skincare

Best Korean Skincare Products of 2019

6th January 2020 5 Comments

Wowwww I can’t believe we’re already into 2020. 2019 was wild. So many changes and a new home in the USA with Mikey, finally. In between all the madness, I’ve had the privilege of trying a lot of Korean skincare from both well known brands and emerging companies. This is my fourth year of doing end of year favorites and how the time has flown! Here are my previous picks:

Best Korean Skincare Products of 2018

Best Korean Skincare Products of 2017

Best Korean Skincare Products of 2016

As always, my 2019 picks will only be products I’ve tried for the first time this year, and will not include long time favorites. Next to each product, I will label if it was PR gifted and from whom. PR or not PR has not effected these selections. I haven’t bought much this year due to my finances being focused on my visa costs and international move (and the prospect of months of job hunting), so most of this happens to be PR, FYI.

Let’s see which products have captured my heart this year.

Skincare

Cosrx Calming Liquid Intensive Review

22nd October 2019 No Comments

Cosrx are easily one of my favorite K-beauty brands. I’ve been using their products continually for 5 years, love their formulas, get on well with the Cosrx staff (I even interviewed Hye-Young back in the day), and I will always recommend the Cosrx Snail Essence to anyone who will listen.

Two of their other products I love the most are their BHA Blackhead Power Liquid and their AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid. So when they released this newest acid formulations and sent the Calming Liquid Intensive to me in PR, I was totally down to test it out. After 3 months of use, I’m happy to now share my full review.

Skincare

Dear Klairs Fundamental Ampule Mist

2nd September 2019 1 Comment

Over the past year I have slowly become MIST. OBSESSED. I cannot get enough of them- spritzing after cleansing, between skincare layers, at any time of the day, and as a makeup setting spray. I’m absolutely loving them. But after years of trying so many different mists, I’ve come to learn my distinct preferences. Jin at Tonic15 kindly gifted me the new Klairs Fundamental Ampule Mist a few months ago and I haven’t put it down since. Here’s why.

Skincare

Review: By Wishtrend Polyphenols in Propolis 15% Ampoule

30th June 2019 No Comments

Yes, yes I am about to review yet another propolis product, and I’m not sorry about it! Propolis seems to make my skin glow like no other ingredient, and I’ll forever continue to use it. I’m a huge fan of the Iunik Propolis Serum, reviewed here, and very excited to see how the Wishtrend Polyphenols in Propolis 15% Ampoule squares up. The product was kindly gifted to me by Jin at Tonic15. She’s the owner of this fantastic K-beauty store based in the UK and she has some gorgeous products. Let’s see how this one worked out!

Skincare

Bonair Premier Aloe Real Squeeze Toner Review

5th April 2019 No Comments

I’ve been away for a while – there’s been a lot going on. BUT I’m back and ready to upload regular reviews and routines to share with you guys. Please subscribe to my newsletter (on the right) if you’d like emails when I post new reviews. Today we’re discussing this gorgeous Bonair Aloe Toner. Let’s get stuck in…

This product was gifted to me by Mask House UK, with no request for review.

Skincare

My 5 Steps to Glowy Skin

31st March 2019 8 Comments

Most of the time these days, I genuinely love my skin. This has not always been the case, and whilst I still deal with normal skin issues such as redness and occasional breakouts, transforming my skincare routine and attitude has resulted in a glow I never thought was possible. I can assuredly say the changes happened because of my move to Seoul, South Korea, in 2014 and the influence of the “Korean skincare routine”. I say this in quotation marks because I don’t believe there’s a definitive “Korean skincare routine”, more a way of thinking about skincare in Korea. Over the past four years my skin has become the best it’s ever been, and I wanted to share what has worked for me. When I began my journey my skin was dull, very uneven in tone, and- without me knowing or understanding this- extremely dehydrated. Here’s how I overcame those problems and got the glow.

Skincare

Best Korean Skincare Products of 2018

13th January 2019 6 Comments

Back with an end of year round up my loves! This one has been the hardest yet to write, because I’ve tried so many incredible products in 2018. It’s been tough to narrow it down, so I’m doing things a little differently compared to previous years (2016 here & 2017 here). This year will be separated into product categories, with a winner and runner(s)-up too. If I’ve previously written a review of any product, I’ll link it on the name. I hope that covers and shares the best of the best with you! Also remember that this post only include products I’ve tried for the first time in 2018- not old favourites.

A lot of these products were PR gifted by the brands themselves or by K-beauty online stores. I’ve included the names of the stores so you know where to find the products if you’d like to purchase.

Hope you’ve all had a fabulous year, and cheers to your health and happiness for 2019. Let’s get stuck in.

Skincare

Seasonal Skincare: Winter Changes

28th October 2018 2 Comments

Hey my loves! So recently I’ve struggled a little with knowing which direction to go with posts and what you guys like reading and seeing, but after a discussion on my IG I’ve taken some of your ideas on board. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me! I’ll continue doing the in-depth reviews that you guys said you found really helpful, but also adding posts that share tips as well as lists of favourite products. So first up is a short post on the changes I make to my routine as the seasons change and the weather becomes colder. If you want some specific product ideas, here’s my winter products post from last year. I’ll update soon with more additions this year! But first let’s talk about the changes I make.

*A lot of the products mentioned here were gifted to me by companies at some point in time.

Skincare

Cosrx Two in One Poreless Power Liquid Review

17th October 2018 6 Comments

Cosrx are everyone’s favourite brand because they have simple, super effective products. I’ve continually turned to them for years now, and some of their products are my HG skincare items. They’ve been releasing lots of new products this year, which is very exciting, and this was one of them! Enter the Two in One Poreless Power Liquid. I’ve been using this on and off for the past 5 months and here are my thoughts.

*This product was gifted to me by Cosrx. There was no request to review, I just wanted to.

Skincare

How I Got My Morning Skincare Routine Down to 10 Minutes…

2nd September 2018 2 Comments

In Korea, I worked later in the day and always took time for a long morning routine. Now, I leave my house at 6.40am and do NOT have the ability to get up at 5.45am simply to fit in a multi-step routine. So, I was faced with the challenge of getting my routine down to around 10 minutes. And somehow, I’ve done it! Please bear in mind, I don’t have children or other things in my life to be concerned with in the morning, and I appreciate a lot of you guys may not have it this simple. Here’s what I do.

(A lot of these products were gifted to me by companies at various times- they are included here simply because I use them frequently. Gifted products are highlighted by an asterisk)