REVIEW: IT'S SKIN POWER 10 FORMULA SYN-AKE EFFECTOR

One thing I really love about It's Skin is that they are super generous with their samples, even when the customers don't buy anything! Thanks to their generosity, I've been able to tried about 15 samples of Power 10 Syn-ake. This one and Power 10 Propolis are called the "Upgrade versions", so their prices are higher than the regular ones.

Description (source: itsskin.com/eng): Highly concentrated ampoule containing peptides with properties similar to snake venom will hinder movement, improving even the facial expression wrinkles that are difficult to smooth out.

Ingredients (source: http://en.koreadepart.com/item/1306395531/its-skin-power-10-formulasynake): syn-ake, adenosine, baobab extract, indian fig extract, malt extract, lactobacillus fermentation, yeast fermented filtered ingredient (This list includes only the key ingredients. I used Google Translate to translate the ingredients list on itsskin.com, and although there're a lot of errors in the translation, I can see that Power 10 Syn-ake contains paraben.)  

Price: 563,000 VND (about US$26.5)

My opinion: This serum is quite watery and it absorbs quickly into my skin, even in summer. It's moisturizing and brightening without clogging my pores or breaking me out, but the effects are average. This is supposed to be an anti-aging product but it doesn't provide as much hydration as Power YE, Power VC or Power CO. I have oily combination skin and Power Syn-ake isn't hydrating enough for me in winter. It also fails to plump up and brighten my skin like Power 10 VE. I don't notice any anti-aging benefits either. This is an okay serum and I quite like it, but not enough to purchase a full-size bottle. In my opinion, it's not worth the extra money and I'd rather buy the regular Power 10. 

Pros:
- Moisturizing and brightening
- Non-irritating

Cons:
- Not moisturizing enough for dry skin or oily combination skin in winter
- Unimpressive effects in comparison with regular Power 10 
- Contain paraben

Purchase?: No.

REVIEW: SKIN79 SUN PROTECT BEBLESH PACT SPF30 PA++

My holy-grail BB cream has to be Skin79 VIP Gold Collection Super+ Beblesh Balm, and the powder pact that goes best with it, in my opinion, is Skin79 Sun Protect Beblesh Pact SPF30 PA+. Both products appear in my 2013 Best Beauty Products List, so you can get an idea of how much I love them.

(Click on images to see description, instruction and ingredients)

Price: 515,000 VND (about US$24)

Packaging: I just ADORE the color and the design of this powder! It's pink and as you may know from my previous posts, pink is my favorite color :) The compact also reminds me of Sailor Moon's brooch for some reason. I love the face that there's a plastic lid to separate the puff and the powder because if I reapply throughout the day, the dirt and oil on my face will transfer onto the puff, and the powder may be contaminated when coming into direct contact with the puff. (However, as it turns out, I don't actually use the puff at all!)

Shade: The product comes in only one shade, and luckily, it looks quite natural on me. 

Coverage: It has a medium coverage. It doesn't cover my dark circles or big spots completely, but works well enough with minor flaws like discoloration or faint acne scars.

Oil-control ability: In summer, my skin will oil up after 2 hours with this on. However, in winter, it keeps my face matte for up to 5 hours.

Application: I tried applying this with the puff, but it just looked powdery and cakey. The best way, in my opinion, is to use a brush to lightly apply all over the face (I said "lightly" because if I over-apply it, I end up with a caked-up face).

Sun-protection property: Last summer, I travelled to Malaysia and Singapore for one week, and I didn't apply sunscreen on my face because I hadn't found any suitable sunscreen for my face. I used Skin79 VIP Gold Collection Super+ Beblesh Balm and top it off with this powder, and my face didn't burn or even tan at all (and the weather was super sunny and scorching hot). 

Bonus: This compact powder doesn't clog my pores or break me out.

Drawbacks: It contains mineral oil and paraben. It also accentuates dry patches, so I don't recommend this to those with dry skin.

Repurchase?: I'd love to, but I really want to try Innisfree No-sebum Mineral Powder next.

REVIEW: TONYMOLY HUG ME HAIR REMOVAL CREAM

Hug Me Hair Removal Cream has to be one of Tonymoly's best-sellers! For a while, it was sold out at every single store! So, when it was finally available, I grabbed two, just in case.

(Click on image to see description, directions and ingredients)

Price: 277,000 VND (about US$13)

My opinion: First of all, this product stinks, literally and figuratively! It smells like... sewage water! I mostly use it on my underarms, and I need a HUGE amount of cream each time to remove all the hairs. Basically, I have to keep applying until I can no longer see the hairs underneath the cream. Less than that and this product won't work! However, the thing that annoys me the most is that my hairs still grow back really fast. I have to apply this every 2 days, the same as when I use my razor. What with the horrible smell and all the hassle of applying and waiting for the cream to dry, I'd rather go back to my shaver since it's fast and easy to use! I've finished one tube and given the second one to my friend. She doesn't like it either but still uses it.

Pros:

- Non-irritating

- Can remove the hairs

Cons:

- Horrible smell

- Need to apply a huge amount each time

- Hairs grow back fast

Repurchase?: Hell no!

REVIEW: SKINFOOD OMJIA WHITENING LINE

Apart from the Salmon Brightening Eye Cream, I've never used any skincare products from Skinfood, so I was quite excited to try this Omjia Whitening line. However, I was sorely disappointed, not because of the products themselves, but rather the quality of the sample packagings :( 

For some reasons, most of the products have evaporated/disappeared by the time I opened my samples. For the toner, I was able to get 2 drops out, which, frankly speaking, wasn't enough to wet my cotton pad. As for the serum, ALL of the serum had gone and the inside looked like this:

Although it seemed there was loads of product, it was just the mark of the used-to-be-there serum. This sample was completely empty so I couldn't try out the serum T-T

The  emulsion wasn't much better as I was able to get only a green bean-sized amount out. I applied it on my philtrum and... that was it!

The cream fared the best out of the four. I got a pea-sized amount which was enough for my T-zone.

OK, so here's my first impressions of 3 products: toner, emulsion and cream.

- Toner: It was OK, nothing to write home about. It was gentle, non-drying and non-sticky.

- Emulsion: Honestly, it's hard to write a review based on a green-bean sized amount, but at least it didn't break me out and made me philtrum feel smooth and moisturized.

- Cream: I like this product because it absorbed into my skin quickly and didn't make my face become oily or greasy. It made my skin baby-smooth and moisturized without clogging my pores or breaking me out. When I woke up in the morning, my face looked bright and healthy. However, I have a feeling that it'd be quite heavy for my oily-combination skin in summer.

Purchase?: No. To be honest, the quality of the samples kinda puts me off :( 

REVIEW: IT'S SKIN STAR CREAM

I received several samples of It's Skin Star Cream and I'm so glad I did because it saves me from buying such a horrible product.

Description: This Star Cream for your skin with SPF25, PA++ protection provides natural shining skin and helps to minimize the appearance of fine lines and enhance the brightness of complexion by Adenosine and Niacinamide. Containing Starfish collagen extract, it improves skin firmness, elasticity and vital hydration.

(It's Skin's English translations are always weird and awkward o-0) 

Direction: At the last step of basic skin care, apply an adequate amount of product over your face with light circular motions until thoroughly absorb.   

Ingredients: water, pentaerythrityl tetraisostearate, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, butylene glycol, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), glycerin, titanium dioxide (CI 77891), niacinamide, PEG-10 dimethicone, polymethyl methacrylate, synthetic fluorphlogopite, cetearyl alcohol, glyceryl stearateSE, hydrolized collagen, polysorbate 60, ethyl hexanediol, sodium polyacrylate, fragrance, ethylhexyl stearate, inulin lauryl carbamate, glyceril caprylate, azolla imbricata extract, bertholletia excelsa seed oil, pollen extract, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, methicone, adenosine, trideceth-6, disodium EDTA, iron oxides (CI 77491)

My opinion: I've tried various ways of applying this: with and without moisturizer, apply BB cream on top, change moisturizers/serums/sunscreens and nothing worked with this cream! Every single time I apply this, my face looks unnaturally WHITE (not bright, but white!), cakey, and flaky! This is supposed to be a moisturizing cream but it's drying as hell! If my skin is slightly dry, it'll emphasize all the dry patches. But even when my skin is perfectly normal, it still manages to make my skin look dry, possibly because of the alcohol content in it. Furthermore, I have large pores on my cheeks and it sinks into these, thus creating weird-looking white dots on my face T-T It has ZERO coverage, oil-control property and staying power. It can be wiped off with a single tissue, even though I've already applied powder on top! This also sucks as a makeup base as it neither helps my BB cream glide on better nor increases the lasting power of it. If anything, it even makes my face oil up quicker (within 1 hour in warm weather and 2 in cold weather!). Everytime I use this, somehow I look older (well, so much for the improving elasticity-claim!) and more tired! This is how it looks like on my face:   

   

The only positive thing I can think of is that it doesn't clog my pores or break me out, but it "compensates" for that by drying my skin T-T

Pros:

- non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic

- Free of paraben and mineral oil

Cons:

- Look unnaturally white, caky and flaky on my face

- Drying

- Accentuate dry patches

- No coverage, oil-control property and staying power

- Ineffective as a makeup base

Purchase?: NEVER!

QUICK REVIEW: YVES ROCHER MOISTURIZING CREAM LIPSTICK IN 31 ROUGE GRENADINE

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I still have to say how lucky I am to have extremely nice colleagues! Thanks to one of them, today I got to try a new lipstick, which is Yves Rocher Moisturizing Cream Lipstick in 31 Rouge Grenadine.

Although it looks like a deep red in the tube, it turns into a pinkish red on my lips. It's non-drying and long-lasting. I drank water frequently and it lasted for 5 hours! It did fade a little bit but I could still see the color on my lips.  

(Please pardon my horrible base make-up! It's because of a really bad product which I'll review tomorrow T-T )

Purchase?: I'm not sure yet. I want to try other red lipsticks first before I decide :)

REVIEW: SHISEIDO PERFECT WHIP FOAM

Happy new year everyone ^^ May all the best things come to you and your family this year :)

Today I wanna talk about one of my holy-grail products, which is Shiseido Perfect Whip Foam. This foaming cleanser also appeared on my list of 2013 Best Beauty Products.

This product belongs to Shiseido's affordable line which is sold in supermarkets/drugstores instead of department stores. I first used it years ago when my cousin gave me one after returning from Japan. Last summer, I saw it at a Watson's in Hong Kong, so I grabbed one up instantly. 

Ingredients (source: ratzillacosme.com): Water, stearic acid, PEG-8, myristic acid, potassium hydroxide, glycerin, lauric acid, alcohol, butylene glycol, glycerin stearate SE, polyquaternium-7, phytosteryl/octyldodelcyl lauroyl glutamate, sericin, disodium EDTA, potassium sorbate, tocopherol, methylparaben, propylparaben  

Price: I forgot the price, but it's about ¥627 in Japan.

My opinion: This cleansing foam removes makeup, sunscreen, dirt and oil like a dream without drying out my skin one bit! My skin feels so fresh and looks brighter after using it. It's also the foamiest cleanser I've ever used. All I need is a pea-sized amount and it will create lots of bubbles, enough to clean my face and neck. It doesn't contain SLS, which is a foaming agent present in many cleansing products. One tube can last up to 3 months with daily usage, so it's good value for money. I think those with dry skin can use it too because when my face was dry, damaged and sensitive due to Tonymoly Pore Cleansing Brush, this cleanser helps clean my face really well without irritating or making my skin peel. I highly recommend this cleanser for everyone. 

Pros:

- Affordable

- Clean skin and remove makeup/sunscreen well

- Non-drying

- SLS-free

- Last for a reasonable amount of time

Cons:

- Contain paraben

Repurchase?: Yes, definitely :)