I’ve been accumulating empties to review for you all for a few months now and as I promised I’m here to deliver my thoughts! I’ll be sharing my opinion as to which ones I liked best and which you might want to pass on. Keep reading to find out my favourites!
Products I’ve Finished:
Yousha: Double Sided 96% Cotton Pads CLEANSERS
Regardless if I’m wearing makeup or not, I always double cleanse at night. I start with an oil cleanser and then finish with a normal cleanser plus my Vanity Planet Ultimate Facial Cleansing System. In my previous post I brought up how I just finished using my second bottle of Ponds Cold Cream, since then I switched over to The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Light Cleansing Oil. I found the oil to be much more gentle on the skin, as well, it has a lighter consistency than Ponds; I only wish I discovered this in the summer as it would have been better to use it then.
The Aritaum Real Pure Cleansing Foam Moisture was my first time using a foaming cleanser compared to a gel cleanser and I surprisingly enjoyed the way my skin has reacted to it. In the beginning, I found it dried out my skin when I was using the Ponds Cream but now that I switched to The Face Shop I noticed my skin doesn’t feel like it’s stripped of its natural oils. Or, it could just be that my skin has adjusted to the cleanser? As for scent, the Aritaum Real Pure Cleansing Foam Moisture has a bit of a medicinal smell to it, the best thing to compare it to would be Proactive (don’t ask why I know what it smells like, ha-ha) but overall nothing to distinct that would make you not want to use this product.
In the morning I follow up with COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser. When using this product I love how gentle the cleanser is on my skin, I don’t feel like I have to work it very hard in my hands to get it to foam up. I also love how I don’t break out as often, I normally would break out right before I get my period but since I started using this daily I find my skin doesn’t break out as much as it normally would. I haven’t bothered to check if they have travel sized products but it has never bothered me to bring everything with me when I travel.
In my opinion, with my oily, combination skin I liked the way the Aritaum Real Pure Cleansing Foam Moisturecleansed my skin and the COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser is perfect for all skin types and especially those with sensitive or oily skin, I would definitely repurchase. Lastly, we have my favourite, exfoliating. I make sure to exfoliate 2-3 times a week. I like to switch between my St.Ives Apricot and the Secret Key Lemon Sparkling Peeling Gel, and between the two I find it really helps to remove the dead skin and sebum. My nose is always the first place that is noticeably smoother after using it, I find the chemical peel is great to use to once or twice a week for beginners as your skin is still adjusting to the product. My face used to tingle a little when I first started testing this peeling gels but that only lasted about a week and then it went away. TONERS & ESSENCE
I’ve always been the one to use a toner. Over the years, I noticed how my skin has always felt so much softer after using it! For a couple of years I used to make my own toner with Witch Hazel and Tea Tree Oil, but since I started using the Secret Key Aloe Soothing Moist Toner and I love how amazing my skin feels. It has a light aloe smell to it but most importantly, I’ve begun to even notice a difference since I started using it. My face used to have fine lines around my eyes and forehead and since then the lines have begun to fade.
In the evening I use my Son & Park Beauty Water and sometimes for an extra boost I’ll follow up with my Secret Key Toner. I really love the Son & Park Beauty Water and truly do believe it’s worth the hype! Some days I’ll use the Yousha Double Sided 96% Cotton Pads and since I discovered these, my life has been complete! These cotton pads are so much softer than your typical cotton pads from the drug store. With these pads, not only can you use them take off makeup sensitive areas like your eyes but you can soak them in your toner and use it as a mini face mask. What I really love about this cotton pad is that the cotton fibres don’t stick to your face, I’m not sure what technology they use to make this but I’ve never been happier to find them!
I personally really like both toners and would repurchase again but one thing I noticed about the Secret Key Toner is that it’s very light so it’s perfect if you want to layer your toner. But in my opinion, I would probably only use this during the summer.
Essence is new to me, I never knew something like this even excited until I was introduced into the K-Beauty World. The idea itself seems so foreign to me, but since I welcomed Essence into my life I have never been able to look my skincare routine the same. Secret Key has a Starting Treatment Essence, which is perfect for beginners. After using the product for a little over two months now I realized how smooth my skin looks with this product. The Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence: Rose Edition was the first essence I tried and while testing it out, I did love how my skin began to look younger, the fine lines we fading, and my under eyes began to brighten! At that point, I had decided I could never go without my precious essence! It because of my saviour! Since then I finished my bottle and repurchased two more bottles, only this time I got the regular Starting Treatment, and although it has only been about a week I feel like I preferred the Rose Edition. SERUMS & TREATMENTS
Serums and treatments are my favourite products. I’m obsessed with the COSRX Centella Blemish Ampule, as some of you may know I recently posted an Instagram story about my love for this product. Since I introduced this into my skincare I noticed an immediate reaction! It helped clear my skin, my dark spots and circles started to fade! Never in my life have I ever used something that has worked as well as this! I was so surprised; I had to post about it! The main ingredient is Centella Asiatica and it is known for its powerful anti-aging properties, fade blemishes, and improve elasticity! I can’t wait to buy a second bottle!
I normally only use serums at night so my skin has the time to absorb the serum, and by the time I wake up, I always notice how much brighter my skin looks in the morning. In the event I do break out I always use my COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch, it always works wonders for my acne and I only need to wear for about a day or two and in no time my pimple has not only reduced in size but the swelling and redness is gone too! I also raved about this in an Instagram story because I just had to let you all know how amazing this is! After finishing one pack I ran to pick up some more, now I have two more packs and I couldn’t be happier! Luckily I haven’t broken out much so I haven’t needed to use them but I gave one to a friend who turned out to love them as well!
After finishing the COSRX AmpuleI moved onto the Mizon Snail Repair Intensive Ampoule. Between the two I can’t decide which I like better. Both are pretty much at the top of my list. The Mizon Snail Repair Intensive Ampoulereally helped add moisture into skin; I noticed it was fantastic for my dark spots and circles. In my opinion, anyone with acne or looking to add a natural glow to their skin would love using either of these products. Since I began using them I started receiving a lot of compliments on my skin and how clear it looks!!
CREAMS & LOTIONS
TonyMoly has the cutest product packing but the cream I got had a simple design to it. TonyMoly The Chok Chok Green Tea Watery Cream has exactly what it promised. The cream was more of a gel texture and left a bit of an oily residue on my skin. Granted it did help add moisture to my skin but overall I probably wouldn’t repurchase this product. I’m not even sure if I would like it during the winter just because the cream also felt a like it was just sitting on my skin, which I didn’t like at all.
So of course, I switched over to Simple Hydrating Light Moisturizer, I always liked how my skin reacted to it and felt I could always trust Simple to do exactly what I needed from them. Until I noticed I began to form whiteheads around my nose and could only narrow it down to the fact that I wasn’t putting enough moisture to my skin.
So then I purchased the Mizon All In One Snail Repair Cream, and really started to notice a change in my skin. The All In One Repair Cream is probably one of my favourite evening moisturizers if you have oily combo skin that doesn’t clog pores!The COSRX Natural BHA Skin Returning Emulsionis perfect when layered with a thicker lotion on top. My personal favourite is the Innisfree The Minimum Moist Cream, these two have really helped soften my skin!
As for eye cream, the first one I tested was the It’s Skin Collagen Nutrition Eye CreamI didn’t notice anything different than if I weren’t to use anything, so I promptly swept it out for Its Skin Power 10 Formula with Yeast Polypeptidesand Its Skin Power 10 Formula with GF-Mixture. These two were fantastic! I never thought I would see that day that I fell in love with an eye cream but since I got them I really noticed how important eye cream is in your skincare. I used to joke that my under eye bags had bags, and since I started using both products daily (GF during the day and Yeast at night) my eyes really started to brighten up!
Lastly, we have sunscreen, now this may sound funny to some but I never understood the sunscreen, I knew people used it during the summer so they don’t burn. But as a person of colour, I never thought once that I should be wearing sunscreen as well! After doing some research I found out that part of the reason why I have dark circles and spots was from hyperpigmentation and by not using sunscreen I was just asking for them to get worse! It essentially darkens the areas, which caused me to look tired, and sick.
The first Sunscreen I tested was the Holika Holika Moisture Sun Gel SPF 50+ PA++++and again, I felt it was too heavy and thick for my skin. So since then, I opted it out for the Holika Holika Mild Sun Lotion SPF 50+ PA++++and since then I love how well this product works not to mention it doesn’t leave a white cast!
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