Missha Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence Rx

Just finished with this 30mL/1.01fl. oz. bottle of Missha Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence Rx received from Caty in a luxurious care package last July--thank you, Caty! 

This was Missha's take of the fermented yeast extract essence/water/toner/lotion and I've tried several over the years, Komenuka Bijin, SK-II, Suppin, Tonoike Shuzou, Boscia, to name a few. In fact, Missha has already released a few version of this essence. I believe the one I just used is the very first version, and for a more in-depth review and comparison, see this blog post.

Missha Time Revolution Brightening Care Oil Cleansing Balm

After Heimish All Clean Balm, this 105g jar of Missha Time Revolution Brightening Care Oil Cleansing Balm was another queue jumper--it too was leaking :( Grrr. I thought whole point of switching to cleansing balms and gels was to avoid the messy and leaky cleansing oils!

Missha Aqua Gel Tint

This Missha Aqua Gel Tint in Scarlet Orange was a cart filler when I went back for more of the Moisture Coating Tint in Hollywood Pink and Dream Orchid. It has been a while since my last lip stain anyway (Etude House Dear Darling Tint AD), so I thought I'd give it a try.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Missha The Style Moisture Coating Tint Part II

I like the Missha The Style Moisture Coating Tint so much I went back for the other 2 colors I don't yet have: Hollywood Pink and Dream Orchid.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Missha The Style Moisture Coating Tint

While browsing for SkinFood Tomato Jelly Tint Lip, another item caught my eyes: Missha The Style Moisture Coating Tint. There are 7 colors available, but I only bought Eternal Red, Cotton Pink, Party Orange, Pretty Coral, and Antique Rose. The other two colors are Hollywood Pink, a hot pink, and Dream Orchid, a bright fuchsia, are both too cool and punchy for my taste and so I skipped them.

From left to right: Eternal Red, Cotton Pink, Party Orange, Pretty Coral, and Antique Rose. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Naruko Tea Tree Oil Out Peeling Gel

I first read about Robin Niu from Rouge Deluxe's Kose's Talk Show with Niu Er post. At the time, I was one week away from moving to Japan and trying a new Taiwanese brand was the last thing on my mind. But I'm in Taipei now and seeing Niu Er's skincare brands everywhere naturally makes me curious. Since I needed a peeling gel at the time, and Watsons was (and perhaps still) having this promotion for buy one get one *almost* free (see below), I picked up this Naruko Tea Tree Oil Out Peeling Gel to try. 

Super Aqua Detoxifying Peeling Gel

I got this Missha Deluxe Sampler back in the late spring/early summer and even after several trips, both within (Shizuoka, Nikko) and outside of Japan (Seattle, and a few home visits), I still haven't finished the 20mL tube of Super Aqua Detoxifying Peeling Gel in the set! 

Missha Deluxe Sampler

Left to right: travel sizes of Super Aqua Detoxifying Peeling Gel (20mL), Deep Cleansing Oil (18mL), Luminous Color Lip Gloss (2.5g), Perfect Cover B.B. Cream #23 (10mL), and B.B. Boomer (10mL).

Missha M Luminous Color Lip Gloss SPF10

This Missha M Luminous Color Lip Gloss SPF10 came in the same Deluxe Sampler along with the Perfect B.B. Deep Cleansing Oil.

Left to right: travel sizes of Super Aqua Detoxifying Peeling Gel (20mL), Deep Cleansing Oil (18mL), Luminous Color Lip Gloss (2.5g), Perfect Cover B.B. Cream #23 (10mL), and B.B. Boomer (10mL).

Missha M Perfect B.B. Deep Cleansing Oil

I've been wanting to try out a few things from Missha but don't really want to buy full sizes, so when I spotted this Deluxe Sampler, it fit the bill perfectly and I bought it in a snap.

Left to right: travel sizes of Super Aqua Detoxifying Peeling Gel (20mL), Deep Cleansing Oil (18mL), Luminous Color Lip Gloss (2.5g), Perfect Cover B.B. Cream #23 (10mL), and B.B. Boomer (10mL).

Missha Fresh Aloe Mask

This Missha Fresh Aloe Mask was such a burden to carry because it's in a glass jar and super heavy, but I guess I'm glad I brought it with me. It's very decent and quite refreshing for use when it was still super hot here.

It contains 80mL, which is a pretty generous amount, and comes in a very heavy glass jar with metal lid. I bought this from Ebay and paid an arm and a leg for it, only to later found it on the official Missha USA website for only $20! Of course, I searched again on Ebay and found it from a couple other sellers for much much cheaper too! Hmph. Now I feel cheated :(

Anyway, this wash off mask is supposedly for moisture care, and you apply it after cleansing, leave it on for about 10-15 minutes and then wash it off. I don't usually use wash off masks because they are a pain, you know, having to rinse my face off again even with just water after I had just washed it. But I made an exception for this mask.

The texture is of a thick gel, and it smells heavenly, like a combination of green tea, aloe, cucumber, with a touch of flower. Very fresh! The only concern I have is that it stings a little around my upper lips area as well as around the apple of my cheeks, where the skin is very dry and can be sensitive. Also, looks like this mask contains alcohol (see list of ingredients below). After rinsing my skin feels refreshed, though not so much moisturized but more hydrated. Over all, I wish I had done more research before paying so much for it on Ebay, and if the jar itself wasn't so heavy I'd buy it again.

Missha Fresh Aloe Mask:

Water, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate, Butylene Glycol, Betaine, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, VP/VA Copolymer, Alcohol Denat., Cyclopentasiloxane, Polysilicone-11, Rubus Coreanus Fruit Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Xanthan Gum, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Carbomer, Methylparaben, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Extract, Triethanolamine, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, PPG-26-Buteth-26, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Poloxamer 188, Polyperfluoromethylisopropyl Ether, Propylene Glycol, Benzophenone-9, Disodium EDTA, Laureth-7, Polyacrylamide, Fragrance, Yellow 5, Blue 1

***List of ingredients from Missha USA.

Missha M BB Cream Watery SPF 27 PA++

So I jumped on the BB Cream bandwagon. Wah. Wah. Wah.

BB Cream (stands for Blemish Balm or Beblesh Balm Cream) is all the rage in Asia nowadays, particularly in Korea and Japan. It started out as a German invention - a medicated cream with some coverage, healing and nourishing functions, meant for patients of cosmetic surgery to cover up and heal scars. Then Korean celebrities started using it out of convenience. After all, it is a multi-purpose all-in-one product that, depends on the brand and type of BB Cream, you'll get a base, primer, foundation, moisturizer, blemish care, anti-aging, and sunscreen!

See why BB Cream caught on like wild fire? It's supposed to eliminate all unnecessary steps in your daily priming routine, with the exception of the sunscreen, of course. Read my Sun Protection! post for more information, but to put it simply - you'll probably won't want to put a whole 1/4 teaspoon of BB Cream on your face just to get the ho-hum protection. For sun protection, it's best to stick with a separate and waterproof, budgeproof sunscreen!

The majority of BB Creams are Korean-made and the vast majority of Korean brands, big or small, carries a BB Cream of some sort. Many has a whole selection of them, each with its specific functions! And while BB Creams sound super duper and all, for me to take the bate is just completely silly since I don't use foundations, base, primer, or even tinted moisturizers to begin with! Doesn't that show just how curious I am with all the hype surrounding this product? I don't even use the stuff and they still got me to buy it somehow!

Anyway, I started out with Missha Korea (see their Missha USA site) because their 2 newest BB Creams caught my eyes: Missha M Watery BB Cream and Missha M Shiny BB Cream, both with SPF 27 PA++. The "Watery" BB Cream is supposed to provide a moisturizing but matte finish and comes in a darker shade, while the "Shiny" BB Cream has a pearly finish meant for a dewy glow and comes in a much lighter shade.

Missha M Watery BB Cream SPF 27 PA++

The box is a bit beat up, thanks to the courier treatment...

And here is possibly the biggest problem with BB Creams - they come in VERY limited shades. In fact, most comes in only 1 shades, although some brands do make a "bright" and a "natural" one. I think the rationale is that it's NOT supposed to be a full-blown foundation and is supposed to blend in with your natural skin tone with a sheer-medium coverage. However, coverage does indeed differ from brand to brand, and some BB Creams do provide more coverage than others. Either way, do some research before you buy one to make sure it will match your skin tone. I didn't, and I had to learn the hard way with Missha M Watery BB Cream.





Yes, unfortunately, Missha M Watery BB Cream is too dark for me - it's 1-2 shades darker than my facial skin tone! You can see how significantly darker it is in comparison to the SkinFood Aloe Sun BB Cream SPF 20 PA+ in #21-Bright (will review soon) on the back of my hand, and the back of my hand is already darker than my face...

SkinFood Aloe Sun (left) versus Missha M Watery BB Cream (right)


But with that said, all is not lost with Missha M Watery BB Cream and I have a trick or two up my sleeve to wear it still :D
1. I wear it only at night haha! :P During the day it would be too obvious and I've got no guts at all to go for the "ganguro" look.
2. I use very little of it on my forehead (upper part only, near the hair line), temples, nose ridge, cheekbones, and chin, faking a weak tan. For those who are fond of bronzing powders, I'd recommend trying this BB Cream along with an effective highlighter. Their combination will give you a beautiful glowing "tan"!
3. I use a shimmery finishing powder, such as DHC Q10 Face Powder in Transparent 01, as a brightening effect on my forehead (middle to lower part), around the eye area, and on the ball of my cheeks to soften the "tan lines."
4. I use an effective night highlighter as my last step, most often my secret weapon that is Victoria's Secret Mosaic Highlighter for a contouring effect, resulting in the "glow."

Overall, I actually don't dislike Missha M Watery BB Cream even though it's tricky to wear, being darker than my skintone. In fact, it got me curious about the Missha M Shiny BB Cream now too! Texture wise, it is easy to blend, dries to a very matte finish and actually stays matte all night! It contains a slight but not unpleasant fragrance.

And holycrap - is this really supposed to be sheer-medium coverage? Because it gave me air-brushed skin and I couldn't see my pores until I was less than 1 inch from the mirror! Woh! That took me sometimes to get used to, because I don't ever wear foundation to begin with (only transparent powders on the t-zones), so looking like I have perfect skin is just too much for me to come to term with. I kept staring at my face all night! haha :D

Another complaint, other than the darker shade, is that Missha M Watery BB Cream can be drying, yes, even though it is "watery" and is supposed to "contain a generous amount of moisture," according to the box. I wore my beloved Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream, which moisturizes my skin perfectly otherwise, underneath it and it still dried my face out by the end of the night! I know, where did all the water go, right? :D If you have normal skin though, I would suggest using moisturizer only where you need it most, and if you have oily skin, I would suggest you skipping moisturizer altogether and see how the BB Cream performs then.