SkinFood Black Sugar Cleansing Oil

Got started with this 170mL pump bottle of SkinFood Black Sugar Cleansing Oil right after The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Oil Light, and of course finished it in a snap.

SkinFood Black Sugar Perfect Cleansing Balm

Almost done with this 100mL jar of SkinFood Black Sugar Perfect Cleansing Balm. It's been a long, long time since I last used a SkinFood item, the Tomato Jelly Tint Lip in 2015 and the Black Sugar Mask even further back in 2009! So this has been a trip down the memory lane for me as I still remember the same scent from the sugar mask.

'Tis the Season of Giving - Asian Brands

Updated Friday, February 24, 2017.

Blog sale for charity final update.

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Long post ahead. 

Hubby and I are going to move again in eight months' time, this time just across town, at least that's to my knowledge. We've learned to *not* double down on our words because every time we say we're staying somewhere for a while, we ended up moving the next year.

The biggest reason for our next move being:

Yes, there's a tiny one coming and we now need a shoe-box for three.

So I'm letting go of a substantial portion of my collection.

After moving so many time, I've realized I've missed out on the vast majority of my collection because I can only take so much with me. Since I haven't been around to enjoy them, I thought someone else might be.

IMPORTANT:
1. All sales are final. No returns or exchanges.
2. All proceeds will go to charity:
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). See their ratings.
- The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). See their ratings.
- Doctors Without Borders, aka (MSF, Médecins Sans Frontières). See their ratings.
3. Paypal payments in USD only.

ORDERING DETAILS:
1. To order, please leave a comment and spell out your email address (to avoid spam). I will contact you privately.
2. All orders will be sent via USPS Flat-rate boxes with tracking and insurance. I hold no responsibilities for lost packages.
3. Shipping fee varies.
- Domestic: Small ($6.80), Medium ($13.45), Large ($18.75).
- International: we'll work something out privately.
4. My home is smoke and pet-free.
5. My collection is housed in a wooden craft cabinet placed in a cool and dry corner of my bedroom.
6. All items will be sent in a cosmetic bag chosen at random.
7. Eyeshadow palettes and face powders are without applicators, brushes, or puffs. I use my own brushes and have long given away the others. If you need them, please indicate so and I'll include new/unused ones at random.

Let's get on to the good stuff. Click on images to zoom. Follow links for reviews and swatches.

SkinFood Tomato Jelly Tint Lip

These SkinFood Tomato Jelly Tint Lips have been out for at least a couple of years now, since early 2013, I think. I discovered them earlier this spring but didn't take the bait. They looked a bit gimmicky to me and I didn't want to bother paying international shipping for mere chapsticks. When I checked again around May though, one of the 4 colors available had already sold out at most online shops. I took that to mean these aren't too shabby after all and finally made my move to collect mine.

From left to right: 1 Cherry Tomato, 2 Berry Tomato, 3 Orange Tomato, and 4 Milk Tomato. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

SkinFood Fresh Fruit Lip & Cheek Part II

Having collected all 6 colors of the SkinFood Fresh Fruit Lip & Cheek, I was so so so excited when I saw the newest incarnation of these multi-purpose creams. They still come in the same sliding tins, only you get 3 different colors per tin to mix things up and create your own blend. What fantastic idea! There are 4 palettes available, which means a total of 12 different colors to play with! Yay! xD

From top to bottom: 1 Orange, 2 Strawberry, 3 Tomato, and 4 Fig. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

SkinFood Apple Can Multi Blusher

These SkinFood Apple Can Multi Blusher have been out a long time ago, like 5 years ago or even earlier. I've had mine since 2013 but they were stashed away in moving boxes and I'm now just opening them :( There are 4 colors available: 1 Apple Pink, 2 Apple Orange, 3 Apple Lavender, and 4 Apple Rose Gold.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

SkinFood Fresh Fruit Lip & Cheek

I've had my eyes on these SkinFood Fresh Fruit Lip & Cheek for a long time and only recently did I buy all 6 available colors, though not all at once.  

I bought #1-4 on a home visit earlier in the year, so I was able to take pictures of those with my SLR at home, which has a nicer flash with more consistent indoor lighting. I prefer natural lighting over indoor with flash, but here in my apartment the sunlight shines directly in through my windows and paints everything yellow -.-' That's why many of the pictures I took here in Japan in the past year are either washed out (the sun was too bright), having a distinct yellow tint (from the sunlight), or too dark (cloudy/rainy day) T.T 

From left to right: #1 Pomegranate, #2 Berry, #3 Grapefruit, and #4 Apricot. Left picture taken indoor with flash. Right picture taken in natural light without flash. I was lucky on that day to have caught the perfect natural lighting that's just right, not too bright and yellow, but not too dark either ^.^

#5 Peach and #6 Lychee I bought while living here in Japan, as shipping from Korea to Japan is a breeze. The 2 countries are next door neighbors, after all.

SkinFood Black Raspberry Toner

I've been wanting to try out these 2 bottles of SkinFood Black Raspberry Toner that I got as GWP for a while but never had the chance. Until now. I just love traveling, because it's an excuse for me to try (and buy) new things ^.^ 

SkinFood Fruits Air Fit Loose Powder

When these SkinFood Fruits Air Fit Loose Powder first came out, I was super excited to try them. That is, until I take a closer look at their packaging and realize how impractical it is to store loose powder in a test tube, complete with a twist cap closure.

I wonder how SkinFood expected people to use this powder. Perhaps it was marketed as a refill for some loose powder container that was sold separately. Either way, it's been discontinued, perhaps SkinFood has come to realization impractical (at least packaging-challenged) products don't sell?

Anyhoo, there are 6 different choices for this loose powder: #10 Bright Rice, #20 Shimmer Grape, #30 Moist Watermelon, #40 Matte Lemon, #21 Skinny Chestnut, #23 Natural Almond.

***Picture from this website.

SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber Water Jelly Essence

I've been staying away from the SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber range after I found out they've got lots of alcohol in them. The Emulsion was alright, but the Jelly Cream wasn't moisturizing enough, and the Water Drop Essence dried out my skin like crazy! But then again, my skin's was so dry I thought I'd give this Water Jelly Essence a try, but only because I haven't tried this item in the range and I'm curious :P

SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber Emulsion

I was a bit apprehensive to try the SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber Emulsion, after all, the Water Jelly Cream didn't quite satisfy and the Water Drop Essence totally missed the ball park. But thankfully, the Emulsion doesn't disappoint too much. While it's not excellent and far from perfect, it's definitely much much better than the other two!

The Emulsion comes in a huge glass bottle, a whopping 135 mL, and for only $13-15 plus shipping, it will probably last for months and is a deal even for Ebay! If you can get it for retail, probably around $8-9 or less, I'd jump on it if I were you :) The bottle is made of the same pretty glass as the rest of the line, with an aluminum twist off cap. It didn't come in a box but was factory sealed.

Thanks to Clarissa from Beauty Unfolds, I got the list of ingredients for the Emulsion and was able to determine that it is a moisturizer containing argan as well as sesame seed oils. But fear not, the oil ingredients did not affect its light texture. The emulsion is on the thin and runny side, but it's not as watery-crisp as the Water Jelly Cream. It's not as fast absorbing as the Water Drop Essence either, but it still absorbs pretty fast, leaving my skin with a dewy finish that lasts for about 5-10 minutes before it completely dries up and doesn't feel like anything there after.

I started out using it over the Water Drop Essence, hoping it might somehow make a better combination than with the Water Jelly Cream. Unfortunately, the combo still wasn't enough and I still got lots of dry flakes around my chin and mouth, with or without layering on sunscreen. Anyway, being patient with a product I decided to tweak things around some more to see what happens - I decided to use Emulsion just by itself underneath the sunscreen. And what do you know, it worked a whole lot better! I still got some flakes here and there on the rounds of my cheeks and the corners of my mouth, but at least I wasn't feathering like a growing duckling anymore around the entire nose, mouth, and chin areas! I guess it's just like the Water Jelly Cream in that it didn't quite satisfy my super dry skin, but how weird is that?

So I thought, hmm...would I still get flakes if I were to slather it on like crazy? I tried that, and it turned sticky on me, so yeah, gooping it on is a big no no. Instead of tipping the bottle upside down and dumping a whole gunk out, I now tip the bottle sideways and 2 small dollops make an adequate amount for my face. If you live in a hot and humid environment and/or your skin isn't dry like mine, I wouldn't recommend using more than 2 small dollops or you'll risk some stickiness.

And here is where it dawns on me - underneath sunscreen, while both the Water Jelly Cream and the Emulsion didn't stop all the dry flakes, the Water Drop Essence was the true offender all along in worsening the drying and flaking of my skin. I couldn't use it by itself, and in combination with the Water Jelly Cream or the Emulsion it was good without layering sunscreen over. But as soon as I layer sunscreen over, poof, I flake and peel like crazy!!! I have some guesses as so why that is. Just take a look at the ingredients for the Emulsion below - Alcohol is the #4 on the list! I don't know the regulations in Korea, but here in the US, manufacturers are required to list the ingredients in the order of concentration. With Alcohol being #4 for this Emulsion, layering Allie Comfortable Sunscreen EX Watertouch on top which also has Alcohol as the #4 ingredient, it makes perfect sense why layering 2 products chock full of alcohol would still give me some flakes! This makes me think Alcohol must be pretty high up there too for the Water Jelly Cream because it also gave me some flakes underneath Allie. And crap, Water Drop Essence must have Alcohol as it top 3 ingredients to deep fry my skin the way it did underneath Allie!

Of course, until I actually get an ingredients list for both the Water Jelly Cream and the Water Drop Essence, this is all pure speculations. But I have to admit, as dry as my skin is, it can put up with a lot of Alcohol before giving in to flaking. So if your skin is sensitive to alcohol to begin with, you might want to proceed very carefully with these products.

Lettuce & Cucumber Emulsion:
WATER, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, GLYCERIN, ALCOHOL, CYCLOMETHICONE, ISOSTEARYL NEOPENTANOATE, BIS-PEG-18, METHYL ETHER DIMETHYL SILANE, CUCUMIS SATIVUS (CUCUMBER) FRUIT EXTRACT, C14-22 ALCOHOLS, C12-20 ALKYL GLUCOSIDE, GLYCOL STEARATESE, BETA-GLUCAN, LACTUCA SCARIOLA SATIVA (LETTUCE) LEAF EXTRACT, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, STEARIC ACID, HYDROGENATED LECITHIN, METHICONE, STEARYL GLYCYRRHETINATE, ARGANIA SPINOSA KERNEL EXTRACT, SERENOA SERRULATA FRUIT EXTRACT, SESAMUM INDICUM (SESAME) SEED EXTRACT, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, VIOLA TRICOLOR EXTRACT, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, ALLANTOIN, STEARYL GLYCYRRHETINATE, DISODIUM EDTA, IMIDAZOLIDYNYL UREA, METHYLPARABEN, CI 42090, CI 15985, PARFUM.
***List of ingredients provided by Cacaopack - thank you Clarissa!

SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber Water Drop Essence

Almost done with this SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber Water Drop Essence bottle, and I think I will not repurchase. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but it's not working quite right for my skin, alone or underneath its sibling Lettuce & Cucumber Water Jelly Cream.



Just a quick description first. Like the Water Jelly Cream and many other items in this Skinfood Lettuce & Cucumber line, this Water Drop Essence comes in the same pretty translucent glass packaging with an iridescent green tint and aluminum snap on cylindrical cap. It dispenses with a pump so for those who dislike dipping fingers into jars, this is very hygienic and a definite plus. I do have issues with the cap though. Let's just say after the first few times, it just doesn't stay close anymore and would pop right back off after snapping close.


This Water Drop Essence has one of the most unique texture I've seen in a skincare product. It dispenses as a gel cream, however upon further contact (applying directly to facial skin or rubbing in between the fingers or palm), it literally melts into a runny, water-like liquid! I guess this is how it gets its name? Anyway, my first application was a bit of a surprise as the spilled fell right through the cracks of my fingers :D


Unfortunately, I won't be repurchasing this. I don't know why this is, but this product is oddly too much on its own, good when layered underneath just a moisturizer/hydrator (the Water Jelly Cream), but was then ultimately lacking when topped with sunscreen. I have tried using it just by itself and nothing else, and it turned my face into an oil spill after an hour or so. Then I tried it underneath the Water Jelly Cream and skipped sunscreen on my lounge-around-at-home days and it was good. But when I did go out and had to wear sunscreen, it struggled and ultimately failed to keep the balance and I ended up with tons of dry flakes around the mouth, chin, nose, and cheek areas!

I mentioned in my review for the Water Jelly Cream that the Water Drop Essense and Jelly Cream combo was okay underneath the Mentholatum Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk. However, I didn't like the finish, and as non-drying as the Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk was, I still got the occasional dry flakes. The same Water Drop Essence and Jelly Cream combo struggled even harder underneath Allie Comfortable Sunscreen EX Watertouch. In the end, it lost the battle, and there were mornings when my face was freshly washed, moisturized and applied with sunscreen but I still looked like I was molting! Yuck!

So if I were a hikikomori, this Water Drop Essence would be perfect because I would never go outside, therefore would have no need for sunscreens, and underneath the Water Jelly Cream it would keep my skin nice and matte all day. But I do go outside and do wear sunscreen every day, so buying this Water Drop Essence just for the sake of keeping my face nice and matte on those rare stay-at-home days makes no sense!

SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber Water Jelly Cream

Hubby and I are on our second jar of this lovely SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber Water Jelly Cream, so I guess it's about time I review it! I've been seeing lots of good reviews on this skincare line for a while now, plus Clarissa over at Beauty Unfolds really sang her praises for them. However, up until a few months ago I was still finishing the day time hydrator, the Clinique Moisture Surge, so as tempted as I was, I held back.

Then came January and I finally used up the big jar of Clinique Moisture Surge with hubby's help (erh...he used most of it, actually), so I was ready and was quite happy to move on. I think I'm not going to go back to the Clinique Moisture Surge again. Yes, it was wonderful and the big jar lasted months for me (and fewer months with hubby using it too), but it's also $34 for the 50 mL and $46 for the 75 mL. And to be frank, I got bored of it, so it was due time to move on anyway.

So that makes this SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber Water Jelly Cream a timely newcomer. I bought mine on Ebay (where else? sigh...), and paid $17, $3 shipping included, so I'm assuming retail is probably a lot less, around $10 may be? Too bad Gmarket is so Mac un-friendly, unless they've changed their ways and became an equal opportunity vendor to all computer users worldwide. Any Mac-users having any luck?



Anyway, the jelly cream came in a 50 mL in a pretty translucent glass jar with an iridescent green tint and an aluminum twist off lid in a similar tinted color. It did not come with a box, but it was factory sealed. Clarissa told me the more recently made jars now have a list of ingredients in English printed underneath the Korean one and pealing the label at the bottom of the jar will reveal its magical content. Well, too bad my first jar was dated 20091229, so no, it didn't have an English ingredients list. Actually, even my 2nd jar, dated 20100308 (fresh stuff!) didn't have an English ingredients list, so may be only the ones Skin Food is exporting to Singapore have it. Damn!

By the way, unlike what we're used to, Korean products have the manufactured date printed on their items and NOT the expiry date. So your precious cosmetic item did not expire in 2009, it was made in 2009 and should last for at least a couple of years :) Yeah, that freaked me out a bit at first until I was able to confirm this somewhere...don't remember where, but I'm pretty sure that's the manufactured date.



Now on to the product itself. Hubby loves it, hands down. I like it too, although by itself it's not moisturizing/hydrating enough for my dry skin. For now, I am referring to it as a moisturizer/hydrator because unfortunately, I'm Korean illiterate, so without an English ingredients list I can't tell for sure which it is. Regardless, it is exceptionally light and an absolute pleasure to apply, especially if you store it in the refrigerator. It really is a water jelly cream, and it absorbs instantly leaving no traces behind whatsoever, except for the comfort, of course. It is scented, but the fragrance is crisp and clean, infused with cucumber, very pleasant. In fact, it feels so good on I totally forget that if I were to use this jelly cream by itself, it would be limited to daytime and summer use only.

In the past drier months, I have been layering it over the SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber Water Drop Essence. The Water Drop Essence is a lot more potent but is not meant for use by itself either (will also review shortly), so together it makes a good pair with the jelly cream, at least for my skin although every now and then I still get some dry flakes. Even then, when I ran out of my alcohol-free and less drying Mentholatum Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ sometime in February and had to go back to Allie Comfortable Sunscreen EX Watertouch, this Water Drop Essence and Water Jelly Cream combo struggled to balance the drying alcohol in Allie and I started getting more than the occasional dry flakes, especially around the nose, mouth, and chin.

But you know what's funny? I actually like using the Water Drop Essence and Water Jelly Cream combo with Allie, because the finish turned out so much nicer than it did with Mentholatum Skin Aqua. With Mentholatum Skin Aqua, I got a dewy finish that can turn a bit shiny by the end of a long day. But with Allie, it was completely matte from start to finish no matter how long the day was! Honestly, it kept the matte-ness even better than Clinique Moisture Surge did! More than that, the Water Drop Essence and Water Jelly cream combo did the exact same thing on the days when I didn't go out and hence, skipped sunscreen, so even without the help of Allie's alcohol it still kept my skin nice and matte throughout the day!



So I'm guessing all this means that if the hot and humid summer were to come, this jelly cream will become my skin's best friend. By then, I doubt I will need to keep layering it with the Water Drop Essence, but I'll have to see first how well it can handle the alcohol in Allie on its own. Also, the SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber line still has several other super interesting items, and I do plan to give most of them a try in attempt to figure out a combo/routine that will work for my skin throughout the yearly seasonal change.

The list below is not complete, because the line has several makeup items as well such as the Watery Base, Watery Foundation, Mild Pact, Matte Finish Gel, etc. Also, these are all I'm aware of. If there are more that I've missed, please tell me :)

The SkinFood Lettuce & Cucumber skincare line includes:
- Water Mist: in an aerosol spray bottle. I'm totally skipping this as I still don't get the point of products like these.
- Toner: for use after cleansing. Skipping this one too. Not a toner person.
- Massage Gel: for use after toner. I might try this one. It's sort of like an "instant" massage-in mask.
- Water Drop Essence: for use after toner and can be layered under the emulsion or the jelly cream. I'm currently using the latter combo. Will review soon.
- Water Jelly Essence: for use after toner and can also be layered under the emulsion or the jelly cream. Will definitely try this!
- Emulsion: basically a lotion, for use after toner and can be layered over the 2 essences above and under the jelly cream below. I'm most excited about trying out this one due to the various things I can experiment it with! Clarissa sent me its list of ingredients in English and I was able to verify that it is a moisturizer containing Argan and Sesame Oil. I wonder how it will deal with my sunscreens!
- Water Jelly Cream: for use after toner and can be layered over the essences as well as the emulsion. Currently using this on top of the Water Drop Essence.
- Water Essence Mask Sheet: you know, for some reason I was never into SkinFood sheet masks. I tried the Honey & Royal Jelly Mask Sheet before, and the experience sort of left me not wanting to try any other SkinFood masks. Kinda sad, but there are so many other sheet masks much more deserving of my attention.

SkinFood Carrot Collagen Eye Sheet

Back in the beginning of this month, I received a fabulous surprise from my friend Cacaopack, and it includes a SkinFood Carrot Collagen Eye Sheet. I promptly used it the very next week and wrote up the review below but didn't get around to actually posting it until now. And yes, I had only 1 pair so I must warn you that the "review" below is more like an initial reaction :)



The first impression was that this eye sheet was very similar to, but ultimately lighter than, the Hadabisei Under Eye Gel Masks. The eye sheet was packaged in a plastic tray sealed with aluminum foil, and this tray was then sealed in the outer packaging as seen in the picture above. Overall it gave a very clean feeling, since the final product was packaged twice, but really I thought that was a bit much.

Upon opening the foil seal to the plastic tray, I immediately understood why the final product was so carefully packaged - the eye sheet itself was actually quite thin and there was minimal serum inside the tray, so the eye sheet ran the risk of drying out if not packaged tightly. Applying the eye sheet to my eyes was a breeze. They were no where as sticky as the Hadabisei ones, so I could easily adjust them until I got them where I wanted them to be. Unlike the Hadabisei, there wasn't any extra essence dripping down my cheek either, which can be interpreted both positively and negative depending on your skin. Since my skin is extra dry, so I would have appreciated a bit more essence.

In the end, these SkinFood eye sheet dried up rather quickly, in about 15 minutes. Mind you, it was also very extremely dry inside my apartment at the time (about 20% humidity content), and I will have to get more of these to try during the summer to see if it would any longer. Regardless, my eye area was decently moisturized, a bit more would have been nice, but overall it wasn't bad.

Happy December!

I was having another busy day at work minding my own business and my colleague stopped by my desk with a white package, "This is yours." She said, putting it on my desk.

I was mystified, since I did not expect anything to come in the mail today. At the upper right hand corner of the package, it says, "Mask," so I thought it was the stage masks I had ordered for a client. Then I flipped the package and read the from-address and saw Singapore - heeeeeyyy, I know that name!

So I tore into it, of course, although nicely, with a pair of scissors. Inside was another envelope with pink hearts in silver circle. "Merry Christmas" and smiley face was hand-written on it in black marker. I gasped, speechless.

My girlie friend Cacaopack over at Beauty Unfolds took me by complete surprise - look at what she sent me! How sweet and lovely is she?



Nooooo wayyyyyy, for me?!?

Inside the envelop was these wonderful items she knew I'd totally appreciate:
- 3 Etude House Moistful Sheet Masks (try these chilled on a summer day!)
- A Watsons Bird's Nest Essence Facial Mask (better hide this quick cause my mum will probably fight me for it!)
- A SkinFood Carrot Collagen Eye Sheet (will try these and review ASAP!)
- A pretty purple gift box with ribbons and bows, inside of which is necklace with my initial, filled with a pearly drop!



Thank you, thank you, thank you, Clarissa! You didn't just make my day, girlfriend, you made my MONTH!!! What a way to start December, and you bet I'll be laughing all the way!

*hugs and kisses*

SkinFood Black Sugar Mask

SkinFood Black Sugar Mask was another product I took with me on my weeks long trip. I knew was going to be in a humid place, so I thought bringing a scrub along would be a good idea. After a long of heat and sweat, having something to scrub the grime off of my face would be refreshing.



I was really glad I'd brought this along actually! It worked well. The scrub was a thick dark brown sugar paste, and although the sugar grains were large, they were not overly scratchy. If anything, they melt away gradually in the moisture of the shower. Still, I was careful not to over exfoliate, so I only used this scrub every other 3rd night. Thank goodness it wasn't harsh for my skin either. My face felt super duper clean afterward, and my skin was nice and soft too.



The only surprise about this scrub, I would say, was the smell. I was expecting a sweet sugary scent (it was brown sugar, after all!), but instead I got a soapy scent. Totally completely unexpected, and kind of off-putting. I love brown sugar, so using it as a facial scrub sounded like a great idea to me. But a soapy scrub on my face? Umm...not so much.


***Pictures from SkinFood Korea.

Still, the scent was not enough to deter me from the scrub. So I would say this scrub is worth trying if you have the chance!

SkinFood Cappuccino Mousse Foam

Wake up and smell the coffee! No, serious. With SkinFood Cappuccino Mousse Foam, you are literally waking up to your coffee-scented foaming mousse cleanser! The darn thing smells sooooooooo divine even a non-coffee-drinker like me is addicted.


Anyways, the mousse foam comes in a soft plastic squeeze tube that could be stood up like a bottle. It doesn't foam much, but it cleanses thoroughly, leaving my face soft and supple afterwards without any tightness at all! It's a better cleanser than the Shiseido Benefiance Creamy Cleansing Foam, if you would believe it!


It's also a very effective exfoliator due to the ground espresso beans inside. And while this is an excellent feature, I can't use it as often as I would like to - it exfoliates so well I could only use it every other 2 days or my face will get irritated from too much scrubbing. I prefer using it at night, and the next morning my skin would have this bright glow that lasts all day. LOVE it!!!

SkinFood Honey & Royal Jelly Mask Sheet

SkinFood is a Korean brand with a motto "Food Therapy" - totally my kind of brand :D Indeed, all their skin care and makeup items has some sort of food/fruits/vegetable element in it. Creamy cheese mask, anyone?

I think the first item from SkinFood that caught my eyes is the Honey & Royal Jelly Mask Sheet - a sheet mask soaked in honey and royal jelly goodness! According to the packaging, the honey is supposed to be "calming, nourishing, minimizes redness and irritation and makes the skin brilliant and resilient." It also claims to "restore healthy skin and help visibly diminishes fine lines and wrinkles." We'll see about all that, but the idea is nice since honey has traditionally been a good ingredient in skincare.



This is my very first experience with a sheet mask, by the way. A sheet mask is a high quality soft and fabric-like paper mask cut out to fit your face with holes and/or flaps for the eyes, nose, and mouth. It is usually soaked in a thick serum and is used as a weekly treatment with focuses depending on your needs. The vast majority of sheet masks are individually packed for one time use. Basically, you take the sheet mask out, put it on your face and let your skin absorb for the good stuff for 15-20. Then you take it off, discard, and your skin is supposed to feel better. You are supposed to use it 2-3 times a week.

I worry mostly about hydration since my skin is so dry, so all the treatment masks I buy are supposed to be intensely moisturizing. That was why I took interest in the Honey & Royal Jelly Mask Sheet, because of the nourishment the honey is supposed to provide. What I really wanted to try was the Honey & Royal Jelly Wash-off Mask, but it has been sold out in Korea so I settled for the sheet mask version instead.

And unfortunately, I have more negative things to say about the Honey & Royal Jelly Mask Sheet.

1 - The design of the mask sucks: I really hope other brands has better cut of the sheet mask, but the SkinFood one was awful! It's supposed to be one size fit all, so I know it'll be big, but I didn't expect it to be THIS big! I mean, the holes for the eyes, nose, and mouth were so big they left the majority of my cheeks and a large area around my nose and mouth uncovered! Why put on a sheet mask when it doesn't cover the dry areas of my face? May be I just have a really small face? I knew there was a reason why I wanted the wash-off mask!!!

2 - It stings: sounds crazy, but it felt like I've put lots and lots of alcohol on my face, especially around the driest areas of my face! Great, just what I need, more alcohol to dry out my poor skin.

3 - It is S-T-I-C-K-Y: and I mean sticky as hell!!! It felt like I've glossed my face with syrup! So although you're not supposed to rinse your face after using a sheet mask, I ended up splashing on some water just to relieve myself of the stickiness. Ack!

4 - It's got too much honey in it: the mask reeks of freakin' honey! That explains why it was so sticky afterwards, doesn't it? Also, some of the stuff got on my lips, and wiping it off I accidentally got some in my mouth and wow, it tasted sweet too, just like honey! But it's great when a product actually contains what it claims, right? So what the hell am I complaining about? Well, remember I hate having sweet lip glosses and balms on my lips? Let's just say I hate it 1 million times more when I have sweet stuff all over my face! Now, when it comes to the sweet stuff that are meant to be eatened, that's a different story. They'd be going straight into my mouth. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.

5 - I woke up with dull and tired skin the next day: Gar...

Given all the bad things I listed, that's not to say there aren't anything good about this sheet mask.

1 - It doesn't break me out: this is definitely a plus. My skin is very proned to clogged pores and break outs. Although this sheet mask stings, it doesn't clog my pores and does seem to provide some moisture.

2 - There are lots of serum in each packet: if I don't squeeze a bit out of the sheet mask before putting it on, I will end up with stuff dripping down all over my neck. So for every 2 sheet masks I use, I have enough extra serum to soak a new sheet mask tablet (will review these soon)! You'd have to be very careful about using a jar with a tight lid, all sanitized with alcohol, of course.

It's really too bad the SkinFood Honey & Royal Jelly Mask Sheet didn't work out for me since it's a really nice idea for a weekly treatment. Perhaps I'll try a different brand. Onwards!