All posts tagged: korean cosmetics

Too Cool for School’s Bestselling Lip Products

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I was so thrilled to receive these three bestselling lip products from Too Cool for School to try out. Among the sea of girly, frilly, and soft-looking Korean brands, Too Cool for School definitely stands out because of their strong branding, identity, and packaging. The good thing is: their products are great, too! I received three of their bestselling lip products: Glam Rock Smoky Nudy Lips* (Php 715) — a soft nude lip best used to counter the intensity of a smoky eye. Kiss Time Ice Beam Glass* (Php 435) — a plumping lip gloss with a high-gloss, jelly system that provides moisture and vivid lipstick-like color. Max in Pocket Lip Balm* (Php 605) — it’s a pocket-sized lip balm with a chain, which makes it so great for travel. I was super excited for this as Krysty raved about it a few months ago. OK, let’s go by chronological order because I have no imagination. The Glam Rock Smoky Nudy Lip Color* is a great nude lipstick, housed in an edgy (as far as …

BNTGirls Review: Faith in Face Cherry Scoop Hand Butter*

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One of my desk essentials right now is a good ol’ hand cream, especially after colder weather has ravaged my hands. I usually go for clean and fresh scents, but the Faith in Face Hand Butter in Cherry Scoop* has a black cherry scent that has a sweetness I can get behind. The FIF Hand Butter boasts of a whopping 20% shea butter in their mixture and is available in four scents: Cherry Scoop, Peach Crush, Sweet Spell, and Fresh Garden. The packaging is a flexible metal type of tube, typical of ointments, which I gravitate towards. The tube says, “Butterlicious: Melt smooth rich shea butter over your hands to give you an intensive nourishment and a touch of cherry and nuts.” Aside from shea butter, this contains chamomile flower water and herbal extracts from the Swiss Alps. It also contains cherry extract which, aside from the lovely scent, provides antioxidant effects, cell activation, and anti-aging properties, as well as brazil nut oil extract to effectively promote cell regeneration and provide moisturization. The cream is …

COMELYCO 95% Aloe Gel Tub

BNTGirls Review: Comelyco Jeju Organic 95% Aloe Gel*

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Hey everyone! This may be the last wave of BNT Girls reviews for a while, so get ready! I picked this product to review first as it is one that I’m most familiar with. I didn’t realize how much of a staple aloe is to Koreans until I stepped foot in Myeongdong and saw shop after shop selling tubs of this stuff. The Comelyco Jeju Organic 95% Aloe Gel is one of the many iterations of aloe gel out in the Korean market, but it also has a very high concentration of aloe with only 5% of it made from other ingredients. (The Nature Republic aloe gel I have is only made of 92%.) For the uninitiated, aloe is a plant that many have used for its moisturizing properties. It can also be ingested. I personally like having aloe with my fresh teas instead of boba or tapioca pearls. The benefits of aloe feels like a laundry list, but most are related to moisture and hydration, as well as soothing irritated skin. I’ve mentioned that …

Korean Skin Care Routine in 7 Steps feat. Beyond True Eco Line*

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Trying to get into Korean skincare is a bit daunting because of their fabled multi-step routine, which usually involves products like “emulsions,” “boosters,” and “essences,” and I had no idea what to do with them or what the order of application was. The general rule is to go from light to heavy, so water-based products first before moving on to the lotions. Charlotte Cho shared her 10-step skin care routine adopted from her stay in Korea on both Elle and Into the Gloss. Sheryll from The Wanderlust Project shared her version, using different types of products from all kinds of brands and ranges. This is allowed, by the way. Whatever works for you. The most extensive guide I’ve found, however, is from Hope in a Blog, where the general purpose of each step is explained, as well as day- and night- routines. I received three boxes containing products from Beyond’s True Eco Line* so I thought I’d get into the multi-step Korean skin care routine using these. Please take note that though I have 7 …

REVIEW: Bello-Vita Cell Optimizer S-Essence*

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The Korean skincare routine differs from our usual steps of cleanse-tone-moisturize, going up to as much as 10 steps per routine. It sounds crazy, but there is some logic behind all of it. Korean skincare systems are a bit intimidating to try for the first time because they’re so extensive, but I’ll save the meat of everything for a later post this week. For now, I’ll write a bit about the Bello-Vita Cell Optimizer S-Essence* which I got in my latest BNT box. This serum is “formulated with Biocell System Originated in Fermentation Science.” Because most of the information is in Hangul, it’s hard to decipher what this serum/essence is for. Going from my understanding of the many-stepped Korean skin care process, I’ve gathered that “essence” is usually a pre-moisturizer step, to prep the cleansed skin that’s stripped of moisture for the bigger molecules of heavier moisturizer. These usually come in a light, more liquid-y form that’s easily absorbed by the skin, and allow for easier absorption of the follow-up moisturizers.

Dermal Bee Venom Relaxing Cream*

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The Dermal Bee Venom Relaxing Cream* is a hypoallergenic soothing cream with royal jelly and bee venom. It also has plant extracts like portulaca and aloe that are both soothing, and it has hyaluronic acid for moisture. The Bee Venom Relaxing Cream is part of their special cream series, that includes pearl, snail, and syn-ake (a peptide similar to snake venom). The bee venom variant is supposed to be an alternative to botox, as it is supposed to make facial muscles firmer, and decreases the fine lines. It is also meant to be anti-wrinkle and to improve acne-prone skin. I am quite a big fan of the Dermal Sheet Masks (reviewed here), so I was excited to try this product. This helps “promote the natural healing process, enhances skin ability to recover, dissolves dying cells, triggers skin regeneration and repair.”

REVIEW: isoi Bulgarian Rose Pore Tightening Tonic Essence*

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The isoi Bulgarian Rose Pore Tightening Tonic Essence* “make[s] your pore skinny.” It’s a multi-functional toner and essence that reduces enlarged pores, controls sebum, and removes dead skin cells. It also restores radiance, hydrates, and helps increase skin elasticity. After cleansing the face, you wet a cotton pad with a generous amount of the tonic essence and rub all over the face. This is designed for oily skin (not me) so its full effect is a bit lost on me. However, I do like their direction as a company, promoting safe beauty. isoi uses natural ingredients, instead of the potentially harmful chemical ingredients found in most luxury cosmetics. Since it is a toner/essence, I find that it doesn’t “refresh” my skin quite as much as a usual toner would. There is a very, very slightly sticky feeling on the skin left after use, presumably to act as a moisturizer/essence. I think it might be best to follow this up with your normal moisturizer, as I found the feeling to be slightly unpleasant. The essence itself …