Tony Moly Timeless EGF Power Cream Review

While Tony Moly is known for its super cute packaging, they also have more high-end products, such as the Timeless EGF Power Cream, which I'll review a sample of here.

I had to look it up, but EGF stands for Epidermal Growth Factor, which heals and renews skin cells. The sample's front states that this cream is primarily for anti-wrinkle, whitening and skin power. More specifically, on the product's webpage, it states that using this product for one day the product creates smooth skin, 14 days creates firm skin, 28 days creates clear skin and 60 days rids wrinkles. This page also says that it is for all skin types, is an anti-aging cream highly concentrated with vitamins and nutritious oils, has a luxurious jelly consistency to tighten, even, hydrate, relieve and protect damaged and sensitive skin. It also says that this product should be used along with Tony Moly's snail care line and other EGF products. The directions online say to use an adequate amount on your face, then spread it and lightly tap it in for better absorption.

This product is a very thick and white cream with a subtle scent, a bit like Tony Moly's Floria line. Using this is like putting on a thick, transparent layer on my skin that feels silky afterwards. So, it's not as thick, heavy and waxy as the Missha Super Aqua Ultra Waterfull Cream or The Face Shop Olive Essential Cream.

The Pros

• This cream hydrates and moisturizes my skin very well.
• This is great for cold months as the cream feels like a light shield against the cold and dry air.
• When I used this right before bed, it still lasted until morning to create a smooth and even base for right before I apply BB cream.

The Cons

• None!

Overall, I really do like this face cream. It's heavy, but not as heavy as the other face creams I mentioned, so it's nice for the transition months when it's still a bit chilly or for cold winters. It's a great cream to use at night as it keeps my face hydrated until the following morning.

SkinFood Egg White Nose Pack (Cool Down) Review

SkinFood created the Egg White Pack, a packet of facial strips meant to eliminate blackheads, which I reviewed here. Along with these strips, the brand also created an accompanying Egg White Nose Pack (Cool Down) nose strip, meant to refresh the nose directly after using the Egg White Pack's nose strip.

The Cool Down Pack is sold individually, so I bought one just to try it out. Since I bought this at a US location SkinFood store, they placed a makeshift English label on the back, which has the same information as the product's webpage. It states that this pack is a gel that hydrates, soothes and calms newly exfoliated skin and uses egg white extracts to tighten enlarged pores. The instructions state that after using the egg white nose strip, open this package and remove the film. Next apply the smooth side of the strip onto your nose, lining up the round edges with the tip of your nose. Then remove after 10 minutes and use toner and moisturizer afterwards. There are also ingredients and a warning to keep this product at room temperature and away from sunlight.

I ripped off the sticker label to see what the original packaging had. The instructions are the same, but this description adds the purpose of egg white, which has lots of albumin and amino acids (though this doesn't mean anything to me as I'm not a chemistry major...).

The cool down strip is one millimeter thick and seems like a cotton pad. This is the correct orientation to place on the nose; it should be like an "M" shape.

The other side of this strip looks like really smooth jello.

Hopefully this is my last hideous photo I post on here -.- Before I used this strip, I washed off all the residue from the previous nose strip and made sure my nose was dry before applying this cool down strip. It feels sticky like jello, but also cool and refreshing once I placed it on my skin. While this is a two dimensional strip with no slits for curvature, it fit on my nose fairly well and stuck on firmly.

The Pros

• This strip really is cooling and refreshing.
• It's very easy to use, with no mess at all. There's no need to rinse off my nose after using this strip.
• It stays on my nose nicely and I don't need to worry about it slipping off or budging.
• It is very easy and painless to remove.
• My nose feels smooth and has a healthy glow afterwards.

The Cons

• This cool down strip really isn't necessary...but it's still nice to use every once in awhile.

Overall, while this cool down pack isn't necessary, but it does feel very cooling to the touch. I'm sure this would be even more refreshing during the hot summer months. If your nose is very sensitive to using nose strips, I suggest using this cool down strip afterwards, but otherwise, it isn't essential.

Infinite: The Origin Album Review

As Inspirits and other Kpop fans know, Infinite has had a remarkable career, especially these past few months, and they can add "being the first Kpop group to release an instrumental album" under their belt as well. On April 1, 2014, Woollim announced Infinite's release of The Origin, an all-instrumental album, to be on April 10th. Since it was April Fool's, I honestly thought this was Trollim striking again. But when pre-orders hit the next day, I'm so thankful to have secured my album, as there are only 30,000 copies released! I'm thinking this will be as rare as Over The Top...I ordered mine from Kpoptown and it arrived 11 days after shipment, in a bubble wrap bag inside their typical bubble wrap lined waterproof envelope.

At first I was hesitant about an instrumental album, as it's not Infinite themselves creating the instrumentals, but now that I have the album, I couldn't be happier! The packaging is really elegant, yet streamline; definitely like a keepsake. The contents are inside a 5.5 inch box with a vinyl-like 6.5 inch square plates as the front and back covers.

This album comes in a plastic wrap with a black sticker containing copyright information. This same label is printed on the back of the album and on the back of the CD case inside. The back of the album also has two holographic stickers and this era's glossy logo in the top left corner.

The case closes surprisingly tightly (in a good way, so it's really sturdy!). Once opened, on the right there is a ribbon to easily access the contents.

From top to bottom (right to left) is the music sheet book, followed by the CD case, and lastly, the coin. The book and case are so adorable in its 5 x 5 inch size!

The music score booklet is minimalistic in design, with the album's name and logo printed in glossy black on a black background. This booklet is really adorable, from its size to the draft-like music sheets inside that make this look like a little notebook. It has a distinct "new book" smell as well.

There are a total of 87 pages, mostly of Infinite's sheet music. Each song is about two to four pages long and is ordered by the songs from the white disc, then black, then gold. The last four pages are song and staff credits. I was hoping to use these on the piano, but its size is a bit small, so I'll just use some scans found online.

Underneath the music booklet is the CD case. The front and side have the symbol while the back side has the same information has the album back cover. This is a tri-fold case made of cardboard. The CDs don't seem to be too well protected.

Flipping open the case once reveals the tracklist on the right. Flipping it completely open reveals all three CDs. The three discs generally split up Infinite's songs: the white disc contains Infinite's softer ballads, the black contains their dark and powerful songs and the gold contains more uplifting dance tracks.

Here is the close-up of the tracklist. Each disc contains 10 songs, for a total of 30 instrumental tracks. Infinite seldom released instrumental tracks in the past, only "BTD" in their "BTD" Japanese singles, and all of the New Challenge tracks as bonus tracks for first press. I used to skip these tracks because I preferred Infinite's voices, but now listening to The Origin's tracks gave me a stronger appreciation for Infinite, as well as the instrumentals themselves. Surprisingly, all the tracks sound really mellow, which made me appreciate Infinite's vocals for adding so much power and emotion to each of their songs. Also now I really appreciate the beauty of these instrumentals; they're so complex and sound really different from when Infinite's voices are combined. These tracks are also great to relax with or listen to while working and you don't want to get distracted by Infinite's voices^^

The coin is tightly embedded in a solid foam board that layers the bottom of the case.

There are three coins, all with the same design, either in gold, silver or bronze. Mine is silver, but in the light it looks a bit gold and bronze! It took me a long time, and my dad, to figure out mine was silver and not gold -.- One side says "SINCE 2010 INFINITE" while both sides have the wreath pattern and the Origin's logo, which is just for this album. Surprisingly the coin is pretty big, 2 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick. At first I thought it was strange to have a coin, especially since I have no where to display it, but now it seems pretty cool! I'll just keep it in my album though. 

Overall, while there is no sign of the members of Infinite in this album, I still love it. The packaging is so gorgeous, the music booklet is great for those musically inclined, the tracks are breathtaking, and the coin is a lot cooler than I had expected! It's fun to listen to these tracks and try to sing along, or listen to the middle of a song and guess which one it is! Without vocals, all of this is so much more challenging!

SkinFood Egg White Pack Review

SkinFood has several nose packs meant to target blackheads using strips, with main ingredients such as Black Bean, Chlorella and Egg White. I purchased the Egg White Pack, meant for the nose, forehead and jaw (actually the chin), which I'll review here. This pack comes in a cardboard case, with strips individually packaged inside.

The backside and this product's webpage explain that egg white extract exfoliates and refines pores, controls excess sebum and directly removes blackheads. It also states that these strips should only be used once or twice a week, and you shouldn't use this product on the same area "twice consecutively" meaning...only use it once a day I suppose. The bottom of this packaging has the manufacture and expiration dates, with just under a one year and a half shelf life.

Inside this pack, there are 10 total individually packaged strips, five for the nose and five for the forehead and chin, which is convenient if you just want to use one. The front has an image of exactly where each strip should be placed on the face.

The backside has very detailed instructions. Both the nose and forehead/chin instructions are identical, except one says "nose" while the other says "forehead and chin." The instructions for the nose pack (pictured above) say to wash your face and leave your nose very wet, then peel off the liner on the strip. Next place the nose strip, smooth side touching the skin, and firmly press down the entire strip to make sure it has complete contact with your nose and to eliminate air bubbles. Also line the round edges of the strip on your nostrils for more accurate placement. Leave the strip on for 15 minutes in the summer or if your face sweats a lot, and 10 minutes otherwise, letting the strip dry. Afterwards, peel the strip off from the edges inward and rinse off excess residue from your face with toner or water.

The nose strip is on the top and the forehead and chin strips are on the bottom. I put the smooth side up for the nose strip, which is also the correct orientation to put on the nose (like an "M" shape). The triangle pieces have the non-smooth side facing up, with a felt-like texture. Honestly, these two pieces look like scrap cutouts...they're very small and don't serve much purpose, especially when blackheads aren't common in these areas compared to the nose. These strips are very thin and are very adhesive, like stickers, making it very easy to place. They feel flimsy, but stick onto the face well. There is also a very subtle scent that is hardly noticeable.

Well, don't I look silly. Here are the three strips on my face. The two triangle pieces should be like arrows pointing down, while the nose strip should be placed like an "M" shape. Within one minute, I can feel the strips hardening. Of course, towards the end of my ten minutes, I feel little air gaps on both sides of my nose. After removing the triangle strips, I was left with a lot of sticky white residue that was easy to wash off. The nose strip left a big red imprint that lasted a few minutes.

Here are the strips after I removed them, with the chin on the left and the forehead on the right. There is literally nothing on the chin strip, and only a few small hairs on the forehead strip.

The nose strip sadly also had little results. There were quite a few fuzzy nose hairs that were pulled, along with some gunk the entire length of the pore from the left and center of my nose. The bottom left of my nose (where the pores were cleaned) feels much smoother than the right.

The Pros

• The adhesiveness makes these strips very easy to put on my face and stay on very well.
• The shape of the nose strip makes it easy to form around the bottom of my nostrils.
• The triangle strips are pain-free to remove and the nose strip is tolerable, if done slowly.
• A decent amount of blackheads were removed, though I was hoping for more.

The Cons

• The forehead and chin strips are very small and are pointless in general, since these areas aren't common trouble spots for blackheads.
• It's difficult to remove all air bubbles between my skin and the strips.

Overall, I have always liked the effectiveness of nose strips, but these strips didn't have as much effect as I had hoped. While they were easy to use, but I see no use for the triangle strips and the nose strip didn't remove too much gunk. Maybe if I can fully eliminate the air bubbles, I can more effectively remove my blackheads...

Update: I used the nose strip again, and this time I put pressure on the strip to mold directly onto my nostrils for the first three minutes. Doing this, I was able to rip out a lot more blackheads! But while removing the strip, I also saw many blackheads that were barely sticking to the strip and then stayed in my pores. I'm just glad that I had much better results the second time around.

Also, this Egg White Pack also has an accompanying Egg White Nose Pack (Cool Down) strip that is sold separately and meant to cool down the nose directly after using the Egg White Pack nose strip; you can read this review here.

The Face Shop Volcanic Clay Black Head Charcoal Nose Strip Review

The Face Shop has a small line containing New Zealand Volcanic Clay that eliminates blackheads, with products including nose packs and nose strips. Here I'll be reviewing the Volcanic Clay Black Head Charcoal Nose Strip, which can be purchased individually or in a set of seven. This nose strip also comes in Aloe, but I chose Charcoal since that seems more hardcore.

The front shows that this product uses New Zealand volcanic mud, which contains natural minerals, to clear pores and create smooth skin. This product's webpage states that this nose pack removes blackheads and dead skin cells thoroughly.

The directions on the backside follow the illustrations well. Start by washing your face and leaving your nose very wet, then remove the lining from the strip. Place the strip across the bridge of your nose as reference and firmly press down from center outward, making sure that the entire strip is on your skin and that there are no air bubbles. Leave on for 10 to 15 minutes until the strip has completely hardened on your skin, and slowly remove from the edge inward. There is also a warning, cautioning people only to use this product up to two times a week.

The strip has a grayish, fuzzy side (top photo) and a black smooth side that is directly against the plastic film (bottom photo); the latter is the side to be placed directly against the nose, and the orientation follows the former (the strip should have the "M" shape while on your nose).

Please excuse the most unflattering, unnecessary close-ups...! It's stressful knowing that I only get one chance with nose strips, especially with my past experience with nose strips, it usually never turned out well. But this time was a success! I doused my nose with cold water, then carefully lined the "U" at the bridge of my nose and placed the rest of the strip on my nose, pushing down firmly from center outward. Not the entire strip stuck to my nose; the bottom edge was very resistant. The first few minutes, the strip feels like slipping off, but just keep it in place until it molds around your nose. Within three minutes you can feel it hardening and stiffening and becoming sticky to touch. After 10 minutes it has completely hardened. This was when I felt air gaps, which means I wouldn't be able to remove all the blackheads.

Here is the strip after I removed it, with gunk stil intact. Removing it doesn't hurt if you go really slowly, but it is stuck on pretty well, like paper mâché. Because there were those gaps around the edge, I was able to peel it away. Peeling this did give me some tooth pain, however, because I had a root canal done on my front tooth and the nasal cavity is connected to the oral cavity. This sounds a bit gross, but I was able to see the gunk being pulled out deep within my pores. It's very satisfying to actually see my face being cleaned. On the left, you can see white gunk sticking up. The strip completely removed deeply inside these pores (which are about 2 mm long), while the center and other side got about 25% of the length (about .5 mm long). To avoid this, next time I have to make sure that every part of the strip is firmly on my nose, with no air bubbles.

Clearly I didn't think through about the before and after photos, since they have different lighting. I'm only using these to demonstrate the effects after removing the nose strip. The charcoal, when wet, left black watermarks on my face and fingertips, which are easy to wash off. Also to show just how effective this strip is, the pores of which had gunk removed are now very red. (Well my entire face looks red because of this lighting...but that's not the case)!

The Pros

• It is fairly easy to use after the first time around.
• It removed gunk deep in my pores (though only on the right side of my nose; left side in strip photo).
• There is virtually no scent; there was an initial, very subtle scent when I placed the strip on my nose, but I got used to it within a minute.
• My nose definitely feels matte and really clean afterwards.

The Cons

• The 2D shape of the strip doesn't fit perfectly around my nose, especially at the bottom edge of the strip near my nostrils.
• It may be difficult to remove air bubbles within the strip, which results to not maximizing the strip's strength of ripping out all the blackheads.

Overall, I am really satisfied with this nose strip! I'm surprised that this one use removed so much gunk deep into my pores. Now that I get the hang of it, hopefully next time I'll be able to remove more of the gunk all around my nose. Using strips is the best, most direct way of removing blackheads, so I can't wait to get my hands on more of these!

The Face Shop Real Nature Mask Mung Bean and Pomegranate Review

The Face Shop has a wide variety of face mask sheets with different price ranges. One of the lower lines is the Real Nature Mask line, which has masks with the essences of Raspberry (which I reviewed here), Lemon, Rice, Olive, Cucumber, Kelp, Red Ginseng and more. Here I'll review the Real Nature Mask Mung Bean sheet and the Real Nature Mask Pomegranate sheet.

I bought the Real Nature Mask Mung Bean sheet from The Face Shop's Markham, Canada branch just over a year ago, and the packaging has been updated since then. The front shows fresh mung beans on top of grounded up ones, giving an idea of the flavor to expect inside.

The back has full information in both Korean and English, along with illustrations of the steps. The bottom also has the expiration date (20151019) imprinted, meaning that these mask sheets have a shelf life of at least two and a half years.

This information can also be found on The Face Shop's international webpage for this product. The English states that this mask sheet has 1000 mg of grounded quality mung bean extract. This extract is meant to purify pours and result in clean and smooth skin. It also mentions the typical warning, along with to not use if you have "broken or abraded skin," meaning if your skin has been chafed off (ie. rope or rug burn). If that were the case, you would probably be putting ointment on rather than a dinky face mask sheet (no offense).

The directions state to use this product after washing your face and using toner. Then unfold and line the sheet onto your face according to the designated eye, nose and mouth holes and leave it on for 15 to 20 minutes. Afterwards, remove the sheet and pat the excess on your face for deeper absorption.

Once taking the mask out of its bag, I could smell a refreshing and subtle scent, like the scent of trees or a meadow. It's really hard to explain, but it doesn't smell sweet like flowers or "clean" like soap like other products I've tested. The mask itself is very moist and damp, and inside the bag there is still a lot of excess liquid. This liquid was very smooth, with a runny gel consistency.

It was a bit difficult to unfold the mask. Be careful not to rip it! But my pomegranate sheet easily unfolded. This is a circular mask sheet with slits around the border to fit over your face and huge, larger-than-life size holes for the eyes, nose and mouth. But the mask is so large anyways, that you can bunch up and fold over the mask at the temples to cover the eye holes. This is obvious, but make sure to line the mask perfectly and tap it so it lies directly on your face, with no air bubbles, for maximum absorption.

The Real Nature Mask Pomegranate sheet, which I have no idea when or from where I got it, has the same layout, information on the back, mask sheet dimensions, basically everything, as the mung bean mask sheet. The only difference is the pomegranate flavor, with its description as this mask containing 1000 mg of freshly grounded pomegranate extract, which has vitamins and minerals to lift, moisturize and make the skin radiant. This product's webpage also states that pomegranate extract provides elasticity and gives a glossy finish. This pomegranate mask has a sweet scent, like ripe cherries.

The Pros

• Both scents are refreshing, subtle, not too overpowering and linger for the full 20 minutes.
• On the face, the sheet is cooling and refreshing; perfect for those hot, summer months.
• The sheet stays on my face really well; I can be very mobile and move my face in all angles without worrying about it budging.
• There is so much excess liquid afterwards, it's nice to re-soak the sheet and use it as a cleansing towelette on my body.

The Cons

• The mask sheet is a very generic, one-size-fits-all sheet. The eye and mouth holes are especially big, so much of my face isn't covered by the sheet. Also the mung bean mask sheet is meant to clean pores, but the fit was so poor around my nose, that none of my blackheads were covered by the sheet (and I had to realize this after I had finished using the sheet -.-).
• After removing the mask sheet off my face, the excess quickly dries up, but leaves a sticky residue over my face.

Overall, both mask sheets felt very refreshing and using them was a good way to wind down and relax before bed, like a mini spa treatment. I liked that my skin absorbed a lot of liquid and felt clean and fresh afterwards. The one downfall, as always with mask sheets, is that the sheet and holes are way too big, so it doesn't rest on my entire face. Someday, I'll hope to find a perfect-sized mask sheet!

SkinFood Pink Salt Body Scrub Review

Some of my favorite products from SkinFood are their hearty body scrubs, so I'm especially excited to review this Pink Salt Body Scrub! Like the Cashew Nut Cream and Coconut body scrubs, the Pink Salt version comes in a translucent, thick plastic casing that makes for a fancy looking product. The label has information printed in Korean.

Since I bought this product at SkinFood's San Francisco branch, the exterior wrapping included an English label. This label gives a description, a fun fact, directions, a list of ingredients and a warning. The description states that this scrub uses pink salt to massage and revitalize dull skin, creating soft and radiant skin. The fun fact gives background information about salt and salt's purpose of removing impurities and dead skin to create smooth and fresh skin. The directions say to massage an ample amount onto wet skin, focusing on areas with more dead skin cells, and then rinse off with lukewarm water. The product's SkinFood webpage practically states the same thing.

The inner lid is really nice, because there's that extra indentation to secure the scrub from leaking out. Also you can see that the container has a nice brown translucency to it, the scrub inside the container has a pale pink hue and that the little residue on the lid has transparency. The scent is also subtle and...salty...like the salty breeze if you're seaside. This type of salt reminds me of those spa salts, so it also gives a relaxing, spa-like feeling.

This scrub is easy to scoop, but it's very solid and thick. If you follow my index finger, you can see the indentation I made from the scoop I took.

On my skin, this scrub is like a clear gel with lots of chunky salt grains.

The scrub surprisingly doesn't feel rough at all, despite all the sharp salt grains. The first time I used this scrub, the salt surprisingly didn't feel rough so I kept using more and more product and increased my hand pressure. While rinsing off the scrub, it became a milky solution that smoothed over my skin. I guess this scrub is meant more for smoothness than for exfoliation from roughness.

The Pros

• The packaging is simplistic yet fancy.
• The scent is relaxing and soothing, like the salty ocean.
• The milky smoothness feels nice on the skin.

The Cons

• I wish the salt were much rougher, to exfoliate my skin.
• It seems that I will use up this product rather quickly, much quicker than anticipated.

Overall, I do like this scrub for its smoothness while I use it. However, I do wish that the salt felt rougher, more like those exfoliating beads. At this rate, I feel that I will finish off this jar very quickly!

SkinFood Orange & Mint Foot Scrub Review

SkinFood is known for using produce as key ingredients in their products, such as combining oranges and mint leaves to create this foot scrub. While I'm a sucker for cute packaging, I bought this product despite its lacking design. This is simply a white squeeze tube with a printed label on top. This scrub also contains 120 g of product.

Since I bought this from the SkinFood branch in San Francisco, a US label was plastered on the back of the packaging with a caution (to only use externally and avoid eyes) and a list of ingredients.

Underneath the extra label are directions and ingredients in English and other information in Korean. It says that this scrub uses orange extract for vitamins and mint extract to soothe skin that while combined, refreshes and exfoliates skin. SkinFood's webpage elaborates, stating that ingredients include pumice, orange powder and cocoa powder to exfoliate the skin, resulting in smooth and healthy feet. Instructions say to use an adequate amount and work into a lather/until it foams and massage on feet, especially the heels, and rinse with water. The first time using this product, you have to remove a silver seal underneath the screw lid.

Here is how the scrub looks like. First off, the scent is not strong nor sweet; there is no prominent orange or mint fragrant. And the scrub is actually a white, creamy scrub (the lighting and reflection from my bathroom walls discolors it) with small black, uneven beads to combat the roughness of feet. I use about 3/4 to 1 inch of scrub per foot and rub my foot thoroughly, without adding water to the scrub. It creates a smooth lather that contrasts the beads. It is more effective using this not while in the shower, because the scrub becomes too diluted and less effective. Afterwards, it's nice to use the remainder to scrub my hands.

Overall, I'm not impressed nor unimpressed by this scrub; it is exactly as I imagined (though I was hoping for a more refreshing scent true to its name), beads to soften feet and cream to moisturize skin.