Etude House- First snow Ice cotton Toner

Etude House- First snow Ice cotton Toner

STRANGE!!!

Alright, so this is the weirdest thing I’ve ever encountered while make-up/skin care buying. Even in Asia, this is bizarre!!!!! So, if you’ve been reading my blog,  then you will know, I HAD to buy it!

Seriously, I was compelled.

So what it is, is a toner.  It comes in a tall thin aerosol type can. It was part of Etude house’s very small first snow line out for the summer.

It might seem backwards to have ‘first snow’ items be part of the summer line, but the premise is the products are cooling. So it makes perfect sense…

The ice cotton toner is just that, a toner. It’s based on the traditional way of applying toner, putting the product on a cotton ball, then applying it to the face.

This takes it to a whole other level. Did you notice the word cotton in the name? That’s because the cotton ball is in side the can! You press down, and out shoots a white stream of cotton ball!! It looks like white silly string, but feels like cotton.

You are supposed to spray it in a circular motion, and make your very own cotton ball!

It’s sooo weird.

Plus, the whole thing is cooling!

And once you are done toning, most of the cotton ball has completely disappeared.

Of course, it never  completely disappears. You are always left with a small little piece of lint to be tossed out.

I really like this toner. It’s odd, but fun to apply. The toner itself is actually really light, and really cooling.

So if you have a chance to pick some up, I really recommend you do. I had a lot of fun!

Skinfood Tea Tree and Lavender Toner for Men

Skinfood Tea Tree and Lavender Toner for Men

Price:$9.90 (9900won)
Size: 140ml
My boyfriend is not in the least metro sexual. I’d say he’s more of a flannel sexual (reference to According to Jim, awesome show!). Basically he has no interest in Skin care.
He keeps himself clean, and that the extent of it.
He’s happy with a bar of soap.
But since we’ve been in Korea, and I’ve been droning on and on about skin care stuff and Makeup (what a trooper he is for putting up with it) and dragging him to this store and that, I’ve somewhat piqued his interest.
So we picked him up some basic skin care products. Most of them from Skinfood, since I’ve been having such good results.
He has oily, acne prone skin. I have dry skin, with no issues with blemishes.
The Tea Tree Oil Toner, comes in a beautiful green glass bottle with a metallic top.
It’s some of the prettiest packaging available at Skinfood. It’s kind of odd that’s its for one of their Men’s care lines… But maybe I’m wrong to assume guys don’t care about pretty things….
Inside is a traditional liquid toner. Different from the more common Korean gel toners (My personal preference.) It is a bit astringent, and does contain alcohol.
I have used it myself, and it’s not nearly as astringent or Harsh as my toner’s I’ve used in North America. It’s the harsiest toner I’ve ever used here in Korea, but would be one of the mildest compared with back home.
And it does leaver my face soft, and not dried out. My Boyfriend who has been using it semi regularly for the past weeks has not noticed dry skin.
But his skin has been more consistently clear.
The toner does smell of lavender and tea tree. The scent is herby, not floral. It’s not distinctly masculine. And personally I don’t feel like I’m using a “men’s” product when I use it.

Overall, I really recommend this toner if you have problem skin and want a more gentle toner.

Skinfood Gold Caviar Line

Skinfood's Gold Caviar Skin care line
The line includes the essentials, Toner, Emulsion(moisturizer) at least 2 kinds of creams, Ampoule, Serum and Dual eye creams.
I have the full size of the Serum, and the eye creams. All of which I love!

Gold Caviar Toner

Clear Toner, though in the little plastic sample it might look orange, but that's just the bottle. It has real flecks of gold dispersed within it. The toner is thicker than western toners, but not a gel (*sigh* Gel toners are my favorite).

Scent- Perfumed, exactly what the scent is I can't tell, it smells like generic perfume. However, the scent isn't strong, and once it applied it dissipates quickly. It doesn't bother me in the least, plus without perfume, would it smell like fish(caviar) EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Texture- Not a gel, but thicker than western toners. It has little flecks of gold in it! yay! They do not show up on the skin once the toner has been applied.

Effectiveness- A nice light toner. The smell is faint, and the texture is nice. I've used this Toner sooo many times. I've gotten countless samples of it! I really do enjoy it.

Buy?- Maybe. It's on the expensive side for Skinfood, and it's not a gel toner. I just prefer a gel (no cotton pad need for application!). But on the other hand, its really gentle, makes my skin feel a bit softer, and the only lightly scented. If anyone is thinking of picking it up, you really can't go wrong.

Gold Caviar Emulsion, Gold Caviar Collagen Cream, Gold Caviar Lifting Prime Skin

- I lumped the three together in one review because they are all so similar, they are just variations of moisturizers from the same line from Skinfood. Therefore, the scent is all the same, and the same as the Toner and Serum. Its a light perfumed scent. Not strong or offensive, or even distinct. 

I have the cavair emulsion (moisturizer), the Gold Caviar collagen cream, the Gold caviar lifting prime skin, plus I think there is a gold caviar cream.... What the difference between all of them is....

Not much.

The Gold Caviar emulsion is the runniest and the lightest. But still a med-heavy moisturizer.

the Gold Caviar lifting prime skin is thicker.

The Gold caviar collagen cream seems the same as the lifting prime skin.

The emulsion and collagen cream are the most similar, they both absorb quickly, without leaving a white cast.

The Lifting prime seems to be a different composition.

If you look at the picture, it leaves a white cast.

Beyond that the differences are small. I like Lifting prime the least. It leaves a residue, and the white cast. Which is really peculiar. I can't figure out why it's so different.

It's a toss up between the emulsion and the Collagen cream. The cream if you want more heavy duty moisture, and emulsion for something lighter.

Gold Caviar collagen serum

I love this Serum, I love it so much I bought the full size! See the review Here.

Holika holika - A new Korean brand!!!!!!!

Holika Holika
Korea has come out with a brand new brand *snickers*.
I came across when in Seoul a couple of weeks ago, tucked away in meyong-dong, across from Forever 21.
Holika Holika

The building definitely makes an impact, all pink with a giant clock and witch riding a broom.
And the shop ladies are all wearing cute purple witch costumes!!!!!!!! I didn''t take a picture of the shop ladies though.... I thought that would be a little creepy!
It's seriouly exciting!

The store itself is really pretty, lots of magical themed displays, gold, purple, swirls, black cats. oooo

                                      

The poster is of Matsushima Emi. But Holika's main endorsement is CNblue.

                              

I got this folder, with a CNblue member on it, with some of the stuff I but at Holika!

Holika Holika only came out in March, I was there only a couple of weeks after opening (sadly I don't live near Seoul, other wise I would have found out sooner.
The brand is by the same makers of Enprani, but much much cheaper.
The whole theme of Holika Holika is witches and magic, which I think is too cute.
I immediately bought a ton of stuff!

Apple shine-peeling sheet mask, Cream shadow, peach BB cream

Garden recipe body scrub,  Pore cover mousse

My favorite item is this plumping cream. It's bizarre, and comes in a cute bottle!

My other favorite, a gel toner! Its super nice :) 


But I do have bad news for all my readers, the brand is so new, that none of the items are avaliable on G-market yet....
So you will all have to wait...
It probably won't be long though, because a second store already opened up in Myeong-dong, in Seoul. 2 stores in 2 months, that's quick :D

 Tony Moly Caviar Skin Care

I got samples of just about a complete skin care regime.

Toner, serum, eye cream and moisturizer.

So I thought I'd give some initial thoughts...

The packaging both in the mini’s and the full size products is less than inspiring. 

That’s ok though, as much as I love beautiful things, It’s more important to me that my skin care works.

Toner - Thick almost gel like. A slightly unpleasant smell, chemical and old lady-ish, but not overwhelming.  No toned feeling.

Essence/ Serum- thick, really thick and white. Doesn’t absorb well, doesn’t make the skin feel softer, same smell. My skin actually started to burn and itch just slightly after using this.

Eye cream, thick, absorbs better. But very thick. 10 minutes late I can still feel it on

Moisturizer - same unpleasant smell, which, with all four products on I can still smell. It’s not thick, but I can still feel it on my skin. I actually applied a lot less than I do with other products, but my skin feels almost greasy.

Basically, The samples were big enough I got nearly 3 days use out of the whole line, and more from the toner and serum. But... They suck. I am definitely NOT going to buy the line, or anything from it...