Review: The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Facial Foaming Cleanser

 

I tried The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Facial Foaming Cleanser. It is made from rice water, which helps to remove impurities while giving it a brightening effect, and soapwort extract, which helps to brighten and clear up the skin tone.

Here's my review:

I first tried several sample sachets of this and really liked how well it cleaned my skin and how my acne condition improved  so I bought in in the biggest size, 300ml.

The cleanser feels rich and creamy, and forms a whipped-like foam after rubbing in. I feel it cleans well and my skin feels squeaky clean after it. It does not feel overly dry after it.

Unfortunately, after using it day and night, I feel it is not a product to use as an overall cleanser. After using for months, I noticed my acne condition did not improve with it and I learnt it is partly due to this cleanser. While the cleanser cleans well, it does not really remove dead skin well. I later switched to a salicylic acid cleanser, which gave me good results and stopped this cleanser.

I've since included it back to my routine as a morning cleanser. I would say this is good as a light cleanser for daily usage, not one to use after removing makeup or for sloughing off dead skin.

Sidenote:

Also, this product has fakes in the market. I was told the way to identify it was to purchase the one made in Korea, and not the one made in China. I did purchase the one made in Korea, but felt it did not impress me as the sample sachets I got. So I'm not confident that I got the authentic one after all. I guess the safest way to purchase would be from The Face Shop physical store or their web store. 

Did this product work for you?

Review: Mary & May Houttuynia Cordata + Tea Tree Cleansing Foam, Serum and Mary & May Sensitive Soothing Gel Blemish Cream

 

I received a 3-pack sample for Mary & May Houttuynia Cordata + Tea Tree Cleansing Foam, Mary & May Houttuynia Cordata + Tea Tree Serum and Mary & May Sensitive Soothing  Gel Blemish Cream.

I found out that on their website this Korean brand claims to be a clean and honest brand, with no unnecessary bad ingredients added.

Here's my review. The sample sachets are good for 2 to 3 days usage.

• Mary & May Houttuynia Cordata + Tea Tree Cleansing Foam: I was very impressed after trying this. Felt my acne faded and skin got better after it. That's why I looked up the brand. The cleanser is very creamy on the skin and it was comfortable after washing off. Quite impressed by this product. I looked forwards to using it despite being a sample.
• Mary & May Houttuynia Cordata + Tea Tree Serum: This is a very light serum. I do not feel anything special with it. It is just very light and comfortable to wear.
• Mary & May Sensitive Soothing  Gel Blemish Cream: This feels kinda watery and easy to apply all over the skin. Again, it is very comfortable to wear but I do not feel anything special with it.

Overall, I have a good impression on the brand. The serum and cream might take longer to give results on the skin. so my quick review might not be the most fair. None of the products gave me a bad reaction. Prices on the website also look reasonable. I actually look forward to trying more of their products after learning they are a clean skincare brand. 

Additional information: 

Review: April Skin Magic Stone Soap

Been a while since I've last blogged. I want to get back to reviewing stuff. Here's one.

I've been trying April Skin Magic Stone Soap in Black for a while. This is supposedly quite a famous product highly raved by Ulzzangs. I don't really care about that to be honest. Just tried the product out of curiosity and I'm impressed. 

April Skin Magic Stone Soap is stated to be a 100% natural cleansing soap. It comes in 2 colours - Original (the Grey) and the Black version. The black is used for normal cleansing, while the grey is used for deep cleansing and removing makeup.

I can't read the words on the packaging so I'll just copy the ingredient list over.

The ingredients in it are as follows:

Original - Vegetable Oils (Coconut, Olive, Palm, Sunflower Seed, Grape Seed, Shea Butter, 

Black - Gangwon-do Charcoal, Shea Butter, Germented Rice Bran, Sulfur, Pearl Powder, EM broth, Sunflower Seeds, Hyaluronic Acid, Coconut, Castor Oil, Palm, Olive Oil.

I've been using the Black version for months and I really like it. For a natural bar soap, this soap foams really well and the bonus point is that it doesn't melt that fast as compared to other natural soap. So even if you leave it wet, it's still in solid form. I've used other organic soaps and they can turn soggy and melt to half the size once you wet them.

Once you foam up, spread the foam across the face. The more foam you have, the better it cleanses the face as foam can get in your tiny pores and cleanse thoroughly. One thing to note is to avoid getting the foam into your eyes as it can hurt very badly. I mean badly.

Of course, this product is not perfect. After using it for a while, I notice it did nothing for my acne or acne scars. So if you are purchasing this for it, it's not going to do wonders for acne skin. But I did notice that I don't have as much blackheads as before. I usually get like a cluster around my cheeks and they have lessened. It does not make bigger blackheads disappear overnight, but I've noticed them to dry up a little faster with time and they pop really easily. So my blackheads have really reduced significantly.

After my first time cleansing my face with this soap, I also noticed how clean and soft my skin felt. Then it felt a little dry (I noticed other reviewers mentioning it so I took extra notice of it) so I had to moisturize properly after it. But after using it for a while, my skin got used to it and it no longer felt dry. Instead I feel fine even if I did not moisturize my face after. I also notice less oiling as compared to using other cleansers.

So I really love this soap. I think it's really worth buying and it's also affordable. I love that it's natural and also does wonders for my oily skin. I've noticed an improvement to the texture and brightness of my skin after using this. I would recommend it.

Review: Laneige Water Sleeping Mask_EX

Hello, I'm back with a review.

The weather is really horrible in Singapore lately. We are going through a heat wave where weather's really warm and humid. It is a little better today. I'm sharing the product that has been helping me survive the heat wave.

I got the Laneige Water Sleeping Mask a long time ago but only started using recently. My thoughts are "Why oh why didn't I start using it earlier?"

Laneige Water Sleeping Mask comes in a sleek blue container. It has a gel consistency and there's a distinct aqua smell in it (it comes off smelling like alcohol sometimes. I have no idea whether there's any alcohol in this). The texture is light weight to me and absorbs really easily.

To read more about its ingredients and benefits, you can read it here.

I use this at night, after cleansing my face. At first I thought since it's a sleeping mask, it would be thick to keep the face hydrated but no. It's really light and easy to slather over the face. Initially I used a lot thinking that's the right way to use it. But I've since minimize the amount I used. There really isn't a need to slather much on. I just take a pinch and apply it evenly. It leaves my face feeling cool. The product also absorbs fairly easily, leaving the skin feeling hydrated.

As you can see earlier, I have been complaining about the weather. The product has left my skin feeling well hydrated and my skin doesn't oil up after applying it. As it is of gel texture and absorbs really fast, it also doesn't make my skin feel sticky in this humid weather. I am really thankful for the product because I was expecting my skin to dry up, itch or my pores to be visible from the weather. But my skin has been behaving well after using this product. In the morning, my skin feels fresh and dewy.

The recommended usage is once or twice per week. I have been using this daily instead sparingly due to the weather. I'm slightly addicted to it.

You can get the Laneige Water Sleeping Mask from Laneige counters.
Or you can purchase it off Qoo10  (Singapore) or Amazon (Overseas). I heard there are fakes around so please check reviews before purchase.