Korean makeup & skincare - my experiences and please share yours!
Korean makeup & skincare - my experiences and please share yours!
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The list below is my personal experience with Korean brand makeup and beauty products. I've been converted for about 3 years when I picked some up overseas while in Asia and hooked ever since!
Please share your experiences and brands - I've only touched on a few! Some general notes I'll start with:
Skincare – oil cleansers, solid oil balms, essences, ampoules, serums, confused? Read this helpful board on Reddit, it explains all the steps for Asian skincare and also some ingredients to look out for https://www.reddit.com/r/AsianBeauty/comments/2jcss2/asian_skincare_101_a_beginners_guide_faq/
Looking for trusted online sellers? check out this list on Reddit of trusted sellers people are purchasing through. https://www.reddit.com/r/AsianBeauty/comments/290to0/giant_list_of_websites_ebayers_etc/
also thanks to Preciousia this site also analyzes products and gives you a breakdown of ingredients: http://www.cosdna.com/
Asian Beauty Reddit is another board I stalk on a regular basis, it's pretty helpful https://www.reddit.com/r/AsianBeauty/
edit to add I just tidied up the first post as I was getting tired scrolling past that long one lol
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Arghhhhhh duality you are amazing haha. Such a comprehensive list already.
Good to know that the CosRX BHA serum is good as I was going to place an order.
I absolutely love Etude House. I have the Bright Fit, and Cotton Fit BB creams, perfect skin colour for me (N02). I'm yet to try their BB cushions and will try when my current lot run out.
Etude House 'Sunprise' SPF50+ suncream is my go-to. It's non-greasy, so light and doesn't let even a tiny bit of sun through to my skin.
Etude House sheet masks - They come in every flavour under the sun and are REALLY cheap!!!!! Everyone needs to try these once in their life time. The snail one works really well at soothing dehydrated skin and making things a lot more evened out.
Nature Republic had a Bee Venom BB cream which unfortunately is discontinued but it was amazing for calming redness.
I've tried a couple of the Holika Holika BB creams and found that they were really shiny and had something in them that didn't agree with my skin. I get little rashes around my mouth if there is something that doesn't agree, and with these, I got the beginnings of a rash.
Skin79 Pink and Gold BB creams are awesome too, their little pump bottle dispenses a perfect amount and it feels nice and hygenic too.
Something I've noticed with Korean BB creams is that they mostly provide a lot better coverage (and they look natural) as well as soothing redness.
My favourite 'Ampoule' is Yadah Brightening Ampoule. I have never felt my skin feel so plump or look so clear. This brand is so damn hard to find online and there is only a couple of places that sell it internationally. It has niacinamide (a B vitamin) which is supposedly responsible for clearing skintone up - I can definitely say it works!
Have you tried the brand 'Klairs'? Wishtrend publicise it a lot (I think it is one of their brands) over their website and youtube channel (which I love watching) Tempted to buy some to test out.
Klairs I haven't heard of, but the ampoules thing sounds interesting, love having new brands to try out.
I never heard about this makeup brand. Looks fascinating I will definitely try to catch this type of product.
So much info and I'm about to head out the door! I've subscribed so I can find it all again and will be reading through it all later on.
Thanks both of you for starting this off! :)
I have only tried the face shop, but from what I've seen and heard I'd love to try more! The face shop stuff is really nice and affordable. The masks are nice and I have quite a few of them. Some of the products they have are quite unique and fun to try! I wish I lived in sydney, They have good promotions as well, like free gifts if you spend a certain amount.
Etude house has thr best eye primer. Comparable to the Too Face one but much cheaper. Also love their drawing eye brow pencil. Its the perfect grey brown for dark hair.
i second the eye primer recommendation. it's amazing! i can actually get my eyeshadow to last longer than 2 hours on me now!
Oh and Innisfree has great skincare. Love the wine jelly sleeping pack and Volcanic clay mask. Leneige also does a great water sleeping pack. Sleeping packs always make my face feel so hydrated in the morning without feeling heavy at all.
I really like Skin79 hot pink BB cream. Feels natural on the skin.
Missha M Perfect Cover BB cream is good too. It's full coverage and works well to hide blemishes and pigmentation.
I've also tried The Face Shop Volcanic Clay Black Head Clay Nose Pack. It's quite good. It goes on wet and goopy but dries to peel off easily. It's similar to the biore pore strip but In a non - strip form. It removes all the gunk and junk from my nose.
I like the sound of that Face Shop Volcanic Clay Black Head Nose pack. I just googled The Face Shop, there's a couple in the city. I'm going to check them out, thanks Sugar!
You're welcome, misfortune. I didn't know there's "face shops" in the city! I got mine from eBay.
It works well. I think because it's in a putty form it mounds to skin better than strips.
One in The Galeries Victoria (near Town Hall), one at Pitt St Mall & one out at Burwood Westfield. If any Sandgropers are interested, there's one in WA too, at Piccadilly Arcade, Perth.
depending on where you live, there's one at Chatswood Westfield now too!
I don't know if it's the same thing but I've seen videos on YouTube of people using this black gloopy blackhead remover on their nose that dries and you peel it off to get rid of blackheads. Is that the same thing? I can't remember the brands they were using or even if they were Korean.
Is it the Daiso one? It looks like this: http://www.makeupalley.com/product/showreview.asp/ItemId=127630/Daiso-Charcoal-Mask/Unlisted-Brand/Masks
Not the same brand but the exact same product! I was wondering if anyone has experiences with these blackhead removing masks! I'm a bit hesitant to try them because of mixed reviews and I also have sensitive skin.
There are quite a few 'The Face Shops' around Melbourne too.. They've got these awesome sheet masks that look like animal faces.. Let's just say my boyfriend didn't expect coming home to that haha. I love that Korean skincare combines novelty and amazing quality. I always find that most companies provide either quality or novelty but hardly ever both (with the exception of Soap and Glory and Benefit of course).
There is a brand named Faith in Face that has a very Soap and Glory feel, the same cute, funky pink packaging and some killer sheet masks that seriously everyone should try! They're like jelly rather than cotton masks and they stick really well. It's the lovechild of a Korean, British and Canadian skincare specialist team who put all their knowledge together so it's the best of all worlds.
Ha ha! Poor bh! I've got to get one of these!
Not sure about Mr. Horse Oil.... What part of the horse is the oil from?!
If I remember correctly, it's harvested from the base of the horse's tail after the horse has been slaughtered for the European meat industry. Sounds gross but lots of cosmetics ingredients are animal derived i.e. glycerin, proteins (aka. extracted from by-products from the meat industry), unless they are specified to come from a plant-based source.
Ah yep that makes sense Snailor Most things don't gross me out, just fascinates me... Who was the first person to try out these things... And why? Haha. Its good for us when they find an ingredient that works but what possessed them to try it out?
I've heard that said of the French too. Who was the first person to discover that frogs' legs were delicious? (& what the hell else did he try that didn't work out so well!)
I've used the three skin 79 bb cream in pink but unfortunately it looked very grey on me and i had to mix it with another yellow based foundation. However i still like it for the spf.
I also have the mishha cushion foundation at home which i have yet to open so hopefully that will match my skin better.
If you live in melbourne, there are s lot of Asian beauty stores in the cbd and box hill which sell a wide range of both Korean and Japanese beauty products. EBay is good too but sometimes i concern about their authenticity.
I loooove the masks, how awesome! The cuteness factor in some of their products is great, I have some cute tonymoly and Holika Holika prods like little cat compacts, rabbit lip balm, panda eye balm and now I see they have a cow hand cream which is super adorable. Wish I lived near CBD, hate being out in the boonies :( what I love most is that their ingredients are natural and lots of them, the Missha BB for example have a huge list of skin ingredients and my skin feels good when I wash it off, unlike when I wash it after normal foundation.
As for the fake factor buying on eBay I have found them to be good, I have lots of prods which I picked up in stores and so far haven't got any fakes from eBay they are identical to my store purchases. I know Korea doesn't have a fakes problem like China does, I notice there are lots of Chinese sellers of Korean products and I would never buy from them. I will make a list of the sellers I have been buying from, some are eBay some have direct websites.
Please share your eBay list!
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