REVIEW: Ugly Farm Rice Peel Off Pack

I'm not a good blogger, and I knew that going in! But I finally have a quiet morning to myself and can write this little review.

A couple months ago I was in Chinatown and walked by New Kam Man, a Chinese store on Canal Street that was supposed to have a selection of Korean skin care. Their entire second floor is skin care and cosmetics, but unsurprisingly it was almost all Chinese stuff. I did, however, come across this:

Ugly Farm?? How adorable is that! I couldn't pass it up, plus I do like peel off masks. I believe there was a potato version as well.

Unfortunately, I'll be tossing this one after only two uses. As soon as you squirt out some of the mask you smell the overwhelming scent of alcohol. The other night I sat down and translated the first few ingredients and two of the first three were alcohol- the first one being water. My skin is dry enough these days, I don't need this! Again, I'm no chemist, but even if alcohol in skin care products is safe and okay, the smell alone is off putting enough. Disappointing!

REVIEW: The Face Shop Herb Day Acerola Cleansing Foam vs. Tony Moly Clean Dew Blueberry Foam Cleanser

Foam cleansers seem to be a big thing in Korean Skin Care, and at first I was skeptical- wasn't the foam in cleansers just the variations on sodium laurel sulfates? But then I looked at the labels on these Korean foam cleansers, and lo and behold- no sulfates! (At least not in the first few lines of ingredients- I don't have all day to sit here and read labels. I'm not an aspiring cosmetic chemist!) (I just assume they foam because magic.)

So I decided to try one. My first purchase was The Face Shop's Herb Day Acerola Cleansing Foam. Before hitting up the store I tried to read up on the differences between the Herb Day cleansers and since they were all listed as "for all skin types", I wasn't really sure which one to get. And acerola looks like cherries and I like cherries so I got that one (even though I am aware acerolas are NOT cherries, so...I have no real explanation).

This was nice for a while, but as the weather got drier, so did my skin after using this. My face would feel completely stripped. So even though this is advertised as being for all skin types, I would not recommend the Herb Day Acerola for those with normal-to-dry skin, or for sensitive skin. (This is going in the bag o' products I'll be passing off to my boyfriend's 15 year old niece, who has basically the opposite type of skin from mine!)

I had hit up the Tony Moly in midtown a few month ago and bought a special they had- the Clean Dew Blueberry Foam Cleanser along with six sheet masks for $12 (good deal!). The cleanser had been sitting under my sink for when I finished the Face Shop one, but I thought it was time to give it a shot- and I'm glad I did. The Tony Moly cleanser is noticeable gentler on the face. My skin doesn't feel totally dried out after using- though the drier it gets outside the drier my face gets after using this, but it still hasn't come close to feeling stripped like it did with the Face Shop cleanser. This product gets a thumbs up from me for those with normal/dry/sensitive skin.

VERDICT: Tony Moly wins! And a little goes a long way with this cleanser, so I anticipate that I'll be using it for a long time, haha.

REVIEW: Innisfree Eco Science White C Skin, Lotion, and Sleeping Pack

In my last post I mentioned that when I got my Innisfree haul last month, I got samples of the Eco Science White C Skin and Lotion, and purchased the full-size Sleeping Pack. (The Eco Science White C line also has a serum, double serum, and cream.) The samples are really generously sized- I used the Skin and Lotion twice a day for at least two weeks. Definitely enough time to let you know if you like a product!

My skin isn't very complicated, but does get drier in the fall/winter. The lotion would probably work for me in the summer, but for this time of year it's not moisturizing enough. I would consider the cream, but to be honest, the tangerine scent is not my favorite. If you love citrus smells then I would definitely recommend you check out this line, but I think the scent alone is enough for me to not purchase these products again.

Since I only own two sleeping packs currently (the Green Tea and Eco Science White C from Innisfree), I end up using the Eco Science pack on nights where I feel like I don't need to add more moisturizing to my routine. I do think the use of these products has made my complexion a little brighter, but again, the scent just doesn't do it for me. But I should have anticipated that considering the products clearly state that they have tangerine peel extract in them! I've been told that vitamin C is good for anti-aging so I might try out the serum in the future. (Double serum sounds too intense. I'm not sure I can handle that. ;)