August Empties

Every time I tell myself I'm going to do an empties post, I hoard a bunch of garbage and then I forget. When I have way too much garbage, I get fed up and toss it out instead of doing a quick post. Thankfully, I caught myself at the beginning of this month! Took a photo, tossed everything out, and started a new bag for empties. Here's all the stuff I finished up in August!

Even MORE Korean Skincare from Jolse and RoseRoseShop

My new obsession is skincare, if you couldn't tell. This past year I have really fallen down the Korean beauty rabbit hole! I recently placed an order from Jolse, as well as got in on a group RoseRoseShop order.

Sheet masks! These are all from RoseRoseShop. Also pictured is a sample of the Benton Steam Cream, I got a pack of 10 sample foils.

• Tosowoong Deep Sea Water mask - I fell in love with the Tosowoong masks I picked up in my last huge haul and saw that a lot of people liked the Deep Sea Water as well. These masks are supposed to add moisture and soothe the skin. I've used one already, and had no bad reaction, so good stuff so far! These came in a ten pack.
• Tonymoly I'm Real masks in Rice and Seaweed - Ten packs of each of these as well! Rice is for clear skin, and seaweed is for skin purifying. I've tried one of each (Seaweed is being worn as type this) and they're not bad. I also have and love the Red Wine ones. These have a stronger than might be liked alcohol scent...may not be the best for someone whose skin isn't alcohol friendly. The fit of the masks is a little wide, but the eye openings actually are pretty good for me.
• Etude House I Need You Pomegranate mask - I really love the Pomegranate ones of this line, they make my skin bright and quell any redness, and make my face feel fresh. Only three of these in my order.
• Innisfee Green Tea hydrogel mask - I love green tea masks, I'm getting into hydrogels, and Innisfree is usually pretty good to my skin. Can't wait to try these! I got two of these masks (who gets one?!)
• Benton Snail Bee High Content masks - I got a few of these from a friend and was HOOKED! I'm a little sad that these come in packs of eight and not ten, but I have so many masks I'm sure I won't notice. I use these when my face feels like it's going to act up, or after it has acted up, and it really helps get rid of redness. These masks have bee venom and snail secretion, two ingredients that my face seems to like. These are also alcohol free! I'm sure my skin appreciates the break.

Now onto the bigger items! The Cosrx items and sponge are from Jolse, while the Mizon cream was from RoseRoseShop. The Banila Clean It Zero was from Amazon, picked up a replacement when I got some sunscreen!

• Etude House Konjac Sponge - My old konjac was old and tired, so I got a new replacement!
• Cosrx Ultimate Moisturizing Honey Overnight Mask - I'm really getting into propolis products, and this sleeping mask has 85% propolis! I haven't opened it yet, but I'm really excited to try it. I had to decide between the Rice mask or the Honey mask, but I heard this one works better for oily skin.
• Cosrx Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser - This is the entire reason I ordered from Jolse. Cosrx released this cleanser last month, and I ordered it after reading this awesome review on Fifty Shades of Snail. I was out of cleanser too, so thankfully it wasn't just an excess product I didn't need! (Unlike 99% of the things here.)  I'm liking it so far, and I think the low pH combined with my pH adjusting toner are really letting my actives get their jobs done.
• Mizon Black Snail All In One Cream - My ride or die moisturizer is the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. I love it. HOWEVER - now that I'm using actives more often, I want something to really seal in the moisture I get from all my other products. I had samples of the regular Snail All In One and it wasn't heavy enough. I heard this one was more moisturizing, so I decided to try it out. So far so good - no breakouts while patch testing and my face does feel more moisturized after using actives. 
• Banila Clean It Zero - Just a replacement! This does a nice job of getting my makeup off. The one I got was not as solid of a balm as my first one, this one was a little melty. No matter, as it still works!

So there you have it, my new obsession. At least it's focused on helping my skin! Have you purchased any skincare recently? Any Asian skincare? I'd love to hear about it!

Asian Skincare Haul!

Over the past couple of weeks I've been picking up some new skincare items! Some old favorites, and a lot of products that seem really popular that I've been wanting to try out. I've gotten to use most of them, so I can write up a little about those. Usually I will order my Korean goodies from RoseRoseShop, but lately I have been impatient and not wanting to pay a fortune for shipping, so I have just been scouting to see if I can pick them up with Amazon Prime.

1. COSRX Natural BHA Returning A-Sol - This is one product I have yet to use. I hear it will make a good spot treatment, since the level of BHA in it is not high enough to use as a full active on the face. Excited to try it, I need to wait a bit as I am currently starting to incorporate the other COSRX item here into my routine and I don't want to overwhelm my skin!
2. Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream - I'm jumping on the snail bandwagon. I heard that this is a "miracle" product, so I had to pick it up. I was originally going to order this from RoseRoseShop, but they were always out! I got it from Amazon, and had a bit of an issue - it was supposed to come Prime, but it wound up not. Either way, I got it for ~$7, so I can't complain. I use this after my regular moisturizer at night, on top of all my other skincare when I feel my skin just needs an extra boost, or needs to be cleaned up a bit. I tend to focus it on problem areas, and in the morning, they definitely do look a lot better!
3. COSRX BHA Blackhead Power Liquid - This is my new acid exfoliator, now that I finished up my box of Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel pads. I've only been using it for about three days or so, so I can't really report anything conclusive. My face seems to be agreeing with it though. I like that the bottle is a pump! I've heard a LOT of good things about this though, so I'm really hoping to get some good results. I have a lot of sebaceous filaments on my nose and chin that need shrinking, as well as some clogged pores on my cheeks.
4. Banila Clean It Zero - I expressed an interest in this a while ago, and Jamie was kind enough to send a depotted sample my way. I loved it! I bought a tub of my own last month and am still loving it. I've moved to a two step cleansing method with this - using the solid cleanser on my face to get makeup and whatever else off my face, rinsing that off with water, and then using my liquid cleanser to finish it all up. This stuff gets basically everything off aside from tubing mascara.
5. Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence Sunscreen - My favorite sunscreen, hands down. There's a ton of stuff I haven't tried, but this always works for me, so why look elsewhere? I recently found a double pack on Amazon (with Prime!) for less than $20, so I immediately ordered it, especially as my last bottle was making the nearly empty fart noises squeezy tubes tend to make near the end of their lives. This sunscreen leaves no white case, sinks in quickly, and has yet to fail me in terms of you know...sunburn. I recommend this to everyone who mentions looking into a new sunscreen.

There you have it, my new Asian skincare goodies! I'm really trying to get my skin to a happy place, and I think it's paying off. I've been looking into Korean skincare lately, which is all about layering products and pH levels and it's really a lot to take in. But it's fun to shop around for new products, and even better when you see results!

Let me know if you'd like to hear more about my skincare routine or habits, or if you've been looking into some new skincare yourself!