THE SAEM Cover Perfection Tip Concealer
01 Clear Beige
This is one of the most popular K-Beauty makeup items and one that many have compared to Nars' Creamy Radiant concealer. Since I've tried several high coverage drugstore concealers, I wanted to see how this compares especially since it's easy to get online for a very affordable price. I consider Nars' concealer, Collection's Lasting Perfection and Look by Bipa Matte Camouflage dupes in almost every respect apart from the shades, while Catrice Liquid Camouflage is already a bit lighter in texture and has less coverage. Compared to all of these the Saem has the thickest, most concentrated formula as well as the most coverage. A tiny dot of product goes much farther than the rest, which is a good and bad thing because applying too much can very quickly get heavy-looking. It's great for spots and prominent imperfections, so if you're looking for high coverage, this is great for just a few dollars. It exists in three shades, I have the lightest one 01, which is only slightly darker than my skin tone and it's about NC15, the undertone is warm, but not strong.
Cosmetic Love, $2.96
Before I start with skin care reviews, I'll describe my skin and preferences first.
Skin type: combination/normal with moderately oily forehead and nose and mostly normal cheeks which can occasionally be dry. I'm prone to dry patches if I don't use a good moisturiser or if I use a mattifying primer. I have large pores on the sides of the nose and the most acne prone area is my chin (always in the same place under my lips) and on the cheeks.
I'm looking for hydration, brightening and evening out the skin, and anti-age products. I like ferments, niacinamide, ginseng, oils, honey and propolis.
What works for me: BIOBAZA Face Cleansing Micellar Oil
COSRX Galactomyces 95 Whitening Essence
BANILA CO. Miss Flower Miss Honey Essence oil (discontinued)
LEE JIHAM DR.'s Care Vita-Propolis Ampoule
ETUDE HOUSE Moistfull Collagen collection
You can see the rest on my All-times favourites page.
Don't like: most snail products and mineral oil since they both break me out.
THE FACE SHOP Rice Water Bright Rich Cleansing Oil
Gothamista put this into her favourite budget skincare video and praised its makeup removing capabilities, so I expected a lot and I wanted it to be a replacement for Biobaza oil that I've been using for a year now which I feel isn't strong enough. Well, this is even weaker and it leaves me with the worst panda eyes. It just doesn't remove mascara nor eyeliner as it should, plus also on the third day using it I already saw it's going to break me out like most oils, so this just won't be for me which is a shame. It's a light oil that doesn't emulsify much, but washes off completely and doesn't make the vision foggy. It's heavily scented with a baby powder type of scent.
Cosmetic Love, $6.36
COSRX Galactomyces 95 Whitening Power Essence
I finally got a full size bottle of this. I fell in love with it though samples I ordered almost a year ago, but I wanted to try other first essences before buying anything full size (I was trialling Secret Key First Essence, which is also nice, but I prefer this one). A couple of months ago I ordered it on eBay and of course the parcel got lost (losing my patience with all this parcel disappearing crap), then I just ordered it on iHerb and paid a bit more for shipping, so it was here with no problems in five days. I already reviewed this in one of the Empties and added it in one of my favourites, but it's the product that I noticed the biggest visible difference when I started using it. Before my skin was just so blah and I was never happy with it, but this just improved it in general. There's a bit of brightening/evening the skin tone and the skin texture looks more refined, meaning the pores don't look as severe as they did before, but please don't expect miracles from this just because it works well with my skin and always buy samples if you can.
iHerb, €15.62
HADA LABO Super Hyaluronic Acid Face Moisturizing Lotion
Mini size (30 ml)
This feels like hydrating heaven on the face. It's basically the same thing as The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid, but you get much more for the price (170 ml is about 15 €, TO is 7€ for 30 ml) and though I haven't tried TO version, I heard from reviewers that this feels nicer on the skin. Based on my experience I'm sure it's true because this feels like the nicest most comfortable lotion I've ever tried (apart from Etude House toner mentioned below). It's got four types of hyaluronic acid and it's nicely hydrating, but also plumping, so the skin just looks and feels better. A little goes such a long way at this, I can use three drops and it's enough for my face, but you can of course apply it generously if you wish. Trialled this twice on its own because at first I suspected it might break me out. After trying it the second time I again noticed my skin wasn't as clear, but I don't think this is causing mini breakouts, I just need to use my other regular care with it that is keeping my skin clear. If you're looking for a great hydrating product, this truly feels lovely on the skin.
eBay, €5.81
HOLY SNAILS Honey Shark and Hanbang Shark
Samples 7ml
Since Banila Miss Flower Mr Honey line was discontinued (just when I find my favourite!), I've started a search for something else. Shark Sauce is a serum from an indie brand created by a skin care blogger Chel, whose products are well-loved in K-Beauty community. I find Shark Sauce too expensive, still I wanted at least try samples once in my life to see what the fuss is about. Shark sauce doesn't contain any part of a shark, but it does contain a lot of niacinamide, which is one of my favourite brightening ingredients. I got two versions (she releases limited editions regularly, but the base stays the same with niacinamide (5%) & N-Acetyl Glucosamine (3%), fermented sea kelp, hyaluronic acid, liquorice root and green tea extract). In addition Honey Shark contains manuka honey, propolis and royal jelly, while Hanbang Shark contains ceramides, ginseng and horse chestnut. Both have a light serum type texture that absorb very quickly in a few seconds. A little goes a very long way, so the samples last a long time. I've trialled the honey one for a few weeks twice and in neither time I noticed any results. There was no brightening or a general improvement of my skin, so I don't think this is working for me. I've used the Hanbang version a few times, but again it didn't do much, so I started trying other products instead. Ingredients sound so fantastic, it's really a shame this doesn't work for me as I hoped.
Holysnailsshop.com, $10.50 (Honey 7ml) & $11.50 (Hanbang 7ml)
LEE JIHAM DR.'s Care Vita-Propolis Ampoule
My second choice for a replacement for Banila. This is a light serum that absorbs pretty fast and leaves no stickiness behind unlike Banila and it's not scented. I've been trialling it in combination with my basic skin care (cleansers + Nuxe oil) and I quite like it. My skin looked better with this, it was clear when I was using it and had a nicely healthy glow (and I didn't use COSRX Galactomyces essence at the time). I think I found my new propolis serum. The bad side is that it's only sold in these small 15 ml bottles, so it won't last long, even though I only use a few drops at once. I love the packaging because it comes with a dropper. This is one of my favourite discoveries from this New in.
Sweet Corea, $9.04
TONY MOLY Panda's Dream White Sleeping Pack
A repurchase. This so agrees with my skin, but it's nothing special, just a moisturising products. I can use it as a base for makeup or in a heavy application as a sleeping pack before going to bed.
Sweet Corea, $4.57
BENTON Snail Bee High Content Essence
Aside from COSRX Snail Mucin 96, this is the other most popular essence, though this one is already more of a hit-or-miss because it contains bee venom. Snail mucin is considered a great hydrating ingredient, but I also notice that my skin heals faster when I use it, however, this is the one such product I haven't noticed that and I don't know why. Snail mucin tends to break me out, so I risked trying it out and my skin is never clear when I use this, but it's not a full out breakout. This has a consistency of a gel that feels thick when you squeeze it out, but it's light on the face. It's easily absorbed too. It has no particular scent, just a bit like an old building, so that musty scent. I'm not seeing any benefits from this that some mention, like healing spots (I started using this when I had a big spot on my chin and this did nothing), my skin isn't more plump nor more even, so I don't get this product.
Sweet Corea, $2.36 for five 5g samples
ETUDE HOUSE Moistfull Collagen
This line appears to be quite popular in the K-Beauty circles, though mostly just the moisturiser which I originally planned to get five sample pots of before I saw this great looking pack. It's not just these four products in the line as there are also a cleanser, eye cream and some other stuff. What drew me in was hydrolysed collagen because I noticed at Banila Miss Flower Mr Honey that this ingredient agrees with my skin. It's more or less just a moisturising ingredient, but I feel it makes my skin a bit more bouncy. Another notable ingredient is baobab fruit extract which is a super food and high in Vitamin C.
Facial Toner
This feels so lovely and it's definitely one of the nicest toners I've ever tried. It reminds me a lot of Hada Labo in terms of texture, which means it's not like our toners, so a light water-like liquid, instead a rich toner-meets-serum consistency. It feels so comforting and lovely on the skin, it's just great stuff. The smells is also amazing, like oranges and it became one of my favourite scents of skincare. Hydrolysed collagen and adansonia digitata fruit extract are 2nd and 3rd ingredients respectively. I'm seriously considering getting a full size.
Emulsion
This is something like a light lotion and originally I thought it's nothing special, but I started enjoying it a lot and it's another product I might consider buying full size. It's perfect for under the makeup because it creates a similar smooth, hydrated base as my beloved Panda's cream. Hydrolysed collagen and adansonia digitata fruit extract are 2nd and 4th on the list.
Cream
This feels so rich in moisturising. It's got a type of consistency where it's like a thick gel, but it's already a bit more creamy and definitely more rich than gels tend to be. It's properly moisturising, but not necessarily nourishing so it doesn't feel heavy. The scent is again a lovely orange one. I can see why this is popular as it's a lovely moisturiser, one of the nicest I've tried to date. Hydrolysed collagen and adansonia digitata fruit extract are 1st and 9th on the list
Essence
The lightest product in the bunch. It's similar to the toner, but less rich and comforting feeling. Hydrolysed collagen and adansonia digitata fruit extract are 1st and 8th on the list, it also has alcohol on the 4th place which I can smell, but I didn't notice it drying my skin. It's my least favourite product in this line as I just don't feel it's doing much on its own, however, it's the only one that's not scented a lot.
Overall I'm really enjoying this line and I'm especially in love with the textures and scent. In terms of whether the collagen is doing it's job, sometime I notice my lines being smaller and sometimes I don't, so I don't know if this is the thing that's working or not, but otherwise it's a nice simple hydrating line. However, if I use it on its own, my skin isn't as smooth and soft as if I use other products, so it's basically like budget drugstores creams here, just with more comfortable in enjoyable textures. I've been using these daily for months now and I'm considering purchasing the toner, emulsion and cream.
Sweet Corea, $2.83 for the sample box.
ETUDE HOUSE Honey Cera
I got this sample pack only because I heard Honey Care allegedly smells like real honey. Well, all products smell like generic soap. Not bad, in fact it's nice enough, but boring. I'm disappointed in that respect, but the formulas are great.
Creamy Body Wash
It's not hard to find a nice creamy shower cream and this one is a simple one, but nice. It's thick, like such products usually are and it foams nicely. I noticed no dryness after showering.
Creamy Body Lotion
This is almost like some body butters, so a thick lotion or maybe I should already call it a cream and it's very nourishing. Great for dry skin.
Firming Body Cream
The lotion is thick already, but this is super thick and more like a balm. It has a type of viscose consistency that at time looks a bit like scooping a bubble gum. Again a very nourishing product and great for dry skin.
All are great products for dry skin, but not worth the hassle for me to be ordering them online and waiting almost two months to arrive, especially since the scent it so bland.
Sweet Corea, $2.26 for the box.
THE SAEM Natural Skin Fit Mask
Grapefruit
A repurchase. I enjoyed this one do much I just had to buy more. It's nothing special in terms of effect, just pleasantly moisturising, but it has such a lovely comfortable essence, actually something like that Hada Labo lotion and Etude House Moistfull toner I mentioned above. It smells like grapefruits which is an extra plus. Mine are in Frozen limited edition packaging, while the original one is like the lemon one next to it, just with grapefruits.
Cosmetic Love, $0.59
THE SAEM Natural Skin Fit Mask Sheet
Lemon
A brightening version of this mask, so the same as Frozen one, but with lemon. I'll update you how I like it.
Cosmetic Love, $0.59
A'PIEU Milk One Pack
Chocolate
Reviews on this entire line are mixed, including their scents. Mine as a smoothing version and there are several others: milk, coconut, strawberry, coffee and green tea.
Sheet: it felt like a regular sheet from the start, and an average fitting one (slightly too large for me), but it started feeling a bit thick and it came off in some places, like above my lip.
Essence: a comfortable milky lotion.
Scent: strong creamy vanilla floral scent. I found it very pleasant, but it's not like chocolate at all.
Effect: a nice moisturising mask, my skin liked it a lot. I used it when my skin was flaky dry. Overall it's worth the purchase.
Cosmetic Love, $0.73
ETUDE HOUSE 0.2 Therapy Air Mask
Snail
Snails actually break me out, but since I enjoyed the V Prove mask so much, I wanted to give them another chance. Snail mucin is a powerful hydrating ingredient and it also promotes healing. I already had the Hyaluronic Acid and collagen version, neither really impressed me with their results, but I liked the thin sheet.
Sheet: thin, very comfortable and the fit is regular.
Essence: Super comfortable milky lotion. Not at all slimy like Naruko's. I just loved it.
Scent: creamy chemical.
Effect: Immediate effect was some redness on my forehead, but no sensation of irritation or burning. Normally snail stuff break me out, but I used this during a breakout and it reduced it 90%, plus everything started to heal a lot faster (it was gone is the next couple of days). And it was one of those chin volcanoes that I accidentally picked, which usually turns in to a two week nightmare. It also made my skin smoother. Very impressed by this and I'll repurchase it for sure.
Cosmetic Love, $0.64
THE FACE SHOP Real Nature Mask Sheet
Red Ginseng
Ginseng is one of the most valued ingredients in K-Beauty and has some anti-ageing properties, so I took two of the cheapest masks with ginseng that were on Cosmetic Love. I like The Solution Masks from The Face Shop, but this was the first time trying these Real Nature ones.
Sheet: it feels like a regular mask, but it claims to be some special air pocket pulp sheet. It's quite a large mask, which fit ok around my mouth and eyes, but it extended into my hairline.
Essence: The essence has a yellow brown tint which makes the whole sheet in that colour. It's a like a light serum/lotion and in smaller amounts in sinks in fast, there is also not much stickiness from this. Ginseng is on the 4th place among the ingredients.
Scent: given that it's a ginseng product you can expect a typical ginseng scent. It's quite strong.
Effect: this promises to add energy and boots vitality which to me isn't really a visible type of thing, but it was a nice mask that moisturised the skin and made it feel good. This might have a good effect if you use it regularly. It's worth trying out.
Cosmetic Love, $0.64
TONYMOLY Pureness 100 Mask Sheet
Red Ginseng
From Tony Moly masks I only had the Pokemon Pikachu version with honey which was lovely. These are 100% cotton sheet masks and exist in several versions, I only took ginseng and as soon as I saw ingredients I was disappointed because this looks like stuff made here - glycerine on the second place (not bad) followed by PEGs and nothing of value until the 8th place (panthenol), while ginseng is very low on the list (16th).
Sheet: Classic with an ok fit. It was too large for my face, but that makes it normal.
Essence: a light, toner-like essence. Based on the ingredients, like a inexpensive toner.
Scent: No ginseng scent in this, just a boring shampoo fragrance and a strong one.
Effect: The layer this left had a very glossy look to it, but overall it's just a basic moisturising mask. I just don't think it's worth it, even though it's cheap.
Cosmetic Love, $0.55
THE FACE SHOP The Solution Mask Sheets
All versions
I bought pearl before and it impressed me so much, I wanted to try all of these. It's the only range of sheet masks so far that fits my face perfectly, so even as far as comfort goes it's a winner for me (also ultra-thin 0.21 mm sheets), but also its effect was brilliant (I have a review). So now I'm trying all versions, each has a specific ingredient singled out, but generally they form groups of moisturising/hydrating/nourishing, anti-age, brightening and for oily skin. Essence differ a bit and some a very sticky. Pearl is still my favourite, but I also liked vitamin C and Propolis.
Beta Hydroxy Acid (BHA) - for blemish-prone skin. Contains Black Willow Bark Extract and Salicylic Acid. I used it during a breakout and it had zero effect. Disliked it.
Ceramide - moisturising. Ceramides help replenish the skin moisture barrier.
Collagen - firming and anti-wrinkle. Contains Collagen and Adenosine. Used it already and it had great immediate plumping effect and increased elasticity, but the next day my skin looked extra creased. Disliked it.
Hyaluronic Acid - hydrating. Used it already and it's a basic hydrating mask, just as it promises. Ok.
Madecassoside - soothing, for sensitive skin. Contains Madecassoside derived from centella asiatica.
Pearl - brightening. Contains pearl extracts and niacinamide.
Peptides - anti-wrinkle. Contains Peptides and Adenosine. Tried it and it didn't do anything special. Not worth it.
Propolis - anti-wrinkle and nourishing. Contains Propolis and Adenosine. Used it already and I like it. It left my skin moisturised, plumped, lines were smaller but otherwise not much more, so not extra propolis glow..
Tannins - for oily skin, reduces shine and the appearance of visible pores. Containing Tannins a naturally occurring polyphenol
Vitamin C - radiance. Contains vitamin C and niacinamide. Tried it already and it has a brightening effect (less than Pearl), but it's super sticky once it dries.
eBay, $16.80 (seller: wasobeauty)
MISSHA Geum Sul Vitalizing Tension Pact SPF30 PA++
01 Bright Light
I got this a while ago and I already have a full review, but haven't featured it in a New in, so it has a short description for those who find reviews too long. It's a medium coverage tension/cushion foundation with a dewy finish. It's got a mesh over a compartment with creamy foundation, instead of a sponge soaked in foundation, so it doesn't dry out as fast. It's a nice foundation for dry skin, but it stays sticky/tacky for a long time. My shade is the lightest and it's about NC15-20, swatches are in the review. Packaging is just gorgeous and also well made. I've been using it recently because it's great for my dehydrated skin.
Jolse, $24.78
MEDIHEAL LINE FRIENDS Ampoule Mask Sheet Pack
I also already reviewed these in my last sheet masks post. Mediheal are some of the most often recommended masks, especially their Aquaring formula and they have fantastic ingredients, but I really wasn't impressed. The Lightmax Ampoule was a nice brightening mask, but the rest were meh. Timetox was my least favourite because it made my skin less bouncy and elastic, despite the claims, the Aquaring (many peoples favourite) was nicely hydrating, but left a strange film on my skin and the Dressing Ampoule was nice for oily skin with break-outs, which my skin doesn't suffer from that often, but if you have such skin, it' might be worth trying. Their regular packaging has a more serious look in case you're one of those who dislikes cartoon stuff.
eBay $8.20 (seller: rinishop)
PAPA RECIPE Bombee Whitening Honey Mask
I said in the review of these that I'll get the full pack and I did. So far this is my favourite sheet mask. It's extra brightening, nourishing and it makes the skin soft, plus it smells nice. It's just a winner.
Sweet Corea, $11.67 (for 10)
Have a great day!
- torek, marec 13, 2018
- 5 Comments