Etude House - Snowy Dessert Collection Review

Hi everyone! I have some exciting news to share with you! I've been chosen to participate in Etude House's international blogger program! Etude House makes some of the best Korean roadshop makeup products I've tried (you can read my reviews on their primer and lip tint), and since arriving in Korea, it's been my go-to shop for makeup. 

This month, Etude House sent me a few pieces from their Snowy Dessert Christmas collection to test and review, as well as their new Honey Cera collection. Unfortunately, the blush they sent shattered during transportation (despite the bubble wrap and paper fluff in the box), but everything else arrived intact and ready to experiment with. Etude House also sent a mini magazine full of makeup and skincare tips, and a guide to the best desserts in Seoul (so you can see, I'm excited).

Let's get started shall we?!

A full look using the Etude House Snowy Dessert collection. It's a bit washed out from the bright sun, but you can see a bit of pink on the eyes, and the pudding tint in a sheer wash on my lips. You can also see another full (more natural look) in my last post.

I'll start off with my favourite product – the Snowy Dessert Pudding Tint in grapefruit. I love a good lip product, and this hits all the sweet spots. Great pigmentation, long lasting, low transfer (it is a tint after all), and non-drying. My only complaint? Like a lot of lip products, it'll accentuate any dry flakes you have, so make sure to exfoliate first!

The pudding tint comes in four colours and one clear finish. They're super soft, and come with a spatula to help pickup and spread the product on your lips (but fingers work just as well)! While the spatula is great for controlling the amount of product you apply (I use it a lot if I only want a more natural but bright lip, or if I'm doing gradient lips), fingers are the way to go if you want the full pigmentation in the least amount of time. You can dab what's left on your cheeks as well for a healthy flush.

Play 101 pencils in #71 and #73, Pudding Tint in grapefruit

There were two Play 101 pencils included as well – I received the colours 71 and 73, both shimmering colours.

#71 is a gorgeous pink with gold shimmer. Think a pinker version of Nars Orgasm for your eyes. I've been wearing it everyday for a wash of colour on my lids and my co-workers love it. It's long-wearing, and doesn't budge once it's set.

#71 is on the left, and #73 on the right. You can see #73 is really close to my skin colour.

#73 is a light beige with shimmer. It's perfect as an all over base on the eyes, as well as to highlight the inner corners and "aegyo-sal" (that little fat pocket under your lower lashline. It's popular to apply shimmer on it here in Korea for a doe-eyed effect). This one doesn't show up on my skin too well (it's literally the same colour as me, except shimmery), so it provides the most subtle of highlights. I do like to use it to add a little bit of shimmer over other colours on the centre of my lid though., as well as to brighten my waterline. It's also great to add a subtle highlight on the cupids bow, since the pencil is so precise. Like #71, it's long-wearing and doesn't move around even after a long day (and on an oily lash-line).

Finally the ginger cookie blush. Ah, this is a sad tale. Etude House packed everything really well. The blush came in bubble wrap, in a box filled with paper tinsel. But apparently Korea Post is just as rough as Canada Post, and the blush was shattered when I opened it. It's so cute too! The blush is separated into two parts – a pastel coral (which works well as a highlighter), and a more burnt orangey gingerbread man. Swirled together, the two colours provide the most gorgeous warm winter flush. It's like summer for your face! My only complaint is that it fades after about four hours or so. It does seem to fade less quickly if I don't apply foundation  (mine is fairly dewy as I have dryer skin, so matte foundations may work better with this blush).

Top highlighter on the left, bottom orange on the right)

You can find everything on Etude Houses's global shopping mall.

http://www.etudehouse.com/

Belif True Cream Moisturizing Bomb Review

Introducing my new favourite cream for sensitive skin – Belif's True Cream Moisturizing Bomb. Belif says this cream coats your skin in comfort, and they weren't lying. Belif uses simple ingredients and says it's uses a 150 year old processing method to create it's skincare goodies. How true this is, I don't know, however it comes with rave reviews from Korean bloggers and has been featured in magazines and beauty shows. My Korean friend says it's a good line if you have sensitive skin – kind of like Korea's version of Avene or La Roche Posay.

This is a great occlusive cream, that while being heavy and efficiently sealing hydration in, feels fairly lightweight on the skin. Despite it's heavier texture, it dries matte on me, and doesn't feel greasy at all. It's comparable to the Innisfree Green Tea Seed Deep Cream, but doesn't feel quite as lightweight once applied. At first they feel the same, however, I feel that the Belif is better for dehydrated skin, whereas the Innisfree is best for true dry skin types, as it leaves a slight oily feeling after.

The Belif True Cream Moisturizing Bomb actually lessens my overnight oil production... the more I apply. When I first tried it out, I thought it would last forever, since it was heavy and I could get away with using a tiny baby pea-sized amount and feel properly moisturized. However I was a super shiny oil slick by the time I woke up. Okay, with this, a little goes a long way, right? Nope. One night I accidentally scooped too much out and decided to just go with it, as if I were applying a sleeping mask. And hey, normal, even slightly dry skin in the morning. A couple more nights of experimenting and now I'm using about two normal pea-sized amounts every night, in addition to my hydrating masks and essences. 

Notable ingredients include glycerin, which is a humectant, and macadamia oil, which serves as a moisturizer and occlusive. It also has a ton of fermented ingredients to help brighten the skin and allow the ingredients to be absorbed better, as well as comfrey leaf to help detoxify the skin.

The cream has a slight gel texture to it – it's not super thick and creamy, but not a gel either. There's a light citrus scent that's pleasant and not overwhelming at all. It spreads and absorbs easily, leaving behind a velvety finish with no shine. This is perfect for girls who love matte skin rather than the dewy look. 

I have noticed that as the weather get's dryer and dryer, I'm needing to use more of this cream. This may be because I'm not using a sheet mask everyday, or maybe it simply can't handle the change from summer to fall. Still, I find the Belif cream to be comforting to my dry skin, and does an adequate job at sealing everything in and keeping me relatively moisturized throughout the day.

I bought this for around $33 from 11 Street, but you can pick it up at Sephora for a reasonable price as well (because shipping from Korea will tack the extra on anyways)!

Pros:
Great for sensitive skin
Absorbs easily
Heals

Cons:
Unless you live by a Sephora that sells this, you'll have to order online

Mizon Hyaluronic Acid 100 Ampoule Review

As someone who constantly deals with dehydrated skin, I'm always on the lookout for good hydrating serums to add to my routine, especially ones that aren't going to break the bank (seriously, a very basic hyaluronic serum is at least $20/oz Cad). This is probably why I started to get into Asian cosmetics when I was 18 – everything was more reasonably priced, and they just seemed to work better.

The Mizon Hyaluronic Acid 100 Ampoule is a no frills serum. It only claims to provide lightweight, yet lasting hydration, and it performs quite well at that. Because of how sensitive my skin was at the time I purchased it (acne, over-exfoliation, rashy and eczema patches), I was looking for some key ingredients including ceramides (healing) and hyaluronic acid (hydrating).

Notable Ingredients

Hyaluronic Acid: This atttracts and maintains water in the skin. It can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water, making it a great ingredient for dehydrated and dry skin.

Copper Tripeptide-1: Increases collagen and elastin production and promotes skin regeneration

Cholesteral: Helps to restore and maintain the skin's barrier, maintaining normal skin function.

Ceramide 3: Helps to restore and maintain the skin's barrier.

Beta Glucan: Has anti-oxidant, wound healing and moisturizing properties.

Adenosine: An anti-aging ingredient that promotes collagen and elastin production, as well as having anti-inflammatory properties.

Full ingredients list here.

Performance

I bought this to provide extra hydration for my poor dehydrated skin around the same time as the Hada Labo Perfect Gel (it came in the mail about a week later). It too has hyaluronic acid and ceramides to help with my dehydrated skin, as well as anti-aging and healing properties to help with my acne and acne scarring. Mizon is known for providing quality products that are full of plant extracts (these often provide anti-inflammatory, brightening, and antioxidant properties), for a cheap price. I've actually used a few other products from them that I never got around to reviewing (namely their snail lines).

This particular serum is just a basic hydrating serum. It doesn't make any other claims, and for that, it performs its job well. Combined with the Hada Labo Perfect Gel, I almost had enough hydration to last a full day (assuming I was at home and not dealing with air conditioning). It's very lightweight and silky, absorbing easily. Seriously, my skin just drank this up and sighed happily, like it just had a sip of a well-made cup of tea. Like the Perfect Gel, I feel like this helped my skin to better retain moisture so that I wouldn't get that uncomfortable tight feeling, or overly oily (both signs of dehydrated skin) quite so soon in the day.

This isn't the best at "long lasting hydration" like it claims (okay it doesn't claim to be the best, but I've used better). Mind you, for half the price, I can't really complain either. It lasted about two months with twice a day usage (three quarters of a dropper each time).

For the price, I don't think you can get a better hydrating serum, especially if you're not in Korea. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I'm always looking to try something new.

Pros

Cheap, unless you buy it from Urban Outfitters. I got mine for about $12/oz Cad with free shipping on Roseroseshop.com

Does what it claims

Not only hydrates, but as anti-aging ingredients as well (long-term benefits as well as short term!)

Cons

You'll need to wait in the mail for it (if you want it immediately, it's available at select Urban Outfitters stores for a very marked up price)

Tony Moly Bcdation All Master Review

The Tony Moly Bcdation All Master is an upgrade from the original Bcdation – a base product meant to be a BB cream, CC cream, and foundation in one. The All Master version has a higher shea butter content, meaning more moisture, and a dewier look as well as only coming in one colour meant to suit everyone.

This foundation is said to be "air light" while providing a perfect yet natural finish. Unfortunately, this only comes in one colour, and will not suit everyone despite claims. This works well for my skintone – almost a perfect match! For reference, I'm regularly a shade 21 in bb creams. 

Now, true to it's claims, this offers amazing coverage! I can easily cover acne scars and bright red pimples with this, with little to no need for extra concealer. I do believe the coverage will vary in how you choose to apply it – a brush or your fingers will give you the best coverage, where as a sponge offers a more natural, thinner finish. Personally, I find the Bcdation to be too thick when I use a brush or my fingers, and it yields an unnatural, almost plastic-y finish (think Lady Gaga looking like a Barbie in Pokerface). My preferred method is to use a sponge, or even better, a cushion compact. 

I use an empty cushion compact (in my case, the Innisfree Water Glow cushion after I used it up, but Missha sells an empty cushion compact case to use with whatever you want), take the sponge out, and fill it halfway with the Bcdation before putting the sponge back in. Voila – custom cushion pack! This provides the thinnest, sheerest coverage, and I go over any areas that need more coverage a second or third time.  While the Water Glow cushion made it seem like you just washed your face, this can quickly make you look like an oil slick if you use too much, so less is definitely more with this product. Using the cushion method for a thinner application means this only lasts about five hours on my skin, but the more I apply, the longer this lasts. When I used a brush, this foundation lasted the entire day!

My only caveat with this product is that it's supposed to be hydrating... yet it sticks to my dry patches like no other after about two hours. To be honest, my dry mouth is pretty flaky, so I wasn't expecting miracles, but still... it's impossible to fix once it happens. All I can say is moisturize and prep well before applying so you don't get a bad case of the flakes. For the record, I've only used one bb cream/foundation that didn't catch on my dry areas and result in flaking, and a good primer will be a lifesaver if you encounter similar issues.

Lastly, this works well on my combination-acne prone skin, so don't be afraid of the vast amount of shea butter in this! I never experienced any breakouts or clogged pores from this, so it's definitely on the buy again list as far as foundations go.

You can find it for a very reasonable price on Amazon or ebay.

Innisfree Green Tea Seed Deep Cream Review

I've done a mini review of this before, but I wanted to give you guys something a bit more in depth, as I couldn't find too many reviews of this particular cream online when I went to buy it myself.

The Green Tea Seed Deep cream is one of many creams in the Innisfree Green Tea lineup. I bought it right after I finished a round of Accutane, and I must say, this definitely helped to heal my skin not only from the drug use, but also during the dry winter we had. While I was searching for my next cream to try, there were two things that convinced me to buy this particular one, which is much heavier than the gels I normally use – a run through cosdna did not bring up any comedogenic ingredients in the first half of the ingredient list (it was only cetearyl alcohol, which is not an issue for me, but others find it can cause breakouts), and this had a rep for being a heavy duty moisturizer.

The texture is that of a light balm, which easily softens with the heat of your fingers. My preferred method to apply it is to rub a bit between my fingers, and then pat/rub it into my face. Even without warming it up, the cream spread easily on my face though. It smells quite floral, but after a day or two of using it, I barely noticed the heavier scent.

This cream is amazing at moisturizing, and I would definitely recommend it for any dry skinned person, or anyone living in a dry climate. While I don't think this would cause any breakouts for oily skinned people, they may find themselves looking shiny throughout the day. While this helped with my lack of oil due to Accutane and Retin A, this did not help with my dehydrated skin (my skin lacks water, but is normally able to produce oil, so I tend to peel and flake, while also looking like an oil slick), and another serum or moisturizer containing humectants is needed (I personally find sheet masks to be the best at treating dehydrated skin). For those of us with combination, oily, and/or dehydrated skin, this cream is best used to seal all of our serums in so that the hydration won't escape our skin.

Not only is the Green Tea Seed Deep cream great for dryer skin, it's great for sensitive skin! I definitely attribute decreased sensitivity with this cream. Normally, I'm red and peeling from Retin A use, and on occasion other skincare will sting when I put it on – signs of a damaged moisture barrier. The Green Tea Seed Deep cream definitely seemed to help heal and strengthen my moisture barrier. I will either apply the Retin A after all my serums and a facial oil, and then apply the Green Tea Seed Deep cream after the it, or I'll mix a pea sized amount of the Retin A with a pea sized amount of the cream (I think this is the most gentle way of apply the Retin A). Voila,  little to no skin irritation or peeling, and super glowy skin! I can even use a salicylic acid spot treatment without any stinging or redness when I use the Retin A and cream in this way.

I have since run out of the cream this week (hence the bad swatches), and my skin had a minor freak out (which is awesome, because I also managed to burn my lip with the Retin A after I ran out of this cream, so now it's like freakout x two, so you know, I'm avoiding the camera).

As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of the many skincare and beauty brands owned by Amore Pacific, and Innisfree is no different. The products are well formulated, never seem to cause breakouts, and they work. Innisfree's skincare is a brand I would recommend for those in their early 20s or those who don't want to spend a lot on a product that will give them results.

Pros:

Great at moisturizing

Does not have comedogenic or irritating ingredients

Reasonably priced

Cons:

Does not help dehydrated skin

Need to buy it online (I bought mine during the Honestskin sale)

Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips Talk PK004 Review

I'm a huge gan of Etude House products, especially they're makeup. They have the widest shade selection of lipsticks and eyeliners, and are always coming up with new shades and formulas. Not only is the shade selection great, but everything looks adorable! I bought a best seller that I've seen make the beauty blogger rounds, Breathtaking Pink (PK004), and I find myself reaching for it everyday.

PK004 is a bright, neon pink that's perfect for both a natural and a statement lip, depending on how many coats of product you feel like applying. One coat will give you the most natural, everyday pink, whereas two to three coats gives a bright neon colour. I like to apply two coats, and then blot (or just drink a glass of tea) to leave a vibrant yet natural stain. I wear it like this for most of my blog photos.

These lipsticks (or at least PK004) have a great formula. They glide on smoothly, you get a fairly good coverage after one swipe (layer another layer or two if you want something super opaque and bright), and have a natural glossy finish. As far as lasting power goes, it's pretty decent. If you swipe two or more coats, you'll find it lasts for about 5 hours unless you're eating a drinking. And after it's worn off you're left with the most gorgeous stain that's true to colour, minus the gloss and neon finish.

Now, for the bad. The major issue I've had with this is that it tends to give a chalky finish when you start to layer. Which is weird, because it's still neon, but it's like the glossiness goes away and it becomes weird? Now, as I mentioned above, I avert this by blotting so that the colour is still there, but the chalkiness isn't. This lipstick isn't anymore drying than normal, but definitely not as moisturizing as the Maybelline colour whispers (if you're looking for a similar colour and don't want to buy online, Maybelline's Cherry on Top is pretty close, but glossier and not as neon).

Pros:
Super cute packaging (apparently you can use the bow on the case as a ring!)
Vibrant colour
Long lasting
Cheap (I bought mine for $6 USD from honestskin.com during their sale) Right now it's about $5 on Amazon

Cons:
Weird chalky finish after a few coats
Gotta buy it online

Winter Skin Saviors

It's winter and you know what that means. Dry, irritated and possibly wind burnt skin from days skiing and hiking in the mountains.

With the change of seasons, a change in skincare is called for. Our skin condition changes given the weather, and in the winter, we're more prone to dryness, dehydration, and irritation – especially if you're living in a winter desert (hey Calgary). 

This winter, I bought a few new products, and returned to a few old goodies lying around in my cabinets unused that are perfect for the winter.

FACE BALMS

Avibon - The French beauty cult classic. This is thick, ointment like... cream? Balm? I dunno, but it's thick and feels like vaseline. It's chalk full of vitamin A (probably the most you can get in a product without going full retinoid), and moisturizing oils to fend off the dryness vitamin A likes to cause. And given it's thick texture, it's the perfect overnight mask when you're feeling particularly dry, or even just a bit wind burnt. I love it when my skin is irritated from too many drying products in the winter, but I don't use it everyday. 

You will need to warm it up in your hands a bit before smoothing it on your face, or else you'll find it impossible to spread. The thick texture feels like it might be a bit pore clogging (especially if you're oily and prone to clogged pores like moi) and I find little whiteheads after a few days of continuously using this. This is most likely a result from the vitamin A though, which can really purge your skin of all the gunk, and then those breakouts will stop. I'm too scared to find out though. Don't let me scare

 you though, as it truly is a great mask once a week!

Skinfood Avacodo Rich Eye Balm - Not a skin balm, as this is meant specifically for the eye area, but I'm putting in the same category. This stuff is nearly solid, but easily softens up to a spreadable texture when you rub it between your fingers. This is great for prepping my eyes for concealer in the winter, and it keeps things hydrated and thus, not cakey. Oh, and it doesn't cause creasing, so really, it's quite brilliant.

Innisfree Green Tea Deep Cream - This isn't quite a balm, but definitely thicker than any cream I've tried before, and is a part of my daily winter arsenal. This cream works best if you melt it a bit in your hands first, and then spread and pat into your face. Perfect for both the morning and night, this gives a wonderfully dewy look, but won't make you greasy. According to Innisfree, this cream helps your skin to retain moisture by improving your skin's moisture barrier. 

FACIAL OIL

Boscia Tsubaki Beauty Oil - My favourite facial oil that I've tried, this is lightweight, but highly moisturizing. It's great to use in it's own as a daytime moisturizer, to add extra moisture to your regular cream when you need, or layer on top of your creams and serums to seal everything in. I use three or four drops when I'm using it on it's own, and two or three to mix into my creams.

MASKS

Laneige Water Sleeping Pack - The tried and true, and the love of many a beauty blogger. This is a lightweight gel, that absorbs easily into the skin to supply much needed water to dehydrated skin. Personally, this isn't enough in the winter, so I add a drop or two of facial oil into it before applying. Also, I use a hefty portion, about a grape size, but hey, I wake up to dewy skin in the morning, so it's totally worth it, even if I use the entire container within a month. You can read the full review here.

LIPS

EOS Lip Balm - Another cult classic, this spherical lip balm is just too cute to not want to try. I originally purchased the EOS lip balms a year a go, and I was utterly unimpressed. I recently tried it again when my favourite Nivea was out of stock one day, and my mind was blown. The formula has definitely changed, and is no longer overly waxy. Instead it's moisturizing, and almost a tad oily – perfect for the winter. I stocked up at Costco, and now have about ten of these babies sitting on my counter. If you weren't impressed when they first came out, you might want to give them a second chance!

Etude House Baby Choux Mint Base Review

Hello all! I'm back with a bunch of beauty reviews for you as that's where my money seemed to go for the month of November! This time I'll be reviewing the Etude House Baby Choux Base in mint.

I dabbed a bit of red lipstick and applied the baby choux base on the top half. You can see the difference between where I left the lipstick alone, and where I covered it with the base here. The redness isn't completely gone, but it's blurred to blend into my skin.

Etude House says this is a makeup base to correct skin tone and create a smooth, powdery complexion. It comes in three colours, each with a different purpose – peach to correct sallow skin, berry to brighten, and mint to even out redness. It contains moisturizing properties, as well as SPF 33 PA++, meaning you're getting some pretty good UVA and UVB protection if anything.

As you can see, the base has a fluid texture making it easy to spread and blend out with either your fingers or a sponge. It blurs redness really well. Like... amazingly well. I would definitely recommend this is your suffer from red skin or rosacea. 

This doesn't offer any sort of real coverage, but you wouldn't want it to anyways. Apply too much, and you'll find yourself a pasty ghost! While this doesn't cover my more prominent acne scars (which are more of a purple tone rather than pink or red), this is excellent in covering the redness of acne, as well as reducing how red my face becomes due to the dry weather. I even used it to get rid of the redness around a stye I had, with no irritation and only good results! It also works to fill in wrinkles, pores, and the shallow acne scars I have.

I prefer to tap this into my skin with my fingers rather than rubbing it in like I would a silicon primer. This has a slot of slip and a powdery texture, just like traditional western primers, but feels a lot lighter on my skin. However, it doesn't do anything to increase the lasting power of my makeup. For reference, I only use a small amount – about half a pea size. I took a tip from Korean beauty blogger Pony, and apply it only to the areas on my face that have a tendency to get red – my cheeks, and around my nose – versus all over. The red areas blend into my natural skin tone this way, without making the normal areas overly pasty, meaning I don't need to use foundation after if I don't want.

This hasn't broken me out, clogged my pores, or given me any adverse reactions despite my acne-prone skin. However, it does have a light floral scent, so if you're sensitive to fragrance, you might want to stay away.

You can buy the baby choux base in the tube, or in the ever popular cushion form. I paid about $10 for mine from Beautynetkorea.

Pros

Amazing at covering redness
Fills in pores, and shallow wrinkles and scars
Not irritating

Cons
Some might not like the added fragrance
Need to buy online

OST Vitamin C20 Serum Review

UPDATE: I have since stopped using this (I ran out and never bought more), and have noticed that my skin quality has suffered. My skin is less glowy (but more oily, go figure) and I think I've broken out slightly more since I've run out. Nothing else has changed in my routine. This just goes to show the effects of a skincare product aren't always apparent (to us) while using them.

The OST Vitamin C20 serum is a highly concentrated vitamin C serum. It contains 20% vitamin C, which is definitely one of the highest I’ve come across.

Vitamin C is well known for it’s brightening properties, as well as providing essential nourishment to the skin, and helping to lighten hyperpigmentation. The OST serum promises to do all of this, as well as provide moisture and help get rid of pesky blackheads.

While I like this serum, I don’t think I’m in love with it. The high content of vitamin C is definitely noteworthy, however sensitive skin may have an issue with this. When my skin was drier, I found it to sting slightly. It’ll definitely sting if you get it on any scratches or broken skin.

I have a lot of hyperpigmentation due to rampant outbreaks for the last few months, although I’ve finally managed to get them under control, and this is always a main skincare concern of mine. I’m always looking for the best in whitening and brightening ingredients, and vitamin C is one of those key ingredients to look for in any serum promising to even out your skin tone.

The OST Vitamin C20 Serum comes in a brown glass jar with a dropper that’s packaged separately for maximum freshness while shipping. No oxidation should occur as the bottle is tightly sealed until you put the dropper in. The dropper is very hygienic and makes it easy to apply a precise amount of the serum.

I like to use four drops of this serum everyday in the morning and night after toner. It smells like oranges, which is a great way to begin my morning skincare routine. As the vitamin C is the most active ingredient in any of the serums I use, I apply the OST serum first, and then layer my Pure Heals Propolis 90 Serum on top. Follow up with an emulsion and cream. The serum does dry slightly sticky, but this disappears after a few minutes, or when you apply the rest of your skincare on top.

After using this for about a month now (I’ve used almost half the bottle), I can safely say this does make a difference in the brightness of my skin, as well as some of the hyperpigmentation. My skin has become a bit brighter due to the exfoliating properties of the vitamin C in it. In terms of hyperpigmentation, this has definitely worked to fade my lighter spots. Darker, deeper spots of hyperpigmentation are still visible, and don’t seem to be going away anytime soon, but I also believe this is due to having some extremely irritated and thinned skin at the moment.  I also tried this on a bit of brown hyperpigmentation leftover from a nasty scratch last year, and this faded it in a week.  As for blackheads, I don’t see any noticeable difference in mine.

The OST Vitamin C20 serum is $20 Canadian on wishtrend.com, and given the high antioxidant content, is worth buying again. As I’m not totally in love with it, I’d like to try other serums such as Missha’s Time Revolution Night Repair, which contains a multitude of vitamins and active ingredients, or the Skin & Lab Red Serum, which again contains a variety of vitamins and antioxidants, before purchasing another bottle of the OST serum. These two serums also include ingredients to prevent aging, as well as vitamin C (and other active ingredients) to help even out skin tone. Vitamin C is a great anti-aging ingredient, don’t get me wrong, I’d just prefer something with a little more… oomph.

However, if you want a simple and effective (and cheap!) whitening/brightening serum, I highly the OST Vitamin C20. I don’t think you’ll get better bang for your buck with any others.

Pros

Cheap

Effective at lightening hyperpigmentation

Smells like oranges

Cons

Will need to buy online

May be too strong for sensitive skin