Dirge of Duds: Reviews of Mizon Almighty Cold Cream, Acence Blemish Control Gel, & Good Night White Sleeping Mask

This week I'm going to be doing something a little different, because different is interesting and St. Snail knows I need "interesting" to get through this backlog of products that need review.  Why the backlog?  Because they bored me.

It's really easy to write reviews of things that you either loved or hated, but it's a lot harder to review things that are on the scale of "didn't really like it" to "sorta bland."  I can summon the burning fires of bloggerly rage about things that my skin violently rejected, but mediocre is tough!

Today's batch of boring products: Mizon edition
Then I feel guilty for being so behind on reviewing things long since discarded or even emptied, but I can't bring myself to spend all weekend writing about something that doesn't interest me.  So here's the Dirge of Duds: a series of mini-reviews to clear the backlog of products that I mildly disliked, felt ambivalent about, tolerated, or had tepid feelings about them one way or the other.

In this post:
  • Mizon Acence Blemish Control Soothing Gel Cream Review
  • Mizon Good Night White Sleeping Mask Review
  • Mizon Almighty Cold Cream Cleansing & Massage Review

I'll be providing details, ingredients lists, and brief thoughts about each.  Onward to slay the Dragon of Dullness!


Mizon Acence Blemish Control Soothing Gel Cream Review

I managed to empty this a long, long time ago; in the days of the Great Poverty Related Blogging Hiatus of ... 2013?  I think?  Why do I still have the jar?  Because I emptied it and by golly, empties are like a currency of self-respect and accomplishment for bloggers.

I like Mizon.  I did not like this.
Product Details:

Full product name: Mizon Acence Blemish Control Soothing Gel Cream
Purpose: A light gel-type moisturizer specifically targeted for acne-prone skin.  Also intended to utterly confuse anyone trying to Google it, because 'Acence' is one of those words that defies all attempts to spell it.
Scent:  Imagine that someone made you a lemonade and added vodka and a twist of lemon to it.  Now imagine that they forgot the lemonade.  Please do not apply, or smell, this cream before operating heavy machinery.
Quantity: 50ml, which is not really much for a cream, to be honest.  Then again, it seemed to take quite a while to go through it, but that may have been temporary insanity brought on by the fumes, like the absinthe green fairy.
Rating: 2/5, because my face did not dislike it enough for me not to use it when I was pinching pennies and making do with what I had, and I emptied it, but I could feel my dermis silently judging me as it was awash in the skincare equivalent of a speakeasy twice a day.
Where to get it: If you aren't concerned about teetotaling pores, I got mine from RoseRoseShop: $11 with free shipping.  RRS usually has the best deals on Mizon + free shipping, you just pay $2.50 to track the entire order.
Amazon: $15-$18 some with, some without shipping | Ebay: $14 with free shipping
Repurchase:  Definitely not.

Ingredients:

According to Prettyandcute's product page, the ingredients are as follows:
Aqua, Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Butylene Glycol Hydroxyethyl, Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl, Taurate Coplymer, Glycerin, Divmethicone, Trehalose, Sodium Hyalouronate, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Salicylic Acid, Glycol Stearate, Cetearyl , Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Triclosan Beta-Glucan, Betulaplatyphyllajaponica Juice, Xanthan Gum, Bambusa Arundinacea Stem Extract, biosaccharide Gum-1 Rubus Idaeus )Rapsberry) Fruit Extract, Hydrolyzed Extensin, Caprica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract Rosa Hybrid Flower Extractm Propylene Glycolihedera Helix (Ivy) Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Pinus Pinaster, Bark Extract, Schizandra Chinesis Fruit Extract, Sodium Chloride, Disodium edta, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Fragrance
Well, that certainly explains a lot.  Here's the Cosdna analysis if you want to see the full breakdown of ingredients.

Thoughts:

Obviously, skincare is hugely "your mileage may vary" (YMMV) and this cream may be someone's Holy Grail so I don't want to bash it too harshly when it just simply didn't suit me.  It did not break me out, nor was it irritating enough to make me stop using it, but that's as much as I can say for it.

I don't agree with the "scorch the earth" tactics of western skincare's approach to acne, which often features very harsh ingredients that attempt to 'fight' acne with products that leave your skin dry, stripped, and miserable.  Asian skincare often favours a 'light but gentle' approach to acne care, so the Neutrogena-esque formulation of this gel surprised me.

It may really work for others, but that was just way too much alcohol even for me.


Mizon Good Night White Sleeping Mask Review

This product is a cult favourite, including among bloggers such as 50 Shades of Snail, because it's got niacinamide, has a hydrating, gel-type texture, and a light fragrance.

Available in jar or tube size
I'm not disagreeing with any of the above, either.  It does contain niacinamide, it does have a not-heavy, hydrating texture, and it doesn't have a strong fragrance.  And for me, that's it.  I'm utterly un-wowed by this product.

Product Details:

Full product name: Mizon Good Night White Sleeping Mask
Purpose: A gel-type sleeping mask (also called a 'pack') that is meant to be applied as a final step before bed for extra hydration as you sleep.  It sinks in overnight and is washed off when you cleanse your face in the morning.
Scent:  Very light, pleasant fragrance that fades very quickly.
Quantity: 50ml in tube size, 80ml in jar size.
Rating: 3/5, because there was nothing wrong with it.  It was ... serviceable.  Unoffensive.  There just wasn't anything exciting about it.
Where to get it: it's very readily available, and is quite cheap depending on where you get it.  The tube size is often cheaper per ml than the jar.
RoseRoseShop: $4 tube with free shipping (and the tracking.) | Amazon: $13 tube size, $16 jar size on Prime. | Ebay: $8 in tube size, $12 in jar size, with free shipping
Repurchase:  No, but if I received a care package or mystery box with it, I wouldn't gnash my teeth and rend my garments in rage.  I'd probably find someone to gift it to, because it's a solid product even if it's not compelling enough for me to want to pull something out of my testing schedule to make room for it.

Ingredients:

Per Peach and Lily's product page:
Aqua, cyclomethicone, butylene glycol, niacinamide, trehalose, glycerin, alcohol, dimethicone, sodium hyaluronate, polysorbate 20, ammonium acryloyldimethyltaurate/vp copolymer, triethanolamine, carbomer, sclerotium gum, broussonetia extract, morus alba bark extract, pantethine, placental protein, natto gum, biosaccharide gum-1, disodium edta, methyl paraben, propyl paraben, ci17200, ci42090, fragrance
So, while niacinamide is present, you can't actually trust that the placement of it indicates a high concentration of it, and I'd personally rather go hard with niacinamide via serums or even my prescription.  Here's the Cosdna link for those wanting to see how it stacks up there.

Thoughts:

Full disclosure: I don't like sleeping packs.  I am a side sleeper (my husband corrects: I am a side "octopus" as he usually wakes in the night being attacked by loops of arms, legs, and hair) so most of my sleeping pack ends up on my pillow.  Ergh.

Some people just lay awake on their backs until the mask absorbs, but I ain't got time for that.  If I have to lay down to wear it, sheet mask or mask pack alike, it's going to lose points/be unused.  In fact, I actually used this up by using it as sort of day pack or PM moisturizer, but it won't wear under makeup or sunscreen so unless you work from your at-home vampire cave as I do, that won't work for you.  Still, it hydrates and it's not greasy, so it succeeds at its intended purpose.


Mizon Almighty Cold Cream Cleansing & Massage Review

I wasn't thrilled by the Good Night sleeping pack because it didn't have enough Skincaretainment.  This product is the opposite; I was charmed by the packaging, the concept, the vintage appeal.  I just didn't like the product itself.

Just look at that lid!  Doesn't that just make you feel like a girl who watches movies in black and white?
Cold creams have fallen out of fashion, but up until my grandmother's generation, cold cream was a mainstay of one's beauty routine.  It was a cream cleanser to dissolve and remove the heavy makeup of the day, a massage pack to invigorate skin health, and a moisturizer.  Cold creams are thick, occlusive creams that have to be tissued off; they're too heavy and oily to be easily washed off until the majority has been wiped away.

Often cold creams would be applied for cleansing or massage, tissued off, and then a fresh layer of clean product would be applied to moisturize the skin.  The packaging very deliberately evokes that time period in the design, making it unlike any other Mizon product that I've seen.  I bought it hoping the cold cream would work as a 1st cleanser for me, but unfortunately it didn't suit my skin type.

The entire jar has this lovely vintage feel.
Product Details:

Full product name: Mizon Almighty Cold Cream Cleansing & Massage
Purpose: I covered this above, but it's a multi-purpose cream that works as a 1st cleanser, a massage cream, but I would not use it as a moisturizer because it can be a little irritating if on the skin too long.
Scent:  I didn't even realize I'd smelled cold cream before until I smelled this, and this scent memory came rushing up out of an unknown source and I instantly recognized it as the classic cold cream scent.  Perhaps a childhood memory of my grandmother?
Quantity: 200ml, which is huge!
Rating: 2.5/5, because it was a clogging nightmare and required the assistance of many tissues, a cleansing water, a foaming cleanser, a crowbar, a team of firemen, and a sherpa with a yak to get it back out of my pores.  Worked as a massage cream, but my clog-prone skin just wanted me to quit it and I wouldn't listen.  It was so pretty!
Where to get it: I got mine from RoseRoseShop: $12 with free shipping (and the tracking fee of course) | Amazon: $16 with free shipping, but not Prime. | Ebay: $13 with free shipping
Repurchase: No, but I would consider getting another massage cream if I could find one that worked for my skin. I just don't have a 'heavy occlusive friendly' kind of skin type, but that's not this product's fault.

Ingredients:

The ingredients were not anywhere I could find online, so through the powers of the Hwahae app and some wailing over my misfortune to friends who had it, I was able to get screenshots of the ingredients and enter them into Cosdna.
Aqua, Mineral Oil, Propylene Glycol, Isopropyl Palmitate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Octyldodecanol, Polysorbate 60, Beeswax, PEG-100 Stearate, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Dimethicone, Triethanolamine, Carbomer, Butylene Glycol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Rosa Hybrid Extract, Nelumbium Speciosum Flower Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Extract, Gypsophila Paniculata Root Extract, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Fragrance
I'm not sure what was in granny's cold cream, but I suspect a lot fewer ingredients.

Thoughts:

I kept putting this cold cream away for a while, taking it back out of the fridge, trying it out, feeling ambivalent toward it, putting it back.  I blamed my inability to keep it from clogging my pores on my skin (true) instead of just accepting this product wasn't for me (also true.)

This might really work for someone who has ultra dry skin with low sebum production and who finds most surfactant-type cleansers too stripping for their skin; but my skin is Combo-Oily and it's just not right for me.  It doesn't clean off my makeup and sunscreen particularly well, and it get stuck in my pores and causes breakouts.

I haven't given up on massage creams, but next time I will get one that is just a massage cream and not a multi-tasker; like many skincare products, I have found that it's better to do one job well than many jobs poorly.  That's the beauty of the Asian skincare approach, after all!

And with that, today's dirge is done!

Man, I feel so unburdened by finally getting these written.  Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more of these quick-and-dirty reviews of products that didn't stand out enough for their own review.

-Cat


**Disclaimer: All products reviewed/mentioned in my blog, are 100% purchased with my own money, with a single exception of a press sample I tested & reviewed in 2015 which swore me off of them forever.  This blog contains  both affiliate and non-affiliate links, and clicking the former before you shop means that this blog may receive a small commission to assist in this blog supporting itself.  Please see my Contact Info & Disclaimer policy for more information.

12 comments

  1. I'm glad popular bloggers also talk about things that didn't work for them. Most of the time, it's overwhelming to see one glowing review after another. Thanks!

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    1. I totally agree- it's good to see a range of responses in reviews, and balanced reviews. :)

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  2. As always excellent post!! Especially loved the vodka mention! I hate it when just smelling a product leads to a possible DUI! I have the Mizon mask and I am not impressed either! It is one of many non wow factor products that are currently cluttering up my bathroom cabinet

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    1. I LOL'd over the DUI. Indeed, I hate that. I hear you on the unexciting products cluttering up the place, I really should tie them to my hauls or something, like for every product I review, I can get a new one.

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  3. I am pretty damn sure the sleeping pack has been causing my extra CC's recently. I am quite a noob, but Mizon is one of the few popular brands that my skin just doesn't seem to be able to make friends with. None of their products I have tried, seem to be a good match. Goes to show the whole YMMV aspect of skincare, I guess.

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    1. Oh no! CCs? Do not want. I feel your pain; Missha skincare products don't seem to work for me despite them being popular. YMMV, you fickle beast.

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  4. It sucks the Sleeping Mask didnt work that great for you! But anyway, thanks for this awesome post! (as always hehe) <3 ~ ~

    chibidream3r.blogspot.com

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    1. It's okay, it just means that there are more good products out there, waiting for me to discover them, right? ;)

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  5. Thanks for the forewarning on the cold cream! And to think, I was tempted by a few when online shopping yesterday...it's definitely refreshing to hear about the things that didn't work out for certain skin types so a big thank you. ^_^

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    1. Cold creams may really work for some people, I think some of the ultra-dry skin types I know use them, but don't quote me on that. It could just be cream cleansers I'm thinking of.

      And I love hearing about things that didn't work for people, and why, too! :D

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  6. I have a Mizon White Sleeping Mask and it's working great for me.^^ I have many dark spots and they're fading a lot faster!

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    1. I am glad it's working for you :) It's definitely one of those things that works well for many people.

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