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asian cosmetics beauty review

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 Water Bank Essence 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.

Laneige Water Bank Essence

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.

Laneige Water Bank Essence 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<<.

Laneige Water Bank Essence 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?

Blog_Rating_LaneigeWaterBankEssence

asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Missha Super Aqua Ultra Waterfull Cream and Gel Serum

9. January 2014
As I told before, I’m trying to get rid of all the samples I collected and I discovered that I had a huge pile of Missha Super Aqua Ultra Waterfull Cream and Gel Serum Samples. I used them all last year and now here is my review for them finally :D

Some of you might already know, but I have to mention that I have dry skin, especially in winter like now. I’m always looking for good moisturizing creams and one of my favourite moisturizers is Missha’s Super Aqua Ultra Marine Stem Cell Defending Cream, which was one of my first reviews on this blog :D I had high hopes for this Cream from Missha’s Super Aqua line and I was not disappointed.

I’ll start of with the cream: This cream comes in a jar in full size and looks elegant in my eyes. The sample packaging is not any special, it just shows the image of the full size product on the front. The sample sachets contain only little in my eyes. The ones for the cream contain 1 ml only.
The description on Missha’s Official US page says:
Inspired by the moisture preserving ability of desert plants, the Super Aqua Ultra Waterfull Cream activates the moisture preserving ability to keep skin hydrated throughout the seasons.
The main ingredients are: mineral water, baobab oil, Imperata Cylindrica root extract, Adenium Obesum, jojoba oil and Trehalose. These are natural ingredients which all have moisturizing benefits.

The cream itself has a creamy, thick consistency, in contrast to the Missha super Aqua Marine Stem Cell Defending cream, which was a mixture between a cream and a gel. Due to the consistency of the cream, this product is very rich and a little amount goes a long way. If you use too much, your skin can not absorb it and it will look greasy. With the right amount it absorbs into the skin quickly and really makes the skin feel supple and soft. Actually, the fact that you only need a bit of the product each time, makes the price of the full size product quite okay. Although it is more on the expensive side of moisturizers generally seen. The full sized jar contains 47 ml and costs 30 US$. Like Missha’s Super Aqua Marine Stem Cell Defending Cream it contains a spatula to spoon out the product and keep it more hygienic. The scent of the cream is fresh, but pleasant in my eyes.

Let’s talk about Missha’s Super Aqua Ultra Waterfull Gel Serum now. Missha’s Super Aqua Ultra Waterfull Serum is the perfect serum if your skin is really very dry.

I thought this serum would be more fluid, like water, but it has a semi fluid consistency, like oil for example (but it is not oily!). Thus it is called Gel Serum, I guess ^_^”’ It absorbs super fast into the skin and makes it feel really nice. The skin looks in a way dewy and fresh and the feeling stays throughout the day.

Compared to the cream it is rather scentless, but also here the sample sachet only contains 2 ml which is enough for two times use at the most. The full sized product comes in a tube with a pump, which is convenient for this type of product. It contains 40 ml and costs around US$30. Actually I didn’t find this serum on Missha’s US site.

All in all, If you have dry skin and you are looking for a good moisturizer, this one will not fail you. It makes everything you require from a good moisturizer. If you have oily skin, this line might be to intense/rich for you. The cream is definitely something I personally could buy for myself. since the amount you need to use is rather little, the price is okay all-in-all, although still expansive. I can give these two products only full rating, but considering the price it would have been sad if it was different.
Rating Cream

 

Rating Serum
 
 
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