August 7th, 2017
Hello readers today I am going to
talk about a Japanese skincare brand that everyone who is a skincare enthusiast
dream of using at least once in her/his life. I am one of those people so on a
trip to Canada 2 years ago I was very happy to find some products of this brand in a duty free
at the Toronto airport as this brand is nowhere
to be found in stores in Europe (you can order them with international free shipping HERE). At the time I had just started my new facial skincare routine with spring water only (see HERE). My skin had already become blemish free because of it but I was left out with some dark spots which pushed me to get those products despite their very high price. It is two years later now so trust me when I say that I do not regret it as that purchase had led me to find out very recently a much cheaper alternative which I will talk about soon...
to be found in stores in Europe (you can order them with international free shipping HERE). At the time I had just started my new facial skincare routine with spring water only (see HERE). My skin had already become blemish free because of it but I was left out with some dark spots which pushed me to get those products despite their very high price. It is two years later now so trust me when I say that I do not regret it as that purchase had led me to find out very recently a much cheaper alternative which I will talk about soon...
Both serums have very similar
formulations but the Cellumination Aura Essence in the white bottle (now called SK-II GenOptics Aura Essence) broke me out after 3 weeks
of use only although I was able to see result during that timing. This serum comes with a dropper that dispense a very liquidy product easily. That one has perfume in it which might explain why I broke out) so I
had to stop using it pretty quickly wheras I was able to finish up the power
brightening specialist serum (now called SK-II GenOptics Spot Essence) which lasted 3 months and one week. This serum comes with a dropper that dispense a gelly texture easily. I also need to add that with the SK-II GenOptics Spot Essence (silver bottle) I did not feel the need to moisturise my combination/oily/dehydrated skin so I absolutely loved how that one felt on my skin.
I bought those products to fight
dark spots but I did not see a major difference on my dark spots after 4 months
of use. Dark spots take a while to go away, so I might have seen better result
if I had used those serums longer but as I explained above I was only able to use
those for 4 months in total. And at that price I was not
psychologically ready to buy those again. Despite that I was very impressed by
those products because it made my skin looked much brighter and even. I tend to
have darker areas on my face, especially around my mouth and it becomes more
obvious when the weather transitions from summer to fall and then winter which
makes my overall complexion looks very dull. With both serums my skin
complexion looked much more even, the texture of my skin was smoother, my pores
looked smaller and my oily/combination
skin became less oily. It was very impressive as I really did not expect that. I truly realized how much my skin had improved when one day
one of my sisters asked me if I was wearing any foundation as my skin was
looking great. And nope I was not wearing anything. My sister does not really
care about skincare and makeup so the fact that she noticed the difference means
that the difference was really noticeable. And not just in my head.
I was so impressed by those products
that I had to check the ingredients list and noticed that I was not familiar
with the two main ingredients in both serums which are ferment extract and niacianamide. After further research I realized that "niacianamide" is used in many asian skincare products; especially in those that target
dull and hyper pigmented skin. Those products are great, so much that when I was able to use less products from my other skincare routine (exfoliant, moisturiser, masks) because my skin did not feel the need for it. Also I really appreciate the fact that the brand disclose a full ingredient list of their ingredients on their website. That should be the norm and rule for all brands but unfortunately that is not the case.
I bought those very expensive products 2 years
ago, I love them but because of the price this is not something I can repurchase. The good thing is that thanks to the new knowledge I got on this “new” ingredient niacanimide,
I recently found out a new amazing product which gives an almost similar result for
a fraction of the price but I will talk about that on a next post so stay tuned…
Price
SK-II GenOptics Aura Essence: $225/€200 for 50ml/1.7oz (most serums have a 30ml/1oz format)
SK-II GenOptics Spot Essence: $225/€200 for 50ml/1.7oz (most serums have a 30ml/1oz format)
Price
SK-II GenOptics Aura Essence: $225/€200 for 50ml/1.7oz (most serums have a 30ml/1oz format)
SK-II GenOptics Spot Essence: $225/€200 for 50ml/1.7oz (most serums have a 30ml/1oz format)
XOxo
Dianna.H
Waiting for the review of the product similar to this one for the fraction of the cost.Thank you
ReplyDeleteI love their bottling. I haven't heard of this product yet so I may have to do more research. I do love SK-II's face treatment essence and face mask from b-glowing though
ReplyDeleteNiacinamide, additionally known as nicotinamide or Vitamin B3 has obtained loads of attention within the world of pores and skin care inside the past couple of months.The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% Size:30ml
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ReplyDeleteOnline The Ordinary Products in Pakistan