The Beauty Wolf

Category: Glow Recipe

BLITHE TUNDRA CHAGA PRESSED SERUM REVIEW

January 25, 2016 /

Blithe pressed serum
Glow Recipe’s curation skills are always on point. I don’t know how these ladies do it but they continually pick diamonds that my skin loves out of an overwhelming sea of mediocre products.  So, no surprise to me, they’ve  once again, they’ve come through with another must have winner. This time it’s the Blithe Tundra Chaga Pressed Serum.
Pressed serum? Yep! You may have seen it when the Glow girls were on Shark Tank last month! (They made a deal with Robert btw, the nicest shark of the bunch IMO 😉

A little about the chaga pressed serum from their website.

“The Gist:

A serum and moisturizer combined in a ‘pressed serum’ format that is packed with 60% Chaga Mushroom extract harvested from the tundras.

Also available in a special K-beauty ‘Shark’ set here.
Curious about the pressed serum trend? Read our blog post here. 

How it works: 

Chaga Mushroom extract, cooled instead of heat-processed to preserve the original nutrition, is combined with a blend of fermented oils including olive and argan oils. This easy-to-use serum and moisturizer in one treats, nourishes and brightens skin without heaviness.   

Free of: 
Parabens, Synthetic Dyes & Fragrances, Mineral Oils.”
Pressed serum is totally new to me, and I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it, but I have to tell you, I  absolutely loved this pressed serum texture. It really is like a light moisturizer, with custardy texture, but chocked full of skin beneficial ingredients.
blithe pressed serum open
It’s extremely soothing, which is much needed during this time of year. You east coasters really could have used this during that hellacious winter storm, let’s put it that way. I’ve been layering it on top of the Blithe Vital Treatment Pulp Essence during the day and Holy Snail’s Shark Sauce at night. These combinations have been a breakthrough for my skin which was really acting up lately due my illness and the incredible cold snap we’ve had. I have to walk 2 miles a day in this weather so my skin really takes a beating during the harsh winters here.  I can’t half-ass my skincare, it takes high quality products to build up my moisture barrier and keep it from drying out. This serum is one such product. The custard texture glides on the skin and leaves it plump and hydrated. It’s odor-less, and very rich without being heavy. The texture is really divine.
blithe pressed serum swatch
I really wish there were more products with this texture, it’s something I have really been missing in my routine.  It also has some really great ingredients as you can see here.
Inonotus Obliquus (Mushroom) Extract(60%), Water, Glycerin, Diglycerin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Triethylhexanoin, Polyurethane-39, Cetearyl Alcohol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Candida Bombicola/Glucose/Methyl Rapeseedate Ferment, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Cedrus Atlantica Bark Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Alteromonas Ferment Extract, Sparassis Crispa Extract, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Lecithin, Butylene Glycol, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Polyacrylate-13, C12-16 Alcohols, Caramel, Palmitic Acid, Pentylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Polyisobutene, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Potassium Hydroxide, Adenosine, Polysorbate 20, Disodium EDTA, Dipropylene Glycol, Methyldihydrojasmonate

I recently attended a local artisan faire and there were several pop up shops for locally made skincare. Every single one of them had a chaga product! They even had dried chaga tea. It’s been used since antiquity as a folk remedy, and it’s even been used for it’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties medicinally. It’s touted as an immune boosting superfood, but that’s if it’s ingested. I’m not sure of the actual benefits of applying it topically, all I know is it’s worked wonders on my ravaged skin and has become an integral part of my new harsh weather skincare regime. In short, I can’t tell you exactly why, it just really works beautifully for me. Whatever voodoo magic is going on, keep it up Blithe.

I really love this product layered with other essences or ampoules, but you could also use it solo and still get great benefit. If you are interested in the companion essence, BLITHE Vital Treatment Pulp Essence, let me quickly  tell you a bit about it. It’s absolutely packed with extracts. Butylene Glycol and water don’t even show up on the ingredient list until #8 and #11 respectively as you can see from the ingredients list here:

Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract(22.844%), Ceratonia Siliqua (Carob) Fruit Extract(9.665%), Phaseolus Radiatus Seed Extract(9.665%), Arachis Hypogaea (Peanut) Fruit Extract(9.665%), Lens Esculenta (Lentil) Fruit Extract(9.665%), Phaseolus Angularis Seed Extract(9.665%), Phaseolus Vulgaris (Kidney Bean) Seed Extract(9.665%), Butylene Glycol, PEG-32, Glycerin, Water, 1,2-Hexanediol, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Polyglutamic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Potassium Hydroxide, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Citrus Limon（Lemon）Peel Oil, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Caramel, Disodium EDTA, Adenosine, Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Mannitol, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Carbomer, Polysorbate 20, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7. Candida Bombicola/Glucose/Methyl Rapeseedate Ferment, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil
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It has absolutely no scent and goes on very smooth without any overly slick or greasy feel. It also has almost no acne triggers or irritants, it’s a powerful essence and it wold work great for oilier skins and drier skins alike. Again, I love it paired with the pressed serum but if you wanted to use this alone, especially if your skin is oily and you hate the feel of serums, this would be one to definitely check out.

And my favourite part, Glow Recipe has offered to give you 15% off your order if you order through my link! Yay to saving money!
http://i.refs.cc/Mxk05ta7

http://www.glowrecipe.com/products/vital-treatment-pulp-essence-8-nourishing-beans

and vital treatment

BLOSSOM JEJU PINK CAMELLIA SOOMBI BLOOMING CREAM & ESSENCE SERUM REVIEW

August 21, 2015 /

blossomjejupinkcamelliasoombibloomingcream
There are some creams that feel like an indulgence. They feel like you’re doing something for your skin that’s almost sinful it feels so luxurious. Sulwhasoo is one of those creams, as is It’s Skin Prestige Creme Ginseng D’escargo,  I’ve also discovered another cream to join their lofty ranks, Blossom Jeju Pink Camellia Soombi Blooming Cream, a recently curated treasure at Glow Recipe.

The ingredient list is the first hint as to why this cream is a top spot earner for me

Camellia Japonica Flower Extract(54.72%), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Water, Glycerin, Camellia Japonica seed oil(5.41%), Pentylene Glycol(EcoCert®, Natural Origin), Niacinamide, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Phosphatidylcholine, Phytosteryl Macadamiate, Propanediol(EcoCert®, Natural Origin), Butyrospermum Parkii (shea) Butter, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Xanthan Gum, Akebia Quinata Extract, Panthenol, Tocopherol, Arginine, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Caprylyl Glycol, Squalane, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Centella Asiatica Extract, Betaine, Bisabolol, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Trehalose, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Bioflavonoids, Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Adenosine, Opuntia Ficus-Indica fruit Extract, Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate, Sorbitan Caprylate, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Linoleic Acid, Hizikia Fusiforme Extract, Hyaluronic Acid, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Leaf Extract, Citrus Unshiu Peel Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Skin Extract, Yeast Beta-Glucan, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Pueraria Lobata Root Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Silybum Marianum Extract, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract, Levulinic Acid, Rutin, Astaxanthin, Quercetin, Fragrance

Notably the first ingredient is Camellia Japonica Flower Extract, which you can read more about herehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3127137/ ,it’s followed closely three ingredients later by Camellia Japonica Seed Oil. Both of these ingredients help to give this cream lots of luxurious cushiness.

It’s absolutely packed with a lot of really nice emollients and antioxidants and has hardly any acne triggers, (if that’s important to you, check out how it’s rated on COSDNA here http://www.cosdna.com/eng/cosmetic_1a15200157.html ).

Another thing that really amps up the luxuriousness of this product is the smell. Ohhhhhhh my god, the smell. Excuse the overly flowery language, but it brings to mind my childhood summers in the south spent hovering around honeysuckle bushes, plucking their blooms and drinking their nectar. It’s just really a thing of beauty. If you can get an old-pro consumer like me excited about a smell, bruuh, you’re doing something right.

Even the jar is wonderful. It’s a heavy, sturdily manufactured opaque glass jar with a rose gold/pink screw top. It looks so pretty on my dressing table (shallow, but like I said with the It’s Skin cream, something a highly visual person like myself appreciates).

Of course all of those things don’t mean squat if the cream doesn’t function well. Thankfully this stuff performs like a true champ. My skin was very, very happy using this cream. It was plump, hydrated, and always glowing. This is a wonderful cream to seal in the moisture you’ve pumped into your skin during your K-beauty skincare routine. It has that whipped, buttery consistency, like you find in the the Sulwhasoo and It’s Skin Prestige Creme Ginseng D’escargo creams. That is always something I look for in a luxury cream. I love massaging this into my face, especially at night since the scent is such a nice thing to smell before bed. It’s also great as a day cream, especially for those of you going for a more matte look, as this doesn’t have the same kind of sheen that’s present in the It’s Skin and Sulwhasso creams, but still gives you all of the great hydration!
blossomjejupinkcamelliabloomingcreamswatch
With it’s gorgeous smell, feel, and most importantly, performance, I can’t recommend this highly enough if you’re looking for a moderately priced luxurious topping to both moisturized and seal in moisture, give this pretty little thing a try!

There’s also the essence serum in the same line that I’m loving.
From the Glow Recipe website

“This delicate essence is so unique in that it feels light as air upon contact with your skin providing an instant dose of noticeable moisture. Formulated with 82% Oleic Acid, also found within our own skin, Camellia Oil is absorbed almost immediately upon contact with the surface of skin, leaving behind no greasy residue or feel, making this dose of hydration and protection feel as natural as your own skin”
blossomjejupinkcamelliasoombiessenceserum
I can confirm this stuff does indeed absorb quickly, which is nice when you’re sleepy and don’t want to massage forever to make sure your serum is absorbed before hitting your next step. It also feels incredibly light yet skin plumping. Both me, and my oily skinned husband have been enjoying/fighting over this serum! In fact, he’s asked me to go ahead and order another bottle for him. This serum has ZERO acne triggers, and it packed full of moisturizing ingredients, emollients, and even has some ingredients with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties (see here http://cosdna.com/eng/cosmetic_1443195767.html).

I would definitely give this essence serum and the cream  five out of five turtles, it compliments the cream so incredibly well, they’re a fine, fine duo! This would make a great indulgence for yourself or a wonderful gift for someone special. It would work for just about any skin type and the fragrance is like a trip to paradise.
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Available at Glow Recipe here:
http://www.glowrecipe.com/collections/blossom-jeju/blossom-jeju
Good news, Glow Recipe has offered to give you 15% off your order if you order through my link http://i.refs.cc/Mxk05ta7 ! Get in on this great stuff with this great deal and check out Blossom Jeju’s other products! I especially like the Camellia dry oil, it works great on your face and in your hair! :)

KOREAN BEAUTY SECRETS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CUTTING-EDGE SKINCARE AND MAKEUP

June 29, 2015 /

KBSTBW
It’s officially official, we wrote a book! Like an actual one, that you can hold, and buy, and that would look so incredibly cute on your coffee table.

I’m going to take the words from my co-author and soul sister Kerry (Skin & Tonics), and let her give you her take on it before I put in my two cents 😀

“We set out to create a book that would be useful, interesting, and fun for complete newcomers to K-beauty as well as the more experienced, and I wholeheartedly believe we accomplished that task. It has everything you need to know to assemble a Korean style skincare routine, including :
• Detailed information on each skincare product categories
• How to assess and address your skincare needs
• Tips for determining layering order
• Shopping and ingredient cheat sheets organized by skin concern
• Ingredient definitions
• Detailed example skincare routines by several of our favorite bloggers
• Nearly 250 English-Korean ingredient translationsIt also features:• An amazingly thorough makeup section that provides detailed descriptions of all the different makeup categories
• Guides to achieving some truly beautiful Korean-inspired makeup looks.
• A lot of gorgeous photography

One area where Coco and I were particularly fortunate is that we were given full control over the book’s content and design. Being given design control is not typical in the traditional publishing industry, so this was a really big deal for us! Coco art directed the photoshoots, and I handled the layout and information design. We both developed the cover design. The finished product is a beautiful, glossy, full-color, hardcover. If you don’t want to wait for November to order it, you canpre-order it on Amazon and receive it the day it’s released (November 3, 2015).”

I’m so excited to introduce you guys to this book. It’s coming out in Nov, but like Kerry said above, it’s available on Amazon right now for preorder, which you can also access via the link on the sidebar of the homepage. I’m so proud of everything and I’d like to give a special shoutout to the stellar team we put together to bring you this baby. Truly, it was a labor of love, and I think you might love it just as much as we do.And like I said, it’s going to set your coffee table off so very nice 😉

WHAMISA ORGANIC FRUITS & TOMATO FERMENTED HYDROGEL FACIAL MASK REVIEW

February 23, 2015 /

whamisaorganicfruitandtomatomask
I’m convinced Whamisa can do no wrong. I sat down to try yet another of their superb mask offerings and once again I was thrilled. The Glow Recipe website does the best job of giving this mask a proper run down so I’m going to paste their description for you here and then give you my thoughts on it.

“The Gist: 
An organic hydra-gel mask that has been soaked in skin-plumping botanical serum. Drench your face in ultra hydration and nutrition for instantly glowing, clear skin. It works hard and fast to improve skin’s elasticity and firmness. For all skin types.

How it works:
Formulated with 95% organic ingredients, including Tomato, Apple, Licorice and Banana, which are naturally fermented to preserve maximum efficacy. This one of a kind mask relies on a blend of fermented seeds and rice to help rehydrate and calm dry, depleted skin. BDIH Standard Certified.

Free of:
Parabens, Silicones, Mineral Oils, Synthetic dyes & fragrances  
See Glow Recipe’s standards for product curation here.                                                                                               
Our Insight: 
Long before sheet masks became a staple in Korean skincare regimes, geishas would boil water underneath flowers and herbs, then capture the steam on a piece of kimono silk, which they would then apply to the face. Today’s sheet mask is a little more high-techs. The best sheet masks now transcend fabric masks – the new trend is innovative gel-mask forms. 

This gel mask is Glow Recipe team favorite. We recommend applying the liquid serum inside the mask packaging before placing the mask onto the skin. The best part is the sensorial experience as the mask reacts to skin’s temperature to adhere seamlessly to the facial contours and maximize the benefits.”

whamisafruitandtomatohydrogelmask1
First of all, the hydra-gel is so neat! It’s like a solid paper thin sheet of jelly. It’s super wiggly-wobbly and a lot of fun to put on your face. Take care when removing it from it’s peel back packaging, it’s slippery and easy to drop if you’re not paying attention. This mask is absolutely brimming with essence and that essence is brimming with stellar skin care ingredients. My skin loves ferments so I’m always happy to have them in all the products I use. The effects of this mask are immediate in that your skin comes away plumper, fuller looking, and fabulously hydrated. Like I said about it’s sister, the Whamisa sea kelp mask, the effects are like that of getting an expensive facial. I see no difference between how my skin looks and feels after this mask followed by my other Whamisa products and how it looks and feels after a facial. It’s a better investment in my opinion!

I stuck this guy in the fridge and the cooling effect was amazing! It was as refreshing as a cold shower after a hot yoga session. In fact I’m just going to refer to this as my after yoga shower in a package from now on because this thing is bliss! I cannot wait to use these masks this summer. I’m just so impressed with them. As a matter of fact, the day after I used this, I had an insanely hectic day, and I wasn’t able to do my usual daytime skincare routine. When the day was finally over and I got a chance to start my nighttime skin regime, I was pleased to discover that my skin was in the same condition it would have been had I not skipped everything! This mask from the day before was enough to carry me though 24 hours of neglect and helped me retain plump moisturized skin! I promptly ordered 6 more of these, because damn, what more could I ask for in a mask.

Glow Recipe has curated yet another absolute must try from Whamisa. At $9 it’s steeper than a regular cotton and glycerin mask, but again, you’re getting what you pay for here, top notch ingredients and no potentially acne triggering or irritating fillers. This mask is easily gets 5 out of 5 turtles plus one for being exceptional. Order yourself a few and stick them in the fridge next to your veggies and other good for you stuff!
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Where to Buy:

Available at Glow Recipe here:
http://www.glowrecipe.com/products/whamisa-organic-fruits-tomato-fermented-hydrogel-facial-mask
Good news, Glow Recipe has offered to give you 15% off your order if you order through my link! Get in on this great stuff with this great deal and check out Whamisa’s other products! :)
http://i.refs.cc/Mxk05ta7

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