First Impression: Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Serum

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about a neat product with a ridiculously long name; Missha's Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Serum! I've always quite enjoyed using Missha products, but haven't had much to do with their skincare range (apart from their sunscreen which is my absolute favourite!). This serum has been compared to the amazing Estēe Lauder Advanced Repair Night which I have been considering purchasing for a couple of months now, but was incredibly put off by the $150NZD price tag, so this sample sachet came to me at the perfect time!

What Does It Do?

"Skin cells regenerate best during the nighttime while you sleep.

The Time Revolution Night Repair line uses Retinol technology to give you an intensive 3D night care. It uses Night Science, Retinol Science, and Cell Science to give you smooth, glowing skin. The Serum strengthens and moisturizes skin, while also providing it with the necessary nutrients. Also has wrinkle repairing and whitening benefits." (1)

This serum has a thin and slightly sticky texture which makes my skin feel quite tacky for about 30minutes after application. I'm very glad that this is a night serum, because I don't think I would be able to stand the stickiness during the day time!

I only had one little sample sachet of this product, so I can't really see much difference in my skin in terms of wrinkle repair or skin whitening, but it makes my skin feel nice and moisturized in the morning without drowning it in oil! I did see a very subtle brightness in my skin after using this sample which I really liked!

Would I Purchase This Product?

I'm genuinely interested in this product, so I'm pretty keen to purchase it! A cheaper, but just as effective serum as the super expensive Estēe Lauder serum sounds like a good deal to me, so I think I will pick up a bottle of this Night Serum in my next Korean skincare purchase! ^.^

Have you tried this serum or the Estēe Lauder serum before? What are your thoughts?

First Impression - Missha Cell Renew Snail Essential Moisturizer

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about my first experience with Snail Slime Skincare! If you're gagging a little I definitely don't blame you, this little pottle has been sitting in my tester drawer for quite some time because I didn't believe that it would help me and assumed it was super gross. How wrong I was.

 What Does It Do?

Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Essential Moisturizer
Cell Renew Snail Series, The solution from nature for radiant & healthy skin

• Skin repairing lotion & essence to balance and firm damaged skin to be healthy
• Dual functional cosmetics of anti-wrinkle and whitening benefits
• Dual functional cosmetic of wrinkle repairing and whitening benefits [Colorant-free / Paraben-free / Mineral oil-free] Containing snail slime extract 40%
• Moist and concentrated essential moisturizer creates moisture protection shield on skin to prevent skin damage and improve skin flexibility for smooth and firm skin.

Recommend to

• mid 20s ~ 40s
• Who wants more than two benefits by one product
• Who wants to improve skin elasticity for firm skin
• Who has worries of sagging and dull skin tone
• Who wants an overall turnover of skin by preventing and improving damaged skin

Hot Issue of Snail Slime Cosmetics! In 1980’s, Bascunan Family in Chile started raising snails to provide them to France for food. It was amazing that small injuries or infections of snail keepers’ hands heal up quickly without leaving a scar and their hands get brighter and softer as time goes by. This led Fernando Bascunan, a dermatologist, carry out scientific studies to find that snail slime contains natural complex making the skin regenerated. This proves that snail slime makes damaged skin cells heal up without infections and helps recover damaged snail shell. The same principle applies to human skin.
Highly moisturizing and nutritive MISSHA Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Series has been developed to improve skin texture by containing full vital snail slime to prevent and recover skin damage while strengthen skin barrier to minimize skin irritation. (1)

 

Ingredients: Snail Secretion Filtrate, Water, Glycereth-26, Butylene Glycol, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, PEG-32, Cyclomethicone, Niacinamide, Adansonia Digitata (Baobob) Seed Extract, Butylene Glycol Dicaprylate, Ethoxydiglycol, PEG-20 Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, Betaine, Squalane, Sea Water, Portulaca Oleracea (Purslane) Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Panthenol, Adenosine, Echium Plantagineum Seed Oil, Cardiospermum Halicacabum (Balloon Vine) Flower/Leaf/Vine Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil Unsaponifiables, Centellla Asiatica Meristem Cell Culture, Polyacrylate-13, Cetyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 60, Sorbitan Oleate, Polyisobutene, Caprylyl Glycol, Glyceryl Polyacrylate, Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Dimethicone, Stearic Acid, Polysorbate 20, Xanthan Gum, Octyldodecanol, Disodium EDTA, BHT, Dimethiconol, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Glycerin, Fragrance (Parfum), Hydroxyisohexyl 3 – Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Linalool, Limonene

This snail slime skincare item has a milky white colour and gel texture. It smells pleasantly like flowers and not at all like snail slime (which is surprising considering it is 40% snail mucus). This moisturizer has a soft matte finish, feels surprising light on the skin and doesn't make me oily! I've been using this cream morning and night for one week and I actually swear I can see an improvement on my acne scarring. I have no solid proof (I try not to take photos when my skin is icky because it makes me sad) so I will get back to you on that claim!

Would I Purchase This Product?

It's expensive, but I would actually purchase this product! I feel like I haven't said this in forever, but even though this product is near $70NZD. I really like the texture, scent, finish and results I've seen. My curiosity has also been piqued in relation to other snail slime products! ^.^

Have you tried Snail Slime skincare? What are your favourite Snail Slime products?

Review: Missha All-Around Safe Block Soft Finish Sun Milk

Hello Princesses!

*Edit* This was supposed to go up last Wednesday (17th) and I just noticed that it's not been posted!! Sorry guys!!

Today I'm going to be reviewing Missha's All Around Safe Block Soft Finish Sun Milk! I'm always on the hunt for a good non-greasy sunblock and this is quite possibly my favorite one so far!

I purchased this sunblock from Roseroseshop in November 2013 and have been using it everyday since then, (which is like 10 months) and I'm still not through with the little bottle! It cost me $14.80(USD) and I was initially attracted to the product by the super cute pink packaging. I purchased some sample packets to test the product and was pleasantly surprised by the soft matte finish! Most other sunblock's I have used previously were all quite greasy and left a layer of shine through even the matte-est formula foundation, which made me less likely to wear sunblock because of the grease, which is not good for my skin.

There is a little ball bearing floating around in the sunblock to keep it from separating, and it makes the most satisfying shake noise. Honestly just shaking the bottle makes me so happy! It has a twist top lid, but if you pull the clear bubble, the clear section will come off. I haven't found a use for this feature yet, it just happens.

This sunblock feels incredibly soft on the skin and actually feels slightly moisturizing and a little like skincare! It has a lovely soft matte finish (not like a dry matte, but like a moisturized matte) and leaves my skin looking healthy. I can wear this sunscreen out without any makeup over the top and it will actually help my skin look a little less greasy throughout the day!

This was my first experience with a Chemical Sunblock, and didn't actually realize it was a chemical sunblock until I read a blog review that advised me to use the sunblock under my regular moisturizer. All of a sudden things made a lot more sense, because when I used the sunblock over my moisturizer, my foundation and BB Cream kind of curdled on my skin. *facepalm*

Ingredients:
Dimethicone, Myrciaria Dubia Fruit Extract, Everlasting Flower Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Zinc Oxide, Ethanol, Cyclohexasiloxane, Isoamyl P-Methoxycinnamate, Silica, Titanium Oxide, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Hexyl laurate, PEG-10Dimethicone, Methylene Bis-Benzotriazolyl Tetramethylbutylphenol, Methicone, Aloe Vera Leaf Extract, Butylene Glycol, C12-14 Pareth-12, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Alumina, Stearic Acid, Triethoxy Caprylylsilane, Disodium EDTA, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Phenoxy Ethanol, Fragrance, Iron Oxides, Althaea Rosea Flower Root Extract, Piper Methysticum Leaf/Root/Stem Extract, Rosa Davurica Bud Extract, Limonia Acidissima Extract, Abronia Villosa Leaf Extract, Cinchona Succirubra Bark Extract, Psidium Guajava Leaf Extract, Rhodiola Rosea Root Extract 

What I Love

- SPF50+ / PA +++

- Lovely light scent

- Cute pink packagin

- Soft matte finish

- Not greasy!

What I Don't Love

- A little hard to find in New Zealand

Final Thoughts

I really really really love this sunblock! The only thing I slightly dislike about it is that it's a little hard to find in New Zealand without paying about $1million. There are a couple of other similar sunblocks that Missha makes, so I might try them out next just to see if they compare to this one!

Do you Princesses have any favorite foundations that you think I should try out?

First Impression: MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance; Pink

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about MAC's Prep + Prime Natural Radiance primer in Pink! I picked up this sample pot when I was talking to the lovely MAC ladies about Strobe Cream, and they recommended this primer for my particular skin type. So how did it do?

What Does It Do?

"A silky gel emulsion, rich in natural ingredients, that hydrates and primes to improve foundation or powder application, control oil and promote smooth texture. Vitamins E and C protect with antioxidants, while caffeine calms skin. Illuminating pearl powders reflect optic brightening. Now in two shades; Radiant yellow especially effective on deeper skin tones and Radiant Pink for fairer skin tones. The formula disappears upon application, resulting in a beautiful glow." (1)

This primer is a super cute baby pink colour and smells a little like sunscreen mixed with chemicals. It's quite thick and leaves a smooth almost silicone feel behind. It's colourless on the skin so provides no coverage. It leaves the skin looking a little shiny/glowy, but this glow doesn't always show through 

I've used the same three types of foundation that I've used in my previous Primer First Impressions (MAC Strobe Cream and Stila One Step Correct), my difficult foundation (NARS Sheer Glow), favorite BB Cream (Missha Signature Complete) and my long lasting foundation (Estēe Lauder Doublewear Light).

First up is my difficult foundation - NARS Sheer Glow in Siberia. This foundation is the perfect colour for my pale skin, but applies and lasts terribly. I didn't feel like the primer made any difference to the application or lasting power of this foundation.

Next up is my favorite BB Cream, Missha Signature Complete in No.13! The primer made the application of this BB Cream smoother, but didn't effect the longevity or oil control of the BB Cream.

Lastly, this is my long lasting foundation - Estēe Lauder's Doublewear Light in 0.5. I have to say that this primer was quite nice with this matte finish foundation because it gave it a really lovely glow. However, it didn't help with the longevity of the product, in fact it made the oil control a little worse.

 Would I Purchase This Product?

Probably not. For the price that it is, ($41USD) I don't think the results were good enough for me. I didn't feel like it had any skincare benefits, and only worked with a couple of my foundations and BB Creams, so I wouldn't get enough use out of it in terms of how much it cost. It would be perfect for princesses looking for light hydration and a little bit of smoothing.

 What are your favorite primer products?

Review: Missha CC BB Cream

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be reviewing Missha's CC BB Cream in Flawless Complexion and Pure Complexion! I bought 10 of each of these colours in sample size from RoseRoseShop because I wasn't quite ready to commit to $68 for each colour from the NZ store. I mean seriously, $68NZD?? That's a lot. I could buy 1 and 3/4  MAC lipsticks for that amount of money.

These CC BB Creams are super confusing to everyone, what's the difference between the CC and BB section of this product? I'm actually not sure to be honest, so lets just think about this like a CC Cream I guess.

There are two colours of this CC Cream, Flawless Complexion (Beige) and Pure Complexion (White). The White has little beads inside that burst and match your skin (supposedly).

 Photos from Missha NZ

I looked at the photos of the packaging and though, yes I want that, it looks great! Then I read SkinandTonics review and saw that the packaging was as wide as a soup can! Nobody has room for that!

I did two sets of swatches, one on my pale skin, and one on my sisters tanned skin for comparison, since they are supposed to match your skin!

If you look closely at the last swatch you can see a slight colour difference between the two CC Creams. The Beige/Flawless CC Cream is slightly pinker in tone than the White/Pure CC Cream which is slightly more yellow/orange. Both are too dark for me.

You can see the colour difference a little more on my sisters skin, the Beige/Flawless is pinker and darker than the White/Pure. Both of these are too pale for my sister. If you would like to see these CC's compared to other CC Creams, you can check them out here!

Pure Complexion

I found the Pure Complexion a little too dark for my skin (I'm NC5-10 for reference) but passable for my summer "tan" skin. It has a really lovely texture and is smooth and easy to apply with fingers or buffing brushes. It has a dewy finish similar to most CC Creams, and covers pores and redness, but not scars or deeper darker imperfections.

Flawless Complexion

I moderately enjoyed the Flawless CC Cream. Lets start of with the fact that it's too dark for me and too pink. Other than those negative facts, this CC Cream is actually quite pleasant! It has a lovely medium coverage that covers my pores, redness, scars and has a soft matte/ish finish. I can almost get away without powdering this CC, but if I don't it turns into a greasy mess after 3 hours. Apart from it being too dark and too pink, I actually quite like it!

I also put on some eyeshadow for once and I quite like it.

Things I Love

- Both are not too sheer, have enough coverage

- They both smell really nice, a little like sunscreen

- Great sun protection (SPF43 PA+++)

- Moisturizing

Things I Don't Love

-  Only two colours, neither or which match

- Do NOT last 12 hours

Final Thoughts

I feel very conflicted between these two CC BB Creams, which generally means that I will purchase neither of them full size! I prefer the colour of the White/Pure CC Cream, but I prefer coverage and finish of the Beige/Flawless CC Cream! I think these would be great products for people with very normal, moderately fair skin. I'm also all for supporting NZ stores, but this product is seriously more than twice the price in NZ that it is online, so possibly look at purchasing online.

I hope this review was helpful for you Princesses! ^.^ What's your favorite CC Cream?