A/W 2014: Evening Skincare Routine (Mini Reviews)

A continuation of of my A/W 2014 Morning Skincare Routine post!

My evening routine tends to be longer than my morning, which is a given since I need to remove my make up. It can be even longer if I plan to use masks.

The evening arsenal.

Cleansing Oil: Kose Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil

Inexpensive and does the job well!
I uploaded a review of it on YouTube (above) a few years ago, sorry about the quality and awkwardness. I was going to take a picture of the bottle for this post but after refilling it, for some odd reason, it's been leaking with every pump and the pump head keeps falling off... But hey it's still functional, just that I lose more product *weeps*

I usually would have removed my eye and face make up with 2 different products (Innisfree Apple Juicy Emulsion Lip & Eye Remover and L'oreal Micellar Water) before getting to this stage, but when I'm feeling lazy I pump this 3 times onto dry palms and massage it directly against my face (with full make up on) for a good 1-2 minutes. Afterwards, I would go into the shower and massage it off with warm water.
Reason why I usually follow the former method is because I generally don't like the idea of moving my make up around my face with the oil, but when I'm lazy I just don't care and make sure I really massage that oil in.

This is my '3rd bottle' - I basically refilled the 2nd bottle with a refill I bought in Japan, and probably my last. It's not because it is a terrible product, I mean it did actually save my skin, but it's just that I've been using it so long that I want to try a different cleansing oil now that there are so many available in the market. Besides, I very much prefer Biore's Cleansing Oil purely because it smells better (it's lightly fragranced with some berry scent..?) and it works just as well. Additionally, I got myself the huge 500ml Nature Republic's Forest Garden Chamomile Cleansing Oil back when I was still in Korea off Gmarket for a really good price. So I have that to go through as well!
I do recommend this product to anyone as it's cheap and works great, but bear in mind that it does contain mineral oil. Use with caution.

Face Wash (no make up day): SANA Nameraka Honpo Soy Milk Cleansing Foam

I won't go into detail about this product as I've mentioned it already in my morning routine.

Face Wash (make up day): Etude House Baking Powder BB Deep Cleansing Foam

Etude House BB Deep Cleansing Foam

An inexpensive cleanser that's great for cleansing and gentle exfoliation of the skin after a day of heavy make up and exposure city pollution. It has a subtle lemon-y scent.

I just squeeze out a large pea size onto wet hands, rub it between my palms to build foam, and then massage it againt my wet skin for 30 seconds before rinsing it with warm water. If I'm not planning to do any special follow-up skincare steps like masks and further exfoliation, I would splash cold water onto my face to seal the pores.
My skin feels soft and clean after using this. The exfoliating beads are smooth and round meaning they're less likely to do any harm to your skin if you use this daily.

Despite claiming that it can remove BB Cream alone, my friend did not advise it for she tried it herself and noticed that it doesn't completely remove the BB Cream off the skin. Even if she didn't tell me this I wasn't planning to remove my BB Cream off with just this product anyway, I'm more likely to try it if it at least contained 50%+ oil which can actually remove any make up effectively.

Face Scrub: Missha Super Aqua Oxygen Micro Essence Peeling

Missha Super Aqua Oxygen Micro Essence Peeling

Similar to the Cure Natural Aqua Gel, a chemical peeling gel that has the added benefit of foaming up against your skin to remove impurities.
Not really a fan of this purely because it smells heavily of alcohol, and when I massage it against my skin it feels more like the product is rolling up itself rather than gathering up my dead skin. Regardless, my skin still does feel squeaky clean after using this. Perhaps it's because I don't have much dead skin to begin with thanks to the Etude House cleanser?

I always use this after cleansing on nights when I plan to use face masks. This is so that my skin can easily absorb and be effected by whatever mask I set upon it. Basically I'm trying to maximise the effects of my masks. Because I really want to finish this product, I use it liberally by squeezing out 3 pea sizes, 1 per cheek, and the 3rd is split between the forehead and chin. I massage this gently against dry skin for up to 30 seconds and then leave it for 3-5mins for the gel to foam up. Once the foam subsides a bit, I head over to the sink and start massaging my skin in hopes to roll off some dead skin cells. After up to a minute of massaging I proceed to wash it off with warm (near hot) water to keep my pores open so that my masks can draw more impurities out later.

Originally I wanted to get the Missha Super Aqua D-tox Peeling Gel, but I read that people very much preferred the Oxygen Micro Essence Peeling more. I have a feeling I would have preferred neither since both contain a high amount of alcohol.

Mask 1: Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask (200ml Tube)

Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask

A decent clay mask that leaves the skin feeling clean. Used it before as an overnight spot treatment whilst in Korea, didn't work.
Probably wouldn't buy again as it really didn't do anything for my skin, and it's getting harder to squeeze out the product from the tube!

This is one of the 2 masks that I use whilst I'm at my university city as a follow up to my peeling gel. I use this twice a week. Against dry skin, I dot 2 large pea sizes for my cheeks, 1 on my forehead, and smaller ones for my chin and nose. I then gently massage it all over my skin, wash my hands with warm water, and let it sit against my face for at least 15 minutes. I think the longest I had this on is for 45mins, not that the duration really effects the results much. After a lengthy period of time, I rinse it off with warm water and then splash cold water against my skin.

I've actually used the small tub version before during my 2nd year at university, similarly I found the results to be minimal. When I arrived in Korea it was still a popualr product, and it was on sale at the time, so I decided to give it another go with the larger tube version. I bought it in November 2013, yet sometime in 2014 I noticed they had a 'Super' version of it, probably meaning the formula has improved? During my last month I consulted with a friend about it, although he said he really liked it when it came to describing the results he had nothing to comment about. So I gave it a pass. Perhaps he just liked the consistency?

Mask 2: Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask

Freeman: Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask

A mask with an exciting tightening effect, leaves the skin nice and clean, but with a scent that smells like vomit (at least to me).
Personally I prefer this more than the other previous mask, purely because of its intense tightening effect! Ooh that tightening of the skin, it really feels like it's doing something to my pores! Though, I can't really claim whether it has actually reduced my pores because I use this quite infrequently.

I use this one less often than my Innisfree clay mask, mostly because I want to use up the latter ASAP. Perhaps twice or a thrice a month? Like the other mask, I use it after the peeling gel against dry skin, with the same product distribution technique. Only difference is that I make sure to remove this after 20mins max! Watching funny YouTube videos with this mask on is really difficult, because it tightens and hardens against your skin it's kind of hard to laugh or smile. Is this what botox feels like?
Also, most of the time the smell is unbearable to me after a while. It's not exactly like vomit, but it just doesn't smell pleasant to me and makes me feel kind of sickly.

I got this tube in Korea at Olive Young which sells a lot of different Freeman masks. It looked amazing on the shelf for some reason so I did a bit of research and found that people really loved it in America. So I bought this one and the Mint & Lemon Clay Mask (as pictured) since both got a lot of positive reviews. I have yet to try the Mint & Lemon but I already am excited at the prospect of using it!

Toner: Lush Tea Tree Water

Already mentioned in my morning routine.

Essence: Nameraka Honpo Isoflavone Moisturizing Lotion Toner 

Already mentioned in my morning routine. 

Eye Gel: The Face Shop Chia Seed Watery Eye & Spot Essence 

Already mentioned in my morning routine.

Moisturiser 1: The Body Shop Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream

The Body Shop Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream

A rich cream that smoothes ever so nicely across the skin and hydrates it plenty over night, leaving it feeling soft and supple in the morning. Despite thinking that it would be great for those with sensitive skin also, it turns out that the ingredients does contain a bit of fragrance, which is a shame really. Then again I too have fairly sensitive skin, moreso my body than face - I did have eczema for a while before on my eyelids. My body seems to react more to fragranced body wash than facial skincare. Regardless, this is my 2nd tub, I have yet to have any problems with it, and I love it.
The Body Shop's products have yet to disappoint me - then again I almost always go for the products that get good reviews.

I often use this on most evenings where I haven't used the peeling gel. Usually I dip my right hand's index, middle and ring finger into the tub to get an ample amount of cream onto my fingertips, press it against my corresponding left fingers and slide them together so that the product runs along 6 fingers in total. I then smoothe the cream over my cheeks, forehead and chin and begin to massage from those areas towards the nose - my nose is the oiliest area with a lot of small blackheads so it's probably best to not apply too much moisture here.

Following a personal belief that the skin underneath combo/oily skin is in fact dry, and the fact that I lose body water/moisture as I sleep, it's only sensible to apply something moisturising overnight. I have yet to experience oily skin in the morning by using moisturising night treatments, so I believe this method is doing a great job.

Moisturiser 2: Holika Holika Prime Youth Snail Cream 

Holika Holika Prime Youth Snail Cream

A nourishing snail cream with a gel-like consistency, lightly scented, and leaves the skin feeling hydrated and smooth. It comes in a box with 3 ampuoles to enhance the product's effects and make 'cream' more runnier so that a little can be spread across more skin.

I typically use this on nights where I've at least used the peeling gel. The set comes with a spatula to keep the jar hygenic, so I usually scoop out ONE pea size of the product since it's so damn expensive (to me) and place it at the center of my left palm. I used to add 3 droplets of ampuole to the cream before mixing - because the sales assistant recommended 2-3 drops, but recently I've been adding 4 droplets instead since I'm starting to run out out of the cream and I'm just half way through my second ampuole! I still got one full ampuole left (the third)! Somehow the first one lasted me around 8 months before running out, which is crazy because the ampuole has so little product. Anyway, I mix the ampuole in with the cream by tapping and folding it together with my index finger before smoothing it out across both palms and then massage it over my face.
So if anyone ever plans to get this, add 4-5 droplets of the ampuole! Unless you want to save some ampuole for some other purposes. I might add the remaining ampuole to my It's Skin Prestige Creme D'Escargot (Snail Cream) when I finish this one.

This is my first full sized snail cream, perhaps one of the cheapest snail creams you can buy in Korea..? Ok maybe not, I just realised I bought this for approx. 39,000₩ on sale, Tony Moly's Snail Cream is almost always on sale for 20,000₩, I swear. I was a bit reluctant at first since I didn't see any online reviews about the Holika Holika Snail Cream, but the sales assistant at the store was really persistent in selling it to me so I gave in. She ended up giving me a bunch of samples as well, including a full sized Prime Youth Placenta Cleansing Foam! Of which I ended up giving to my parents since I already had many cleansers.
I've actually used an It's Skin Snail Cream sample before, which I loved, so it made me interested in trying out snail creams.

Acne Treatment: Quinoderm 10% Cream

Already mentioned in my morning routine. 

Blemish Treatment: Dr Gowoonsesang Red Spot Laser

Already mentioned in my morning routine. 

The Body Shop Lip Butter in Dragon Fruit (left) + Maybelline Baby Lips in Mango Pie (right)

Lip Balm 2: The Body Shop Lip Butter in Dragon Fruit 

Almost smells like dragon fruit, but smells more like a fruity perfume. Does the job on normal lips, and it really hydrates if you thickly apply the stuff on chapped lips. But for some reason it became redundant against freezing Korean Winter weather, it works better in the UK.

After using this for a while I realised it was indeed unhygenic since it was just a pot of product, so I always made sure my hands were clean when applying it. I typically dab into the pot and apply it with my pinky finger. I spread it very generously across chapped lips, and thnly if my lips aren't chapped.

I actually bought this back in my 2nd year of university and I'm starting to run out. It's probably filled with bacteria right now but I'm seeing no problems from using it still.

Lip Balm: Maybelline Baby Lips in Mango Pie

A fruity smelling (unfortunately not completely accurately mango) and hydrating lip balm that is always a pleasure to use. Doing it for that delicious scent, mm.
A recent downside is that it requires reapplication after every hour or 2 if the lips are super chapped and the room's radiator is on high. But otherwise, it is a fiiiiine product. Too bad they don't sell this 'flavour' in the UK.

I bought this from Korea at Olive Young sometime in February after an intense 10 day trip to Daegu, Busan, Jeju Island, and Tokyo, which left my lips chapped and skin feeling kind of dry. My lip butter wasn't doing much, so I needed to scout for something new and better! I hardly shop or research for lip care products since I use it more often in the evening. I gave this lip balm a go because I recall hearing somewhere that Maybelline's Baby Lips were pretty good and the 'Mango Pie' scent really sold me.