The Beauty Wolf

Category: toner (Page 1 of 2)

ILLI TOTAL AGE CARE CLEANSING WATER REVIEW

July 31, 2015 /

illitotalagecarecleansingwater
I feel like a salty old sea dog when it comes to beauty products but once in a great while,  a product comes along and I’m like “wtf..where does this fit into my routine?”.  It’s been a long time since that happened to me, but when I saw the Illi Total Age Cleansing Water on the InsiderBeauty store website, I was kind of lost. Illi is one of my favourite brands right now, I am having a serious love affair with their Total Age Care body products and getting compliments left and right ever since I started using them. They smell heavenly and they make my skin insanely soft. I had yet to try anything from their face care line but I figured it had to be good if it was even half as effective as the body care line.

I guess I should start with what a cleansing water even is! I wasn’t entirely sure myself so I reached out to InsiderBeauty for some illumination on the subject of how to use this product correctly and they sent me this reply:

“So, the simple instruction is soak the cotton pad with the cleansing water and sweep away the makeup on eyes, lips, and face. They advertise the product as an all-in-one cleansing product without the need to wash off with water, but most Korean reviewers and bloggers seem to use it as the first part of their double cleanse. It’s slightly acidic so it mildly tones your skin, and also contains Polyol, which is awater-soluable moisturizer. It’s an incredible cleanser/skincare product with lots of nourishing ingredients like green tea, ginseng, and camellia oil that leave your skin feeling great.”

Ahhh! I’ve got it now!

Also from the InsiderBeauty website is this description:

“A cult favorite in Korea – remove all face and eye makeup debris with illi’s anti-oxidant rich cleansing water with one gentle sweep. Formulated with ginseng root extract, beans, camellia flower extracts, and green tea extracts from Jeju Island, your skin will absorb nutrients upon contact and be left soothed and refreshed. Total Age Cleansing Water guarantees comfort and easy for makeup removing efficacy while brightening and retaining skin’s moisture barrier.

  • Green tea extract is filled with anti-oxidants to soothe skin and combat free radicals
  • Ginseng root extract activates skin’s metabolism helping tone and firm skin
  • Camellia flower extract is rich in vitamins A, B, and E “

So essentially, a cleansing water is almost like a makeup remover, only it contains skin beneficial ingredients and doesn’t need to be washed away afterward, unless you want to follow up as part of your double cleansing routine. This Illi cleansing water in particular is, in short, gorgeous. It smells gorgeous, it works gorgeous, it just is gorgeous. The smell is really just intoxicating to me. If you’re familiar with the Total Age Care body care line, it’s the exact same scent, a beautiful subtle floral (the scent is really reminiscent of the Hayul Chrysanthemum serum). I wish it were a perfume so I could wear it.

It does a really great job of removing point makeup. Here I’ve swatched Tonymoly Backstage Gel Liner, Clio Gelpresso Waterproof Pencil Shadow, 3 Concept Eyes Eyeshadow Palette shadow, Etude House Look At My Eyes Cafe Eyeshadow, 3 Concept Eyes Lipstick in the shade V, The Face Shop Cream Blusher, and Peripera Wholly Deep Jewel Pot on my arm, which are all tough customers when it comes to tenacity and pigmentation
illitotalagecarewatersw

And here’s what happened after one very light pass with the cotton ball, and then a more thorough cleansing. As you can see, it removed every trace of makeup and deposited it onto the cotton pad! (I used my favourite Cosrx Cotton Puffs for the job.)
illitotalagecarecleansingwatersw

And while this is positioned as a makeup remover, I really like using this first thing in the morning in place of a face wash with water. Instead of using my foaming cleanser, I sweep this across my face instead. It’s crazy refreshing and does a great job preparing my skin for the rest of my routine. Used in the traditional makeup remover way, this does a really nice job removing point makeup. It even removes my Tonymoly gel liner! However, it doesn’t do well removing waterproof western mascara, so if you’re using this as part of double cleanse, you’re definitely going to have to follow up with an oil or sherbet cleanser to completely remove waterproof mascara. I wouldn’t recommend completely replacing your oil/sherbet cleanser with this anyway, as handy and revolutionary as it is, your face still needs a deeply thorough removal of sunscreen and I wouldn’t trust that to anything but an oil/sherbet cleanser! That being said, there is definitely room for this in your routine, it’s a great product for correcting any accidental “oops” you might have done with your makeup, for refreshing your skin on a nasty day (hello hot yoga! I’m going to get another bottle of this strictly for my gym bag!), and for a gentle water-free morning cleanse. Illi has me believing they can do no wrong, this is an excellent product and coming in at under $20 it won’t break the bank either!  I haven’t even seen it anywhere on eBay or Amazon yet, so as far as I know it’s only available at InsiderBeauty (If I’m wrong let me know in the comments!) here http://insiderbeauty.com/collections/skincare/products/total-age-cleansing-water

Five out of five refreshed, plump skinned, smelling like they’re straight from heaven above turtles
turtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-full

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 FLOWERS OLIVE LEAF MIST REVIEW

December 8, 2014 /

whamisaorganicflowersfermentationoliveleafmist
Let me start off this review by saying I haven’t been this excited about a product line since I discovered Benton. Last month I was contacted with the opportunity to review a new product, normally I pass on these types of solicitations but they caught my eye with the words “fermented” and “natural”. As my long time readers and people familiar with my articles might know by now, I swear by ferments and love to go as natural as possible with skincare. First treatment essences, serums, emulsions, masks, anything with ferments usually ends up on my favourites list. Out of all the popular ingredients, my skin reacts best to ferments and absolutely loves them. They impart a glow like nothing else does, fitting, since the name of the company that contacted me was Glow Recipe.

Glow Recipe is an online store co-founded by two women with nearly 20 years combined experience within the US and Korean beauty industry in marketing and product development. Glow Recipe aims to showcase smaller brands that prioritize natural ingredients (Hello, are you speaking directly to me? I think you are, because YES, I’m so here for that!).

The two products sent to me were from a brand I’d never heard of, but have certainly become a fan of since. The brand is Whamisa and the products are Organic Flowers Fermentation Olive Leaf Mist and Organic Flowers Water Cream. I’ll start with the mist review first.
whamisaorganicflowersfermentationoliveleafmist1
(note, that is about three weeks worth of use in the picture, one spray is enough to cover your entire face)

The Glow Recipe website gives us a rundown of Organic Flowers Fermentation Olive Leaf Mist:
“The Gist: 
An organic refreshing mist that instantly hydrates and soothes skin. For all skin types.

How it works:
Whamisa utilizes a natural fermentation process to distill and preserve the potency of selectnatural ingredients. This refreshing mist is formulated with 92.5% organic ingredients, which are naturally fermented to preserve maximum efficacy. This unique mist is water-free – instead it relies on a blend of Olive, Green Tea Extract and Aloe Vera extract to help rehydrate and calm dry, depleted skin. BDIH Standard Certified.

Free of:
Parabens, Silicones, Mineral Oils, Synthetic dyes & fragrances

Our Insight:
This is a must have for Glow Recipe offices, as skin becomes sensitive and dry from air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter. Keep it on your desk and pamper skin throughout the day.”

Once I read that I was impressed, I asked Glow Recipe if they could send me over an ingredient list just to make sure this product was going to be up to snuff, once I received this list I wasn’t just impressed I was blown away!

Whamisa Organic Flowers Olive Leaf Mist (80ml, $38)
*Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Olive, Caulerpa Lentillifera Extract, *Alcohol, *Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract Olive, *Rhodiola Rosea Root Extract, *Saururus Chinensis Leaf/Root Extract, *Angelica Keiskei Leaf/Stem Extract, *Dioscorea Opposita (Wild Yam) Root Extract, *Centella Asiatica Extract, *Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, *Lactobacillus/Rice Ferment, *Lactobacillus/Oat Ferment Extract Filtrate,*Lactobacillus/Chrysanthemum Sinense Flower Ferment Filtrate,*Lactobacillus/Nelumbium Speciosum Flower Ferment Filtrate, *Lactobacillus/Dandelion Leaf/Root Extract Ferment Filtrate, Evernia Prunastri (Oakmoss) Extract Oakmoss, Cetraria Islandica Extract, **Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, **Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract, **Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Natto Gum, ***Propanediol, Xanthan Gum, Cyamopsis Tetragonoloba (Guar) Gum, Aniba Rosaeodora (Rosewood) Wood Oil, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil.

 

Look at all of those amazing natural ingredients! Antioxidants everywhere! Emollients, astringents, loads of organic ingredients with soothing properties! This is why I haven’t been this excited since Benton, I haven’t seen a list this natural and impressive since then. Honestly this both meets their ingredient lists (especially with their first ingredient being Aloe Leaf Juice instead of water!) and exceeds it with this long list of skin loving elements that score an absolute zero on the scale of potential acne triggers or skin irritants!

The mist itself is 80ml , 2.7 oz so not too unwieldily to travel with if you’re so inclined. I love the inclusion of actual olive leafs in the bottle, and the mist nozzle does a nice fine spray. Little details like that are great. It has a very natural pleasant earthy scent that I love. Personally I’m crazy for earthy scents and don’t care much for the cloyingly sweet perfumed smell that’s popular with a lot of other skincare, so I really appreciate this feature. It’s very soothing and hydrating and not at all sticky and doesn’t leave you with a film. It’s perfect to mist yourself with if you’re in an office building or apartment building with dry recycled air like I am. I feel like beef jerky by about mid-winter so something like this is quite welcome. I also love to use it to mist my face right before applying my bb cream if I’m wearing it, or after I’m done with my makeup to set it. My absolutely favourite way to use it is after I’ve let my vitamin C serum and BHA or AHA set for 20 minutes. Once that’s done I’ll mist myself with the Organic Flowers Olive Leaf Mist to prepare my skin for my serum, emulsion, and cream steps. I am now addicted to this mist, it’s my absolute favourite I’ve ever used! I love it! I think this could totally double as a toner, the ingredients are that awesome. It’s on the pricey side but after a look at that ingredient list and it’s lack of fillers and crap that a lot of other brands use to cheapen their products, I totally understand and accept that price. You get what you pay for, and in this case you’re getting a lot.

Definitely a well deserved 5 out of 5 turtles, plus one for being so great!
turtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-full+turtle-full

If you’re interested, Glow Recipe has offered to give you 15% off your  order if you order through my link! Yay for saving money! http://i.refs.cc/Mxk05ta7
Next up I’ll be reviewing the Whamisa Organic Flowers Water Cream!

HANYUL RICE ESSENTIAL SKIN SOFTNER REVIEW

July 10, 2014 /

hanyulsoftner

In all honesty, I had been so loyal to my Benton toner that I had a wee bit of apprehension about trying this product, I’m so glad I got over myself and gave it a shot. It’s now made it’s way into my permanent lineup.

The Hanyul Essential Rice Softner is essentially a toner, but soft (hence “softner” I’m guessing?). If we take a look at the ingredients we see a lot of stand out goodies.
Water, Alcohol, PEG/PPG-17/6 Copolymer, Glycereth-26, Butylene Glycol, Niacinamide, Monascus/Rice Ferment, Rice Extract, Yeast/Barley Seed Ferment Filtrate, Lactobacillus/Soybean Ferment Extract, Cnidium Officinale Root (Cnidium) Extract, Angelica Acutiloba Root Extract, Soybean (Glycine Soja) Seed Extract, Cocao Extract, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Glyceryl Polymethacrylate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Glyceryl, Adenosine, Sodium Hyaluronate, Dextrin, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Carbomer, Tromethamine, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance. *Rice Extract

Check out that collection of fermented ingredients, I’m always a big fan of ferments and get excited to see them make appearances. Also that Niacinamide checking in high on the content scale, nice! Skin&Tonics has a wonderful breakdown of what those ingredients mean for your skin here.


hanyulessentialsoftner

The formula is like a really thick water with a lot of slip. It glides on easily and absorbs very quickly, especially if you pat it onto the skin. It’s also very hydrating for a toner step, but not exceedingly so, you won’t feel like you’re drowning in it. This would be a safe choice for just about any skin type but would be especially appreciated by drier types since it does offer an extra oomph of moisture. My skin feels somehow plumper after I work this into it. The smell of this product very obviously stems from the fermented ingredients. It’s not the most pleasant smell but it is very faint and disappears once you apply your next steps.

I find that I need very little of this product to get the full benefits because of its viscosity. Two drops are enough for my entire face and neck. Getting those drops might prove problematic for some though. That’s because the container this comes in, while beautiful and sturdy, is HEAVY. I appreciate it, it feels substantial and luxurious, but I can see why others might somewhat dislike it. I guess product concept testing and exploring product visibility with these products are very crucial. If you feel lost about concept testing, you can learn more here. User feedback should be taken seriously, especially for cosmetic products. Other than the weighing factor, I cannot think of a single thing about this product that I don’t love.


I was sent this product by Alice at W2Beauty and decided to go ahead and get a selection of products from the Hanyul lineup to test with it. Since I started using the Hanyul line, this product included, I feel like my skin has gone to the next level. It was already at a good starting point with my former lineup, but testing this particular line out has brought me above in beyond. I’m majorly impressed with Hanyul! My skin is brighter, calmer, and overall more hydrated throughout the day than it was before. All in all I give Hanyul Rice Essential Skin Softner five out of five turtles

turtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-full

If you’re at all interested in picking up this Softner, along with anything else from the Hanyul line, I really do recommend you do so at W2Beauty , and I don’t just say that as a blogger sent a sponsored product. All of the extra goodies Alice always packs in her parcels make every shipment feel like Xmas to me, add that to their free international shipping and it’s a no brainer. And as always if you sign up with my code 071087605 you can get $5 off your first purchase. I highly recommend this line if you have been looking for something to take you to the next level.


This review contains products sent to me for consideration but my review is 100% honest and unswayed. (I really, really, dig this stuff!).



BENTON SNAIL BEE HIGH CONTENT SKIN TONER REVIEW

April 17, 2014 /
bentonsnailbeehighcontenttoner11
I’ve been sitting on this review for awhile. As soon as this product was released I started to receive the inevitable questions about which Benton product choice reigns supreme for me.  But before I get to that, let me start with a brief introduction of this little wonder.
Snail Bee High Content Skin joins the Benton family, taking it’s place alongside BHA Aloe on the toner throne.  As is the hallmark of Benton products this is chock full of natural, highly skin beneficial ingredients.
.
Let’s have a look at them:
Snail Secretion Filtrate, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Water, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Human Ogliopeptide-1, Bee Venom, Diospyros Kaki Leaf Extract, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Plantago Asiatica Extract, Laminaria Digitata Extract, Ulmus Campetris (Elm) Extract, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract, Athaea Rosea Root Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Betaine, Bacillus Ferment, Panthenol, Beta-Glucan, Allantoin, Azelaic Acid, Adenosine
.
 As you can see it’s pretty much a dream, full of great natural ingredients with no fillers (I expect nothing less from them honestly). If you’re wondering exactly who this is aimed at, as I’ve said with their other products I’d say pretty much anyone and everyone. Dry skin, oily skin, normal skin, this could potentially do well for just about everyone. Who I think would really see the most benefits would be someone with sensitive skin, especially those dealing with superficial redness. With the inclusion of the snail secretion and the green tea water, it’s a pretty powerful little calming potion.
bentonsnailbeehighcontenttonerswatch
The texture is just ever so slightly thicker and more viscose and water. It’s absolutely not sticky, it’s actually quite the opposite. It’s very refreshing. After using this product for a few months I can say it’s a soothing, calming, concoction that made my skin brighter, calmer, and clearer.
Now, on to what everyone has been asking me. I kept hemming and hawing over where I was going to land on the ‘there can only be one, make your choice’ side. Since there’s now two toners, and I loved the last one so much, I had to pit these two high performing gems against each other and let them fight it out. So, which do I prefer between the Aloe BHA toner and Snail Bee High Content Skin toner? I’m going to have to go with the High Content Skin on this one. Not that I don’t still absolutely love the Aloe, mind you. I just think for me personally, the benefits of the High Content edge out the competition. It was a close call though, they’re both excellent products. However, I do find that the BHA Aloe toner is more moisturizing compared to this one. If that’s the most important thing for you, you still might prefer to stick with the Aloe. Also of note, some people have found that they have a sensitivity to the inclusion of Alcea Rosea extract (commonly known as hollyhock),  an ingredient in the Aloe toner. There’s some good news for those people because the High Content Skin does not contain that ingredient. So if you wanted to love the Benton toner in the past and didn’t, I would strongly suggest you give this one a try! For me, this is perfection in a bottle. Keeping in line with the insane love and devotion I have to Benton products this deserves higher than my highest rating. 5 out of 5 turtles plus an extra turtle for being so damn awesome.

 turtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-fullturtle-full+turtle-full
« Older posts

© 2026 The Beauty Wolf

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑