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Review: The Skin House Face Calming Galactomyces Cream

12. May 2015

My last review on a daily moisturizing cream lies months back (Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream, btw), but today I’m back with another moisturizer I used after I finished the previous one: The Skin House Face Calming Galactomyces Cream. This cream contains galactomyces fermented extracts and is designed to sooth the skin.

The Skin House is another Korean brand which was founded in Seoul in 1979. The brand is committed to produce “honest and high quality cosmetics” using natural raw materials. The packaging design of the brand’s products is also simple and pure. The Skin House Face Calming Galactomyces Cream comes in a simple cardboard box with white and salmon/pink colors. There are three types of this kind of facial moisturizer from The Skin House which have different colors each: the Ultra Firming Collagen Rich Cream (yellow), the Hydro Papaya Moisture Cream (blue), and the Face Calming Galactomyces Cream (salmon/pink). The Galactomyces Cream has thereby not only soothing properties, but also gives moisture and has anti-wrinkle properties.

The cardboard box contains the descriptions of the product in English and Korean (click on the image below to enlarge). The Skin House has an english brand page, too, but this product is not listed there (I don’t know if it is not popular or if it has been discontinued). The key ingredients of the cream are of course galactomyces ferment filtrate and yeast extract, but the cream also contains hyaluronic acid and glycerin for moisturizing. Moreover, the cream contains mango seed butter and a couple of other plant extracts. You can check the full ingredients >>here<<. There are some potential irritants, so if you have specific allergic reactions make sure to check the ingredients first.

The cream comes in a regular plastic jar, which is very lightweight and contains 30 ml of product. I was really suprised how light the jar was actually, and I think it is perfect for people who travel a lot considering the weight. The lid is nothing special, but a white plastic lid, but the cotainer of the jar is made of a milky kind of salmon/pink plastic which looks quite pretty.

The jar is sealed when unopened and contains Korean descriptions on the side and the expiration date on the bottom of the jar.

When removing the lid you’ll find a plastic separator, which prevents the cream from leaking out and onto the inside of the lid. The cream itself has a light orange/pink color and and a soft creamy texture. The scent is a flowery one, but not too heavy.

The cream feels very soft and is easily to spread. It melts easily into the skin, leaving it moisturized, but not too heavily. Actually, if you have very dry skin it won’t provide enough moisture, but for oily, normal to lightly dried skin it is enough, especially when wearing this cream during day time and having other moisturizing steps like essences, serums, emulsions and so on. For regular use you don’t need a lot of this cream to cover your face. At night I preferred to slap on a thicker layer of the cream on my face, because it made the skin feels super soft on the next morning. And although using a thicker layer it absorbs comparably fast into the skin. The skin also felt more bouncy afterwards, which was a nice experience.

I’ve used the Skin House Face Calming Galactomyces Cream for several weeks now and I’ve just finished the jar and I was really happy with this moisturizer. It made the skin feels soft, but not greasy, absorbed fast, and worked with my makeup.

There are no negative points I can make for this cream. Probably, all skintypes can use it, because it is not super matte, not super oily. It contains some great ingredients, makes the skin feel great afterwards and also can be used below other makeup steps. The best part of it: it is not expansive! It retails at testerkorea for 9900 Won (~10 US$) and on ebay for 12 US$. This cream is totally recommended!

♥ Check out my current giveaway >>here<<. You can win a bottle of Amazingly Beautiful Body Moisturizer and Revitalizer, a spraying body oil made from all natural ingredients! ♥

9 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty review Wishtrend

Review: Boutique Bebe Hair Salon Concentrate Protein

11. May 2015

Do you know that moment during online shopping when you put all the items you need in your shopping basket and discover that there are some last dollars missing for free shipping? Usually that is the moment when I grab some mask sheets but on other occasions I also try new items, like the Boutique Hair Salon Protein Concentrate. These are two protein hair treatments, one for leaving in your hair and one for washing it out.

I discovered that asian hair products really work for my fine, dry and frizzy hair. Therefore I’m always interested in different brands and items I find during my shopping experiences. I got these Boutique Bebe Hair Salon Concentrate Protein treatments from Wishtrend quite a while ago, but somehow the review took me quite long. If you are curious about the Korean online shop Wishtrend please check out my post >>here<<.

About the Korean brand Boutique Bebe I do not have much information, but obviously they are retailling some haircare products. Since the brand is not very popular the description on the product’s cardboard box is written in Korean only.

As I said at the beginning, these hair treatments are available in two types, a wash-off type, which has a white packaging, and an essence type (can be lefton the hair), which comes in a black packaging. Each of the two cardboard boxes contains a plastic seringe (also either black or transparent) with the hair treatment product. The plastic seringe is bottle and applicator of the hair treatment on the same time. You will find a long description about these two products on Wishtrend, too. They also list the ingredients of the treatments, which contains mainly oils like camellia japonica oil, argan oil, almond oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, etc., so all the important and nutritious oil you can use on your hair. Apart from these oils there are a bunch of plant extracts included (lavender, rosemary, olive, grape, peppermint, rice, soybean….and many more). Other good ingredients for your hair are biotin, keratin and niacinamide, which you can also spot within the ingredients. So it seems that these are super beneficiual for dry and damaged hair.

The two treatments also differ in the product. The essence-type leave-in hair treatment has a white color, where as the wash-off treatment has a yellow color. Both treatments have a creamy and rich consistency and are not runny or anything similar. Each seringe contains 25 g and depending on your hair length you can use one seringe for 2-5 times. I used both of them three times each for my (a bit over) shoulder length hair, but I used quite a good amount of product each time. I guess I could have used each of these 4 times at least if I would have taken a bit less product each time. Due to the seringe packaging it is easy to get a specific amount of the product on your hair or in your palm. I really liked that kind of packaging. First it was something new to me and second it was useful to use aswell.

The Boutique Bebe Hair Salon Concentrate Protein have a soapy scent, which had a typical salon scent for me. The leave-in essence was super easy to use, since you only put it into your hair and it is done. I would recommend you to use it in the length of your hairs mainly, because otherwhise you’ll have a kind of stiff-looking scalp/top hair. The essence first makes your hair feel stiffer after it dries off, but once brushing the dried hair through the hair feels soft and it is not that stiff anymore. The wash-off treatment makes the hair fluffier than the leave-in treatment, simply, because the essence doesn’t stay on your hair. The leave-in essence treatment makes our hair a bit more heavy. Both treatments leave your hair super soft, easiler to brush and are nourished! I can imagine to repurchase these treatments, since I liked the scent and the softness of my hair afterwards. Also, the ingredients are great in both treatments. These Boutique Bebe Hair Salon Concentrate Protein retail for 3.50 US$ each, and when buying both you only pay 6.20 US$ on Wishtrend. Check out the May promotions on Wishtrend before grabbing those. There are also some mother’s day special prices and gifts until 17th of May. Also, keep in mind their friend-referral program: You can receive a 5 Us$ referral coupon if you use my invitation code 17939205 upon registration and you’ll receive this voucher immediately.There will be a specific field in your registration form called “friends invitation program” where you can put the code mentioned above. This way new customers can safe 5 US$ which is a great possibility to safe some money. And if you have a blog/vlog yourself you should check out Wishtrend’s affiliate program!

5 Comments

asian cosmetics beauty review

Review: Etude House Dreaming Swan My Blooming Lips-talk

8. May 2015

// KBEAUTY / MAKE UP //

Here is the second product I bought from Etude House’s Dreaming Swan collection, the Etude House Dreaming Swan My Blooming Lips-talk. I also bought the powder brush from this collection and you can have a look at the review >>here<<.

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. I chose the Etude House Dreaming Swan My Blooming Lips-talk in shade PP501, which was the darkest shade from the collection. I’m always doubtful about brighter shades on my lips, because they tend to settle more obviously into my lip lines than darker shades. The Etude House Dreaming Swan My Blooming Lips-talk comes in a cardboard box packaging displaying one of the illustrations from the Kerry Hess, the collaborating illustrator. Let’s enjoy the sight of this beautiful packaging first:

I really like the ballerina theme, although it is super girly actually! The cardboard box also displays the Korean and English product description and ingredients. You can also check out the ingredients >>here<< (it is for one of the other shades, but it only differs in the pigments. Thanks Evelyn for adding it to COSDNA ♥). Good thing: the ingredients contain titanium dioxide for UV protection. The lipstick itself comes in the typically shaped Etude House lipstick containers It has a light pink color and a white bow at the bottom. You can remove the bow and use it as a ring for example.

The bullet is protected by a metal part, which is illustrated with bows and ballet shoes. There is also a typical Etude House emblem imprinted on the bullet. On the bottom of the lipstick you’ll find the manufacturing date of the product.

PP501 is a pink/ rose shaded color. According to the promotional pictures it looks less pink than the other lipstick colors from the Dreaming Swan collection. There are 5 shades in total. Below you can see how the lipstick looks when swatched on the back of my hand and how it looks on my lips. The lipstick has a light rose scent, which is not noticable once applied on the lips.

Honestly speaking, I’m not liking this lipstick too much. The formula is very difficult to work with. If you have dried and chapped lips don’t use it at all! My first picture for this lipstick looked terrible and the lipstick was settling into all the lines and looking patchy and just not nice. The only way I can wear this lipstick it either using lipbalm before, which means that the lipstick is not lasting at all, or as a base color for some gradient lips. I love the packaging! And I like the rose scent. But that’s it! The Etude House Princess Happy Ending Lipsticks had a far better formula than these. These don’t glide as smoothly and make the lips feel dry after a while. I would not recommend you to buy these, unless you want to collect them because of the packaging. There are still some available on ebay. On the official Etude House Global Store I couln’t find the lipsticks anymore. I bought mine from W2Beauty, but they are not listed there anymore. The price of these lipsticks lies around 10 US$.

♥ Check out my current giveaway >>here<<. You can win a bottle of Amazingly Beautiful Body Moisturizer and Revitalizer, a spraying body oil made from all natural ingredients! ♥

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advertorial announcement Wishtrend

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:

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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.

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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.

3 Comments

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.

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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.

12 Comments

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.

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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.

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