Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream

After trialing Mizon all in one snail repair cream for the past month I finally feel comfortable reviewing this product for you all.

Sorry wait a second, did you just say snail??? 
Yup, snail. 92% snail filtrate infact! Snail filtrate has been used to accelerate wound healing and burn healing as well as a small study which showed improved skin texture and diminished fine lines. It has been touted as an excellent product for those with acne, aging concerns and generally unhappy skin. 

Mizon is a South Korean cosmetics company who seem to specialise in skin care products, their best sellers include lots of different snail products as well as those containing starfish and even bee venom! While many of these ingredients are available in products in the UK (Dr Organics at Holland and Barrett also do a snail gel range, and Rodial/Nip + Fab do a bee venom range) their prices are much higher than Mizon, and the concentrations of these ingredients tend to be a bit lower (in my experience, correct me if I'm wrong!) 

I own quite a few Mizon products and have never reacted badly to any of their products, in fact the only product I've tried of theirs which I wasn't too keen on we're the peeling foot masks - they just leaked everywhere. 

So...onto the review!

Mizon All in one Snail Repair Cream comes in a 75g jar (£8.89) or a 35g tube and is available from RoseRoseShop.com as well as TesterKorea and eBay (check out the /asianbeauty subreddit for a list of reputable shops and sellers) 

Ingredients: Snail secretion filtrate, cetearyl olivate, sorbitan olivate, cetearyl alcohol, stearic acid, glyceryl stearate, hydrogenate vegetable oil, dimethicone, triethanolamine, carbomer, butylene glycol, PEG/ppg-17/6 copolymer, polyacrylate-13, polyisobutene, polysorbate 20, sodium polyacrylate, caprylyl glyocol, ethylhexyglycerin, tropolone, adenosine, sodium hyaluronate, portulaca oleracea extract, betula platyphylla japonica juice, amica Montana flower extract, Artemisia absinthium extract, achillea milefolium extract, gentian lutea root extract, alcohol, camellia sinensis leaf extract, centella asiatica extract, copper tripeptide-1, human oligopeptide-1, propylene glycol, rubus idaeus (raspberry) fruit xtract, beta-glucan, palmitoyl pentapeptide-4, disodium

All in all - pretty nice ingredients list! 

Packaging: Brown glass jar which makes me think of an apocathary for some reason! I would have preferred a tube, however I'm unsure how well it would dispense out of one given its slimed texture! Remember to use a spatula for hygiene reasons or at least wash your hands before use!  

Texture: It looks and feels like snail goo, it's quite slippery and it's more of a gel than a cream. A little goes a long way and you don't need more than a pea sized amount to cover your whole face - add a bit more to cover your neck. It sinks in within a minute and after that it leaves the skin only slightly tacky, however this goes away after about 5 mins. 

The amount I need to cover my face, this won't be running out any time soon! 

You can see it leaves a slight sheen on the skin when its first applied

Scent: It doesn't smell of anything really, no weird snail smell, maybe a hint of floral but nothing overwhelming. 

Moisture: My skin always feels quite dewy after applying, however I wouldn't wear this alone, I layer essence/Ampoule over this and then finish with a heavier moisturiser. 

Effects: I've found that since using this my essence is working better (I use Missha First Time essence) and is sinking in a lot quicker. In 4 weeks my skin is looking much plumper and I've found blemish scabs have been healing at a faster rate than normal (usually the redness and dryness hangs around for a week longer when I don't use this) 

Makeup: One thing I struggle with when I'm layering skincare is my makeup slipping, as this actually sinks in and doesn't just sit on top of my skin, my makeup as been staying very well as long as I wait at least 10 mins after my whole regime before applying foundation. 

Re-buy: Yes!!! I can't actually imagine running out of this, although Mizon makes several different snail creams they would have to be incredible to replace this one for me!  

Have you tried this cream or any of the other Mizon Snail creams, if so what did you think of them? 

Étude House bb cream samples

I recently received some samples of Étude House BB creams and one face base, as I am forever on the search for a HG BB cream I was eager to try these, although I had a slight suspicion that they wouldn't be my shade (see below for lard coloured skin examples). 

From left: Baby choux base in "Mint Choux", Precious Mineral BB in "Blooming Fit w13" and "Cotton Fit w13"

(I'm maybe slightly more tan than white flour) I'd say the blooming fit was around an NW 15-20, and the Cotton Fit is around an NW 20-25.

Baby Choux in Mint Choux costs $15 from www.etudehouse.com

I was very excited when I received this as I've been looking for something to tone down the red marks around my nose and hoped this would work well. 

Ingredients: WATER, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, METHYL TRIMETHICONE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), GLYCERIN, ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE, DICAPRYLYL CARBONATE, DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL DICAPRYLATE/DICAPRATE, SILICA, ZINC OXIDE (CI 77947), DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, PEG-10 DIMETHICONE, CETYL ETHYLHEXANOATE, DIMETHICONE, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, CYCLOHEXASILOXANE, ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE, POLYSILICONE-11, STEARIC ACID, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE, POLYMETHYL METHACRYLATE, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, DISODIUM EDTA, ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF EXTRACT, NELUMBO NUCIFERA FLOWER EXTRACT, PRUNUS MUME FRUIT EXTRACT, CHROMIUM OXIDE GREENS (CI 77288), IRON OXIDES (CI 77492), FRAGRANCE

First impressions: 

Texture: A lovely mint green colour with quite a light texture. 

Scent: The scent is slightly floral but it's very subtle. 

Coverage: It blends easily and smoothly and the green colour doesn't settle in any lines, in fact the green colour disappears pretty quickly. 

This was more of a base than a BB cream - the colour pay off was next to nothing for this reason. I'm still unsure what exactly it's supposed to do, because it did ermm..nothing. Maybe due to the fact that I'm so pale, I found no difference in my skin tone after applying, it had no effect on any red patches and no effect on how smoothly my foundation went on afterwards - if anything it made my foundation much slower to absorb. 

Buy it or bin it? Bin, unfortunately it didn't do a thing. YMMV this may be more effective on darker skin colours - but if it's redness you're trying to cover, keep looking because this isn't going do a thing! 

Precious mineral BB cream in Blooming fit w13 costs £7.20 And you can find it here: 

http://www.roseroseshop.com/en/20-sale/121355--etude-house-precious-mineral-bb-cream-blooming-fit-60g-now13-natural-beige-new.html?ps_full_site=1 

Ingredients: WATER, PHENYL TRIMETHICONE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), BUTYLENE GLYCOL DICAPRYLATE/DICAPRATE, ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, HYDROGENATED POLY(C6- 14 OLEFIN), CYCLOHEXASILOXANE, CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE, GLYCERIN, NIACINAMIDE, ZINC OXIDE (CI 77947), BORON NITRIDE, POLYGLYCERYL-4 ISOSTEARATE, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, POLYBUTENE, HYDROGENATED POLYISOBUTENE, HEXYL LAURATE, ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE, BEESWAX, STEARIC ACID, TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, DISODIUM EDTA, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, ADENOSINE, METHYL METHACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER, MOTHER OF PEARL, PHYLLOSTACHIS BAMBUSOIDES JUICE, ALCOHOL, IRON OXIDES (CI 77492, CI 77491, CI 77499), FRAGRANCE

First Impressions

Texture: This has a very light texture and a good amount of "slip" although it was too dark for me it would still do in a pinch during the summer, due to how blendable it was. 

Scent: Not much of one, just a slight "sunscreen" smell.

Coverage: I couldn't really test it on my own face as it's now winter and I've got my whole "Morticia Adams" paleness going on. My mother however is a perfect NW20-25 and this was perfect on her, I'd say the coverage was medium, but very buildable. The most impressive thing was how this completely covered deep pores without caking and without primer - pretty miraculous stuff! It also did a very good job at hiding dark circles and didn't settle into any lines throughout the day. 

Staying power: Stayed matte all day (but she does have normal/dry skin) didn't settle into lines, some wear around the nose but considering the ease of applying it would have been easy to touch up. 

Buy it or bin it? Mums asked for it for Christmas, so I guess I will be buying it! 

Etude House Precious mineral in Cotton Fit w13 costs $15 at www.etudehouse.com

Ingredients: WATER, PEARL EXTRACT, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), GLYCERIN, PHENYL TRIMETHICONE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, BUTYLENE GLYCOL DICAPRYLATE/DICAPRATE, CYCLOHEXASILOXANE, NIACINAMIDE, NYLON-12, CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE, HYDROGENATED POLY(C6-14 OLEFIN), ZINC OXIDE (CI 77947), TALC, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, IRON OXIDES (CI 77492), BEESWAX, HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL, GOSSYPIUM HERBACEUM (COTTON), CENTELLA ASIATICA EXTRACT, PORTULACA OLERACEA EXTRACT, ARGANIA SPINOSA KERNEL OIL, MELISSA OFFICINALIS LEAF EXTRACT, MALVA SYLVESTRIS (MALLOW) EXTRACT, ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM EXTRACT, ALCHEMILLA VULGARIS EXTRACT, PRIMULA VERIS EXTRACT, MENTHA PIPERITA (PEPPERMINT) LEAF EXTRACT, VERONICA OFFICINALIS EXTRACT, SODIUM CHLORIDE, SORBITAN ISOSTEARATE, PENTYLENE GLYCOL, HEXYL LAURATE, TRIBEHENIN, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE, TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE, PROPYLENE CARBONATE, DIMETHICONE/METHICONE COPOLYMER, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, ADENOSINE, KAOLIN, SILICA, LECITHIN, DISODIUM EDTA, PHENOXYETHANOL, FRAGRANCE(PARFUM), MICA (CI 77019), IRON OXIDES (CI 77491), IRON OXIDES (CI 77499)

First impressions:

Texture: This was much thicker than the other two, well it was just as runny but it just felt thick when I was blending it. 

Scent: Smells like sunscreen

Coverage: Again this one was too dark for me and the coverage was higher so it was much harder to blend. I'm not sure if you can see in the picture but this one even settled into the tiny lines on my arm to leave an almost "snakeskin" look - not nice. 

Staying power: Not tested, but it's not rubbed off my arm in the past 6 hours despite being under my sweater. I'm pretty sure the "sweater arm test" will be the next big thing in product testing. 

Buy it or Bin it? Bin - this would be more suited to someone with oily skin and of course a darker skin tone. 

Final thoughts

My pale BB search continues! I've heard some promising things on reddits /asianbeauty about Misshas BB cream so I will be purchasing that soon to try out. 

I found that these sample sizes although they looked rather small were enough to do two coats of bb on your whole face - I imagine that if you're a light coverage kinda girl these samples would last you 2 days - something to think about if you're planning on doing a trial before purchasing! 

Rosamund x x 

Roseroseshop Haul

Having recently gotten very into Asian skincare, Korean skincare in particular; I finally gave in and bought a few items from the Korean based online shop RoseRoseShop after seeing the absurd mark up for these items in the UK (Cultbeauty I'm looking at you). The items took 2 days to be shipped and 10 days to arrive all together - all for ~£6 shipping, which I find quite reasonable considering I'd spend that much getting a train ticket into town to buy any beauty products anyway!

Clockwise From left: Mizon Good Night White Sleeping Pack, Mizon AHA and BHA Daily Clean Toner, Mizon AHA 8% Peeling Serum, Missha All Around Safe Block 45, Mizon Blemish out Pink Spot, Mizon Returning Starfish Cream, Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream.

Samples:

Missha First Time Essence, Mizon Peptide 500 Ampoule.

Skin food samples

Étude House samples 

I also received 2 samples bottles of Missha cell renew snail treatment and cell renew snail essential moisturiser, which I gave to my mum! 

Reviews to come!!

Rosamund x x