Korean Beauty: Disappointing Products 2015

I am currently off work as I was sent to the doctor yesterday; I’ve been battling a nasty cold for the past three weeks and I guess my body finally just gave in, so here I am. In the beginning of January no one of us could call in sick as we were very understaffed and had to help out in other stores so these people could have a late Christmas party as well so I think the viruses just accumulated inside my body until it couldn’t take it anymore. Needless to say, since I’m not exactly the relaxing type, I’ve been battling boredom from the very first day (today). Which at least means more to read on this blog, so yay? 😀

Today’s post has been planned since… probably… 5 months ago but I never got around to actually write it. There have been quite a few „rave“ products on my to-try-list the past year and sadly, a lot of them have utterly disappointed me. This isn’t supposed to be a hate post and if these products work for you: good for you! However, I thought this could give some perspective to people with a similar skin type as myself as to which products might better be avoided, regardless of their (potential) internet hype. Also, I often don’t have the motivation to make a complete post about a product that did nothing but disappoint me, so I collected them for this collective post of disappointment. (Scroll down to bottom of the post for a complete list of products that failed me that are not featured here as I already threw them out or gave them away)

When I started my adventure into Korean skincare products, this was one of the very first products that jumped out to me as everyone was talking about how great it was. I swear, I really wanted to love you. I did. But our encounter wasn’t meant to be a happy one.

While I absolutely adore the packaging of this, that’s really about the only thing I could love about this sunscreen. For some reason, I couldn’t take the scent of this (which is probably best described as…. kinda flowery?) and it immediately put me off, even though I am not very sensitive to smells. While using this, my acne never really was able to calm down and sometimes I got a very itchy feeling on my skin so needless to say, I put this bad boy up for adoption to find it a new, more loving owner. 

Products that worked for me instead: Bioré UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence, Hada Labo UV Creamy Gel, Hada Labo UV Moist Emulsion

The Su:m37 Miracle Rose Cleansing Stick had a very similar fate: I REALLY wanted to love this one. I don’t even know why I did, but it was incredibly hyped for its gentleness and great pH of 5.5. Now, the thing is: I hate rose scents. Hate it. Obviously I wasn’t thinking straight when I purchased this (in my defense, it was in the very beginning when I just moved to Korea so my brain was basically in skincare cray cray land at the time) So yeah, that didn’t work out for me. On top of that. I suspect the cleansing stick to break me out from time to time. The one thing that really put me off though, was the fact that this cleansing stick would hurt when I used it on my (active) acne. That’s a huge red flag in my books; if your cleanser hurts on your acne, it probably isn’t gentle enough or has ingredients your skin doesn’t like.

Products that worked for me instead: Hada Labo Gokujyun Foaming Face Wash (in the pump), Sebamed Reinigungsschaum (Cleansing Foam)

Out of everything, this was by far my nightmare product. I was SO excited when I ordered it from ibuybeauti for various reasons: The Laneige sleeping packs have a very good reputation amongst the Korean Beauty lovers, I love berries and the packaging just looks so so good on the bathroom counter. However, this was nothing I imagined. 

First of all, the scent problem again. While I love berries, I hated the scent of this. It was way too strong and artificial for my taste and the worst thing was that I could still strongly smell the scent even after one hour of putting the product on. It seriously drove me insane to the point that I had to wash my face again to get rid of the scent. Bummer. Worse however, was the „effect“ of this repair pack: My skin would get incredibly itchy after a few minutes of applying. I tried this repair pack three times before I sold it to a fellow European soul in the quest for her Korean beauty holy grail (if you remember me, how did it work out for you?!)

Products that worked for me instead: CNP Laboratory Propolis Deep Moisture Pack

To see this here might come as a surprise to you as probably everyone knows just how much I love COSRX products in general. I have been their biggest fan from the day of launch and continue to be until this day. However, even the best brands sometimes disagree with your skin, and that’s okay. The thing with the Advanced Snail 92 All In One Cream is, it isn’t bad. It didn’t have any bad effect on my skin like these other products did. 

However, since I am a huge fan of their Advanced Snail Mucin Essence, this was just not performing enough for me. I wanted to use this as a kind of light sleeping pack for the summer but for some reason, it wasn’t working well for me in terms of hydration. While my skin gets all happy whenever I use their snail essence, the cream was just….doing nothing. The jar was kind of messy and I really dreaded to use this so I did the only logical thing: I urged my boyfriend to use this cream instead of emptying my beloved snail essence and only allowed him near the essence again once he used this one up! Worked like a charm.

Products that worked for me instead: COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence

So here we are, the finale: This was by far the absolute biggest disappointment of the year, hands down. The first bubble mask I ever tried was the Su:m37 White Award Bubble-De Mask and that was probably a mistake: Heavenly bubbles that feel like a cloud embracing my skin while gently exfoliating. Heaven in a bottle! Quite pricey though, so I decided to try out this much more affordable (seemingly) similar version. Well. Not even close. Not even remotely close.

The problem I had with this product: IT DIDN’T BUBBLE. Yeah, you read that right. Not sure if I got a „bad“ product or something, but I applied it to my skin and….. literally nothing happened. No bubbles, no foam, no tingling sensation. The pasty goopiness would just sit on my skin while approximately forming two bubbles. I certainly didn’t expect it to be as good as the Su:m37 bubble mask, but I expected at least something.

Products that worked for me instead: Su:m37 White Award Bubble-De Mask

COSRX Advanced Snail 92 All In One Cream (not bad, but underwhelming)

COSRX Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence (not bad, but underwhelming)

Innisfree Bija Anti Trouble Spot Essence R (didn’t do anything)

Missha All-Around Safe Block Essence Sun 45 (broke me out, hated scent)

Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream (broke me out)

Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Skin Treatment + Moisturiser (broke me out)

Missha Super Aqua Double Enzyme Oxygen Mask (didn’t bubble)

Mizon AHA & BHA Daily Clean Toner (itchy skin, broke me out)

Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream (itchy skin, broke me out)

Su:m 37 Miracle Rose Cleansing Stick (broke me out, hurt my skin)

…there were probably more that I already forgot. Needless to say, I am kinda done with Missha and Mizon, as I had the worst outcomes with the products I tried from these brands :/ What were your most disappointing products 2015..? Let me know in the comments! 🙂 

Lots of love,