Innisfree Olive Real Skin (Review)

i'm only doing my research for this product right now as i'm writing this because i received this as a gift from my relative. it's a toner, but koreans call then "skin". this is different from what americans call toners though. this is NOT an astrigent. asian toners are meant to be used after washing our face to prepare our skin for the other skin care we'll be using after. by hydrating our face with the toner, it supposedly allows the skin to absorb active ingredients better later.

most toners i've used are oil free, so this is definitely something new for me. it contains organic extra virgin olive oil. it's emulsified to form this slightly thick emulsion that is surprisingly light on my skin and is absorbed quickly. the scent is SO LOVELY - a slight tinge of citrus.

from its website, it claims to be

A highly enriched hydrating skin with nutritious organic olives to fill in the skin with nutrition.
so this is a very basic toner that aims to hydrate the skin. nutrition wise.. ERRR. if my skin is getting nutrition from the outside, i'll have to be very worried.


their brand is all about being organic and eco friendly, part of their brand image i guess!



it's nice of them to include english ingredients and usage information.


i look a look at its ingredients, the top ingredients are water, propanediol, butylene glycol, and butylene glycol, all are humectants that will help retain moisture on the skin.

olive oil is pretty high up there too! don't worry about the alcohol because this toner is NOT DRYING at all. the alcohol is probably there to open up pathways for the skin to absorb more product. there're a lot of other natural extracts, even though i don't know their purpose and effects. 

apparently they don't contain parabens, but they have phenoxyethanol as the preservative to make its shelf life longer.




it comes with a little white stopper to prevent spillage. you can throw that away after you transport it home safely! the opening may be a little too huge for my liking. i try to do a magic trick everytime i pour it out of the bottle by tipping the bottle really really quickly, so quickly that you can't see my hands move at all.



it's a little cloudy, afterall, it's an emulsion. a little bit thicker than water, but still quite watery.



from start to finish it didn't even take a minute. it absorbs very quickly. my hands returned to its matte looking state after all that patting. on my face, there can be a little sheen (but that is desired by me).

IN A NUTSHELL

texture: slightly viscous, spreads easily and absorbs quickly.
after-feel: no adhesive feeling like the hyaluronic acid toners made me feel. skin feels soft and hydrated but not for long.
fragrance: slightly citrus scented, makes me feel like a salad with the olive oil dressing and a dash of lemon juice.

IMHO

i've used this for a good half a year, but i haven't been very consistent with it as i switch in and out with the whitening toner that i have. it does a good job preparing my skin for what comes next. i feel that the oil in the toner helps open up my skin to other oil based ingredients in my creams, so that's a good thing.

since there isn't that sticky feeling that hyaluronic acid toners give me, those who dislike that feeling may be interested in this product. however, i feel that this product isn't moisturizing on its own. i definitely need to throw on a cream after that. you know how come oils can make you feel dry? you'd be surprised that this toner doesn't leave me feeling oily at all. i guess all that olive oil got absorbed by my skin instead of sitting on top forming a protective film to keep it hydrated.

all in all, i enjoy using this product, partly because i really love the scent. it makes applying my skin care a pleasure.

Shiseido Senka Whitening Lotion (Fresh) EMPTIED!

now that i've emptied this bottle of toner, it's time for another entry on it to give you my full thoughts on this. if you haven't seen my partial review on it before, you can read it here, i wrote that after i've used it for 6 months. 

4 months later, i finally used up the last drop of it.



i didn't take a photo of the ingredients because it's all in japanese.

but i found it from ratzilla:

active ingredients: l-ascorbic acid 2-glucoside and disodium glycyrrhizate

other ingredients: sodium acetyl hyaluronate, sodium hyaluronate, royal jelly extract, water, dipropylene glycol, alcohol, butylene glycol, glycerin, methyl gluceth-10, PEG-20, PEG/PPG-14/7 dimethyl ether, potassium hydroxide, PEG-60 hydrogenated castor oil, sodium citrate, triethyhexanoin, polyglyceryl-2 diisostearate, disodium EDTA, benzophenon-5, citric acid, citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) oil, lavender oil, methylparaben.

even though the formula contains alcohol, it doesn't actually dry out my skin. it is acting as a "key" to open up the skin so that the ingredients can enter the skin. moreover, the myriad of hydrating agents (sodium acetyl hyaluronate, sodium hyaluronate, dipropylene glycol and butylene glycol) already countered the drying effect of ethanol.




i took this photo not just to show you the opening of the bottle, which is a small hole which would dispense enough product for your face when you flip the bottle over momentarily. i wanted to show you the yellow marks on the bottle cap.

i have no idea what is it, but i can tell you that the solution in the bottle is actually colourless. my guess is that it has oxidized over time upon contact with air. somehow it reminds me of my vitamin c powder, which turns yellow over time too. this made me think that the vitamin c in the bottle is actually pretty stable, considering they didn't turn yellow unless they are exposed to the outside world!



this was one of the last few precious droplets of lotion i have before i ran out of it. it is watery and does have a slight alcohol scent to it. other than that, there's a slight sweet smelling scent to it, it's very mild and you won't be able to smell it unless you unscrew the bottle cap and shove your nose into the bottle.

IMHO

this bottle of lotion lasted me for a good 10 months. sometime after the 6th month, i cut down to using it just once a day. i assume if i use it twice daily, it'd have only lasted me a total of 8 months.

because it's so watery, getting evenly on my face was a little challenge, as it may drip if i have too much lotion on my palm. 

i've already mentioned my experience with it in the previous entry. and now.. drum roll please..

VERDICT

the whitening and brightening effect didn't amaze me. at first i did notice a slight brightening, but after my skin tanned a little, it failed to return me my original skin colour. :( maybe it's due to me using it only once daily (at night), but the hydrating effects were ok! and i do like the slightly cooling sensation upon applying this and patting it all over my face.

for HKD$89, it's a good hydrating toner to get, but don't expect it to work wonders.

White Formula Intense Brightening Laser Toner with Arbutin First Impression

anything with "whitening" will catch my attention because i'm constantly trying to brighten my skin tone. this is something new in the market, in fact, at the time of purchase it was still unavailable in singapore. i had to ask my gf to get it for me from hong kong.

white formula is a brand from taiwan, and their lotion/toner has gotten really good reviews on the urcosme.net ranking, hence i wanted to give it a try. at a price point of HKD$88 for 290ml, i have nothing to lose. if this doesn't work as a whitening toner, it'll still be good enough for just hydrating.



on the back the product description.
let me do some translation!

"a highly efficient triple action whitening formula, it contains arbutin for penetrative whitening, mandelic acid for exfoliation type brightening, and stabilized vitamin c inductor AA2G, an effective whitening ingredient, activating an all round whitening mechanism - exfoliation first before penetration into the skin to reverse the darkening process, getting rid of melanin formation completely. There is an addition of patented compound RADIANSKIN^TM to correct spots and to brighten the skintone. Does not contain alcohol, fragrances, it is gentle to the skin. Consistent usage will result in bright and clear skin all year round.

- gentle penetrative whitening ingredient arbutin, it is absorbed into the skin easily to inhibity tyrosinase to prevent melanin production.

- exfoliative whitening ingredient mandelic acid genltly removes surface epidermis to improve melanin accumulation problem.

- effective and stabilized vitamine c inductor AA2G will release high concentration vitamin c continually to reverse melanin that has already formed."



i took a look at its ingredients, the top ingredients are water, butylene glycol, and propyl glycol, all are humectants that will help retain moisture on the skin. butylene glycol is probably what makes the formula so slippery.

malic acid is quite high up in the ingredient list, an alpha hydroxy acid, it helps in removing dead skin cells, serving a similar function as mandelic acid. and then there is the usual sodium hyaluronate the water magnet. i believe sodium chondroitin sulfate is also there to attract water to the skin.

the skin whitening agents are arbutin, ascorbyl glucoside (AA2G), and alpha-arbutin.

comes with a slew of preservatives (all 4 parabens plus phenoxyethanol).




the bottle has a small open that dispenses enough product by flipping the bottle over quickly over your palm.



it may look watery on my palm, but it's actually slightly, just a tiny bit viscous. the lotion is extremely slippery, making it feel like it's very moisturizing.



even though it's very slippery, it is easily absorbed into the skin with a few pats. there is a slight stickiness to it, when i apply it on my face and pat it with my palms, it will resist me from pulling it away from my face.

IN A NUTSHELL

texture: slightly viscous, very slippery, spreads easily and absorbed quickly.
after-feel: a slight adhesive feeling, skin feels soft and hydrated.
fragrance: no fragrance.

IMHO

so far i've only used it for less than a week, and i really like how it feels on my skin. my previous lotion is the hadanomy collagen lotion, which is quite meh when it comes to hydrating. but the white formula lotion, even though it's touted as a whitening lotion, it is HIGHLY HYDRATING. it's too early to tell the whitening effects at this point in time, and i can only report the immediate effects that i feel, and it's moisturizing capabilities surprised me. my face feels so soft and supple after using it! i will top this up with a cream (either simple moisturizer or hadanomy gel cream).

i also like that it's not entirely watery, it's slight viscosity means it doesn't drip all over my palm when i spread it open. also, when i pat it onto my face, i feel that the texture helps it spread over my skin more evenly, whereas if it was watery like water, it tends to congregate into droplets.

full review will be up in at least 2 months time for me to observe any differences.

my first ever whitening product in my skincare routine!
i decided to buy this after reading good reviews on both cosme.net and urcosme.com (japanese and taiwanese beauty review portals!).