Korean cosmetics/skincare reviews

For the past few years South Korea has been in the spotlight for its cheap & good skincare 

JYJ endorsing Tony Moly products (aargh! Junsu's skin is perfect!)

along with its cosmetics. BB Cream was a big thing when the celebrities were using it daily to cover their blemishes and look good on TV. So what is actually BB Cream? It's called blemish balm cream sold mainly in Asian markets and an all in 1 product- contains sunscreen, coverage, foundation and moisturiser. It was originally created by a dermatologist Dr. Christine Schrammek to protect her patients' skin after facial peels and surgery. The coverage is often mineral-based to both cover & treat blemishes such as acne, sun & age spots. It also has anti-wrinkle, anti-inflammatory and soothing effects. Several BB creams do contain hyaluronic acid & Vitamin C.  [Courtesy from Wikipedia] 

I've personally tried a few BB creams due to my acne problematic skin. I have used Missha's BB Cream, TheSaem and latest Laneige BB Cushion [Pore Control] SPF50+ PA+++. Laneige has been heavily endorsed by South Korean actress Song Hae Gyo for her perfect porcelain skin. Song is born with beautiful skin and all she needs to do is to stand in front of camera and do a CF for it. I gave it a go and felt good when I first used it. It controls my oil sebum, stays quite matte for entire day & good pore coverage. Best of all it has a nice scent and a blue puffy sponge with the effect of  cooling sensation (personally I didn't feel cool using it because it's winter when I bought it! Haha!) 

Laneige BB Cushion Pore control comes in 3 colours- #13 True beige, #21 Natural Beige and #14 Pink Beige. I used the Pink Beige as I have pale fair skin. I give it 4.5/5 stars!  Sometimes I do switch usage around my coverage and use TheSaem See-Saw AC Control BB Cream. It was purchased in Seoul when celebrity Lee Seung Gi was endorsing it. 

TheSaem AC Control BB Cream comes in a tube with pale beige colour. It's quite easy to apply but coverage wise is so-so, i could still see my spots if I touch up a bit. Best of all it has a strong medical echinacea fragrance so it's nice! So I'd give it 3/5 stars. 

Lastly I've used Missha's BB Cream that comes in a red tube and it was good coverage but I felt my skin was breaking out worse than ever so I decided to stop using it. However it was a good coverage for those with aging skin and it was cheap too. 

I've also used the Tony Moly AC Control products before, it wasn't producing great results

as I have hormonal acne even though I am an adult! Damn it! They smell great and best of all they come in affordable prices and blue packaging. I bought it because it was endorsed by Song Joong Ki who has perfect skin (he was in Sungkyunkwan Scandal & Mr. Nice Guy)

I've started to use Laneige range skincare this year with Deep Pore Cleansing Foam which makes my face squeaky clean, just squeeze a bit from the tube and its rich lathing foam rinses the dirt & make up from your face. Then I have the Trouble Relief toner which I find it liquidy more than toner but decided to give it a go. 

I have yet to purchase more from the Trouble Relief range at Seoul Myeongdong's main shop. Price wise is slightly more expensive than Face Shop, Tony Moly, Missha, Etude House...etc 

The Etude AC Clinic range is meant for trouble acne prone skin as well. I've used it before and somehow it was not working well for my skin (maybe for more mild pimple prone skin)

Otherwise price is pretty reasonable but some people might not like it as it has a strong medical herb smell. I can't describe the fragrance but it didn't smell great.

And check out all the celebrities who have endorsed South Korean cosmetics and skincare..tons of them! I've counted personally there were 20+brands of skincare products in Korea itself. It's madness where salesgirls at Myeongdong were busy promoting and dragging customers into the shop with freebies and posters of the stars endorsing them.

SHinee endorsing for ETUDE House hand creams