Innisfree capsule recipe pack - A Selection

Innisfree capsule recipe packs come in a variety of different "flavours", a mixture of wash-off packs and sleeping packs. I recently purchased 6 different ones to try out while Innisfree were offering a "buy 3 get 3 deal." Here's what I got:

I'll be adding to this review as and when I use each pack (as it seems a little silly to review them all separately!) 

Innisfree is a Korean cosmetics company that bases most of their products on ingredients sourced or inspired by Innisfree Island. They appear to be a sort of "body shop" type store in Korea with an emphasis on "Eco" and natural products. 

Innisfree capsule recipe pack: Seaweed.

This is a wash-off pack containing "jeju green complex" which sounds rather ambiguous if you ask me! It's meant to be brightening and "warming".

Texture: very sticky and gel like with little hard dark green particles which look like seaweed. It spreads easily with a pack brush and when heated by the skin is a lot less sticky! 

Scent: not fishy or seaweedy! More that sort of fresh smell you get from men's shower gel - actually pretty refreshing! 

Ingredients: no idea I can't find it anywhere!! It's just lucky I didn't have a reaction to this!

Effects: after applying the mask warmed, just slightly not like one of those horrible heated clay masks that actually burn, but a gentle "I've just stepped into a heated room" warmness. 

After 15 mins I added water and massaged my face - only to find those little dark green bits did a very gentle job of physically exfoliating my face! 

Afterwards the little dry flecks of skin around my nose were gone and my face felt quite moisturised - nothing dramatic but a pleasant surprise none the less!

Rebuy: maybe, I'd like to try out the other masks I purchased. For reasonably cheap 15 min treatment the results were pretty good. I will definitely have 2 more applications out of this little pot (a little goes a long way) 

Innisfree Capsule Recipe Pack - Rice Sleeping

The next mask I tried was the Rice Sleeping Pack. I took this with me while I was on a 3 day trip to visit family in North Wales before Christmas - I had to really cut down my skin regime and this was a great way to save some precious packing space! 

Scent: Rice, like rice pudding - not quite as pleasant as I'd have imagined more of a stale cooking smell (I guess I'm spoilt with the scent of my other products)

(Excuse the worse than usual photo, I was staying in a farmhouse!) 

Texture: Like pudding, it seemed to have minescule granules in it (may have been my imagination) like rice flour. Applied quite thickly and took about 10 mins to sink in - it didn't feel very smooth on my face.

Effects: A nasty rash. I overeggagerate, it was a small rash effecting my jaw line (the most sensitive part of my face) no redness just hundreds of tiny little bumps which made my skin feel like sandpaper. It's a week later now and my skin is back to normal but it went through a dry flaky tight phase and then all peeled off. No idea what the ingredients are so I can't pinpoint the cause except that this was the only new product of been using! 

Rebuy? Err...no, sandpaper face was not a good look. 

Mizon Returning Starfish Cream

Today I'm going to speak about my current obsession - Mizon Returning Starfish Cream. I bought this about 8 weeks ago and have been using it ever since - to be honest the only reason I bought this was because of the amazing tin, it's beautiful:

However, this rather fetching tin holds (what's turning out to be) my HG hydrating cream, it's completely bowled me over!!

Mizon Returning starfish cream contains a whopping 70% starfish extract as well as some other nice additions such as niacinamide. 

So why should you be putting starfish on your skin? There are very few studies on the effects of starfish at present, but it does appear to be a very promising cosmetic additive! Here's a summary of the current studies available (skip forward if you don't want a science lecture, and thanks goes to u/ecologista on reddit for gathering all these papers!). 

Starfish extract contains steroidal compounds which may play a part in the  anti microbial properties it exhibits against yeasts and fungi (maybe something to consider if you're using any fermented cosmetics). 

Another study suggested that it may also have skin whitening materials which could result in a reduction of melanogenesis by reduction of tyrosinase activity. Now that's a few big scientific words, let's break that down a little: Melanogenesis produces melanin, or skin pigmentation - the pigment in your skin, eyes and hair. Sun exposure causes these melanocytes (the cells that produce melanin) to go a bit crazy, depositing a lot of protective melanin in the skin layers as a reaction to Ultraviolet light - this is what gives you a "tan". Other compounds can also trigger melanogenesis such as metabolic disorders, Vitamin D and retinods..but that's a lesson for another day.

Other studies found that like snail filtrate (yeah remember the snails?) starfish extract accelerated wound healing and exhibited anti-inflammatory effects (all good things if you're suffering from acne scarring).

Now none of these studies were conducted on humans and a variety of different starfish types were used - so don't take these claims as gospel, these are potential effects and further studies will have to be conducted to prove their efficacy on humans!

Now back to the cream!

Mizon Returning Starfish Cream, available from RoseRoseShop: ~£12.50 it's out of stock at the moment (free p&p) TesterKorea: £16.80 CultBeauty: £25 (err nope)

Ingredients: 

Water, Hydrolyzed Starfish Extract, Ulmus Davidiana Root Extract, Butylene Glycol, Methylpropanediol, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Isododecane, Triethylhexanoin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cyclohexasiloxane, Niacinamide, Polysorbate 20, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Bis-Peg-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Glyceryl Stearate, Peg-100 Stearate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexyl Glycerin, Tropolone, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Adenosine, Glyceryl Linoleate, Glyceryl Linolenate, Glyceryl Arachidonate, Allantoin, Panthenol, Beta Glucan, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Sodium Pca, Betain, Sorbitol, Glycine, Alanine, Proline, Serine, Threonine, Arginine, Lysine, Glutamic Acid, Copper Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Iris Florentina Root Extract, Hydrolyzed Extensin, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Seed Extract, Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Artemisia Absinthium Extract, Achillea Millefolium Extract, Gentiana Lutea Root Extract, Disodium Edta, Fragrance

There are a few known acne triggers including Oenothera Biennis Oil (evening primrose oil), so do check the ingredients through cosdna to be sure this product is suitable for you. 

Texture: Its a firm jelly like texture when you first scoop it out from the tin (with the handy spatula provided) when I first scooped some out my initial thoughts were "How is this even going to spread on my face, it's so solid!" But rub it a bit between your fingers and you'll notice that it becomes a lot less viscous and it's then very easy to pat on to your skin. 

Scent: Light floral scent - I don't usually like fragrance in my cosmetics but considering the ingredients in this cream, a floral scent was extremely welcome! It's very subtle and disappears once the cream sinks in. 

Effects: now you don't need much, just a pea sized amount to achieve the most wonderful hydration! I put this on at night over Mizon All in One Snail Cream, just on my cheeks and just before my face oil and WOW I'm waking up with the bounciest, plumpest skin I've ever had. 

I can't really comment on the "whitening" effects as I'm using a few different products containing niacinamide and AHAs, but in combination my routine has dramatically faded the pesky freckles on my cheeks left over from lax SPF application during the summer. 

Rebuy: Yes!! 

Disclaimer: I can't be held responsible for how much you end up stroking your face after applying this cream. 

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?