Unboxing Beauty

I have been really happy with the Naruko products I have purchased in the last few months.  I stumbled across their NY-based online store, Naruko Boutique, a few months ago and my wallet hasn’t been the same since!!  Naruko is a Taiwanese brand that I was introduced to by MaskGenie, a mask service that I subscribe to, which had a Naruko Snail mask last November.  Naruko Boutique has a huge selection of their products ~ they ship not only to the USA, but internationally as well.   You can read more about the store and my hauls here.

I purchased their Raw Job’s Tears Supercritical CO2 Pore Minimizing & Brightening Wash Powder (shortened name will be RJT Wash Powder) and a brand new item, Tea Tree Blemish Clear Make-Up Removing Cleansing Mousse (shortened name to Tea Tree Cleansing Mousse).   I am reviewing both of these products today.

Raw Job’s Tears Supercritical CO2 Pore Minimizing & Brightening Wash Powder    I really love my AmorePacific Enzyme Treatment Peel ~ it was one of my first Asian skincare products that really made me sit up straight and notice. Even though a little goes a long way, I hoard it a bit, because it is so expensive.  I started to look at other enzyme powders and have tried

• Tosowoong Enzyme Powder  This was not suitable for my face, as I felt it was too gritty.
• Innisfree Green Barley Powder Wash  This was much better than Tosowoong and more of a dup for AmorePacific, but it didn’t foam up as nice as AmorePacific, it clumped and Innisfree has come out with a new formula and discontinued this one. 

So, I was on the lookout for a less expensive but effective enzyme powder wash.  Cue Naruko

Job’s tears (Coix lachryma-jobi)  by Leonardo da Vinci

For those who are new to my blog, I will write my standard intro for …

What is an enzyme cleanser?  Enzymes in skin care have two functions ~ exfoliation and to help reduce swelling, tenderness, redness and pain ~ anti-inflammation.  Enzymes can be very gentle and are a fantastic replacement for facial scrubs and microdermabrasion products, such as  Dr. Brandt Skincare Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant and Derma E Microdermabrasion Scrub ~ those products can be too harsh for your skin and could exacerbate the skin issues you thought the product was going to handle!   Enzymes break down the upper layer of skin which contains dead skin cells that contains keratin and whisking them away ~ literally decomposing the skin cells. By breaking down keratin, your skin is smoother and silkier.  Some of the best fruit enzymes are papaya (papain), blueberry and pineapple.   I do not use enzyme cleansers as a 2nd cleansing/foaming cleanser step.  I use them after a foaming cleanser step. 

• Job’s Tears (coix lacryma-jobi)  also known as Chinese Barley, Pearl Barley, Adlay Millet.  This ingredient is an anti-inflammatory and will help reduce redness and swelling, along with helping to detox and firm your skin.  It also contains coixenolide, a fatty acid, which helps reduce blemishes and hyper-pigmentation as it can inhibit the melanin production of your skin.  Job’s Tears are also rich in iron, phosphorus and calcium minerals as well as a trio of B vitamins: B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin) and niacin is known for its skin brightening properties.  RJT Wash Powder contains 3 Job’s Tears ingredients ~ oil-like emollient (Job’s Tears extract/ethylhexyl stearate), water and Taiwan Job’s Tears extract. 

• Talc (hydrous magnesium silicate) is a soft cosmetic-grade mineral powder and is used as an anti-caking agent.

• Papain is an anti-inflammatory and anti-bacteria enzyme derived from papaya. It will exfoliate your skin without irritation by gently loosening dead skin cells and removing them from your skin.

• Tranexamic Acid  is derived from lysine and this synthetic amino acid has smoothing, brightening and astringent properties. It helps suppress the effects of melanin, causing a reduction of hyper-pigmentation.

• Alpha-Olefin Sulfona is a mild, high foaming, emulsifying surfactant and is made normally from coconut oils.   It is used in many sulfate-free products.

• Oleanolic Acid is an anti-inflammatory antioxidant.

• L-mandelic Acid is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) and will help gently exfoliate your skin, removing dirt and excess oil

• Nantia Chlorantha (enantia chlorantha) Bark helps to control excess oil and is an antioxidant.  

Ingredients: talc, mannitol, alpha-olefin sulfone, sodium cocoyl glutamate, disodium lauryl sulfosuccinate, aluminum starch octenylsuccinate, hydroxypropyl starch phosphate, sodium cocoyl isethinoate, jojoba esters, Job’s Tears (coix lacryma-jobi)  extract/ethylhexyl stearate, Taiwan Job’s Tears (coix lacryma-jobi) extract,  tranexamic acid, Job’s Tears (coix lacryma-jobi) water, butylene glycol, nantia chlorantha (enantia chlorantha) bark extract, oleanolic acid, ferric oxide Red (CI 77491), sodium hyaluronate, hydroxypropylcellulose, piroctone olamine,  carica papaya (papain) extract, snow fungus (tremella fuciformis) extract, purified water/alcohol/yeast extract/thiamine HCL/pyridoxine HCL, L-mandelic acid, kalanchoe spathulata extract*, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root extract*,  alpine skullcap (scutellaria alpina) flower/leaf/stem extract*, masterwort (peucedanum ostruthium) leaf extract*, ginkgo biloba leaf extract*, alps wormwood (artemisia umbelliformis) extract*,  leontopodium alpinum extract*, alpine willowherb (epilobium fleischeri) extract*, calendula officinalis flower extract*, chamomilla recutita (matricaria) flower extract*,  camellia sinensis (green tea) leaf extract* cosDNA.com analysis

* Phytoferulin is an exclusively patented complex formulated with 11 plant extracts

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To use, you first have to remove the lid from the bottle as there is a little plastic plug in the hole to prevent spillage during shipping.   You can see that the powder will be deposited around the ring of the inner cap.  Do not apply the product without the lid security in place, otherwise, you will just spill out the product.  Once the lid is back on the bottle, just tip and shake out about a quarter size amount ~ I find that is good for my face, neck and upper chest area.

The powder is finely milled and soft.  It has little red bits in it, which I assume is just the ferric oxide.  I don’t think it does anything except it looks really pretty to see the little red grains among the snowy white powder.  I find that this powder is more fine than the AmorePacific Enzyme Treatment Peel powder. 

The pH level is a respectable 5 to 5.5, so it is mildly acidic.  I know that for many, AmorePacific’s pH level is too high, but this one should make many people very happy!!   Now, I use my Foreo Luna Mini with this powder, as it makes the powder foam up nicely and I get the exfoliating benefits of my Luna.  

However, I wanted to show you how much foaming this powder has without anything but just rubbing my hands together with some water added.

Yeah, this foams up beautifully ~ for an enzymatic powder cleanser, with such fine grains, I was shocked how well this foams up.  This has more foaming action that AmorePacific or Innisfree and it doesn’t clump up like Innisfree.   My skin feels soft and silky smooth.  I feel that this helps tighten my pores temporarily as they look smaller and my face is not dull, but brightened.  The pH level is less than AmorePacific and is the same range for Tosowoong and like Innisfree, this product looks to be vegan.  I didn’t see any animal derived ingredients.  

 

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Tea Tree Blemish Clear Make-Up Removing Cleansing Mousse   I love my Tea Tree items and Naruko has climbed to the top of the charts for me with their Tea Tree line ~ I love their Night Gelly and Tea Tree sheet mask (reviews here).   Rachel at Naruko Boutique told me that they were getting a new Tea Tree item in and I purchased it when it was available.   

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• Tea Tree Oil  is used for many infections and diseases due to its healing and disinfectant properties ~ antibacterial, fungicide, antiseptic, antimicrobial, antiviral and can help speed up wound healing and reduce scarring, as it is a cicatrisant.  It helps with preventing dry, flaky skin and because of its antibacterial properties, can help heal current blemishes while reducing future blemishes and control excess oil.  It helps with rashes, allergic skin reactions and fungal infections

• Phytoferulin is Naruko’s blend of 11 concentrated herbal ingredients: kalanchoe spathulata, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root, alpine skullcap (scutellaria alpina), masterwort (peucedanum ostruthium), ginkgo biloba, alps wormwood (artemisia umbelliformis),  leontopodium alpinum , alpine willowherb (epilobium fleischeri) , calendula officinalis , chamomilla recutita (matricaria) and , camellia sinensis (green tea) extracts.   This complex will help prevent hyper-pigmentation and environmental stress to your skin, while being a powerful antioxidant and brightening agent. This complex is very effective in hydrating your skin, while controlling oil.

• Salicylic Acid  to helps combat acne, by gently exfoliating your skin and removing dead skin cells and excess oil.  Salicylic acid is fat soluble, so it can really get to the oil that is inside your pores.

• Witch Hazel is an blemish prone skin’s best friend because it has antibacterial and antiseptic qualities which helps clear up acne and it removes excess oil from skin. It also helps shrinks blood vessels, which tightens our skin. Witch Hazel can speed up healing and is a powerful anti-inflammatory, which also helps soothe skin. Finally, Witch Hazel refreshes and rejuvenates skin, refines the pores and seal in moisture.

There were some ingredients I was not that familiar with, but Naruko conveniently supplies the information either on their website or as a pamphlet with some of their products.  The following information is from Naruko.

• Serenoa Serrulata Fruit Extract: Contains rich free fatty acids that effectively blocks the revitalization of 5α-reductases (enzymes involved win steroid production) to control sebum production.
• Lens Esculenta (lentil) Seed Extract: Rich in oligo, it helps balance sebum production, refine pores and maintain healthy dermal metabolism, while working in junction with collagen to firm skin.
• Pirotone Olamine: It suppress the growth of bacteria and can prevent acne and blemishes to form
• Zinc PCA: It conditions sebum secretion and reduces excessive oil production on the skin
• Snow Fungus Extract: Known as the “queen of natural moisturizers”, this ingredient is rich in mucopolysaccharide and other natural moisturizing factors. Its long-lasting moisturizing ability promises you glowing and hydrating skin.

Like most of Naruko products, this is paraben free.  Running this ingredient list through cosDNA, there was not one acne trigger ingredient.  Impressive!

Ingredients: Purified Water, Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Cocoamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract, Polysorbate 20, Essential Oils of Tea Tree (Melaleuca Alternifolia), Orange (Citrus Nobilis), Spearmint (Mentha Viridis), Lemon (Citrus Limonum), Lime (Citrus Aurantifolia), Peppermint (Mentha Piperita), Grapefruit (Citrus Paradisi), Niaouli (Melaleuca Viridiflora), Zinc PCA, Chlorphenesin, Phenoxyethanol, Menthyl Lactate, Iodopropynl Butylcarbamate, Salicylic Acid,  Lens Esculenta (Lentil) Seed Extract, Piroctone Olamine, Serenoa Serrulata Fruit Extract, Snow Fungus (Tremella Fuciformis) Extract, kalanchoe spathulata extract*, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (licorice) Root Extract*, alpine skullcap (scutellaria alpina) flower/leaf/stem extract*, masterwort (peucedanum ostruthium) leaf extract*, ginkgo biloba leaf extract*, alps wormwood (artemisia umbelliformis) extract*, leontopodium alpinum extract*, alpine willowherb (epilobium fleischeri) extract*, calendula officinalis flower extract*,  chamomilla recutita (matricaria) flower extract*, camellia sinensis (green tea) leaf extract*  cosDNA.com analysis

* Phytoferulin is an exclusively patented complex formulated with 11 plant extracts

This cleanser comes in a pump applicator and when it dispenses, a foamy, silky cloud of cleanser appears. Unlike some of the other items in the Naruko Tea Tree line, this does smell like tea tree ~ it is lightly scented, but it doesn’t have that spearmint scent that the night gelly and facial sheet mask have.

I applied some stubborn makeup, including Tonymoly’s Delight lip tint, Korean eyeliners and some mascara.   It doesn’t bubble up on my skin that much as it dissolves quickly to break down the makeup on my hand.   I will say that it did a fantastic job of removing 99% of the makeup, with just a little bit of eyeliner remaining.  When I use this on my face, my skin does not feel dry or stripped.  

I did a couple of pH tests as I was having a hard deciding if this was a 6.5 or 7.  I think this looks to be around a 7 in terms of pH levels based on my findings. 

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Final Thoughts

Out of the 4 enzyme powders I have tried, I am going to give the crown to Naruko RJT Wash Powder. Yes, AmorePacific just dropped down to second place, after years of sitting on that throne.  The price point is perfect, it is a good size, it foams up nicely, vegan, low pH and leaves my skin feeling silky smooth, bright and clean.   The effects of using this is just like my beloved AmorePacific, but it is so less expense.  How less?

Well, normally, this product $16.99 for a 60 gram bottle.  Currently, at Naruko Boutique, it is $5.99 (click here). Don’t ask me why ~ it isn’t being discontinued, it isn’t expired and it is fabulous.   I purchased two more of these myself and will continue to buy this item until they don’t make it anymore.

Tea Tree Blemish Clear Make-Up Removing Cleansing Mousse is not too shabby either!  In the summertime, I suffer from more oil production ~ as the temperatures rise, so does your oil production ~ 10 to 20% for each degree the temperature of your skin rises.  I like having a nice tea tree cleanser around and this one does double duty ~ it really does cleanse stubborn makeup and dirt off my face, so it can be used in place of an oil cleanser.  It also foams, so it is a foaming cleanser too ~ plus it feels SO nice on my skin ~ it is a silky cloud of foam and just glides under my fingers.    This is currently $16.99 for a 150 mL bottle at Naruko Boutique (click here).

Now, Naruko Boutique runs all sorts of great promotions weekly and they give out free products when you tweet and FB share items.   To learn more, my initial post on Naruko Boutique has more information  and you can read it here.

Have you tried Naruko products? Which ones did you really love?  I find that the Tea Tree Night Gelly and RJT Wash Powder to be absolutely my favorites and I don’t want to be without them!

 

 

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