Sept. 2015 Week 2 Kbeauty News and Sales - It's a Juicy One

Nabbed: Fake horse oil cream distributors caught

source: YTN via cosinkorea

11 members of a counterfeit cosmetics distribution network were booked on charges of selling fake horse oil creams to Chinese consumers in the Myeongdong district of Seoul. 290,000 were manufactured in all, 136,000 were seized by the police. Police have begun efforts to protect tourists from purchasing fake cosmetics.

More after the jump

Whitening injections considered unsafe by the U.S. FDA
The FDA put the kibosh on injectables with whitening ingredients.




It's Award Season in Korea

It's time to update your wishlists, the best-in-class beauty products have been chosen for 2015. The BRTC Time Reversing Perfect Toner, the A True Real Black Tea True Active Essence, Philosophy Renewed Hope In A Jar (not Korean), and the Max Clinic Vitamin Massage Oil Foam Spa Cleanser are among the most recent batch of award winning products. 2 products from Nature Republic's men's line (not pictured) were also awarded a 2015 Allure Beauty award. The two products are the Snail Solution Homme Skin and the Africa Bird Homme All-In-One Fresh Controller.

Bobbi Brown accused of abusing cosmetics labeling rules with their new Intensive Serum Concealer

Bobbi Brown's new Intensive Serum Concealer was found to contain questionable ingredients not present on the label: talc, zinc stearate, and tetrasodium EDTA. According to Korean cosmetic labeling rules, it is possible for companies to label only the main ingredients in products containing less than 50 g or 50 ml of product. The Bobbi Brown serum contains 7ml. In contrast, Innisfree chose to label all of these ingredients on their comparable concealer product.

Is mixing Sodium Benzoate and Ascorbic Acid a no-no?

"If Sodium Benzoate and Vitamin C can form Benzene in soft drinks can they form benzene in a cosmetic?" Benzene is a group 1 carcinogen. The cosmetic chemist/blogger at Realize Beauty ponders whether certain ingredients can react to form benzene in cosmetics.

Enzyme Treated Ginseng may prevent hair and wool loss
In clinical trials, enzyme-treated ginseng (GS E3D) was shown to have a statistically significant effect in preventing wool loss (and by extension, hair loss). The details and results of the study will be printed in the September edition of the International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.





Emerging Trend: Micronized Cosmetics

Many Korean brands have begun to work on decreasing particle size in their products by micronizing the ingredients. That is, making the particles 0.1 to 0.4 micrometers. This is in order to make the ingredients "skin-identical", and as such, more able to penetrate into the skin and deliver their purported benefits. This is not to be confused with nanoparticles, the safety of which is still under investigation, as claims have been made that nanoparticles are small enough to enter the blood stream. Among the newest crop of micro-cosmetics: Missha Time Revolution Immortal Youth Blue Essence, A'pieu Essential Source Micro Cream Pure Bright, and the Beyond Alice in Glow Cushion SPF 50+ PA+++. There are even microfiber skincare towels and gloves.

Could "organic" and "natural" in Korean cosmetics actually mean something one of these days?

Control Union has been commissioned the task of creating a new standard for Korean organic cosmetics, called the "Cosmos" (it's a flower) certification. The efforts are to create a national standard. Until now, cosmetics makers had been adhering to various private organic certification standards from abroad like Ecocert, CosmeBio, ICEA, BDIH JAS, SOIL ORGANIC, etc.




Is it "goodbye" or just "see you later" to aegyosal? New Korean makeup trends

You may have already begun to notice some subtle changes in the makeup looks from your favorite Korean Youtube stars - a more bohemian, sultry look is starting to become in vogue. Aegyosal (sparkly undereyes), straight eyebrows, and bright lipsticks are forecasted to give way to eyebrows have a bit more of a curve to them, and smokier eyeshadow colors.

Get It Beauty: Best Cushions of 2015 Blind Test Winners

In this week's episode of Korean network television show Get It Beauty, entitled "Beauty Veterans", two Youtube stars SSIN NIM and La Muqe appeared as guests to shell out beauty tips and makeup know-how, ending the episode with a makeup transformation battle where they drastically made themselves over. (I didn't transcribe the episode as there weren't that many learning points, it was more about the spectacle). 

Get It Beauty is famous for doing these cosmetic "blind tests" with their studio audience. This episode featured the latest cushion compacts of 2015. Get ready to be shocked at the new winners.

1. Hera UV Mist Cushion, $43.99 at Amazon

2. Lirikos Marine Collagen Cushion, $42.99 at eBay, <$39 at Gmarket

3. Last year's reigning champ IOPE Air Cushion XP only took 3rd place, $34.70 at Amazon

4. Innisfree Ampoule Intense Cushion - the only budget brand featured, $24 at Innisfreeworld

5. Sulwhasoo Evenfair Perfecting Cushion - imagine my surprise, one of the cushions I dearly love only took 5th place! Reviewed here. $55 at Memebox

SALES

Jolse.com - Select items are 15% off on the Jolse website + 3% cash back. They've also recently launched some new Sulwhasoo items!

Memebox.com - All honey skincare is 30% off with code Honey30! Sale ends Sunday.

MisshaUS.com - 50% off and free shipping with the purchase of a Magic Cushion. Use the code MYMAGIC. Offer valid through 9/17

Paula's Choice *not Korean - Valid 09/11 - 09/14. $25 off $75+ order with free shipping. Use code PAULAVIP2015, discount applied at checkout :)

Shopathome.com - Notable beauty deals...
You can earn 5% cash back and 50 ShopGold rewards points at Sephora in JCPenney by shopping through this link.

Nordstrom is offering 3% cash back and 50 ShopGold rewards points. Go here to take advantage of the offer.

Target.com - $5 off $20 beauty purchase with code BEAUTY5 through 9/19/15 + free shipping with $25 purchase (U.S. only)

Wishtrend.com - 10% off September purchases of $55+ with code WISHSEP2015. Free C21.5 Sheet Mask with any order with code WISHGIFTSEP2015


Sales in Korea - If you have been considering placing an order with Dowaja.com or Avecko.com (Korean shipping services), Innisfree Korea, Aritaum Korea, and Missha Korea are having some promotions.

Innisfree
Buy 5, get 5 Skin Clinic Masks free
Buy 1 Apple Lip and Eye Remover, get 1 free

Aritaum
Buy 1 Beauty Salon Mask, get 1 free
Buy 1 Sliding Water Tint, get 1 free

Missha
50% off site wide until 9/13



There was so much going on this week, I had to split up this weekly news feature into a few posts to make it less overwhelming. New skincare and makeup launches will be up later today. Stay tuned!

So much juicy news this week... Did anything surprise you?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, see my disclaimer and policies.