KBeauty Review: Mediheal NMF Aquaring Ampoule Mask

Hey, my crazies and lazies, it’s been a while. Today I will be reviewing a super cute facial sheet mask from Mediheal. The mask is currently sitting on my face right now as I type up this review. This is like a live review, It don’t think it can’t get any more legit than this.

I’ve had a pretty negative experience with their mask targeting acne, so I was a little nervous about using the rest of what I ordered from the brand. But whatever, I ordered it, the money is spent, the mask is in my hands- what’s the worst that can happen.

Mediheal N.M.F Aquaring Ampoule Mask is the name, the typical Mediheal guess-the-acronym game. I got this from Hollar.com for 2.50 USD, pretty average price. It’s not expensive, but definitely not the cheapest mask out there.

Packaging is cute, damn you cute Asian beauty products always making me squeal like a little girl.

N.M.F stands for Natural Moisturizing Factor- not sure what that means, just sounds like science to me. The packages tells me that I should expect a moisturizing effect from the Sodium Hyaluronate and pore-shrinking from the witch hazel.

What’s so cute about this mask is the little LINE Friends characters printed on the mask. Normally, Mediheal masks are plain white sheets, but they did a collab with LINE. Take a look at this:

The texture of the sheet mask is cloth-like and on the thicker side. The amount of serum (or ampoule, as Mediheal likes to call it) is enough to drench the mask, but not overly done so that it’s spilling everywhere and making a mess. The fragrance is light and floral, barely noticeable.

It’s been at least 30 minutes that the mask has been sitting on my face now. The edge of the mask is almost drying up, I’m taking this baby off.

Results: I like the consistency of the ampoule. It’s heavy, but at the same time my skin was able to absorb it all. After I took off the mask, I patted my face until the ampoule was fully absorb and I slapped on a thin coat of heavy moisturizer to seal that serum in.

My face doesn’t feel greasy or sticky at all. It feels hydrated and plump to the touch. My skin also got a slight brightening effect.

I like this one from Mediheal a lot. I give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars for the cute mask design and awesome serum. I took off half a star because the sheet mask fit is a little awkward, like the holes for the eyes are too small and positioned too low on the mask. But this is nothing to stop me from getting more of these.

 

Kbeauty Review: Secret Key Lemon Sparkling Gel

This will be more of a rave than a review. I have been using Secret Key’s Lemon Sparkling Gel for a little less than a year now and I realized I haven’t shared this awesome product on my blog yet.

Before this product, I never really used peels before, but my dried up acne leaves my skin very flaky looking (especially under makeup), so I was like, gotta get these flakes off my face because they not that cute. I have heard of Secret Key as a brand, but I never actually used any of their products before this one. There are a number of great reviews on this peeling gel, so I decided to give it a go.

I got my peeling gel from memebox.com for $9, which is a pretty good price point for an effective peel.

The packaging is a simple and practical squeeze tube, with 120 ml of product in there. The instructions and ingredient list on the back of the tube is all in Korean, so good luck with that. This tube lasted me a pretty long time (at the very least 6 months), and I use it maybe 1-2 times a week and using a generous amount each time.

The name of the product does not lie, the peeling gel does smells like refreshing lemons. The consistency of the peeling gel is like that of a normal gel cleanser, but a bit more runny.

Wet your face and rub a quarter-sized amount on, then the magic happens. After, rubbing the gel on to my face for about a minute you can see these little solid white pieces form. They are actually dead skin that the peeling gel gathered from my skin.

I was skeptical at first that the white pieces weren’t actually my dead skin, like maybe it was the gel formula that solidified from the body heat or rubbing. So I did a test because I am a fabulous scientist ofc.

To test whether the white pieces are actually dead skin, I used the peeling gel twice. The second use, that immediately follows the first, should produce a lot less or even no white pieces because, hypothetically, my first use of the peeling gel would have already washed all the dead skin off.

The test results? It is safe to say that those white pieces are in fact my dead skin (gross, but yay!). During the first use of the peeling gel, I had a lot of pieces of dead skin rubbing off my face. During the second use, I barely had any pieces of dead skin, even though I had used the same amount of product in both washes.

My final verdict on this peeling gel is 5 out of 5 stars. I use this in my cleansing routine at least once a week. It exfoliates the dead skin cells, so that the nicer and newer skin cells can surface. It also makes my makeup go on a lot smoother. I plan on keeping this one in my routine for a long long time.

Enjoy! ^_^

KBeauty Review: It’s Skin Secret Solution Clear Patch

Heyyy, so I’m finally back with another pimple patch review. We are now at review 4 in my pimple patch series. It’s been a while- I finally finished my last final of my last semester of grad school early today. I still have a 15-page paper to start, but that’s not due till come end of the month, so gurl, I’ll work on that later (like on the night of the deadline).

This review will be on It’s Skin’s Secret Solution Clear Patch. Oooh, so secret secret aren’t we, jk.

I ordered this off of TesterKorea.com for 3,440 KRW (3.08 USD). To be clear this is a 5 sheet pack, each sheet has 12 patches, so these are on the cheaper side. As you can see, they are kept in this super adorable cardboard-like envelope casing ❤

They have directions in English in the back, but I think we all know how pimple patches work by now. They recommend the patch to be stuck on your face for 8-12 hours for optimal results, which is pretty much in line with patches from other brands.

This is how the sheet’s individual packing looks like:

Nothing new from the outside cardboard-like packaging…

I just realized that I forgot to take pictures of the actual patches on the clear sheet(they mostly likely already made it all the way from my garbage bin to the landfills by now)!!!! Ugh, such a fail. School finals always turn me into a mess T_T

But to give you a comparison to work with, it’s so so so similar with Mamonde’s AC Balance Spot Patch.

The sheet of 12 patches run 4.5 in. (height) x 2 in. (width). Like Mamonde, there are 2 sizes to the patches- 6 of them have a diameter of about 0.5 in. and the other 6 with a smaller diameter of 0.25 in.

These patches are on the thin side, so I have been wearing them during the day more as a pimple barrier from the germy city of NYC than as to actually heal my pimples. I have been breaking out like ridiculously lately (no idea why, but I do know I looking like a freaking pepperoni pizza face), so a sheet of 12 patches lasts me like 2-3 days.

Their adhesiveness if on point, so they last the suggested 8-12 hours on your pimples. I do feel like these give a little better of a healing property to my pimples that then the Mamonde and Tony Moly patches (only a little), but still nothing beats the legendary Cosrx’s Master Patch or SkinFood’s trouble Clear Spot Patch.

I give these little ones a 4 out of 5 stars– I definitely see a reducing of swelling and redness of pimples after having a patch on it for a day. Also, they are priced nicely, so if you are looking for a subtle day-time pimple patch to protect and semi-conceal your face pepperonis, theses are the ones to go with!

KBeauty Review: Mediheal PDF AC Dressing Ampoule Mask

I ordered a few facial masks from Hollar.com (surprisingly they do carry a small lineup of Kbeauty products, I was like- whatttt whatchu guys doin’ here). The masks I bought are from Mediheal. I never tried this brand before, though I know it’s a pretty popular one, so I was like let’s see if I have been missing out on anything. They were like 2.25 to 2.50 USD each- typical face mask pricing.

I’m going to jump into a short review of the P.D.F A.C Dressing Ampoule Mask that I used last night. Whoever names Mediheal‘s masks must be obsessed with acronyms, like I get that you like them acronyms but damn gurl.

This mask’s formula is aimed towards acne-prone skin, which I needed because my skin has been breakin’ out the past few months. It’s like a pimple party is getting it on up here.

Here are some fuzzy a** photos

Here are some better shots of the packaging I took this morning if you like to do duh package reading.

Packaging is sleek and cute ofc (when it comes to Asian skincare when is packaging not cute).

The mask is soaked, like drenched soaked, and there is a mild perfume-y scent to the ampoule. The sheet is on the thicker side of masks and it almost has a gel-like feel to it. The shape of the mask fitted my face nicely and I left it on my face for like 30 to 40-ish minutes, until the mask started loosing it moisture.

After I took off the mask, I patted my face to help absorb the residual ampoule sitting on my skin and that stuff would just not go anywhere. The formula was just slipping and sliding on my face. It felt so heavy, greasy, sticky, and tacky. I tried massaging it into my face for a few more minutes and then, I left it sitting for another few more minutes (in hopes that it will dry or be absorbed into my skin), but no girl no. I ended up wiping it off with a tissue.

It made my hands all tacky and when I took the better/clearer photos of the packaging this morning, the empty package was stillll feelin tacky. Just ugh. Why would you do this to me, Mediheal? What have I ever done to cross you?

After, I wiped the excess sticky ampoule off my face it felt a bit more comfortable. Went to bed and woke up this morning with typical morning skin. I don’t see any difference in my skin from the mask, no improvement but also no …dis-improvements (is this a word? but you kno what I mean).

All in all I would not buy this PDF AC mask again, but I’m still going to try out the other masks that I ordered from Mediheal (crossing my fingers that those won’t be as sticky). For giving no difference to my skin, that nightmare tacky/sticky feeling it gave me was just not worth it. I give this mask a 1 out of 5 stars. #stickyaf

KBeauty Review: Nature Republic Bee Venom Emulsion

HeyHeyHey, I’m back with another Korean skincare product review. As you’ve probably already noticed, there’s all sorts of crazy ingredients in these Asian skincare products, like snail secretion, donkey milk, mushroom necks, snake venom, etc., etc.- you name it, they use it.

So ofc, there’s got to be a bee venom product out there right? Abso-fcking-lutely. This brings me to the leading lady of today’s review: Nature Republic’s Bee Venom Emulsion

So, my reasons for trying out this exotic concoction is: one, I’ve tried the Mist Essence from this line and it was amazeballs and , two, it claims to be for acne-prone skin because it contains salicylic acid to fight breakouts and 70% bee venom to unclog pores/buildup.

I purchased this from a Nature Republic store location in NYC for about 30 USD and I have to admit this is a pretty stupid spur-of-the-moment purchase. I could’ve looked up this product online and see that it easily retails for no more than 15 USD. So the store location up-charged me by a 100% for this- thanks for that, now I’m going to avoid that location like I’m avoiding a fcking plague.

The bottle of product is a bit taller than 7 in. (~17.78 cm) and the mouth of the bottle is not the most conventional opening for any type of skincare product. The bottle is made of a hard plastic that you can’t squeeze, so the only way to get product out of that opening is to shake the bottle until something spills out (hopefully in an appropriate amount).

The texture of the emulsion is super nice- it’s light and just the right amount of creamy. The problem is that is doesn’t absorb well, it just sits on my skin like a sticky and moist film. You can see that I applied the emulsion on the back of my hand and, after massaging & patting into my skin, it leaves a shiny finish. Normally, products that my skin drinks up leave a nice matte-ish and smooth finish. When I apply this to my face, the shiny and sticky finish is even more apparent than compared to the back of my hand. I feel like a total grease-ball. Just ugh -____-

As for the scent of the product, it’s not overpowering, but it’s a strong refreshing scent of something similar to ginger and honey. Maybe this is what Nature Republic imagined bee venom to smell like. Not a bad scent at all, I actually quite like it. The scent doesn’t linger long, give it an hour or so to fade almost completely.

This emulsion is said to be for acne-prone skin, but it’s really hard to imagine it helping my skin with the way that it just sits awkwardly on my face. The formula makes me oilier that I already am and I am a very, very oily-skinned person. I feel like the greasy product will just clog my pores more so than it already is and lead to breakouts.

I don’t plan on using this routinely, maybe only for my dry winter skin days. I give this disappointing emulsion a 1.75 out of 5 stars because of its hard to absorb formula and the horrible bottle design. Especially for the price that I paid, this emulsion is def not worth it.

Skincare Review: Does Pearl Powder Really Work as Skincare?

I have been hearing about using genuine pearl powder as a skincare for a while now. Girls have been swearing by it to get whiter, smoother, and younger skin. To be honest, I believe it. And not because I’m naive, I have my reason.

Pearl powder has been used as skincare for centuries by royal families in Asia. Even to this day, I’m sure you notice that there are many skincare products (essences, masks, lotion, etc.) that contain pearl extracts in them.

As per google, pearls also contain a lot of amino acids (which stimulates your skin cells to produce more collagen), minerals (which gives the skin a healthy complexion), and high levels of calcium (which promotes skin regeneration and moisture). Sounds pretty much like pure fcking magic.

As I previously blogged in my CC cushion review, I had vacayed in China recently and I stopped by Suzhou. The city is super-duper well known for producing freshwater pearls, so I was like, yassss, this is my chance to get my hands on some fine-ass pearl powder.

Let’s take a look at what I was able to get my hands on:

I purchased this at a large freshwater pearl factory in Suzhou for RMB 50 (that’s about USD 7.25) per box. I was uber surprised at how inexpensive pearl powder is, I was prepared to pay bigger bucks for this- like you know how pricey pearl jewelry can get. I learned that pearl powder is actually very economical because freshwater pearls are cheaper than saltwater pearls, and that they use the pearls that do not meet the beauty standards to be made into jewelry (which is a lot of them).

In each box, there is 8 vials of freshwater pearl powder and a little informational sheet of paper that gives us some info on the powder. Each vile is approximately, 1 in (~2.54 cm) in height. I also noticed that the vials are only like 75% full, but I was fine with that considering how much I paid for it.

The powder is 100% of pure freshwater pearls and it is food grade- my motto is, if it’s safe to eat, it’s pretty much safe for every-fcking-thing else.

So, what makes me think that I wasn’t scammed into buying fake pearl powder. Well, gurl, I did my research.

Real pearl powder has a slight fishy smell to it. The power is a matte white in color and should not have any light reflective particles in the powder. When you rub it against your fingers, it should feel like a smooth fine powder- none of that sandy, bumpy, or coarse texture bullsht. When rubbing onto your skin, it should disappear into the skin and it shouldn’t leave much residue.

I have been mixing the the pearl powder into my lotion on my palm before applying to my face. I can confirm that the powder does indeed makes my skin whiter, but it’s more of a temporary thing. Right after applying, it makes my skin feel smooth and matte, which is awesome because my face oils so much. I am constantly try new products to control my face’s sebum production.

However, I can’t say much for the pearl’s claim to skin regeneration and collagen production Maybe, I need to use this regularly for a longer period of time to see results? Or, it could be that I’m still pretty young, think like very early 20’s, to be needing collagen. But I’m still hoping for the skin regeneration claim to be true, so I can rid my acne scars!

Now, what if I use the pearl powder in a mask? Will that reap me more skin benefits? Don’t worry, I gotchu. I googled up a simple diy pearl powder mask and got right to it.

I dumped in 1 vial of pearl powder (that’s like half a teaspoon), 1 teaspoon of 1% milk (because that’s the only milk I had in the fridge), and 1 teaspoon of honey (all the better if it’s organic). I mixed it to the best that I could with a brush and applied it to my cleansed face, except for my eye area ofc.

The powder took some effort to get mixed into the mask and the mask looked a little nasty on my skin. But, hey, at least it smelled good because of the honey and the mask wasn’t messy, no drips or anything.

I let the mask sit on my face for like 15-20 minutes and then rinsed off with water.

The result? I think I kinda love it. It washed off my face easy and left my face bright, soft, smooth, and matte. The next morning, my skin looks brighter than usual and not as greasy as my face typically is. I’m def adding this to my skincare routine on a weekly basis.

Does pearl powder really work as skincare? Yes. Yes, it does.

ps. this made me think of Legend of the Blue Sea and how Sim Cheong cries pearls. Is her skin so absolutely perfect because she crushes her pearls to a powder and uses it as her secret mermaid skin regiment??? What do you think about my theory? It sounds pretty fcking legit to me.

KBeauty Review: TheFaceShop x My Other Bag CC Ultra Moist Cushion

A few months back I vacayed in China and Thailand, which was an amazing eye-opening experience and, ofc, there was obligatory weight-gain from all the mouth-watering food I have gorged down. I also brought back some souvenirs for my family, friends, co-workers, etc.- which I kept minimal, very minimal. They were not offended in any way though because they knew, as per usual, I had another priority to fulfill. I had to save luggage space for something more important- BEAUTY PRODUCTS *o*

I know I can just order them online when I’m back in the states, but it’s just different ya know. I enjoy going to the actual stores to take in the beautiful product displays, be assisted by the beauty associates, sampling products, and shopping the better in-store promotions.

I happened to pass by TheFaceShop while I was in Guangzhou, China and got a few items on promotion that I wanted to try out. They are a Korean beauty brand, but I’m sure they’re like all over Asia by now with the current Hallyu/Kbeauty hype. I tried to exercise some self-control, but, gurl, you have to understand how hard it is when they’re priced so damn nice and packaged so darn cute.

Of my hual, I will be doing a review of the TheFaceShop x My Other Bag CC Ultra Moist Cushion today. TheFaceShop was running a promotion, so for RMB 99.00 (~UDS 14.33), I got the CC cushion with a free cushion refill- not a bad deal at all ^_^

A little background on this CC cushion, the original cushion looks like this:

But TheFaceShop launched a collaboration with My Other Bag and upped their game in the CC cushion’s packaging, while the CC cushion formula remains unchanged.

The cushion comes in this fancy little drawstring ❤

As you can see, the CC cushion has been revamped with inspiration from My Other Bag‘s Sophia tote. I’m in love with the packaging and I’m not gonna lie- it was the chic packaging that pushed me to make this purchase. The little drawstring that it comes in is super handy, it fits the CC cushion as well a number of other items, so I now use it as my makeup bag.

The product is kept in the white plastic area of the cushion, which can be pushed out entirely from the bottom when you are done & ready to refill. I don’t know how much a refill retails for, but I assume it would be cheaper then buying another CC cushion- otherwise I just don’t see the point of refills.

The refill I got for free with this purchase is wrapped in this shiny foil package and, thank the lord, there are pictures explaining how to replace the refill. I would have clawed at the cushion for hours without the picture instructions, since almost everything is in Chinese which I, sadly, can not read.

Now that I have bombarded you with enough pictures of the packaging, lets talk about the actual CC cushion formula. This cushion runs in 2 shades and I purchased the lighter one, #v201 Apricot Beige. However, I felt like I should have purchased the darker shade instead- my face has gotten noticeably darker from the time that I have spent in the sun (it may have been all snow and cold in NYC, but it was blazing hot in Guangzhou & Pattaya). Since I don’t want to scare people with a ghost white face, I apply this to the higher points of my face and let it aid me in my contouring.

The formula is on the light-weight side and because it’s more on the moisturizing side, as the name suggests, it gives my skin a subtle glow/dewy look. This formula doesn’t help much in covering the more pigmented blemishes and acne scars, so a concealer is def needed if you have some bad boys to hide.

On the plus side, this works great on evening out your skin tone to give you a nice uniform finish. I applied the cushion on the right half of the back of my hand above, and you can see the visual difference. The formula is light enough, so that even when I zoom in on the area that I have applied the cushion, there isn’t a visible layer of product caked onto my skin. I think one of the reasons that the product applies onto my skins so naturally is due to the super soft & smooth cushion sponge.

The CC cushion holds a generous amount of product and it comes out easily onto the cushion sponge with a little pressure. As a FYI to prevent over-packing the product onto your face, the cushion sponge holds more product then it looks like it is. Pressing the sponge into the cushion roughing 2 times, maybe 3, is enough to cover my entire face.

After 6-8 hours, I noticed the product starting to move. Because I have oily and combination skin, the product started collecting on the creases of my skin and the drier areas of my face- NOT a cute look -__- Thus, if you expect a long day out and about, I recommend a touch-up after the 4-5 hour mark (before the products moves to a point beyond fixable with just a quick touch-up).

As for the scent of this CC cushion, it has a nice, refreshing fragrance to it. It’s nothing too overpowering.

I give this CC cushion a 3.75 out of 5. It’s great for creating a natural look, like for work or a daytime outing- but I don’t think that this will fly well for your nightime clubbing adventures. You’re going to glow like a ghost under those colorful club lights. The packaging is 10 out of 10, but I just can’t with products that start to collect in my skin creases. Like, it’s fine it the product just rubs off my face over time due to oil-blotting or me unconsciously touching my face, but please don’t all crowd into my skin’s imperfections and make them all the more apparent.

***Bonus: I also got a free pack of extra cushion sponges because I spent over a certain threshold at TheFaceShop with my haul. Aren’t they just to die for? Winnie the Pooh-themed cushion sponges, how can they shake my heart like this T_T

These are great for this CC cushion because their refill packs do not come with cushion sponges of their own. I can also imagine using these super soft sponges with other products.

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KBeauty Review: Innisfree Olive Real Oil Mist

Aside from pimple patches, I am also a huge fan of facial mists. I joined the face mist club back in early 2011 after watching Secret Garden, Big Bang’s version to be more precise. For those of you that have yet to watch or have forgotten, feel free to start the video below from minute 15:00 to 16:22 to open your eyes to the beautiful world of facial mists… Smmmell~~

So what exactly do facial mists do, other than make you look dramatic as fck as you douse your face with serum?

They are meant to give your skin a quick boost of hydration and moisturization. It can be used during your daily/nightly skincare routine to really pack in that good stuff or it can be used throughout the day when your skin starts feeling like that eh-I’m-so-done thing. Mists tend to be super light and liquid-y in formula; and sprays as a super fine mist, so that it’s quick and easy for your skin to absorb.

My first facial mist review will be on Innisfree’s Olive Real Oil Mist, which I ordered online from Innisfreeworld for USD 10.00. Innisfree has 8 lines of skincare, each using a natural ingredient to target specific skin concerns; and this mist is from their Golden Olive line, which is meant for deep moisturizing.

The facial mist comes in a plastic spray bottle that is 6 in (~15.5 cm) in height. The bottle was packaged in a neat little cardboard box, but I trashed that after opening it (gurl, I had to- my room is so cluttered I can’t afford to be extra). To make up for that, here’s a image that I pulled off the web to show you how the box looks.

The bottle is tinted a olive green, but it’s still transparent. You can kind of see the murky solution in the pictures. The mist uses extra virgin olive oil and you can see the oil beads clinging to the insides of the bottle. Because there is ‘real’ oil in this mist, the oil floats to the top of the mist solution after sitting for a while. This is just the nature of oil not being able to mix with water, so a quick shake of the bottle before spraying will fix that.

The mist comes out of a typical spray nozzle, and let me tell you, gurl, it sprays super super fine mist. The image on the Innisfreeworld website shows the mist coming out like this-

But, no, that is certainly not the reality of it, like at all. The mist comes out so fine that I wasn’t able to capture it on camera for you guys. I sprayed it on to the back of my hand and you can’t really see the solution- even when my magnifying lens is used. That’s how fine this baby is.

Despite not be able to see the mist, I can assure you, you will definitely feel it as it hits your face refreshingly with its cute little liquid micro-beads infused with olive oil. I’m not sponsored by Innisfree, btw.

Each time I use this, I spray 3 times (the two sides and then the center of my face) at a distance of about 8 in (~25.5 cm). Then, I will gently pat it into my skin until fully absorbed. It leaves my skin leaving a little sticky, but it’s not like a make-me-feel-crazy-annoyed-sticky feel. It’s more of a endure-able sticky.

I use this mist after my toner and before my lotion at night and in the morning. I don’t use this in the middle of the day, especially when I’m wearing makeup, for the reason that it feels like my skin is absorbing all my foundation and concealer too when I spray this mist on top, and I definitely do not want that.

The scent of the mist is a little weird to me. It’s not a bad smell, but it’s also not the best smell out there. It smells faintly of olives, but it also smells like lemons… did I get a tarnished product or something? The expiration date says 2019, so… idk. Do let me know if you smell this too!

In summary, I give this facial mist a 4 out of 5 stars. It makes my skin feel supple and refreshed. I love that the mist comes out so fine. I enjoy the fact that I can parody Daesung’s role in Big Bang’s Secret Garden parody whenever I use this. However, I took off a point for leaving my skin a slight sticky finish and its odd citrus scent.

KBeauty Review: TonyMoly AC Control Spot Patch

Welcome to part 3 of my pimple patch reviews! What I have here is TonyMoly’s AC Control Spot Patch. I actually went through this pack quite fast because it’s that time of the month for me. Gurl, you know what I’m talk’in about.

I will be referencing these patches to the Mamonde ones that I reviewed in part 1 of my pimple patch review series just because these are oh so similar. I ordered these on TesterKorea.com for 1,000 KRW (that comes out to 0.87 USD, which is like dirt cheap). I order almost all my pimple patches from TesterKorea because they have a pretty good selection of them on their site at a very reasonable price.

Right off the bat, the packaging is already alike in appearance to Mamonde’s. The sheet of patches comes in a slim aluminum wrapping. The slim packaging makes it easy to be slipped into my makeup bag or into my luggage when I’m traveling. My only con about these is that the package isn’t resealable, so I need to find a Ziploc baggie to store these once they’re opened.

Bonus points: For once, there are actually directions in English on the back of the packaging. Thank you, TonyMoly, from saving my poor attempt to decipher the message with my severely broken Korean.

Once you open the pack, you will find the clear sheet of pimple patches. The only notable difference with the Mamonde patches is that all 12 patches only come in one size- about 1 cm in diameter. However, this doesn’t bother me at all because the 1 cm size is pretty much the one-size-fits-all of pimple sizes. I offer my sincerest apology and sympathy if you do get pimples larger than 1 cm in diameter tho- that must be fcking painful. Otherwise, the efficiency, thickness and transparency of these patches are on par Mamonde’s.

These patches are ever so lightly tinted, so they do help a bit in blurring your pimples. These are thinner than the typical sheet of computer paper, so they don’t do much in actually healing your pimples or sucking up acne secretion. I prefer to use these during the day to act as a barrier from the pollution and my nosy hands (I swear my hands be reaching for my face involuntarily throughout the day). I do feel like these lack adhesiveness, but it might be due to the serum that I layered before I applied the patch. I used these TonyMoly patches one time during the night, and 1 out of the 3 patches I used fell off by morning time.

I give these a 3 out of 5. These are not the best nor the worst patches that I have used. I probably won’t be purchasing these again, but if given the choice of these or the Mamonde patches- I would no doubt choose these for the reason that they are pretty much the same, but sold at a lower price.

Part 1: Mamonde AC Balance Patch

Part 2: SkinFood Trouble Clear Spot Patch

KBeauty Review: Skin Food Trouble Clear Spot Patch

Today I’m back with a part 2 to my pimple patch reviews! The star of today’s review is Skin Food’s Trouble Clear Spot Patch (Somaderm Spots).

Compared to my previous review of the Mamonde AC Balance Spot Patch, these are a bit pricier- I got these from TesterKorea.com for KRW 3,740 (which is like USD 3.24). These patches are packaged very nicely- they are resealable, so it keeps your patches freshhh~

There’s 24 patches in a pack and you can see that I’m almost done with this TT_TT the patches were sealed in another layer of clear wrapping, which shows Skin Food was very meticulous about keeping these babies fresh and clean. It’s not pictured (because I’ve been using the shit out of this pack), but the patches came in 3 different sizes (diameters of 0.75 cm, 1.00 cm, and 1.25 cm). For reference, the 3 patches that are remaining in the picture are of the largest size, 1.25 cm.

Inside is also a little manual that explains how this products works. Ofc it’s all in Korean, but it’s pretty self explanatory- place it on your pimple after washing your face and keep on for ~6-12 hours.

The patches are thick, I would say like at least 2 or 3 times thicker than the Mamonde patches. They are also not transparent at all and have a off white tint. Thus, I tend to put these on my face at night, so no one stares at me like I unintentionally have something sticking on my face.

Because these are thicker, they work so much better in drawing out and absorbing acne secretion. For me, they work especially well on popped pimples. You can literally see the secretion that is absorbed into the patch when you peel them off in the morning, it turns the patch a deeper white (I know, this is sounds nasty as fck, I’m so sorry if you are eating as you read this). The patches also helps with swelling and closing up the acne wound.

If you have every tried using Cosrx’s Acne Pimple Master Patch, these are very very very similar to them- like from the packaging to the actual patches. On top of that, these are actually cheaper than the Cosrx patches by a dollar or so. The dollar you are saving adds up when you stock up in bulk, so gurl you know what to buy when you have the choice of Skin Food or Cosrx.

These are my favorite acne patches right now and I honestly have no cons to point out. I have been sticking these on my pimples at night and switching them out to thinner patches during the day. These patches are a life saver in helping me control my acne. I give these magical patches a 4.9 out of 5.

Part 1: Mamonde AC Balance Spot Patch

Part 3: TonyMoly AC Control Spot Patch