Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kit #4 - Normal, Hyperpigmented, & Aging Kit

The last post of the Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kits for 4 Skin Types series is here!

This week's kit is in honour of my mother-in-law (and aunt-in-law) who I've been slowly luring into K-Beauty over the years-- she had a nonexistent routine and a very unfussy approach to self-care, so it's been all about baby steps.  That is, until she realized the products I've been gifting her have been fading the sun/dark/age spots she's started to develop in the last few years, and now she's on board.  I'm now working on my aunt-in-law; soon she too will be serum-ing and sheet masking with abandon! *shakes determined fist at the sky*

Left: simple. Right: eeeeek!  Both are examples of the daily routines I post on Instagram.

As a reminder, the products and routines in this series are actual routines and care packages that I've put together for actual real people (not usually all at once) as gifts or recommendations if they've expressed interest in my hobby.  I am not a medical professional and I am not 'recommending' things as a treatment for others; this is me letting you all behind the scenes into what I personally gave as gifts, etc, for personal friends and family.

In this series:

All starter kits will feature 5 items or less, what they're for, and how to use them.  All lovingly selected with thought and care, because when I make kits for my friends and family, it's a box o' love.  Obviously not everything works for everyone, patch testing is necessary, etc etc.  (Two weeks between new products!)  These are just my personal picks.

• Starter Kit # 1: My college-age friend with oily, acne-prone skin (link here)
• Starter Kit # 2: My college-age friend with dry, stressed skin (link here)
• Starter Kit # 3: My mother's sensitive, dehydrated, aging skin kit (link here)
• Starter Kit # 4: My mother-in-law's normal, hyperpigmented, aging kit (you are here!)

• Bonus Kit if I haven't thrown myself off a cliff from creating all these visual (yes, visual) kits:  My personal kit if my house burned down and I had to start over with nothing but Amazon gift cards, which won't be simple, less than 5 items, or anything else straightforward.  No promises. Done! K-Beauty on Amazon: Rebuilding a 15+ Step Routine if My Stash Caught on Fire

Once these posts are live, I will link them above.  Done! As I mentioned in the original post, these items will be from Amazon for accessibility reasons as a counterpoint to the more internationally-focused From Beginner to Expert Mode: Where I Buy K-Beauty & Asian Cosmetics post.  K-Beauty should be accessible and affordable for everyone; it might have a steeper learning curve at first but it's not a pretentious, elitist thing and there's options for everyone no matter your taste or budget.

Accessibility is an ongoing theme in discussions with the podcasters of The Snailcast and my decision to create this series inspired by the amazing K-Beauty routine that Tracy of Fanserviced-b posted for normal skin types, which you can check out here: Easy Starter K-Beauty Skincare Routine for $100 on Amazon.

My mother-in-law has normal, non-reactive skin that does not require any products to stay balanced; she has been doing a simple soap-wash-in-the-shower for years and only started exploring skincare when I explained it could help fade the hyperpigmentation spots she was getting from a lifetime of not using sunscreen.

Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kit #2 - Dry & Stressed Skin Type

Here's the second installment of my Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kits for 4 Skin Types series, where I share the actual suggestions/gift selections/starter care packages I have selected for 4 real people as their beginner's intro to Korean beauty products.

Historically, I've avoided recommending specific products for my readers (and still do) as I'm not licensed to be giving skincare advice and I'm very adverse to veering into Dr. Internet territory, but I realized that even though I can't recommend products to people, I can share the products that I've assembled as starter packages for K-Beauty beginners in my life.  By that I mean my family and friends who continually get beauty products for their birthdays and holiday gifts as I attempt to get them hooked on the good stuff.  I'll get my mother into snails one of these days, mark my words!

This week I will be sharing Starter Kit #2, which was for a college-age friend with dry, stressed skin who needed something simple that would give her a huge boost in moisturization without interrupting her studying and would also soothe her skin.

Left: simple. Right: eeeeek!  Both are examples of the daily routines I post on Instagram.

I've been pleasantly surprised at how much people seemed to like the first kit (link here: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kit #1 - Oily & Acne-Prone Skin Type) but as fellow Snailcaster Fiddy of Fifty Shades of Snail pointed out, sometimes it's easy for skincare nerds like us to forget that not everyone is a skincare hobbyist.  (I actually wrote an entire post about having skincare as a hobby, in fact!)   I tend to shy away from simple, because the endless possibilities in customization is what excites me about K-Beauty, but it's a good reminder that not everyone feels that way!

Making K-Beauty more accessible is something The Snailcast discusses quite a bit (our podcast episodes frequently touch on this topic as a recurring theme) and this series was inspired by the excellent example routine that Tracy of Fanserviced-b posted: Easy Starter K-Beauty Skincare Routine for $100 on Amazon for normal skin types.

In this series:

All starter kits will feature 5 items or less, what they're for, and how to use them.  All lovingly selected with thought and care, because when I make kits for my friends and family, it's a box o' love.  Obviously not everything works for everyone, patch testing is necessary, etc etc.  These are just my personal picks.

• Starter Kit # 1: My college-age friend with oily, acne-prone skin (link here)
• Starter Kit # 2: My college-age friend with dry, stressed skin (you are here!)
• Starter Kit # 3: My mother's sensitive, dehydrated, aging skin kit (link here)
• Starter Kit # 4: My mother-in-law's normal, hyperpigmented, aging kit (link here)

• Bonus Kit if I haven't thrown myself off a cliff from creating all these visual (yes, visual) kits:  My personal kit if my house burned down and I had to start over with nothing but Amazon gift cards, which won't be simple, less than 5 items, or anything else straightforward.  No promises. Done! K-Beauty on Amazon: Rebuilding a 15+ Step Routine if My Stash Caught on Fire

Once these posts are live, I will link them here.  Done!  As I mentioned in the original post, these items will be from Amazon for accessibility reasons as a counterpoint to the more internationally-focused From Beginner to Expert Mode: Where I Buy K-Beauty & Asian Cosmetics post.

Time for soothing skincare!

Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kit #1 - Oily & Acne-Prone Skin Type

Earlier this week I mentioned that I was going to be doing a series of K-Beauty Starter Kits, which sounds all fancy and deliberate, when in fact it's a matter of me telling you all about actual starter routines that I have given (or recommended) to real, live people.  Although I still can't recommend a product for you, nor can I give you specific advice as I would need a license for either, I can, and I am, going to share with you the care packages I have made for family and friends to introduce them to K-Beauty.

I want to get them hooked on my skincare obsession, but beginners want a routine that looks like the leftmost routine in the background of this image, not the rightmost:

Left: simple. Right: eeeeek!  Both are examples of the daily routines I post on Instagram.

As I mentioned in the last post, this idea was inspired by the discussions The Snailcast has been mulling over on how difficult it is to simplify something that is endlessly customizable.  Tracy of Fanserviced-b posted a fantastic Easy Starter K-Beauty Skincare Routine for $100 on Amazon, and I hope to build on that by giving examples of starter routines I have given actual people.

Let me recap last week's post explaining how came to a place where I'm comfortable with talking specifics, since that's a thin line:

I still can't make recommendations for you.  (No, seriously, I can't.  No blogger can.)  But, if you'd like to see what I would personally select and put into a "routine in a box" for my personal friends and family members who are interested in this skincare obsession of mine but can't be bothered with all the research and customization and ordering things from Korea.  I can hear my mother now: "This is too fussy, I'd rather just mix up simple things in my kitchen." NO, mom!  Not unless you actually have a background in science when you're DIYing skincare like Chel of Holysnails, please just ... let me send you some stuff.  In a box.  You don't even have to do any work, just use them in the order I put on the letter, ok? 

Then I realized ... if I can pick things to put in a box for my mother and others, and in fact have already done so, why can't I share them with my readers?  After all, I am not recommending that people buy these products to treat a skin condition, I'm just sharing what would go in my care package for that person, based on their general skin type, needs, and most importantly, are simple.  All of the kits will have 5 items or less!

Lemme tell you right now, the 5 item limit is tough when a routine can easily have 15-20 steps in it.  I am determined to stick to it, though, because although are limitless places that you can take your customization, it's good to start simple first.

In this series:

All starter kits will feature 5 items or less, what they're for, and how to use them.  All lovingly selected with thought and care, because when I make kits for my friends and family, it's a box o' love.  Obviously not everything works for everyone, patch testing is necessary, etc etc.  These are just my personal picks.

• Starter Kit # 1: My college-age friend with oily, acne-prone skin (you are here!)
• Starter Kit # 2: My college-age friend with dry, stressed skin (link here)
• Starter Kit # 3: My mother's sensitive, dehydrated, aging skin kit (link here)
• Starter Kit # 4: My mother-in-law's normal, hyperpigmented, aging kit (link here)

• Bonus Kit if I haven't thrown myself off a cliff from creating all these visual (yes, visual) kits:  My personal kit if my house burned down and I had to start over with nothing but Amazon gift cards, which won't be simple, less than 5 items, or anything else straightforward.  No promises. Done! K-Beauty on Amazon: Rebuilding a 15+ Step Routine if My Stash Caught on Fire

Once these posts are live, I will link them here.  Done!  As I mentioned in the original post, these items will be from Amazon for accessibility reasons as a counterpoint to the more internationally-focused From Beginner to Expert Mode: Where I Buy K-Beauty & Asian Cosmetics post.

Let's get going with the first one, for my college-age friend with oily, acne-prone skin!

2015 in Review, Part I: My Favourite K-Beauty Products of 2015

This year has been definitely been an exciting time for K-Beauty and Asian beauty product fans; long-time fans have seen what was originally a grassroots niche become mainstream.  We've seen the advent of products carried in Sephora, Amazon, and other major retailers, regularly featured in major magazines like Vogue and Allure, and even book releases on the subject- K-Beauty and AB (Asian beauty products) has really come into its own this year, and it's the time of year for 'best of' posts, so here's mine!

The amazing scent of this wreath makes up for the needles everywhere.  Mostly.

There will be two parts to this post, the first a light-hearted rundown of products, and the second a more reflective discussion of the themes, concepts, tips, trends, etc, of 2015.

In this post: Favourite Products of 2015

• Favourite Cleansers of 2015

• Favourite First cleanser

• Favourite Foaming Cleanser

• Favourite Travel Cleanser

• Favourite Cleansing Tool & Honourable Mention

• Favourite Acne & Anti-Aging Products of 2015

• Favourite Skincare of 2015

• Favourite Toner

• Favourite Essences

• Favourite Serum

• Favourite Cream (and overall top pick for 2015!)

• Favourite Sheet Masks

• Favourite Sunscreen

• Favourite Makeup of 2015

• Favourite Base Makeup

• Favourite Lip Product

The more serious-toned Part II is here: 2015 in Review, Part II: My Favourite K-Beauty Tips, Concepts, & Trends of 2015, and includes:

• K-Beauty goes mainstream: does it have to be Korean to be K-Beauty?
• The most influential concepts of 2015
• Healthy habits: things I adopted and let go of in 2015, for the better
• Top tips from 2015: things that made my life easier
• Trends I loved in 2015 and will continue to love in 2016

It should go without saying that this is just my personal list of top picks; please don't be offended if your favourite isn't here!  This year has seen a lot of interesting developments beyond just the products, so rather than just focus on the tangible products, I'll also be giving a shout-out to the intangible developments that excited me the most in Part II- now finished and linked above.

A Haul Before the Storm: Eye candy, Details, First Impressions, & some Mini Reviews

Something is coming, which I will be posting about in the future, but today is not that day.  Today is a day for happy things like hauls, and even better, hauls with friends.

Today's post will include not one, but two hauls, including one that was a joint haul with a friend with impeccable taste; seeing other people's goodies is sometimes even more delicious than getting your own.

Here's the one from Club Clio:

Awww yeah, so much Goodal goodness!

And here is my half of the KoreaDepart group order:

All the colours!

I'll be posting her half of the KoreaDepart order when we can snag some photos, so keep an eye out for updates.

In this post:

Club Clio:

• What I purchased
• Why I bought it
• First impressions & mini reviews

KoreaDepart:

• What I purchased
• Why I bought it
• First impressions & mini reviews

I won't be doing impressions/mini reviews of everything, as I have a methodical testing schedule that you can read more about here, but many of these are repurchases that won't get a full review.

Updated Multi-Step Korean Skincare Routine Summer 2015: Sheet Masks Galore

Today I'm finally posting the Summer version of my routine, as a follow-up to my in-depth discussion of the Korean multi-step skincare approach post which includes all my Winter/Spring 2015 products ... all 30 of them.

Even though scorching, sticky summer has arrived, the guidelines of thinking in steps, not products, how to add in or remove additional products, and their order of use have not changed, but as always my skincare has shifted to match the season.

Even though there are quite a few products here, this is a far cry from the 30+ in my Winter/Spring routine here.

However, just as I mentioned in the Winter/Spring routine, I use only a few products per day, and tailor my selections to how my skin is feeling ... but let's be blunt here.  I barely use anything these days, because it's TOO DAMN HOT.

As I mentioned in the post: Science Meets K-Beauty Wisdom: How Keeping Cool May Be Good for Your Skin, temperatures here are climbing rapidly and when it gets hot enough that I'm peeling off my office chair with the sound of duct tape being ripped off the roll, I don't want to do a full routine.

In this post:

• It's too hot for layers
• My AM & PM routines
• Cleansers
• Actives 
• Hydrators
• Top 3 Summer Sheet Masks
• Occlusives
• Treatments/Sunscreen

So, here's the updated version of what my Summer 2015 routine is looking like these days!

April Favourites & Upcoming Sheet Mask Roundup

This week I'll be doing something a little more casual and conversational, so if you're not into that or are more interested in seeing reams of sheet mask recaps, stay tuned for next week!

As I mentioned at the end of last week's giant two-part megapost which was a breakdown of the basic steps in a multi-step Asian skincare routine in Part I, and a detailed explanation of the products I use and what order they go in in Part II, I'd be skipping anything too strenuous this weekend.  I needed to recover from the 18-hour writing marathon (not including an entire prior weekend of photo taking) and I decided to do something fluffy and fun this weekend!

Oh Evercos Hanbang Masks, I love you so.  May you always have a place in my sheet mask stash.

I'm not normally one to do 'monthly favourites' because for one, I test things really slowly so I rarely have a lot of products to talk about at once, for another I dislike casual reviews, and lastly I just never gravitate towards those kinds of posts myself so it never occurs to me to do them.

In this post:

• My favourites for April
• Upcoming reviews and testing schedule
• Upcoming recap of my Sheet Mask mini-reviews (normally found on Instagram)

Multi-Step Korean Skincare Routine: Winter/Spring 2015, Part II: Current Products

In Part I, we looked at the basic steps that make up a multi-step Asian routine, and how I customize my routine based off how my skin is feeling.  

I also mentioned that you don't have to use Asian products, although I have found that Asian products are best suited to a multi-step routine.  Multitaskers are actually not always a good thing; sometimes you want the right tool for the job.

It's a rabbit hole, though, because sometimes you find yourself wanting a cream for oily days, one for normal days, and one for dry days, and then maybe a mist for a little extra hydration, and that whitening serum looks promising, and you haven't found an oil cleanser that works for you just yet, and the next thing you know, your daily lineup options look like this:

It's just as terrifying the second time, isn't it? (Click image for large size)

So do you really need all of that?  Of course not.  But it is possible to use it all and make your skin happy by doing so, as long as you only use what your skin actually needs, and you don't open more products than you can actually use up in 3-6 months.  (So says skin goddess Go Hyun Jung, if you google image search her, you'll see why I listen to her wisdom.)

In this post:

• Visuals of my current products/their order of use (pt. I)
• My actual base routine (pt. I)
• How I add in optional steps (pt. I)
• Think 'steps', not 'products' (pt. I)
• My current product lineup for each step (pt. II)

Multi-Step Korean Skincare Routine: Winter/Spring 2015

You may have heard about the multi-step skincare routine popular in Asia, particularly where women (or men, for that matter) can use anywhere from 10-20 products in a single day.

This is a really challenging concept for westerners, because we are taught not to overload our skin, that excess products are actually harmful, less is more, etc.  Indeed, you might look at this image of all the products I potentially might use in a day, and be horrified:

Behold the fearsome product line-up of my Winter/Spring 2015 routine! (Click image for large size)

Before you panic or decide I am crazy, there are two things to keep in mind: 1. the key word here is "potentially" meaning I don't use them all at once, and 2. the Asian skincare philosophy is all about customization.
  

My daily routine is actually quite simple (I promise) but I have a huge range of products I may potentially add in depending on the weather, what I'm going to be doing that day, but most importantly, what my skin feels like it needs.

In this post:

• Visuals of my current products/their order of use (pt. I)
• My actual base routine (pt. I)
• How I add in optional steps (pt. I)
• Think 'steps', not 'products' (pt. I)
• My current product lineup for each step (pt. II)

Review: Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream; a Hidden Gem

I'm so excited to post this review!  One of the criticisms I hear about Asian beauty blogs is that it tends to be the same products over and over, and that there can be a bit of an 'echo chamber' that triggers mass bandwagoning of a single product that everyone writes about, while obscure treasures languish undiscovered and unloved.

The tricky thing is, unless you speak Korean and are plugged into the Korean blogging world, it can be difficult to catch wind of new trends/products while they're still in the developing stage.  Sometimes, you just have to take a gamble with your wallet (and your skin) and hope for the best.

A lot of the time it doesn't work out, which leaves you with a drawer full of discarded products (I recently decanted mine and sent them off to friends [link to post], so they'd have new homes) but sometimes ... sometimes magic happens.

Like this 크라클팩토리 Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream:

Be still, my heart.  Not only is the packaging gorgeous, but the cream ... well, you'll see.

Normally, I like to use products for months before reviewing them, and as of this blog post, I have only been using this cream for 23 days**.  So why I am reviewing it so early?  Well for one, I've already completed my two-week 'isolation' testing period where I introduce a new product in isolation to measure skin reactions, for another I'm just so in love with this cream that I have to talk about it, and lastly my friends are really tired of hearing me babble about it and are demanding to see the review already.  (For more on my testing schedule, click here.)

** rest assured, months later and a second third fifth+ jar purchased, I still love it!

I should add that my expectations of a cream are pretty minimal: it should provide sustained hydration without becoming greasy, absorb easily into the skin, be pleasant to apply and wear, not have an offensive fragrance, and most importantly, not break me out.  Er.  Well I suppose that's actually a pretty picky list!

In this post:

• Product details
• Where and why I purchased it
• Ingredients analysis
• Packaging translations
• Swatches to show the unusual texture
• Final thoughts

This post may feature some terrible love poetry, I'm just warning you now.

The Hanbang Set Project, Part V: The End has Come - Reviews, Swatches, and Final Thoughts

At last, here's the final installment of my February special project aka My Adventures with the Mysterious Hanbang (한방) Buyonghwa Jeonghyo set.  It's been a crazy month, with hours spent every day working on this project: transcribing, translating, researching, slamming my head on my desk, and drinking copious amounts of fermented Vitis vinifera.

The flash of my camera got realllly excited here.  Maybe it liked the shiny lids?

In this post:

• Recap of the project
• Reviews and photos of each product
• pH testing results
• Swatches to show texture
• Final Thoughts

I have mixed feelings about the end of this project; on the one hand, I am sad that I will no longer be using this gorgeously-packaged set (I'm keeping the jars, but will be decanting some for friends and family to try, so the leftover product will not go to waste), but on the other hand, I'm eager to get back to an unrestricted, customized skincare routine tailored to my skin's problem areas.

For someone who is accustomed to having a wide range of products to choose from on a daily basis, depending on how my skin feels that day, it was definitely a little stifling to limit myself to a single line.

That being said, it was very novel to try a full line that was designed to be used together and it's something I've always wanted to try!

Haulpocalypse 2014: My Wallet Ends, Haulzilla Begins.

Well guys, it's been 3 months in the making, but the final piece of HAULZILLA has arrived, and it is finally ready to post!  Haulzilla is  a terrifying mutant comprised of multiple sellers, packages, and late night cart hoarding.

It's been growing slowly over time, and my living room has been a wreckage of boxes, bubble wrap, and packing peanuts for a very long time.  I squirrel away a small amount of money each paycheque for discretionary spending, but my beauty fund is currently a smoking ruin.

Somehow it looks even larger in person, I swear.

Please note before we start breaking down the components of this behemoth:

• This is a collection of many hauls, including things I have completely emptied and repurchased.  I do not normally buy multiples of products unless they're a staple and I'm tired of overpaying for emergency resupplies.
• I only ever introduce one new product at a time, and I don't open things until I am ready to start using it.
• I test it for at least two weeks minimum before introducing another product
• I test things for a minimum of a month before I review them, sometimes longer if I feel I need to put it aside and come back to it later, or combine it with different things to gauge its effects
• In the case of whitening items, you need 3-6 months of testing to gauge its effects.

It also takes me weeks, if not months, to build a large haul; I research things exhaustively, I consider if there is a 'gap' in my routine a product will fill or if it's redundant, I discuss it with people, I meditate on it.  Ok, my meditation involves long hours of browsing Korean sites with the aid of Google Translate, but the point is, I don't act fast.

In fact, as you will see, quite a few things are repurchases as I completely emptied several products and had to replace them while Haulzilla was ... hatching.

Lioele Waterdrop Sleeping Pack Review

This week we're going to review a "water drop" product, specifically the Lioele Waterdrop Sleeping Pack.  Sleeping packs are a sort of wash-off mask type that you apply before you sleep and wash off in the morning.

It's also a "water drop" type of product, which literally beads up into water droplets on your skin.  To be honest, I am not really sure what the point of having water drops form on the surface of your skin, because I don't see how that is supposed to help retain moisture inside your skin.  So it seems really gimmicky to me, but I promised myself I would test it in both winter and summer conditions before I made a decision.

So here's the review!

Nature Republic Aloe Vera 92% Soothing Gel Review

This week's review was featured in last week's airless pump bottle Demo, so here's the review of the Nature Republic Aloe Vera 92% Soothing Gel, just in time for summer!

This product is meant to be an all-over gel for soothing and cooling skin that is hot from either irritation or from exposure to heat.  Aloe Vera was something we always had growing up when I was a kid, and in the event of a burn (or sunburn) my mother would break off a leaf and rub the cool slimy inside of the leaf on my skin for instant relief and to promote healing.

Read on for the review of this old-timey remedy in a new and refined form!

Mizon Multi Function Formula Snail Recovery Gel Cream Review

This week's review has been a long time coming, but here it is at last: my one, my only, my true beauty love: the Mizon Multi Function Formula Snail Recovery Gel Cream aka The Precious.

Snow White + Snail Gel = <3 4ever

You've heard me talk about it before, but like the mythical unicorn, it was always alluded to without details.  Well, the wait is over!  Let's do this!

Skincare Discovery: Layering Multiple Products Part 2

In Part 1 we  talked about the techniques of layering skincare regardless of which products you use:

Part 1 contents:

• It's not always about the products you have, sometimes it's the way you use them
• Buy skincare, not makeup
• Application: pat, tap, or press to apply instead of rubbing
• Layer several different products, instead of an all-in-one product
• Layer 'fat over lean', like a oil painter

Onward to discussing products designed for layering so you avoid the pitfalls of over-moisturizing!

In this post:

• Sometimes more is more, when it comes to the number of products
• You can and should build your own custom lineup
• Examples of Brand lineups
• Example of a custom lineup

Skincare Discovery: Layering Multiple Products Part 1

This week in lieu of a review, I had planned to discuss a technique for applying moisturizer which had been completely alien to me called a "moisture bomb" or "skin bomb" or even "water bomb", although the latter is also used to describe specific products that are meant to accomplish the same effect.

*pat pat* Woooaaah moisture ~explosion~

However, I'll be posting about moisture bombs another day, because in order to understand why they are great, you first have to be familiar with how different the Asian skincare philosophy is from what we are used to, and it's made me a total convert because it's working better for me than anything else I've ever tried.

Part 1 contents (you are here!):

• It's not always about the products you have, sometimes it's the way you use them
• Buy skincare, not makeup
• Application: pat, tap, or press to apply instead of rubbing
• Layer several different products, instead of an all-in-one product
• Layer 'fat over lean', like a oil painter

Part 2 contents (link):

• Sometimes more is more, when it comes to the number of products
• You can and should build your own custom lineup
• Examples of Brand lineups
• Example of a custom lineup

Onward to discussing products designed for layering so you avoid the pitfalls of over-moisturizing!

ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Cream and ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Essence Review

This week's review is double feature of ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Cream and the matching ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Essence.  I'm doing both at the same time because I just want this duo of colossal failure out of my bathroom and out of sight/mind.

I had purchased them in in a set, because I had been searching for a snail filtrate cream to replace my Skin79 White Reviving cream, and I was looking for a serum to boost hydration on my skin.  Why not save $$ by getting them in a set?  I'm a committed proponent of having a wide range of moisturizer types to choose from, because with my nastily combination skin, it's easier for me to apply/layer different types of moisturizers in the areas with individual needs than use a one-size-fits-none general moisturizer.

I am going to warn you right now: I am highly disappointed with these products.  They were a complete let-down, and at their price they should have been amazing.  ElishaCoy is known for having high-quality products, and when I first researched this product, I was encouraged by the only review I could find at the time: Hope in a Blog's review of the cream.

She compared it to the Mizon Snail cream, and since I have been using the Mizon Snail Gel (reviewed) to great effect, her rave review of the EC compared to the Mizon left me with high hopes.  I'm glad it worked for her, because these products sure sucked for me.

Well, let's get this review over with!

Weekly Review: ElishaCoy Moist Up Super Hyalurone Cream

This week's review is of the ElishaCoy Moist Up Super Hyalurone Cream, a product I purchased on a whim while buying Mizon's Snail Recovery Gel as my first foray into snail skincare goodness after my success with the Mizon Snail BB cream.

As you can see from the image above, I waited until I had emptied the jar before reviewing the Moist Up Hyalurone Cream, because I wanted to give it a chance to win me over, which in the end it did not. (Unlike the Snail Gel, which is angel dust in a tube an upcoming review. Edit: reviewed here!)

We will discuss how the Snail Gel makes me want to devolve into hoarding like Gollum on a bender another day, because this review is about Moist Up Cream, not about magical unicorn tears the Snail Gel.

But what if we RUNS OUT of the Preciousness again?!  

Actually that reminds me, I should check to see how much is left in my current tube.  I may need to indulge in a shopping frenzy.  We will return to your regularly scheduled blogging shortly.

[...]

Ok, now that I may or may not have preemptively ordered enough Snail Gel to last me 6 months, let's get on to this week's review!

Skin79 White Reviving Skin Radiance Cream Review

This week's review is of the Skin79 White Reviving Skin Radiance Cream.  It's part of a line of whitening products, but I was reluctant to invest in an entire line when there were so few reviews for the products and because I wasn't sure I wanted or needed them all.

That's right.  Whitening.  It does not mean what you think it means.  It has nothing to do with bleaching.  I'll get into the details in the full review, but the short version is that it fades hyperpigmentation such as acne scars, age spots, and sun damage.

Skin79 (official site) is fairly well-known to western audiences as the makers of the ever-popular Hot Pink BB cream which has become known as a good 'starter' BB cream but sadly with notoriety comes imitation and Skin79 is one of the most-faked BB cream brands out there.   They are lesser-known to westerners as a skincare line, which is a shame because if the cutesy teen styling of Tonymoly or Holika Holika isn't your style, Skin79 is a great option for mid-range skincare from an established, mature-friendly brand.