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Review: Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program Part 2

15. July 2015

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

Coréana is quite a well known Korean company with the motto “art through nature”. It has quite a variety of brands, like Senite or Biodefense and many more. Sho is one brand of Coréana using horse oil as key ingredient. Horse oil or “Mayu” has been very popular in Korea in the last months, especially during winter, because of its deeply moisturizing properties. The Sho EGFactor line combines the horse oil with EGF in order to have even more anti-aging properties. This Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program contains two items: an ampoule and eye cream.

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

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

Horse Oil

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

EGF- Epidermal Growth Factor

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

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

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

Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program Ampoule

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

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

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

Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program Eye Cream

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

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

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

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

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

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

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asian cosmetics beauty BNTnews PR Sample review

Review: Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series Favorites

14. July 2015

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

Forencos is a Korean brand which sells environmental cosmetics since 1988. The brand has quite a range of skincare and makeup products, but in the internationally known Korean online shops they don’t have a lot of products from this brand, which is why it is quite unknown. They have 7 main issues within their brand philosophy: skin rejuvenating, skin refreshing, skin revitalizing, skin relieving, skin regeneration, skin revival and skin resolution. You will find all the 7 sheet mask in my previous review >>here<<, but here is a quick reminder about this sheet mask series: The 7 sheet masks of the Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series each come in a different color and have a different key ingredient. These sheet masks consist of two steps. Each mask has a sachet with a mask base ampoule attached, which contains 2 ml of the ampoule and is used before applying the sheet mask (the only exception is the first sheet mask, where you have to use the ampoule afterwards).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday: Selene’s total care Swiftlet’s bird nest contains 2000 times more sialic acid that human saliva and 200 times more than royal jelly for a total turnover: moisture, elasticity, skin tone, it cleans and protects the skin.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All in all, I like the Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series! I love the topic and the variety of different key ingredients for each day. The masks have an interesting concept and although I do not like the mask base ampoule I would recommend you to give this series a try. This Forencos Selene Project Silk Mask Series containing 7 sheet masks retails at the official Forencos page for around 21 US$. As far as I checked it, it wasn’t available at any other of the online stores I normally buy Korean products from.

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: Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program Part 1

5. June 2015

If I’m buying cosmetics I’m usually on the hunt for budget cosmetic finds. I’m not a person longing for luxury cosmetic brands, because in my experience the cheaper ones do a good job, too. When I received the May BNT Beauty Box there was one item which looked like a high-end brand to me from first glance: the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program. This anti-wrinkle kit is a skincare program designed for 28 days of use in order to boost your skin with Jeju horse oil and EGF for a timeless and younger looking skin. This is probably the most expensive cosmetic product I have tried in my life so far! In this post I will show you the content of this kit and include my first impression. I didn’t use it for the full 28 days yet, so I will be making a second review part for this product, where I will take a closer look at the ingredients and show you some before and after pictures (if there is any difference). First, let’s take a breath and look at this amazing and elegant packaging:

Coréana is quite a well known Korean company with the motto “art through nature”. It has quite a variety of brands, like Senite or Biodefense and many more. Sho is one brand of Coréana using horse oil as key ingredient. Horse oil or “Mayu” has been very popular in Korea in the last months, esecially during winter, because of its deeply moisturizing properties. The Sho EGFactor line combines the horse oil with EGF in order to have even more anti-aging properties. This Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program contains two items: an ampoule and eyecream.

The items are packed in a beautiful box, in golden and brown colors. It is a hologram on the box, so you see if it is an original product or a fake. The logo of Sho shows a horse and reflects the key ingredient. You can flip open the lip and you will find the logo with the horse inside aswell. the inside of the box has a golden color, too.

You can already tell from the packaging that this is a more expensive product. The is even a transparent paper with golden imprints to separate the lid of the box from the products.

Finally, you’ll find the ampoules and the eye creams inside. There are two seringe shaped eyecream containers and 28 small vials with the ampoule. To be honest, I thought there would be one eye creeam container and I was totally surprised to see the two seringes inside the box.

Even for the products the colors are in brown and golden. The eyecreams even have some beautiful golden embroided ornaments and really look pretty.

Ususally, the eyecreams I have used were either packed in a regular tube, or a jar. I have never seen an eyecream packaging like this.

You can twist one end of the seringe to open or close it and by pressing on that end you can push out some eyecream from the tube.

The material is plastic, but it seems good quality plastic, too. If you press down the bottom you’ll get a nice dollop of the eyecream, which is more than enough for the eyes. The eyecream is a creamtype one, which is supposed to treat and brighten the eye area through a soft, easily absorbed texture that suits even sensitive eyes. The eyecream has a light floral scent and absorbs quite quickly. It doesn’t feel greasy or heavy. Each of the eyecream seringes contains 10 ml of eye cream.

The ampoules contain 2 ml and each ampoule is designed for one use. The 2 ml seem small but it is more than enough for the face AND the neck. The ampoule is designed to prevent the skin from dryness while preserving oil-moisture balance. In order to open these small vials you have to push aside the golden cap. I found it quite difficult to open so far, but maybe I’ll get the hang of it :’D

The consitency of the ampoule is not oil-like, but rather like a gel-type emulsion. It has a clear, light golden color. It is a bit sticky and takes quite some time to absorb, but it isn’t greasy at all. The scent is the same floral scent as the eye cream has.

As I said at the beginning: I didn’t use the Coréana Sho EGFactor 28 Days Timeless Program for many days, so I cannot tell you any details about how effective it is yet. So far I didn’t react negatively and I’m really curious if there is any difference after the 28 days of use :D As for the packaging and the overall design, this kit is definitively eyecandy! I hope this first impression made you curious to read my second part of this review in a couple of weeks. I will include the ingredients and give a final verdict for this product then. What is your first impression on this anti-aging kit? It may be a pretty present for next mother’s day, do you agree?

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

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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