it seems, and I still don’t know why it took me so long to finally try it. The Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner in classic black color was kindly sponsored by Beauteque, online retailer of Asian cosmetics. Some of you might have seen the bunch of products I selected from them for reviewing on my Instagram account :)

Dolly Wink is a Japanese brand produced by the Japanese model Tsubasa Masuwaka, who represents the Gyaru trend. Dolly Wink is a brand presented by Koji. All the Dolly Wink products have a picture of Tsubasa Masuwaka somewhere on the packaging. Moreover, the packaging design tends to be cute and girly and contains a lot of pink colors. The Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner, which is available in black or brown, comes in such a pretty packaging, too. This eyeliner pen has a pink color and golden ornaments all over, with a black cap in order to prevent the pen from drying. The brown version has a purple color and a brown cap.

As most Japanese products it doesn’t come in a cardboard box, but attached to a cardboard sheet and packed in plastic. For the images I removed the plastic, so the pictures are nicer. The backside of the cardboard sheet contains the Japanese descriptions. Unfortunately, there is no English description for it, but according to the description on Beauteque this “liquid eyeliner dries quickly and is resistant to sweat, water, and tears! It is absolutely smudge-free, the vivid black line lasts all day long. The Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner includes a fine point brush”.

You can find a description on how to use the Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner there, too:

To Use: Before applying the liquid eyeliner, fill up the gap between lashes using any pencil eyeliner. Draw a fine line from the inner corner of the eye. (Do not make the line thick. A thick line may result in a smaller-looking eye.) Draw a fine line extended 2-3mm out of the outer corner of eye. To make your eye more impressive, add a short line under your eye at the outer corner over a pen type eyeliner.

The brush tip can create fine lines, but also broader ones. The color is pigmented, although not the blackest color I’ve seen. For a eyeliner pen it is pigmented though, for even more pigmented eyelines I would use a gel eyeliner. If you look closely you will see that it bleeds a little bit when swatched on my hand. The bleeding is not visible on my eyes, since the skin has a finer structure there. When applied on my eyes I face the problem of uneven pigmentation, depending on the pressure you give the pen. If you let it dry and add another layer it will be evenly pigmented though. Since it dries quickly it is no problem in layering the strokes. For the image belwo I only applied it regulary, like I would do on a normal day. It doesn’t feather/bleed, but the eveness of the color is still improveable. Unfortunately, I found that the eyeliner is not long lasting. It does not smudge, but wears off (nicely) when rubbing. Water/sweat and rubbing wears it off, too. This is my third liquid eyeliner pen I tried. I love the easy application of these eyeliner pens, but out of the three I tried (Kiss Me Heroine Make Smooth Liquid Eyeliner Pen and the Miracle Romance Sailor Moon Star Power Prism Eyeliner are the other two I tried), I still like the Kiss Me Heroine Make Eyeliner Pen most.

The Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner Pen has a super cute packaging and is easy to use and I can understand why many people love it. If I had the choice I would tend to repurchase the Kiss Me Heroine Make Eyeliner Pen though. The price of all these eyeliner pens is roughly the same though. You can buy the Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner from Beauteque for 15 US$. What is your favourite liquid eyeliner pen? Any recommendations for a deep black and strongly pigmented one?

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

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asian cosmetics beauteque beauty PR Sample review

Review: SNP Animal Tiger Wrinkle Mask

13. August 2015

There has been kind of a wave of these printed sheet masks, but the first ones I saw being reviewed in the asianbeauty community were the SNP Animal Sheet Masks. The SNP Animal Tiger Wrinkle Mask I’m reviewing here was kindly sponsored by Beauteque, online retailer of Asian cosmetics. Some of you might have seen the bunch of products I selected from them for reviewing on my Instagram account :)

SNP is a Korean brand developed by dermatologists and focusing on the creation of functional cosmetics combined with the knowledge of scientific cosmetic research. You may have heard from this brand before, mainly because of their sheet masks. I reviewed their SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua Eye Patch before and uü to now it is one of my favourite eye patches…I’m even using it on my smile lines and it is really cooling and hydrating. The SNP Animal Sheet Masks are available in different designs. I will show you the SNP Animal Tiger Wrinkle Mask, but the other masks available are: Dragon Soothing Mask, Otter Aqua Mask, and Panda Whitening Mask. Aterwards, SNP also released the Beijing Opera Aqua Mask. As you can tell from their names, each of these masks targets another skin oncern. The SNP Tiger Wrinkle Mask is an Anti-Wrinkle Mask to boost dull skin cells with elastic energy leaving skin radiant and resilient.

Like all sheet masks the SNP Animal Tiger Wrinkle Mask comes in a sachet. The design of the sachet is cartoon-y, with the illustration of a tiger on the front. The color of the sachet is a yellow/orange one and fits to the image of a tiger. On the backside of the sachet mostly all the description is written in Korean. On the bottom however you find the English ingredients and directions. The ingredients are listed in COSDNA, too, and you might want to look them up >>here<< or have a look at the image below. The main ingredient will be coconut water. Coconut water is said to be rich in elecrolytes and minerals, moreover, it is a good moisturizer and helps to replenish dehydrated skin with help of its aminoacids, when applied for longer time topically. In contrast to coconut milk or oil it doesn’t contain fat and larger proteins. Apart from the coconut water the mask contains some plant oils and extracts and hyaluronic acid. The downside is the alcohol and triethanol amine, which is also part of the ingredient list of the SNP Animal Tiger Wrinkle Mask. If you have sensitive skin you should be aware of these ingredients and also check about the other ingredients.

The SNP Animal Tiger Wrinkle Mask comes nicely folded in a sachet full of essence. It is almost dripping wet and there is more than enough left-over essence to cover neck and arms etc with it. The essence has a clear color by the way. I read a horrible review for the SNP Beijing Opera Aqua Mask on Instagram yesterday by Sam from samthebear.com. Her essence was stained red and after she used it her skin was super irritated and stained red, too! If you bought these printed masks, please check if the pigments of the mask have transferred into the essence already. I doubt that it is supposed to be that way! The sheet mask has a regular fit for me and does not fit perfectly, but good enough to not slip around on my face. It feels cooling and refreshing, and has a perfum-y floral scent. I left it as directed for around 10-20 minutes, took it off, patted the remaining essence into the skin and felt my skin being tighter from the cooling effect and the moisture. I really enjoyed this mask, although one use may not be enough to judge the longterm effects of the SNP Animal Tiger Wrinkle Mask. Another point I really enjoyed was the design of the mask and how it makes you look like a cartoon tiger. The mask design is quite detailled and pretty, too. The pink nose looks super cute! It was really fun and entertaining, also for people around you :D Below you can see my awkward selfie in combination with the Etude House Lovely Etti Hairband :D

The SNP Animal Tiger Wrinkle Mask is skincaretainment on a high level! I really enjoyed wearing it and taking funny selfies wearing this mask. The downside for some will be the alcohol in the ingredients list, but the other ingredients look quite okay though. My skin didn’t feel irritated after using this mask. The amount of essence is also great and the sheet mask won’t dry up on your face compeletelly when you wear it within the recommended time. I would also love to try out the other SNP Animal Masks just to see if they are different, and try more masks of this one to see wether its anti-wrinkle claims are true. You can get the SNP Animal Tiger Wrinkle Mask from Beauteque for 2.60 Us$. And yes, Beauteque does not only have great subscription boxes, which many of you might be familiar with, but they also sell individual products. Beauteque offers Free Standard Ground Shipping for all orders over $35 (excluding taxes) anywhere in the US, international shipping costs are based on international rates (per package weight). If you want to check out some other reviews on the SNP Animal Sheet Masks I can advise you to check out the reviews on KimKine, UrHappyBunny or EverythingaboutBella.

♥ If you have time feel free to join my giveaway! ♥

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