Holika Holika Water March Moisture Green Full Cream Review

This week's review is of Holika Holika's Water March Moisture Green Full Cream for acne-prone skin.  It also comes in Pink for anti-aging.


Holika Holika (official website) is a sister brand of a larger prestige line from Korea, and is known for it's cute, whimsical, magic-themed motif.  The logo is a witch on a broom (apparently 'holika' means 'witch'), it's salespeople dress in purple and black, and it's packaging is often shaped like potions.  Albeit cutely.  It's sort of like Majolica Majorca's little sister in terms of style.

I will say that I have a lot of items from Holika Holika and I absolutely love their products.  The Water March cream was only the first of many.  I would love to show you my own nearly-empty jar, but this cream comes in a beautiful heavy glass jar.  I am sure you know how this story ends.   Onward to the review!




Details:
Full product name: Holika Holika Water March Moisture Green Full Cream
Purpose: Hydrating gel meant for acne-prone skin, with claims of sebum control, pore minimizing, healing scars, increase cell turnover, and skin smoothing
Texture: Gel, with small dots of cream.  Smoothes over the skin easily and sinks in quickly.  Leaves a thin film on the skin like a primer.
Scent: Mildly fragranced, with a "fresh" scent as opposed to floral or fruity.
Packaging: Heavy, thick-bottomed glass jar in an adorable box which was my undoing.  Do not give in to temptation to keep it in the box, it will fall through and shatter on your bathroom floor.  Just sayin'.  Comes with a spatula for hygiene.
Quantity:  120ml
Availability: Got a sample from prettyandcute.com then bought it in the full size, also available through various retailers online.
Rating: 4/5
Repurchase:  It's a perfect summer moisturizer, so next summer, yes!

Full review:

As you may know from reading my tragic tale of skincare woes, my skin does not play nicely with moisturizers, despite my desperate need for them.  Everything breaks me out, whether they are creams, gels, lotions, etc.  My first concern was to find something that would not clog my pores or cause reaction acne, and since it seemed impossible, I had give up on moisturizers and was hoping BB creams would save me.

How did I end up with this one?  I got mine from prettyandcute.com by accident.  A happy accident.  I had ordered every BB cream sample they had available in the 3 sample packs and since I had seen Holika Holika BB creams reviewed, and that's what I thought I was getting.

Instead, one of my sachets was this sample which, when I tore into it, was not a pigmented BB cream but a translucent cool-tinted gel with tiny white soft beads inside it.  I assumed it was one of those gimmicky BB creams that claim to match your skintone after you apply it by releasing pigment stored inside the cream via tiny white beads.  I was not enthused, because I just can't see that working unless you already match the pigment inside those beads, eh?

Anyway, I went head and vigorously rubbed it on my skin, but there was no colour change.  I was immediately suspicious that it was just a moisturizer that had gotten mixed into my sample packs.

I braced myself for the usual stinging, sunburned feeling I get from gels, or the disgusting heaviness that creams leave behind that turns me into an oil slick, but surprisingly my skin did neither.  The beads (if that's what they are, I suspect they're just dots of cream suspended in the gel) melted into my skin along with the gel, and left a smooth texture behind that reminded me of a primer.

That's the reason I can't give it 5/5 because it leaves behind a film which can be a pain in the ass if you are trying to apply makeup over it.  If you use a blender-type sponge or pat your BB cream/foundation over it without disturbing it too much, no problem.  If you plan to smooth your base over the skin with your hands or a brush, the Moisture Full Cream will ball up/peel off under your fingers and require you to take everything off and redo.

Other than that one quibble, this is a beautiful hydrating, light gel that is perfect for summer.  It never caused my skin to react, which was miraculous enough to make me purchase it in full-size.  It has a slight cooling sensation (not minty at all) which makes it a soothing summer choice.  It's definitely not heavy enough to work as a night mask or as a winter moisturizer, but if you have oily skin, it could be a great choice for you.  I found it helped with t-zone oil control without being drying, but it just wasn't heavy enough for my cheeks once we hit fall.

It also comes in pink which is supposed to be more moisturizing and suited to wrinkle care, as opposed to the green which is meant for acne-prone and oily skin.

I used this twice daily and it definitely improved the texture of my skin, making it softer and more firm, as well as less oily as my skin stopped trying to combat dehydration by overcompensating with oil.  Even using it generously 2x a day, it lasted me a long time until the day I picked up the box by the sides instead of taking the jar out of the box, and the bottom gave out.  You know those moments where you see something falling in slow motion but your brain can't process anything beyond uttering a cry of horror?  Yeah.  Amazingly, even though the side sheared off and shattered, the bottom is so thick that a good portion of the leftover cream was still inside untouched, and after examining the contents for glass particles with a paranoid eye, I carefully scraped it out and stuck it in a glass pop-top jar I liberally sanitized with rubbing alcohol.

Needless to say, I no longer leave things in their boxes.

Final thoughts:
A perfect moisturizer for oily and troubled skin, especially in the summer.  It definitely lives up to it's "soothing" claims, and did not cause breakouts for my highly reactive skin.  It's also very hydrating despite sitting so lightly on the skin, and kept my skin soft and smooth during the blisteringly hot desert summer.  I will definitely repurchase this next summer.

Leave me a comment below if you found this helpful, or if you have any questions!
All the best,
-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.

6 comments

  1. I have this moisturizer and love it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really is suited to us desert-dwellers, isn't it? It's so hydrating without becoming sticky or greasy, and it's so soothing for those acrid harsh summer days.

      Delete
  2. This is tempting, but since it's winter I'm afraid it won't be moisturizing enough for now. I'm currently on a mission for a heavier cream that won't clog my pores. I think I'll check out some other moisturizers in this brand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would definitely not use this as a winter moisturizer. I have a few reviews in the works for the winter moisturizers I am testing (including a Mizon one with snail filtrate in it, which I am LOVING, a Skin79 whitening cream to fade acne scars, and a hyaluronic cream from ElishaCoy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaluronan) so those reviews will be coming up!

      Delete
    2. Ooooh I eagerly await your reviews! I'll hold out to order a full size until you post them. Need to spread out the spending anyway!

      Delete
  3. As someone who has combination skin and can't handle a heavy duty moisturizer, this is exactly the kind of thing I am looking for! I love your tale of woe, dropping the jar because you wanted to keep it in the purdy box. That is soooo something that would happen to me! However, it's great that they use a quality glass jar, I think it'd be pretty sitting on my shelf in my bathroom. Right now I'm using Clinique's Dramatically Different Gel moisturizer but I am going to try this stuff out next. I'm definitely going to ask for the sample on my next P&C purchase.

    ReplyDelete