The Perfect Hot Pink Magenta Lip: MUFE Aqua Rouge 16 (It Stays All Day, Too!)

I think I have officially found the perfect hot pink magenta lip colour. Ever. And when I say perfect, I mean perfect in every way - not only do you get awesome, super-saturated colour, it also lasts forever. So what is this awesome product? None other than the MUFE Aqua Rouge in 16. This is actually part of MUFE's Summer Collection this season, but if you're anxious about stocking up, relax, it's a permanent item and you can get it anytime.

MUFE Aqua Rouge in 16: Hot Pink That Doesn't Budge!

MUFE is starting to become one of my favourite brands - almost everything I've tried from them to date has been pretty darn good. So of course I did have some expectations for the Aqua Rouge, but this surpassed even those. The Aqua Rouge is a dual-ended product. one side houses the colour, which is a thick cream that dries to a perfectly matte finish. The shade I have, 16, is an absolutely awesome shade of hot pink - kind of like neon pink highlighter, only more pigmented!


MUFE Aqua Rouge: Pink cream side that dries matte
The other end is a clear gloss topcoat. Because the colour side dries matte, the gloss coat is good if you want a glossy finish. It doesn't compromise the longevity of the colour, however. The trick is to let the colour dry, and then apply the topcoat. And you will get a super long lasting colour!


MUFE Aqua Rouge: the clear gloss topcoat helps to balance out the matte finish of the colour.
Below, I've swatched both possible ways you can wear the Aqua Rouge on my arm. It looks as though the swatch with the topcoat is feathering, but it's not - I just swatched a LOT more messily when doing the wet swatch, because my grip on the lipgloss slipped during swatching. So, yes it's all my clumsy.


Swatches of MUFE Aqua Rouge, both ways. Lasting power is excellent either way.
Of course I have lip swatches for you too. Here is the Aqua Rouge 16 on my lips, dry. Believe it or not, this is just one coat of the product, which is pretty darn amazing. Pardon my less than even application, I totally underestimated how pigmented this was going to be, as well as how un-budge-able it is once it sets! So yes, a careful hand and precise application are needed when you're applying this coat.

I tried this out for half a day, complete with eating and drinking and talking, and I can attest that this does not budge, at all. When I talked, and drank water, and rubbed my lips with my finger, nothing moved. The colour only started shifting slightly when I started eating very oily food (I guess this is because the product is oil-based), but even then, wear time was definitely significantly better than anything I had ever tried before. So I guess if you really need this to last the whole day, just avoid oily food and drink, and you'll be all set. In fact, even when I washed my face, the colour still stayed on, and I had to make multiple passes with an oil-based makeup remover to get it all off.


Aqua Rouge 16 swatched with just the colour coat. You get major colour saturation here!
Below is the swatch with the gloss. I actually like how it looks much better with the gloss - it looks very smooth and slick. When I did my half-day test drive with this product, I found that the topcoat of gloss does wear off like a normal gloss, but the colour base underneath does not budge. So if you use this, just carry around some clear gloss to re-apply, and you're all set.


MUFE Aqua Rouge 16 - the perfect hot pink for summer!
It's easy to see why this is part of MUFE's Summer Collection - it's bright, it's pink and neon, and it lasts and lasts all day, making the colour and formula perfect for the season. Would I recommend this? If you're game to rock a bright pink lip this summer, then yes! You'll be impressed by the formula, and you will love the bright, summery shade.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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Beauty Blog Link Love

Over at LipstickRules, Michelle takes a look at Yu, a satin pencil from NARS.

Stila comes out with a gorgeous Festival Collection that Spiced Beauty thinks you must get your hands on!

The internet's all abuzz over Sephora's upcoming Disney Ariel collection, but Rae's attention is elsewhere. Find out what beautiful Sephora x Disney eyeshadow palette has captured her heart over at theNotice!

Addicted to Beauty tries circle lenses and is less than impressed with the results.

Musicalhouses does a Julep DD Creme ingredient analysis, and finds out if the product lives up to its hype!

Jenny talks skin care science and sulphates to kick off her winter sulphate free skin care series at My Funny Valentine.

Looking for the perfect summer go bag? Find out what you'll need in this week's edition of the Gouldylox Reviews Beauty Blogger Top Ten!

Want voluminous Kate Middleton hair? Hellcandy shows you how to achieve Britain's most coveted hair style with GHD! Click here for the tutorial!

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Beauty Crazed is giving away a $250 Sephora gift certificate and all you have to do is tell them about your worst or best date ever - but let's be serious, they want to hear about the worst! Come on by to enter and win!

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Hada Labo ES Sensitive Skin Range: Review and Analysis

Hada Labo, the Japanese skincare brand, has launched a range for sensitive skin, the ES range. ES actually stands for "Enjoy Skincare" - the idea being that with the ES range, even sensitive skin can enjoy a full suite of skincare products. If you've seen the ads for Hada Labo, a sellling point is that the products are fragrance, colourant, preservative, alcohol, and mineral oil-free.

This new Hada Labo range has Hyaluronic Acid, which is the ingredient that most consumers associate with the brand, but the sensitive skin line also features some forms of Zinc Hyaluronate in some of their products. The inclusion of Zinc Hyaluronate is an interesting one - Zinc Hyluronate is a salt that has some effect in helping wound healing, and is the main component of Curiosin, a preparation for wound care. This seems like a good choice, as I imagine that since sensitive skin is prone to being aggravated, an ingredient like this would help.


Hada Labo ES Sensitive Skin Skincare Range: Four simple but necessary products
I've had good experiences with Hada Labo in the past - I'd say that I've yet to try a product from them that was a total failure. So of course, I was keen to see if this would continue to live up to what I've expected from the brand. The range has just four products - a makeup remover, a foam wash, a lotion, and a milk (I guess similar to a toner and moisturizer respectively, although both feel like light moisturizers to me). This isn't a very large range, given that lots of Asian brands are fully capable of giving you a range that's upwards of 8 products. If some of these brands are to be believed, you can't just "cleanse-tone-and-moisturize" your skin any more, you now have to "cleanse-exfoliate-tone-serum-essence-moisturizer-eye cream-whatever-else" your skin every night, which I find more than slightly ridiculous. But fortunately Hada Labo has chosen to keep it simple for their ES range, which in my opinion, is a good thing as far as sensitive skin is concerned.

So let's take a deeper dive ito the products in this range. First up, we have the ES Sensitive Skin Foam Wash. At first, I was thinking, "Oh my, another foaming wash?" But when I tried out the product, I found it to live up to its claims. It didn't actually leave my skin dry the way some foam washes have in the past. In fact, if anything, I found the Foam Wash to be too gentle - I think this is the first time I've ever had this complaint! But it did clean my skin sufficiently.


Hada Labo ES Foam Wash - great for sensitive skins who want their foam!
Like other foam washes, this one comes out in its foamy glory straight out of the pump. The novelty for foam washes has worn off, of course, as it's been awhile since the first foam wash hit the market, but a foam wash that is gentler on your skin is always a good addition to the market.


Look at all that foam straight out of the bottle!
If you look at the ingredients list, you can really see the effort Hada Labo has put in to make the Foam Wash suitable for sensitive skins. Most foaming face washes are quite heavy on the surfactants and thus can be a little dry, so Hada Labo has used TEA-Cocoyl Alaninate and Sodium Cocoamphoacetate as its primary surfactant, and both are quite mild as surfactants go. There is also Zinc Hydrolyzed Hyaluronate, the wound-healing agent, but since cleansers don't stay long on the skin, I doubt this particular ingredient will have a large effect on skin when used in a cleanser.


Mild surfactants make the Hada Labo ES Foam Wash a very good cleanser for sensitive skins.
The next product in the range is the ES Makeup Remover. This is one of my favourite products, which came as a surprise to me. At first, I was thinking, "Another makeup remover, nothing special, pffft." But then I tried it out, and came away totally impressed!


Hada Labo ES Sensitive Skin Makeup Remover: Gentle, but works well.
The Hada Labo ES Makeup Remover is actually very watery in texture, which was something I didn't quite expect. It has a light feel, akin to those of micellar cleansers. But unlike some micellar cleansers, tt doesn't have any smell that I could detect when I used it. To me, this feels and smells just like water.


The Hada Labo ES Makeup Remover has a light, watery texture that is easy and pleasant to use.
However the cleansing power of the ES Makeup Remover is much better than that of most micellar cleansers. I've just completecd a blinded trial of SEVEN micellar cleansers (including somebig-name brands like Dior, Caudalie, Nuxe, Vichy, Avene and so on), and none of them could beat the Hada Labo ES Makeup Remover in terms of cleansing power. To be honest I'm not sure if that's a fair comparison, because I don't know enough about the chemistry of makeup removers to know if the Hada Labo Makeup Remover is a micellar cleanser or not. I just know that it feels like one, but definitely has awesome cleansing power! To see what I mean, take a look at the photo below:


Look at the effectiveness of the Hada Labo ES Makeup Remover!
This is my tandard test that I use to effectiveness of any makeup remover. I put on my arm, from left to right, some of the toughest hardest-to-remove products in my makeup arsenal: a stay-all-day concealer (Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage), a long-lasting gel eyeliner (Bobbi Brown Indigo Gel Eyeliner), a long lasting creamy blush (Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Flushed Pink), a doesn't-budge-once-set cream eyeshadlow (Prescriptives Colorscope Creamy Eye Color in Smoking Gun), and a waterproof Eyeko Mascara. These are basically what I wear when I want my makeup to last all day. (I even wore the eye makeup to a water park once, it turned out fine). And the Hada Labo ES Makeup Remover cleaned out all the makeup completely!


Hada Labo ES Makeup Remover: No major irritants.
Above are the ingredients list for the Hada Labo ES Makeup Remover. The good thing about this is that nothing in the ingredients list jumps out at me as potentially aggravating for sensitive skin, yet it still somehow does its job. This is a really fantastic products - a lot of makeup removers tend to leave my skin feeling a little battered, but this doesn't. There's also Zinc Hyaluronate in there, which helps to lessen the aggravation.

We also have the Hada Labo ES Sensitive Skin Lotion. This is a lightweight moisturizer, and is quite similar in texture and feel to Hada Labo's SHA Lotion. Same plastic flip-top bottle, same watery texture.


Hada Labo ES Sensitive Skin Lotion
Performance-wise, this also acheives a similar effect on the skin as the SHA Lotion. Its primary function is to moisturize the skin, and indeed it does provide good hydration. It is also quickly absorbed and doesn't leave my skin feeling sticky.


Hada Labo ES Lotion for Sensitive Skin: A very hydrating but light moisturizer.
In the ingredients list, there is also some similarity to Hada Labo's own SHA Lotion. Both products are mainly comprised of Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, and PPG-10 Methyl Glucose Ether, that is, water and solvent, together with a bunch of humectants and emollients to help hydrate the skin. Although I thought the original SHA Lotion was probably suitable even for sensitive skins, the ES version has been tweaked for those skins that are ultra-sensitive. There is the addition of Zinc Hyaluronate, which as I've mentioned before, helps with wound healing, and is quite a nifty addition for aggravated sensitive skin. But I also really like the addition of Panthenol, as it helps to moisturize and lubricate your skin.


Hada Labo ES Lotion ingredients: This formulation will certainly hydrate your skin.
Lastly, the ES Milk. Although Hada Labo suggests that the Lotion be used first, and then the Milk used after that, I feel like it's not strictly necessary. I suppose it would depend on how dry your skin is - if it is very dry, then applying both would be a hood idea. Otherwise, you could probably use the Lotion in the day and the Milk at night, or just use one or the other depending on how dry or oily your skin is. I think oilier skins might like the Lotion better due to its watery texture, while dry skins might appreciate the Milk.


Hada labo ES Milk for Sensitive Skin: Intense hydration for sensitive skins.
As the name suggests, the ES Milk is a white, milky looking liquid with a light gel texture - it's not watery like actual milk. This has a nice feel, and also absorbs into the skin, although perhaps it absorbs a little slower than the ES Lotion, and stays stickier on the skin's surface for longer. However, I felt like it was also more moisturizing than the ES Lotion. It's definitely the most luxurious product in the range, and very effective at hydrating the skin.


So THAT'S why it's called a milk! The ES Milk has creamy white gel-like texture.
If you look at the ingredients, you can see why it is so hydrating. The product has pretty high concentrations of squalene and caprylic/capric triglyceride, both of which help to moisturize the skin. Zinc Hyaluronate also makes an appearance. This product is definitely formulateed to really hydrate the skin, and should work for


Hada Labo ES Milk: High amounts of moisturizing ingredients such as squalene and caprylic/capric triglyceride mean that this product will hydrate skin intensly.
So, looking at the entire range, would I recommend it? Yes - I think all the products work well and do what they claim on the bottle, and that the formulation is suitable for sensitive skin, and will help to hydrate your skin. If that's what you're looking for, then the Hada Labo ES range could be worth a shot. I'm sure most girls will love the ES Lotion and ES Milk, and I'm sure either one or the other, or both even, will suit your needs if you're looking for products that are easy to use and yet will deliver hydration to your skin. But don't also forget to check out the ES Makeup Remover, which was also a surprisingly good product for me.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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Kao Liese Bubble Hair Color Jewel Pink Review: A Pink You Can Wear To Work

Kao's Liese brand of Bubble Hair Colour released a new shade, Jewel Pink, sometime back. Yes, this is another slightly overdue review, because life has been somewhat busy and I'm catching up on my reviews. The Bubble Hair Colour is named as such because of the foam that is generated from the hair colour. Basically, the ingenious idea is that by using foam to dye your hair, instead of liquid, there will be less messiness and dripping!


Kao Liese Bubble Hair Colour in Jewel Pink - lovely hair on the model
The Jewel Pink shade is supposed to be a light brown with a touch of pink. It really looks pretty. I work in an office, and my family is generally pretty conservative, so none of us have any inclination to dye our hair wild colours (I do appreciate creative colour in others though). But this looks like a lovely shade with a tinge of pink that could be worn to the office even. I'm including the colour chart on the back of the box, because I think it was actually quite accurate in our case.


The colour chart on the Jewel Pink box. It's actually pretty accurate, as our test results show.
When I say "our", I really mean not myself, but my mum. That's because I've never dyed my hair (shocker, I know), and I don't have any immediate plans to dye it. But my mum does DIY dye her hair various shades of brown on occasion, so as a casual hairdye user, she would be the perfect test subject to see how foolproof this mess-prevention foam was.

Below is the contents of the box. It works like most hair dyes - you combine the colour and the developer, and then apply to your hair. But instead of liquid, the mixture dispenses as foam. Cool right?


Sometimes ideas start out great but aren't properly executed. For the Kao Liese hairdye however, the bubble concept really worked in practice. When my mum used it, she found that the foam didn't drip at all (this was after me interrogating her multiple times, "Are you sure it didn't drip? Wasn't watery? Didn't have issues? Anything?"), and that she was able to get an even coverage of colour. She also found the smell bearable compared to other hairdyes she used previously.

But enough with the photos. I know you'll want to see the final results, so here you are! To get the colour below, my mum used the entire bottle and left it on for 45 minutes (which is actually too long - don't learn from our example and stick to the box instructions!). But it must have worked (maybe our hair is very hard to stain), because the shade that came out was a shade similar to the model on the box. It is indeed brown with a tinge of pink!


Kao Liese Bubble Hair Ccolour Jewel Pink: Brown, with just a hint of pink.
It's a really lovely brown with a tinge of pink. Now I'm kinda regretting that I didn't dye my own hair myself, but let her do it instead! It doesn't look too pink at all. First and foremost, brown is the primary colour. The pink is just a slight tinge.

The only negative feedback my mum had was that as the foam mostly sits on the crown of the head, so the crown of the head ends up being more brown than the ends of the hair strands. It looks fine though, if you look closely you can see the slight difference in colour, but it's not a big deal. Also, the dye does fade a ltitle when you wash your hair. So far my mum has been wearing her dyed hair for abiout 2 weeks now, and it looks good. She also noted that her hair was dryer aftet the dye, but from the photo, you can see it still looks healthy.

So, does the Kao Liese Bubble Hair Colour really work the way it's supposed to? I'd say that yes, it does - the foam was easy to use, and the colour came out quite accurately. If you like the hair colour my mum has now, and if you want a non-drippy way to dye your hair, this is the one to check out.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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Kiehl's Powerful Wrinkle and Pore Reducing Cream and Powerful Wrinkle Reducing Eye Cream Review

Kiehl's launched two wrinkle-busting creams, aptly called the Powerful Wrinkle and Pore Reducing Cream, and the Powerful Wrinkle Reducing Eye Cream. These were actually launched around a month or so ago, so obviously this post is slightly overdue, but well, like I always say, good skincare is timeless!


Kiehl's calls these two products "Powerful" - and we'll find out why.
I've always been fond of Kiehl's, because there is something refreshing about a skincare company that doesn't rush out to put fad-based products that are just lackluster in quality, like so many others do. Although I haven't exactly been a heavy user of Kiehl's (so far I've tried the Midnight Recovery Concentrate and the BB Cream, and am in the process of testing out a couple of mini-sized samples - so stay tuned), every product I've tried from them so far has actually been pretty good, and the formulation has also been unique, as far as skincare products go - if you've read enough ingredients lists, you'll notice their products are definitely not a slavish copy of whatever trend setter is putting out on the market. Case in point was their BB Cream, which was the lone BB cream formulated without silicones. But this is waaaay more interesting than BB cream. It's skincare!


Lovely looking copper pots, like the hero ingredient Copper PCA.
The next interesting thing about Kiehl's is also their marketing. For both the Kieh's Powerful Wrinkle and Pore Reducing Cream and the Powerful Wrinkle Reducing Eye Cream, the hero ingredients highlighted in the marketing materials is Copper PCA and Calcium PCA, which both help in improving skin moisture and elasticity (which is very useful if you are looking to target wrinkles), and have some sort of regenerative effect on the skin. Definitely much classier than the junk-food-style marketing often seen from other brands that either touts useless things like "collagen" (doesn't actually work) or "magetnized water" (if you even did science when you were 15 you'd know that doesn't even make sense..it's like saying, for example, magnetized apple juice).


Thick white creams that help with skin moisturization, firmness and elasticity.
Both the Powerful Wrinkle and Pore Reducing Cream and the Powerful Wrinkle Reducing Eye Cream are white creams that are very thick and luxurious. In fact, when I tested out both the creams, I found them to be on the heavy side. Then again, texture is usually a matter of preference, and a richer creamier texture is usually a good choice for the appropriate demographic for wrinkle-reducing creams. However, this doesn't mean the cream sits on top of the skin. It does absorb into the skin, but it just takes a couple more minutes.

But, texture aside, I found that this cream did do what the packaging advertised. It did help with moisturizing my skin, and also helped with making my skin feel smoother and plumper. It did also seem to help with my skin's elasticity. Now I'm not quite at the age where this is a major concern, but I do think that my skin feels a little bouncier, which is a good thing at any age.


Kiehl's claims the product improves elasticity by 32% and texture by 26% within 4 weeks.
Perhaps the only gripe I have is that the products are packaged in jars, which I generally don't prefer. My favourites are airtight packaging (pumps) or packaging that doesn't require fingers to handle (squeeze tubes), but I guess given the thick texture of both products, a jar was probably the most sensible option. After all, a thick product would probably clog up a pump or tube. But I guess if the biggest gripe about the product is the packaging, then that's a good thing, right?

Lastly, let me devote a bit of time to my favourtite topic - ingredients, which are really the most interesting thing about the product. I couldn't find the ingredients list online at all, so yours truly decided to photograph the bottom of the label to give you the ingredients lists for both products!


A combination of humectants, emollients, and barrier ingredients make this product intensly hydrating.
The Powerful Wrinkle and Pore Reducing Cream has a good set of ingredients - there's water, a bunch of humectants and emollients (glycerin and apricot kernel oil), and a couple of silicones to help out with the otherwise-would-be-even-heavier texture (here they used cyclomethicone and dimethicone, which are usually not troublesome for most skin types). I liked the fact that apricot kernel oil is one of the top few ingredients, as it is another of the key ingredients highlighted in the marketing materials. There is also the addition of barrier ingredients which prevent water loss from the skin (e.g. petrolatum, which gets a lot of bad press but is actually safe for us on skin), which makes sense in a cresam meant to target wrinkles. So the combination of humectants, emollients and barrier ingredients means that the Powerful Wrinkle and Pore Reducing Cream is actually performing double duty, helping to moisturize your skin, as well as prevent further water loss. This makes it an effective moisturizer even for very dry skin, and would be pretty effective for mature skin as well. The Copper PCA and Calcium PCA ingredients are also in there too.


A good combination of humectants, emollients, and barrier ingredients, suited for eye-area application.
For the Powerful Wrinkle Reducing Eye Cream is pretty similar in its combination of emollients (squalane, palmitic acid), humectants (glycerin, panthenol) and barrier ingredients (beeswax), and some other ingredients to help with texture (silicones as well as polymers) so it should also be very hydrating as an eye cream. In this sense it isn't all that different from the Powerful Wrinkle and Pore Reducing Cream, but some ingredients (e.g. apricot kernel oil) are substituted with other things to ensure it is suitable for the eyes. In addition to the Copper PCA and Calcium PCA, there is also the addition of caffeine, which is usually added to depuff eyebags, which is a bonus.

So what are my thoughts on both products? They're very strong moisturizers all around, and would help with generally improving your skin's elasticity and plumpness. While the products may both be a little on the thick side, I feel that if you can get over the texture, these are good products for anyone wishing to tackle dry skin with some sagginess. If you want to find out more, the Kiehl's website has a feature on both products.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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Julep DD Creme Ingredients Review and Analysis: Is It Really Different?

So Julep has decided that BB creams are so old hat, and consumers aren't going to raise an eyebrow at a CC cream either. So what's a marketing team to do? That's right - move to the next letter of the alphabet and double it! Hence, the DD cream was born. And as you might expect, every blogger and emagazine laps it up, and Julep gets a lot of press even before the product is launched. All bodes well, so the marketing team thinks, "Ha! Gotcha suckers! Fall for a change in two letters in the product name! We'll all be getting great bonuses this year! Muahahaha!"


Not even launched, and all the hype already...(Image source from Julep website)
Okay, I kid. The above is just my "artist's impression", as they call it, of how the Julep DD Creme (note the tres posh spelling - the English word for "cream" apparently isn't enough to justify a high price tag, so "creme" it is). But I came to the conclusion that Julep's DD Creme is probably more a marketing-driven effort than any technological breakthrough because there is fundamentally no big difference between the ingredients in Julep's DD Creme, and the existing products already out in the market. It really is the same old stuff, just rebranded.

By now most of you will know that my blog is somewhat notable for its disdain of some BB/CC/what-have-you creams. And this is because when I looked at the main ingredients in 15 BB creams, I found no significant benefit beyond that of hydration and sun protection - but these are already features in existing products, such as tinted moisturizers and the like, despite very hyped-up advertising. The Julep DD Creme also seems to be getting quite alot of hype, for no apparent reason at all, other than that it's a "DD" cream. Just take a look:


Who knew changing just two letters of a product name would get you so much hype?
Which is why I always like to look at a products ingredients, where possible. After all, if the main ingredients in Julep's DD Creme are not significantly different from what is already out there in the market, then why should we pay more for it? You know how my analysis works, so I won't go into it in detail (I explained it previously in my BB creams ingredients analysis), but basically we look at the main ingredients, and see whether they live up to their billing. This isn't a full-blown analysis of every single ingredient, of course, but it is a quick useful analysis that will give you an overall feel for the product's function, texture, and any primary skincare benefits. Alright are we ready? Let's go!



SO IS THE JULEP DD CREME REALLY ALL THAT AND A BAG OF CHIPS?

To answer that question, we'll need to head to the ingredients list, as always. In my original BB Cream ingredient analysis I looked at the first 10 ingredients, but since we're looking at just one, we have the luxury of looking at the first 15 ingredients, although honestly it wouldn't change our analysis even if we didn't. The Julep DD Creme lists as its main ingredients the following:

Active Ingredients: Octocrylene (2.7%), Avobenzone (3.0%), Octisalate (5.0%), Homosalate (2.5%).
Inactive Ingredients: Castor (Ricinus Communis) Oil, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Diethylhexyl Carbonate, Ethyl Macadamiate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Glycerin, Glyceryl Behenate, Glyceryl Dibehenate, Hexyl Laurate, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Isododecane, Magnesium Sulfate, Microcrystalline Wax, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, etc.


Let's see if the ingredients live up to the hype... (Image source)
This basically is just an occlusive moisturizer (Castor Oil, Hydrogenated Castor Oil), with silicones and other ingredients to improve the product texture and function as emollients (Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Glyceryl Behenate, Glyceryl Dibehenate, Hexyl Laurate, Isododecane, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate). Ethyl Macadamiate isn't a silicone but is often used as a substitute for one, and also performs a similar function. Ethylhexylglycerin is the fifth ingredient in the list, and functions both as a conditioning agent and preservative, although a couple of studies have shown that it can provoke sensitivity in some skin types. Magnesium Sulfate is usually added in cosmetics to thicken the product. Now, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin is an interesting one - it is often added as an emollient or mask-forming agent, but it also smells nice (it is apparently the main active ingredient in Febreeze). So if you get a tube of Julep DD Creme and it smells a little like Febreeze, you know why!

So as you can see, there isn't much in the Julep DD Creme's main ingredients that is truly groundbreaking or particularly unique, skincare-wise. Sure, this will deliver hydration to the skin, and it will provide some sunscreen protection, but for the most part, the product is formulated like a tinted moisturizer or a lighter foundation - designed to glide on the skin and feel nice on the skin, but not much else. Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 is included outside of the top 15 ingredients (it just misses the mark at the 16th ingredient), and this is one of the "two patented anti-aging ingredients decrease the appearance of pores and fine lines" that Julep is advertising. The second one is Phenylethyl Resorcinol, a whitening ingredient found in whitening and brightening products. To give credit where it is due, the good thing about the Julep DD Creme is that both Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 and Phenylethyl Resorcinol are likely to show some effect on the skin even at the low concentrations they are included, although how much effect is questionable, in my view. Otherwise, this is not all that much different from what is already available on the market - looking at the ingredients list, I'm just not that convinced that this is anything really new.



"GREAT ANALYSIS! BUT THE PRODUCT IS KINDA EXPENSIVE. AREN'T THERE ANY SIMILAR PRODUCTS?"

As a matter of fact, yes there are! Now that we've established what's in the Julep DD Creme, let's turn our eyes to the other products that are likely to be similar. I actually found a few, so let's start!


1. Anastasia Beverly Hills Flawless Tinted Moisturizer

Active Ingredients: 3% Avobenzone, 7.5% Octinoxate, 5% Octisalate
Main Ingredients: Althaea Officinalis Leaf Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Diethylhexyl Carbonate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Ethyl Macadamiate, Glycerin, Glyceryl Dibehenate, Glyceryl Behenate, Hexyl Laurate, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Isododecane, Lycium Barbarum Fruit Extract, Magnesium Sulfate, etc.


Very similar ingredients, with minor modifications to make the product more plant-sounding. Nice. (Image from Anastasia site)
When I read the ingredients list for the Anastasia Beverly Hills Flawless Tinted Moisturizer, my first though was, "Wow, nearly product twins!" You can see for yourself how similar the two are. The Anastasia Beverly Hills Flawless Tinted Moisturizer has some plant extracts and a different set of sunscreen filters, but other than that, the core ingredients are really all the same, even down to the order of the ingredients. Thus, the two products are likely to be pretty identical.

In fact, a closer scrutiny of the ingredients shows that the similarities go down even further down the ingredients list (the Anastasia product also has Melissa Officinalis Leaf Extract, Microcrystalline Wax, and so on) right down to the active ingredients! That's right, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 is also found in the Anastasia product, too. I suspect these two products will be virtually identical - the Anastasia version might feel a little lighter as the castor oil is further down the ingredients list, after the silicones and not before as in the Julep version, but I imagine the differences are not very many. The real difference is just in the product name - one is a plain ol' tinted moisturizer, the other is a fancy DD Creme.

Now on to the second Julep DD Creme relative:



2. Kamamak Cosmetics BB Cream SPF25

Kamamak Cosmetics is an indie brand, so admittedly I don't know too much about their products (some of their colour cosmetics look pretty nice on their website), but take a look at their BB Cream!

Active Ingredients: Avobenzone, 3.0% Homosalate, 2.5% Octisalate, 5.0%, Octocrylene, 2.7%
Main Ingredients: Water, Diethylhexyl Carbonate, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Glycerin, Ethyl Macadamiate, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Silica, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Isododecane, Microcrystalline Wax, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Hibiscus Abelmoschus Extract, Squalane, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, Tocopheryl Acetate, etc.


Another extremely close product, both in form and functionality.
Yet another product almost-twin! Kamamak Cosmetics has added silica and has decreased the concentration of Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, probably to make the product feel lighter, but otherwise, the product is very similar, right down to the order of the ingredients. The sunscreen filters are also exactly the same. Again, not much to indicate significant difference between the two products.

Again, just like the Anastasia Tinted Moisturizer, if you look further down the list, you'll see more of the same ingredients appearing too (Magnesium Sulfate, Hexyl Laurate, Glyceryl Dibehenate, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Glyceryl Behenate, and so on). Also, our two favourite active ingredients make an appearance: Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 is obvious as it is in the first 15 ingredients, but Phenylethyl Resorcinol is also found in the product after the first 15. So in summary, other than perhaps a slightly lighter feel, there is nothing to distinguish Kamamak's BB Cream from Julep's DD Creme - the main difference is just some sly marketing, changing "BB" to "DD". In fact, if anything, I'd be inclined to pick Kamamak's BB Cream over Julep's version, because it looks like it might be more lightweight, and because the Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 seems to be present in a higher concentration (but the latter is difficult for us to tell as we don't know the exact percentages). Another thing: at $18 a pop, the Kamamak BB Cream is half the price of the Julep DD Creme. Ahh, the power of marketing. Well, Julep is in good company though, as Anastasia's Tinted Moisturizer, despite not having the fancy "DD" label, is also not cheap at $30. Either way, you're probably overpayinig for the Julep one.

Now, let's move on to something really interesting: a third product twin!



3. Auraline Beauty Private Label Cosmetics BB Cream

This should be interesting. Auraline Beauty Private Label Cosmetics, as the name suggests, is a private label cosmetics manufacturer. This means that if I wanted to manufacture my own Musicalhouses brand of makeup, I can ask them to make it for me, and put my logo on it. I could use either their standard ready-made formulas, or I could modify their formulas a little to my preference. Or, if I was one of the big MNCs with my own R&D team I could even come up with my own formula entirely, and just tell them to manufacture it to my specifications. I could also use their standard packaging, too, or I could change it up. While this might seem like cheating to consumers, it shouldn't come as a surprise to those who are a little more savvy, because after all this practice is quite commonplace. It works for both the brand and the private label company, because the brand is saved the hassle and cost of running a factory, and gets to devote its resources to the real crown jewel activity (which would be marketing), while the contract manufacturer gets to enjoy economies of scale.

Active Ingredients: Avobenzone, 3.0% Homosalate, 2.5% Octisalate, 5.0% Octocrylene, 2.7%
Main Ingredients: Water, Diethylhexyl Carbonate, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Glycerin, Ethyl Macadamiate, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Silica, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Isododecane, Microcrystalline Wax, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Hibiscus Abelmoschus Extract, Squalane, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, Tocopheryl Acetate, etc.


Near-identical formula from a private label cosmetics manufacturer, oh my! (Image from Auraline website)
The first thing you'll notice is that the ingredients are exactly the same as the Kamamak BB cream. I've listed only the first 15 here to keep the post from being long, but if you look up both products on their respective website, you'll see that the whole list is entirely the same. Coincidence, or some sort of indication that maybe Auraline is Kamamak's contract manufacturer? It could be possible, but the evidence is of circumstantial, so we can't know for sure. I guess there's always some chance that the Kamamak's BB Cream isn't made by Auraline, but even if that's the case, I expect the two products to be extremely similar.

Since this is nearly identical to the Kamamak BB Cream, exactly the same things that were said about the Kamamak BB Cream can be said about the Auraline Beauty Private Label Cosmetics one - the ingredients list is very similar, right down to the order of the ingredients, and even the active ingredients are the same. And I'd prefer Kamamak/Auraline over the Julep one.



"OMIGOSH! THESE PRODUCTS ARE ALL SO SIMILAR! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?"

I'm glad you asked! This raises a very interesting question - are Julep and Anastasia also working from the same formula that Auraline Beauty (and Kamamak Cosmetics) is using? Well, when I did a cursory google, I found that this group of Julep DD Creme-like products was actually very unique - there were no other tinted moisturizers, foundations, it BB creams I could find that had a similar combination of ingredients, which is a little odd, given the vast number of tinted moisturizations, foundations, BB, and CC creams there are out there. In particular, the combination of Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil and Ethyl Macadamiate so high up in the ingredients list seems to be absent in all other products I checked. This makes it all a tad strange to me. If these products were students in a class, and if I were the teacher, my first thought would be that these small group of students must be copying each other's answers! To give an analogy, it's like receiving three or four answer scripts that are all extremely similar and have the same weird mistakes, when the rest of the class has a different set of answers, and although there are variances in the scripts, noone else has those same weird mistakes. Just to show you what I mean, take a look at the graph I did up for you guys. I know, I know, a graph on a beauty blog? What am I, some kind of nerd? YES!

The graph is a way for you guys to visually compare how identical the ingredients in other similar products were to the group of Julep DD Creme-alikes. Like I mentioned earlier, I couldn't find any other products that had Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil and Ethyl Macadamiate together in the first 15 ingredients, so I went ahead to find the next best thing - products that had either one or the other, and products that didn't have either but also had high concentrations of the other top ingredients in the list (Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Diethylhexyl Carbonate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Glycerin, Glyceryl Behenate, Glyceryl Dibehenate, and so on). I picked out the top 10 most similar products for this. And based on how many of those ingredients they had, and how high up the ingredients list they were, I plotted this graph. I ignored the sunscreen ingredients, because sunscreen filters are all regulated and thus are very standardized.


Even the closest products I could find aren't really similar to the Julep DD Creme-alikes. Makes it look a little suspect...
Basically, the further rightward the product is on the graph, the more similar it is to the Julep DD Creme-alikes based on the presence of Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil and Ethyl Macadamiate. As you can see, none of the other similar products I searched for had both these ingredients - the closest was Sephora's Tinted Moisturizer, which had one, but not both, ingredients. And, the further upward the product plots on the graph, the more similarities it has to the Julep DD Creme-alikes based on the other main ingredients, sans Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil and Ethyl Macadamiate. As you can see, there are some products that have greater similarity, such as the Hourglass products, but even the closest products I could find aren't all that similar.

So the evidence is circumstantial, but several things give me pause. These are the facts I am looking at: 1) More than one near-identical product formulation exists, 2) One of the near-identical product formulations is owned by a private label cosmetics company, and 3) There aren't really any other similar formulas out there other than the Julep DD Creme-alike family (indicating that it's not likely that somehow all three/four companies just ended up with near-identical formulas by chance, otherwise other companies would be doing the same too, and the scatterplot would be more random-looking, with points in all quadrants). In light of these facts, my hunch is that they are all possibly working off the same base formula (maybe supplied by Auraline?), and some brands tweaked the formula a little, while some others choose to use the formula with no modifications.


Fun fact: Did you know Julep's founder and CEO, Jane Park, used to be a Starbucks executive? (Image source)
In fact, if you look a little closer at Julep's operations, it seems very unlikely that they would be manufacturing or even formulating their own products. After all, Julep the company currently employs only 130 people, which is not large enough to have a R&D team that will help you pump out 52 new products and 186 nail colors in 18 months. By comparison, a large MNC like L'Oreal who does their own R&D, employs around 3,500 R&D staff, out of a total 70,000 headcount, and rolls out 500 new product launches a year. So the numbers don't quite stack up to me. How can a small startup running a tight ship launch so many products, when a large multi-national that has been in the business for over 100 years needs more than 500 times the headcount to produce just 14 times more new products per year? My sense is that with 130 people, which would include managers, administrative and marketing staff, and manicurists etc. that work in the physical Julep nail parlour, it doesn't seem that Julep would have any headcount dedicated to manufacturing or formulating its own products. More likely, they would tap on a contract manufacturer to supply the necessary base formulations and manufacturing expertise, leaving them free to concentrate on running their parlours and the online retail side of their business.

That said, before Julep sends their lawyers after me (it's been done before, this brands suing bloggers for saying stuff they don't like thing), let me caveat that this is just my hypothesis, and it is hard to prove it in a definitive manner, short of actually knowing who Julep or Anastasia or Kamamak source their tinted moisturizer or BB cream (or DD Creme, in Julep's case) from. I mean, the only way we'll know for sure is if we somehow see an invoice from Auraline to Julep or a client for manufacture of the DD Creme product. But I hope that you, my readers, can appreciate that this isn't some rash conclusion I made up on the fly - it is really the result of deliberate analysis and research, so that I can share something more meaningful with you, beyond regurgitating the hype out there.



"THANK YOU! BUT YOUR POST WAS REALLY TL;DR AND I'M LAZY TO READ THE WHOLE THING. WHAT SHOULD I TAKE AWAY FROM ALL THIS?"

So anyway. After this really long analysis, comparison with other products, and even a graph (OMG! A graph in a beauty blog!), what can we say about the Julep DD Creme? Well here are our reasonable conclusions:

1. The Julep DD Creme isn't actually all that much different from existing products on the market.
Yup, we easily found three other extremely similar products that are touted as normal tinted moisturizers or supposedly less-advanced BB creams, including one standard formula from a private label cosmetics company. The fact that Julep's DD Creme is so similar to these other products is very strong indication that the "DD" label is indeed, just marketing and not a fundamental change in product. I've also voiced my suspicion that Julep is indeed sourcing from some sort of private label manufacturer above, so I won't go into further detail.

2. The Julep DD Creme will provide mostly moisturization and sun protection.
Just like other BB creams we've looked at in my BB creams ingredient analysis, the main benefit provided by the Julep DD Creme is that of miniaturization and sun-protection. This shouldn't be a surprise, since the Julep BB Creme isn't actually any different from an existing BB cream or even tinted moisturizer. The addition of Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 and Phenylethyl Resorcinol might help improve your skin, but this is assuming that the products are in high enough concentration to work. It's nice to have, but I personally wouldn't buy the product just for those ingredients.

3. The Julep DD Creme may trigger sensitivity reactions in some skins.
While the Julep DD Creme should be fine for most skins, the relatively high concentration of Ethylhexylglycerin means that some people's skins could be sensitive to it. If you do demonstrate any sensitivity reactions, e.g. redness, this might be a likely culprit.

4. There are cheaper, and quite close, alternatives to the Julep DD Creme.
Of all the near-identical products we looked at, the Julep DD Creme is the most expensive, at $36 a pop. Anatasia is next, at $30. And Kamamak is the cheapest, at just $18, or half of Julep's price! There's unfortunately no way to tell what Auraline would charge - they are a contract manufacturer, after all, and don't sell directly to consumers, but it will probably be quite a bit below $18, otherwise Kamamak Cosmetics wouldn't make any money from selling them at that price. Yup, I do think that given the existence of near-identical alternatives for cheaper, we would be overpaying for Jule's DD Creme. Tsk tsk, Julep, tsk tsk.

So with all that said and done, should you run out to get your hands on one? Well, despite the rave reviews I've read by bloggers and beauty websites (who were mostly given the product free for review anyway), I'm afraid nothing in the product makes me believe that the DD Creme is anything special. But, if you've tried and liked the Kamamak BB Cream or the Anastasia Beverly Hills Flawless Tinted Moisturizer, then you will probably like the Julep DD Creme as well. Just don't buy into the hype that it is any different from existing tinted moisturizers and BB creams, because it is not.

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Cure Natural Aqua Gel + Hot Guys = Vote for the Cure Summer Boy (And Win a $100 Goodie Bag)

The event invite from Cure, the brand famous for its Natural Aqua Gel, was a strange one. Unlike other events, I was asked to bring along a guy. At first I thought, "Why on earth would a guy go to a beauty event? It would be like bringing them to the dentist!" Turns out, it was so that we could begin selection for the Cure Summer Boy. And you know what that means - ragging the guys by putting them through some fun games!


The Cure Natural Aqua Gel is a pretty famous product that needs no introduction.
The Cure Natural Aqua Gel definitely needs no introduction - it's famous within Asia. The product claims to exfoliate and remove the dead skin on the skin surface, to reveal clearer and brighter skin underneath. It has been getting rave reviews from bloggers (you can read my review of the Cure Aqua Gel here), and the company claims that the gentleness of the product means that even people with sensitive skin can use it. In fact, during the event, they were demonstrating how it can be used over the entire body - people were asked to put it on various parts of their body (neck, arms, cuticles, even). I've written more about how the product works on my blog, but you can see a photo of the demo below:


A demo with the Cure Natural Aqua Gel, the product and skin peeling off.
Now for the part I bet you guys really wanted me to write about - the guys. Well, the goal was to narrow down our pool of contestants to 3 finalists. The guys were made to do a variety of activities, some fun, some hilarious, and some a tad embarrassing (not TOO embarrassing though - we're all very nice folk here), and the winners were basically the finalists. This involved doing the limbo dance (nothing funnier than watching the guys trying to hop, skip and bend under the pole. Some of them were realy flexible!), as well as making them pose like a model (with a bottle of Cure Aqua Gel, no less), and dance (no props needed). Suffice to say, there was a lot of entertainment value generated.


Really fun event photos! The guys were all superbly sporting.
So what happens now that 10+ guys are narrowed down to 3? Well, this is where a little bit of fun comes in. You can vote for the winning guy, and if you vote, you stand a chance to win a Cure goodie bag of your own. There are also photos of the event (as well as super funny FB comments from their obviously amused friends), so if you're interested, visit the Cure Natural Aqua Gel FB page. Voting closes 10 June, so act soon!


Yup, you read right...Vote and you could win a Cure goodie bag!
In case anyone is wondering...who would I vote for? And what would my Cure Summer Boy look like? Well, if you care to know the answer, that's my Cure Summer Boy, below:


Awww...doesn't he make a cute summer boy too? :P
(Event was hosted by company and information was provided by company. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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The Skin Regime by Dana Ramos: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Skincare

There's so much misinformation and exaggeration in the beauty industry, so sometimes it's great to have someone tell it like it is. The Skin Regime by Dana Ramos is just that - it's a frank, refreshing  read that debunks beauty myths, shows you a step-by-step, inexpensive program to improve your skin, and shows you how to maintain it.

Perhaps the best description of the book was made by Dr. David Bank, technical advisor to The Skin Regime, and the founder and head of The Center for Dermatology, Cosmetic and Laser Surgery in New York. In the foreword, he writes that The Skin Regime "uses humor and in-your-face bluntness to tell the truth about skincare — and sometimes that means telling you what can NOT be attained (at least, not yet) either by products or medical intervention". And so it does. The tone of The Skin Regime is sometimes laugh-out-loud entertaining, sometimes wham-bam-in-your-face, and sometimes just a little aggressive in its enthusiasm. But everything she says and recommends in this book (glycolic acid, tretinoin, etc) are backed up by the best science available, and are methods actually proven to work.


For once, a book that has skincare advice I actually buy into. (Image source)
Dana Ramos starts off the book by recounting her own skincare story (by the way, if you look at her untouched photos on TheSkinRegime.com, she looks fabulous!), her years of money and time wasted on expensive products that didn't work, before realizing that "this is the bottom-line truth: It is all about the key ingredients in the products, not the name on the product."(p5) Which, if you regularly read my blog, is something I've been saying again and again, too, both in standalone posts and as part of product reviews. So, what can I say - amen, fellow skincare sister, preach it!

Ramos also makes quick work disbunking most of the beauty claims that we've all been susceptible to at some point in time: collagen, (on p6 of the book, she notes, "You can’t implant collagen in skin with a cream any more than you can remove cellulite in a cream." Which is exactly what I've been telling you guys!), "natural" products ("If you think 'all natural' or 'holistic' automatically translates to meaning 'better', you are gravely mistaken", on p11), and my favourite, cellulite removal creams ("if you believe that a cream will give you results like a surgical face-lift, or remove cellulite, then it is time for a reality check", on p10).


This is a photo of Dana with NO face makeup, just eye makeup and sunscreen. Wow. (Image source)
The good thing about Dana Ramos, is that she's also refreshingly honest about her own methods. She states upfront, "The Skin Regime is not a facelift (no duh), and won’t lift sagging skin (no cream on earth can do that, only surgery). The Skin Regime cannot fill out deep lines like injectable fillers can. But The Skin Regime can improve the tone and look of your skin significantly, and many fine lines should disappear"(p16). Indeed, she does recommend pretty good methods which have been universally proven, so I'd say that's a fair enough assessment of her own methods.

So what are her methods? The second half of the book goes into the details. Basically, Dana recommends glycolic acid peels, with retinoids for maintanence. Wisely, she doesn't advise you use them together. The book has very helpful advice for proceeding safely, if you are DIY-ing your own face peel at home. After all, if you are overenthusiastic about the treatment process, it can be easy to forget to treat your skin kindly and gently. The book also has product recommendations too, for those eager to begin her routine but don't know where to start in the drugstore (refreshingly, she doesn't have her own line of products to hawk). Lastly, Ms Ramos stresses the importance of sunscreen, every single day - and a broad-spectrum one, at that (something that I also nag you guys over). For this I really wish to high five-her. She's doing a favour to all mankind.


Dana showing off her lovely skin. (Image source)
The last two sections, about makeup tips for your new skin (e.g. blending, and so on), other skin treatments (such as procedures), as well as treatments for the rest of your body. These were less interesting to me, but I guess for the casual reader who isn't necessarily into skincare or makeup, this is helpful. I can see why she included this, to make the book a bit more well-rounded and holistic, while still keeping the focus on your facial skin.

The bottom line? I do like this book. It does a good job of debunking all the major beauty myths I've come across, sets out a skincare routine that is both effective and safe (if you follow the directions - don't go burning yourself with the glycolic acid!), and also shows you how to continue to maintain that skin. And she does this by referring to generic ingredients that work, that anyone can buy and use (well, except maybe prescription retinoids - you do need a derm for that). And everything she says is pretty much universally agreed on by cosmetic chemists and dermatologists to work for most skin types. So unless you happen to be one of the rare types who can't tolerate glycolic acid or retinoids, I do think everyone could give this book a shot. I am definitely inspired to try out her suggested regime too!

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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Biore Marshmallow Whip Extra Moist: Same Fun Foam, Better Moisturization!

Back in 2011, Biore launched their Marshmallow Whip Facial Wash, which I reviewed (said review is interesting, by the way :P). Fast forward to 2013, Biore has now come out with more variants of the Marshmallow Whip Facial Wash, which is Acne Care and Extra Moist, in addition to a reformulation of the Regular variant. So how is this new variant, is it really new and improved?


Biore Marshmallow Whip Extra Moist: New and Improved!
I know you guys were expecting me to review the Acne Care version, but...I have here the Extra Moist one. Muahaha. Well I'd be keen to check out the Acne Care one, too, but I thought given that my last review on the Marshmallow Whip Facial Wash claimed that it was fine but dried out my skin, I thought that it might be good of me to give the Extra Moist version a shot. After all, the Regular one was rather drying, so it would be great if the Extra Moist one worked out fine.


Same cute bottle. Acne Care has a green lid, Extra Moist has a yellow lid, and Regular is pink.
The packaging is the same, and the foam is also the same. The foam is pretty fun to use, still, although it is no longer novel because after Biore put out the original foaming cleanser, a whole bunch of other Asian brands followed suit. The foam is fun to use, and is definitely different from other cleansers, although I still retain my doubts over whether the foam format really allows the cleanser to clean the skin better. After all, the ingredients are the same, and the method by which facial cleansers work are still the same, regardless of whether it's in a foam or liquid or gel or so on. The good thing about the Extra Moist version is that it is actually quite gentle in its cleansing action, and this variant did not dry my skin out like the original Regular versison did. My skin did not feel tight after washing, as happened with the Regular version, so I definitely prefer the Extra Moist variant.


Same puffy cloud of fun-to-use foam.
If you look at the ingredients list, you can see that Biore has really put effort into making the Extra Moist version, well, extra moist. There is the use of glycerin and PPG-9 Diglyceryl Ether (instead of sorbitol in the original version) function as humectants and emollients in the product, and the surfactants used, in this case, mainly decyl glucoside, are quite mild as well. And then to ensure that the foamy fun remains, there are foam boosters such as lauryl hydroxysultaine. So yes, you do indeed get the foaminess, without having the product dry out your skin.



While I didn't really like the original Marshmallow Whip Facial Wash all that much, primarily because it left my skin feeling dry, and all the marshmallow/bubble ads seemed to generate a disproportionate amount of hype to me (dear advertisers, there is indeed such a thing as advertising overkill, especially if the product in question seems gimmicky). Now that Biore has reformulated to include an Extra Moist version, and now that I'm no longer bombarded by obnoxious ads, I actually quite like this. I'm almost done with my bottle of the original Biore Marshmallow Facial Whip, and I'll probably replace it with this when it is done.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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