Unboxing Beauty

Hydrating and moisturizing are very important for your skin ~ it keeps skin supple and firm, smooth and plump.  However, as an oily skinned person, I used to shy away from lots of hydrating, moisturizing products, as I felt it made my skin oilier.  That is because I was used to just applying ONE moisturizer on my face ~ and it would be a thick moisturizer that would leave behind a greasy residue. This was an issue because my skin was becoming dehydrated, despite being oily ~ and the more dehydrated it became, the more my skin looked dull and unhealthy, with clogged pores and angry red pimples.

Since I started using Asian skincare products, I am in love with hydrating products ~ lightweight oils, serums, ampoules, lotions, emulsions, toners ~ the Asian market seems to know that you can have aging concerns but still have oily skin and blemishes.  I still have oily skin, and yes, I get that oily shine coming thru, but my skin is not dull anymore and it looks healthy.

Since I am obsessed with trying new products and love blogging about them, I find many products that work fantastic with my skin type, but I still continue to look for other products.  I guess if I stopped looking, I would stop blogging!!  The point of a beauty blogger is to try out products, give feedback and hopefully, the review will be helpful to someone who is thinking about trying that product.  With that in mind, the following three products were ones that I used during winter and spring months and I am just getting around to posting my review on them.    One of the products is outstanding, one is yeah, whatever and the last one product is more like ~ I don’t understand the hype.   I will start out with the best of the three.

Kuramoto Komeyu Pure Rice Oil (Japan)

This oil is a cult favorite for those who are into Asian skincare ~ I found this oil via a review from  Japanese skin care beauty blogger extraordinaire, Ratzilla.   I was interested in it, as even though she has dry skin, the oil itself seemed like it could work for all skin types.  I have been using skincare products that have rice extracts, sake and oils in the winter months, so I felt that I would give this a try ~ it is inexpensive and worse case, I could use this as body and cuticle oil.  This oil comes in a beautiful dark amber glass bottle with a dark blue label with a gold design in the shape of a rice seed (or an oil drop ~ it is abstract enough!) 

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Kuramoto Komeyu is a famous Sake brewery and they use rice lees sake to make fermented skincare but they also have this pure occlusive oil ~ made only from rice bran oil and  rice germ oil.    The difference between the two is innie vs outie

Rice bran oil is obtained when rice is polished and it comes from the hard outer layer of the rice seed and contains 15 to 20 percent oil.   It has a vast amount of lipids and  contains phytic acid, squalene, vitamin E, phytosterols and ferulic acids, which help eradicate free radicals and it contains 44% of Omega 6 and 2% Omega 3 essential fatty acids,  which help reduce inflammation.

Rice germ oil is the “embryo” and contains γ-oryzanol, which is a potent antioxidant that can slow the production of hyper-pigmentation and prevent freckles and age spots.  It also contains fatty acids such as palmitoleic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic, palmitic and stearic.

In Japan, if a oil is registered as “rice germ oil” it is actually a mixture of both rice bran and rice germ oils and will contain 1% to 1.5% of γ-oryzanol.

[ research on rice oils from Beauty Review ]

What are the lovely rice ladies below saying about this oil?  Yep, their skincare mascots are 3 ladies in the shape of a rice grain, from ages 25 to 48 (I guess age stops for us ladies at 48! ahaha) and they represent what “age” the product is made for ~ in this case, this lovely rice oil is for all age types (or at least 25 to 48 years of age 😉 )

They are recapping what I just wrote ~ that there are many nutrients that come from the by-products of polishing rice ~ full of antioxidants ~ making your skin beautiful and reminding us that this is a cosmetic oil, and not to be used as a food product.  There are no preservatives, no mineral oil and you can mix this oil in with lotions to amplify the moisture.  You can use this around your nasolabial folds and under your eyes to help soften and reduce the appearance of wrinkles.   This is is also a great oil for your body, cuticles and you can use it as a hair oil too.

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Now, onto the oil ~ it is a lovely medium weight oil, scentless and colorless.  The bottle has a pin drop opening and you just gently tip the oil out onto your hand.  I only need a drop or two on my face and I used this in the cooler months as part of my night time routine.  It really softened my skin without making it feel greasy.  It absorbs quickly, leaving my skin smooth and supple and even though I can feel it on my skin, it doesn’t feel oily. 

I currently use this at night time under my eyes before applying a night cream ~ in the morning, my fine lines and wrinkles are still softened and not as noticeable.    This oil is perfect for me as an facial evening oil during the winter time ~ it is a bit too much on my face during the summer time, however.  It doesn’t break me out and my face really felt soft, smooth and more radiant when I used it.  I will start using this on my face again when the weather turns cooler, and #WinterIsComing.   I still use it now for my elbows and as a night time deep moisturizer for my feet ~ I add some oil into my foot lotions, massage it into my feet and then put some socks over my feet ~ deep moisturizing while I sleep! 

There is a traditional way to apply oils to your face ~ you put a few drops in your hands and press the palms of your hands into face, applying in an upward motion and letting the heat from your hands push the oil into your skin.  

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I honestly thought this would be too heavy for me, but it turned out to be just fine for me during cooler months.  I have also found ways to use this year round on other parts of my body.  If you have dry skin, you could use this year round with no issues, I would think.   This is really a fantastic oil ~ if you are trying to avoid scented products and are just looking for something simple and pure, I recommend this oil.  Full Size 60 mL [ Purchase  Amazon | eBay |  Tonoike Brewing Site (Japanese only)  ]

Ingredients: rice bran oil, rice germ oil

Scinic Iceland Water All In One Ampoule (S.Korea)

Okay, I admit I was suckered into this because of the Polar Bear on the label.  Plus, I kept hearing good things about the Scinic line ~ I wasn’t really interested in the honey, berry or snail ampoules, but the damn polar bear did me in.  Plus Iceland Water. Has to be fresh, right?  This is a huge bottle of product ~ 250 mL ~ and the texture is more liquidy than some of the other ampoules.  It isn’t sticky either and it is pretty fast absorbing.  This contains 15% of glacier water, which I assume is from Iceland and it also has niacinamide,  a powerful antioxidant that acts as an anti-inflammatory, improves your skin elasticity, enhance the skin barrier function and also it helps to even out skin tone and reduce post-inflammatory hyper-pigmentation.  There are also oils in this ampoule, such as macadamia, almond and sunflower, but the product is not greasy or oily at all.  This is very lightweight.    It does hydrate nicely ~ on average, it increased my moisture level by 35% ~ not overly hydrating, but enough for my skin type.  However, there were two things about this product I loathed.

The bottle.  It is a jam jar type with a wide mouth. This came with a spatula to remove the product, but since it is so watery, it became a dripping mess.  Cue in my little 30 mL airless pump bottles ~ these are great and I decanted the Scinic product into them, making it easy to pump out the product and not have to dip a spatula or my fingers in that jar.   You can purchase these at Amazon fairly cheaply too (link here).

The second thing about this product that I loathed and why I won’t repurchase it, is the scent.  I thought that Iceland Water would be FRESH.  Like water, icy goodness, maybe mint or something. Nope, it is a heavy perfume floral scent and I cannot stand it near my face.  In fact, I use this product now on my legs as I cannot have it near my nose without gagging.  Seriously, I hate these types of perfumed floral scents.

So whereas this is a great layering product for hydration and probably is perfect for my oily skin, I could not handle the scent, even though I found a new way to dispense the product.  If you like perfumed scents, and many people do, this product is good for oily skin types and will be a great addition to your daily routine ~ I would use this as an essence, as it isn’t thick enough to be an ampoule serum.   Full Size 250 mL [ Purchase eBay | Amazon | Cupidrop ]

Ingredients: Water, Butylene Glycol, Ethoxydiglycol, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Glucose, Trehalose, Adenosine, Borago Officinalis Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil, Macadamia Integrifolia Seed Oil, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Brassica Campestris Seed Oil, Triethanol amine, Hordeum Vulgare Seed Extract, cucumis Sativus Seed Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera Seed Extract, Panax ginseng, Punica Granatum Seed Extract, Lactobacillus/soybean Ferment Extract, Salix Alba Bark Extract, cinnamomum Cassia Bark Extract, Origanum Vulgare Leaf Extract, Chamaecyparis Obtusa Leaf Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Mesembryanthemum Crystallinum Extract, Plankton extract, Oyster Shell Extract, Caulerpa Lentillifera Extract, Hamamelis Virginiana Extract, Salvia Officinalis Leaf Extract, Cetraria Islandica Extract, Carbomer, Decylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hexylene Glycol, Totarol, Panthenol, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaft Extract, Polyglutamic Acid, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance, CI 42090, Glacier water  cosDNA.com analysis

 

Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil (USA)

Okay, this one I did buy into the hype.  This was part of a Power Couple set that I purchased at Sephora, which included 1/2 oz of this oil and 1/2 oz of Good Genes All-In-One Lactic Acid Treatment (which I actually like).  I love products with tansy in it and I don’t mind the herbaceous scent ~ and come on, cool blue-teal colored oil!  BUT BUT BUT this oil just sat on my face like oil on water. 

It didn’t absorb quickly enough for me and my face felt greasy, unlike the Komeyu Rice Oil. Plus I didn’t see any difference in my skin, other than it was greasy.  I had such high hopes, as this is a retinoid oil and I don’t have a lot of products with retinol in them.  Now, it could have been that it is too heavy for me to use in warmer months, which is when I started using this. I will table this and try again when the weather gets cooler, but right now, this is a product that I am so glad I didn’t spend $105.00 on 1 oz.  I did purchase their daily oil for oily skin, Artemis Hydroactive Cellular Face Oil, which I will start using soon.  I have the feeling I will like that oil better, as it really is designed for oily skin.  I think that the Luna Sleeping Oil is just too rich for my skin type.  There are a lot of good reviews on Sunday Riley’s Luna oil, but mine is not one of them.   Full Size 1 oz  RV $105.00 [ Purchase Sephora ]

Description: Luna Sleeping Night Oil contains high potency, purified grade lactic acid to instantly correct dullness, plump the look of lines, and exfoliate the skin. With continued use, the appearance of stubborn hyperpigmentation, imperfections, and the visible signs of aging are reduced for a healthy-looking complexion. Enhanced with licorice for brightening, it helps to clarify and correct the appearance of imperfections for immediate, smooth radiance. 

• Trans-retinoic Acid Ester: Transforms the skin with the power of retinoids, but without the irritation of traditional retinol; encourages exfoliation and revitalization of skin for the appearance of smoother, younger-looking skin.
• Blue Tansy and German Chamomile: Help to calm and soothe for a reduction in the appearance of redness.
• Chia Seed Oil: Richest botanical source of omega 3; powerful source of alpha-lipoic acid.

Ingredients: Persea Gratissima (Extra Virgin, Cold Pressed Avocado) Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Organic, Cold Pressed Concord Grape) Seed Oil, Rubus Fruticosus (Cold Pressed Blackberry) Seed Oil, Salvia Hispanica (Cold Pressed Chia) Oil, Dimethyl Isosorbide (and) Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Oil, Tanecetum annuum (Blue Tansy) oil, Anthemis nobilis (English Chamomile) oil, Eriocephalus punctulatus (Cape Chamomile) oil, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Neroli) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Blood Orange) oil, Cananga Odorata Flower (Ylang Ylang) Oil, Vetivera zizanoides (Vetiver) oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil (and) Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, CI 61565 (Green 6), CI 60725 (Violet 2) cosDNA.com analysis

Final Thoughts

Well, I can only recommend the Kuramoto Komeyu Pure Rice Oil.  It worked extremely well for me and I enjoyed the simplicity of its ingredients.  This one does deserve the reputation of a cult classic because it is so good ~ if you have oily skin, don’t be afraid to try this in the winter months.  Scinic Iceland Water All-In-One Ampoule has a ton of potential ~ the ingredients list was stellar and once I decanted the product into my smaller pumps, it was easy to apply.  However, the scent was an amazing turnoff for me and I hated using it on my face ~ so it is now a nice body moisturizer.  Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Oil ~ wow.  What a disappointment.  Is it just me?  Based on all of the people that have this in their IG feeds, I think it must be! haha  I will give it another chance, but I am not sure that cooler weather will change how this product just deposited a filmy layer of oil that would not absorb into my skin.   What do you think?  Are you interested or have you tried any of these moisturizing, hydrating products?  Let me know in the comments below (and I REALLY recommend the Komeyu oil ~ it is cheap and it works!) 

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