[innisfree] rosemary sebum & pore lotion

In the evening I like to use a lotion under my face cream. Usually it's a product for acne or oil skin and so I came to [innisfree]'s rosemary sebum & pore lotion. This lotion belongs to the Nature Solution Skincare Line and is available in five (5) different kinds:
- rose clear skin
- rosemary sebum & pore lotion
- jasmine aqua capsule lotion
- camomile mild soothing lotion
- lavender moisture firming lotion

I got oily skin with some enlarged pores and dry areas. Because of that I got the rosemary type but would also try out the camomile one for sensitive skin.

Description: Enriched with rosemary and green complex to maintain optimal moisture balance and to create clean and clear skin.

The clear plastic bottle has a silver twist-off lid and contains 200ml. The sticker on the bottle is made of recycled paper and has only the description and ingredient list in Korean on it. Since the bottle has no pump you have to squeeze it to get the lotion out.

The sebum & pore lotion contains 200mg Rosemary Extract and Mint Extract. Rosemary controls sebum while mint keeps your pores elastic. This product line is free of Paraben, Mineral Oil, Artificial Dyes and Animal Material.

The lightweight lotion has a milky white color and changes to a watery consistency when I spread it over my face. It moisturizes and mattifies my skin after it got absorbed. My pores are less visible as well. Unfortunately my skin sometimes gets dry and flaky on some areas and therefore a mattifying product alone is not always good for my skin. I have to use another face cream over it afterwards! The scent is kinda strong and smells like herbs - probably rosemary.

[innisfree]'s rosemary sebum & pore lotion does a good job in keeping my oily skin areas matte and minimizes the appearance of pores. If you like a natural product and want a moisturizing yet mattifying product for your oily/combination skin you can give it a try!

How to use: Smooth in the morning and/or evening over thoroughly cleansed and toned skin of face and neck. 

Price: About 10,- €/ US$13.50
Bought at: eBay (rubyruby76) 

What I love: 
The mattifying effect and that my pores are less visible (the smaller ones anyway).  

What I don’t like:
Not moisturizing enough (or too mattifying) for dry skin areas. Can use it mostly in combination with a face cream only. 

Will I buy this again? I don't think so but the camomile one would be interesting to try, too.

[innisfree] green persimmon pore special kit

Sometimes I see an interesting product and don't dare to buy it because of its high price. In this case I'm always happy when I can get samples like the green persimmon pore special kit from [innisfree].
This skincare line is particularly suitable for people with enlarged pores and consists of the following products:
- pore toner
- pore pad
- pore essence
- pore pack&cream

The special kit contains the products in smaller sizes - the pads are not included in this kit, though.

The samples come inside a small paper box and the whole line is kept in turquoise and white colors. The special kit has no english description while I'm sure the full sizes got it.

pore toner (15ml):

This toner, formulated with pure Jeju green persimmon extracts, helps manage pores while the ethanol-free formula softly refines your skin texture.

pore essence (10ml):

This essence, formulated with pure Jeju green persimmon extracts, helps manage pores while the moisture popping essence gently enwraps your skin, leaving it feeling soft and smooth.

pore pack&cream (5ml):

This pack & cream, formulated with pure Jeju green persimmon extracts, helps manage pores while the 'Pore Re-Forming Technology' builds up a pore tightening barrier, leaving your skin feeling smooth and sleek.

All products have a very nice scent, kinda fruity and yet citrus-like.

The toner is colorless and leaves a refreshing and cooling feeling on my skin. 

Apply it with a cotton pad after washing your face.

The pore essence has a watery consistency and a whitish color. It moisturizes my skin, slightly tightens my pores and mattyfies my skin.
Just apply it right after the toner!

The pack&cream is a 2-in-1 product: it can be used as a face cream or as sleeping pack.
When using the white gel-cream as face cream just apply an appropriate amount to your face (especially on areas with enlarged pores).
As sleeping pack, apply the product to your whole face before going to sleep and wash it off the next morning.

Since I have only the special kit I can't tell if these products really improve ones skin texture. 

I like the toner because of its cooling effect and the essence/ cream makes my pores smaller looking and my skin less shiny.

Price (sample kit): around 4,50,- €/ US$6 
Bought at: eBay (rubyruby76)  
 
What I love:
The cooling effect of the toner and the matte finish of the essence. The scent is also quite nice!   
What I don’t like:
Nothing yet!  

Will I buy this again? Might consider of getting the toner as full size (US$17).

[Holika Holika] Pore sea stem *Tightening Mask*

One of [Holika Holika]'s latest new product line consists of five (5) products exclusively made for oily skin with enlarged pores. Since I have some enlarged pores on my nose and cheeks I decided to get at least one of these products. For now I have the Pore sea stem Tightening Mask only but still thinking about getting the Cover Balm, too.

Anyway, the five available products are:
- Mineral Scaling
- Tightening Mask
- Finish Serum
- Cover Balm
- Mineral Freshener

Description: Sleek brush mask that tightens pores with coral and marine mineral components.

The outer packaging of the Pore sea stem Tightening Mask is light blue with some colorful coral prints on it. The description of the product is in Korean and English on it.

The large, but rather flat tube, is also kept in light blue, contains 100ml and comes sealed with a twist-off lid. A brush attachment is seperately included.

Some of the ingredients of the Tightening Mask are Water, Alcohol, Coral Extract, Sea Water, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Wheat Protein, Caulerpa Lentillifera Extract and more.

The included white brush has soft bristles and can be closed/ openend.

The masks consistency is gel-like with a hint of pink color. The scent is ok as well, kinda marine-like!

When using the mask you have to unlock the cap and squeeze the tube until you can see some product coming out where the brush is. Then apply the mask with circular motions on your skin, especially on areas with enlarged pores.

The mask is barely visible on the skin and seems to get a bit absorbed as well (when dried).

I used the mask only a few times but I didn't see any improvement on my skin yet. Even right after using this mask I didn't notice any change on my pores size.

Furthermore, I find it a bit inconvenient to apply the product with the brush because it's not foaming etc. It might work better when you apply it without circular motions, though.

How to use: Straighten out your skin texturewith a toner and unlock the brush. Take the right amount and spread out the content. Wash off the product after 10~15 minutes.

Price: around 13,- €/ US$16
Bought at: eBay (f2plus1)

What I love:
Nothing really atm. 

What I don’t like: 
The mask is barely visible and I didn't notice any change yet.

Will I buy this again? No! But might get the Cover Balm.... or the Mineral Scaling (is it a cleanser??).

[TONYMOLY] Latte Art Milk-Cacao Pore Pack

I always found [TONYMOLY]'s Latte Art product line interesting, especially the face masks. But I never purchased them because one of these is a Morning Pack (I don't use face masks in the morning) and the other one is a Cream-In-Scrub/ Peeling. But a few weeks ago I saw that they added a new product to this line which I finally received some days ago: the Latte Art Milk-Cacao Pore Pack.
This face mask shall have sebum absorbtion and pore tightening effects, so it's good for oily/ combination skin with enlarged pores.

Description: Pore-tightening pact with moisturizing milk cream contained in cacao pack.
This cacao-in-cream mask containing soft milk cream within sweet cacao pack tightens pores and moisturizes the skin. The cacao pack from Ghana contains cacao oil which has an excellent sebum-absorbing function, and it removes impurities from the pores. Marshmallow extract provides excellent moisturizing effects to the skin. Keeping the skin moisturized even after washing your face. In addition, peppermint and white willow extracts remove dead skin cells and tighten pores, making the skin smooth and firm.

The content of 85g is housed in a cute, clear plastic cup with a white twist-off lid. This lid also includes a small spoon/ spatula.

Through the cup you can see the twisted milk & cacao cream which looks like the chocolate spread I eat for breakfast.

The description on the bottom of the cup is mainly written in Korean, same for the ingredient list. I just know that the main ingredients are Cacao Oil (1,5%), Marshmallow Extract, Peppermint Extract and White Willow Extract.

I  ordered the Milk-Cacao Pore Pack from South Korea and I received the product a bit messed (up). When I opened the lid the pack didn't have that nice twist-look on top anymore.
Anyway, the white milk part has a creamy consistency while the brown cacao part is rather firm.
I try to mix both parts inside the cup before applying it to my face but that's not very easy. Therefore, I take it out with the spatula and massage it over my entire face until it got a nice greyish-brown color.

I like its scent! Smells for me like a mix of chocolate and alcohol!

I leave the mask for about 10~15 minutes on my face and then wash it off with warm water. Afterwards my pores looking a bit smaller but that's just a temporarily effect again.
I will see how it works on my skin when used regularly!

How to use: After washing your face,apply our toner to prepare the skin for the next step in skin care. Mix the cacao pact and milk cream in a 1:1 ratio and apply the mixture to the entire face, avoiding the skin around eyes and mouth. Leave it on for 10~15 minutes and wash off with lukewarm water. (Use 1~2 times a week)

Price: around 13,50,- €/ US$17     

Bought at: eBay (2b-gentler)        

      
What I love: 

The cute design and scent!

         
What I don’t like: 

Nothing at the moment!       

   
Will I buy this again? No, one time is enough for me! Try out new masks again.

[SKINFOOD] FRESH APPLE *Mild Pore Peeling Gel & Sparkling Pore Cream*

Recently I received my ordered FRESH APPLE products from [SKINFOOD]. I reviewed already the FRESH APPLE Smooth Pore Cream and got now the Mild Pore Peeling Gel, the Sparkling Pore Cream and samples of the Toner, Emulsion and Serum.

This product line is recommended for oily skin with enlarged pores! 

A No Sebum Spot Serum is now available as well!!

Description: Unripe green apple extract and carbonated water controls sebum production and tightens pores.

[Fresh Apple Story]
Unripe is an apple that tastes bitter and unripe which cares sebum and contact pores, which is eventually beneficial for pore care.

[Carbonated Water Strory]
Primary carbonated mineral water is one of the world's three "mysterious orient" water is called a freshness to the skin will be soft.

FRESH APPLE Mild Pore Peeling Gel:

The peeling comes in a greenish tube, same as those of cleansing foams. It has an metallic twist-off lid and contains 150ml. It has exactly the same design as the Smooth Pore Cream - just bigger.

The description on the back of the tube is completely in Korean, so it's hard for me to read the ingredients.

But I found out that it contains 150mg Carbonated Water and 750mg Green Apple Extract. These two are the main ingredients as well.

The consistency is gel-like and has a slight whitish color. The Mild Pore Peeling Gel can be used by all skin types coz it doesn't contain any harsh granules like many other face scrubs.

I apply it to my dry skin and rub it over my whole face until the product starts to peel off, then I wash it off with warm water.

Like all products in this line it smells for me like cucumber but that's probably the green apple. It doesn't have that sweet apple scent you might know from other apple products.

How to use: After washing and towel-drying, massage onto face in circular motion, and rinse with warm water.

Price: around 14,- €/ US$17.50 
Bought at: eBay (gooditem2012)  

What I love:  

It's gentle enough for sensitive skin! 

What I don’t like: 

There is nothing I don't like. 

Will I buy this again? No, it will last for a long time and should be enough. 

FRESH APPLE Sparkling Pore Cream:

Description: A cooling and hydrating pore tightener with fresh unripe green apple extract and carbonated water that controls sebum production and tightens pores. 

The face cream is inside a greenish (glass) jar, has also a metallic lid and contains 50g.

On the bottom is the description and Korean and English (can be opened).

As many other products the cream got a second cover underneath the lid. The main ingredients are Green Apple Extract (5,000mg) and Carbonated Water (2,500mg).

The refreshing gel cream does moisturize well and get absorbed quite fast. It has a whitish color and the same green apple scent as the other products in this line.

A very nice face cream! I wished it would sparkle/ tingle a bit on the face, though, since it contains carbonated water.

How to use: After emulsion or serum application, dispense an ample amount onto the palm and smooth over the entire face. 

Price: around 17,50,- €/ US$21.50

Bought at: eBay (gooditem2012)    

What I love:  

It refreshes and moisturizes my skin without getting too oily.

What I don’t like: 

Nothing yet!

Will I buy this again? Maybe I would but I'm not sure! 

FRESH APPLE Sparkling Pore Gift Set & Sparkling Pore Serum:

Beside the two full size products I also got some samples. The Sparkling Pore Gift Set contains the Sparkling Pore Toner and the Sparkling Pore Emulsion with each 5ml content.

Both products are colorless while the Emulsion has a thicker texture than the Toner - it's still rather runny, though.

The Serum has a white lotion-like consistency and I find it a bit similar to the Peach Sake Pore Serum. 

Price: around 3,60,- €/ US$4.30 (Gift Set);  around 1,60,- €/ US$2 (5 Serum Samples)  
Bought at: eBay (rubyruby76)