Three Korean Sunscreens Reviewed: Apieu, Earth's Recipe, Goodal

To be honest, I myself prefer Japanese sunscreens over Korean ones, because of the fact that they have a more granular designation for each sunscreen's stated UVA protection. Japanese sunscreens can be labeled anywhere from PA+ to PA++++ (4 +'s) protection, while Korean sunscreens can only be labeled ranging from one to three +'s.

In case you missed it, there is a new regulation that passed the Korean FDA in 2016 that allows Korean cosmetics companies to label sunscreens up to PA++++ (4 +'s), but those sunscreens haven't hit the market yet, and so consumers are still clueless as to whether that 2015 SPF 50+ PA+++ is actually PA+++ or PA++++. (Rumor had it that some Korean sunscreens offered the higher level of ++++ protection, but were not able to label and market the products as such).

So why am I using and reviewing Korean sunscreens when I don't even prefer them?

Sunscreens from the Land of the Rising Sun are hard as hell to source in a timely manner, without the help of Amazon Prime. Whereas there are a handful of U.S.-based retailers that sell Korean sunscreens which they can get to you in all of 3 days (hallelujah), I haven't found a Japanese retailer that does the same.

In case you find yourself in the same predicament, or you actually like Korean sunscreens for some reason or another (they do oftentimes cost less than their Japanese counterparts due to shipping, product size, among other things), do read on as I have 3 Korean sunscreen reviews for you.

If you're strictly about that PA++++ and cosmetically elegant sunscreen life, read my review of multiple Japanese sunscreens here.

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. Purchasing through an affiliate link is one way you can choose to support this blog at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links are marked with an asterisk. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, please see my disclaimer and policies.

K'yaaa Yam Cream in Snail Jars - Ladykin Affinitic Lifting Cream Review

This month in my Memebox brand ambassador package, was this Ladykin Affinitic Lifting Cream which a) is so cute my ovaries almost burst and b) almost impossible to review impartially simply because of the little plastic snail packaging I plan to turn into a little candy jar for my desk at work. I'll give it a go anyhow.

The Ladykin Affinitic Lifting Cream is marketed as an anti-wrinkle, skin elasticity-boosting, moisturizer that offers nutrients to the skin, namely the Dioscorea Japonica (Yam) Root Extract. Among the other featured ingredients are Adenosine, and apparently extract of Red Rose Wine, which actually sounds delicious, not gonna lie.

Ladykin is not a new brand to me in the sense that I've been eyeing their products for quite awhile. They have a heavy cream that was vetted by blogger Moira at 35th of May as being excellent for very dry skin, squeal-inducing lighter creams that come in snail packaging, and equally adorable watermelon, strawberry, and mango gel products that I learned of first at Beautibi.com but are now carried at Memebox.com* as well. I'd never really investigated the brand however. Looking at their official site (at Ladykin.co.kr) I find that I kind of like their brand philosophy which is centered around the beauty of women and making it fun to use cosmetics. I think the 'fun' aspect really shines through in how they present their products.

Exhibit A...

Disclosure: There are press samples and affiliate links in this post. All opinions are my own. Purchasing through an affiliate link is one way you can choose to support this blog at no additional cost to you. Press samples and affiliate links are marked with an asterisk. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, please see my disclaimer and policies.

Stuff That's Touched My Face This Month - July 2016 Paula's Choice, Timeless, Maricle

Aka the truest blog title I've ever written. This is pretty much what this entire blog is about. :-)

This month I had the chance to try out two beauty workhorses, aka products that contain very many active ingredients in the Paula's Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster, and the Timeless 20% C E Ferulic Acid Serum, and I was contacted by miniBbeauty, a Korean beauty instagram account to give an honest review of a product by a Korean brand called Maricle. The product is the Maricle Marine Pure Collagen Whitening Essence.

Paula's Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster

Disclosure: There are press samples and affiliate links in this post. All opinions are my own. Purchasing through an affiliate link is one way you can choose to support this blog at no additional cost to you. Press samples and affiliate links are marked with an asterisk. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, please see my disclaimer and policies.

Tosowoong Essence Cushion SPF 50+ PA+++ #21 Light Beige Review

I'm squarely on team cushion when it comes to base products. I spend much time evangelizing how amazing it is to be able to build up coverage to your particular need with the light, moisturizing layers afforded by many cc cushions. I'd reckon you could potentially put on 100 layers and still look mostly human (if you've seen those 100 layers of makeup videos you'll know what I'm talking about).

By now I assume everyone knows what a cushion product is, but just in case, I'll review - they are compacts that contain instead of powder or a foundation cake, a foundation soaked sponge. With the compact comes an antibacterial bouncy applicator puff that you dip into the sponge, and pat onto the face.

Today I'm pretty delighted to have a cushion review for you. This Tosowoong Essence Cushion was sent to me by Cupidrop.com in shade 21, Light Beige.

There are 3 shades in the range: 21 Light Beige which corresponds to an NC15, 22 Pink Beige which may be an N20, and 1 Pink Tone-up, which is like a shimmery highlighter cushion.

So let's get into the review!

Disclosure: There are press samples and affiliate links in this post. All opinions are my own. Purchasing through an affiliate link is one way you can choose to support this blog at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links are marked with an asterisk. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, please see my disclaimer and policies.

Summer Finds: Tonymoly and Primera Watery Creams, a Cleansing Water

So right now, on my bedside table, I have a trio of products from my summer 2016 haul, stacked on top of one another, waiting for me to declare my official verdict on them. Which I will do, with much gusto, smacking my gavelin (read: empty skincare bottles) at the end of each paragraph. JK.

Each of these products today I could easily do a full, detailed long-form review on, only in the interest of time, I've consolidated everything into mini-reviews. So let's dive right in.

Tonymoly The Chok Chok Green Tea Watery Cream

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. Purchasing through an affiliate link is one way you can choose to support this blog at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links are marked with an asterisk. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, please see my disclaimer and policies.

Dearpacker Jeju Camellia Flower Mask - Lifting and Nourishing Review

Happy Saturday y'all. Just a quick reminder, it's the final hours to enter my summer mask giveaway, it's international so if you're interested in trying out some fun new masks all with a fruit, flora, and veggie theme, please go take a look!

One of the masks in the prize package will be these Jeju Camellia Flower Masks from newish brand Dearpacker. Dearpacker was a mid-tier brand launched either early this year or late last year by one of the big Korean beauty conglomerates called LG Health and Household. This is the company that owns SU:M37 and The Face Shop. Dearpacker's main focus is on masks, both wash-off and sheet mask varieties. I picked up a 20 pack of one of their Jeju floral sheet masks of which there are 4 varieties: the unfortunately named rapeseed flower, cherry blossom, camellia, and cactus.

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. Purchasing through an affiliate link is one way you can choose to support this blog at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links are marked with an asterisk. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, please see my disclaimer and policies.

Daycell Esthenique Dark Sugar Cleansing Oil Review

The following review is on a cleansing oil that contains mineral oil, so if that's a dealbreaker for you I suggest you skip this post. I don't mind myself some mineral oil in cleansing oil form as I've used products like the Banila Co Clean It Zero's without getting any breakouts and found that products with mineral oil are often really darn effective.

With that today I want to talk about the Daycell Esthenique Dark Sugar Cleansing Oil. The draw of this product for me was a very positive and glowing review I came across on one of the many Korean beauty forums I frequent - the specific one I think was the one called Yeouya. After seeing the review I did a quick ingredients search on Hwahae and found that the few people who reviewed it on the app also had great experiences with it as well.

Review Roundup: TheSaem Fruits Punch Sleeping Packs, Missha Eyebrow Pencil, TheSaem Super Seed Sheet Masks

Hi all, I'm back with a review roundup of everything that's crossed my instagram over the past week or so. I do mini reviews on IG but, for anything where you might want to find an ingredients list or more photos and details, I find that I like to cover these types of items on the blog as well.


TheSAEM Fruits Punch Sleeping Packs

These adorable sleeping packs by the brand TheSAEM caught my eye because of their packaging (omg little juice boxes squee!) but when I pulled up their ingredients list on the HwaHae app and found out the ingredients looked quite impressive and appropriate for dry skin, I checked out with them so fast I probably gave them a little bout of whiplash. The packs come in Peach, Apple, and Banana, and as you may have guessed, they contain some peach, apple, and banana in each pack, respectively. The scents are bright and loud and pretty accurate, with the banana having a bit of an after-scent that is less pleasant than the others. The consistency of the packs themselves are a gel formula that gets watery after making contact with the skin. When first squeezed out, they look and feel a bit like the famed Mizon Snail Recovery Gel, so, a clear, cloudy gel. I have to say that I'm more happy with these products for the sensory experience, the visual and the scent are all quite amazing. In terms of results, these don't really do too much besides moisturize. They each come with 100ml of product in squeeze tube format for a pretty low price so I don't mind one bit.

Find them at Jolse $11.20 | eBay $14.09


PEACH INGREDIENTS Water, Glycerin, Glycereth-26, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Betaine, Trehalose, Honey Extract, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Prunus Persica (Peach) Fruit Extract, Lilium Tigrinium Extract, Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Flower Extract, Nelumbium Speciosum Flower Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Arginine, Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum, Panthenol, Disodium EDTA, CI 15985, CI17200, Butylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Fragrance

APPLE INGREDIENTS Water, Glycerin, Glycereth-26, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Betaine, Trehalose, Squalane, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Honey Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter Extract, Gardenia Florida Fruit Extract, Coptis Japonica Extract, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Arginine, Xanthan Gum, Carbomer, Panthenol, Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

BANANA INGREDIENTS Water, Glycerin, Glycereth-26, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Trehalose, Betaine, Honey Extract, Shea Butter Extract, Musa Sapientum (Banana) Fruit Extract, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Butylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Panthenol, Arginine, Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hyaluronate, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Carbomer, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, CI 19140, CI 15985, 1,2-Hexanediol, Fragrance

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. Purchasing through an affiliate link is one way you can choose to support this blog at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links are marked with an asterisk. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, please see my disclaimer and policies.

Summer Giveaway: 'Whole Foods' Sheet Masks

Hi everyone, I have a giveaway running on my Instagram from now until Saturday 7/9 11:59pm EST. This one is funded by me and is open internationally. For more details check out the actual instagram post below!

🌟It's summer giveaway time, two winners will be chosen at random to receive a pack of 12 sheet masks, themed 'Whole Foods'.. 🌷🍑🍐🍠🍯🍈🌺.. Includes TheSaem Daily Super Seed Mask Sheets in Lentil, Quinoa, Basil Seed, Mung Bean, and Red Rice, and Dearpacker Jeju Camellia Flower Masks in Lifting and Nourishing. 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀. To enter, you must be 18+ with a public non-giveaway account, and be following this account. Open internationally. Contest ends Saturday 7/9. 1. Repost with #kinsengwholefoodsgiveaway for 5 entries or 2. Tag interested friends in the comments below, each tag is worth 1 entry, max 3 friends. Good luck! 💕

A photo posted by kinseng (@kinsengnsq) on Jul 5, 2016 at 6:52am PDT

The TheSaem masks are really nicely moisturizing and nourishing cotton sheet masks and the Dearpackers are kind of a unique breed of mask - really great for someone who is in a bit of a sheet mask rut and perhaps looking for a slightly different experience as the fiber of that sheet mask is different.

Also, just some personal news. I don't think I've ever shared but I'd taken a break from work for a rather extended period of time, and have been searching and interviewing for full-time work for the past few months. I feel lucky and blessed to be able to say that last week I secured a full-time position. I'm super ecstatic but also a little sad that I will probably need to scale back my blogging efforts until I am successfully transitioned into my new role. Nevertheless, I will try to keep active on my instagram, so if you want to keep up with what I am using and chat back and forth, instagram is where you will find me: @kinsengnsq. This blog will still be updated every once in awhile if I find products that merit a full-on post.

With that toodles! Until next time. The winners of this giveaway will be notified via instagram.

Disclosure: There are press samples and affiliate links in this post. All opinions are my own. Purchasing through an affiliate link is one way you can choose to support this blog at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links are marked with an asterisk. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, please see my disclaimer and policies.