June 2018 Favorites!

It's beginning to feel a lot like summer...hot and sticky! I'm not the biggest fan of summer, but I have learned to adapt to get through it. Like many others, I switch to lighter products that don't feel heavy on the skin, and break out brighter, more fun colors. My favorites for June include a few of these summer essentials!

December Empties

My final empties of 2017! These don't count toward my Reverse Rouge Challenge, which sucks, because December was a great month in terms of finishing products!

October Empties

Another month, more empties! I'm really happy that I'm sticking to getting a monthly empties post in, instead of hoarding trash for months at a time. As always, lots and lots of skincare. This month has a decent amount of hair and body care as well. I go through makeup less frequently, but there's a couple of items that I finished up in October. Read on if you're interested in some quick thoughts on the products I finished.

Skincare Empties!

I'm still writing up mini reviews on my empties from January through the end of April...which has convinced me that four month periods are too long for racking up empties! However, it does let me see that I actually use up a lot of products! Here is all the skincare that I finished up in those four months, along with my thoughts!

End of 2016 Empties

I'm trying to track actually using up products, so I began saving some empties from the end of 2016. Throughout the rest of the year I hope to have more items that I've used (there's a distinct lack of sheet masks here!) but I wanted to get started with what I had.

Hoarded trash from last year!

Recent Repurchases

I love picking out and buying new stuff. Hauling is SO much fun! However, I also like having products that I can turn to and keep buying over and over because they're so dependable. I wanted to highlight my recent repurchases - they're all skincare! Skincare is something I use daily and go through much more quickly than makeup, but still have fun shopping for and using. 

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!

Mini Korean Skincare Haul from RoseRoseShop

Asian skincare is my new obsession. Adding multiple steps and layering products into my routine is so much fun, and there's so many options! I recently picked up some new products from RoseRoseShop to try and integrate into my routine.

A few months ago I purchased the COSRX AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid as my first AHA. However, I'm not too sure it's getting the job done, so I picked up the highly recommended Mizon AHA 8% Peeling Serum. This is a stronger AHA, and hopefully when I start using this I'll start seeing the results I'm looking for. AHA is used to even skin texture, work on closed comedones, and help with dull skin, among other things. I'm still using the COSRX AHA I have, just to see if it benefits from the second product I bought - the COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner. This toner is a pH balancing toner, meaning its great for use before actives such as AHA and BHA. Actives need a specific pH to be most effective, and this toner will bring down the skin's pH to a level that will allow those actives to do their thing. I've been using this for a couple of weeks now, and am definitely seeing an improvement after I use my actives!

The last thing I got are the COSRX One Step Pimple Clear Pads. (If you can't tell, I'm a passenger aboard the COSRX hype train.) These pads have been likened to the Stridex pads in the red box, though the exfoliant in the COSRX pads is different. These pads use betaine salicylate, a more gentle BHA than the salicylic acid found in the Stridex pads. BHAs are great for fighting active acne, blackheads, and enlarged pores (all of which I have!)  I haven't used these yet, but am looking forward to working them in when the time comes!

If you're looking into using actives in your skincare routine, make sure you're using sunscreen as well. You should always wear a sunscreen, but active use makes the skin more susceptible to sun damage, and it'll ruin all your hard work!

I have even MORE AB skincare stuff incoming, it's all so exciting!

Rose Rose Shop Skincare Haul!

Remember when I posted my last big Rose Rose Shop haul and said that was the only large skincare haul I'd need this year? Well, I lied. I recently have gotten super into my new multi-step skincare routine, and wanted to add to it. I hopped on to Asian Beauty subreddit and scoured their Holy Grail thread for the summer and picked out what I thought sounded like a good fit for me. I'm hoping to incorporate these new items with the products I've always used (Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel, I love you so!) along with the newer products I mentioned last month.

I ordered the Too Cool For School Pumpkin Sleeping Pack samples, which includes a set of ten. I heard this product mentioned all the time, so I wanted to give it a shot in sample form. Rose Rose Shop also included some other foil samples - I got two of each of these pictured.

I'm almost out of the Vitamin C serum I'm using (Ole Henriksen Truth Serum) so I decided to pick up the OST C20 Vitamin C Serum. It's gotten plenty of good reviews, although there are concerns about it being unstable. I figured I'd give it a shot to see if i like it. 

The Skinfood Strawberry Black Sugar Wash Off Mask supposedly smells amazing and is a great exfoliating mask. I also picked up the Skinfood Peach Sake Pore Serum as it's been described as good for oily skin.

I wanted to try a new BB cream, so I selected the Mizon Snail Recovery BB Cream based off of favorable reviews. I'm currently using a Skin79 BB cream, and I hope I like this just as much!

The Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence is something I hope to use to reduce redness in my face. There are concerns about preservatives, but I'll be storing this one in the fridge once I open it. I also hope to use the Tosowoong Propolis Sparkle Ampoule to calm my skin when it needs it. 

The COSRX AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid was bought because I'm really loving the COSRX BHA that I have right now. Hopefully, it'll help me get a jump start on any fine lines, as well as keep my skin in check come hormonal acne time. 

I got the Innisfree Green Tea Mineral Mist because why not, maybe I just want to spray my face with stuff and feel fresh.

Now on to the super fun portion of the haul - sheet masks! Each of the pictures will show one, but I bought these in multiples. Etude House sheet masks were the first ones I ever tried, and I really like them. I picked up Tea Tree, Snail, Pomegranate, and Vita Complex. The only one I haven't tried is the Vita Complex, and I'm excited to see if my face likes it!

Innisfree It's Real Squeeze Mask Sheets in both Tea Tree and Pomegranate. I really like the Etude House masks in Tea Tree and Pomegranate, so I wanted to try these. I also picked up Nature Republic Real Nature Mask Sheets in Green Tea and Royal Jelly. I read about these on an AsianBeauty thread about favorite sheet masks, and wanted to give them a try.

I struggle with large pores, so the TonyMoly I'm Real Red Wine sheet mask sounded like a perfect fit! I also got a TonyMoly Intense Care Snail Hydrogel Mask since i have yet to dive into hydrogel masks, and who doesn't love snail? Last but not least, I picked up Tosowoong Pure Sheet Masks in Propolis and Green Tea, off another suggestion thread in AsianBeauty.

I am SO excited to open all these and use them! Unfortunately it'll be a slow process, testing each one and seeing how my skin reacts. But just receiving the box and opening it was fantastic! I chose the cheaper shipping option that Rose Rose Shop offered and it was overnighted via DHL to me - the long wait for Korean orders is so agonizing, I'm glad I got to skip it! Let me know what you think, which products you want to hear more about, and if you have any suggestions for next time!

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!