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

Saturday, July 23, 2016

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.




Ingredients Water, Niacinamide, Acetyl Glucosamine, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Butylene Glycol, Phospholipids, Sodium Hyaluronate, Allantoin, Boerhavia Diffusa Root Extract, Glycerin, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Ubiquinone, Epigallocatechin Gallate, Beta-GlucanPanthenol, Carnosine, Genistein, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Hydroxide, Xanthan Gum, Disodium EDTA, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol [CosDNA Analysis]

So the 'booster' is a new category of products for me, all I can surmise is that they're supposed to be super concentrated and give one the ability to mix it into another product. I think that's what they're supposed to do anyway.

This particular booster, if I were to recategorize it or at least compare it to another class of products, is most like an essence skin or essence toner in terms of consistency. So it's a very light, watery way of delivering its star ingredient Niacinamide, or vitamin B3. I use a lot of Niacinamide in my routine already - often opting for a less natural formulation with Niacinamide in it, over a more green, crunchy granola (more natural, organic) product simply because it's proven to be effective at brightening hyperpigmentation, fighting free radicals and staving off the aging process, along with shrinking pores (which it is extremely effective at doing). For those curious, it clocks in at a pH of 6.

Aesthetically, the product is very spartan. It's a very lightly scented fluid with an undiscernable scent that sinks into skin almost immediately which is quite amazing to use as first step skincare. In fact, I've replaced my first essence with this product.

In terms of results, I'm happy to report that I'm very satisfied with this product and will be continuing to use it throughout the summer (when I'm most likely to incur sun damage like sun spots), and into the Fall. This is a definite repurchase for me as I've seen it shrink my pores, and re-texturize my skin into something much softer with fewer areas with enlarged pores. I'm also happy that there are so many other great skin brightening ingredients in the product like Acetyl Glucosamine, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Licorice Root, and Ubiquinone. All in all I do deem this product effective at what it's supposed to do and it is one of those rare unicorns that suits all skin types due to how light it is. The only drawback is the price, which at $42 for .67oz (1 month) is not easy to swallow. Paula's Choice does tend to go on sale quite often so if you watch out for one of those, the price is more manageable.


Buy at Paula's Choice $42 for .67 oz

Get $10 off your first Paula's Choice purchase.

Timeless 20% C E Ferulic Acid Serum


Ingredients Water, Ethoxydiglycol, L-Ascorbic Acid, Propylene Glycol, Alpha Tocopherol, Polysorbate 80, Panthenol, Ferulic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Benzylalcohol, Dehydroacetic Acid, Fragrance [CosDNA Analysis]

This is the vitamin C serum I've been loving over the past few months. It's by the brand Timeless which can be found on Amazon. They do a version of the famous Skinceuticals vitamin C serum which sells for over $100 a bottle but at a fraction of the cost.

The Timeless 20% Vitamin C E Ferulic Acid Serum contains the same potent form of vitamin C, l-ascorbic acid at a concentration of 20%. This form is vitamin C is notoriously unstable and prone to oxidizing (turning into a yellow, orange, brown muddy mess that is useless for the face) and so Timeless have added the stabilizing ingredients vitamin E (tocopherol), and ferulic acid. There's also a little bit of hydration and moisture boosting as provided by the panthenol and sodium hyaluronate in the product.

The way the ingredients list combines and coagulates and just expresses itself into an actual product is into a slightly sticky, cloudy yet clear, viscous serum. It's ever so lightly citrus scented as well.

I'm pleased with the product because it is effectively formulated at a pH of around 2.5. While being a low pH, highly acidic product, my face doesn't get too irritated (sometimes it will turn slightly pink in areas), and after having the product for over a month, there are no signs oxidation or 'turning'. Between this product and the aforementioned Paula's Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster, I'm fighting the effects of the summer sun pretty hard. In terms of whether I would repurchase this product, I'm going with a yes. I've been looking for a forever vitamin C serum and I am in between declaring this my one and only or the Nufountain (which is slightly more watery). In the end, they hit the same price point, and have both been very effective for me, I will most likely just switch off as the mood strikes.


Buy at Amazon $15.98 for 1 oz*

Maricle Marine Pure Collagen Whitening Essence*


Ingredients Water, Butylene Glycol, Cyclomethicone, Snail Secretion Filtrate, Arbutin, Polyglutamic Acid, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, Aluminum Hydroxide, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Citrus Aurantium Bergama (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Adenosine, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol [CosDNA Analysis]

I received this product for review from miniBbeauty on Instagram. I'd never heard of the brand Maricle before, but after a little bit of digging, they seem to be on the smaller side, a more independent brand that boasts 'marine technology' in their skincare products. I was intrigued by the ingredients in this Marine Pure Collagen Whitening Essence, so I thought I'd try it out.

The essence is actually more of what in Kbeauty is called a 'white tone up lotion/cream'. It's not watery whatsoever and is more of a bright white lotion consistency. It contains titanium dioxide which is known to give a white cast and make skin look lighter and brighter, but this product doesn't really leave any white cast. 1-2 pumps is enough for the entire face, and when first applied, makes the face look really shiny and sparkly, finally drying down very matte. I deem this more of an immediately brightening primer type product as opposed to a more long-term product with the propensity to slow down or curb melanin overproduction as I have not really seen much brightening over the long term. It does have ingredients in it that could potentially make it possible to see long term brightening effects, I just haven't observed them on my own skin.

It's lightly citrus scented and comes in a pump bottle that needs a little warming up before it begins to reliably pump out any product.

The product contains snail secretion filtrate to sooth the skin, hydrate it, and calm blemishes, arbutin to brighten, and polyglutamic acid to hydrate the skin. There's also anti-aging yeast-derived Adenosine, and a few Korean botanical extracts that give skin-conditioning benefits to the skin. One other thing to note is that the aloe extract in the product comes in liposome form which means they are encapsulated (not visible to the naked eye btw) and burst and turn themselves into water droplets with silicon oil.

This one I'm not certain that I would purchase on my own. I expected a watery brightening essence, and in return I got something that is more suited to be a brightening, matte primer lotion. If the latter sounds appealing to you, I'd give it a go!

Check out miniBbeauty for more Kbeauty content!

What have you been using and enjoying lately?



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.

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