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Review: Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program Part 2

15. July 2015

Some of you have been probably waiting for my second part review for the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program. In the first part I showed you already this gorgeously packed set consisting of 28 ampoule vials and two eye cream tubes and I talked about my impression. Today I will go a bit into the detail considering the ingredients and my verdict after using it for 28 days.

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, especially 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 eye cream.

Everything has a beautiful golden color. Even the vials have golden caps. I love the ornaments on the eye cream containers and their syringe shape. I showed some more details about the eye cream packaging in the first post, too. All in all, the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program is a beautifully packed gift, targeting more mature skin and therefore makes a good present for your mother maybe?!

Now, let’s take a closer look at the ingredients of the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program this time: The key ingredients of this anti aging kit are Jeju’s horse oil and EGF as the name already says.

Horse Oil

Let’s talk about Mayu first: Mayu (korean), Bayhu (japanese) or Horse Oil has been used in ancient times but it became popular again recently. Horse oil has been known as home remedy for treating dry and chapped skin for many years. It is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and is close to human sebum in its composition and therefore absorbs fast into the skin, which leads to a more elastic and hydrated skin with an improved barrier. By the way, in order to obtain horse oil no horses have to be killed! It is taken from underneath the mane without harming the animal and refined afterwards.

EGF- Epidermal Growth Factor

The second key ingredient is EGF. What is EGF and what does it actually do for our skincare? EGF is the short term for Epidermal Growth Factor. In the ingredients list you will find it as human oligopeptide-1. The EGF targets specific receptors in the cell (EGFR) and is the necessary molecule for this receptor in order to work. From the name you can already tell that it promotes the cell growth, so it is important for our body, since dying and growing cells are a regular process in our body.

Short excursus: It is important to note the difference between the receptor and the EGF: EGF is not carcenogenic! Mutations in cells can cause an overexpression of the EGFR for example, which means we have too many of these receptors in our cells, which can lead to uncontrolled growth of cells, means cancer. Other proteins can put the EGFR in a permanent on-state, which leads to uncontrolled growth of cells aswell.

But does EGF have anti-aging properties? Since the EGF should address wrinkles in first place it has to affect the collagen production somehow in order to be beneficial for our skin. When EGF is applied with a cream it has to be absorbed into the dermis, the inner layer of the skin, to have any effect, and only a very, very small amount of topically applied EGF will be able to reach the dermis at all. And even if it helps to produce collagen it does not have any effect on the degradation of the old collagen. In conclusion we can say that the EGF may be responsible for a plumping effect of the outer skin layer, but it will not have any effect on the inner skin layer and therefore will not reduce wrinkles.

Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program Ampoule

I’m starting off with the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program Ampoule first. As I described in my first review, the ampoule comes in 28 tiny brown glass vials with a golden cap. In order to open them, you have to push the cap, which is super hard! I’m not kidding! I’m struggling every time when I want to open up a new vial and sometimes I have to ask my bf to open it, because it takes such an effort. I do not know why they designed the vials like this, because it is not convenient to have such a hard time with the ampoule every night before going to bed. They could have either made a large ampoule bottle with a dropper instead, or if they wanted to pack these up in single portions they should have taken these tear-shaped capsules which you can tear open. The ampoule itself has a golden, clear color and has a gel-oil-type consistency and a pleasant scent. It takes some time to absorb, but if you are patient it will sink into the skin, leaving it moist but with a tacky feeling. The packaging description says that one ampoule vial is for one day use of your face and neck. Each vial contains 2 ml, but I personally think that 1 ml is more than enough for face and neck. Taking the whole amount of the product makes it only more difficult to absorb and may result in a sticky feeling, too. I started to use the ampoule before my final moisturizer, but I decided that it is better to mix it with my night time moisturizer instead of applying it separately. My skin doesn’t feel dry nor dehydrated in the next morning, since the barrier of night cream and ampoule keep all the moisture inside. I’m sure this ampoule will do great work in cold seasons. The ingredients of the ampoules are:

water, glycerine, dipropylene glycol, morinda citrifolia fruit extract, alcohol, xylitylglucoside, saccharide isomerate, hydrolyzed elastin, hydrolyzed collagen, morus alba twig extract, human oligopeptide-1 (0.1 ppm), acetyl glycosamine, sodium hyalurunate, glycosaminoglycans, colloidal gold, acetyl heptapeptide-9, anhydroxylitol, xylitol, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymere, PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil, PPG-26-buteth-26, glyceryl acrylate/acrylic acid copolymere, butylene glycol, horse fat, phenoxyethanol, fragnance, potassium hydroxide, ethylhexylglycerin, disodium EDTA, benzoic acid, dehydroacetic acid, yellow 5, red 4, blue 1

The ingredients are safe to use according to COSDNA and you can have a more close look at them >>here<<.

Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program Eye Cream

The Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program Eye Cream comes in these two beautiful syringe-shaped containers. Each of them contains 10 ml, which is quite a lot for eye cream. The good thing about having two of them is, that I could put one in my own bathroom and the other one at my bf’s apartment :D. Although the packaging states, that this product is an eye cream you will find in the directions to apply it all over your face. I don’t know if this is a translation mistake, or if this is really meant to be. I only used it for my eye area after all. The eye cream is a cream type, light product, which melts into the skin easily and absorbs very quickly, leaving a matte and not greasy finish. It is not heavy either, so you can use it also on your eyelid and not only for your under eye region. I have absolutely no complaints about the eye cream, since it absorbs fast and feels nice on the skin. The pump type syringe container is very easy to use and you can even close and open it, so it can e carried around without spilling product. The ingredients for the eye cream are:

water, propanediol, cetyl ethylhexanoate, caprylic/ capric triglyceride, morinda citrifolia fruit extract, cetearyl alcohol, glycerine, cetearyl olivate, methyl gluceth-20, sorbitan olivate, pentaerythrityl tetraisostearate, dimethicone, hydrolysed elastin, morus alba twig extract, hydrolyzed collagen, human oligopeptide-1 (0.1 ppm), tocopheryl acetate, sodium hyalurunate, lecithin, acetyl heptapeptide-9, colloidal gold, glyceryl stearate, beeswax, hydrogenated vegetable oil, PEG-100 stearate, sodium acrylate/sodium acryloyldimethyl, tarate copolymer, xanthan gum, isohexadecane, polysorbate80, horse fat, phenoxyethanol, fragnance, ethylhexyl glycerin, disodium EDTA

The ampoule and the eye cream have quite some ingredients in common as you can see. You can check all the ingredients on COSDNA >>here<<.

My final verdict for the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program is that the products on their own are good products and will be nice for dry skin types. Both products are hydrating and feel nourishing for the skin. But, is there any improvement considering their anti-wrinkle claim? I do not see any changes in the amount of fine lines I have (for example on my forehead or under eyes) after using this program for the advised 28 days and longer. Since I like the hydrating properties of it I will continue to use them up, but in case you are looking for a anti-wrinkle wonder I can assure you that this product will not change anything. Now, the negative points for the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program are the design of the ampoule vials and the price tag of this set. The vials are so hard to open and I do not see the sense in that point. Especially in the evening you don’t want to use all your last powers to open up a tiny ampoule vial. For lazy people this will be a reason to skip the ampoule. And the price tag is for this set is….enormously high! You can find it on ebay for around 100 US$. I saw it on RoseRoseShop discounted from 296 US$ (???) to 59.26 US$. Would I spend 100 bucks for this skincare set? No! 50 US$ seems much more reasonable, and it is considerable to buy this set a a mother’s day gift or similar.

This product was provided to me by BNTnews for reviewing. Don’t forget to visit the other BNTGirls Doris, Celine, Alene, Kim 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: Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series Favorites

14. July 2015

Did you read my previous review about the Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series? I’m talking about my Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series Favorites today, since BNT News was so friendly as to send me another bunch of these mask. This sheet mask series has a very interesting theme, since it contains 7 sheet masks for one week use and each sheet masks is related to the greek gods who are behind the single days of the week.

Forencos is a Korean brand which sells environmental cosmetics since 1988. The brand has quite a range of skincare and makeup products, but in the internationally known Korean 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 revitalizing, skin relieving, skin regeneration, skin revival and skin resolution. You will find all the 7 sheet mask in my previous review >>here<<, but here is a quick reminder about this sheet mask series: The 7 sheet masks of the Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series each come in a different color and have 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 of the ampoule and is used before applying the sheet mask (the only exception is the first sheet mask, where you have to use the ampoule afterwards).

Since the sheet mask try to relate ancient Greek mythology to the single days of the week here is the purpose of all the seven sheet masks in a short summary:

Tuesday: Detox with Hephaestus
The weeks begins on a Tuesday with Hephaestus, god of metallurgy, fire and volcanoes. Jeju’s volcanic ashes eliminate dead skin cells and clean and contract pores.

Wednesday: Moisture with Poseidon
The caviar extracts that Poseidon, god of the sea, gives to your skin has a similar texture with it in terms of amino acids, minerals and vitamins. Moisturizes and increase collagen production.

Thursday: Relax with Dryas
Australian indigenes were already using tea tree leaves to cure infectious diseases. Tea tree oil is amazing at calming and soothing the skin.

Friday: Regenerating Midas
24k pure gold treats wrinkles and helps blood circulation while delivering minerals.

Saturday: Elastic Gaya
Horse oil is similar with human sebum and helps control its secretion. It also contains ceramide for skin regeneration and elasticity.

Sunday: Illuminating Helios
Pearl was loved by Cleopatra for its high mineral and amino acid concentration as well as for the bioactive substances it contains. Its reinforces skin’s immunity and acidity for a bright complexion.

Monday: Selene’s total care 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.

After trying the whole Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series for a second time I have made the following conclusions:

1. I do not like the ampoule: The mask base vita ampoule which is attached to each of the sheet masks contains 2 ml and has a very gluey consistency. It warms up the skin and is supposed to improve the effects of the sheet mask. It contains 8% Vitamin C and the key ingredient adenosine as anti-aging ingredient, which is nice, but the consistency of the ampoule is hard to work with. Not only is it gluey while applying, but it doesn’t absorb into the skin either and leaves a sticky film on the skin. I would not advise you to use the whole sachet, which is way to much. Instead, I only use a tiny bit of the ampoule before applying the mask. The skin feels still sticky, but not as bad as with the whole 2 ml.

2. The whole mask series used regulary for a week may show a nice improvement of your skin: Personally, I didn’t see any changes with my skin condition before and after, but I have to add that my skin condition at the moment is good and it is difficult to observe such changes. I can, however, suggest you to take a look at another review from Kim Kine. She is one of my dear blogger friends and she has a awesome and very honest blog and she shows a nice before/after picture of her skin using the Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series.

3. My three favorite sheet masks from the Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series are the ones containing black pearl, swallow’s nest and mayu: as I said before, it is difficult to see any changes of your skin, if your skin is in a good condition already. Also, using all these different sheet masks daily makes it difficult to see what the single sheet masks do for your skin on their own. Another point which makes it hard to select a favorite is the point that all the sheet masks have the same scent and the same fabric. The fabric of these masks is super soft since it contains silk and the sheets are thin and thoroughly soaked with the essence. So, how did I choose these three masks as my favourite masks? All of the masks of the series (apart from the first one, which is a pore minimizing vocanic ash mask) leave the skin hydrated and feel refreshing. My main reason for choosing these three in the end are the key ingredients!

Although I cannot read Korean and I did not find the full ingredients yet, you will find some hints on the backside of each mask from the Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series. In the blue box below the English name of the mask is written that the mask contains 750 mg of swallow’s nest. Swallow’s nest or Swiftlet’s Nest is believed to be very nutritious and is consumed as food. Swiftlet nests contain sialic acid which is supposed to be 200 times more nourishing than royal jelly. The swiftlet nests are made from the saliva of the birds (not from twigs etc!) and therefore are rich in minerals like calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium. Its vitamins help to recover tired skin. The proteins in the swiftlet nest extract contain EGF components that are beneficial for the skin, too. At first, this maybe gross to hear, but similar to snail mucin, also bird’s nest extracts contain beneficial ingredients for the skin.

The next ingredient is Black Pearl! Pearl powder has been used in ancient times for facial treatment because it is rich in nutrients. Pearl powder contains many amino acids, minerals (calcium, zinc, magnesium), and proteins and acts as an antioxidant. Moreover, it is said that pearl powder evens out the skin tone and helps to rejuvenate the skin in general. The Forencos Helios Black Pearl Whitening Silk Mask contains 500 mg of pearl powder.

Last, but not least one of the recent Korean trend ingredients: Mayu, Bayhu or Horse Oil! Also here, this ingredient has been used in ancient times but it became popular again recently. Horse oil has been known as home remedy for treating dry and chapped skin for many years. It is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and is close to human sebum in its composition and therefore absorbs fast into the skin, which leads to a more elastic and hydrated skin with an improved barrier. By the way, in order to obtain horse oil no horses have to be killed! It is taken from underneath the mane without harming the animal and refined afterwards. The Forencos Gaia Mayu Elastic Silk Mask contains 50 mg of horse oil.

All in all, I like the Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series! I love the topic and the variety of different key ingredients for each day. The masks have an interesting concept and although I do not like the mask base ampoule I would recommend you to give this series a try. This Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series containing 7 sheet masks retails 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 BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: Daeng Gi Meo Ri Ja Dam Hwa The First

10. July 2015

I love the ingredients used in traditional asian medicine, like ginseng or ginger, so when I received Daeng Gi Meo Ri Ja Dam Hwa The First Scalp and Hair Cleansing Treatment with my BNTnews beauty box in June I was very excited to try it. I previously saw an episode of Get it Beauty, where they pointed out the importance of also using scalp treatment along with your regular hair care and though I never heard of that approach before I was willing to give it a try.

The name of the brand and product sound very long and complicated to someone with no Korean language knowledge, but the brand name Daeng Gi Meo Ri can be translated in this way: Daenggi is a traditional Korean ribbon which is tied to the braided hair of unmarried Korean women. Meori means simply hair in Korean. Daeng Gi Meo Ri Ja Dam Hwa The First is a multi-function product that washes scalp and boosts hair’s vitality by using traditional Korean medicine inspired ingredients.

First thing to notice is the beautiful packaging! The cardboard box and the tube containing the treatment shampoo are both very luxuriously ornamented with an oriental flower pattern in red and golden colors. I love the design! The cardboard box also contains a lot of Korean description, so if you speak and read Korean you’ll find a lot of information there (click below to enlarge).

Since the shampoo is oriental medicine-inspired it contains ingredients like white ginseng and ginger and the patented formula containing crinum lily extracts provides tired scalp and hair with energy, strength, and beauty. Moreover, silk extracts from golden cocoons and proteins protect the hair while reinforcing firmness and glow. It also contains a real herb complex made of green tea, camomile, sage, calendula and henna to moisturize the hair deeply. The foam created by the natural surfactant softly helps eliminate wastes on scalp, too, which is why this is not only a shampoo, but a scalp treatment, too. The tube contains 250 ml of the red coloured shampoo-treatment, which has a flowery/herbal scent. It is described as a subtle wild flower fragrance. The Daeng Gi Meo Ri Ja Dam Hwa The First also creates a nice foam while lathering it up in your hair and I really enjoyed the scent while using the shampoo. Unfortunately, it doesn’t provide my hair with enough moisture in order to make it shiny. After only using this shampoo-treatment on its own my hair feels pretty dry and tangled. I tried to keep using it on its own hoping my hair will get used to it, but I discovered that I simply cannot use this product without using a conditioner or deep hair treatment afterwards.

In conclusion I must say that this product doesn’t suit my hair. It makes it too dry and tangled and I have used other products that suit better. I even could not figure out where to buy it online or how much it retails, but according to other hair products from this brand it must be around 20 US$. If you want to try an oriental medicine inspired shampoo that really worked for me check out my review on Damoe Therapy Treatment Shampoo. It really made my hair soft and shiny and I had the feeling my fine hair felt more firm and fuller! Other than that I still prefer using the Shiseido Tsubaki line as my daily hair care.

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♥ Oh, and if you have time, feel free to join my two giveaways! You can click on the images to be redirected :) ♥

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

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Review: Too Cool For School Skinny Body Soda

9. July 2015

Although I’m doubtful about diet and slimming products I have a curiosity to try them out. Most of you have probably heard of these shaping gels, which heat up once applied and promise to make the skin more elastic. Too Cool For School offers another possibility with the Too Cool For School Skinny Body Soda, a foam product using air bubbles to stimulate your skin. Oh, just in case you were wondering about the lack of reviews in the last days: my PC crashed and I have not figured out how to make it work again. I will send in the part which I suspect is damaged and hopefully everything is fine afterwards again…Unfortunately, I had and still have to retake all the images for the upcoming reviews :'(…

The design cosmetic brand Too Cool For School is a Korean brand, known for a unique packaging design. Their products are in the mid-pricey region and slightly more expansive than Etude House for example. The packaging design of the Too Cool For School products is always very creative and unique. I mentioned probably a thousand times how much I love their packaging design, and hands down, the design of the Too Cool For School Skinny Body Soda is not only super sexy, but fits perfectly to the advertised purpose of it. As you can see it displays a female body in lingerie and she has a super skinny waist, too :D

Of course, Too Cool For School provides us with a detailed English description as well (you can click to enlarge the image below). The Too Cool For School Skinny Body Soda has 4 in 1 functions: tightening, firming, massage and soothing. The sparkling air spray is a combination of carbonated water and gel for a new bubble experience (you remember the carbonated bubble face wash I reviewed some time ago?). Moreover, the product contains patented ingredients that help to construct a body line. You can check the ingredient list on COSDNA, too. You will see a bunch of plant and fruit extracts mentioned. The packaging states that the beauty ingredients used here are “body toning patented ingredient SLIMLITE, Mate Tea Extract“. The Mate extract contains caffeine, which is the key ingredient of almost all body toning products. The patented tightening ingredient used here is called FRUCTAN, which is known to improve the elasticity. All these ingredients should help to improve cellulite and increase the firmness of the skin, but it also states in the description that the reduce of cellulite is a temporary effect and may depend on the individual. They show some reviews on Too Cool For Schools official site and you can also see some before and after images there.

As I said, this product is a sparkling air bubble spray which comes in a spraying pump in the same design as the cardboard packaging. It has a clear cap and a regular foam-spray dispenser, which might be familiar to you if you have used hair foams before.

The bottom of the spraying bottle shows the production date of the product, which has a shelf-life of 12 months after opening. The volume is 150 ml. Before you use the Too Cool For School Skinny Body Soda you have to shake it vigorously, otherwise only cold air is released. It says to shake it more than 10 times, spray it on your palms and massage it on the desired areas of your body. Since the foam contained air bubbles you have in total 30 seconds to massage it into your skin before the bubbles have disappeared. You can see in the image below how airy the foam is. It disappears quickly and a thin film of white emulsion remains, which can be massaged until fully absorbed. It also absorbs quickly, but it leaves a bit of a tacky feeling. The air bubble released out of the bottle is very cooling and the carbonated air bubbles tickle the skin, so be prepared for it in case you want to try it yourself. Did I see any changes while using the Too Cool For School Skinny Body Soda? Honestly, no! I never had much of cellulite in my youth and even now it is not that bad honestly, but I didn’t feel my skin be firmer either. I loved the cooling properties of the air bubbles though and I can imagine that it has soothing properties and makes the skin feel tighter for the time of the cooling, but it is no long term effect.

I personally would not repurchase the Too Cool For School Skinny Body Soda, but if you had good experience with similar products it might be worth a try. The cooling effect is definitively nice for summer time, but in winter I would prefer the heating body gels :D The air bubbles are fun to try and I can imagine that it has some massage effect due to the sparkling bubbles. Too Cool For School Skinny Body Soda retails for 17000 won from the official page (~17 US$). You can also receive it from W2Beauty for 24.96 US$. The Too Cool For School Skinny Body Soda is also available on testerkorea for 13600 Won (14 US$).

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♥ Oh, and if you have time, feel free to join my two giveaways! You can click on the images to be redirected :) ♥


		
		
			
			
		
	
		
		
			
			
		
	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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Wishtrend July 2015 Promotions

1. July 2015

It’s July already! Time passes too quickly at the moment :’D Finally we have some higher temperatures in Germany aswell. I feared it will be like 20° C all summer long :D Here are Wishtrend July 2015 Promotions, which means new codes and 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. You can find a list of all the products I reviewed from Wishtrend at the bottom of this post. Furthermore, they have really a great affiliate program for blogger and I can advice you to join it if you are one. I’m very honoured that I was chosen as their affiliate of the month for June (Thanks again, Wishtrend!). So, without any further addo, here are the coupon codes for July:

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 July. Below, you’ll find the coupon code for this:

Coupon Code: WISHJULY2015
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 July 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 usual free samples a Lei Lani Pink Mochi Nose Clear Pack (2.99 US$ value).

Voucher Code: WISHGIFTJULY2015
ANY ORDER
Only valid until the end of July 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:

Pongdang Mulbit Glow BB Cushion

COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum

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? ♥ Oh, and if you have time, feel free to join my two giveaways! You can click on the images to be redirected :) ♥

Allgemein beauty giveaway other q-depot

Giveaway: Win an Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion

29. June 2015

Happy Monday everybody! I know, Mondays are usually the most unpopular weekday since it means that our precious weekend has passed and we have to go back to work. Nevertheless, in order to sweeten up this week for you I have prepared a quick giveaway with the Korean cosmetics online store Q-depot :D

You have the opportunity to win an Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion kindly sponsored by Q-depot. This flawless cushion foundation creates beautiful pearly bright skin with its full coverage and smoothing effects. Cushion foundations are quite a trend in Korea and you will find cushion products from almost all Korean brands. Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion is the first cushion foundation by Etude House and has gained a lot of popularity since then. Check out Q-depot’s description for the Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion >>here<<.

Here are the rules for taking part into this Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion giveaway:

1. The giveaway is open internationally.

2. You can take part through the Rafflecopter form below.

3. I will look through the entries and delete any wrong entries, so cheating won’t do you any good.

4. Please, be fair and do not like my blog, and unlike it after the giveaway has ended. This is my way to thank these people who like to read my blog.

5. The chosen winner has 3 days to anwer my Email and send me his/her address.

6. The giveaway ends on July 10th, 2015.

7. I’m not responsible for any damages/ lost items through postal services. The product will be send by Q-depot with standard shipping without tracking number.

It is mandatory to sign up to Q-depot and to like their Facebook page. By signing in you’ll receive 5 US$ coupon useable for a minimum purchase of 69 US$, too. Moreover, in order to unlock the additional entries I would appreciate if you are following my blog. In case you are selected as winner you can select between three different shades for the Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion: light beige (N02), honey beige (w24) and natural beige (W13). Good luck to everybody participating! ♥

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you want to know more about cushion foundations you might want to check out some of my previous reviews:

Missha Magic Cushion Case

Pongdang Mulbit Glow BB Cushion

Innisfree Ampoule Intense Cushion

Also, I’m hosting a giveaway for my 2nd Bloganniversary >>here<<, so be sure to enter that giveaway, too!

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asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: 3CE Creamy Cheek Stick

24. June 2015

I’m getting more fond of Stylenanda’s 3 Concept Eyes product with every item I try try from this brand! I still don’t understand why the 3CE Water Wrapping Mask was the first item I tried from this brand, making the 3CE Creamy Cheek Stick the second item :D This items was part of BNTnews Beauty Blogger Box for June and provided kindly to me for reviewing purpose. I’m not as much a blush hoarder or addict as I’m with lip products. Nevertheless, I have accumulated quite some different shades and types. Most of them are peach or red toned, but I do not own a pink blush which is as vivid as this cream blush by 3CE. I hope you don’t get bored, since this is my second blush review this week :D

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 previously. The 3CE Creamy Cheek Stick comes in the typical black cardboard box with the white lettering and logo. The blush is available in 6 different shades, each of tem has its significant color in the upper part of the cardboard box displayed. The blush I’m showing you here has the shade “Pink Factory”, a lovely soft pink color for a lovely mood!

The sides of the cardboard box show the Korean description. You can find English description for the product on the official site >>here<<.

The 3CE Creamy Cheek Stick is a cream-type stick blush which is supposed to melt onto the skin and give it a long-lasting color. The stick contains 7 g of product. I added the ingredients to COSDNA and you can look them up >>here<<. The blush even contains titanium dioxide for some minimal UV protection. The other ingredients are mostly safe to use and the only red labelled ingredient is the yellow pigment for giving the blush its color. Supposingly, the concentration of the pigments is so low that we can overlook that point.

The design of the stick is the same as the cardboard packaging. The material is plastic and it has a winding mechanism to push up the blush-bullet. The product is sealed, too, so you know if somebody already opened it, or if it is new.

Normally, you use such kind of stick-type products by winding them up a bit, but I was curious how much 7 g looks like and I pushed the bullet out completelly in the image below. You can see that the color is a true pastell pink color. The 3CE Creamy Cheek Blush is described as a product providing real color, bright creamy texture and practical stick-type applicator. It contains “Real fiiting powder” in the formula in order to adhere to the skin in its realest hue. The creamy texture makes it possible for the product to melt into the skin and base makeup without clumping and nevertheless expresses a bright color. And of course the small size of 8 cm and the stick-type applicator is super travel- and handbag-friendly and makes it possible to take it everywere.

Below you can see how the blush looks like when applied. When swatched you can clearly see the bright color. It applies like a matte lipstick from the feeling, so it is creamy, but not oily or overly moisturizing, nor super slippery. The color can be blended easily with the fingers and it doesn’t leave any streaks, but turns into a pretty soft pinkish color. The feeling of it is soft, but not oily or dewy like some cream blushes can be. The finish therefore is neither glowy, nor powdery, but pretty much looks like skin. The pigmentation of the blush is buildable, but always nicely to blend out to create soft borders. It does not clump with my makeup or the cremes I’m using. The staying power is good, too, and although the stick is very handbag-friendly I don’t think that there is much need for a touch-up during the day. The color also looks pink on my cheecks and is nicely visible on my skintone. The bullet has no significant scent by the way.

The 3CE Creamy Cheek Stick is the second item I tried from 3 Concept Eyes and the second one I love aswell. I like the point that it blends in so nicely and can be carried around easily, too. Apart from the high pricetag I don’t see any negative aspects for this blush. The 3CE Creamy Cheek Sticks retail from the official Stylenanda page for 25 US$ or from testerkorea for 22000 Won (22 US$).

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♥ And remember to take part in my 2nd bloganniversary giveaway! ♥

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: Pongdang Mulbit Glow BB Cushion

19. June 2015

After using and loving the Pongdang Donkey Milk Emulsion for quite some time now I’ve been really interested in trying more products from Pongdang and the next thing I discovered was the Pongdang Mulbit Glow BB Cushion. There are so many cushions right now and I’m tempted to buy more, although I do not really need anymore :D

Pongdang is a Korean brand by people’s. It has a small product range with simple products focussing on the ingredients as it seems to me. They have a webpage >>here<< but it is in Korean. The products have a clean design, which is what was most obvious for me for this brand. You can find their products on Wishtrend. The Pongdang Mulbit Glow BB Cushion is a cushion foundation containing 13 different marine extracts for providing moisture to the skin. Apart from that the cushion has SPF 50 and PA+++ in order to protect the skin from UV radiation. The cushion claims to be brightening, moisturizing, and long-lasting.

The cushion foundation comes in a cardboard box made from recycled paper. The design is very simple, typical for Pongdang products. You will find English and Korean description on the cardboard box, too. You can find the ingredients in COSDNA >>here<<, but they are also listed in English on the packaging. Pongdang Mulbit Glow BB Cushion contains various sunscreen components like titanium dioxide, Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, Ethylhexyl salicylate, Tinosorb S, and 4-Methylbenzylidene Camphor. The latter is labelled red in COSDNA. The key ingredients are also separatelly listed on the cardboard box. Furthermore the product is 6-free, which means it contains 6 non-added formulas. It is written in Korean on the cardboard box which these 6 are, but unfortunatelly I didn’t find the translation. The 13 marine extracts are Marine Collagen, Brown Algae, Agar-agar, Seaweed, Laver, Gom Pi, Gulfweed, Sea Staghorn, Holmes, Sea Mustard, Kelp, Hypnea Cornuta and Fusiforme. You can find further description on Wishtrend, too, or on the official Korean webpage >>here<<.

The cushion foundation itself comes in the regular cushion pact. It comes with a mirror and an application puff inside, too.

The puff feels different than the puff for Missha or Innisfree Cushion and it doesn’t seem to be a ruby-cell puff. Therefore, it doesn’t feel that soft as my other puffs. Another thing I noticed is, that the puffs from my previous cushion foundations have kind of a cooling effect, which is not the case here.

The inside is the same as for all cushion foundations. There is a seal for the soaked cushion inside and the lid to protect the cushion from trying closes properly, too. The sponge is also soaked thoroughly and one touch with the finger will be enough to get a propper amount of the BB cream. Unfortunately, there is only one shade available, which is quite light compared to my skin color at the moment. My face is usually a bit lighter than my hand, but still this BB cream leaves a bit of a white cast due to the bright color in general. Maybe it fits better in winter…The container with the cushion can be removed from the case, so it seems as if there are also refills for this BB cream, but I didn’t see them anywhere online yet.

The coverage of the Pongdang Glow BB Cushion is medium to high. It covers all my freckles and discoloration and gives the skin an even color. Due to the product description I expected this BB cushion to be similar to the Innisfree Ampoule Intense Cushion, which is one of my favourite bb/cc creams at the moment. The Innisfree Ampoule Intense Cushion leaves my skin feel moisturized and gives it a natural glow. The Pongdang Glow BB Cushion on the other hand has more of a matte finish and despite the name it doesn’t feel moisturizing at all. Also, the application is very difficult, especially with the included sponge and makes areas like my nose and chin look flakey. It is not buildable either and starts to flake once you try to apply another layer. Moreover, it is not touch-proof and you will leave marks on your complexion every time you touch your skin. With a ruby-cell puff the application works better, and you can create a nice(r) finish, but still the texture is not easy to work with. The scent of the BB cream is a soapy one, but it is not intense.

After loving the Pongdang Donkey Milk Emulsion so much I had high hopes for this cushion. According to the description, the dewy finish and the moisturizing properties of the Pongdang glow BB Cushion intrigued me to try this, but I must say that I don’t think that the product fulfills these claims. The name therefore is also not properly chosen, since I don’t see any dewy finish at all. Maybe, it works better on other skintypes, or maybe I did something wrong here…anyways, if you want to try this because of a dewy finish go for the Innisfree Ampoule Intense Cushion instead. Although this cushion is not my favourite I’m still curious about all the other items from this brand. I have heard that their regular BB creams are good, too. Maybe it is better to check out one of them instead. The Pongdang Glow BB Cushion retaills for 19.55 US$ at Wishtrend and has a volume of 20 g. Also, check out the June promotions on Wishtrend before grabbing your products. 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 remember to take part in my 2nd bloganniversary giveaway! ♥

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asian cosmetics beauty review Wishtrend

Review: COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum

15. June 2015

Despite the fact that my main skin concern is dry skin, which has improved greatly since I’m using asian skincare and an asian inspired skincare routine, I still have another skin concern which is in correlation with increasing age: enlarged pores :’D I have visible pores in my T-zone, especially on my nose and what would be nicer than to make them appear smaller. Of course using BB/CC creams and or primers hides them, still it would be nice to have them smaller even without makeup. For that purpose I have started to use the COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum, a daily useable serum containing BHA to gently deep cleanse pores. After using it for around 50 days (maybe more, but I was inconsistent), here is my impression:

COSRX is a affordable Korean brand “offering good quality beauty items for 10 years”. The brand name is composed of COS for cosmetics and RX for prescription. Brand like Ciracle and C20 (yes, the famous vitamin C serum) are also part of COSRX. One of the rather popular skincare lines from COSRX are the AHA/BHA skincare products. I’m using the COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum in combination with the COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner I reviewed previously. The packaging design of all the COSRX products is simple and similar. They all come in a white cardboard box with a black area where the product name is written in. The rest of the cardboard box contains very detailled descriptions in English and Korean. You can click on the image below to enlarge and read the description.

The cardboard description also contains the rather short ingredient list of the COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum. The ingredients are also listed on COSDNA, if you want to check upon them >>here<<. The main ingredient of this astringent serum is White Willow water, which makes 80 % of the ingredients. Since it is an astringent serum for removing the sebum from clogged pores the second ingredient is alcohol, but although I have dry skin and usually too much alcohol in products makes my skin feel irritated I don’t have that feeling here. I focus for the application on my T-zone mainly, too. The Beta salicylate, the BHA, makes 0.5 % of the ingredients, and helps to exfoliate the troubled areas and smoothen the skin. Condition for the BHA to work is a low pH. The serum itself has a pH of 6-7 according to my meassurement, it says 7 on Wishtrend. Therefore it is important to use a preparation toner with a low pH before. Apart from these ingredients the COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum contains Hyaluronic acid for moisturization and Zinc Oxide for UV protection. Nevertheless, you should keep using sunscreen during daytime when using BHA/AHA products!

The COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum contains 100 ml in a pump bottle made of sturdy, frosted plastic. You see an orangy liquid through the bottle. When you receive it, you will notice floating white particles in the liquid and some white residue on the bottom of the bottle. This is the sebum absorption powder as stated in the description and you have to shake the bottle before every use of the serum, so the powder dissolves in the solution. The serum is made for all skintypes for daily use in the morning and evening, but if you have very sensitive skin COSRX suggests to only use it in the evening and 2-3 times a week. Since it is an astringent serum to remove oil and clogged pores I use a cotton pad to swipe the serum over my target areas. It is important to also leave the product until it is fully absorbed, so the effect of the ingredients is not weakened.

The bottom of the bottle has the production and the expiration date printed on and you will find further Korean description on the body label of the bottle and below the sticker. The serum has a shelf-life of 12 months.

I use a couple of pumps on my cotton pads while applying the serum. The serum has a clear, runny consistency and a light alcohol-scent which dissapears super quickly and leaves a scentless finish. The serum absorbs quickly, too, and is not sticky.

The immediat effect of the COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum is definetly the deep cleanse of the pores. Even after double cleansing this astringent serum shows some dirt on the cotton pad used. The area around my nose looks cleared up and the pores look less visible, which is only ahort time effect. But what about longterm effects of this serum? As I said at the beginning, I did not use this product religiously day and night, but I’d say I used it for around 50 days in total, maybe more. I’m half-through the bottle now. Below you can see a closeup of my nose starting from the first day I used it up to today. Despite the different lightening conditions you can see that the pores appear less deep. From only looking at the mirror I thought there are no huge changes, but seeing the closeup convinced me, that if used regulary I’m sure that the effects are even better to see. At the moment I do not use any other BHA/AHA products apart from this serum and the Treatment Toner, but I want to start using Mizon AHA serum in the evenings now. Let’s see how all the three (together with my OST Vitamin C serum) work together.

The COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish clearly fulfills its purpose as astringent serum for deep cleansing pores. It immedieatelly makes the pores appear smaller and clearer and even on longterm you can see some changes. If used regulary day and night I’m sure the results will be even more visible. I’d say this is a good BHA serum for people with sensitive skin to start with. I’m in love with it and so far it fits nicely into my skincare routine. Let’s see how it works in combination with a stronger AHA serum and if I will keep repurchasing it or not. ~~You can get the COSRX BHA Summer Poire Minish Serum with a volume of 100 ml from Wishtrend for 13.80 US$.~~ It seems the product is currently out of stock!

Check out my other reviews for COSRX products >>here<<.

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asian cosmetics beauty PR Sample q-depot review

Review: Skinfood Hydro Fitting Snail Mask Sheet

12. June 2015

// PR SAMPLE / KBEAUTY / SKINCARE //

The Skinfood Hydro Fitting Snail Mask Sheet was featured in the guestpost for the Skinfood Brand Focus and Top 5 products, and since then I was curious about trying this mask. Luckily, the Korean cosmetics online store named Q-depot offered me to review exactly that mask, which made me really happy. First of all, it is a hydration-type sheet mask, which are my favourite, and second, it contains the key ingredient snail mucus, which is one of my favourite ingredients.

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. The Skinfood Hydro Fitting Snail Mask Sheet represents the cute design with a light pink sheet mask sachet showing a cute crawing of a snail. Normally, this sheet mask comes in boxes of 5 pieces.

The backside of the sachet contains the Korean and English description. The English description are quite short, but the main content of it is that this mask is supposed to moisturize and nourish your face and have a good and comfortable fitting. The ingredients are listed on COSDNA, too, and you can look them up >>here<<. The ingredient list is short and safe to use, but it contains alcohol as 5th ingredient and also methylparaben is included. The key ingredient is snail filtrate, which has a concentration of 1,120 mg.

This sheet mask is a regular cotton sheet mask. It is attached to a plastic sheet, which makes it easy to unfold the mask. The essence is a clear, liquid one, which soaks the cotton sheet very nicely. The scent of the sheet mask is a floral one, and it is quite strong. It smells of alcohol first, too. But even after the alcohol scent is gone the perfume scent still is noticeably strong.

The fabric of the sheet mask is soft and very thin. The mask promises a nice fit, but i’d say it is regular and depends on your facial shape. It doesn’t dry out quickly because of all the essence and thus feels very moisturizing and refreshing on the skin. Unfortunately, after a while my skin felt a bit sensitive, probably because of the alcohol. After taking off the mask and waiting for the essence to absorb the skin feels still sticky. I personally don’t like sticky feelings, so it was a bit of a dissapointment and didn’t really work for me. Since I only had one mask I can not say anything about longterm effects resulting from the snail filtrate, for example.

Overall, the Skinfood Hydro Fitting Snail Mask Sheet was not suitable for my skintype. Unfortunately, the alcohol felt irritating on my dry skin and also the stickiness is not to my personal liking. If you don’t have alcohol sensitive skin, are not very sensitive to strong scents either, and do not mind a sticky feeling afterall, you might want to try this mask anyways. As usual (and that’s something for all reviews in general), it might be different from person to person! If anybody tried this mask from skinfood and had a different experience feel free to write a comment below!

Last but not least some words to Q-depot: Like the Face Shop Face It Power Perfection BB Cream I received the Skinfood Hydro Fitting Snail Mask Sheet from Q-depot. This store selling Korean beauty items is quite new, but from the first glance it looks quite promising and is worth a look. They keep adding more brands and products, but they have already quite a variety of the most popular Korean brands. The site is easy to navigate, too. And they offer free samples for each order and free shipping for orders above US$69. What I like especially, that they have an extra section for cruelty-free products, which contains brands like Iope, Innisfree, Etude House, etc. I didn’t see that before for most of the online stores, so that’s something really innovative and nice. You can get the Skinfood Hydro Fitting Snail Mask Sheet for 9.95 US$ and it comes in a box containing 5 pieces of sheet masks. Q-depot is having a promotion were you can get 5 US$ coupon upon signing up. The coupon is useable for a minimum purchase of 69 US$.

♥ And remember to take part in my 2nd bloganniversary giveaway! ♥

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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