Maybe you remember a past review I published in November 2016, it was about a huge skin care and accessory haul sponsored by Shop Ichigo! You can find the review
here ♥
So now, I tried out the Korean Skin Care products they've sent me for several months, so I can really see how it affected my skin. Today I'm going to show you the results!
Little reminder: I am no skin care expert! Everything I explain in here is based on my baby knowledge. Also huge thanks to my wonderful friend @comafairy on Instagram who got me into the world of skin care ♥
To buy it, click on heeeereeee! It's available for 16,99 Euro,
even a little less with the code "sugarmew10" for, obviously, 10% off the store price.
What is this product?
I am going to show you, as you could already read in the title, the BHA Blackhead Power Liquid! I got it from Shop Ichigo. It's available for a pretty decent price with 16,99 Euro, if you think it's for some high end skin care (spoiler: which will last you for a really long time). The Blackhead Power Liquid works as a chemical exfoliant, which means it will scrub off your dead skin cells and lets your baby ones shine through, making your face all fresh and shiny.
Short explanation: There's two ways of exfoliating your skin (which I know of at least), which is mechanical and chemical exfoliation! Mechanical ones are all the standart peels you may be already using. They are hard little balls for example that scrub off the dead skin cells. Chemical peels penetrate the surface of the skin, so they are usually a lot more effective (Source:
Click here)! They're also recommended for peeps like me who struggle a lot with acne, since mechanical exfoliators rub around the nasty infected particles of the acne around your skin and inflammate it even more.
Ingredients
The main ingredient is the BHA, which stands for Beta Hydroxy Acid, more commonly known as salicylic acid. However, instead of using salicyclic acid,
COSRX is using Betaine Salicyate, which is just like the salicylic acid, just being a lot more gentle to the skin. It's the good stuff that penetrates your skins oil, works as an anti-inflammatory agent, literally dissolves your blackheads and whiteheads and is overall just deep cleansing your skin. To be short, it's the miracle ingredient which makes this product work.
Salicylic acid is not recommended to use with dry skin, but since this is Betaine Salicylate, it even moisturizes my skin. I have really dry skin with a lot of acne, so this product works good with my skin!
Generally, you want to use this product when you struggle with a some nasty black- and/or whiteheads, and your skin type is sensitive, oily or dry.
The full ingredient list is the following:
Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Water, Butylene Glycol, Betaine Salicylate, Niacinamide, 1,2-Hexanediol, Arginine, Panthenol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Xanthan Gum, Ethyl Hexanediol
(Source:
Wishlist, click here)
For me personally, the less ingredients, the better. It just means that the good stuff has more room to work, and your skin doesn't get destroyed with a bunch of weird chemicals.
The pH level is at 4.00, which is really nice for the skin. Want to know more about the pH level of the skin? Here's a useful link I found which describes pH levels! Just click
here. By the way, none of these links are sponsored, I just want to provide some information for those of you who are interested in reading more into the world of skin care.
How to use it
First, let me show and tell you how it smells, feels and looks like. It almost has the same texture as water, really just a tiny bit thicker, so it is super easy to apply it smoothly onto your face. You only need about 2 pumps to cover it entirely, so the product will last for a lengthy time.
To be honest, my nose is really bad and I can barely smell anything (I know, pretty sad but also kinda handy at the same time xD), which is why I had to look up what others said about it's smell. Apparently it only has a slight chemical smell which goes away super quick, so it is reaaally unlikely that it would bother you.
Just to get everyone on the same viewpoint; for me a super standard, nothing fancy skin care routine is: cleansing, toning, serum, moisturizer. Some people say that
you should apply the BHA Power Liquid after cleansing, others say you can do it after toning. I applied it after cleansing because I currently don't have a toner which works for my skin type.
It also differentiates how often you want to use the product on your skin. At first I used it once a day and after two weeks I started to use it every morning and every evening. I noticed my skin likes it a lot better if I use it only
once a day though, so I stick to that! If the product is too harsh on your skin, which could show with some breakouts or dryness, you can also only use it a couple times a week. I personally did only deal with that slightly when I used it twice a day!
I applied it simply using my clean fingers and patting it on my face, emphasizing the areas with a lot of blackheads (so especially my cheeks, nose and chin). You can also use cotton pads for that, but I personally don't like using cotton pads so much because they absorb so much product.
However, it is really, REALLY important to say that you need to give this product a good amount of time to do its magic tricks!
You should wait ideally around 30 minutes until you proceed with the next step of your skin care routine. I usually do it for around 15-20, after that my skin starts to feel tight and uncomfortable, so I have to proceed in my routine. For those of you who don't like to wait for such a long time, if I were you I'd simply set a timer on your phone and do some basic house chores that you'd have to do anyways! I usually do the dishes while waiting, brush my teeth or clean up the house.
Another really important fact is that
the product makes your skin a bit more sensitive to the sun! It is even stated on the product itself that you should use a sun screen of at least 30 or more on a daily basis, so your skin is protected from environmental influences. But besides of that it is to mention that you should do that anyways! In Korean skin care, applying sun screen in the morning is a basic skin care step which prevents your skin from getting that damaged and wrinkle in older ages.
This is how much I have left after using it for a little over 2 months on a daily basis!
Results
Good! Now finally to the interesting part... Now you know how often and when I used it, what are the ingredients and all that kind of stuff. Let me tell you, COSRX is a really famous Korean skin care brand (and I like them a lot!) and this product was REALLY hyped when it came out.
After first using it for about 2 to 3 weeks, it didn't do a lot for me. It didn't dry me out though luckily, instead I felt like my skin was a little more moisturized.
After 3 to 5 weeks, I had terrible, terrible breakouts. Well, terrible for my terms. This means acne especially in the left and right zones of my chin. I thought the product didn't work for me, but I decided to push through it. I often deal with breakouts since my diet and overall lifestyle is not the healthiest (not the worst either though, which is why I am quite happy about it!), but these breakouts are often just 2 or 3 pimples with a ton of blackheads. The breakouts from week 3 to 5 were three times as much though.
After the 6th week, my skin started to get a lot better, a loooot. I was so glad and relieved because my skin started to feel really soft and smooth and I have a lot less acne. I really feel like the product smoothes my skin out a lot, it makes the texture... like new! I literally never felt like my skin was that moisturized from the age of 12 (aka when I started to have problems with acne), just with some moisturizing cleanser, moisturizer in combination with this product. So of course I am in love with this product! Its main purpose though, to clear blackheads, is just not working for me though. I heard a lot of people on different blogs saying that it really worked for their blackheads, unfortunately it didn't work for me though. My blackheads were not touched at all by this product, they still need to be cleared out by professionals to get any better for a few days.
Summary
Well, maybe my skin is just an extra problematic skin type (super dry and really bad acne in combination with it being ... stubborn as hell!), but I still really like this product. I am still not 100% sure if I will re-buy it in the future, even though I strongly tend to a Yes. I know products won't work wonders if you don't eat clean, drink more water and do some sports, because having a healthy lifestyle is a key to glowing, fresh skin too. This is probably the main issue why my skin doesn't change into magical, soft baby skin BUT I am extremely pleased with the results it did on my acne and how it still moisturizes, which is why I like it!
All in all, I'll give it a 6/10 ♥
So Babies, I hope you liked this unusually text-emphasizing blog post! I usually never write as much but I you can't really show these kinds of information in texts. I really tried to provide some good info on all the topics related to the product, plus some extra links. For those of you brave soldiers who read through the entire text, how did you like the amount of information I put in? How do you like the product overall?
I wish you a wonderful day!
My other social media:
Mail: sugar.mew@web.de
Depop: Sugarmew
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disclaimer: The product was sponsored by ShopIchigo, all the opinions are honest and my own though. I'm not affiliated to any of the links. I don't own any of the pixels except my watermark. Have a great day ♥
