kbeauty Archive | Page 26 of 44 | Berries in the Snow

Wishtrend May 2015 Promotions and call for Wishtrend Affiliates

6. May 2015

It is time for the new May promotions and gifts for our shopping experience at Wishtrend, and moreover I’m making a call to all the fellow beauty bloggers who are interested in working together with Wishtrend. And there are some mother’s day special gifts until 15th May, too. If you don’t know Wishtrend, but love Korean or asian cosmetics and skincare products I can recommend you to check out their online shop, especially for one of my favourite products, the O.S.T. Vitamin C Serum. You’ll also find some products sold at Wishtrend on my Top 20 favourite product list for 2014, like the Klairs Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil. Also, they have listed the brand COSRX, which is gaining a lot of popularity these days. Recently they have even added Mizon products! Here are the coupon codes for May:

As usual, I’ll start off with the 5 Us$ referral coupon you can receive if you are a new customer. The principle is easy as this: If you use my invitation code 17939205 upon registration you’ll receive a 5 US$ voucher immediately. There will be a specific field in your registration form called “friends invitation program” where you can put the code mentioned above. This way new customers can get 5 US$ off, which is a great to save some money on your first order.

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

Coupon Code: WISHMAY2015
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 May 2015

The second promotion code is a special gift you will receive by using the code below. The voucher is only valid on any orders at Wishtrend! You will receive in addition to the free samples you’ll normally get a 1 FREE Berrisom Animal Mask Sheet!

Voucher Code: WISHGIFTMAY2015
ANY ORDER
Only valid until the end of May 2015

There are also some extra vouchers for mother’s day, which can be used until 15th of May:

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!

Now, here is the part where I’m calling my fellow beauty bloggers: Wishtrend is looking for new affiliates. You can sign up to their affiliate program here and take advantage of their affiliate program, which is one of my favourite affiliate programs so far. Here are the benefits from being Wishtrend affiliate:

1. Monthly contests, where you can win a product for reviewing or a giveaway sponsoring for your blog

2. Between 4-10 % comission. The payouts are made via PayPal and you can request a payout already for small amounts like 10 US$

3. You’ll have access to affiliate banners and to affiliate exclusive newsletters

4. You have the chance to upgrade to advance affiliate (more commission) as soon as you did your first sale, which brings you a shopping 25 US$ voucher for Wishtrend

I can really recommend you to join and check out their affiliate program!

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

COSRX 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?

2 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: Too Cool For School Art Class by Rodin

5. May 2015

// PR SAMPLE / KBEAUTY / AFFILIATE LINKS //

I saved my favourite item from April’s BNTbox for last, and here it is, the Too Cool For School Art Class by Rodin contouring powder! If you have read my blog previously you will know that I’m a huge fan of the Korean design cosmetic brand Too Cool For School. They have the most creative packaging design and illustrations. When I saw this product I was absolutely in love from the first moment! ♥

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 Art class products is dedicted to the arts. I reviewed one of the art class cream blushes in the past, which came in a tube packaging, similar to the tubes painting colors are packed. Below you can see the georgeous packaging of the cardboard box of the Too Cool For School Art Class by Rodin contouring powder, or in french “créateur du contour”:

This contouring powder helps you to shade and sculpture you face, as if you were August Rodin himself. The french sculptor Rodin was the progenitor of modern sculpture and is the inspiration for this product from Too Cool For School. The powder comes in a usual compact, wrapped by transparent paper and labelled with a “by Rodin” sticker. Too Cool For School makes all efforts to show how much love for the detail they put into their products. ♥

The cardboard box has written Korean and English instructions on the backside, suggesting to either mix the three colors of this contouring powder or use them separately to shade the facial features like nose, cheeks and hairline. The inside of the cardbox reveals the story behind this product labelled “by Rodin”. I especially like the idea of giving some information about the concept of the design of a certain product by hiding them inside the cardboard packaging.

Let’s have a closer look at the contouring compact itself:

The compact has the same design like the cardboard packaging and looks super pretty on its own. The back of the compact displays the shelf-time of the product and the production date.

I was looking for a contouring powder for quite some time, but I had the feeling that the shades were either too dark or only came in one shade alone. This contouring powder contains three different shades, reaching from a light one, to a darker shade. The compact comes with a mirror in the lid which is protected from the fall-off powder by a transparent plastic sheet labelled with the word “artclass”.

The shades fit light to medium skintones and are not too yellow-y, neither too pink, which I like especially. The powder is very light and transparent, especially once blended into the skin. I needed a couple of swatches to make the colors show properly on the back of my hand. In order to have a natural contouring effect it is important to have not too pigmented shades, because it makes it easier to blend in. Also, if you are a contouring newby like me, you can make less mistakes in that way.

When I’m using the Too Cool For School Art Class By Rodin contouring powder I make use of all three shades. I use the darkest shades for accentuating the arch reaching from the beginning of the eyebrow to the bridge of my nose. I mix the darkest and the middle shade for contouring the nose and use the middle shade to blend it into the sides of my nose. I also mix the middle and the darkest shade for drawing a line at my cheekbones. For the hairline and trhe sides of my face and my jawline I mix all three shades and use them there. You can find some nice images on Too Cool For Schools official site were the areas you can use the powder are shown.

I’m totally happy with Too Cool For School Art Class By Rodin and my search for a contouring powder has finally ended! And I’m definitively recommending you this contouring powder, if you are looking for one and the shades in this palette suit your skintone. Too Cool For School Art Class By Rodin retails for 12800 Won at testerkorea, for 13.02 US$ at KoreaDepart, and for 21.01 US$ from W2Beauty.

This product was provided to me by BNTnews for reviewing. Don’t forget to visit the other BNTGirls Doris, Joanne, Alene and Bella and check out their reviews. And visit BNTnews for the latest Korean news and trends:

Official Page |Tumblr | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter

And here is my rating for the Too Cool For School Art Class By Rodin:

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.

6 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence

4. May 2015

// PR SAMPLE / KBEAUTY / SKINCARE //

The trend in a lot of asian cosmetic products goes towards natural cosmetics and additative-free products, and I must admit that I observe myself to be more excited to try such products in favour of other products with no or less natural ingredients. One of the brands I heard good things about is the Korean famous natural brand Isoi, especially since I read some reviews about their Bulgarian Rose Line. Todays review is not about the Bulgarian Rose Line though, but about Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Controll Essence from the ACNI Dr. line, which was kindly send to me by BNTnews. This essence cares troubled and irritated skin, delivers blemish care and treats oily skin.

As mentioned above, Isoi is a Korean brand which is focussed on natural ingredients and skinfriendly chemicals in their products. Thereby, the brand name Isoi stands for “I’m so intelligent”. The Isoi ACNI Dr. line is designed for acne prone people with oily skin. The products from this line help to care and relief troubled skin and prevent it from new breakouts. Therefore the design of this product line is very simply and rather medical. The cardboard packaging of the Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence has simple blue and white colors. The name of the line is written inside a medical cross. All in all, the image of this product line is very clean.

Apart from the simple design the cardboard box contains Korean descriptions on the sides. It also displays a sign that this product doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals. It is free of parabens, synthetic colors and frangnances, PEGs, mineral oils, propylene glycol, silicones, EDTA and cinnamate. Since the product only contains natural preservatives it should be used up once opened within 6 months. The bottle of the essence contains 50 ml and when used day and night this should definitively be more than enough for this period of time.

I found the rest of the ingredients listed on COSDNA, but I’m not sure if this is the complete ingredients list. you can check out the ingredients >>here<<. Most ingredients listed here are natural plant extracts, like white willow extract, chestnut extract and bulgarian rose extracts. It also contains rosehip oil. I know that some people react to rose ingredients, so I thought I should point that out. According to KoreaDepart, which also lists the plant extracts within their product description, the essence also contains salicylic acid and triclosan, as chemical anti acne ingredients. In my previous review about the Mediheal PDF A.C-Defense Hydrogel mask I talked about triclosan. This antibacterial chemical is often used in cosmetics, but I wouldn’t consider it necessary nor healthy. It won’t be harmful when in low concentrations, but I think, since the brand image of Isoi is a natural one, they should not use this ingredient anyways.

The Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence comes in a clear glass bottle with a pump. The protection cap of the pump and the pump itself are made of plastic. The essence itself has a white color, so you see how much product is left inside the bottle after using it for a while. The pump is easy to use. The first time you have to pump a couple of times before the product comes out of the pump. After that, it is super easy to use. One or two pumps are enough to get a good amount of essence for using it on your face.

Normally, I’m used to clear and very runny, almost watery essence, but this one has a white and almost creamy texture. It is kind of gel-type in its consistency, but when spread it feels and turns clear and watery. It feels smooth and leightweight on the skin and absorbs after a couple of seconds. Unlike the Konad’s Lila Lily Clear Spa Essence this one is not as sticky and feels nicer on the skin for me. It has a very light scent of roses, which is nice, too (if you like rose scent).

The Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence is directed towards people with troubled and irritated skin in first place. Since my skin is not really troubled at the moment, I couldn’t observe any improvements of my skin. I didn’t have any problems with the product although designed for people with more oily skin, either. If you are looking for a essence for acne-prone skin you might want to give a try to the Isoi ACNI Dr. line. The ingredients of the essence look promising for people with irritated and troubled skin, since it contains not only anti-inflammatory and astringent ingredients, but also moisturizing ones. The Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence retails for 30.92 US$ on KoreaDepart.

Official Page |Tumblr | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter

And here is my rating for the Isoi ACNI Dr. 1st Control Essence:

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: SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua Eye Patch

30. April 2015

// KBEAUTY / SKINCARE / PR SAMPLE //

Since my last sheet mask review about the Mediheal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask, I am super excited for every mask product with hydrogel structure and the SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua Eye Patch totally satisfied my cravings for some good hydrogel product. This hydrogel eye patch comes not in single sachet packs for one time use like other eye patches, but in a jar perfect for daily use. Apart from the quantity, we have swiftlet nest extract as the key ingredient here. I tried sheet masks with bird’s nest extract in the past and I’ve been really liking them, which made me even more curious for these eye patches.

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. The SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua Eye Patch is an eye patch designed to treat dry eyes by delivering moisture and energy to the skin. It promotes the skin’s elasticity and firmness and eases fine lines around the eyes. Like almost all mask products it will provide a cooling sensation once applied, too. The eye patches come in a blue jar, which was delivered in a cardboard box of the same color. Both, the jar and the box display the illustration of a bird and its nest and thereby refer to the key ingredient: swiftlet nest extract! At first, this may be gross to hear, but similar to snail mucin, also bird’s nest extracts contain beneficial ingredients for the skin. 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 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.

The cardboard box of the SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua Eye Patch contains descriptions in Korean only. The ingredients are written in English though. According to COSDNA they are safe to use and various plant extracts are included in this product. Moreover, the eye patch essence contains hyaluronic acid and titanium dioxide, some of my favorite ingredients. Hyaluronic acid is great for moisturizing dry skin and titanium dioxide is a chemical sunscreen and gives UV protection.

The eye patches are dispatched in a simple plastic jar. They are made from hydrogel material and have (unlike the hydrogel mask I reviewed from Mediheal) a light blue color with shiny particles. When reading the ingredient lists you will see Sapphire Powder listed, which is probably responsible for the shimmering effect. The jar of eye patches also comes with a little plastic spatula to take out the patches as hygienically as possible. The jar contains 60 hydrogel patches in total and they can not only be used under the eye, but also for your smile lines for example.

In general, there is no rule whether to apply the patches with the narrow part at the inside of the eye or the outside. I have seen advertorial pictures showing it in that way or the other. I tried both but I feel more comfortable when the wide part is showing to my cheekbones. I feel I cover up most of my wrinkles in that way, haha. As you can see in the image below I have dark circles below my eyes and I’m having them since I can imagine. I tried brightening eye products, but most of the effects are short term, so I’m just living with the fact of having dark circles and use concealer when needed :D The patches are well covered with the gel-type essence and if you tilt the jar of the patches you will see that there is a lot of essence at the bottom jar. This prevents the patches from drying out. Using the spatula I’m taking out the patches, apply them under my eyes (or on my smile lines) and leave them there for around 20 minutes. You can see from the before and after pictures that the skin below my eyes looks relieved and moisturized. Some of the finer lines are less visible, too. Because of the cooling sensation, my blood circulation was promoted and the area under my eye looks a bit less dark (but this is only temporarily) and healthier. The scent of the patches is lightly fruity and pleasant, neither too strong.

Altogether, I love these eye patches! I’m keeping them in my bathroom and use them frequently, either in the morning as fresh up, or in the evening when I have the feeling that my skin around the eyes feels drier than usual. I even have used them in combination with a sheet mask for the whole face on top. It works great, too! Out of the five items I received for April from BNT this is one of my favorite products and I can recommend you to try it if you have the chance. The jar containing 60 patches retails for 16.66 US$ from Amazon.com.

Official Page |Tumblr | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter

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: Konad Lila Lily Clear Spa Ellie Essence

28. April 2015

There are two main points that make me want to try a new skincare or beauty product. First, a cute or special packaging design, and second the ingredients, especially if they are strange like for example snail, donkey milk, or if they are mostly natural and plant derived. The Konad Lila Lily Clear Spa Ellie Essence has fulfilled both points. This clarifying essence has such a beautiful packaging design and it contains 70% of thermal water enriched in minerals as well as 9 other natural ingredients to clean the skin from troubles. Sounds like a promising product!

Konad is a Korean cosmetics and nailcare company, which is exporting worldwide. They have two branches, one focusing on nails, like uv gels and stamping nail art, the other branch is all about skincare and cosmetics which are natural, ecological and pure. Konad’s Lila Lily Clear Spa Ellie Essence is an example for the latter branch.

The first thing you notice about this product is the packaging. The essence bottle comes in a cardboard box and both have a green/blue color, reminding me of a under water scene. The colors are so calming and they reflect the image of a clear and pure environment. The bottle of the essence is made of glass and may be considered heavy, but I prefer glass bottles over plastic because it looks much more elegant. The packaging is really pretty all together!

The description on the cardboard box is also written in Korean and in English, which is great! You can also find the product description on Konad’s official page. The ingredients are listed there, too. I added them to COSDNA and you can look them up >>here<<. The essence contains 70% of Sulfur hot spring water, which is supposed to provide abundant mineral to the skin. Moreover, it contains nutrition from 10 kinds of natural ingredients: extracts of Tremella Fuciformis Berk, Asiatic Pennywort, Sulfur Hot Spring Water and Nacre Protein help relieve various skin troubles. Plankton extract prevents excessive sebum on the skin. Salicylic acid eliminates corneous tissues and dead cells, which reduces inflammation and read spots, and makes your skin smoother by chemically exfoliating the skin. Vitamin complexes and marine collagen provide moisture for the skin and helps to make the skin more elastic. Apart from all these beneficial ingredients I want to point out that this essence also contains PEG/PPG-17/6 copolymer as emollient, which is rated red in COSDNA (the same is for Salicylic acid).

The bottle of Konad’s Lila Lily Clear Spa Ellie Essence contains 50 ml of product, with a shelf life of 12 months after opening. The glass bottle has a metal cap with an attached pipette. In this way you are able to take out the essence hygienically and in small amounts. In order to suck up the product into the pipette you have to push the top of the cap. I discovered it never gets filled up completelly, no matter how slowly I release the bottom. Luckily, the amount which is sucked up after all is the exact and perfect amount to spread on the face (maybe that’s done on purpose?!).

The essence itself is a clear and runny liquid, but nothing like water, and neither completelly gel-like. I was not sure about the scent first, but after using the essence for some time I have come to the conclusion that the essence has a grapefruit scent. Since it contains alcohol, too, you will also notice a bit of that scent first, before the alcohol evaporates. The grapefruit scent doesn’t linger though, and since essence is mostly followed by other skincare steps it won’t be noticeable at the end anyways.

The essence can be used by all skintypes according to the manufacturer.After applying my beloved Klairs toner I put a small amount of essence into my palms and pat it into my skin. Afterwards, I continue to use serums and creams. I didn’t have any problems using it with my dry skin and I didn’t react to the essence negatively. It absorbs quite quickly, but it feels sticky. It doesn’t feel drying on the other hand, which I was really happy to see. I didn’t see any changes towards red skin or small troubles honestly. I didn’t use the essence over a long period of time, yet, there are other products containing BHAs and AHAs which work faster on troubled skin.

In the end, I’m not sure if I would repurchase this essence. I love the packaging design and the way the dropper makes it easy to apply the right amount of product to your skin. I also like the attempt of putting a bunch of natural and benefiacl ingredients into this essence. I’m not too fond of the stickiness of the product and in order to look over that point I would have wished a better effectiveness of the product as a whole on my skin. Since I didn’t see any significant changes I’m not sure if this additional skincare step is something worth adding. People with lots of troubled skin might love this more, than someone with a good skin condition, because probably the results can be seen quicker. I’m not sure about the price for this essence, but since Konad is distributing worldwide you might want to check the stores (if you have any information about the price, I would be happy to hear about it, so I can add it).

This product was provided to me by BNTnews for reviewing. Don’t forget to visit the other BNTGirls Doris, Joanne, Alene and Bella and check out their reviews. And visit BNTnews for the latest Korean news and trends:

Official Page |Tumblr | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter

And here is my rating for the Konad Lila Lily Clear Spa Ellie Essence:

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.

9 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Etude House Dreaming Swan Veiling Pact Brush

27. April 2015

// KBEAUTY / MAKE UP //

It seems I’m addicted to buy at least one item per year from Etude Houses spring collections. This time I fell for the Etude House Dreaming Swan Veiling Pact Brush from the Dreaming Swan collection, a ballet inspired collection designed by Kerry Hess, a popular fashion illustrator.

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…The new Dreaming Swan collection is fully dedicted to the topic of ballerinas, with light colors and a beautifully designed packaging. You will find pretty illustrations of ballerinas, ballerina shoes, tutus…The collection consists of lipsticks, eye and cheek blushers, powder pact, nail polish, cushion cases, cream multi shadows, a pouch and a powder brush. The latter is the one I’m showing here! Unfortunately, there was no brush set. would have totally loved that. The Etude House Dreaming Swan Veiling Pact Brush comes in a plastic packaging displaying one of the illustrations from the illustrator Kerry Hess. The backside of the packaging shows the Korean and English description.

You’ll find the full description of the product on the official Etude House page, too. The description says that the Veiling Pact Brush helps powder particles to be absorbed evenly and prevents smudging. Moreover the slightly cutted edged help to reach curved areas as well and more easily than other brushes. The brush is designed for powdery textures and comes with a brush bristle protector, which looks like a ballerina tutu. I would lie if I told you that the brush tutu is not the main reason why I bought this brush :D I think it makes a simple brush look so much more lovely ♥

The brush itself has a pink handle and a rosegold metal part. The bristles are super soft and pink colored, which a light coral hint at the tips. The bristles are cut slightly, which gives the brush a round shape. The bristles take up powder nicely, too. The pink design fits very good into the overall theme of the collection.

As a lover of cute and girly packaging of any items you will love this brush. I do already, although the packaging might be considered super girly or corny by some. I’m definitively not an brush expert, but as far as I can say it also does a good job in taking up the powder and in the application aswell. I bought my brush from W2Beauty for 13.86 US$. For my last order, including this brush and a lipstick from the same collection, I received a whole bunch of samples like sheet masks and even a travel size jar of the Laneige Waterbank Sleeping Cream. I couldn’t have been more satisfied with my purchase! ♥

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asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask

24. April 2015

// PR SAMPLE / KBEAUY / AFFILIATE LINKS //

What are your experiences with hydrogel masks? Everybody who is into asian cosmetics will have heard of sheet masks, the essence soaked cotton sheets for a quick at home spa treatment of your face. While sheet masks get slowly more attention also in the western world, hydrogel masks are still new to most people. I myself didn’t try a lot yet, so I’m happy to review the MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask today, a premium mask pack that is supposed to sooth damaged and irritated skin in a gentle way.

MediHeal is a brand by L&P cosmetics, a Korean cosmetics manufacturer. Most of MediHeal’s products seem to be masks, but they seem to have other cosmetic products as well. The design of most of the MediHeal masks is simple and kind of medical looking, which illustrations of pipettes, capsules and all kind of other scientific containers. The MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask (btw.: PDF means Pure Derma Factor) shows a filled pipette for example. Apart from this illustration the mask sachet is simple and in golden and blue colors.

This premium mask, as it is called, contains a doubled soothing technology compared to the precursor sheet mask called Mediheal P.D.F AC-Dressing Ampoule Mask. In this way it is better suited for sensitive skin, since the double soothing technology helps the skin to rest better while controlling sebum. If we have a look at the back side of the mask sachet we will find a lot of Korean description. But apart from the Korean writings you will also find the ingredients list and an illustration on how to use the sheet mask. I added the ingredients to COSDNA and you can have a closer look at them >>here<<. What I like about the ingredients are the huge amount of natural plant extracts. The key ingredients of this mask are salicylic acid and niacinamide. Unfortunately, there is also one ingredient which I do not like here, which is Triclosan. This antibacterial chemical is often used in cosmetics, but although I wouldn’t consider it necessary or healthy. Nevertheless, the concentration of Triclosan has to be quite low, since it is listed as penultimate ingredient in the list.

If you open the mask sachet you will find this hydrogel mask is divided into two pieces. There is one piece designed for the lower facial area (mouth and chin) and a second piece for the upper facial area (eyes, forehead, nose). Each of the two pieces is protected by two plastic foils (with other sheet masks you only have one…it made me a litle confused at first). The sheets have two sides, one side is structured with a net-like surface and one side is smooth. You are supposed to put the structured side on your face, so that the smooth side is lying on the outside. It is important to first apply the upper part of the hydrogel sheet mask and then the lower part, because otherwhise the lower part will keep sliding off your face, since this hydrogel sheet is soaked very extensively with the essence. The net-like structure of the sheet makes it stay on your skin and especially makes it fit perfectly on the skin. This mask should be left between 10-20 minutes on your skin.

As for the size of the MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask, it does fit perfectly on my face, even the nose part, which usually comes a bit short for me with other sheet masks, covers all my nose. It almost doesn’t make any pleats and feels like a second skin, except is is super cooling when applying. It absolutelly feels soothing in that way while it is on your face. Below you can also see how my skin looks before and after using the mask:

As you can see my skin looks a bit tired and pale before I put the hydrogel mask. Afterwards, it seems the cooling effect has stimulated my blood circulation and my skin looks more lively. This hydrogel mask definitively delivers in terms of cooling, but it also has a soothing effect. One day I used it while my forehead was feeling itchy and after having applied the mask for 20 minutes my skin was relieved from the itchiness. Apart from the soothing properties, this mask also claims to be moisturizing. Indeed the hydrogel sheet is super soaked with the essence and there is also some amount of essence left in the sachet, which can be used on the neck etc, but after taking the mask off my face the skin didn’t feel moisturized. It was rather feeling dry and a bit tight. This is most likely because of the sebum controll effect the MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask provides. In this point it may be better suited for oily skintypes. for dry skin, the amount of hyaluronic acid or other moisturizing ingredients is just too low, when looking for a moisturizing hydrogel mask.

In total, I discovered that I do really like hydrogel maks and I definitively want to try out more of them. The MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask specifically works great for soothing and cooling, but it is too drying for dry skintypes. People with oily skin might want to try it, because of its sebum-controll abilities. You can find the MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask and other masks from this brand at Koreadepart. Each mask retails for around 2.50 US$. On W2Beauty they are avaiable for 9.74 US$, which is quite expensive.

This product was provided to me by BNTnews for reviewing. Don’t forget to visit the other BNTGirls Doris, Joanne, Alene and Bella and check out their reviews. And visit BNTNews for the latest Korean news and trends:

Official Page |Tumblr | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter

And here is my rating for the MediHeal PDF A.C-Defense Hydro Nude Gel Mask:

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.

8 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty review Wishtrend

Review: COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch

16. April 2015

// KBEAUTY / SKINCARE / AFFILIATE LINKS //

Luckily, getting older also brings us a couple of advantages, like less pimples and acne. I had lots of them during my puberty, but times changed and my skin got better and today I’m really happy with my skin apart from having occasionally one or two pimples after eating too much unhealthy food or during the special time of the month. But still we all know the feeling of getting these red bumbs on our face and resisting as good as we can to touch it, or even worse, to squeeze it. I never tried anti-pimple patches before, but the COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch got so much worldwide attention within the beauty community (it was mentioned by “Cosmopolitan”), that I wanted to try them myself. During Wishtrend’s February promotions they gave one sachet of these for free on every order, and since these patches are quite cheap I bought a second one for me and one for my sister. By the way, during this month you can get a free ElishaCoy Sheet Mask from Wishtrend :)

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’ve also bought the BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum and the AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner and I’m looking forward to write the reviews for these two. But let’s get back to the COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch first:

These anti-blemish patches come in a simple sachet packaging. COSRX products have usually very clean and simple packaging designs, reminding of prescription medicine. The sachet has a zip-lock opening, so you can easily store the remaining patches and keep them safe from dust and dirt. Each sachet contains one sheet of patches. There are 24 patches on each sheet (9 large patches (12 mm), 5 medium patches (10 mm) and 10 small patches (7 mm)). Apart from the patches you’ll find an instruction paper in Korean inside the sachet. The backside of the sachet also contains Korean description, but also shows a short English instruction.

All in all, these patches are very easy to use. You find some more English description on Wishtrend about the COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patches. The light yellow colored patches can be applied on a pimple oder blemish after the area has been cleaned and dried of course. It keeps dirt from getting on the inflammated are and also keept you from touching it. The patches are party transparant, so they are not too obvious. I read that some people also use makeup above the patch. So, the patch helps healing your targeted area, and what should I say more….it works. I tried it on a little pimple on my forehead. I applied the patch in the morning. In the evening I removed it, cleansed my skin again and went to sleep. The next morning the pimple was gone. You can see the pictures below:

For my low blemish concerns these patches work perfectly. I cannot speak for anyone with more severe skin troubles, but if you are looking for some good and effective anti-acne patches I would recommend these. There must be a reason that so many people seem to like these patches. It proved its effectiveness to me and mabe my before and after pictures encourage you to try it. A sachet of these COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patches containing 24 anti acne patches retails for 4.25 US$ at Wishtrend. and for 5 US$ at Beautytap. Check out my page for coupons and discounts for both shops >>here<<. And see my other reviews for COSRX products >>here<<.

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asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Aritaum Water Sliding Tints

14. April 2015

As announced in my previous Aritaum review I will show you the Aritaum Water Sliding Tints today. Honestly, I didn’t plan on buying these, rather I wanted to try the popular Aritaum Honey Melting Tints, but when I finally decided on specific shades the Water Sliding Tints were released and I read in reviews that these are less sticky than the Honey Melting Tints. This fact changed my decision and I selected two shades from the Aritaum Water sliding tints instead.

As you know, I love Aritaum lip products. I started to know this brand with the Aritaum Wannabe Cushion Tints and I also did love the World Glam Coating Tint I tried. Aritaum is a Korean brand which belongs to the Amore Pacific family. It is an affordable drug store brand, but provides good quality products. The Aritaum Water Sliding Tints promise to have a silky feeling, being leightweight and sliding over your lips. I do like moiosturizing lipsticks and tints, which made this product really interesting to me. Since it is a solidified liquid lipstick you only need to push out not more than 1 mm of the bullet. An important note here: the bullet is not retractable once it is pushed out!

The design of these liptints is similar to the Honey Melting Tints and quite simple. Each shade has a different colored cap to show the color of the tint. The name of the shade is also printed on the sides. I chose No.7 “Crazy Ruby” and No.12 “Fruits Punch”. “Fruits Punch” seems to be very poular, because when I first wanted to order these from testerkorea it was out of stock quickly. In total there are 15 shades availbale. The number of the shade and the name is also printed on the bottom of the lipsticks in Korean. Some transparant sticker on the side also show short Korean descriptions and also seal the new product, but these stickers are easily removable, so the lipstick looks still nice after peeling these off.

I chose No.7 “Crazy Ruby” since it looks like a classic bright red shade in the promotional pictures. It looks a bit different when swatched and a bit more cherry red, but still it is a bright color. No.12 “Fruits Punch” is a coral/pink and beautiful summer color in the advertorial pictures. Swatched it looks less pink but more like a red/coral or peachy shade. I can recommend you to take a look at other swatches from bloggers before deciding which shade to buy. It helped me selecting shades a lot.

The Aritaum Water Sliding Tints contain Argan oil and other fruit oils for moisturizing properties. And they do not only claim this, but they also deliver in that point. The product glides super softly over the lips and feels like those soft lipbalms you get in tiny tubes. It smells fruity and nice, but the scent is no lingering one, so people with sensitive noses will like it, too. Furthermore, although more like a lipbalm the Aritaum Water Sliding Tints have a noticeable pigmentation. The less product you use the softer and lighter is the pigmentation, but if you use like two layers you will get nicely covered lips. Below, you will see how the two lip tints look on my lips. Both colors look actually brighter in real life than in the images. Since the product is buttery soft I would recommend you to push up the bullet little by little. You will not need 1 mm necessarily. Also, a little warning: the brighter the color you pick, the more it will settle into lines because it melts into the structure. Although I like both colors really a lot and I do use them daily (almost daily- in turns with Innisfree Creammellow Lipsticks), I have to point out that “Crazy Ruby” is easier to handle than “Fruits Punch”. When the color starts fading (it is not longlasting, since it is comparable to a lip balm) “Crazy Ruby” looks prettier than “Fruits Punch”. This is mainly because my natural lip color is darker than the color. The moisturizing effect lasts for about 3-4 hours which is nice, too. Although this tint looks super glossy and moisturizing it is not really sticky either.

Do I recommend the Aritaum Water Sliding tints? Yes, I do! I love them for every day use and they feel so moisturizing and nice on the lips! I want to try “Wild Srawberry” and “Caribbean Red”. I also do think that these will be my first lip products that I will be able to really use up, which is mostly because of the fluid formula :D You can get these from testerkorea (but some colors are out of stock) for 8100 Won (~8 US$) or at ibuybeauti for 8.70 US$.

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asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Aritaum Mono Eyes “Take That”

13. April 2015

// KBEAUTY / AFFILIATE LINKS / MAKE UP //

One of my favourite brands for Korean lip products is Aritaum! I loved their Wannabe Cushion Tints, their world Glam Tint and since I received the Water Sliding Tints I almost use these every single day (review upcoming). Apart from lip products I’ve always been curious about other Aritaum products, which is why I decided to try the Aritaum Mono Eyes eyeshadows starting off with a shade called “Take That”. This shade is supposed to be similar to MAC’s eyeshadow “Honey Lust”. Since I don’t have any Mac eyeshadows I cannot compare the two shades, but I can show you some swatches at least.

Aritaum is a Korean brand which belongs to the Amore Pacific family. First time I came into contact with this brand was through the Aritaum Wannabe Cushion Tints, which I fell in love with at first site. Their beautiful and colorful design was something special and new to me. Although Aritaum has quite some cute and girly designed packaging they also do have more mature looking products. The design of the Aritaum Mono Eyes for example is very simple and reminds of MAC packaging. These single eyeshadow pans can also be removed from their packaging and arranged into empty palettes, so you can create your own eyeshadow palette. There are more than 90 different shades available, so there is a huge variety. Apart from so many different colors the texture is also different. There are baked, wet processed, cream, pressed glitter, pressed satin glitter, and pressed matte eyeshadows. I selected Aritaum Mono Eyes eyeshadow No. 35 “Take That”, which is a pressed glitter eyeshadow.

This eyeshadow is a copper colored, shimmering eyeshadow with a warm undertone. It has a good pigmentation and looks nice even without an eyeshadow base. Although it is a glitter eyeshadow it doesn’t have any fallout and stays long on the lid. The container is made of plastic with a clear plastic window in the lid, so you see which color you are grabbing if you have more than one eyeshadow from this collection.

Although I do not wear eyeshadow often I discovered that I use this eyeshadow a lot. I love to combine it with the Innisfree Shadow Pencil in “Milk Tea” als base color and Aritaum Mono Eyes “Take That” for the crease. Since using the Innisfree Shadow Pencil is super easy and quick this look can be created fast, which is why I really like it.

I’m really happy with Aritaum Mono Eyes “Take That” eyeshadow. It is a beautiful copper shade and is not overly glittery, which makes it wearable on a daily basis as point color for example. Since there are so many different eyeshadow colors and types available for the Aritraum Mono Eyes I can recommend you to take a look at the full range. If you are looking for a specific color I’m sure you’ll find something due to the high variety. I also like the fact that you can build your own eyeshadow palette if you want. Moreover, the eyeshadows are quite affordable. They retail for 5000 Won at Aritaum. I bought my shade from W2Beauty for 6.49 US$, but it is also available on testerkorea for 4500-6300 Won depending on the shade you choose. Did you try any of the Aritaum Mono Eyes eyeshadows? Do you have a favourite color? I would like to try some of the matte shades in future.

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