April May Beauty Finds

As our skin renews itself every 4 weeks, April May Beauty Finds in June, isn’t such a bad thing! It allows time to see if the products do what they say. Below are a few of the products I’ve been using since April.

I have 4 requirements when it comes to skincare and cosmetics. No animal testing, no animal ingredients (honey’s okay, I eat honey), no nasty products like SLS, parabens, petroleum etc, and as natural as possible. Cosmetics it’s not always possible to be as natural so I go with what I can get. My skin’s oily combination. I’m also on a Korean skincare journey at the moment and fortunately, Koreans prefers more natural, good quality, innovative ingredients.

Cosrx Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser

I have quite a few products by this brand and it’s fast becoming a brand favourite. This is a great gentle, effective non stripping cleanser. I double cleanse, firstly with an oil based cleanser to remove make up and SPF and then follow up with a water based cleanser to remove any water based dirt like sweat. I’ve noticed an improvement in the amount of blackheads and over all improvement of skin tone. It gently resorts PH levels which means it doesn’t leave your skin feeling either unclean or tight. Very little make up and dirt comes off toning. While it says it’s an morning cleaner, it’s also an evening cleanser. Unfortunalty I’ve recycled the box listing the evening benefits and their website doesn’t list them either, but I know it resorted something or another in the evenings. The mornings I actually use a coconut based cleaner, by Everyday Coconut as unless I’ve ran, my skin doesn’t need the double cleanse. Plus it’s always sold out at Miin, so it’s used sparingly!

Aromatica Rose Absolute First Serum

I mentioned this in a Weekend Friday Favourites and I’m still singing it’s praises. Organic and 100% vegan, I use it after an essence. While nothing will stop wrinkles eventually, again I’ve noticed improvement in skin tone and fine lines. A lot of Korean products have the word whitening which can be misleading. I don’t want to be paler! It’s a word lost in translation as it actually refers to brightening or achieving that Korean dewy, glory skin (I know this says brighenting, but I want to clear it up!). It smells just like roses, doesn’t zap my skin of moisture as I’ve found some serums do thanks to being packed with aloe vera in addition to Bulgarian rose damascena oil leaving my skin feeling hydrated. It’s one of the more expensive products €40.99 I use, however it comes in a 130ml bottle and costs more or less the same as some serums for 30ml! A little goes a long way. I think I’ve been using it for 2-3 months and am not even 1/2 way through the bottle. If this makes sense, my skin awaits it each morning and evening. While it’s aimed at dry to aging skin, it’s fine for oil to combination skin. The girls in Miin recommend it me and they know their stuff.

Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion Compact, W24 Honey BeigeMany western brands in the last few months have launched their version of cushion compact, but they’ve been around in Korea for a while. I’ve been wanting to try this ever since I first visited Miin, but wanted to try original BB creams first. The price vs will it work, will I like it stalled me. I’ve recently discovered that amazon.co.uk sells Korean products and this popped up as recommendation. The price was more accommodating if I didn’t like, but I needed have worried. I love it!

Basically you use the puff to pat the product on. I don’t think I can ever go back to foundation or normal BB creams again. I can’t get the same flawless application with brushes or fingers. My skin glows, it doesn’t clog, it more or less stays put during HIIT workouts (swimming will be the test!) and lasts pretty much all day. You can apply powder to set but it’s not always necessary. Touch ups are done with product and it doesn’t clog doing so. It’s lightweight, light to medium coverage so I hardly feel I’m wearing any make up. It’s also times saving as it blends straight away! The puff is easy to clean (don’t use anything rough or get nails caught cleaning it as it will scuff as I found out. Replacement puffs are quite cheap so it’s not a problem if you can get the puffs) and the compact is designed not to dry out even if you don’t close it properly.

The only issues I have are that my nose does get shiny after a workout. Not to the point all product has left the building. It’s only in certain light I notice it more. If I’m honest I hardly have to retouch up and my nose always gets oily first. I also don’t feel my nose getting oily as I did when I wore foundation. It only comes in 3 colours and I’m using the darkest shade. Bizarrely on amazon the refills cost more that the compact. The compact’s about £9-15 depending on the seller (some ship direct form Korean so will take longer to ship, plus when looking at shipping costs, the cheaper one isn’t aways the cheapest option), with the refills, £19.99! Makes no sense! Miin doesn’t sell refills either, so it’s a new compact every time, which defeats the option of a refill. It also lasts about 6-7 weeks before coverage isn’t as good. I’m on my 2nd one and turn the sponge over around week 5 to get more product. However as the coverage is so flawless and that I haven’t broken out in spots, I’m willing to over looks this. I notice that with many BB creams and foundations 3/4 of the way through a bottle regardless of size the coverage isn’t as great, so at least this way I use all the product. I have next to try, a Missha cushion compact which I can get refills for cheaper than the compact here (if I like it).

Innisfree Jeju Volcanic 3 in 1 Nose Pack

I’ve tried the black head strips and mine must be the more stubborn ones. I didn’t notice any improvement. If I use this twice a week I notice results. It doesn’t remove the stubborn ones, but it does remove a lot of the nasties. The instructions again, I think are lost in translation. Leave for 15 minutes then massage the product. Which is difficult as you can’t really massage dry clay. That aside, when rinsing if you massage the product gently with fingertips and then look at your fingertips, ugh, it works!

This product was shipped direct from Korea, via amazon and took a few weeks to arrive. I think with shipping it was about £4-5 with the shipper Narson, offering free shipping on subsequence orders directly through them.

The only issue is that I recently found out Innisfree has walk in shops in China, which brings up animal testing. Their website states no animal testing whatsoever which puts me in a spot as I like most of the products I’ve tried from them.

Innisfree Green Tea Sleeping Pack

I’m not sure if I get sleeping masks. Basically it’s an invisible gel like mask you apply overnight and rinse in the morning. Benefits include extra hydration, wrinkle busting, brightening but if I’m honest I can’t tell any difference. If you sleep on your side, the product that side comes off! Maybe I don’t use it often enough for it’s benefits. I have another by Tony Moly and both are products I want to like, but there’s just something that je ne sais pas.

Sephora Lavender Foot Mask

If you have an event where you look at your feet and think $%^@ my feet!, these would be are a great temporary fix. They’re little booties soaked in ‘revitalising’ essence you wear for 20 mins. You can walk around in them if you’re careful. They give the appearance of smooth heels, but left my feet feeling weirdly hydrated and dehydrated. Honestly, if you want smooth feet massage cream on your tooties before sleeping. I use lotions, face creams and serums I didn’t like, but don’t want to waste. Verdict, I probably won’t buy again.

Have you tired any of these products? What’s your current favourite beauty find?