Been to Seoul, South Korea and what I saw there was really eye-opener. If you see the K-Drama and all the actors & actresses have flawless, poreless and unblemished skin, trust me, those who sold street-food as a living in Seoul, have exactly the same skin. They are fortunate to have such a blessed skin, it’s in their genes.
ME IN SEOUL (CAN YOU GUESS WHERE I WAS?)
However, I do have to admit that their K-beauty skincare products are the best and highly-effective for toners, essences, hydration and sunscreens. They are also great at super fast innovation (new ingredients) and good-looking packaging. As for actives, personally I’d prefer the western brands, (again) based on my experiments.
So, here’s my round up for K-beauty skincare products that are safe for Fungal Acne prone skin.
ESSENCE: AMORE PACIFIC VINTAGE SINGLE EXTRACT ESSENCE, I’M FROM MUGWORT ESSENCE
TONER: SOMEBYMI AHA BHA PHA 30 DAYS MIRACLE TONER, DEAR KLAIRS SUPPLE PREPARATION UNSCENTED TONER
CLEANSER: HEIMISH ALL CLEAN GREEN FOAM, PYUNKANG YUL ACNE FACIAL CLEANSER
AMPOULE: CNP LABORATORY MUGENER AMPOULE, LEEGEEHAAM GROW VITA PROPOLIS AMPOULE (RENAME TO DR CEURACLE ROYAL VITA PROPOLIS 33 AMPOULE)
Woohoo!!! Another K-Brand is entering J-Town. This time is Banila Co. Thanks to C&F Store for sending me these.
I’ve been
eyeing on their Cleansing Balm for awhile, but moving on back and forth to
purchase it because of my sudden fungal-acne attack. Yes, unfortunately most of
cleansing balms contain Ethylhexyl Palmitate (noted as fungal acne trigger on
skincarisma.com). But I can see why this is such a hype product for beauty
enthusiast. First, their packaging is very ‘now’, looking very instagramable, and
instead of renewing just the packaging, they also updated the formula. For the
Original (the pink jar), there used to be mineral oil in their ingredients, but
they replaced it with natural ester oil. I just wish there are fungal-acne safe
cleansing balm out there (please let me know if there’s any).
Fungal-Acne Safe Primer, yeay!!!
There’s one
that is actually safe for fungal-acne, and I’ve enjoyed using so far. It’s not
silicone-free, though (hello it’s a primer, so no surprise there). Their
Classic Primer. Comes in a pump bottle, it is a makeup primer with satin
finish. Yes, you heard me correctly. It is rare that a primer comes in a satin,
not matte finish. I use this occasionally though, as primer is not a must
makeup step for me.
Before Classic Primer (Left) & After Classic Primer (Right)
One
interesting product, their Sun Primer. It is a primer plus sun protection, so
perfect for traveling to save baggage. If you have no problem with fungal acne,
you will love this (it contains Ethylhexyl Palmitate, which might trigger
fungal acne according to skincarisma.com).
As for their
range of makeup named B. by Banila, they sent me Lipdraw Melting Serum Stick
and Liplike Lip Slip. Love their super simple but very instagramable tubes.
Lipdraw Melting Serum Stick
Lipdraw
Melting Serum Stick is perfect for those who love gradient lips look. It felt
melting when applied on lips, maybe because it contains argan oil and honey
extract that feel very moisturizing.
Liplike Lip Slip
Liplike Lip Slip is a lip lacquer that combines the color pay-off of a lipstick, the moisture of a lip gloss and the longevity of a lip tint. How awesome! It is lightweight and looks matte on lips. Might purchase another shade as I’m so not into reds.
Now you can purchase all the originals Banila Co at some C&F Stores, or online here.
After their viral miracle toner that I’ve tried (click here for the review), this Korean brand came up with some new stuff online. This serum is just one of them.
Of course, they named it (yet, again) the Miracle Serum. Unlike the toner with AHA, BHA, PHA + Niacinamide 2% on the ingredients list, this serum contains AHA, BHA, PHA + 14,5% Centella. They both have high dose of Real Teatree 10,000PPM. And being a devoted fan of centella and tea tree, I don’t mind the addition of Centella as one of the ingredients into this serum.
Packaging: 50ml dark green droplet bottle, just like the toner. And I guess this is my first plastic serum bottle (usually serums come in glass bottle).
Texture: a mixture of oil and water, so it has to be shaken well before each use. I warned you, this looks oily once applied (I use 4 drops as recommended on the entire face). It didn’t absorb well, instead leaving an oily layer on top of the skin. Therefore, I only use this as my night serum.
After using this serum for about 3 days, two big zits popped out on my chin and upper lips (unusual spots for me to grow pimples). Oh no, I experienced breakouts not purging. And I believe this serum triggered Malassezia on my cheeks (yes, fungal acne is a freaking biatch!). Then I deep dive on cosdna for ingredients. Olive Oil is one of the main 5 ingredients! No wonder my skin reacted so badly. Another lesson learned, never buy anything before deep diving on ingredients.
Final Verdict: After two weeks, I decided to cut this serum out of my skincare regime. And the after quitting effect was quite drastic. My skin was recovered quickly after just two nights of quitting using this serum.
shintarosvita 
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