Cleansers

🧼 Mizon Cicaluronic Cleansing Balm

I love cleansing balms, and the Mizon Cicaluronic Cleansing Balm is an excellent exemplar. This has a bit of a waxy texture but melts to a thin oil, so it spreads nicely. It also emulsifies and rinses easily. In keeping with its name, this cleansing balm does include centella asiatica extract, as well as eight types of hyaluronic acid. Like one might expect from k-beauty, Mizon tucks iin some additional nice extracts, like aloe, turmeric, coccinia indica, seaweed, eggplant and more, as well as moringa oleifera and jojoba seed oils. Aesthetically, it’s a pretty shade of blue with a nice fragrance to it. I did enjoy using this cleansing balm, though I do think there are nicer ones at a lower price point per mL.
Opened: February
Rating: 9/10
Price: $18 USD / 80 mL; shown in a 7g sample size

🥛 SkinRX Lab MadeCera Cream Mild Whipped Cleanser

I can’t get too excited about water cleansers — cleansing is just so boring — but the SkinRX Lab MadeCera Cream Mild Whipped Cleanser is almost enough to change my mind. The MadeCera line all uses a combination of madecassoside and ceramide NP, ergo the name, but this includes a bunch of other lovely ingredients, too: sea water, hydrolyzed collagen, other centella asiatica compounds and multiple extracts. It also has shea butter, squalane, olive oil and cholesterol, to offset the stripping nature of cleansing. This is a cream cleanser, so it doesn’t have the sulfate- or coconut-based surfactants commonly in foaming cleansers — the principle surfactant here is myristic acid, which can be drying for some. The formula wins out here, as it makes a lovely whipped lather without foaming or drying. The one drawback? It smells more citrusy than the fragrance in the rest of the line, which I love.
Opened: January
Rating: 10/10 <– a first for me for cleansers
Price: $15 USD / 100 mL; shown in a 20 mL sample size

Toners & Essences

🍃 Cosrx One Step Green Hero Calming Pads

Toner pads have long confused me, but when I received the Cosrx Green Hero Calming Pads in a giveaway I was morally obligated to give them a go. I assume they’re considered “one Step” because there’s no need to put the toner on a cotton pad — it’s already on one. That said, I don’t put my toner on cotton pads. In that context, I couldn’t figure out how to use these at first. I tried the “mini sheet mask” approach, but then the part of my face without the toner pads felt left out. I tried it as intended as an easy way to apply toner, but that felt wasteful. But then I decided on the approach: as a lazy way to cleanse in the morning. No, toners are not part of cleansing. However, the physical interaction between the soaked pad and the skin removed a bit of the night’s grime, without the need for my customary rinse. I wouldn’t rebuy for this purpose, but I might consider doing this with reusable cotton pads and a different toner in the future.
Opened: August
Rating: 8/10
Price: $22 USD / 70 pads

🖼 elmt Advanced Calming Solution

Wishtrend’s line elmt specializes in toners, and their Advanced Calming Solution is very interesting. The entire line focuses on synergies between its two primary ingredients. In this case, it’s centella asiatica and tremella fuciformis polysaccharide. Centella asiatica is well-known for its calming and soothing benefits, and this includes a variety of its extracts at 59%. Tremella fuciformis, or snow mushroom, is growing in popularity due to its anti-oxidant and anti-irritation benefits. This also includes panthenol and allantoin to amplify the calming factor. The bottle looks small but this is a good size — though the thick glass bottom is a bit of a fake-out when trying to figure out how much you have left. This isn’t as deeply hydrating as other centella toners I love (cough Cosrx cough), but it is fabulous for soothing.
Opened: January
Rating: 10/10
Price: $20 USD / 150 mL

💧 Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Essence Water

I love the price point of Beauty of Joseon products, so I was excited to try the Ginseng Essence Water. This ha 80% ginseng root water, as well as extracts from the root, berry and callus cells and a ginseng ferment. This also includes niacinamide, allantoin, panthenol and adenosine to round the formula out. Ginseng is a great antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredient, and can promote circulation. I wish I liked this more than I did. It’s a bit of an essence toner thickness, so it layers up reasonably well as part of a routine. I didn’t find it to be particularly hydrating, however, and I actually felt that my generalized skin redness increased while using this product — I guess perhaps the increase in circulation worked TOO well — though those without my persistent issues will probably see good results.
Opened: November
Rating: 6/10
Price: $18 USD / 150 mL

Serums

💜 Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Probio Ampoule

The Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Probio Ampoule is regularly reformulated, but is generally accepted as a dupe for the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum because, like that serum, the hero ingredient is bifida ferment lysate, which is an antioxidant, reparative probiotic (well, postbiotic, but semantics). This also includes a variety of other fermented ingredients, niacinamide, panthenol, cholesterol and a salad-worth of extracts: carrot, beet, cabbage, eggplant, sugarcane and algae. Despite its name, there’s no reason that this can’t be used AM and PM, so that’s what I do. The drawbacks here are twofold: there are a whole host of essential oils, and I think there are other bifida products on the k-beauty market now that are as nice or nicer at a better price point (hi, man:yo).
Opened: January
Rating: 8/10
Price: $54 USD / 50 mL; shown in a sample size

🍒 Good Skin Days C’s The Day Serum

I feel like I have been pushing the Good Skin Days C’s The Day Serum for so long that I should be the reason it’s currently out of stock at Soko Glam. As it is, I’m glad that every time they run sales I try to stock up, since I currently have two boxes of this in my fridge’s cheese drawer. This is a water-based 10% ascorbic acid serum, so it’s not sensitizing, not tacky but is prone to oxidizing (ergo the fridge storage when not actively in use — when in use, I tuck it inside the bags the Beekman ceramide serum came in but keep it in my skincare bin). Niacinamide, camu camu extract, licorice root extract amplify the brightening.
Opened: January
Rating: 10/10
Price: $26 USD / 30 mL

🥭 Glow Recipe Guava Vitamin C Dark Spot Serum

While I regularly use an ascorbic acid serum (hello my lovely up above), I wanted to try the Glow Recipe Guava Vitamin C Dark Spot Serum because of that “dark spot” emphasis. I don’t get many blemishes anymore, but when I do they cannot not leave a PIE spot behind. I also have a couple splotches of sun damage that I’d like to address. This serum includes five different derivatives of vitamin c — and because they’re derivatives, that means there are fewer conflicts and less chance of irritation, so I was able to use this in every routine. I was more excited, however, by the inclusion of tranexamic acid, which basically helps wrangle wayward melanocytes as they produce more melanin than they should. It took basically the whole bottle to see results, which isn’t surprising, but I do think this helped with my PIE — there’s a notable reduction of the stubborn marks around my mouth. It did not, unfortunately, do anything on my skin to address the sun damage, however, but that probably requires longer-term use.
Opened: January
Rating: 10/10
Price: $45 USD / 30 mL

🥑 Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum

The Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum is so hyped that I, as an avid consumer of ceramide serums, could not NOT try it out eventually. Because of the price, I was afraid to like it (my preferred price point for serums is $1 / 1 mL). But I do like it. Like some of my other favorite ceramide products (RNW Der Ceramide and Stratia Liquid Gold, for example — stay tuned for a Face Off between the three), this pairs ceramides with cholesterol and fatty acids to really rebuild the skin. In keeping with its name, this also include avocado oil and extract. The green color and the inclusion of rice extracts also help eliminate redness, and niacinamide and palmitoyl tripeptide-8 help cut down irritation. The pump for this works really well, and the texture is such that a pump and a half can cover face, neck and chest.
Opened: December
Rating: 10/10
Price: $42 USD / 30 mL

🍯 I’m From Honey Serum

I dearly love the I’m From Honey Mask and know many folks who love the I’m From Honey Serum, so I was super jazzed to try it — after all, I’m a sucker for propolis serums, most of which also include honey and all of which, well, come from bees. This hero here is a trademarked complex at 30% which includes honey, black bee propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, turmeric, bee pollen, and cinnamon (note, not 30% honey). This also includes niacinamide, centella asiatica extract, madecassoside and ascorbic acid. It’s quite a thick texture, between the honey complex and dimethicone, and is certainly very moisturizing. That said, I think there are other honey and propolis serums that I prefer and saw greater improvements from.
Opened: January
Rating: 7/10
Price: $28 USD / 30 mL

Creams

🍵 Pyunkang Yul Black Tea Time Reverse Eye Cream

I think Pyunkang Yul is one of the Korean brands doing the most interesting formulations, and so while I’m not a big eye cream user, I was excited to try the Black Tea Time Reverse Eye Cream (the aesthetics also didn’t hurt — look how shiny!). This uses fermented black tea and mulberry extract for their antioxidant and brightening benefits, while hydrating with beta glucan and hyaluronic acid. It’s got a really nice light texture, with the shea butter and macadamia seed oil keeping it buttery. And in classic k-beauty fashion, there are peptides and ceramides in this as well. I enjoyed using this around my eyes and on my lips under a more occlusive balm.
Opened: September
Rating: 10/10
Price: $29 USD / 25 mL; shown in the $7 / 9 mL mini

😇 Farmacy Honey Halo

I have been recommended the Farmacy Honey Halo Moisturizer so much that I took the plunge for the jumbo size. I can see the hype: it smells absolutely delicious, despite having no added fragrance, and is very thick. Like, very thick. You can tell this is chock full of shea butter. Additional worthwhile call-outs are, of course, honey, as well as propolis, royal jelly, ceramides and sea buckthorn oil. This is definitely a moisturizer for dry skin, and a little goes a long way. I will say that those who suffer with dehydration will be disappointed with this — while this had great emollience and occlusion, I really did not find it to have any hydration whatsoever. Indeed, I had to amp up my toning routine with more layers while using. But if you want to splurge for a moisturizer that will have great skin benefits, without needing an oil or sleeping mask over top in the evening, this is a great option.
Opened: October
Rating: 9/10
Price: $90 USD / 100 mL for the jumbo size shown; $45 USD / 50 mL for the standard size

☀️ OMI Verdio UV Moisture Gel SPF 50+ PA++++

OMI was making the rounds last summer with their Verdio UV Moisture Essence as well as this, the slightly less popular but just as cost-effective Verdio UV Moisture Gel. We went to Belize in September for our fourth anniversary, and I brought … quite a bit of sunscreen. This one I particularly had in mind as something we wouldn’t mind using on body or face. This is a lighter, more liquidy texture than the essence, and it also goes on way less greasy — the essence made my glasses slide down my nose. It held up nicely to prolonged sun exposure, though not to being in the water, of course.
Opened: September
Rating: 9/10
Price: $11.50 / 80 g

Other

💈 Briogeo Don’t Despair Repair Deep Conditioning Mask

I don’t have a lot of hair so it took me the full 12 month period to use up the Briogeo Don’t Despair Repair Deep Conditioning Mask, but I’ve already purchased a back-up. I think Briogeo does really thoughtful formulations, and so while some heavy products can make my hair greasy (why oh why is my scalp the only place on my body that can produce oil), the nourishing oils in this paired with the various plant extracts really make it happy. My scalp can get a bit flaky, but I’ve learned that it’s actually a hydration issue. Using this hair mask calms my scalp, while making my hair feel and look thicker while being incredibly soft. My husband always notices when I use it.
Opened: February 2021
Rating: 10/10
Price: $38 / 236 mL; shown in a 59 mL trial size

🧴 Shiseido Urea 10% Body Cream

I don’t think I’ve ever bombed through a body cream like I did the Shiseido Urea 10% Body Cream. Part of that is the size — it’s not particularly big, for a body product — but part of that is just how great it is. This is a lightweight lotion, and the 10% urea makes it soothing and hydrating. To recover from itchy, irritated skin (my marathon bathing habits seem to have caught up with me), I started slugging my body with this plus Vaseline. Wow, did it every work. It pretty much instantly calmed down redness and bumpiness. This does have a very faint menthol scent upon initial application, but it dissipates pretty immediately. It makes me excited to try more urea products, and more from Shiseido.
Opened: February
Rating: 10/10
Price: $16 USD / 120 g