Courtesy from Bazzaal, I was offered the chance to try a few products from a new skincare brand called One Thing. One Thing is a new Korean skincare brand that is vegan and cruelty-free,. It uses the least possible number of ingredients to help keep skin care at a low price point, while promoting minimalism. They have so many extracts that I want to try ~ along with the two extracts I received, they have 10% Niacinamide, Jeju Propolis and Honey, Citrus Unshiu, Calendula, Galactomyces Ferment, Job’s Tears, Mugwort, Green Tea and many more! I received the One Thing Mask Trouble Set complementary for review purposes from Bazzaal
Skin Type/Concerns: Oily, blemish prone, aging, hyper-pigmentation, fine lines/wrinkles, pores
I received these products complementary to review and was not paid. All reviews are my own honest opinion and I never have been asked to write copy for a brand. This blog post might contain promo codes, affiliate and referral links, which using my links will help generate a small commission that helps support my blog at no extra cost to you.
Let’s talk about the Extracts ~ One Thing has a lot of them, as I mentioned ~ I have two of them that are designed to help soothe and calm the skin, while providing blemish care benefits. I am really digging these “1” extracts ~ you can even make your own tailored facial care toner or scalp treatment. I love the packaging here ~ a rounded rectangular bottle, looking very apothecary ~ I love that they are not made of glass, but have that look and feel of being more weighty. You can mix the extracts into other lotions, mix different extracts together, use it as a toner and DIY mask packs.
Centella Asiatica Extract contains 3 ingredients: centella asiatica, butylene glycol and 1,2-hexanediol (cosDNA) Centella asiatica is a common herbal ingredient that is used medicinally to help speed up wound healing, in the case of blemishes and skin rashes. Centella is rich in saponins, which gives it an antibacterial cleansing function, removing oils, dirt and other debris on your skin’s surface. It is also an anti-inflammatory, calming your skin while minimizing the appearance of pores. It also can help stimulate collagen production, so it will make your skin more supple and firm
Humectant butylene glycol is a smoothing, skin conditioner, which also has emollient properties, creating a barrier to help prevent water loss. Moisture boosting 1,2-hexanediol is a synthetic preservative that can bind water to your skin. This doesn’t contain alcohol nor artificial colors or fragrances and its rich golden amber color is all natural ~ its scent is seems slightly sweet to me. This is one that I like to add into my creams and lotions as an added anti-inflammatory booster. It helps clarify my skin, reducing irritation and inflammation. It is a watery toner, with a pH level of 5.5 and leaves no sticky or greasy residue.
Houttyunia Cordata Extract also contains just three ingredients: houttuynia cordata, butylene glycol and 1,2-hexanediol (cosDNA). Houttuynia cordata. also known as heartleaf, is great for blemish prone skin. This medicinal herb is found in a lot in Asian skin care products, and for good reasons. It is an anti-aging antioxidant and an antibiotic, which helps with preventing infection from skin problems, such as blemishes. It also has powerful detox properties while having astringent and anti-inflammatory benefits. This helps bind moisture to your skin, as it is a humectant as well. This also has a lovely color ~ I find it to have a bit more olive in in it, so it looks like a golden brown-olive shade. It’s scent is very warm and herbal.
This is a great ingredient to make DIY mask packs with cotton rounds ~ I just soak a bunch of cotton rounds and then place them all over my face ~ it is refreshing and cooling too. This helps keep my pimple to a minimum. I also love this as a scalp treatment/tonic ~ it’s anti-inflammatory and antibiotic benefits with astringent properties help keep my oily scalp from getting unhealthy. It keeps the hair follicles unclogged as it reduces build-up. Plus it feels really lovely on my scalp ~ so cooling and refreshing. Just like the Centella Extract, this is a watery toner, with a pH level of 5.5 and leaves no sticky or greasy residue.
Centella Soothing Cream is a fantastic addition to any skincare routine ~ even more fantastic as you can mix in one of the many One Thing Extracts to tailor this cream to your own targeted needs. But it’s great on its own too! This contains 10,000ppm of antioxidant-rich, skin soothing and healing centella asiatica. Beta-glucan helps stimulate the production of collagen, speeds up wound healing, soothes and calms skin due to its anti-irritant and strong anti-inflammatory properties while moisturizing and locking in moisture, anti-aging and anti-wrinkle due to its anti-oxidant properties and also helps repair your moisture barrier.
Dipotassium glycyrrhizate is a skin conditioner, helping to reduce flaky skin and improve skin firmness. It also is an anti-inflammatory, soothing your skin and has sebum regulating benefits. This also has some common, but essential moisturizing ingredients: glycerin, betaine and arginine. This has no scent to it.
If you are looking for a gel-cream this summer, this one can fit a lot of skin types from oily to combo and sensitive! It comes out of the tube easily and has a lovely silky texture as I massage it into my skin. This is a nice lightweight gel-cream and absorbs quickly into my skin, no greasy residue ~ it leaves my skin feeling very supple and hydrated. It also does not cause any irritation on my skin, so if I have a sensitive spot or two, or if I am sunburned ~ yep, it’s that time of year again! This feels very refreshing and cooling on the skin.
Ingredients: water, glycerin, butylene glycol, hydrogenate polydecene, caprylyl methicone, betaine, 1,2-hexanediol, centella asiatica extract (10,000ppm), beta glucan, acrylates C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, dipotassium glycyrrhizate, PVM/MA copolymer, glyceryl acrylate/acrylic acid copolymer, caprylyl glycol, arginine, xanthan gum, hydroxyethyl acrylate/sodium acryloyldimethyl taurate copolymer, ethylhexylglycerin, disodium EDTA cosDNA
Houttyunia Cordata and Tea Tree Bar Soap is made to help blemish prone and oily skin types. I would also assume you can use it on your body if you have acne there. This is full of ingredients designed to help blemish prone skin
- Tamanu oil is extracted from the nuts of the Ati tree and has an aromatic, pungent scent. Tamanu is a powerful skin regenerator as it helps promote new tissue growth, which speeds up wound healing. It is not only an anti-bacterial, it is an antioxidant, antibiotic (lactone compound) and anti-inflammatory (calophyllolide and coumarin compounds).
- Houttuynia cordata is a herb with powerful detox properties with astringent and anti-inflammatory benefits
- Tea tree is known for its topical antiseptic and anti-fungal properties and help target and treat blemish-prone skin. It also reduces oil and sebum production on your skin, while not disrupting the moisture level.
- Calendula (pot marigold) has one of the longest histories of usage of any herb in skin care. This is herb, not to be confused with the flower marigold, helps heal chapped and irritated skin. It stimulates wound and burn healing and it helps reduce dermatitits. Calendula gets much of its healing properties from its high levels of carotenoids (similar to Vitamin A)
- Kaolin is a white clay that helps remove dirt and debris on your skin, while absorbing excess oil and reducing shine. Very good for oily and blemish-prone skin.
This also has moisturizing and nourishing olive, wheat germ and coconut oils along with hydrating hyaluronic acid. This solid dense bar of soap has a lovely herbal scent which includes notes of tea tree and lavender. It foams up nicely and for my oily skin, doesn’t strip it dry. One Thing does state it is a low alkaline soap but it also says the following “After washing your face, your skin is alkaline for a while, but normal bacteria and new sebum are always secreted, so your skin quickly recovers to weak acidity.” Maybe this is why those with oily skin can handle alkaline soaps? The pH level is 10.5 ~ 11, but a few years ago, and to supplement on what One Thing wrote about their soap and a higher pH level, several years ago, I did some research on bar soaps, which I will repeat here
Let’s talk about the pH level. A while ago, I did a lot of research into soaps and pH levels as I wondered why I didn’t seem to be adversely affected by a higher pH. Most of my high pH soaps are organic liquid soaps or handcrafted cold pressed soaps. The Benton BF Bar is a cold processed soap, which means it is produced through the saponification process. Cold process soap is naturally alkaline and its pH level can range between 8.5 and 10.5. However, from my research (and remember, I am not an expert), that doesn’t necessarily mean it is harsh. What makes a high pH soap harsh is something called “free alkali”, which is a leftover alkali solution that was used during the saponification process ~ excess alkaline that didn’t get removed after the soap making process. Mass manufactured soap has this problem. This “free alkali” will take your natural oils in your skin and leave your skin dry and squeaky clean. If you face feels squeaky clean after cleansing, your soap is too harsh. Quality handcrafted soap shouldn’t have this issue ~ A high pH organic handmade bar of soap can be safe so long it has a triglyceride and free fatty acid (FFA) content. In other words, it comes down to ingredients and process. Which just goes to show that a high pH level isn’t necessarily a bad thing so long your skin is healthy and has not been compromised. The next time you get a really lovely handcrafted bar of organic, natural soap, think about that.
High pH soaps get such a bad rap and I was even into this for a brief while until I realized that my dermatologist has prescribed high pH cleansers for me in the past ~ my doctors aren’t quacks, ignorant or know less than me. And I cannot discount personal experience ~ for decades of my long life, I used high pH cleansers and my skin has not been irreparably damaged from a cleanser. I look at my mother’s skin (she of the bar soap) ~ soft, glowing skin with age appropriate wrinkles. Now that said, I won’t force a high pH cleanser down someone’s throat, but then again, I won’t automatically speak evil of it. Like all cleansers, low or high, I have to try it out first before I can say yeah or nay. Skincare and skin types are so personal and whereas I, with my naturally oily and healthy skin that is prone to hormonal acne, can use a high pH level without any fear, others cannot. Those with dry skin, sensitive skin or skin that has been compromised so badly that it is apparent that you shouldn’t go near it. The lovely Sample Hime had a great blog post a year ago that discussed this and the amazing Japanese skincare blogger Ratzilla tweeted out a study (found here) that showed that the skin’s pH level was not significantly raised by with cleansers, regardless of the cleansers pH level.
There are times when I love a cleanser that by chance is low pH (Ciracle TeaTree Anti-Blemish) and hate it when it is low pH (cosRX Good Morning). Same with high pH cleansers ~ some I love ~ Missha Fermentation Cleansing Foam in Citron and others I loathe ~ the reasons were not “high pH ~ curses!“, but for other reasons that made the cleanser a loser. There will be people who have tried everything to help with their skin concerns and they turned to low pH cleansers for help ~ that I will not deny ~ that is what worked for them based on their skin needs. Everyone’s skin care needs are different and I do not subscribe to “high pH is automatically bad“. That is just my opinion, based on what I have used and works for me. Reviews are to help you decide if this is a product that you wish to use or not. It’s all copacetic and I don’t profess to be a skincare expert at all.
So, for what it is worth, I didn’t find this bar of soap drying for my skin type ~ the special formula of natural oils didn’t cause my skin to feel tight, but instead kept it moisturized. It really helps keep my oily skin under control which is something I look for in the summer time. I also like using this on my arms as well, because I get inflammation on my upper arms. If you are really suffering from acne and oil, you might really enjoy this soap. Maskne is a real thing and my skin gets so “moist and oily” under my face mask that I am breaking out more around my mouth and chin.
Ingredients: olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, elaeis guineensis (palm) oil, calophyllum inophyllum (tamanu/ foraha) seed oil, triticum vulgare (wheat) germ oil, houttuynia cordata extract, melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) leaf extract, calendula officinalis flower extract, sodium hydroxide, hyaluronic acid, opuntia tuna fruit extract, houttuynia cordata powder, ascorbyl tocopheryl acetate, kaolin, melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) leaf oil, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) flower oil cosDNA
Where To Purchase
The extracts are really easy to find ~ Amazon USA and YesStyle carries most, if not all, of them. The Centella Soothing Cream is harder to find and the bar soap is overpriced on many sites that ship to the USA, so I am linking the One Thing’s Korean website here and you can use a shipping service ~ I recommend Korean Buddy.
- Centella Asiatica Extract 150 mL $13.98
- Houttyunia Cordata Extract 150 mL $13.98
- Centella Soothing Cream 100 mL (not currently in stock)
YesStyle also sells the extracts in 300 mL sizes.
- Centella Asiatica Extract 150 mL $12.04
- Houttyunia Cordata Extract 150 mL $13.98
Korea One Thing Website – Use Korean Buddy to order if you are outside of Korea. Save 50% off the handling fee with Korean Buddy Shipping Service by using my blog URL as a referral https://beautyfindsforme.wordpress.com with your first purchase
- Mask Trouble Set – includes all of the products here in this review. Currently on sale 50% for 29,800 Won ($26.42 USD)
- Centella Asiatica Extract 150 mL 40% off 6,600 Won ($5.85 USD)
- Houttyunia Cordata Extract 150 mL 40% off 6,600 Won ($5.85 USD)
- Centella Soothing Cream 40% off 11,900 Won ($10.55 USD)
- Houttyunia Cordata and Tea Tree Bar Soap 100 grams 40% off 10,800 ($9.58 USD)
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