Review: Etude House Bubble Tea Sleeping Masks

How cute are these? Etude House launched their Bubble Tea Sleeping packs in three different "flavours" meant for different skin types. Black tea for firming, strawberry for moisturizing and green tea for oil control. There's boba capsules that contain the main hydrating ingredients and a little straw/spoon to scoop everything out hygienically.

So, as cute as they are, how did they perform?

Let's start off with the ingredients. Every pack contains glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and the respective extract (strawberry, black tea, or green tea) within the first 10 ingredients. Awesome right? Not so much for sensitive skin. Alcohol is fifth ingredient, above all the ingredients previously mentioned except glycerin. In theory, the alcohol will help the mask to absorb without such a sticky texture, hence it's inclusion. Unfortunately for those of us who need to avoid alcohol in our skincare diet, this can prove irritating at worse, or lacklustre at best.

Boba with a spoonful of gel, and a smooshed boba to release all those hydrating ingredients.

The idea behind these masks is that there is a lightweight gel, and then boba that contains higher concentrations of active ingredients (in this case, the tea and strawberry extracts). You grab a bit of the gel and a boba capsule or two, break the boba, then apply to it your skin. I find there's a lot more gel than boba whenever I try to use the attached straw/spoon to grab the boba. Since it's kind of unhygienic to put the extra gel back, I just use it all on my face. The results with lots of gel and two boba? Nada, unless you count a sticky face for a few hours. The results with less gel and two boba (I used the extra gel on my legs)? Nada, although everything absorbed a lot better. In the morning, there was a coating of something on my face that rinsed off easily with warm water. But I didn't feel more moisturized.

The black tea pack felt slightly more moisturizing than either the strawberry or green tea, but not by much. The green tea felt the most lightweight, and least moisturizing of the three.

My skin doesn't agree with alcohol – it'll start off ok, but I slowly get dryer and dryer, until irritated spots show up. Despite that, I used each of these for a week to see how my skin fared. I didn't get any irritation, and surprisingly I didn't get any dryness over the month either. On the other hand, I was not nearly as moisturized and glowy the next day from these sleeping packs compared to others I've tried.

Would I recommend these? Not if you have dry or sensitive skin. On the other hand, if you get results from sheet masks with a high alcohol content or creams and packs containing a lot of alcohol, you might still enjoy these.

Etude House – Honey Cera Line Review

Along with the Snowy Dessert collection I reviewed last week, Etude House also sent their new Honey Cera skincare line. The line boasts the use of honey to moisturize, ceramides to heal and repair the skin barrier so as to retain moisture, and immortelle flower essence to firm. The trial set includes a toner, emulsion, eye serum, and a cream.

Now, Korea's winter is a bit dry (not as dry as Calgary's, but definitely dry enough to feel and see a difference in my skin). Not only that, but the dermatologist put me on a super low dose of accutane again as he thought my topical retinoid was too irritating. So basically, I have dry skin, with a compromised moisture barrier. The Honey Cera line should, in theory be perfect for me.

And, on it's own, it almost is. With a few tweaks, it definitely works for my dry, dehydrated winter skin. Add some moisturizing serums, to the mix, and my skin feels comfortable all day.

The toner is quite watery, and to be honest, doesn't feel that moisturizing compared to the Hada Labo lotion. Now, that's not to say it isn't moisturizing. After a shower, my skin usually feels tight quite quickly. Apply the toner, and that tightness disappears and doesn't return for a couple of hours.

Glycerin is the second ingredient, explaining the immediate relief upon application. As you may know, glycerin is a humectant and helps to draw water into the skin, so it will also help dehydrated skin quite a bit. The formula also boasts honey, royal jelly, and hyaluronic acid (all hydrating ingredients). Ceramide 3 is also quite high up on the list of ingredients, so it's definitely a good pick to help strengthen the moisture barrier. It does contain alcohol, but it's so low on the ingredient list, it doesn't bother me at all. It's $19 US on etudehouse.com. I'll definitely be picking this one up when I'm finished with my current toner.

The emulsion is another great product from this line up, and I credit this as the reason my skin stays comfortable for a longer period of time compared to my regular routine. While all the great ingredients (honey, ceramide, royal jelly, and various plant extracts) are lower on the ingredient list compared to the toner, glycerin is still high up, as are fatty alcohols. The formula is quite... sticky? I don't know how to describe it, but if you remember how snail creams used to boast about being super stringy, this is the same, minus the snail. Once you pat it on and it absorbs (quite quickly), it doesn't feel like there's anything on  your face. I normally don't use emulsions as I'm lazy, and use a heavy cream instead. However, the added step has definitely made a difference. The emulsion and cream from this line don't feel too heavy together, and I'm curious to see how well it pairs with my regular cream (currently the Guerrison 9 Horse Oil Cream). It's the same price as the toner.

The Honey Cera cream is a heavier cream, without feeling heavy. I'd say it compares quite well to my Belif Moisturizing Bomb. Slightly less moisturizing and slightly heavier feeling, but at nearly half the price, it's a good substitute (I use the same amount as I did with the Belif, a good finger full). This is full of more occlusive emollients including fatty alcohols and jojoba esters to help seal all the moisture from your previous steps in. It's really basic, but it does the job, which is all I need in a cream. It's $24 US.

Lastly, the trial set includes the firming eye serum. It's a super lightweight gel that sinks in quickly and leaves a bit of a shiny finish. It helps to hydrate my under eye area (which is super dry right now). I have noticed a difference in the dehydration lines underneath my eyes. Minus the one I always have due to a lack of aegyo-sal, this got rid of the rest completely. Mind you, they really only show up if I'm not using proper eye care, so I don't know how well this serum would perform on more stubborn lines. The serum uses glycerin to hydrate, and niacinamide to help brighten and improve elasticity. The full-sized version also has a metal applicator tip, which is nice to help massage the serum in and reduce puffiness. To be honest, I normally just use whatever serums and moisturizers I use on the rest of my face around my eye area as well, but this helps to reduce my concealer from sliding off (and my eyeliner from smudging and mascara from running, because heavy creams around the eyes will do that to your makeup). I think it's definitely more of a summer purchase for me, when smeary makeup is more of an issue. 

Overall, this is a great, basic line, especially for the price. I think anyone with combination to dry skin will be able to use this easily (if you have oily skin, maybe just use the emulsion, rather than both emulsion and cream). You'll even get a bit of anti-aging care, given the royal jelly (it protects against sun damage) and immortelle flower extract. I'll definitely be picking the toner and emulsion up from this line as finish the samples.

Belif True Cream Moisturizing Bomb Review

Introducing my new favourite cream for sensitive skin – Belif's True Cream Moisturizing Bomb. Belif says this cream coats your skin in comfort, and they weren't lying. Belif uses simple ingredients and says it's uses a 150 year old processing method to create it's skincare goodies. How true this is, I don't know, however it comes with rave reviews from Korean bloggers and has been featured in magazines and beauty shows. My Korean friend says it's a good line if you have sensitive skin – kind of like Korea's version of Avene or La Roche Posay.

This is a great occlusive cream, that while being heavy and efficiently sealing hydration in, feels fairly lightweight on the skin. Despite it's heavier texture, it dries matte on me, and doesn't feel greasy at all. It's comparable to the Innisfree Green Tea Seed Deep Cream, but doesn't feel quite as lightweight once applied. At first they feel the same, however, I feel that the Belif is better for dehydrated skin, whereas the Innisfree is best for true dry skin types, as it leaves a slight oily feeling after.

The Belif True Cream Moisturizing Bomb actually lessens my overnight oil production... the more I apply. When I first tried it out, I thought it would last forever, since it was heavy and I could get away with using a tiny baby pea-sized amount and feel properly moisturized. However I was a super shiny oil slick by the time I woke up. Okay, with this, a little goes a long way, right? Nope. One night I accidentally scooped too much out and decided to just go with it, as if I were applying a sleeping mask. And hey, normal, even slightly dry skin in the morning. A couple more nights of experimenting and now I'm using about two normal pea-sized amounts every night, in addition to my hydrating masks and essences. 

Notable ingredients include glycerin, which is a humectant, and macadamia oil, which serves as a moisturizer and occlusive. It also has a ton of fermented ingredients to help brighten the skin and allow the ingredients to be absorbed better, as well as comfrey leaf to help detoxify the skin.

The cream has a slight gel texture to it – it's not super thick and creamy, but not a gel either. There's a light citrus scent that's pleasant and not overwhelming at all. It spreads and absorbs easily, leaving behind a velvety finish with no shine. This is perfect for girls who love matte skin rather than the dewy look. 

I have noticed that as the weather get's dryer and dryer, I'm needing to use more of this cream. This may be because I'm not using a sheet mask everyday, or maybe it simply can't handle the change from summer to fall. Still, I find the Belif cream to be comforting to my dry skin, and does an adequate job at sealing everything in and keeping me relatively moisturized throughout the day.

I bought this for around $33 from 11 Street, but you can pick it up at Sephora for a reasonable price as well (because shipping from Korea will tack the extra on anyways)!

Pros:
Great for sensitive skin
Absorbs easily
Heals

Cons:
Unless you live by a Sephora that sells this, you'll have to order online

Mizon Hyaluronic Acid 100 Ampoule Review

As someone who constantly deals with dehydrated skin, I'm always on the lookout for good hydrating serums to add to my routine, especially ones that aren't going to break the bank (seriously, a very basic hyaluronic serum is at least $20/oz Cad). This is probably why I started to get into Asian cosmetics when I was 18 – everything was more reasonably priced, and they just seemed to work better.

The Mizon Hyaluronic Acid 100 Ampoule is a no frills serum. It only claims to provide lightweight, yet lasting hydration, and it performs quite well at that. Because of how sensitive my skin was at the time I purchased it (acne, over-exfoliation, rashy and eczema patches), I was looking for some key ingredients including ceramides (healing) and hyaluronic acid (hydrating).

Notable Ingredients

Hyaluronic Acid: This atttracts and maintains water in the skin. It can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water, making it a great ingredient for dehydrated and dry skin.

Copper Tripeptide-1: Increases collagen and elastin production and promotes skin regeneration

Cholesteral: Helps to restore and maintain the skin's barrier, maintaining normal skin function.

Ceramide 3: Helps to restore and maintain the skin's barrier.

Beta Glucan: Has anti-oxidant, wound healing and moisturizing properties.

Adenosine: An anti-aging ingredient that promotes collagen and elastin production, as well as having anti-inflammatory properties.

Full ingredients list here.

Performance

I bought this to provide extra hydration for my poor dehydrated skin around the same time as the Hada Labo Perfect Gel (it came in the mail about a week later). It too has hyaluronic acid and ceramides to help with my dehydrated skin, as well as anti-aging and healing properties to help with my acne and acne scarring. Mizon is known for providing quality products that are full of plant extracts (these often provide anti-inflammatory, brightening, and antioxidant properties), for a cheap price. I've actually used a few other products from them that I never got around to reviewing (namely their snail lines).

This particular serum is just a basic hydrating serum. It doesn't make any other claims, and for that, it performs its job well. Combined with the Hada Labo Perfect Gel, I almost had enough hydration to last a full day (assuming I was at home and not dealing with air conditioning). It's very lightweight and silky, absorbing easily. Seriously, my skin just drank this up and sighed happily, like it just had a sip of a well-made cup of tea. Like the Perfect Gel, I feel like this helped my skin to better retain moisture so that I wouldn't get that uncomfortable tight feeling, or overly oily (both signs of dehydrated skin) quite so soon in the day.

This isn't the best at "long lasting hydration" like it claims (okay it doesn't claim to be the best, but I've used better). Mind you, for half the price, I can't really complain either. It lasted about two months with twice a day usage (three quarters of a dropper each time).

For the price, I don't think you can get a better hydrating serum, especially if you're not in Korea. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I'm always looking to try something new.

Pros

Cheap, unless you buy it from Urban Outfitters. I got mine for about $12/oz Cad with free shipping on Roseroseshop.com

Does what it claims

Not only hydrates, but as anti-aging ingredients as well (long-term benefits as well as short term!)

Cons

You'll need to wait in the mail for it (if you want it immediately, it's available at select Urban Outfitters stores for a very marked up price)

Winter Skin Saviors

It's winter and you know what that means. Dry, irritated and possibly wind burnt skin from days skiing and hiking in the mountains.

With the change of seasons, a change in skincare is called for. Our skin condition changes given the weather, and in the winter, we're more prone to dryness, dehydration, and irritation – especially if you're living in a winter desert (hey Calgary). 

This winter, I bought a few new products, and returned to a few old goodies lying around in my cabinets unused that are perfect for the winter.

FACE BALMS

Avibon - The French beauty cult classic. This is thick, ointment like... cream? Balm? I dunno, but it's thick and feels like vaseline. It's chalk full of vitamin A (probably the most you can get in a product without going full retinoid), and moisturizing oils to fend off the dryness vitamin A likes to cause. And given it's thick texture, it's the perfect overnight mask when you're feeling particularly dry, or even just a bit wind burnt. I love it when my skin is irritated from too many drying products in the winter, but I don't use it everyday. 

You will need to warm it up in your hands a bit before smoothing it on your face, or else you'll find it impossible to spread. The thick texture feels like it might be a bit pore clogging (especially if you're oily and prone to clogged pores like moi) and I find little whiteheads after a few days of continuously using this. This is most likely a result from the vitamin A though, which can really purge your skin of all the gunk, and then those breakouts will stop. I'm too scared to find out though. Don't let me scare

 you though, as it truly is a great mask once a week!

Skinfood Avacodo Rich Eye Balm - Not a skin balm, as this is meant specifically for the eye area, but I'm putting in the same category. This stuff is nearly solid, but easily softens up to a spreadable texture when you rub it between your fingers. This is great for prepping my eyes for concealer in the winter, and it keeps things hydrated and thus, not cakey. Oh, and it doesn't cause creasing, so really, it's quite brilliant.

Innisfree Green Tea Deep Cream - This isn't quite a balm, but definitely thicker than any cream I've tried before, and is a part of my daily winter arsenal. This cream works best if you melt it a bit in your hands first, and then spread and pat into your face. Perfect for both the morning and night, this gives a wonderfully dewy look, but won't make you greasy. According to Innisfree, this cream helps your skin to retain moisture by improving your skin's moisture barrier. 

FACIAL OIL

Boscia Tsubaki Beauty Oil - My favourite facial oil that I've tried, this is lightweight, but highly moisturizing. It's great to use in it's own as a daytime moisturizer, to add extra moisture to your regular cream when you need, or layer on top of your creams and serums to seal everything in. I use three or four drops when I'm using it on it's own, and two or three to mix into my creams.

MASKS

Laneige Water Sleeping Pack - The tried and true, and the love of many a beauty blogger. This is a lightweight gel, that absorbs easily into the skin to supply much needed water to dehydrated skin. Personally, this isn't enough in the winter, so I add a drop or two of facial oil into it before applying. Also, I use a hefty portion, about a grape size, but hey, I wake up to dewy skin in the morning, so it's totally worth it, even if I use the entire container within a month. You can read the full review here.

LIPS

EOS Lip Balm - Another cult classic, this spherical lip balm is just too cute to not want to try. I originally purchased the EOS lip balms a year a go, and I was utterly unimpressed. I recently tried it again when my favourite Nivea was out of stock one day, and my mind was blown. The formula has definitely changed, and is no longer overly waxy. Instead it's moisturizing, and almost a tad oily – perfect for the winter. I stocked up at Costco, and now have about ten of these babies sitting on my counter. If you weren't impressed when they first came out, you might want to give them a second chance!

Etude House Baby Choux Mint Base Review

Hello all! I'm back with a bunch of beauty reviews for you as that's where my money seemed to go for the month of November! This time I'll be reviewing the Etude House Baby Choux Base in mint.

I dabbed a bit of red lipstick and applied the baby choux base on the top half. You can see the difference between where I left the lipstick alone, and where I covered it with the base here. The redness isn't completely gone, but it's blurred to blend into my skin.

Etude House says this is a makeup base to correct skin tone and create a smooth, powdery complexion. It comes in three colours, each with a different purpose – peach to correct sallow skin, berry to brighten, and mint to even out redness. It contains moisturizing properties, as well as SPF 33 PA++, meaning you're getting some pretty good UVA and UVB protection if anything.

As you can see, the base has a fluid texture making it easy to spread and blend out with either your fingers or a sponge. It blurs redness really well. Like... amazingly well. I would definitely recommend this is your suffer from red skin or rosacea. 

This doesn't offer any sort of real coverage, but you wouldn't want it to anyways. Apply too much, and you'll find yourself a pasty ghost! While this doesn't cover my more prominent acne scars (which are more of a purple tone rather than pink or red), this is excellent in covering the redness of acne, as well as reducing how red my face becomes due to the dry weather. I even used it to get rid of the redness around a stye I had, with no irritation and only good results! It also works to fill in wrinkles, pores, and the shallow acne scars I have.

I prefer to tap this into my skin with my fingers rather than rubbing it in like I would a silicon primer. This has a slot of slip and a powdery texture, just like traditional western primers, but feels a lot lighter on my skin. However, it doesn't do anything to increase the lasting power of my makeup. For reference, I only use a small amount – about half a pea size. I took a tip from Korean beauty blogger Pony, and apply it only to the areas on my face that have a tendency to get red – my cheeks, and around my nose – versus all over. The red areas blend into my natural skin tone this way, without making the normal areas overly pasty, meaning I don't need to use foundation after if I don't want.

This hasn't broken me out, clogged my pores, or given me any adverse reactions despite my acne-prone skin. However, it does have a light floral scent, so if you're sensitive to fragrance, you might want to stay away.

You can buy the baby choux base in the tube, or in the ever popular cushion form. I paid about $10 for mine from Beautynetkorea.

Pros

Amazing at covering redness
Fills in pores, and shallow wrinkles and scars
Not irritating

Cons
Some might not like the added fragrance
Need to buy online

OST Vitamin C20 Serum Review

UPDATE: I have since stopped using this (I ran out and never bought more), and have noticed that my skin quality has suffered. My skin is less glowy (but more oily, go figure) and I think I've broken out slightly more since I've run out. Nothing else has changed in my routine. This just goes to show the effects of a skincare product aren't always apparent (to us) while using them.

The OST Vitamin C20 serum is a highly concentrated vitamin C serum. It contains 20% vitamin C, which is definitely one of the highest I’ve come across.

Vitamin C is well known for it’s brightening properties, as well as providing essential nourishment to the skin, and helping to lighten hyperpigmentation. The OST serum promises to do all of this, as well as provide moisture and help get rid of pesky blackheads.

While I like this serum, I don’t think I’m in love with it. The high content of vitamin C is definitely noteworthy, however sensitive skin may have an issue with this. When my skin was drier, I found it to sting slightly. It’ll definitely sting if you get it on any scratches or broken skin.

I have a lot of hyperpigmentation due to rampant outbreaks for the last few months, although I’ve finally managed to get them under control, and this is always a main skincare concern of mine. I’m always looking for the best in whitening and brightening ingredients, and vitamin C is one of those key ingredients to look for in any serum promising to even out your skin tone.

The OST Vitamin C20 Serum comes in a brown glass jar with a dropper that’s packaged separately for maximum freshness while shipping. No oxidation should occur as the bottle is tightly sealed until you put the dropper in. The dropper is very hygienic and makes it easy to apply a precise amount of the serum.

I like to use four drops of this serum everyday in the morning and night after toner. It smells like oranges, which is a great way to begin my morning skincare routine. As the vitamin C is the most active ingredient in any of the serums I use, I apply the OST serum first, and then layer my Pure Heals Propolis 90 Serum on top. Follow up with an emulsion and cream. The serum does dry slightly sticky, but this disappears after a few minutes, or when you apply the rest of your skincare on top.

After using this for about a month now (I’ve used almost half the bottle), I can safely say this does make a difference in the brightness of my skin, as well as some of the hyperpigmentation. My skin has become a bit brighter due to the exfoliating properties of the vitamin C in it. In terms of hyperpigmentation, this has definitely worked to fade my lighter spots. Darker, deeper spots of hyperpigmentation are still visible, and don’t seem to be going away anytime soon, but I also believe this is due to having some extremely irritated and thinned skin at the moment.  I also tried this on a bit of brown hyperpigmentation leftover from a nasty scratch last year, and this faded it in a week.  As for blackheads, I don’t see any noticeable difference in mine.

The OST Vitamin C20 serum is $20 Canadian on wishtrend.com, and given the high antioxidant content, is worth buying again. As I’m not totally in love with it, I’d like to try other serums such as Missha’s Time Revolution Night Repair, which contains a multitude of vitamins and active ingredients, or the Skin & Lab Red Serum, which again contains a variety of vitamins and antioxidants, before purchasing another bottle of the OST serum. These two serums also include ingredients to prevent aging, as well as vitamin C (and other active ingredients) to help even out skin tone. Vitamin C is a great anti-aging ingredient, don’t get me wrong, I’d just prefer something with a little more… oomph.

However, if you want a simple and effective (and cheap!) whitening/brightening serum, I highly the OST Vitamin C20. I don’t think you’ll get better bang for your buck with any others.

Pros

Cheap

Effective at lightening hyperpigmentation

Smells like oranges

Cons

Will need to buy online

May be too strong for sensitive skin

Pure Heals Propolis 80 Cream Review

The Pure Heals Propolis 80 Cream is the match to their 90 Ampoule.

The cream contains 80 per cent propolis extract, an ingredient with amazing anti-inflammatory properties, as well as being antibacterial and anti-microbial. This cream is also meant to give you "honey skin," ie. a new term in Korea for dewy skin, as your skin will shine like honey.

The Pure Heals Propolis 80 Cream is a basic cream which will moisturize combination to oily skin, and even dryer skin types (if you're severely dry, you might need something with more oil content). The gel-like consistency is great for the summer, but my dehydrated skin might need something a bit more moisturizing come winter. We'll see.

I didn't see the same outstanding effects of the ampoule in terms of my hyperpigmentation, nor did it speed up the healing and lightening process when used in conjunction with the serum. I don't think this necessarily has much to do with the cream itself – ampoules are made so that they can be absorbed deeper into the skin, where as a cream is more so to seal the goodness of serums in. Therefore, and ampoule or serum will always be more effective than a cream alone.

This cream is very lightweight on my dehydrated, combination skin. It's gel based, and feels very watery. When I first started to use this, I didn't like it very much, but after a bit of experimentation, I actually do love it, especially for the summer. At first, I found this cream didn't absorb well, and instead just felt heavy and sat on top of my skin rather than sinking in. Back then, I was applying this by taking a pea sized amount (or a bit more) and just smearing it all over my face and neck right away. Yea, that doesn't work well. What you need to do is either rub this into your hands a bit, or dot the cream all over your face before you start to spread it around. This allows the cream to "melt" ever so slightly, and suddenly applying it becomes a dream! By applying it this way, the cream actually turns into a much more watery consistency which feels refreshing and very hydrating. Since I've discovered this, I've fallen in love with the Pure Heals Propolis Cream. Another tip is to make sure your skin has been prepped for serums and moisturizers. I use a moisturizing gel toner, which I've also noticed has made a significant difference in the application of this moisturizer.

If you want the dewy Korean skin look, I highly recommend this product. The cream itself is quite moisturizing, but it also leaves that glowing, shiny finish I love so much. I don't normally get this effect unless I use a facial oil, so I was quite impressed that it lived up to it's advertising.

While the jar container isn't the most hygienic, it does come with a little spatula to scoop the cream out, so I didn't have any issues with the packaging. Just make sure to wash the spatula.

Pure Heals Propolis 90 Ampule Review

Pure Heals Propolis 90 Serum is one of those Korean skincare products you don't really hear about. Which is unfortunate because this is AMAZING.

I first saw this on Sunnydahye's YouTube Channel and she was saying that this product really helped to moisturize her skin, as well as to lighten old acne marks. Now, as a long time acne sufferer, any time someone says something lightens the marks, I'm initially skeptical, but I also get this intense need to try the product out. I guess desperation does that to you? Either way, I bit the bullet as I was in need of a new serum and cream anyways, and headed off to ibuybeauti.com to purchase this along with the matching cream.

I've used this for about three months, and I honestly wasn't expecting much. I was beginning to breakout terribly due to some wayward birth control, and while the pimples themselves were shallow, the surrounding inflammation was horrific. I'd have a tiny little pimple, but the surrounding area was bright red and would extend a lot farther than the regular zits I usually got. In other words, five tiny pimples meant one side of my face was bright red and angry looking. Now, I've dealt with some serious acne before, and in my research and experience, that kind of inflammation will definitely lead to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Not only that, but I'm pale, so I retain redness longer, and I'm half Asian, which means along with the residual redness, I'm prone to darker marks that could take months to heal (darker skin tones tend to be more prone to the brown, red and purple marks left after a wound). 

So, I was using this serum as my main moisturizer (I don't like to apply too many products when I get an angry breakout) as studies have shown that propolis may be beneficial in killing the acne-causing bacteria. Anyways, no dice for me. This has done nothing to prevent my angry hormonal breakouts. 

But that's not why I bought it either. I bought it to heal my left over hyperpigmentation. As well as the new stuff that I knew would come to form. Now, propolis is essentially bee glue – they use it to fill in any small gaps in their hives. It's anti-microbial (hence why some say it's beneficial in preventing acne), anti-inflammatory, and full of antioxidants, all of which means it's an awesome ingredient to see in your skincare products. It's also those antioxidant and anti-inflammatory products that make is so good at reducing the leftover acne marks. 

The serum is pretty light and thin, and smells a bit floral. It absorbs into my dehydrated skin easily without leaving it sticky. Feel free to layer it with other serums as well, I haven't found any pilling when using either vitamin c or other hydrating serums.

This ampule has actually healed my skin so well after my breakouts, I don't even need to wear foundation on a regular basis anymore. This faded my old acne marks, and healed the new ones within a week-and-a -half. I was amazed at how fast my skin healed after using this on a regular basis. Before, whenever I got the tiniest pimple, I'd be stuck with a red mark that would last anywhere from three weeks to a couple of months. I even had some that lasted for years! The other amazing thing is that I wasn't using my Retin-A when I first began testing this product. Once I added the Retin-A back in, oh boy. Marks gone within a week after the pimple disappeared. 

This is a holy grail product for me. And if ibuybeauti ever stops selling it, I'm going to move to Korea as I haven't seen it for sale anywhere else.

Linked up with - Mom Trends, Mama in Heels, Sassy Moms in the City and Musings of a Housewife