My Asian Skincare Story

Cremorlab is a Korean skincare brand that generates a lot of mixed emotions.
Many lust after it, sometimes solely on the basis of its pretty packagings.
Many revere it for being nothing short of a skin miracle worker, sometimes solely on the basis of Peach and Lily telling them that it is so.

Peach and Lily is an American online retailer, who... well... is responsible for making Cremorlab so popular and lust-worthy among western K-beauty fans. (Western, because Cremorlab is also sold in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and online in a few other places, like Australia).

If you listen to Peach and Lily, you might be excused for believing that Cremorlab is huge in Korea. It's not. Not even close. It's rather unknown and fairly unpopular. It's stocked in local stores, but it's not that easy to find.
It is sold by Lotte Duty Free now, no doubt, in response to the wants of foreign visitors.

image source: Lotte Duty Free

Needless to say, Peach and Lily sells Cremorlab at highly imaginary prices. Being the only distributor in the US and with lots of artificially created buzz about the brand (look at any article mentioning P&L and the word "Cremorlab" won't be far behind), it's understandable they can charge as much as the market is willing to pay. And it seems that the market is willing to pay a lot. A whole lot.

So imagine my surprise when a friend said that Skingarden in Tokyo stocked Cremorlab. AND that they were having a sale. Of course, I immediately begged her to pick up one of each, whatever they were, for me.

See? I so bought into the hype I wanted everything, sight unseen, patch untested. Because it was supposed to be so awesome, right?
I mean if P&L tells us so, it must be true, right? After all, if it wasn't, they wouldn't be charging so much money for it, right?

I got my Cremorlab goodies, squealed with excitement, and started using them.
But while I expected unicorn tears and pixie dust from such a highly hyped brand, the reality was a lot more mundane. Cremorlab was OK. But nothing special.

(I will write a full review of everything I am currently using when I'm done with it)

It's a solid, basic skincare brand. With the key word here being "basic". What makes it stand out from the pack are the package design esthetics. But is it worth paying Peach and Lily prices for pretty boxes and minimalistic jars? Well, that's for you to answer.

At Skingarden in Tokyo every item cost less than (the equivalent of) 15 dollars, with many as low as 10 dollars, with a couple even lower.
It was like a Peach and Lily sample sale but without the madness.
But even by Tokyo sale standards, those were pretty incredible prices. Makes you wonder just how much Cremorlab products are REALLY worth.

Last week I had to go to Tokyo quite unexpectedly, and of course wanted to see if the Cremorlab sale was still going on.
It was. Many products from the original lineup were gone, but there were still a few left.

One of them was today's contestant (which I didn't get in the original "friendly" haul).

Cremorlab Sun Protective SPF50+ PA+++ UVA/UVB Protection T.E.N. Cremor

(not sure which part of this mess is the actual product name, so I'm just throwing out here everything that's on the box).

See what I mean? It IS a pretty box.

I have a thing about sunscreens. I see a new sunscreen, and like a well trained Pavlovian dog, I reach for my wallet. It's become an involuntary reflex. And that's exactly how it went down last week at Skingarden. Veni, vidi, VISA, as the ancients used to say.

In the photos above I already took it off, but each box was securely sealed in plastic. Yay for ensuring that all products were kept away from fingers itching to open them at the store and test without later buying anything. See Peach and Lily? That's how it should be done!

By Japanese sunscreen standards this tube of Cremorlab Sun Protective SPF50+ PA+++ is positively HUGE! There's 60 ml of product inside.

Now, whoever thought that putting grey print on a black tube was a good idea is an idiot. And that's a pretty gentle way of expressing my feelings.
My friend was a lot more to the point - "this idiot should be shot, I can't read this crap," she mumbled as the kept turning the tube to the sun to catch more light in order to be able to read the blurbs on the back.

Take a look for yourself:

And I really had to crank up the exposure in this photo to make the text visible.

Still can't read it?
Ok, this is what it says:

T.E.N. Thermal Water from Geumjin
"T.E.N. calcium to magnesium ratio is 1.6:1, which is a golden ration that brings the best absorption to the body. With the colloid, T.E.N. in red wine color is rich in rare minerals. It provides the skin with intense nourishment and helps maintain a moisture balance to keep it soft and youthful."

The same is printed on the box, but with a spelling mistake.

Very unhelpfully, there is not much on the internet I could find about this mythical "red wine color" mineral water, and the only English search results that came back were links to Cremorlab and Cremorlab resellers. Big surprise here, LOL.

So let's see what Cremorlab has to say about it.

Wow, it's positively magical.
I googled Gangwon Province (here's the link to the official provincial website - Gangwon Province) and it's indeed famous for its hot springs. But no word anywhere (in English) on the magical Cremorlab mineral water.

So let's take a look at the Cremorlab site to see what else they have to say about it.

(both images - http://www.cremorlab.co.kr/cremorlab/)

Now, I must say I absolutely despise the Cremorlab website. It's all image based. All!

Yeah, they do have an English language version (well, sort of, only selected parts are in English), and a Chinese version. But that's not enough. I don't want to be limited by the site design. For example, if you click on the "Store" tab, it gives you the list of Watsons and Olive Young stores in Korea where you can purchase Cremorlab products. But if you are a foreigner and can't read Hangul, you're shit out of luck. The entire list is image based and you can't copy it into Google translate.
Wow! What a great way to win new customers! Well done, Cremorlab!

(Rant over)

OK, back to Cremorlab Sun Protective SPF 50+ PA+++.

It claims to be "nourishing, highly effective hydrating, highly effective protection, for all skin types". Their words, not mine. That's what it says on the box.

As my product was purchased in Japan, Cremorlab went to the trouble of printing an entire Japanese language version box. Some brands just slap on a sticker in Japanese and call it a day. Not Cremorlab. It printed a whole new country-specific box.
What a great way to cut costs and save paper! Amazing! Awesome for the environment, too. After all, I wouldn't expect anything less from a brand that describes its philosophy as:

Healthy Life,
Pure Beauty,
Clean Environment, and
Humanism

Dunno, maybe in Korea they have a different concept of "clean environment" and wasting a mountain of paper is considered a good thing?

(Ok, rant over.)

Back to Cremorlab Sun Protective SPF50+ PA+++.

The tube opening was protected by a sticker. Brownie points here. I like to know that the product has been left untouched by human hands.

The consistency is a lot more liquidy than I would like. It would have worked much better in an airless pump.

It has a vague citrusy smell that is not too overpowering. It doesn't linger too long.

The product takes ages to dry. Let me repeat it - ages. Centuries. Whole millennia.

But when it does eventually dry, it is deliciously non-sticky and fairly matte. And leaves no white cast. The skin feels soft. It worked well under makeup. It managed fine in 38 degree heat.

However, from now on, I am downgrading it to a body block. I'm going to use it on my arms and legs only. Why? Just a minute.

When I bought it, I quickly scanned the ingredient list. It's printed in Japanese on the box. I was glad to see that "Ethanol" wasn't one of the top ingredients. What I didn't notice at that time was that "Alcohol Denat." was listed further down.

Here's the entire ingredient list for T.E.N. Cremor Cremorlab Sun Protective SPF50+ PA+++ in Japanese:

I looked at it and thought to myself "Well, that's odd."
I checked the ingredient list on that Korean cosmetic appli, Hwahae... whatever the name of it is.

I screenshot it for your convenience:

Cremorlab Sun Protective SPF 50+ PA+++ ingredient list as seen on Hwahae:

(click on it for a larger view)

And it is different. Very different from what the Japanese box says.

We already know that Korean manufacturers have different ingredient listing standards than the US.
Tracy from Fanserviced-b did a whole blog post explaining those differences - South Korean vs US cosmetic ingredient list order differences.

Japan follows the American pattern.
Ratzilla said so before on Twitter, but there were still some people who were doubtful, and who assumed (incorrectly) that Japan and Korea had the same labeling standards.

You can compare the differences for yourself.
For your convenience I translated the Japanese list and plugged it into CosDNA. I used CosDNA's own Japanese support function and manually looked up the entries that were missing.

Cremorlab Sun Protective SPF 50+ PA+++ in CosDNA according to the American (and Japanese) ingredient list order.

Enjoy!

Another blogger (sorry, don't remember who right now) already noticed that Cremorlab ingredient lists for the same product differ significantly depending on who provides them.
Myself, I tend to trust the Japanese version. And the Japanese version says that while it's an effective sunblock, it's not really something I'd like to keep using on my face.

As an aside, I expected better from a company that lists "Pure Beauty" as its brand philosophy.

And because I'm a glutton for punishment, I am planning to do similar ingredient showdowns for all Cremorlab products I own.

I paid the equivalent of US$8.00 (give or take a few cents) for this sunscreen. And in my opinion it's worth exactly that much.
T.E.N. Cremor Cremorlab Sun Protective SPF50+ PA+++ is a good, basic sunscreen, if you don't mind Avobenzone and denatured alcohol.

And here's the reason for the massive sale at Skingarden:

But by the looks of it, I'm going to finish it sometime around September. Because it's so liquid, it goes super fast.

Stay tuned for more Cremorlab reviews.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a fan of A-True. I like that the brand is trying something, while maybe not exactly new and original, definitely solid and reliable. In other words, A-True is doing what it can to stick to the plan and claim a very small, tiny niche in the very crowded world of Korean skincare.

I admire that ambition. And I admire the gumption. And the mostly moderate amount of crap in their PR blurbs. And I appreciate that instead of giving us a magical ingredient that can't really be independently verified (yes, Cremorlab, I am looking at you and your thermal water), A-True goes with a tried and true (haha, I'm so clever) approach.
Which is - tea. And tea is good. Hard to argue with that (unless you're an LDS, but just give it a couple more decades and even that sad bit of the gospel will be revised, mark my words).

And even though I am A-True's biggest fan girl (here are my other A-True reviews), I am not blind to the brand's shortcomings. And just like in the case of Cremorlab, I must say that while A-True is good, solid, basic skincare, it's also terribly overpriced.

Overpriced to the point that unless you can find it somewhere for 30% to 50% off, don't bother buying otherwise.

That's how I got today's products. My friend, who runs an online shop, was having a massive A-True clearance.

Today we are going to take a closer look at these three products:

A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Aurora Cream
A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Essence, and
A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Toner

White Snow Tea is A-True's bestselling "whitening", or rather - brightening, line. Last year samples from this line were also my initial introduction to the brand.

Yes, A-True is a Korean cosmetic brand that, instead of water, uses either tea, or fermented tea extract in its cosmetics.

A-True White Snow Tea line features, as the name suggests, white tea.

White Snow Tea? Snow Buds? Is there even such a thing?

Turns out there is. It's grown primarily in the Fujian province in China.
And "cultivated in spring during 2 days out of the entire year"? Well, almost true. Not "cultivated" but harvested. And not 2 days, but a very short window of time. And yes, in the spring.

The whole idea is to harvest the leaves and tea buds when they are very young, as only such young tea leaves can produce high quality white tea.

Why is it white? The name comes from the "fine silvery-white hairs on the unopened buds of the tea plant, which gives the plant a whitish appearance." (source: Wikipedia - white tea).

The tea itself is not white, but pale yellow.

And what about the claim that "the extract of white tea protects the skin from dark spots..."?

Well, turns out that A-True might be onto something here.
Wiki again helpfully explains that:

"Like black and green tea, white tea is also derived from Camellia sinensis. Thus, white tea shares many of the same chemical properties and health effects of tea. However, white tea contains the most antioxidants."

But how exactly that translates into skincare is a mystery to me.

A-True gets its tea from a real place, which apparently, is quite fancy - Compagnie Coloniale.
For some of its skincare it then ferments the tea water. Yep, ferments. Not once, but twice. 1st fermentation uses Saccharomyces, and 2nd - Xylinum.

Today's contestants are not fermented. They all use straight tea water and tea leaf extract.

So let's get started, shall we?

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A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Aurora Cream

Seriously, Korean companies must have some sort of an ongoing competition who can come up with the longest and the most convoluted name.

The box is plain and simple, just the way I like it. No cutesy designs and zero childishness.

Inside the box we have a 50 gram jar of cream, a spatula and a leaflet.

The lid is secured with a sticker. The jar looks fancy, but it's all cheap plastic. It bothers me when brands that aspire to be seen as fancy, pack their "fancy" creams in cheap, plastic jars. Why does it bother me? Plastic for cosmetic packaging is always "virgin" plastic, meaning it has to be made fresh, and not from recycled materials. And after the products are all used up and the jars are empty, such cosmetic packaging cannot be fully recycled. It can only be "down-cycled" for industrial use. Meaning, every time you open a plastic jar of "fancy" cream, it's a fresh, purpose-made piece of plastic.

In contrast, glass packaging can be infinitely recycled. But... glass packaging is expensive to make. Plastic is cheap. Money talks.
This is not the first time when I see Asian companies (even super fancy ones) pissing on the environment. And I don't know about you, but the environment is important to me.

Anyway, back to the cream...

In a typical A-True fashion, the inner cover got stuck inside the lid and as I have short nails, it took a kitchen knife to pry it out. (It seems to happen with all their creams).
And in a typical A-True fashion, the content of the jar has shifted.

The cream is very light. It's PERFECT for our hot and humid summer. It moisturizes without being greasy. It absorbs in a flash. It has a faint scent. But it's a pleasant scent. Vaguely tea-like, but not quite.

This is exactly what I loved about this cream last summer. This is exactly what started my obsession with A-True.

I'm using the entire A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant line in the morning. Let me repeat it once again, it's PERFECT under makeup. My skin is dry, but with close to 100% humidity outside, I don't need to slather on extra moisturizers. A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant does the trick.
I'm guessing it would be ideal for combo and oily skin in less extreme climates.

The cream is slightly pearlescent, but as you can see, it dries to a nice, matte finish.
Nothing to complain about here.

It doesn't break me out, it doesn't clog my pores, it doesn't make my red face any redder.
To be honest, I didn't notice any major "brilliance", but then again, it's not what I was expecting.
I was expecting moisture that would work under makeup in extreme conditions, and I got exactly that.
But to be honest, I also noticed that my complexion is, indeed, more even, when using A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant line.
However, it's a temporary effect, probably due to the pearlescent nature of the products.

This is what the leaflet has to say about A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Aurora Cream:

They talk about moisture - I agree. Comfort - yes, I agree again. Improves overall radiance? Yes, but temporarily.

Still, good enough for me. I like it.

A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Aurora Cream ingredients:

Because Korea doesn't follow the American (and Japanese) ingredient listing order rules, please use it only as a general guidance to see what's IN a product.

Next up we have the essence. Yes, I realize that we are going backwards here. We started with the cream, now the essence, and yes, we are going to finish with the toner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Essence

Again, the same simple design.
Inside the box we have a 40 ml bottle of essence and a leaflet.

There's a pump. Not airless, but better than nothing.

This essence is almost like a light cream, or a heavy milk.
Again, slightly pearly, with a gentle, delicious smell.

And as you can see, it absorbs fully, and leaves NO white, sticky residue.
I love A-True essences (though they are really more like emulsions), and if there is one item from this line that I'm going to definitely repurchase, this is it.

I really can't find anything to complain about here. Except maybe for the price...

A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Essence ingredients:

And here is the official spiel:

And the expiration date:

Again, I like it.
A good, solid product worth trying, if you can find it on promotion somewhere.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

And finally, last but not least:

A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Toner

Don't know about you, but toner is one of those skincare products that I use a lot of. It goes the fastest at my house. The fact that I use it with dry sheet mask capsules for instant refreshment for my poor face surely has something to do with it as well.

Either way, I go through liters and liters of toner. So when I hear that someone is using the same bottle of toner for a few months, I always wonder how they manage that. Because I can't.

Inside the box we get a 180 ml bottle of toner and a leaflet.
Look guys, this is what I really liked about this bottle. It came sealed like that:

And if you are really obsessive about your skincare, you could save this plug and reuse it. I didn't. I tossed it in the garbage. My toner isn't going to last long enough to be stored with a plug.

I like how A-True prints expiration dates on their products, instead of manufacturing dates. Though, in all fairness, having both dates would be even nicer.

As you can see, A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Toner is a clear liquid that dries to a nice matte finish. It's light and non-greasy. It absorbs fast. Again, perfect for the summer. And it smells yummy!

A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Toner ingredients:

All three products in this line have Niacinamide in them to even skintone and fade discolorations. Some people swear by Niacinamide. Personally, it does nothing for me.

I like this toner for its refreshing and moisturizing properties.

A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant Toner official blurb:

All in all, it's a solid skincare line. It delivers ample moisture without being heavy, or greasy, or sticky. It's perfect for the summer. It should work well for combination and oily skin types. It works well under makeup and thus makes an ideal morning routine.

As all A-True products, this line is formulated without alcohol and parabens:

And A-True doesn't test on animals! Yay!

The only problem with A-True is that it's terribly overpriced. However, if you see a promotion on it somewhere, buy it. It's worth it.

You can purchase A-True at Jolse - a reputable Korean online cosmetic shop.

I got my A-True White Snow Tea Brilliant set at Berdever.pl.

This is part 4 of our 2015 alcohol-free sunblock series (part 1 part 2, part 3)

You know what annoys me to no end?

Two things:

when my local store is selling something that disappeared from the manufacturer's website, meaning it has been discontinued, most likely,

and

sloppy CosDNA entries - I'm not an ingredient nazi, but I know many people are and CosDNA is their bible. And I'm realizing now that in their overenthusiastic zeal to enter as many products into the database, many times they tend to get sloppy or take shortcuts. Missing ingredients due to poor copy-paste skills, missing ingredients due to poor translations, missing ingredients due to careless typing...

I've realized that unless I input it in there myself, I can't trust the existing entires.

OK, rant over...

Let's introduce today's contestants.

Solanoveil White Milk SPF50+ PA+++ 40 ml (made by Omi and also known as Solanoveil Medicated Bihaku Milk)

and

Mentholatum Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ 40 ml (made by Rohto and, fortunately, only going under one name, yay)

Solanoveil White Milk SPF50+ PA+++ has disappeared from the manufacturer's website, but it's still available at drugstores, at least in my neck of the woods.
Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ is just one of the 23423 different sunscreens in the Skin Aqua range.

They are both in the very affordable category costing less than a 1000 yen a piece.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's start with Solanoveil White Milk SPF50+ PA+++.

Here is the entry about it on Ratzilla's website.

In the ingredient section (in Japanese), Ratzi links to Omi's (the company) website but this particular sunblock no longer appears in their current lineup. Oh well... It happens. And while Ratzilla doesn't list it as "discontinued", it certainly looks like it went bye-bye.

It's supposed to be moisturizing and the word "white" in the name refers to the fact that it claims to prevent hyper-pigmentation due to UV exposure. In other words - no sun spots, or so it says.

Solanoveil White Milk SPF50+ PA+++'s active ingredients are Tocopheryl Acetate (a form of Vitamin E, anti-oxidant), Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate (a form of Licorice extract, soothing for dry skin) and pig placenta extract (who the heck knows what that is supposed to be doing).

Ratzi has the ingredients on her website, but here's a closeup of the Japanese version:

Not sure which one of these is responsible for the smell of this sunscreen, but let me tell you, this thing stinks.
It smells like furniture polish. That fake, vaguely citrusy smell of furniture spray, you know what I mean, right? Yeah, that's the smell of this sunscreen.

Due to this smell I couldn't use it on my face. The smell lingers and sticks to the skin. Pity, because otherwise it's a very decent sunscreen.

Despite only PA+++ rating (PA ranking refers to the amount of protection from the UVA rays, SPF - from UVB rays.) it was a surprisingly effective sunscreen.

Solanoveil White Milk SPF50+ PA+++ gets its sun protection from these UV filters:

Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate a.k.a. Octinoxate (to absorb UVB rays)
Zinc Oxide (to protect against UVA and UVB)
Titanium Dioxide (against UVA and UVB)

And this is how it looked on the skin:

It's a quite thick, milky liquid that spreads easily and dries to a semi-matte, semi-satin finish. Non-sticky, non-greasy, non-filmy. There was no noticeable white cast on my skin.

I used it far away from my nose (the awful scent!) and it worked great.
It's supposed to be water-, sweat- and sebum resistant but I reapplied often.
I used an oil cleanser to remove it while taking a shower.

As I only applied it on my arms and legs, I can't tell if it would clog pores or cause breakouts. I tend to get eczema from just about everything, but there were no major signs of irritation from this product.

So there... It smells like furniture polish, it has pig placenta extract and it seems to be discontinued. Pity. They should have just fixed the scent. And changed pig to sheep to make it kosher / halal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next up we have Mentholatum Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++.

Here is what Ratzilla has to say about it.
As the name suggests, Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ is supposed to be moisturizing. It has collagen, two kinds of hyaluronic acid and amino acids, and yeah, it is moist. Very moist.

Again, only PA+++ rating here.

These are the UV filters in Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++:

Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate a.k.a. Octinoxate (to absorb UVB rays)
Zinc Oxide (to protect against UVA and UVB)
Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate a.k.a. Uvinul A Plus (to absorb UVA rays)

And here's the list in Japanese up close:

It's the same as what's on the manufacturer's website.

Here is the CosDNA analysis of Mentholatum Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++. No major irritants found, it should be good for sensitive skin.
There was no offensive smell. In fact, I didn't detect any noticeable smell at all.

This is how Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ behaved on the skin:

It's more watery than Solanoveil and doesn't look as oily when it's spread out.
It dried to a semi-matte, semi-satin finish.

Again, it's supposed to be water-, sweat- and sebum resistant.

All fine and lovely, except for one thing.
This sunscreen didn't work for me at all.

At. All.

I don't spend much time outside. In fact when I work, I don't spend any time outside. I just walk from my car to the building in the morning, and then back to the car in the afternoon. It's not a long walk. Less than 5 minutes.

And during that walk on the first day I used this sunscreen my arms got tanned.
I'm not a sunscreen virgin. But in my stupidity, even the tan on my arms, I decided to test it on my face.
The result?
My face now is a tone darker than my neck.

Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ went straight to the garbage after the photo session.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other details:

Both sunscreen bottles are semi-transparent, if you hold them against the light, you can see how much product is left inside.

As both products are milks, they have a mixing ball inside. You need to shake the bottle to make sure the contents are uniformly blended.

Both have a typical spout dispenser:

Of the two Solanoveil is thicker and more substantial. Skin Aqua is more watery.

Both claim to double as makeup bases. I didn't test Solanoveil on my face, so I can't tell you how it would perform under makeup.
And I didn't put any makeup on top of Skin Aqua. That was supposed to be stage two of face testing. However, we never got that far.

Here you can see them side by side:

Skin Aqua looks a lot lighter. Pity it didn't work for me.

So that's that.
The one that worked smelled bad and seems to be discontinued.
The one that didn't work for me had a lighter texture and no offensive smell. And it's still in production.
Murphy's Law.

The search goes on...

After using Iope Air Cushion Matte (in color M13), I decided to dig out my Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control and ponder the differences. And finally post something about Pore Control, because I need to work through the backlog of cushion entries that are sitting saved as drafts.

So, let's get started, shall we?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today's contestants:

Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control SPF 50+ PA+++ in these two colors:

No 13 - True Beige

and

No 14 - Pink Beige.

I have written before about the standard Laneige BB Cushion, also in No 14 - Pink Beige. In the meantime I also got a refill of the new shade No 11 - Light Beige.
So, right now, my Laneige cushions shades are as follows:

No 11 - Light Beige Laneige BB Cushion
No 14 - Pink Beige Laneige BB Cushion
No 13 - True Beige Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control
No 14 - Pink Beige Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control

You can jump for joy that I don't own any Whitening or Anti-Aging Laneige Cushion versions.
(But if any store wants to send me a refill for review purposes, I'll happily accept it, hahahaha!)

I know this cushion is not for everyone. There are some less than flattering opinions on it out in the cyberspace.

Even for me, it took the heat and humidity of Japanese summer to fully appreciate this cushion's potential.

But first things first.

What's a cushion foundation?

For the benefit of those readers, who are new to cushion foundations - it's a type of base makeup, where the liquid is housed in a foundation-saturated sponge, a.k.a. cushion.
The cushion sits in a specially designed compact and features a special applicator.
You press on the cushion with this applicator and then in a stamping motion apply the foundation to your face.

And that's it, in a nutshell.
Click on the tab "cushion foundations" to read about other cushions in my ever expanding collection.

Laneige is a well known Korean skincare and makeup brand hailing from Amore Pacific. Amore Pacific, despite its silly name, is a number 1 cosmetic company in Korea.

Think of it as the L'Oreal of Korea. Just like L'Oreal, Amore Pacific also holds a varied portfolio of brands - from inexpensive drugstore ones like Etude House, to high end fancy schmancy ones like Sulwhasoo.

Laneige is somewhere in the middle. Not high-end, and not bargain bin. Just a solid mid-range brand featuring a full assortment of skincare and makeup.

If you live in the US, you can buy certain Laneige products at Target. If you live in Europe, you can buy them online from Korea.

As with nearly all other cushions currently on the market (nearly, because there are always exceptions), Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control comes to us in a simple box.
My versions came to me from Korea, so they have Korean writing on them. I am only assuming that Singaporean and American versions have English text on them instead of hangul.

In the box (as you can see in one of the photos above), we get a cushion compact with a refill (15 gram) already loaded, a sealed refill packet (15 gram) and a leaflet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's see what the leaflet for Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control has to say:

Wow! It promises quite a lot.

Semi-matte finish?

YES! I loved this finish. It reminded me of Kate Powderless Liquid for Cover (Kanebo, Tokyo Kate), but with an even nicer end result.

Long-lasting?

Check. But you have to be careful what you put it on. On me it didn't want to work with any of my usual sunblocks.
Eventually, through trial and error, I noticed that it worked like magic when paired with Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV sunblock/base. When applied on top of Canmake, the cushion would last and last and last.

SPF50+PA+++?

Yes, but if you think that a cushion alone will give you an adequate level of UV protection, you are very naive. It won't, because it can't. It's physically impossible to apply enough foundation to be properly protected from the sun. Always use a separate sunblock, unless wrinkles, photoaging and skin cancer is the look you're going for.

Cooling sensation?

Yes, but that's pretty typical of all cushions out there.

Pore coverage?

Yes. Though to be honest, I think this cushion does cheat a little. Or a lot, depending on how you look at it.
It's the semi-matte, non-dewy finish that is responsible for the illusion of perfect pore coverage.

Pore Control?

No idea. Didn't notice any.

Yes, it is non-greasy. That is definitely true.
It gives a beautiful powdery finish that I liked so much that I didn't bother to set with a powder. There was no need. My face wasn't shiny or dewy. But at the same time, it was still pretty glowing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cushion compact itself is pretty standard:

You can't tell what type of Laneige cushion it is from looking on the cover.
To check the details, you need to flip it over and look at the bottom:

And there you also can see the date of manufacture.
As you can see, this compact is loaded with a Pore Control No 14 Pink Beige refill.

Right side up and opened, there is the eponymous white and blue Rubycell applicator puff.

The puff picks up just enough of the product and ensures even application. Its special porous material (Rubycell technology) has antimicrobial properties that inhibit growth of mold and bacteria. So it's supposedly safe to dunk it in the cushion time and again, even after touching your face. Unfortunately, cleaning it an arduous task that I'd rather avoid, so I just buy multi pack replacements. Makes life a lot easier.

As you can see, this poor puff got a bit mangled by the lid of the compact.

And speaking of the puff and the lid.
Cushion compacts are equipped with an inner cover to protect the surface of the cushion. And the applicator puff fits nicely on top of that cover.

Yes, I know, stuffing a damp puff in there and closing the compact gives me nightmares, too. Yet oddly enough, despite being too lazy to wash the puff after each application, my face hasn't rotted off yet.

When you lift the inner cover, you can see that when the cushion is brand new, its surface is protected by a security sticker.
Some people save these stickers and reuse them to keep their cushions fresher longer. I don't bother.
I just peel it off and toss it in the garbage.

Pretty, pretty, hey, hey!
And this is what a cushion foundation it.
A chunk of sponge saturated with foundation. Of course, for this type of foundation to work, the liquid must be pretty, well... liquid.
That characteristic and the stamping application technique are responsible for the "second skin", flawless finish that cushions are famous for.

The cushion itself looks pretty dark, but when you dunk your finger in it, you realize that the actual foundation color is a lot lighter.

The cushion has a scent, but mercifully, it goes away pretty quickly (unlike other Laneige products, cough, sleeping pack, cough, white renew essence, cough).

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Swatches of Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control No 14 and No 13 (for comparison):

Recently, Amore Pacific has been adding new cushion shades to its many different brands.
Iope got a new shade number 13.
Laneige also got a couple of new colors, one supposedly lighter (No 11) and a darker one too?

I can't speak for the darker shades, though I understand that finding a cushion suitable for a darker skin color is a challenge.

Here's how the story goes for the pale and pasty folk:

It's frustrating. Very frustrating.

All swatch photos are unfiltered and were taken in natural light, just in different conditions, and with different cameras.

I decided to try No 13 True Beige on my face (unedited photo in natural light):

I didn't use a primer that day, this is how it looks on bare skin without any corrector or concealer.
As you can see, it didn't fully cover the melasma splotches on my forehead. The dark circles under my eyes are still there.
And you can clearly see that my face is not dewy wet but powdery and glowy at the same time.
The color is still a tiny bit too dark for the rest of me. My neck and collarbone area looks lighter than my face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control SPF50+ PA+++ ingredients:

According to the Korean list on the leaflet, colors No 13 - True Beige, No 14 - Pink Beige, and No 21 - Natural Beige, have the same ingredient lists.

Color No 23 - Sand Beige has a slightly different list. Nothing important, all the basic ingredients are the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where to buy:

All reputable online stores selling Korean cosmetics should have a full assortment of Laneige cushions.
I got my cushions from TGI Wholesale (yes, you can buy retail from them) and from W2Beauty.
If you register on W2Beauty using this code: 182991708, you'll get $5.00 off your first order. You need to use this code 182991708 to receive the discount. Free worldwide shipping directly from Korea. Enjoy!

I honestly don't remember how much I paid. Check the websites to see current prices.

No 13 came through a trade with another blogger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conclusion:

I like it.

Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control SPF50+ PA+++ is PERFECT for the summer. It survives crazy heat and humidity. It doesn't clog my pores (maybe the magical pore care is really working?). It doesn't make me break out.

What more would a girl want?

(from a mid-range foundation anyway).

The end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer:
This post contains an affiliate link. Shopping through the affiliate link helps support this blog.
All products featured in today's post were purchased or traded by me.

Point makeup terrifies me. And baffles me. But mostly just terrifies, so for the most part I don't even bother.
While I can hold my own when it comes to base makeup (cushion foundations saved my life, or rather - cushion applicator puffs), the whole liquid eyeliner, eyeshadow, contouring, strobing, sculpting bullshit is not for me.
Trust me, I've tried. Multiple times. And I've failed. Multiple times. I just don't look good with a lot of war paint on. Why? My face is extremely asymmetric and it takes a lot of skill to make sure I don't end up looking like a drunken clown. So much skill that even some so-called "pro" makeup artists gave up on me after a few attempts.
So now, I just don't bother.

Yes, I do own a few eyeshadows, all in fairly neutral colors, that I hardly ever use. Instead I have a staggering collection of color eye pencils, because they're easy and don't require makeup brushes.
I have 2 very neutral liquid highlighters, both non-sparkly, because I realized that shiny balls, while pretty and all that, are not for me.
I have 3 undereye concealers, of which I only use 2 anyway.
I have a stack of blushers, because I'm as white as a freshly painted wall and look sick without a touch of color on my cheeks.
And I have a staggering collection of tinted lip balms and lip glosses. But not one lipstick*.
Why? See above - asymmetric face means crooked lips means lipstick emphasizes that means I look like shit.

I'm not going to tell you how many I have, because it's just embarrassing.

Today I'll show you five of them.

Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss N

And I can only hope I'm not the only person who obsessively saves cosmetic outer packagings, unfolds them and then files them alphabetically in a special folder? Or am I? Help me out here, folks!

If you've ever wondered what a simple sheer lip gloss with a touch of color, in an awesome tube, looks like, now it's your chance.

Jill Stuart knows how to play this game.
Pretty colors? Princess packaging? Shut up and take my money already.

Jill Stuart is a Japanese cosmetic brand that is famous for its... well... packaging. It's over the top girly, it's over the top cute, and it makes your inner princess wet her pants with giddy excitement.

Swarovski elements (whatever they are), tiara shaped tube caps, encrusted blush and powder compacts, Jill Stuart has got you covered.

And the products themselves? They are good. Not outstanding. But solid, decent makeup. Is it worth the money? It all depends on how much you love your princess bling. (Hell yeah, just shut up and buy it already!)

When it comes to lip gloss, or tinted lip balm, with a very few exceptions (yes, Dior, I am looking at you), I prefer Japanese brands.
Why?
The formulas are lighter, the textures are less sticky, they spread easier, adhere better to your lips and last longer. Usually they don't have stupid flavors and annoying fragrances.

And in the case of Jill Stuart, they make your inner princess so very happy.

I mean, just look at this stuff:

"I want MOAR!!!" (shut up princess!)

On the company's website, this is what they say about Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss N:

Colors like fresh fruit and delicious sweets.

Lustrous gloss in a wide variety of hues.

Pouch (Embroidery Flower)

In stores from August 2, 2013

New product JILL STUART Jelly Lip Gloss N

11 colors, 1 limited edition color

2,200 Yen each (not including tax)

Product features:

･Lip gloss that transforms your upper lip into a "Cupid’s Bow", bringing you the aspect of an innocent angel.

･Spreads easily with the lightest touch, providing a full, rich luster and pure sparkle.

･Provides highly uniform application, for lips that leave a full, plump impression.

･A cherubic fresh oil formulation, thoroughly moisturizing by sealing in moisture while also placing no burden on your lips, for a lasting sensation with zero stickiness.

･The diagonally cut tube allows for easy application on the lips, and perfect coverage.

･A cap design with a sparkling Swarovski, as though topped with a tiara. The entire cap is also scalloped, giving a three-dimensional presence to the finish of the design.

･Fragrance of Crystal Floral Bouquet.

You heard them. Now this is what I say about Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss N:

Innocent angel? Hahaha, nice try, Jill.
Spreads easily, full luster, shine all that - all true.
Uniform application, plump lip - yep, all true.
Moisturizing and non-sticky - yes and yes (well, as non-sticky as you can imagine lip gloss to be).
Slanted tube, easy to get the product out - yes.
Cute, cute cute - yes, yes, yes.
Fragrance - very slight, delicate smell which goes away super fast.

Let's look at them one by one, shall we?

Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss N in 02 - Light Lavender:

My favorite of the bunch. Goes on nearly clear with just a hint of sparkle. Looks pink in the tube, looks clear on my lips. Perfect everyday all-purpose gloss. Reminds me of Lavshuca BB Lip Essence in pink.

Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss N in 04 - Honey Lemon:

Looks yellow in the tube, goes clear on your lips. A nice all-purpose moisturizing gloss for everyday use.

Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss N in 07 - Cherry Flame:

Looks very fierce in the tube, but goes nearly sheer on the lip with just a hint of color. Perfect for the summer. Reminds me of Lavshuca BB Lip Essence in red.

Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss N in 09 - Apple Cinnamon:

Apple cinnamon? Seriously? It's a nice pinkish all-purpose gloss.

Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss N in 10 - Treacle Pudding:

Beautiful pink beige, very subtle and dare I say, sophisticated?

On the company website the colors of Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss N look like that:

source: http://www.jillstuart-beauty.com/

This is what my colors look like in real life:

In natural light, no filters applied.

As you can see, they are all very sheer and not as sparkly as they appear in the tube.

In natural light, when the sun hits them, they are very, very subtle, sweet and extremely delicate.
Light Lavender has the most shimmer. Honey Lemon appears completely clear.

Each tube hold 16ml (15g) of product:

If you buy your gloss outside of Japan, you won't have that ugly sticker on your tube.
Nothing exciting under it anyway:

And here's the applicator tip:

All very standard, nothing earth shattering. Just cute. Very cute.

I don't have full ingredients for you, but if you're not ok with Rosemary extract or Lavender oil, Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss N is not for you:

And that's about it for these cute, little guys.

You like?
You want more Jill Stuart on the blog?

There's plenty more where these came from!

Disclosure: Products purchased by me from a local shopping mall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* The sole liquid lipstick I got from a fellow blogger turned out too drying for my lips, so I mixed it with a clear Verite lip shiner and voila - a new lip gloss, yay!

I'll try to keep it short and sweet today, hence the combined review of:

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture line (we'll take a look at the toner, lotion and cream)

and

Grinif O2 Bubble Mask Cleanser.

Grinif is a Korean skincare brand, you might call it a niche brand, that specializes in "natural" skincare.
Their website is entirely in Korean, and it's of the not awesome variety that is fully and completely image based. So people like me, who are not going to learn Korean just to be able to read PR spin of cosmetic manufacturers, are sadly out of luck. You can't copy and paste the text into google translate.

Usually, that alone is enough for me to skip such brands and spend my money elsewhere. If a brand doesn't care about its foreign customers, then foreign customers should do the same. Or maybe in case of Grinif, this is a conscious choice to keep the brand "niche" and mysteriously alluring? Don't know and, frankly, after today's review, I'm not going to care.

I found myself with a few Grinif items purely by accident. And yes, I admit, at the same time I was curious about the brand as well.

Grinif's tagline is "Skintherapy by nature" and its products are supposedly made of imported, European ingredients. What? Korean ingredients are not "natural" enough? Or European are more prestigious? Whatever the case, it's supposed to be "natural", because natural sounds trendy. And trendy sells.

We have plain paper boxes to match the natural image, and at least for the products purchased in Japan, there are no leaflets in the boxes. How very "green" and eco friendly!

Big mistake, in my opinion, because if you're going to sell in foreign markets, and clearly, this is Grinif's intention, as the ingredient lists are also provided in English, please respect your international customers.

Dear Grinif people, the bare minimum of relevant information in a language that non-Korean speakers can understand goes a long way, trust me.
But I guess Grinif was so focused on creating pretty and "green" boxes that the more practical side of things simply slipped the company's honchos minds. Oh well, it happens.

So let's start, shall we?

Grinif O2 (Oxygen) Bubble Mask Cleanser

I like those bubbly "oxygen" cleansers. It's the stuff that takes all the work out of cleansing. You spread it on your face and wait. And then simply rinse off. Done.

This cleanser is supposed to be ideal for sensitive skin. It's supposed to be as soft as whipped egg whites.
You can check out the entire, barely comprehensible, description on Skin18 (no, I am not affiliated with the store), which was evidently copied in its entirety from Cosmetic Love (no, I'm not affiliated), including the same illogical mistakes. Both stores claim that the product is 8-free (meaning free of 8 "hazardous" substances) and later in the description say that it's 5-free.
So which is it? 8-free or 5-free?

The back of the bottle helpfully clarifies that the product is indeed 5-free, meaning free of: parabens, triethanolamine, artificial colors, mineral oil and animal oil(?).

We get 100ml of cleanser in a pretty, white pump bottle.

Grinif is one of those rare Korean companies that list their ingredients according to the international standards following the same ingredient list order as the US, EU and Japan.
How do I know that?
I compared the English list printed on the box with the Japanese list printed on a sticker. They're identical. Usually the Korean list has to be reshuffled to conform to the Japanese labeling laws, which are the same as the laws in the US and Europe.

Grinif O2 Bubble Mask Cleanser ingredients:

I had high hopes for this cleanser.

If you've never used an "oxygen" cleanser, you should definitely try it, if only for the novelty value.

This is how it looks in action:

The upper dot (which, oddly, looks like an oversized sperm cell) is freshly squeezed out of the bottle.
The lower blob is what the upper blob is going to look like after about 20 seconds.

You can wait until all the bubbles disappear, or if you're impatient like me, you can just wash it off when the foam is still in full bloom.
No scrubbing required. Just rinse off.

Grinif O2 Bubble Mask Cleanser is supposed to do double duty as a makeup remover, and the company claims there is no need for double cleansing. Unfortunately, that didn't work for me.
This cleanser was my SECOND cleanser and I used to remove the leftover oily residue from the initial oil cleansing.

And it was wonderful and great and all things awesome exactly three times when I used it.
On the fourth try, the pump broke. Just broke. Something went "poof!" and the pump was no more. You could keep pressing it until the next presidential election in the US and nada.

I had better things to do with my time, so the cleanser went straight into the trash.

Pity.

Moving on...

~~~

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture line sounded exactly like what my dry and sensitive skin needed.
Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, moisture. I was sold.

The unfortunate bubble mask on the left... buuuu...

I went ahead and decided to try these three products:

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Toner
Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Lotion

and

Grinif Vitamin ACE H2O Moisture Cream.

~~~

Since right after cleansing, we need a toner, let's start this story with this product:

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Toner

Packaged in true Grinif style in the same pretty, quasi-cardboard box.

Inside we have a white pump bottle with 100ml of toner.

The company claims that:

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Betaine, Retinyl Palmitate, fruit extracts, fruit oil, Tocopheryl.

Let's take a closer look at the ingredient list (arranged according to the American, European and Japanese ingredient order).

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Toner ingredients:

Alcohol at number 3, pretty high for a product that claims "Skintherapy by nature".

At number 12 we have Triethanolamine, the very same ingredient that was considered undesirable in Grinif O2 Bubble Mask Cleanser. LOL.

Sigh. It's not hazardous. It's a pH balancer.

Sorry, I don't like companies that use such questionable scare tactics.

Here's how the toner behaved on the skin:

See that shiny splotch on the right?

The damn thing didn't want to dry. Stayed sticky and unpleasant to the touch. When it did eventually dry, it left a nasty layer of filmy residue.

This was not moisture. This was "hey, let's seal the skin with this horrid sticky stuff to keep the moisture in".

Unfortunately, as that was not my idea of a moisturizing toner, I gave it to my friend. After a couple of days she sent me a Line message complaining "what is this shit you gave me? Take it back, or I'm going to throw it out."

I took it back but I'm not sure what to do with it. Maybe I can use it on my feet. Or my bum.

~~~

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Lotion

Ahhh... Grinif uses the word "lotion" in its western meaning here. This is a light moisturizer, not a Japanese style lotion (which then would be a toner).

Again, the same Grinify packaging.

In a different light the box can appear quite drab and dark.

Again, a white pump bottle (bonus points for hygiene) with 100ml of product.

Again, the same claims as with Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Toner.

And what do the ingredient list (American ingredient order style) says?

Let's check.

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Lotion ingredients:

Mineral Oil at number 3, so if you don't like that in your skincare, this is not a product for you.

Retinyl Palmitate (which is a form of vitamin A) is at the very end of the list, so how effective is it in this formulation? I'm guessing not very.

And now for the swatches:

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Lotion was, without a doubt, one of the most disgusting skincare products I've ever had the misfortune of using.

It leaves a heavy, sticky, filmy layer on the skin.

It smells awful. Do you know those cheap drugstore imitations of high-end perfumes? This is just like that. Like a cheap and overpowering version of Dior Addict. Dis. Gus. Ting.

And now, the final piece of today's Grinif puzzle.

Grinif Vitamin ACE H2O Moisture Cream.

Inside this simple box we have a white plastic jar with 50ml of cream.

The jar states that it contains anti-wrinkle ingredients, as well as Adenosine.

Ok, let's take a look at the ingredient list (American, European and Japanese ingredient order).

Grinif Vitamin ACE H2O Moisture Cream ingredients:

Yes, I was laughing, too. Adenosine is listed third from the end.

The insides of the jar are protected by an inner plastic cover.

And under the cover?

This unholy mess:

I don't know if this is just my cream. Maybe it was stored improperly? Or the heat of Japan's summer got to it?

No idea.

The gluey substance inside can't be called "cream".

Searching on the internet, I saw Grinif's pretty promo photos, where the cream appears as light and soft as freshly whipped cream.

The cream in other people's photos didn't looked freshly whipped at all. It resembled my gooey substance, but still within commonly accepted skincare limits.

I was brave and decided to swipe it on my skin anyway.

Greasy and sticky? Yes and yes. On the right you can see the sticky sheen this cream left behind.

Gross! Yuck!!!

I have a skin moisture meter, but decided that Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture line wasn't worthy enough to use it.

There is also a serum in this line, but mercifully, I was spared that experience.

Final thoughts:

This entire line is garbage. Total garbage. Nicely packaged, overpriced garbage.

If you have cash to burn you can purchase your own Grinif garbage at Skin 18, or Cosmetic Love, or ebay. But if you have that much cash to burn, I have a better idea. Send it to me. It will be much appreciated.

I still have one more Grinif product to try and I'm honestly dreading it. I need a break from Grinif. I need to scrub this horrible experience from my skin and my memory.

I had been trying to use these things (because I don't want to call them "cosmetics") for three weeks. That was enough for me.

This post contains ZERO affiliate links and all products were purchased by me. Yeah, what was I thinking... Not much, apparently.

PS> Sorry, I lied, it wasn't short, and definitely not sweet.

This is part 5 of our 2015 alcohol-free sunblock series (part 1 part 2, part 3, part 4)

It all started innocently enough.
Miss K and I were at Matsumoto Kiyoshi. She was buying feminine protection, and I - contact lens cleaner. I had a coupon for 10% off, that was the only reason why we were there. Matsumoto Kiyoshi is one of the largest, if not THE largest, drugstore chains in Japan. If you live in the US, think Walgreens on steroids. As a point card carrying member, every so often I get a postcard coupon in the mail. And that is pretty much the only time I shop at Matsumoto Kiyoshi, or MatsuKiyo for short.

Anyway...
I was camping in the sunblock isle (yes, there was a whole isle of sunscreens) and sniffing and smearing and checking the ingredients. I was looking for ethanol-free sun protection products. Miss K saw me reaching for SunBears.
She grabbed it out of my hand and said, "No, no, you don't want this one. This is made in Thailand. I don't trust such cosmetics."

"But it's made by a Japanese company, right?" was my answer.
"Doesn't matter. If it's not made in Japan, you can't trust it. Here, try this instead," she said.

She stuck an unassuming store brand sunblock in my hand.

MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF 50+ PA++++

A generic brand made specifically for Matsumoto Kiyoshi. To be honest, usually, I don't even look at MK Customer products. I always tend to make a bee line straight towards brand names.

"This one here is an exact dupe for SunBears," Miss K informed me.
"It's even made by the same company - Omi, but unlike SunBears Strong, they make the generic version right here, in Japan," she helpfully added.

We compared the ingredients one by one.

Miss K was right. Japanese-made MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF 50+ PA++++ was indeed an exact dupe for Thai-made Sun Bears Strong Super Plus SPF 50+ PA++++.

To shut her up I bought it. I also bought Sunplay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++ (made in Vietnam) and Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF50+ PA++++.

And for good measure, I also threw in MK Customer UV Protection Cool SPF 50+ PA++++, which turned out to be an exact dupe for SunBears Strong Cool Super Plus SPF50+ PA++++, and which turned out to be dreadful, awful and all things horrible.

So let's go back to the more pleasant option of standard MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF 50+ PA++++.

It's a no frills, simple bottle. Inside there's 30 ml of product.

MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF 50+ PA++++ has exactly the same specs as SunBears Strong Super Plus:

- milk type
- combination of UV blockers and UV absorbers
- waterproof
- sweatproof
- sebumproof
- suitable for outdoor activities
- non-drying
- grapefruit scented (very fake, annoying smell)
- ethanol (alcohol-free)

It feels moderately light on the skin and doesn't seem to leave a white cast. There is no oily, sticky film on the skin.

The specs claim it can be used as a makeup base, however, I didn't try it.

Unfortunately, it's not a sunscreen for me, as despite claims that it has moisturizing properties, I found it very drying. But then again, I have very dry skin. I think it would work great for normal and combination skin types.

You can check the ingredients on Ratzilla's website.

Final thoughts on MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF50+ PA++++:

All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised.
And it's very cheap - MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF50+ PA++++ costs 400 yen (tax included).
I might consider it in the future as a body sunscreen.
Solid, functional, dependable, affordable - buy? YES!

~~~

Next up we have Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF 50+ PA++++.

It's made by Isehan, and it's just one of several options in their sunscreen lineup.

Again, we get a simple, plain bottle containing 30 ml of product, made in Japan.

Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF 50+ PA++++ specs:

- milky type
- ethanol (alcohol) free
- paraben free
- waterproof
- resistant to sweat
- resistant to sebum
- chemical UV absorbers

As its name suggests, it's moisturizing. It's very moisturizing. It's moisturizing to the point of being an oily, sticky mess.
There was no white cast, but instead, we get a shiny slick of stickiness.

And as you easily guess, it took forever to dry. Or rather, it didn't want to dry.

The specs say it can be used as a makeup base, but it's very hard to imagine how that would work, this stuff is just too moisturizing and too rich.

Here you have Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF 50+ PA++++ ingredients:

And you can find the ingredient list in English on Ratzilla's website.

Final thoughts on Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF 50+ PA++++:

Ugh!
No, thank you!

~~~

And finally, our last contestant today - Mentholatum SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++

This is a bit complicated. This sunscreen is made by Rohto, but the version you see above was manufactured in Vietnam.

However, at some stores, you can find the Japan-made version. Below you have them side by side:

SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++ made in Japan on the left, and made in Vietnam on the right. As far as I can tell, apart from the place of manufacture, these seem to be identical products.

Here are the specs for SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++:

- milky type
- super waterproof
- sebumproof
- sweatproof
- intended for heavy-duty outdoor use
- ethanol (alcohol) free
- combination of UV blockers and UV absorbers
- paraben free

Again, plain and simple bottle with 27 ml of white goo.

27 ml is listed as 30 grams. So overall, it contains a bit less product than the other two sunscreens presented today.

Here is how SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++ looked on the skin:

As you can see, it appears a lot more creamy and thicker than the other two sunscreens.

It leaves just the slightest white cast.

It's indeed bullet proof. Removing it is hard work. Oil cleanser in the shower is a necessity.

I didn't use it on my face.

I used it on my arms, and this is what happened:

This was a very unpleasant surprise, because I had used this sunscreen in previous years with no adverse reaction. And this season it wanted to eat me alive.

I'm not sure what ingredient was responsible for this violent reaction.

It was a good reminder that patch testing is ALWAYS necessary.

Here are SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++ ingredients:

And in English on Ratzilla's website.

Final thoughts on Mentholatum SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++:

- no, thank you.

Overall, it was an interesting batch of sunscreens.

Unfortunately, none of them worked for me.

~~So if anyone wants them, they're available for US $6.00 for all three plus shipping of your choice.~~

Send me an email, if you're interested.

PS> First come, first serve. They found a better home.

To be continued....

I think it was about ten years ago when I found myself walking aimlessly around Narita Airport. For some reason, my flight was delayed.
Suddenly, with tons of time on my hands and nothing to do, I reluctantly faced towards the duty free shops. Why reluctantly? Because I was broke as hell.

"Window shopping only, " I told myself.

Ha! Famous last words.

But to my credit, after a couple of hours of diligent searching and comparing, I picked the best deal available that day.
And that deal was a brand that was totally unknown to me.

Anna Sui.

Who, or what, that was, I had absolutely no idea. But the perfume smelled nice and fresh and energetic. And, best of all, there was a massive gift with purchase to go with it.

And though I don't recall what scent that was exactly, I do remember I quite liked it.

Fast forward to January 2015.
I'm at Narita again.
I'm not broke as hell, but on a strict budget. The bulk of my money is meant for my upcoming Taiwanese shopping spree.
All I know is that at Narita I want to buy something nice-smelling. I'm tired of Dior. Other scents are too overpowering for my nose.

Suddenly I remember Anna Sui.

I got this Flight of Fancy based solely on the packaging. Just because.
And while I was getting it, I finally had a chance to test every single Anna Sui makeup and skincare item on the shelf.
To be honest, apart from cute designs, it was all very underwhelming.
The only thing that stood out to me was Anna Sui Eye Brightener.

It's available in just one color marked as 01, or 001, depending on whether you're looking at the box, or the website description.

And speaking of website descriptions, here's a screenshot from Anna Sui's page:

Anna Sui Eye Brightener is intended for the eye area (duh!), but they say it can be used anywhere on the face.

I swiped it on my hand at the store and liked its light color. I liked how to blended seamlessly and disappeared into the skin. I liked how it did what it said it would - namely, brighten the eye area.

What I didn't like was the overpowering scent, so typical of Anna Sui makeup and skincare.
The scent still bothers me, but it's possible to get used to.

It's not a concealer. It will never work as such. But that's just fine with me.
As I get older, I'm realizing that under-eye concealers are a tough balancing act when you're over 40.

On one hand, I want something to camouflage my uneven under-eye skin. On the other, overdo it, and you risk looking like a clown with cake batter smeared under your eyes. Sadly, from what I'm seeing on different beauty blogs, the dried up cake batter deal seems to be the in look these days for Western women.

Thanks, but no thanks.

I know firsthand that it's a challenge to find something that doesn't settle in the fine lines or emphasize wrinkles. It's a struggle.
And because I'm lazy and I'd rather watch cat videos on YouTube, I don't like to struggle with my eye makeup. Usually what that means is that I forgo the undereye concealer altogether.

That's why highlighters, or brighteners, or illuminators, are such a life saver for me.

Anna Sui Eye Brightener is a pretty standard deal.
We get 5.6ml of product in a pretty plastic bottle.

The applicator is a standard issue doe foot.

Anna Sui Eye Brightener is easy and efficient. It makes me look awake. It doesn't irritate my dry and sensitive skin. And despite the strong scent, it doesn't make me cry.
And because it's not a heavy concealer, it's nearly impossible to overapply. It's literally foolproof.
If a makeup idiot like me can manage it, then everybody else should too.

Anna Sui Eye Brightener ingredients:

As you can see, the product is made in Japan.

It's light, it's simple, and it wasn't ridiculously expensive either. I don't remember how much I paid for it, but it was definitely very reasonable.

It joined my very small group of "stuff that most likely goes around the eyes" cosmetics.

From the top:

Anna Sui Eye Brightener
DiorSnow UV Shield BB Eye Cream in 010
Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch in 1

And this is how they all look swiped on my arm in the same order as above:

And incidentally, this is also the order of how much I like them.

Final thoughts:

Anna Sui Eye Brightener is a decent product at a good price, if you can find it duty free.

It's very strongly scented, so if you're sensitive to perfumed cosmetics, Anna Sui is definitely one brand to avoid.

Will I repurchase?

Hmmm... only if I can't find anything better.

The problem with color eyeliners is this - when you have tried a high quality one, you are never going to be satisfied with a budget version.

And basically, this could be the end of my review today.

After the disastrous Etude House Play 101 pencils, instead of giving up on cheap Korean liners, like any other reasonable person would, I listened to the advice of web people and bought more.

This time, I chose Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners. And I didn't mess around. I chose all of them. Yep. All 12.

I found them on Rose Rose Shop and because they were reasonably priced, and the colors looked nice, and they had good reviews on the internet, and the shipping to Japan was cheap, I bought the whole set. I should have known better.

If something is too good to be true, then it probably is.
Now, as of today, they are even cheaper than when I bought them. Just take a look - Rose Rose Shop.

You may wonder if there is a reason why they're so cheap.
Yes, there is.
Here it is:

Yep, that's right.
The expiration on these Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners is like tomorrow.

That also should put to bed the question of whether some Korean companies print the expiry date on their products.

So yeah, there you have it.
Luckily, it's a pencil. I've had some old eye pencils from other brands. They didn't make my eyes fall out. But those were high end western brands. Not sure what kind of damage an expired eye pencil from a Korean budget brand can inflict. I guess we're about to find out.

And needless to say, I will not be shopping at RRS anytime soon again.

Ok, back to the Makeon pencils.

The full name of this product is a mouthful:

And because I am too lazy to type it up each time, I'm just going to use the copy-paste function for it from now on - Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners.

They came highly recommended and had good reviews on line.
Lani liked them and her eye makeup always looks better than mine, so I had no reason to doubt her.

The colors are indeed very pretty.

They are sparkly, but a lot less glittery than the gold and silver Etude House Play 101 pencil disasters.

I knew they were not retractable and required sharpening, so no big disappointment here. My Shu Uemuras are not retractable either and I'm not complaining.

They claim to be waterproof. Hmmm... Let's just say, they are possibly waterproof under normal circumstances. I had them on during a typhoon. They were not waterproof. Not even close. I had sparklies all over my face and smudges around my eyes.

They're easily removable with any old micellar water. I've been using A-True Cleansing Water (because I'm out of Bifesta and I haven't been able to go shopping recently), and they come off with 1 or 2 swipes, depending on the color.

Here are the swatches of Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners:

Unedited photo taken in natural light.
They don't look too bad, right?

While the colors are lovely, the overall quality is hmmm... how to put it gently... lacking.

Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners are a step above Etude House Play 101 pencils, but a few notches below Maybelline Vivid & Smooth Liners.

And to think that I used to consider Maybelline junk! Ha! It took a couple of Korean drugstore brands for me to realize how good I had it.

Having said that, Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners are perfectly serviceable for low-maintenance daily use.

In the morning I just blindly grab any two, or three, draw something in the general eye area, and I'm out the door (I usually put on mascara in the car, I'm bad, I know).

The glittery particles tend to travel around even under normal circumstances and in the evening there will invariably be sparkles in the bags under my eyes.

Of the entire bunch my favorites are: Gold Glow, Sun Blonde and Metal Tan.
I thought I would like Blonde, but it turned out to be too brassy, trailer park yellow. Reminds me of badly bleached hair.

Here you have the entire lineup:

Final thoughts:

Pros:

affordable
mostly pretty, wearable colors
did not cause an allergic reaction (suitable for sensitive eyes)

Cons:

low quality
need sharpening
some colors are quite dry (though it might be due to the fact that mine are nearly past their freshness date)

Would I recommend them?
If you can find them for 4 bucks a pop, then by all means, go ahead, try them. You might find them satisfactory.
Personally, especially around my eye area, I prefer better quality products.

Having said that, guess what?
I have more of those damn Tosowoong Makeon pencils!
What in the bloody hell was I thinking? (Not much, apparently).

PS. I wanted to add cute gifs to this post, but as I'm technologically challenged, it didn't work. Sorry.You'll have to look at random photos from my Instagram instead.

I'm always conflicted whether I should post so-called opinion pieces from time to time, or just stick to product reviews. I'm not going to post skincare advice, ever, because I am not a cosmetologist, or a skincare professional. And besides, only a total idiot would take skincare advice from an unqualified blogger. Sadly, judging by the stuff seen in the beauty blogging world, there are idiots aplenty out there.

I was asked today why I don't do vlogs.
There's a short answer - I don't do vlogs, because I'm lazy, and a long answer - because the beauty vlogging world reminds me too much of high school, and I'm way too old for that shite.

High school was quite traumatic for me. It's not the time of my life I want to remember, or revisit, in whatever shape or form. No, thank you.

Kumamon agrees

There are some beauty YouTubers (of various levels of popularity) that I watch from time to time, mainly to keep up with new product releases. But as they are paid for their opinions, I tend to turn down the volume and just watch the images. Convenient and stealthy, if the only time you can watch YouTube is at work.

Being a small time "beauty" blogger (in quotation marks, because I don't do winged eyeliners and lipsticks) with only a handful of followers means that I'm pretty much an outsider to the beauty blogging community. And as such, few people, if any, pay attention to what I have to say.

Surprisingly, that has its good points. Because peeps like me fly under the radar of popularity, I can be as obnoxious and controversial as I want to be, and nobody's none the wiser.

We have a string of public holidays right now here in Japan and that means that I have some time to burn on Instagram and YouTube. And that's exactly what I was doing this morning.

There was this event called Beauty Week 2015 in Seoul, where the movers and shakers of the beauty vlogging world got together to eat, drink, look pretty and be merry.

And looking at the coverage of the event on Instagram and YouTube, it became painfully obvious that the beauty vlogging world is even more like high school than I thought.
You have the popular chicks, the prom queens, the homecoming queens, the upper echelons of high school life, err, pardon me, of beauty vlogging "community".

My cat doesn't give a fark. She's smart.

For them, this is business as usual. It's a job. They do their job. And they are damn good at it.
They worked hard for their success and hats off to them. They deserve to be admired for what they've accomplished.

Then you have the hangers-on. The adoring fans, who think that because their social media following might be in the low 5 figures, they are hot shots, too. Newsflash lovelies, you're not. Not even close. While appearing friendly and open on the surface, their mutual adoration societies are basically the extension of high school cliques. And can be just as brutal.

And then we have the masses, the misfits, the wannabes, the outcasts, the outsiders, and whoever else is left in the graduating class.

The top level vloggers understand that their job is to mingle with the masses and look happy doing so. After all, they get paid for their presence. The second tier, with its inflated sense of self importance, is a lot less accommodating.

While looking at the instagram photos from the event, it became painfully obvious that for the hangers-on image is everything. And that's no surprise, they are clawing their way up the vlogging food chain, so for them image equals credibility.

It got to the point that it was painful to look at.

Photos with the itsbubzes and xsparkages of the world were carefully tagged and marked with everyone's instagram handles, so they would be easy to find by the important people. Unlike photos featuring the happy-to-be-there-rubbing-shoulders-with-the-gurus members of the masses. And if said member happened not to have the physical appearance of a high-powered beauty vlogger? Hahaha! You can't be serious!
You can't expect the pretty people to remember the handles of the not so pretty people. An honest oversight? Who are you kidding!

All those deep thoughts made me hungry.

So there you have it.

My long answer as to why I am not interested in beauty vlogging. I want no part of that world.
I am happy being a small time blogger doing the stuff that small time bloggers do.
Small time beauty bloggers can be as controversial as they want. They do not answer to corporate sponsors and have no ambitions of turning pro. (At least I'm speaking for myself here).

Basically, being on the fringes of the beauty blogging community, we can say whatever we want to whoever we want however we want.

For me, to be a beauty vlogger and be taken seriously based on my appearance, first I'd have to go on GoFundMe, or whatever it is, and beg for money for dental and jaw realignment surgery. Preferably by some miracle-performing Seoul plastic surgeon.

Hey, at least I have cute arm covers!

So that's the end of that story.

What I can do instead is a podcast.
But what the hell would I talk about?
Any ideas?

PS. I am very aware that a similar pecking order exists in the "traditional" beauty blogging community as well, it's not exclusive to vloggers.

Update:

Unfortunately as of October 5, 2015 Dowaja is no longer open for business.

My first ever subscription box unboxing.
Wow! Exciting!

And it should be, because it took a bit of effort to get my hands on this subscription.
Why? Because it’s Glossybox from Korea.

The team behind Dowaja shopping service was responsible for getting the September edition of Korean Glossybox to me, and they did a stellar job. When I first heard about Dowaja, which is an English speaking buying and forwarding service based in Korea, I immediately saw it as an opportunity to get my hands on a Korean beauty subscription box.

After reading about other people’s experiences with Dowaja, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. To be honest, my first impressions were not exactly all that positive.
The popular kids on the block (or the blog) were getting replies to their emails and their deliveries in record time. And me? Well… Let’s just say I was a very unhappy camper at first. But I am very pleased to say that after my initial dissatisfaction, Dowaja fixed what needed fixing and my experience with them turned out to be as awesome as everyone said it would be. I can’t recommend them enough.

(And no, this is not an affiliate link, I just think they are doing a fabulous job).

They ordered the box for me, they checked the contents of the box when it arrived at their office, they notified me that one item was an aerosol can and therefore impossible to ship to me by air.
They suggested options on how to solve this problem. They offered deluxe samples as a replacement for the pressurized product. They read my mind and picked the best deluxe samples ever.

I've used the peeling gel before and it's da bomb! Dowaja clearly used their psychic powers to pick this set for me.

They offered me different shipping options, they securely packaged my Glossybox and mailed it out in record time. And it finally arrived yesterday.

And oh yeah, did I mention that Dowaja does it all in English?
Yes folks, in English.

Dowaja also provided me with a link to the contents of the box, but I chose not to look at it. I wanted to be surprised. However, I did stumble upon an unboxing somewhere deep in the bowels of them innertubes by total accident. But that only made me even more curious, because people, crocodile oil.

This is what was in the box (minus that one pressurized item, which was a shampoo), a nicely curated mix of western and Korean products.
Clearly, some careful thought went into the selection. It wasn’t the slapdash, "stick any odd cheap crap in there" subscription box that I so often see on western blogs.

Because you can specify your skin type when you sign up for the box, it looks like what I got was the dry skin version. Of course the item that I was curious about the most was Codilus. Because, crocodile oil, folks, crocodile oil.

image source: Codilus website

Apparently, snails, donkey milk and sea horse farts based skincare is for amateurs. Crocodile is where it’s at now. And apparently crocodile oil skincare is a real thing, too. I vaguely remember something about croc oil way back when, when I was in South Africa. But it was firmly in the witchdoctor kind of remedies category.

And though unlike sea horses and starfish, croc oil skincare actually has a very fancy pedigree (all the way from the pharaohs apparently), the opinions on whether it works or not are divided.

In this Ph.D. thesis (by the way, so poorly written that it reads like a 5th grader's science homework assignment), the author claims that croc oil is indeed nothing else than ineffective folk medicine - scroll down to page 108 for the conclusions chapter.

These folks however, from University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, with fancy degrees already under their belts, claim otherwise - that crocodile oil is good for the skin.

Crocodile oil has been used by traditional practitioners world-wide to treat microbial infections and inflammatory conditions. However, the scientific rationale behind its use is not completely understood. This study provides an updated fatty acid profile and novel scientific evidence of the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties of crocodile oil, obtained from the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), justifying its use by traditional healers.

These guys from Xiamen University in China also say that their results show that croc oil does have skin healing properties. This is also the same study that Codilus references on their home page - link here.

Ugh, my head is about to explode.
And by the way, did you know that snake oil is also a real thing? Apparently.
I'm wondering when a brave Korean skincare company decides to release a snake oil cream. This should be interesting...

~~~~

Anyway, back to the September edition of Korea's Glossybox.

As it's customary with subscription boxes, we have a set of info cards:

Yes, you're seeing it right. That's Kamill hand cream in there, all the way from Germany.
Refinery 29 claims that Kamill hand cream is really popular in Korea. Hmmm... curious that the Refinery's story comes out that same month as this box containing Kamill.

By the way, Ziaja, a Polish brand that Poles are always so fond of claiming how popular and exclusive it is in Korea, didn't make the list. Let's see if it will show up in any of my upcoming boxes.

So, in all I got 4 products:

Suiskin Enzyme Powder Wash (CMS Lab) 100ml
Codilus Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++ 60ml
Dr.G Bio-RTx™ Mentor Cream 5 for dry skin 20ml
Kamill Hand and Nagelcreme Q10 20ml

The cost was around US$15 (or $16, don't remember exactly, but it was very affordable) plus Dowaja's 10% service charge plus about 5 bucks air shipping (no tracking number).

All in all, I am quite satisfied with the contents.

I am familiar with Dr.G Bio-RTx™ Mentor Cream 5 and while it's a perfectly serviceable product, my dry skin prefers other options. It feels very plastic and at least for me, it did not provide my skin with enough moisture, even for day use. At night time I need industrial strength moisture, so this cream was strictly for day use. And despite its "for dry skin" tagline, it's definitely meant for skin that is less dry than mine.

Update: This cream broke me out.

Dr.G Bio-RTx™ Mentor Cream 5 ingredients along with the analysis are here - link.

Suiskin Enzyme Powder Wash is new to me, though I've heard of the brand.
Suiskin website is here and here is the intro to the brand as presented by Hope in a Blog.

The powder is actually very finely granulated:

It dissolves completely, but I wasn't able to get it to foam, no matter how hard I tried.

Getting an accurate pH reading was tough. I wasn't able to do it.
All I could determine was that the powder is indeed in a low-pH cleanser category.

Suiskin Enzyme Powder Wash ingredients:

As you can see, it contains Papain, so people sensitive to papaya extracts should not use it.
By the way, the ingredients for this wash on cosDNA website do not match up with the label. I'm going to trust the label.

And finally, the product I was really curious about it.

Codilus Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++ Crocodile Oil and Water Drop

As a sunblock fanatic, I was excited to see a new (to me) sunblock in the box. As a very picky sunblock fanatic, I was disappointed to see a sunblock I knew nothing about.

All the info on the box and the brand's website is in Korean. I asked Joan from nonsonoquitter to help me decipher what was going on.

She determined that the croc used is of the Australian variety, and that this sunblock doesn't seem to be waterproof.

I'm really funny when it comes to animal ingredients in my skincare. I refuse to use snail slime, because I sympathize with the poor snails that are forced to produce to meet the global slime demands.

I am reluctant to use horse oil skincare, because c'mon, horses!
Emu oil? Hell no!!!

But crocodiles? No such reservations.
Crocodile oil? I'm all yours.
Heck, give me proper hunting gear and I'll go get me my croc oil myself.

And with that in mind I unsealed the tube and patch tested on my arm. Yeah, crocodile oil is similar in composition to human skin and shouldn't cause any allergic reactions, but better to be safe than sorry.

The first thing that hit me was the smell. Of alcohol. This was definitely Biore UV Aqua sunscreen level of ethanol.

Then, the texture.
They weren't kidding when they said oil and water drop.
This is exactly what it was.

Again, I see certain similarities to Biore sunscreens.

Codilus Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++ seemed very oily at first. Seemed, because at the same time, it wasn't.
Just like Biore, it absorbed to lovely nothing leaving zero stickiness, zero white cast, and zero filmy residue.

But unlike Biore, it was deliciously moisturizing.
It was lighter than Anessa (Shiseido) and Allie (Kanebo) sunscreens. It reminded me of Astablanc (Kose) daily protector. It felt like a moisturizing cream masquerading as sunscreen.

Today it was sunny, so I bravely slathered it onto my face. Despite the high alcohol content, it gave me no adverse reaction. For research purposes, I topped it off with foundation and it worked great under makeup.

Honestly, this looks to be a very decent sunscreen suitable for dry skin (if you don't mind the fact that it contains ethanol).

Through brute force, and with the help of several different websites (including All of Cosmetics, HwaHae app, the amazing ingredient data with names in both Korean and English courtesy of Sidmool, and this list) I translated the ingredients and entered them into cosDNA.

Codilus Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++ ingredients and analysis are here - link to CosDNA.
Because apparently CosDNA doesn't have crocodile oil in its database, despite it having a valid INCI name, the oil dropped to the bottom of the list.
On the package it's listed right after xanthan gum, for what it's worth.

I'm kinda curious about that Codilus Saleoleum Balm (which is already available on ebay and Gmarket) now. And the mysterious Codilus Magma Cream which won an award at the K-Beauty Expo last month - link here, but can't be found anywhere on line.

And that's it for my first Korean Glossybox.
Looking forward to the October edition!

A long, long time ago, in a far distant land, I lived in an awesome loft that during the day doubled as a busy photo studio. Two photographers ruled that kingdom. One was a product photographer, and the other shot fashion.
It was in the days before digital photography. We still used film back then. You, young ones, probably don't even remember those times. Ahhh... the memories... they make me feel really ancient...

There were rolls of film everywhere, there were messenger pick ups and deliveries - to and from a photo lab that was contracted to process the daily load. There were lights, and sets, and equipment everywhere. And models, and even make up artists (it's clear that I didn't learn anything from them, LOL).

There was also a creature (to this day I don't know whether it was a man or a woman), from Malaysia, employed by the photographers to do retouching. Photo retouching in those days meant anything from airbrushing to digital work. The creature worked its magic in a corner space that at night would transform into my bedroom.

And while I enjoyed watching the photographers at work, sometimes I even got to assist during sessions (though, clearly I didn't learn anything from them either), it was the creature's retouch wizardry that truly captivated me.
It was the first time that I witnessed with my very own eyes how an already stunning model becomes perfect, how a bowl of soup becomes irresistible, how a pair of underpants becomes a must-have item.

Since that time I have never looked at magazines, or commercial advertising, or celebrity photos, the same way again. I've been damaged for life.

So now you understand, that when a brand releases magically perfect beauty product photos (yes, Amore Pacific et al, I am looking at you), I know they are selling skincare dreams. Dreams manufactured in a corner space somewhere by a photoshop wizard (though not necessarily Malaysian). Dreams so real that we want to believe they are true. Admit it, we've all been there. I know I fall for it every time I see a new cushion foundation compact. Ehhh...

But sometimes a brand, usually, a small, independent brand, releases less-than-magically perfect photos. Photos so unreal that my bullshit detector just yawns and demands a sandwich.

So when it2yinc (or Itty, Inc), a company behind Koyuki Nadeshiko Facial Washing Cream and Gan-Shiro Bihaku Lightening Cream, sent me such photos, I immediately became intrigued.

Just take a look for yourself:

It's amazing how the model's white shirt became so much whiter on the left, where her hand is, surprise, surprise, also so much lighter than the hand on the right (in the photo).

Yet despite that, I became obsessed. I wanted to replicate those results. Without photoshop.

This is that story.

When it2yinc asked me to introduce their skincare on the blog, I said that I couldn't do it without trying it first. In reponse, it2yinc simply sent me the products, along with all relevant information. Including the ingredient lists in English. Nice! I really appreciate when companies understand what bloggers need and then actually provide it.

It was clear that it2yinc read my blog, because the company's representative knew exactly that one of my main concerns was, is, and always will be, hyperpigmentation.

Hence the two products I received were supposed to address my concerns. And I tried to keep an open mind. I didn't discount them right out of the box. Remember the Lioele Crystal Beam Cushion? I wanted to hate it, because, c'mon, Lioele. But I ended up liking it. And now, that it's gone, I quite miss it.

I was hoping it would be the same with the two products I received from it2yinc:

Koyuki Nadeshiko Facial Washing Cream

and

Gan Shiro Bihaku Lightening Cream

To prove that they work, the company included the hand image you can see above. And despite the obvious photoshop, I set out to confirm their results.

~~~

Koyuki Nadeshiko Facial Washing Cream

"Koyuki" means light snow. And "Nadeshiko" is hmmm... several things. It's a flower (dianthus japonicus), it's the name of the Japanese women's soccer team, it's the essence of ideal Japanese woman and some such.

In addition, 米発酵化粧品 means it's a rice ferment product.

And here you have it, it's a normal foamy facial cleanser.

It comes in a simple white tube that was sealed in plastic. There was no paper box.
The tube is quite substantial and holds 100g of product. That's a lot of cleanser!

It's made in Japan and it boasts some pretty incredible claims.

Remember the first photo in today's entry? No?
Ok, go back and take a look. I'll wait.

Yes, it's supposed to visibly lighten your skintone after just one use.
And this is how we use it:

Because the tube is not equipped with a flip top, using this cleanser was a real PITA.

It's a bright white creamy substance (no noticeable scent) that required a foaming net to foam up properly. Once foamed up, it rinsed easily and cleanly. It left the skin feeling fresh and despite its high pH - not dry at all.

Ah, yes... The pH... Here it is:

No longer 7 but not yet 8. Too high for the pH purists out there.

While I personally don't shun high pH cleansers, I decided not to use it on my face. My face is in the best condition it has been in many years and I wasn't about to introduce an unknown cleanser into the mix.

Taking inspiration from the photo, I've been using the cleanser on my hands only. Well, one hand, actually. Well, one half of one hand, actually.

Did it work?
Take a look for yourself (unedited photo):

The part on the right, along with the thumb, index and middle fingers, was treated with Koyuki Nadeshiko Facial Washing Cream twice a day for two weeks.

As you can see, I have been unable to re-create the advertised results. And not just after one use, but after nearly 30 uses.

The moral of this story:
If something looks too good to be true, it's most likely Photoshop.

To debunk Photoshop claims, on the Koyuki Nadeshiko Facebook page there is a short film showing how after just one application your skin will be visibly lighter. Yeah, it will be, for about 10 seconds, until your circulation returns to normal. The same instant gratification that lasts a few seconds can be achieved using any old cleanser along with a bit of pressure on the skin.
Sadly, the fleeting "whitening effect" didn't even last long enough for me to take a photo.
I have not observed any long term whitening / brightening/ lightening results.

Koyuki Nadeshiko Facial Washing Cream ingredients:

Despite the fact that this facial cleanser claims to be a "rice ferment product", there is zero mention of Oryza Sativa in the ingredient list. Oh well... moving on...

Koyuki Nadeshiko Facial Washing Cream final verdict:

Pros:

- a nice, gentle cleanser (nothing to complain about here)

Cons:

- high pH (if you are in the low pH camp)
- no visible lasting brightening results

Koyuki Nadeshiko Facial Washing Cream was provided to me for review purposes, however the opinion presented here is my own.

~~~

Time for our second contestant:

Gan-Shiro Bihaku Lightening Cream

We get 50 grams of cream packaged in a simple, no-frills plastic jar, packaged in a simple, no-frills box.

There is no leaflet inside and all relevant info is printed on the box. In Japanese only.

The company very kindly provided some English language information as well.

The claims sound amazing. The ingredients look amazing, too.

We have dipotassium glycyrrhizate a.k.a. licorice root extract, which has anti-inflammatory and anti-irritant properties and is supposed to help soothe dry skin. It also supposedly has the ability to inhibit melanin production and do a bunch of other great things for your skin.

We have placenta extract, that while scientifically unproven, might be beneficial for the skin.

We have acetyl tyrosine, which is an aminoacid that is supposed to leave your skin baby soft and silky smooth.

We have hyaluronic acid for moisture.

We have peony extract for moisture and anti-aging.
We have pueraria root extract for skin lightening and anti-aging.
We have prune enzyme decomposer (prune enzymatic decomposition) for brightening and moisture.

We have loads of other good things crammed into this unassuming cream.

Gan-Shiro Bihaku Lightening Cream is considered a quasi-drug in Japan.

And you also have a long list of its purported benefits.
It claims to be an all-in-one cream, too.
Wow! This just keeps getting better and better.

Gan-Shiro Cream says to double as an essence, milk, moisturizer, lotion and cream. Pure magic!
Pity it doesn't cook or do the dishes.

Despite its highly inflated claims, its primary function is skin brightening and moisturizing.

The cream is milky white in color, and its consistency is very soft and fluffy. It reminds me of mayonnaise, if mayonnaise were pure white.

There is no discernible scent.

The pH is typical of most creams out there, around 5 ~ 5.5

The texture was soft but very siliconey. It felt vaguely plastic immediately upon application.
It took a while to dry, but it did absorb nicely and did not leave a sticky film.

And all would be just great if not for two things:

1. It didn't moisturize enough. Actually no, scratch that. It didn't moisturize at all.
My skin is very dry. This cream did nothing to moisturize it properly.
I ended up using it as a hand cream.

and

2. I did not notice any visible skin lightening results.

Gan Shiro Bihaku Lightening Creamingredients:

Of course the last ingredient is 精製水, which is "purified water", not "manufactured water".

So that's that.
Gan Shiro Cream is a perfect example that a stellar ingredient list does not equal stellar performance. Which is a pity, because I had high hopes for this cream.

Gan Shiro Bihaku Lightening Cream final verdict:

Pros:

- amazing ingredient list

Cons:

- didn't do much at all

Gan Shiro Bihaku Lightening Cream was provided to me for review purposes, however the opinion presented here is my own.

I'd like to thank it2yinc for giving me the opportunity to try these products.

~~~
And here folks, you have the reason why *I* prefer to select my review items *myself*. While I appreciate the chance to try new things, I feel sad when a *company's* selection does not perform to my expectations.

Tatcha has finally started to make ripples in the Polish beauty blogosphere, so I guess it's high time for me to write a few words, too, and share my first impressions.

So make yourself a cup of tea (Earl Grey, hot!) and settle down for a read.
This is going to be rather long.
Consider yourself warned.

Tatcha had appeared on my radar for the first time around March 2014.

When I first heard about this magical "Japanese" company, I immediately wanted to know where and how I could get my grabby hands on their stuff. Imagine my surprise then, when upon checking the company's website, I learned that Tatcha is headquartered in the US and does not sell its products in Japan. And apparently, has no plans to do so.

My bullsh*t detector immediately went into overdrive.

I read Tatcha's geisha beauty secrets PR spin and felt a wave of nausea coming over me. Even I, the ultimate bs mistress that I am, can only handle so much idiotic PR drivel in one sitting. Please, I beg you, tell me that people don't take this geisha stuff seriously. They can't be that naive. Or can they?

Still, Tatcha was getting rave reviews and I was becoming more and more curious.
Until I try something, I do my best to keep an open mind, geisha beauty secrets magically uncovered in Kyoto by a woman, who it seems, can't speak Japanese, and all.

So imagine my surprise when one beautiful early summer morning in 2015 I fired up my gmail and, lo and behold, there was a message from Tatcha in my inbox.
One miss Alexandra was contacting bloggers and offering to send me Tatcha's introductory Ritual Discovery sampler to sample. Of course I said yes. I sent miss Alexandra my address and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, I decided to follow up.

Miss Alexandra responded that sadly, Tatcha being a small company, it didn't have a budget for working with international bloggers. That of course, was a pretty dumb lie. Other international bloggers, in Europe and in Singapore, were already showing off their Tatcha PR booty on Instagram.
But they were popular bloggers with thousands of followers and I was a no-name nobody.

I truly hoped that miss Alexandra was just a clueless summer intern, who didn't know any better. But no, she's an actual Tatcha PR employee. Scary! She clearly assumed that since I was a no-name nobody very far away, lying to me would be pretty harmless.

Well, you know, this is them innernets generation. I might be a small fish in a country far away, but we do have wi-fi over here. And as a small fish beauty blogger, I do follow big fish beauty bloggers. And shock and horror, sometimes we even talk to each other. Because the popular kids on the blog know that in order to stay popular they need the support of (the) hoi polloi like me.

But apparently, miss Alexandra over at Tatcha slept during her PR101 classes. If she had paid attention, then she would have known that simple "Sorry, our mistake. At this time, we are targeting a different audience. Let's keep in touch." was a perfectly acceptable way of getting out of this situation. No need to lie. At least that's how we used to handle it back in my days.

Anyway, when I saw one of the popular bloggers with thousands of followers proudly present her PR sample of Tatcha Ritual Discovery Kit, I left a comment.

Tatcha reacted with lightning speed. Suddenly, the company was apologizing for the "misunderstanding" and offering to rectify the situation. Pretty pathetic that it had to come to that.

I declined Tatcha's offer and instead did a haul.

This is what I got. Like I told you, despite this unpleasant experience, I was trying to keep an open mind. My policy has always been "no dissing until you try it".

One good thing about Tatcha is that the company sells trial sizes. That is a marvelous idea. Considering how much full-size Tatcha products cost, this is an affordable way to sample what the brand has to offer. And this is exactly what I did. The two full size products that ended up in my shipment were freebies. And I really do appreciate the gesture. One of them, the indigo cream, turned out to be the discovery of the year for me.

My shopping list:

Dry Skin Ritual Discovery Kit
Revitalizing Eye Cream Travel Size
Moisture Rich Silk Cream Travel Size
Deep Hydration Firming Serum Travel Size
Soothing Triple Recovery Cream (Indigo) Travel Size
Camellia Beauty Oil Travel Size
Deep Hydration Revitalizing Eye Mask (Single Set)
Deep Hydration Lifting Mask (Single)
Classic Rice Enzyme Powder Travel Size (freebie for signing up for Tatcha's mailing list)

and 3 (yes, three) foil packets that are complimentary with every order, and which you can select yourself:

One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil Packet
Enriching Renewal Cream Packet
Soothing Renewal Treatment Packet

My order also included two complimentary full-size products:

Indigo Soothing Triple Recovery Cream - I love this stuff! Could bathe in it!

and

Silken Pore Perfecting Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 35, which is very nice, but at US$68 for 60ml is not worth it. Especially considering the relatively low and very un-Japanese (for a company that plays up the whole Japanese mystique spiel) SPF.

Tatcha's "origins" story makes any Japanese woman, who had the misfortune to hear it, laugh. As it does anyone else with even the most basic understanding of Japanese culture and cosmetic market. "Othering" in any shape or form is borderline discrimination. "Othering" to pitch and sell a product is the lowest, most arrogant form of marketing. And I suppose that is at least one of the many reasons why Tatcha does not have a physical presence in Japan.

Yet at the same time othering of mystical, mythical creatures, such as geisha for example, makes perfect business sense, if the products you're pitching are skincare and beauty. The myth, the aura, and the exoticism all help to sell the magic.

Tatcha identified this niche, created a vaguely plausible story to lend it some basic legitimacy and now is laughing all the way to the bank. There's even a real life geisha in the mix, one Kyouka, who made her full fledged geiko debut in the Gion Kobu district of Kyoto on October 29th, 2012.

She's the one on the right, pictured here still in her maiko days, from the looks of it.

Image: Wikipedia commons

That fact itself rings all sorts of warning bells to anyone with at least a rudimentary knowledge of what real geisha are and how they operate. To put it plainly, self-respecting geisha don't sell their services to western skincare companies. And if they do, they don't want that fact to be widely known in Japan (reason number 2 why Tatcha is not available here).

Of course there is a new breed of geisha out there, as well. Women, who started in the business as part-time geisha (usually as university students for whom it was simply a part time job), eventually graduated to full-time geisha status. They brought with them new, thoroughly modern, attitudes to this traditional profession.

On one hand, it's good, because as the world goes forward, geisha evolve along with it. On the other hand, we get individuals such as Kyouka, who are willing to lend their faces and names to foreign brands, so long as it leads to more international exposure for them. In other words, very business savvy, for whom this is just a stepping stone to bigger, brighter things. Because trust me, we haven't heard the last of Kyouka yet.
I have a strange feeling that a book detailing the beauty practices of modern geisha, co-authored by Victoria Tsai (Tatcha's founder), is in the works. And along with that, the usual media circus. Just wait and see.
Patience, my friends.

"International" is the key word here, for obvious reasons. Such approach would be laughed at domestically. And besides, Japanese women have other, more credible and a lot more experienced, skincare and beauty guru to follow than geisha. The geisha beauty secrets legend appeals to western weeabos and women who have never been inside a Japanese drugstore.

Tatcha's founder, Ms Tsai, is very careful of how she presents her company. She spins her geisha yarn very carefully, but anyone familiar with the history of beauty in Japan can easily call her bullsh*t.

For example, on Tatcha's website, she says:

The beauty secrets she learned from the geisha introduced her to a different approach to skincare — that less is more. Their skin care philosophy and time-tested ingredients were captured in an ancient text widely considered to be the oldest beauty book written in Japan...

Ahhh...

She needed geisha to figure it out? Really! Really?

All she needed to do was go to any Matsumoto Kiyoshi (a popular Japanese drugstore chain) and take a look at the cleansing isle. But then we wouldn't have the sappy "how Tatcha was born" story and without the "geisha beauty secrets" spiel it would be impossible to charge the kind of prices that Tatcha does now.

And speaking of geisha beauty secrets, kabuki actors use the same techniques. But I guess "the skincare tips I learned from kabuki actors" wouldn't carry the same ~~dollars signs~~ weight as mythical geisha. Pity, because super-kabuki performances are a lot more fun and entertaining than what geisha have to offer. Be sure to go and watch one next time you're in Japan.

The second part of Ms. Tsai's words, that "their (presumably geisha's) skin care philosophy and time-tested ingredients were captured in an ancient text..." is simply not true.

The text she is referring to, and which she claims recorded and described the skin care philosophy of geisha, is nothing other than "Miyako fūzoku kewaiden" (A Handbook of Cosmetics in the Capital) published in 1813 (republished in 1982).

screenshot source: Amazon.co.jp

It was a compilation of traditional (and not so traditional) beauty, skincare and makeup techniques to assist the Japanese ladies to look their best. It was not exclusive to the geisha world, as Ms. Tsai would have you believe, though she is very careful not to say it outright. She puts the imagery in your head and lets your mind work out the association on its own. By the time you finish reading the stories on Tatcha's website, you are convinced that "Miyako fūzoku kewaiden" holds the keys to eternal life. Or at least, to eternal beauty.

Yet in reality, there is absolutely nothing mythical or mystical about it.

This is Ms. Tsai's account of how she came to know this book:

I first heard whispers about these books from geisha I met while researching the products that would eventually form the foundation of TATCHA's skin care ritual. The techniques they described were time-tested but rarely written down or shared beyond the wall's of the geisha house. Geisha are serious about keeping secrets, even their phone numbers and addresses are not listed and must be procured through several intermediaries.

Very surprising, since this book is not, and has never been a secret. Unless of course Ms. Tsai's geisha friends were playing a practical joke on her, there was no need to secretly whisper about it, because it is very well known to anyone who is interested in the history and evolution of beauty in Japan.

And Ms. Tsai isn't the first who thought it might be a good idea to look for inspiration in this old text. Pola Beauty has been doing it for years. In fact "Miyako fūzoku kewaiden" is required reading for Pola Beauty's researchers.

Also odd are these claims:

As I began my search for this book, I learned that very few people even knew of its existence, and that only a few written copies still exist. I turned to museums, hoping to find some documentation or clues about how to find it.

Months later, a researcher and I tracked it down in an antique bookstore. When I finally held the book in my hands, I could barely breathe from excitement. Its whisper-thin pages danced with delicate calligraphy, recording centuries of secrets – most of which remain startlingly relevant in our modern times.

Odd, because used copies of the 1982 reprint are readily available on Japanese Amazon (just google: 都風俗化粧伝).

But I guess "an old beauty manual I found at Book Off" wouldn't carry the same ~~dollars signs~~ weight as "a book of geisha secrets found in an antique bookstore".

So now you have reasons 3, 4, 5... 7 - 11 as to why Tatcha doesn't have an actual store in Japan. Japanese women would laugh so loud, you could hear them in San Francisco.

And speaking of San Fran, that's where Tatcha is headquartered.
While the majority of its products are indeed formulated and made in Japan, the company is very much American. And to be honest, Tatcha is not claiming to be a Japanese company.
That is another one of those crafty associations that our brains make when they hear the words "geisha" and "skincare".

But just as the fact that my MacBook was made in China doesn't make Apple Inc. a Chinese company, the same is true about Tatcha. That its products are manufactured in Japan, doesn't make Tatcha a Japanese company. It only adds another, carefully planned and designed, layer of passable credibility to Tatcha's main marketing points - magical geisha beauty secrets, you folks! Straight from Japan, you folks!

Ok, I need a break now.

This is the summary of my first impressions:

Tatcha is an American company that sells Japan-inspired, nicely packaged, ridiculously overpriced, but overall quite average cosmetics (Pola Beauty, or even SK-II it ain't, trust me) to mainly western women, who don't know any better (a single bio-cellulose sheet mask for US$28, anyone?).

In the coming weeks I will be reviewing the products I purchased, tried and used up.
I'm tired now.
My limits of nonsensical geisha PR drivel have been reached for the day.

I need a nap.

To be continued...

PS. Yes, I finally got me my own domain. Yay for me!

After the amazing September box, the Korean Glossybox that arrived in October is just bleh and meh.

I suppose I'd feel a bit more enthusiastic about it, if it had something else in it than A-True.
Why?
I know A-True very well. I like A-True very much. I have loads of A-True at home.
But the A-True that can be found in this month's Korean Glossybox is less than awesome.

We got three tiny bottles (20 ml each). Two of them are A-True Sweet Song Black Tea One-Step Cleansing Water (CosDNA ingredient analysis here) and one is A-True Vanilla Black Tea Day Relief Body Wash (CosDNA ingredient analysis here).

The cheapest throw-away selection one could come up with.

This cleansing water is A-True's weakest point. While not completely awful, and certainly serviceable, it is, nevertheless, probably the most disappointing product that A-True has to offer. A cleansing water that doesn't really want to cleanse much of anything, but instead burns my eyes and makes my skin feel dry and irritated is going to end up in the waste basket. Though I guess, since it came in a cute bag, I suppose I could push it onto one of my friends. Most of them have rhino skin and few skincare products bother them at all.

I'm not a fan of Bio-Oil or Thayers, so those products have zero appeal to me. I can use them up, on body parts other than my face, so while they are not completely wasted, it’s disappointing to see them in the box.

There were two Thayers in the box, both 50ml and both labeled as Aloe Vera Formula. One - Rose Petal Toner, and the other - Lavender Toner.

Nivea lip balm is always good. I'm not complaining here at all. My lips are so dry in winter that I go through a tube of lip balm a week, it seems.

While this balm looks very vibrant in the tube, it actually goes on nearly clear when applied. The fake peachy smell is the only thing that can be annoying. And yes, it does annoy me. Still, I've had worse.

And now for the biggest disappointment ever.

Innisfree Ginger Oil Warming Mask…

It's a mini size version, only a 30 ml tube as opposed to 80 grams in a full size jar. The ginger line is a new release from Innisfree that hit the shelves just last month.

It includes serum, cream and a couple of other things. And of all those awesome choices, Glossybox decided we needed a warming mask. Which is exactly a product I have absolutely zero use for. I'm sure it's not a bad cosmetic. I'm sure it's actually pretty decent. Just for other people. I know my skin. And I know my skin is not going to tolerate it.

I couldn't find the English version ingredients anywhere online just yet (it IS a new product), so translated them AND input them into CosDna. Because I'm awesome like that. Here's the link.

So yeah, the October Glossybox (Korean version) was nothing to write home about. I can only hope that November will be better. Especially since November is going to be my third and final box.

Life happens.
Bad, bad blogger!
And that's all you're going to get in lieu of apologies for my prolonged silence.

Today's review is long overdue.
Looong overdue.
Why? I always have a hard time writing exciting things about solid products. You know what products I'm talking about. Those... you know... solid... always dependable... boring... dependable... in simple packages... not earth shattering holy grails, but just... you know... good... dependable.

DHC is such a brand for me. Solid. Dependable. Boring. Doing what it's been designed to do. But utterly unexciting.
If I can't decide what to use, I reach for DHC. I know it's not going to hurt me. I know I can't go wrong with it. I know I can... you know... depend on it.
DHC is like a pair of my favorite shoes. Comfortable, well worn, on my feet day in and day out. Yeah, I have pairs of sexy heels, and fancy sneakers, and classic pumps, but it's the trusted, boring pair of Vans that I end up wearing every day.

So when one day earlier this year I found myself in need of some emergency skincare, DHC was the default brand I went out to buy. It helped that there was a DHC sale going on, too, and I could get every product for more than 50% off. And as we all very well know, cheap is always good. And cheaper is even better.

DHC is a pretty basic brand in Japan. It's available at most drugstores, supermarkets and even some convenience stores, however, the selection of products in stock in those locations tends to be limited. For the full DHC assortment you need to visit its own brand stores, easily found in most shopping malls, or order through the company's website or direct mailing.

If you want to know a bit more about the company, here's a handy link to the "About DHC page" on their international website.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil is well known and loved by beauty fans (even those unfamiliar with other Asian beauty products) all over the world. It helps that Lisa Eldridge sings its praises, too.
It's also one of my cleansing staples. I like trying new oils, but always find myself coming back to DHC. So yes, maybe it is my holy grail after all.

DHC in the West is considered to be a mid- to higher-level brand apparently. At least it seems so judging by the ridiculous prices. When I saw the products markups on the international website, I nearly wept. Holymotherofbatman! Speechless!
But as soon as I stopped weeping, I noticed that those DHC products that are no longer available in stores in Japan (for whatever reason), are still sold overseas.

Today's trio belongs to this category. I snagged it on sale, because, seemingly, it was being phased out of in-store assortment in Japan. I haven't seen it listed in the DHC direct mailing catalog either.
You can, however, still order it on the Japanese DHC website. The question is whether or not you'd want to, if you had to pay full price for it?

So, let's try to answer it. Shall we?

And with that in mind, I'd like to introduce today's contestants:

DHC Kakonjuka (or Kakon Juka) line.

Yes, as you've probably noticed, I have this unhealthy habit of buying not just one product from a particular line, but the whole damn thing. All the bits, whether I need them or not.
On one hand it's very convenient, because I can see whether the products work separately, or together, and can determine the best combination for the best results. If there are any results, that is.
On the other hand, good grief! I have too much stuff already! I don't need more skincare products!

Still, I hate piddling piecemeal, and because they were all on sale, I just got the entire DHC Kakonjuka line:

- DHC Kakonjuka Lotion (80ml)
- DHC Kakonjuka Essence (25ml)

and

- DHC Kakonjuka Cream (30grams).

What the eff is this Kakonjuka anyway, I hear you say.

It's pronounced ka-kon-ju-ka, and means “flower, root, tree, fruit” in Japanese (花根樹果).

With a name like that you'd expect it to be full of extracts and good-for-you natural stuff? Right?
Some bloggers, like Musings of a Muse, fell for this trick and said that Kakonjuka is "all natural skincare".
Of course that's a crock of kaka, as we will shortly see.

Kakonjuka is "all natural" in about the same way that I am an innocent, blushing virgin.

Having said that, it's not a bad line. But is it as great at DHC would like us to believe? Heck no.

Let's start with the DHC Kakonjuka Lotion - 80ml.

Some bloggers were confused why it's called a "lotion".
So here you have it - it's called a "lotion", because that's what we call toners in Japan. It's not a lotion in the western sense. It's a toner. And as most toners, it goes on your face after cleansing to prep the skin for the rest of your skincare products.

Kakonjuka Lotion is supposed to plump and hydrate your face. DHC says that it contains six Asian botanicals to "prepare your complexion for your moisturizer and promote collagen for firmer skin and fewer visible fine lines."
Those botanicals are: maitake mushroom, Platycarya strobilacea, great burnet, purslane, reishi mushroom and licorice.

The lotion has a pretty thick texture. DHC calls it "rich" and "serum-like." It absorbs completely and doesn't leave a sticky layer. It has a vague earthy smell and is alcohol-free. So that's the good stuff.

Now for the bad. The botanicals are at the very end of the ingredient list, which means they do diddly squat. I guess the only reason they are there, so the company could say they are there.

DHC Kakonjuka Lotion ingredients:

water/aqua/eau, dipropylene glycol, glycerin, propanediol, pentylene glycol, butylene glycol, phenoxyethanol, glycosyl trehalose, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, arginine, grifola frondosa fruiting body extract, maltodextrin, xanthan gum, aureobasidium pullulans ferment, hydrolyzed platycarya strobilacea fruit extract, hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin, polyquaternium-51, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) leaf extract, sodium hyaluronate, ziyu glycoside I, portulaca oleracea extract, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, ganoderma lucidum (mushroom) stem extract, ethylhexylglycerin

My opinion:

I noticed decent hydration and zero plumping. Firmer skin and fewer lines? Hahaha!!! Surely you didn't take that product blurb seriously.

So, does it do anything? Yes, it does. It's a very basic, alcohol-free toner that does what a basic toner is supposed to. It's perfectly serviceable, it doesn't make my face erupt in angry cysts, and its fragrance doesn't make my eyes water. In fact, the earthy smell is kind of refreshing.

But if you're expecting fewer wrinkles and other bells and whistles, you are looking at the wrong product.

~~~

Next up we have: DHC Kakonjuka Essence - 25ml.

We have the same six botanicals at the very end of the ingredient list. And we have the same lofty promises of firmer skin. Hahaha!
I'm not going to give you a detailed summary of what each extract is supposed to be doing, because trust me, there isn't enough of any of them to do anything. Except, just like in the case of the lotion described above, justify the product's cute name.

The bottle is tiny, it holds only 25ml of product. But at least it has a pump.

The essence is off white in color, has the same earthy smell and is alcohol-free. It provided my skin with just enough hydration to stay sane during the ridiculously hot and humid Japanese summers.

It didn't break me out, it absorbed completely. It worked with the cream from the same line, as well as with a different set of products. In short, nothing to complain about.

DHC Kakonjuka Essence ingredients:

water/aqua/eau, dipropylene glycol, glycerin, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, propanediol, ethylhexyl palmitate, pentylene glycol, dimethicone, glycosyl trehalose, glyceryl stearate, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, butylene glycol, bisabolol, behenyl alcohol, polysorbate 80, PEG-75 stearate, phenoxyethanol, carbomer, arginine, grifola frondosa fruiting body extract, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed platycarya strobilacea fruit extract, hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin, tocopherol, polyquaternium-51, citrus grandis (grapefruit) seed extract, glyccyrrhiza glabra (licorice) leaf extract, ziyu glycoside I, portulaca olearacea extract, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, ganoderma lucidum (mushroom) stem extract

My opinion:

DHC Kakonjuka Essence is a basic, no-frills essence that gives basic, no-frills moisture. Any additional benefits are, more likely than not, purely a placebo effect.

~~~

And finally we have: DHC Kakonjuka Cream - 30 grams.

DHC Kakonjuka Cream intensive face moisturizer "features six nourishing, antioxidant-rich botanicals—used for centuries in Asia—to plump and hydrate your complexion. Promotes collagen for firmer skin and fewer visible fine lines and wrinkles." That's what DHC says.

The cream is again off white and has a "natural" smell. Again, the six trace ~~elements~~ extracts are all present, but highly doubtful they provide any noticeable benefits.

It turned out to be a perfect day cream. It moisturized just enough, it absorbed completely, it left the skin feeling soft and smooth.

It worked great under makeup, it didn't break me out and I didn't notice any adverse reactions.

DHC Kakonjuka Cream ingredients:

water/aqua/eau, dimethicone, ethylhexyl palmitate, propanediol, behenyl alcohol, beeswax, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, glycerin, cylcopentasiloxane, glyceryl stearate, pentylene glycol, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, octyldodecyl myristate, PEG-75 stearate, polysorbate 60, butylene glycol, bisabolol, glycosyl trehalose, phenoxyethanol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, grifola frondosa fruiting body extract, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed platycarya strobilacea fruit extract, hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin, tocopherol, polyquaternium-51, arginine, sodium hyaluronate, citrus grandis (grapefruit) seed extract, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) leaf extract, ziyu glycoside I, portulaca oleracea extract, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, ganoderma lucidum (mushroom) stem extract

My opinion:

DHC Kakonjuka Cream, like the rest of this line, is a decent, basic cream that serves a decent, basic purpose.

I wanted to test the moisturizing claims, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.
Here you have the before and after results when using the entire set:

Not too shabby, I'd say.

And if you are interested, here's this test:

Final thoughts on DHC Kakonjuka line:

The Kakonjuka line has turned out to be exactly what DHC is famous for - a solid set of skincare products that are low key, efficient, no frills, and doing, at least partially, what they're supposed to in that unassuming DHC way.

But the packaging... Oh gods, the packaging is awful. Just awful. Looks cheap and trashy.

For all three products I paid the equivalent of US$25.00. There were cheap.
Will I repurchase?
If I have to pay the full price - no.

I didn't want to review this cushion. I have successfully avoided writing about it for nearly a year. I had no plans to write about this cushion.

Why?

Because people complain that there are too many negative reviews on my blog already.
I can understand that sentiment, but as I am not paid to write positive reviews, it is my right to be brutally honest.

Until a product comes along that is loved by seemingly everybody and their dog. A product that I'm. Just. Not. Getting. At. All.

So yes, there wasn't going to be a review of Lalavesi Akma Cushion, version fall/winter in shade Y2.

And yet there is.
Why?

Because y'all wanted it!

Emails have been coming with increasing urgency from people who remembered my instagram photos from many months ago.
They knew I bought this cushion.
And I guess now, with another Lalavesi limited edition cushion case season upon us (at least I'm assuming there is another limited edition), the same people wanted to know what I thought of the product itself.

So, don't complain later on, because YOU asked for it!

As you can see, I bought the 2014 Ice Cute edition. That bitch just spoke to me.

Everybody was buying them Lalavesi cushions, and the good little lemming that I am, I wanted one too.
So I got me one.

I bought it from TwoFacedMall, and sadly, I can't recommend that seller to anyone.

It was my first and last order with them.

It took forever. For-freakin'-ever.

I don't remember how much it was. It wasn't exactly cheap, but also not earth-shatteringly expensive.

If this is the first time you are reading about cushion foundations, may I suggest you click on the "Cushion Foundation" tab in the top menu and work your way from there.

So, what's a cushion foundation anyway?

It's basically a chuck of sponge that is saturated with foundation and placed in a special compact.
Some brands will include an extra refill in the box. Lalavesi wasn't one of those brands.

The only things that were in the box were the compact and a leaflet (in Korean).

New Zealand honey, it said. Moisture and stuff, it said. I couldn't wait to try it.

But before I could try it, I had to first clean up the compact.
You see, the inner container, the one that holds the saturated-in-foundation sponge was so shoddily made that the contents leaked.
Yep, leaked. From a brand new, still sealed cushion.

And it just went downhill from there.

It leaked around the hinge part. I did try my best to wipe it off for the photos.

Them innernets were raving about this cushion, so my expectations were pretty high.

I tried it for the first time, and thought to myself "meh, this is IT?"
But them innernets were still raving, so I kept trying hoping for a miracle.

Until the bitch broke me out.

But let's begin at the beginning:

- moisturizing? Nope. Not for my dry skin. It was a horrid, nearly cakey, dry mess.
- coverage? Minimal.
- wear? Awful!!! This shit got into every wrinkle and fine line, even in those I didn't know I had. It accentuated every dry patch.
- dewy glow? Surely, you must be joking! It tended to turn into something resembling powdery finish, reminded me of Kate Powderless Liquid For Cover.
- lasting power? A couple of hours, and I am being very generous here.
- oxidizing? Mercifully, no.
- scent? Yes, a generic cosmetic smell.

I honestly thought this was the worst cushion in my quite extensive cushion collection.

I was so frustrated with it that I put it away for a few months.
Usually when I do that, the break from a product helps me see it in a different light later on.

Not in this case...
Around May the darling of the Korean beauty blogging world, Tracy from fanserviced-b.com, reviewed this cushion and sang its praises.

I thought that perhaps I was doing something wrong the first time around.
And so full of fresh anticipation I dug out my Lalavesi Akma Cushion F.W and started to play with it again.

And the history repeated itself - every pore made bigger, every wrinkle made more visible and every dry patch - even drier.

Oh for craps' sakes!
I honestly lost all patience with this useless piece of kaka.
This is probably the worst cushion ever. Ever!

Dunno, maybe it works on people with normal to oily skin. It didn't work on mine.
Life is too short to fight with crappy cushion foundations.

Lalavesi Akma Cushion F.W in shade Y2. - ingredients (courtesy of Agathblog):

Honey Extract, Titanium Dioxide, Phenyl Trimethicone, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, Lauryl PEG-9 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone, 4-Methylbenzylidene Camphor, Cyclohexasiloxane, Arbutin, Dimethicone, Benzophenone-3, Polyglyceryl-3 Polyricinoleate, Methylene Bis-Benzotriazolyl Tetramethylbutylphenol, Sodium Chloride, Octyldodecanol, Echium Plantagineum Seed Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil Unsaponifiables, Cardiospermum Halicacabum Flower/Leaf/Vine Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, CI 77492, CI 77499, CI 77491, 1,2-Hexanediol, Butylene Glycol, Acrylates/Ethylhexyl Acrylate/Dimethicone Methacrylate Copolymer, Dimethicone/PEG-10/15 Crosspolymer, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Adenosine, Fragrance

Lalavesi Akma Cushion F.W in color Y2 - swatches:

And that's it.

Final thoughts:

- It seems to be a cushion (an entire brand, actually) targeting a young and pretty demographic. Young women with oilier skin, who want sheer coverage and are willing to pay for "trendy" stuff. I'm neither.
- Will I repurchase? LOL. You gotta be kidding me! Of course not.

When I bought this Hanyul White Chrysanthemum Radiance Serum (I think it was on RoseRoseShop, but it might have been W2Beauty, I don't remember), I made a mistake.

You see, I used to use Hanyul White Chrysanthemum something or the other in the past, and it was lovely. But that was before I got all serious about blogging about Asian skincare products.
So earlier this year, when my dear friend from France asked about skin tone evening serums, I naturally ran to the net and purchased the first White Chrysanthemum item that caught my eye.

It turned out to be a good mistake, in several ways, actually.

But first things first.

"White chrysanthemum?" I hear you say.
"You mean, like this?" I hear you say.

image source: wikipedia

I mean, it's a chrysanthemum for sure. And it's definitely white.

Yeah, I thought so, too.
But as always with cosmetic products, the devil's in the details.

I remembered reading something about white chrysanthemum tea being a popular drink in China. But as far as I could recall, it didn't actually involve huge white flowers, of the kind usually placed on graves in a certain European country on November 1st.

I started digging. And sure enough, what they call "white chrysanthemum" in China is what we call "golden chamomile" or "Chinese chamomile" in Europe.

And yes, the "white chrysanthemum" drink I remembered drinking smelled more like chamomile tea than a cemetery on All Saints' Day (my Polish readers will understand the reference).

So you expect this:

image source: wikipedia

But in reality, you get this:

image source: wikipedia

Quite a difference, right?
Yeah, I thought so, too.

So that's the bad news. It's not white, it's golden, and it's not a chrysanthemum of the usual variety, but something more resembling a chamomile.

Luckily for us, that's the end of bad news.

And for the good news? Luckily for us, there's plenty of it.

1. Chamomile and chrysanthemums are actually related.
This one here is called Chrysanthellum indicum in Latin and "gamguk" in Korean.

2. Chrysanthellum indicum extract happens to be quite awesome. According to multiple sources, it has:
- anti-aging properties
- anti-inflammatory properties
- and according to a research paper published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, is an effective and well-tolerated topical agent (used as 1% cream) for the treatment of moderate rosacea.

3. Hanyul White Chrysanthemum Radiance Serum claims to have 1000 ppm (part per million?) of this magical "gamguk" extract.

Wait a sec.
My Japanese friend has a question.

Hanyu???!!??

No, not Yuzuru Hanyu *). Though in all fairness, this boy is the fairest of them all and totally could have his own skincare line.

Hanyul.

image source: Amore Pacific

Hanyul is one of the many, many brands from Amore Pacific. And Amore Pacific is the largest beauty company in South Korea. Or one of the two largest. The other being LG (yep, that LG).
Hanyul's tagline is: "Traditional natural cosmetics from the nature and folk remedies of Korea."

Pity they limit themselves to Korea, because just imagine the perfect blend of Hanyu and Hanyul. The marketing possibilities are endless.
I'd buy it. Just because.

But what were we talking about here?

Ahhhh... yes... ~~Hanyu~~ Hanyul White Chrysanthemum Radiance Serum.

It's a Korean skincare product that claims to even out your complexion, reduce dark spots and blemishes, improve your skin's natural radiance by preventing the formation of melanin.
It also claims to have anti-wrinkle properties.

As a serum, it goes on your skin after cleansing and applying toner.

In a typical Hanyul fashion, one side of the box is printed in English, the other - in Korean.

The bottle has the characteristic Hanyul shape. But sadly, it's plastic. It looks like nice, luxurious glass, but it's just cheap plastic. Korean skincare companies like to fool you like that.

The bottle is semi-transparent (you can see how much stuff is still inside if you hold it against the light) and holds 40 ml of product.

The serum is white, its texture is very light and deliciously delicate. It's not oily, it's not watery, it's just right.

It does smell like chrysanthemums, though. It's not a strong smell, but it's there. And it definitely likes to linger. I absolutely hate this scent!!!

The serum absorbs completely, leaves the skin feeling soft and very lightly hydrated. There is no sticky film or other residue.

The bottle is equipped with a pump. But it's not the airless type, you can unscrew it and suck every last bit of what's still left in the bottle.

The leaflet included in the box has the usual useless information in two languages. However, the Korean version is more extensive and includes the ingredient list as well.

Basically, the only thing you can read in English is this:

So yeah. That's what they say.

What do I say about Hanyul White Chrysanthemum Radiance Serum?

This is a very confusing product.
I used it once a day, in the morning. I felt like it wasn't doing much, so I stopped and put it aside for a while.
My skin reacted immediately.
Sometimes the best way to determine whether a product works or not is to stop using it.

So yes, this serum is indeed doing something. I can't tell you what it's doing, but I can definitely tell you what happened when I wasn't using it.

My skin lost its radiance and returned to its usual pinkish and I-look-like-I'm-slightly-drunk ruddy state.
Not using it made me realize how gentle and delicate and subtle this serum is.
The changes are minimal but they are there.

And the best part?
There was no adverse reaction whatsoever.
My skin was calm, smooth, less pink, radiant, bright and healthy.

I'm so in love with this Hanyul White Chrysanthemum Radiance Serum that I nearly wept when I reached the bottom of the bottle.
I wanted to run and repurchase immediately.

But I didn't.

And I won't.

Why?

The smell. The flowery scent that makes me think of All Saints' Day. I just can't stomach another bottle of this sensory abomination.

99% of people will tell you it's a pleasant, refreshing fragrance. And they are right.
But if you are sensitive to scents, you will, literally, be able to taste it.

Hanyul White Chrysanthemum Radiance Serum ingredients (courtesy of HwaHae):

So there you have it.
A delightful brightening serum that is suitable for dry, sensitive and delicate skin, and which would be perfect, if not for the annoying fragrance.

If you want to try it, most Korean online stores carry it. Pricing varies, so it pays to shop around.

So that was Hanyul.

~~~

And this is Hanyu *)

*) Japanese Figure Skating God

Every once in a while a product has been hyped so much that when it finally arrives, the expectations are quite high. And in extremely rare instances, the product actually lives up to all the hype.

This is not one of those stories.

Make-Remake Cloud All-In-One Cleanser 001 came to me in the November edition of Glossybox (Korean version).

There were other things in the box as well, but they are not important (the BB cream was too dark and nasty, Avene I know and usually use as a hand cream, Bodycology spray was so vile that it was only good as a room freshener, and that mini-set of hair and body stuff I haven't tried yet).

What was important was that full size jar of Make-Remake Cloud All-In-One Cleanser 001.

Make-Remake is a new brand from LG Household and Healthcare, the home of su:m37, The History of Whoo, Isa Knox, The Saga of Xiu and many, many others...
Yes, LG. No, it's not a typo. It's a huge company and they make all sorts of other things besides TVs and smartphones.

So... what's different about Make-Remake?
It's a brand that focuses solely on cleansing - face cleansing, body cleansing, hair cleansing. Haven't seen any feminine cleansers in the lineup, though, so if you're looking for that, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Here's the official blurb in English - brand intro as seen on the official LG website.

See this? It's not just any old cleansing, because "All MAKEREMAKE’s cleansers contain natural ingredients including Wheat Sprout Juice™ and Vital Grains™."

Hmmm... Whatever they are, they must be truly unique if LG had gone to the trouble of actually trademarking those godawful names... I know of a few things that sprout vital juices, but none of them are grains, or have anything to do with wheat...

The wheat and vital grains that they're talking about seem to be: lentils, oats, rye, and amaranth.

Make-Remake, or rather MAKEREMAKE, call themselves "cleansing curators". You'd think that if you're going to give yourself such a cheesy and pretentious title, at least you should be able to curate a half-way decent cleanser, right?

So, did the folks behind Make-Remake manage this feat, or not?

The answer is "or not" and I could end my review right here, right now.

And my initial plan was to do just that. But that was before Tracy from Fan-b posted her review of four Make-Remake products - link here.

Honestly, I thought that perhaps we each got a different cleanser.

But no, I checked the label, it says 001 on mine. You see, MakeRemake, in addition to horribly annoying, long-ass names, also very conveniently provides numbers for all their products.

Just double checking... Yep, it's the same cleanser... Make-Remake Cloud All-In-One Cleanser. No mistake here.

If you're seeing just a plastic bag, that's not because the box got damaged during transport. There is no box. All products come packaged in ziplock-type plastic baggies. Very convenient, nothing will get soaking wet if a bottle, or a jar, suddenly starts leaking.

Tracy said that Make-Remake Cloud All-In-One Cleanser was a good second step cleanser (to be used after makeup removal and oil or balm cleansing).

I can't agree, unfortunately.

This is such a mediocre product that if I had purchased it on my own, I'd be furious at myself.
It doesn't cleanse, it couldn't remove the residue of DHC Deep Cleansing Oil, it wouldn't rinse, it left my skin feeling dry and stripped.

After a week of daily usage I could see that it was starting to break me out. I suspected the fact that it was so difficult to rinse off was the culprit. I had to follow it with yet another cleanser to make sure that my face was free of any Make-Remake residue.

Despite its low pH (Tracy tested it as 5, as you can see in my photo, it looks more like pH6, incidentally, that's also the pH of our tap water), it left my face feeling dry and stripped. Following it with another cleanser (Minon Whip Wash) took care of those symptoms.

But sorry, I have no use for a cleanser that I have to follow with another cleanser...

It comes in a 90 gram jar.

There was a spatula in the baggie, along with a Korean language leaflet.

The main selling points of this cleanser seem to be its texture and slight acidity (as per the blurb on the official page).
They call it "cloud", I call it "cottage cheese." Both start with "c", close enough for me.

Yes, it's fragranced, however, my usually very sensitive nose was OK with this smell. To me it seemed like a clean, generic "cleanser" scent, if you know what I mean.

Is the texture really so novel and exciting? Outside of Asia - perhaps.
In Asia? No.
A few years ago we had a series of "ice cream" soaps, which were pretty much the same thing, except in cuter packages that looked like pudding cups. Smelled better too.

This cleanser is trying too hard. It wants to appear new and special and different.

But ends up being quite meh.

Make-Remake Cloud All-In-One Cleanser 001 ingredient list:

Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Sprout Extract, Glycerin, Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate, PEG/PPG/Polybutylene Glycol-8/5/3 Glycerin, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, 1,2-Hexanediol, Butylene Glycol, Chenopodium Quinoa Seed Extract, Lens Esculenta (Lentil) Seed Extract, Secale Cereale (Rye) Seed Extract, Amaranthus Caudatus Seed Extract, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Oil, Silica, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Water, Alcohol Denat. , Trisodium EDTA, Fragrance

What else should I tell you?

If you want to get your own jar, or purchase any other Make-Remake product, you will have to use a Korean buying service (like, for example Korean Buddy - this is NOT an affiliate link, and no, I haven't used this service, yet).

You can find a full assortment of Make-Remake products on LG's own beautymall page - link.

Will I be buying more from this brand?

Nah... Based on this cleanser, I am not interested.

I got really mad a few weeks ago and in a fit of anger tossed all the horrid Clio Gelpresso eyeliners I had gotten not so long before. After the fiasco of Etude House Play 101 pencils (garbage), and Tosowoong eyeliners (also garbage), I don't know what I expected from Clio. A miracle perhaps?

Well, I got more garbage instead.
There will be no review of Clio, because honestly, who cares. All you need to know about what I think of Clio Gelpresso eyeliners, you already have read above.

It is in such frustrating moments that I realize, time and again, that I much rather prefer western eye makeup. Especially, makeup that doesn't require a Jedi master level brush skills. Because I hate makeup brushes so much that my groin hurts.

And that brings us to today's contestants - Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils. They are exactly that - simple, old-school eye pencils, eye liners, eye whatevers. No need for fancy names here. You want chubby caviar cream shadow sticks, then go elsewhere.
You want simple, functional, easy to use, everything-proof pencils, then Shu Uemura's got you covered.

Kilka tygodni temu wkurzylam sie strasznie i wywalilam te koszmarki Clio Gelpresso do oczu. Dlaczego? Bo po klapie jaka okazaly sie byc kredki Etude House Play 101 (dno i wodorosty), i Tosowoong kredki do oczu (bardzo blisko dna), sama nie wiem czego oczekiwalam od Clio. Cudu moze? (linki do obu wpisow w paragrafie powyzej)

Zamiast cudu dostalam kolejne gowna.

Nie bedzie recenzji kredek Clio, bo wszystko co mam do powiedzenia na ich temat, jest w zdaniu powyzej.

I to w chwili wlasnie takiej frustracji zdalam sobie sprawe, po raz n-ty, ze wole zachodnie specyfiki do makijazu oczu niz koreanskie. A zwlaszcza wole specyfiki, ktore nie wymagaja ode mnie umiejetnosci poslugiwania sie pedzlem na poziomie mistrza Jedi. Bo ja nienawidze pedzli do makijazu.

I ta pedzlowa nienawisc przynosi nam dzisiejszych zawodnikow - Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils. Zwykle, proste, tradycyjne eyelinery. Nie potrzeba im zadnych fikusnych nazw.
Jesli podniecaja cie chubby caviar cream shadow sticks, to nie czytaj dalej.
Ale jesli szukasz solidnych, funkcjonalnych, latwych w obsludze, i nie do zdarcia kolorowych olowkow do mazania po oczach, to Shu Uemura oferuje wlasnie to.

"Wait! Didn't you say 'western' eye makeup?", I hear you say.
"So why the hell you're talking about Shu Uemura, you crazy bitch", I hear you say. "Isn't Shu Uemura, like, you know, Japanese, and stuff?"

All valid questions (and don't you just love having these discussions with the voices in your head?), but the answers may be different from what you expect.

Yes, "western" eye makeup, because Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils are made in Germany. In the same factory that makes eye liners and eye crayons for Maybelline and Lancome.
How come?

All three are L'Oreal brands.

Yes, my dear lovelies, in case you didn't know, now you know, Shu Uemura is a L'Oreal brand.

So while Shu might have been a purely Japanese concept once upon a time when the earth was still young, now it's firmly in the hands of its French overlords.

It's the opposite of NARS, which is actually owned by Shiseido...

"No ale zaraz! Mowilas, ze wolisz zachodnie kosmetyki do oczu. Wiec dlaczego teraz gledzisz o Shu Uemura?" - sie pytasz.
"Przeciez Shu Uemura to japonska marka, czyz nie?" - to tez dobre pytanie.

Niestety odpowiedz na nie moze byc inna niz moglibysmy sie spodziewac.

Tak, "zachodnie kosmetyki", bo Shu Uemura kredki do oczu produkowane sa w Niemczech. W tej samej fabryce, ktora robi kredki dla Lancome i Maybelline.
A dlaczego tam?

Bo wszystkie te trzy marki pochodza ze stajni L'Oreal.

Tak, moi drodzy. Choc nazwa jest japonska, to Shu Uemura jest jedna z wielu marek nalezacych do firmy L'Oreal.
Poczatki Shu Uemury byly japonskie, ale to bylo dawno temu w galaktyce daleko stad. Teraz Shu nalezy do miedzynarodowego koncernu jakim jest L'Oreal.

Czyli dokladnie odwrotnie niz NARS, bo ta marka nalezy do japonskiego koncernu - Shiseido.

~~~

Anyway, where were we?

Ah yes, Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils...

Ale o czym mysmy tu sobie gadu gadu rozmawiali?
No tak, o Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil kredkach do oczu.

I bought my first two Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils last year, in Seoul, of all places. I had no intention of buying any eye stuff. I went over to the Shu counter at Lotte department store to play with foundations. But the sales boy there (yep, he looked like a boy to me, cute and adorable) was so crafty, he actually convinced me I absolutely needed these pencils.

He put his hand in mine and said, in English, "please rub this".

It had been a long time since a young, good looking man asked me to rub anything of his, so I jumped at the chance.

He pointed to the colorful stripes on his hand and challenged me to smudge them. I accepted the challenge and rubbed with all my might, but the stripes stayed put and wouldn't budge.

"Give me them there crayons," I heard myself say.
The boy did my eye makeup to help me choose which colors I preferred, selected a mountain of samples, and said that if I paid cash, he could give me even more free stuff.

I paid cash.

These are the colors I got in Seoul:

Moje pierwsze Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils kupilam w Seulu w zeszlym roku. Nie mialam zamiaru kupowac niczego do oczu. Poszlam do Lotte departamentu macac Shu'owe podklady. Ale chloptas obslugujacy stoisko (tak chloptas, slodki i uroczy) pokazal mi, ze absolutnie i koniecznie potrzebuje tych kredek w moim zyciu. Jak sprzedawca spisal sie na szostke. A nawet na siodemke.

Zlapal mnie za reke, polozyl swoja dlon na mojej, spojrzal mi gleboko w oczy, i powiedzial "potrzyj troche." Oj to byly juz wieki cale, kiedy mlody, dorodny chlopak prosil mnie o potarcie czegokolwiek na swoim ciele, wiec ochoczo zabralam sie do dziela.

On wskazal ma kolorowe paski na swoim przedramieniu i kazal je rozmazac. Dalam z siebie wszystko, pewnie skore bym mu zdarla, ale paski zostaly nienaruszone.

"Dawaj mi te teraz tu kredki! Chce je natychmiast!" wyszlo z moich ust jak odruch bezwarunkowy.

Chloptas umalowal mi oko, zeby dobrac odpowiednie kolory. I powiedzial, ze jak zaplace gotowka, to moze mi dorzucic wiecej probek i miniowek niz zwykle.
Zaplacilam gotowka.

Kolory, ktore kupilam w Seulu, to te:

Left / po lewej - Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil in M (matte) Brick Brown 84
Right / po prawej - Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil in P (pearly) Light Orange 21

And yes, you also see a sharpener, because that is the only thing that pisses me off about these pencils. They are very old-school, you gotta sharpen them.

I had plans to buy more, so once I returned to Japan, I hopped over to the Omotesando Shu branch, and promptly gave up.

The worst customer service ever.

Let's just say that it was so bad it successfully put me off visiting any Shu Uemura counters in Japan for over a year.

Instead, I had to wait for international trips and shop duty free.

And probably it would have stayed that way, if not for my friend who asked me to pick up a few things for her at the old Fukudaya shopping mall last weekend.

Yep, there was a Shu Uemura counter there. Yep, the staff was clueless and unhelpful. Next time, damn it, I'm gonna shop online. I'm done with those Shu morons.

I picked up one more drawing pencil. And a bunch of things that my friend wanted.

The pencils come packaged in foil, because apparently, Shu is too cheap for proper boxes:

Wzielam jeszcze jeden z tych olowkow. I pare rzeczy, ktorych domagala sie kolezanka.
Olowki te sa zapakowane tylko w folie, bo jak widac, niestety Shu jest zbyt skapy (oszczedny?) na porzadne pudelka:

This is a nightmare when you buy them at the airport, as the pencil is at the mercy of your purse.

The silver one is a limited edition design - Maison Kitsune for Shu Uemura, and unlike the others, this one is called "play & remix drawing pencil". How very fancy.

Brak pudelka to koszmar jesli kupuje sie na lotnisku, bo wiadomo, ze w torbie w samolocie cuda sie dzieja.
Ten srebrny to edycja limitowana - Maison Kitsune dla Shu Uemura, i choc jest identyczny jak cala ich reszta, ten nazywa sie "play & remix drawing pencil." No bo musialo byc edycyjnie i limitowanie.

Not sure who would be interested in eyeliner ingredients, but here they are:

Nie wiem kogo interesowalby sklad kredki do oczu, ale w razie czego tutaj jest:

And yes, indeed, they are made in Germany:

No i rzeczywiscie, sa robione u sasiadow za Odra:

Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils come in four different finishes:
Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils sa dostepne w czterech rowznych wykonczeniach

M - for matte / matowy
G - for glitter / brokatowy (z drobinkami)
P - for pearly / perlowy (opalizujacy)
ME - for metallic / metaliczny

There are 21 colors in all, I think.
I have these:

Dostepnych jest ponoc 21 odcieni.
Ja mam te:

Unedited photo in natural light.

Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils:

- ME Purple 71
- P Light Orange 21
- G Gold 93
- M Chestnut Brown 81
- P Light Green 52
- G Silver 92
- M Brick Brown 84

What do I like about them?
They are soft. Their consistency and texture are perfect. They are beautifully pigmented. They are easy to apply. They don't tug and don't pull. They don't smudge and stay perfect until it's time to remov eyour eye makeup. They can be blended, but you gotta blend fast. Once these babies set, you'll need a serious eye makeup remover to remove them. According to the description, they can be used as a liner, or a shadow.

What don't I like about them?
You gotta sharpen these f*ckers.

Co w nich lubie?
Sa mieciutkie. Tekstura i konsystencja to czysta perfekcja. Napigmentowanie - bajka. Latwe w obsludze. Nie szarpia i nie ciagna. Nie rozmazuja sie i siedza na oczach az do chwili demakijazu. Mozna je blendowac, ale trzeba do robic cholernie szybko. Inaczej kolor zastygnie i wtedy bez dwufazowki ani rusz. Wedlug opisu producenta, mozna je uzywac do rysowania kresek (eyeliner), albo jako cien na powieke (eyeshadow).

Co w nich nie lubie?
Trzeba je temperowac.

See? It's not that hard to make a perfect eye pencil. You can't compare the Etude Houses of this world to Shu Uemura. A L'Oreal brand, or not.

I wanted you to rub my hand, too. Because they really don't smudge, so I made this handy gif:

Widzicie? Nie jest tak trudno wyprodukowac kredke idealna (no prawie, bo to ostrzenie ostrzynka to tak old-skoolowo). Nie ma co porownywac Etude House'ow tego swiata do Shu Uemura.

Ja tez chcialam, zeby ktos wdziecznie pocieral moja reke, wiec zrobilam tego gifa. Bo te Drawing Pencils naprawde sie nie smuza.

My first ever gif, yay!!!
Now it can only get better.

How much is a Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil going to cost you? Anywhere from 22 to 27 dollars a pop, depending on where in the world you are, and if you are shopping duty free.

Too much for you?

Well, guess what?
This is so unexpected that even I am surprised. It turns out that Maybelline Vivid and Smooth Liners by EyeStudio are quite respectable dupes for Shu.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. After all, both Shu Uemura and Maybelline are L'Oreal brands, and both of them make their pencils in the same factory in Germany.

So, what do I love more than Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils?
Shu Uemura Drawing Crayons, that's what!
Stay tuned!

It's no secret that I'm not a great fan of Kate Tokyo, a.k.a. Tokyo Kate, a.k.a. Kate Kanebo, or whatever else you want to call it.

Their eye products are the pits, and it surprises me to no end that they tend to get high marks amongst the users of @Cosme (a very influential Japanese beauty portal). But that just proves that Japanese women have the worst possible taste when it comes to mascaras, that's all.

When the CC Lip Cream thingie debuted last year I was very careful to avoid it. Yet those damn tubes were everywhere. Literally everywhere. And always featured very prominently.

The fact that there were never any testers available was the first giant giveaway that the entire campaign was pure bullshit. Why? Because the products hint very heavily that they are more than just lowly lip balms. The spinmasters at Kanebo want us to believe that Kate Tokyo CC Lip Cream is a step, or two, or three, above lowly lip balm. That it's "natural makeup".

But, with no testers we either have to believe the promo machine, or embrace our inner skeptical b*tch, like I tend to do. Because what other products don't usually offer testers? Yep, lip balms.

So yeah, we have lip balms with a touch of color. Not even lip glosses. Just your plain, old, garden variety tinted lip balms.

With a fancy name like CC Lip Cream they want to pretend they are new and cool and oh-so-hip and exciting.

Kanebo claims there are two types of Kate Tokyo CC Lip Cream:

lip stain (01- Beat Red, 04 - Orange Burst), and
lip color enhancer (05 - Pink Trick, 06 - Mode Pink).

As you can see I have all four, and honestly, I couldn't see any difference in performance between them. It's just a freakin' tinted lip balm, for chrissakes!

It's a decent tinted lip balm, but not without faults. And the biggest of those faults?
When it's freezing outside and your lips are cold this thing turns into a layer of goo that looks OK when your lips are closed. But when you open your mouth? Boy, oh boy...
You end up looking like you're frothing at the mouth. The sticky white demarcation line is clearly visible.

A minor fault would be the incredibly cheap and malfunction-prone tube.

But hey, for less than 400 yen (and these are always on sale), you can't really complain too much.

Here are the swatches of Kate Tokyo CC Lip Creams in all the colors:

See? I told you! Tinted lip balm.

According to the Kate Tokyo (no more rules) website, these CC Lip Creams are 5-in-1 products.
Here, I screenshot it for you (yes, I'm lazy):

The most interesting part is that they are:

SPF 19 PA++, and
can be used as makeup base.

Other lofty claims:

Moisturizing? Yeah, they are OK. Nothing special. DHC Lip Cream it ain't, that's for sure.
Long lasting? You gotta be kidding, right?
Color correction? They do offer a touch of color, but that's about it. I suppose the full effect depends on the natural color of your lips.
Lip gloss (for shades 01 and 04)? Surely, you can't be serious!

So yeah, it's a lip balm. A sheer lip balm with a hint of color.
A lip balm enhanced with olive oil, almond oil, jojoba oil and sodium hyaluronate.

An OK lip balm, especially for warmer weather.
On cold days you risk looking like you didn't wipe off your mouth after a vigorous blowjob session. Consider yourself warned.

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