Asian skincare

[pantsparty]

May 12, 2017 11:59:10 GMT -5 DarcyLongfellow said:

I've been using Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Extreme pads, and I like them. But I'm wondering if I should step up my actives game a bit.

From what I can tell, the pads have 5% glycolic acid, but the percentages of salicylic acid and lactic acid aren't disclosed. So I'm thinking I'll try some separate AHA/BHA products to see if they make my skin awesome.

Are the Cosrx ones (the BHA and the AHA) the favorites around here?

Or should I try The Ordinary? It looks like their glycolic acid product is 7% just like the Cosrx one. Although their salicylic acid is 2%, and I think the Cosrx one is 4% (?).

Also, has anyone gotten a prescription salicylic acid cream instead of using over the counter?

I use the COSRX formulas, but right now I'm only using them once weekly because I'm also using a tretinoin/clindamycin treatment (Veltin) nightly. I honestly don't really know how they compare to the other products you mentioned - however, the 2 bottles I have seem to be lasting forever because I don't use a ton each time. 

[kategm]

May 22, 2017 8:09:26 GMT -5 wawa said:

I mentioned this in the regular randoms, but I'll share here too - Julep cleansing oil is utter crap.  It feels like vaseline on my face when I try to rinse it off.  It doesn't want to go!  Straight up avocado oil comes off easier.  And breaks up my mascara/eye liner better.

In more specifically AB related news - I packed sheet masks for my recent work travel, and both nights dozed off with them on my face.  No idea how long they were there, woke up a while later and just half-awake peeled them off and left them crumpled on the bedside table.  My skin looked fucking fantastic when I woke up.  Freeset aqua gel donkey milk one night and etude Hyaluronic the other.  Thumbs up to both. 

Are you using the Julep Love Your Face liquidy oil in a tall bottle? I didn't love it either, but mainly because I prefer the consistency of the balm oil cleanser (Banila Clean it Zero or the Grain Ferment one). I didn't have any trouble getting the Julep oil off. Definitely never felt like Vaseline. I thought it emulsified nicely. What foaming cleanser do you use?

[wawa]

May 22, 2017 14:39:09 GMT -5 kategm said:

May 22, 2017 8:09:26 GMT -5 wawa said:

I mentioned this in the regular randoms, but I'll share here too - Julep cleansing oil is utter crap.  It feels like vaseline on my face when I try to rinse it off.  It doesn't want to go!  Straight up avocado oil comes off easier.  And breaks up my mascara/eye liner better.

In more specifically AB related news - I packed sheet masks for my recent work travel, and both nights dozed off with them on my face.  No idea how long they were there, woke up a while later and just half-awake peeled them off and left them crumpled on the bedside table.  My skin looked fucking fantastic when I woke up.  Freeset aqua gel donkey milk one night and etude Hyaluronic the other.  Thumbs up to both. 

Are you using the Julep Love Your Face liquidy oil in a tall bottle? I didn't love it either, but mainly because I prefer the consistency of the balm oil cleanser (Banila Clean it Zero or the Grain Ferment one). I didn't have any trouble getting the Julep oil off. Definitely never felt like Vaseline. I thought it emulsified nicely. What foaming cleanser do you use?

It's the travel size, so not a tall bottle, but otherwise yes, I think that's what I've got.  I use CeraVe foaming, which is fine, it takes off the residue, but compared to the other cleansing oils I've used it's a TON of residue.  I was unpleasantly surprised.  boscia and josie maran and one other sample I can't call to mind are what I've tried previously.  Those emulsify right up with just a splash of water and then rinse clean - for some reason the julep just didn't want to budge. 

[kristie]

Any new snail ampoules I need to try? I am about to order another mizon one, but find myself annoyed with how fast I go through these things.

[pantsparty]

May 22, 2017 19:02:39 GMT -5 kristie said:

Any new snail ampoules I need to try? I am about to order another mizon one, but find myself annoyed with how fast I go through these things.

Maybe the COSRX snail essence? www.amazon.com/Cosrx-Advanced-Snail-Mucin-Essence/dp/B00PBX3L7K/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1495552783&sr=8-1&keywords=cosrx+snail

I think because it's more like a serum and less like a gel it will take longer to go through the bottle.

[MrsAxilla]

May 23, 2017 10:20:15 GMT -5 pantsparty said:

May 22, 2017 19:02:39 GMT -5 kristie said:

Any new snail ampoules I need to try? I am about to order another mizon one, but find myself annoyed with how fast I go through these things.

Maybe the COSRX snail essence? www.amazon.com/Cosrx-Advanced-Snail-Mucin-Essence/dp/B00PBX3L7K/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1495552783&sr=8-1&keywords=cosrx+snail

I think because it's more like a serum and less like a gel it will take longer to go through the bottle.

I just reordered and it took nearly five months to get through the first bottle.  I use two pumps twice a day. 

[kristie]

I have the Cosrx one. While I can't seem to finish it off, I don't really like the feeling it leaves. I feel like the mizon soaks in better for me and Cosrx is slightly oily or something.

[saz]

Has anyone used Boscia Cool Blue Hydration Essence? I found it for cheap at Marshalls recently and bought it on a whim. I've been using it for a few days and it isn't causing any reactions or anything so far but I'm curious if anyone here has used it long term!

[SallyJ]

May 30, 2017 14:58:23 GMT -5 saz said:

Has anyone used Boscia Cool Blue Hydration Essence? I found it for cheap at Marshalls recently and bought it on a whim. I've been using it for a few days and it isn't causing any reactions or anything so far but I'm curious if anyone here has used it long term!

Yes and I didn't like it.  It was sticky, I didn't like the smell, and I broke out with it.  Although I don't like smelly things in general and my skin is super sensitive.  If you or anyone else ends up loving it, let me know and I will send mine along.

[NewOrleans]

May 25, 2017 12:37:49 GMT -5 kristie said:

I have the Cosrx one. While I can't seem to finish it off, I don't really like the feeling it leaves. I feel like the mizon soaks in better for me and Cosrx is slightly oily or something.

I agree. I have been complimented for great hydration when I get facials, but I do think it is sticky or oily or SOMETHING. It makes me not love it (although I don't hate it or anything.)  What is the Mizon one you use?

[DarcyLongfellow]

May 22, 2017 8:09:26 GMT -5 wawa said:

I mentioned this in the regular randoms, but I'll share here too - Julep cleansing oil is utter crap.  It feels like vaseline on my face when I try to rinse it off.  It doesn't want to go!  Straight up avocado oil comes off easier.  And breaks up my mascara/eye liner better.

It's so interesting to read this.

Julep is the first oil I bought (back in December). I love it. Of course, I have nothing to compare it to, but I don't notice a residue. But it is $30, so when I finally ran out of it recently, I decided to try the Face Shop Rice Water Cleansing Oil. Huge mistake.

That stuff is awful, and it's caused me to have horrible cystic acne all over my face. I haven't gotten this many zits since I was in high school, and they're leaving lovely red marks (PIH?) all over my face even after they're gone. Ug.

[winterbridenj]

I decided to try a difference sunscreen since Biore Watery Essence has been scarce on Amazon Prime lately.  I ended up ordering the A'PIEU PURE BLOCK Natural Sun Cream SPF45/PA+++, and I tried it out this weekend.  It's thick, leaves a white cast, and takes forever to sink in/dry down.  Even after it dried down as much as it was going it, the white cast never completely went away (and my skin is pretty pale), plus it still felt a little greasy (although maybe not as bad as typical western sunscreens).  I also felt like it was very thick layer when I tried to apply the full 1/4 teaspoon to my face, and I'm not even sure that I applied the full amount.  It also had a strong citrus scent, and while not unpleasant, it bothered me that it didn't dissipate after applying.  I'll use the rest of the tube on my arms or something, but it's definitely not something I want to repurchase.

I am definitely spoiled by the Biore Watery Essence.

[wawa]

May 30, 2017 22:14:20 GMT -5 DarcyLongfellow said:

May 22, 2017 8:09:26 GMT -5 wawa said:

I mentioned this in the regular randoms, but I'll share here too - Julep cleansing oil is utter crap.  It feels like vaseline on my face when I try to rinse it off.  It doesn't want to go!  Straight up avocado oil comes off easier.  And breaks up my mascara/eye liner better.

It's so interesting to read this.

Julep is the first oil I bought (back in December). I love it. Of course, I have nothing to compare it to, but I don't notice a residue. But it is $30, so when I finally ran out of it recently, I decided to try the Face Shop Rice Water Cleansing Oil. Huge mistake.

That stuff is awful, and it's caused me to have horrible cystic acne all over my face. I haven't gotten this many zits since I was in high school, and they're leaving lovely red marks (PIH?) all over my face even after they're gone. Ug.

I'm honestly starting to wonder if something is wrong with my bottle. They missed adding the emulsifiers to this batch or something... it's that bad. But it can't actually be that bad and be as well liked as it is, right? Weird.

I hope your acne issue clears up quickly. That sucks.

[NewOrleans]

Naruko is a Taiwanese brand that Fiddy likes. They are having a 50% sheet mask sale. The ones she likes are Narcissus DNA repair and Intense Snail Hydra Repair (something like that, its pink), so those are the ones I bought. I got 2 ten packs for 25$.

www.narukoboutique.com

[juliachild]

Jun 7, 2017 10:40:23 GMT -5 NewOrleans said:

Naruko is a Taiwanese brand that Fiddy likes. They are having a 50% sheet mask sale. The ones she likes are Narcissus DNA repair and Intense Snail Hydra Repair (something like that, its pink), so those are the ones I bought. I got 2 ten packs for 25$.

www.narukoboutique.com

I love naruko masks. The snail is my favorite, but I've liked all of the ones I've tried. They also have an eBay store that sometimes has better prices.

[mominatrix]

Decided I needed to buy masks in bulk and do them more often, as the best masks and the crappiest masks make my skin better for like three days...

bought this collection from Amazon, as it seemed right:

www.amazon.com/Dermal-Korea-Collagen-Essence-Facial/dp/B00BAM7F8C/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1497306888&sr=8-1&keywords=dermal+sheet+mask



I'll let you know how they work.

[MrsAxilla]

Jun 12, 2017 17:36:53 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Decided I needed to buy masks in bulk and do them more often, as the best masks and the crappiest masks make my skin better for like three days...

bought this collection from Amazon, as it seemed right:

www.amazon.com/Dermal-Korea-Collagen-Essence-Facial/dp/B00BAM7F8C/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1497306888&sr=8-1&keywords=dermal+sheet+mask



I'll let you know how they work.

Please do!  I was looking at those just last night.

[saz]

Jun 13, 2017 1:16:47 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Jun 12, 2017 17:36:53 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Decided I needed to buy masks in bulk and do them more often, as the best masks and the crappiest masks make my skin better for like three days...

bought this collection from Amazon, as it seemed right:

www.amazon.com/Dermal-Korea-Collagen-Essence-Facial/dp/B00BAM7F8C/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1497306888&sr=8-1&keywords=dermal+sheet+mask



I'll let you know how they work.

Please do!  I was looking at those just last night.

These are actually some of my favorites! They are perfect for using every night. I never buy masks for more than $1/each now.

[MrsAxilla]

Jun 13, 2017 10:38:29 GMT -5 saz said:

Jun 13, 2017 1:16:47 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Please do!  I was looking at those just last night.

These are actually some of my favorites! They are perfect for using every night. I never buy masks for more than $1/each now.

I started out with the cheap masks and then I think I got snobby maybe? Snobby but cheap, so the end result is I hardly ever use them anymore and I miss them! :::off to Amazon:::

[SallyJ]

Thank you for recommending some good products! I have had significant improvement in my skin since switching to AB routine. I think I've also more clearly narrowed down what causes my acne - stress and likely coconut oil derivative (fatty alcohols like cetearyl alcohol). I am not really willing to do much more trial/error to be sure, but I don't think it's silicone (yay!).

Here are the photos at before, 2 weeks after, and 2 months after. Sorry for the poor lighting on the first one, it doesn't even show how uneven my skin really was. I had just tried TO Natural Moisturizing Factors two days before the last picture and the two new cystic acne spots showed up.


A few things I started doing: sleeping a minimum of 7 hours per night going to bed at the same time very night and not hitting snooze on my alarm, drinking more water, started listening to audio books again rather than political podcasts in order to keep my anxiety low in the car when I tend to do more face picking/touching.

I check all ingredients on this website and stay away from anything that has a 2 or greater in the acne column: cosdna.com/eng/ingredients.php

Routine:

AM:
Rinse with tap water
CosRx AHA/BHA Toner
The Ordinary 12% AG VitC product
The Ordinary Caffeine solution under eye
Manyo Galactomyces Niacin Treatment
CosRx Snail Mucin 96
Biore Water Essence Sunscreen + 3 drops rose hip oil

PM routine:
Boscia Make-up Break-up Oil Cleanser - massage into face, use hot microfiber towel to steam, wipe clean, repeat with hot towel
Neutrogena Naturals Cleanser
CosRx BHA, CosRx AHA on Night 1
The Ordinary 5% Alpha Lipoic Acid on Night 2
The Ordinary 10% Argireline
CosRx Snail Mucin + 5 drops rose hip oil
The Ordinary Squalane as additional eye moisturizer

[pizzanight]

Jun 12, 2017 17:36:53 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Decided I needed to buy masks in bulk and do them more often, as the best masks and the crappiest masks make my skin better for like three days...

bought this collection from Amazon, as it seemed right:

www.amazon.com/Dermal-Korea-Collagen-Essence-Facial/dp/B00BAM7F8C/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1497306888&sr=8-1&keywords=dermal+sheet+mask



I'll let you know how they work.

MrsAxilla, mominatrix, saz, I love these masks!  They are available for $1 each at the Asian market near my house so that is a screaming deal. 

[mominatrix]

Jun 21, 2017 14:24:10 GMT -5 pizzanight said:

Jun 12, 2017 17:36:53 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Decided I needed to buy masks in bulk and do them more often, as the best masks and the crappiest masks make my skin better for like three days...

bought this collection from Amazon, as it seemed right:

www.amazon.com/Dermal-Korea-Collagen-Essence-Facial/dp/B00BAM7F8C/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1497306888&sr=8-1&keywords=dermal+sheet+mask



I'll let you know how they work.

MrsAxilla , mominatrix , saz , I love these masks!  They are available for $1 each at the Asian market near my house so that is a screaming deal. 

I'm loving them as well... they're at least as good as the TonyMoly masks I've used.

I'll probably do this set next time, just to try the others, and it works out to less per mask. 

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0722LVW3B/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_1_w

[pizzanight]

I should buy one of the placenta ones next time I'm at the store. They don't seem to be in the sets...

My favorite is the royal jelly. My friend who is acne-prone likes the charcoal one.

[bowies]

Soko Glam has 40% off Missha.

[pizzanight]

Jun 22, 2017 6:37:47 GMT -5 bowies said:

Soko Glam has 40% off Missha.

Didn't need it yet but I figured this would be a good time to get a backup Essence.  Also, the Banila Clean It Zero was on sale for $16 so I got that as well.

Lots of Tony Moly stuff on sale if anyone is into that brand. 

[secretlyevil]

SallyJ, the visible improvement is awesome. I am also trying to reduce stress, I've seen an increase of acne and other physical signs that are definitely related to it.

[wawa]

I just wandered through testerkorea looking for something else and saw that one of the heavy creams I'd liked in my testerpalooza was on sale (Nature Republic Shea Steam Cream) and next thign I know I've got a cart full of that and MORE sample foils.  I'd finally gotten to the bottom of the barrel of the last one.  Oops.

Mostly serums and such that cost way too much for me to even buy a full sized so I'm not sure what i'm thinking.

Though...so I'm not sure if I'm crazy here.  My last round of samplepalooza I tried out the su:um37 secret repair concentrated serum - 10 packets of 1ml each for 2.15.  Full sized 50 ml bottle is $89.  Ummm...so I could just buy 5 sets of 10 packets for $10.75, decant them into a little airless pump and it'd be the same thing.  right?  Even if you account for some product loss to the packet, that's still a crazy price difference.   Obviously the packets are pretty waste intensive, so that's not ideal, but there's also the impact of the weight of shipping the fancy ass bottle it comes in, so....wash?  kinda?  Am I missing something or is this a totally viable way to keep using this stuff without having to save my pennies?

[mrsukyankee]

wawa, a lot of people do that. I've seen multiple reddit posts about decanting samples. I bought the exact same thing as you and that's my plan for the future as I just can't justify spending a huge amount on the bottle.

[calico]

wawa, I didn't decant, but I bought something like 25 packets/$8 of a su:m37 eye cream that is supposed to help thicken the skin. The jar is over $100. I was just too lazy to decant.

[mrsukyankee]

YesStyle is having a big sale right now.