If you've watched my
Korea Beauty Haul, you'll know that I finally got my hands on the highly raved
Krave Beauty skincare products! I've been wanting to try them out ever since I found out that they are Youtuber Liah Yoo's very own skincare line, but because Krave Beauty only ships within the US, I had to arrange a meetup with the Krave Beauty team in Seoul to get them at the original retail price. Arranging the meetup was super easy, just e-mail them at least a week or two before your trip and they will let you know all the details such as the stocks availability, payment methods, meetup point, etc. The meetup point is subjected to change, but I met them at Nonhyeon station which is around Gangnam area.
Since it required quite an effort to get their products, I decided to bite the bullet and just try everything they had to offer. I didn't start using all the products at once, but it has been 2~3 months since I got them and so I think it's time to give my honest review about all the products.
Starting with the
Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser (US$16, 16,000won), I was most excited about this one because I was actively in search of a gentle cleanser to replace my pricey, beloved, Drunk Elephant Beste No.9 Jelly Cleanser. This being only 16,000won, I thought it'd be an affordable replacement and so I actually bought 2 of this.
The key ingredients of this cleanser listed on their website are matcha, hemp seed oil, coco -betaine, boco-glucoside, decyl glucoside, vitamin B5 and sodium PCA. Looking at the ingredient list, there isn't any problematic ingredients such as sls, fragrance, or drying alcohols which is definitely a good sign that this is indeed what it is, a gentle hydrating cleanser. Being acne prone, of course the existence of hemp seed oil got my attention, even though hemp seed oil has a comedogenic rating of 0 and is usually marketed as an oil that is suitable for "all skin types", if you have severe acne prone skin (a.k.a you have pores that easily get clogged), I would still suggest you avoid all kinds of oils since oils
are clogging.
I felt that it was worth giving it a shot, I don't really have severe acne, moreover I even bought 2 of this, I
have to love it. So I started using this pretty much a couple of days after I came back from Korea, and after about 2 - 3 weeks, I had to stop as it just wasn't working for me.
First of all, I wasn't fond of the texture at all. It felt powdery for some reasons (maybe the matcha?) and although it did foam a little due to the existence of surfactants, I just didn't like how it felt on my skin. I must say that it was very gentle as it didn't leave my skin feeling tight or dry after cleansing, but at the same time, I never really felt like my skin was well-cleansed as compared to the Drunk Elephant Jelly Cleanser which made my skin feel very well-cleansed and at the same time, it was non-drying. My skin was improving steadily until I started this cleanser. After realizing that I was constantly breaking out
again, I figured out that it was time to switch out my cleanser again. I decided to try the Cosrx Good Morning Low Ph Gel Cleanser because this was a cleanser I used in the past and I remembered it worked great with my skin as I did recommend it in a video talking about
the best K-beauty skincare products for breakouts. In comparison, the Cosrx Good Morning Low Ph Gel Cleanser does feels a little bit more drying and harsher, but somehow it worked for me and a few days after the change, my skin begun improving again. Currently, I'm very happy with the Cosrx Good Morning Low Ph Gel Cleanser, especially because it is only 9,000won.
Overall, the Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating cleanser is a very gentle cleanser with no harsh and drying ingredients. But honestly, there isn't anything attractive in this cleanser for people oily skin and so I definitely will not repurchase it.
Next up, the
Kale-Lalu-yAHA (US$25, 25,000won). This is marketed to be a gentle exfoliator as it contains 5.25% of Glycolic acid (AHA), a chemical exfoliant, which will help increase cell turnover rate, decrease the chances of clogged pores and therefore improving the overall skin texture. Along with AHA, this toner is also formulated with antioxidants like kale, spinach, parsley, and moisturizing ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and glycerin. Another key point to take note of is this toner also has a pH level of 3.5 to 4 which is close to our skin's pH level.
Now I've had both, good and bad experience with glycolic acid. The Drunk Elephant's T.L.C Glycolic Night Serum worked wonders on certain parts of my face, but it also gave certain parts of my face a chemical burn since it does contains a very high concentration (
ahem, 12%) of AHA. So while I did love the results I see on the parts that could withstand the intensity, I had to stop using it ultimately because of the damage it was doing to the other parts of my skin. Seeing that this toner only contains 5.25% of AHA, which Liah states is a good amount for her, I decided to slowly incorporate it into my skincare routine, using it only twice to thrice a week as recommended on the bottle.
The first 2 weeks went well as there weren't any irritations, possibly also because I was being very careful with it and only applying the thinnest layer possible. I could barely tell any difference in my skin as compared to when I was using the Drunk Elephant's T.L.C Framboos Glycolic Night Serum but that's fine since this is a much gentler exfoliator. Until the third week of using this, my skin suddenly reacted to it and it was so bad that I actually had to wash it off after the stinging feeling didn't go away within a minute. I thought everything was fine since I washed it off, but it actually made the lower part of my face peel for days. Obviously, I stopped using it after and decided to come to a conclusion that this isn't a product for me.
Nevertheless, I don't think you should distance yourself from this product as the ingredients do appear promisingly gentle and it is also free of harmful drying ingredients. To top it up, I used to use the Pixi Glow Tonic which contains 5% Glycolic acid (and fragrance!! :( ) and my skin didn't react to it at all which means it is very possible that the lower portion of my face was still in the midst of healing and it could be entirely my fault for introducing glycolic acid to it again so soon. Either way, glycolic acid is known to be one of the stronger AHAs and so if you have sensitive skin like mine (i.e the lower portion of my face where all my breakouts are occurring), you can consider other gentler AHAs like Mandelic acid or Latic acid instead. If you're like me and you're attempting to restore your skin barrier due to over-exfoliation, I will suggest you to completely stay away from acids for the time being.
Moving on, as I've mentioned, I am currently trying to restore my skin barrier, especially on the lower portion of my face after over-exfoliating with chemical exfoliants. Therefore, I was immediately attracted to the
Great Barrier Relief (US$28, 28,000won) as you can already tell from the name, this is literally a product that is marketed to help restore one's skin barrier.
The key ingredients are tamuna oil, saffflower oil, rose hip seed oil, NMF, ceramides, squalane, and niacinamide. The first 3 oils are included for it's ability to recover damaged skin, including hyper-pigmentation and acne scars, while the remaining active ingredients are known to provide high levels of moisture. Niacinamide, also known as vitamin B3, is also a well-loved ingredient in skincare for it's ability to reduce inflammation, redness, and excessive sebum production.
So once again, being acne prone, I wasn't sure about this product because it is an oil-heavy product (and remember,
all these oils are clogging!) but nevertheless, I gave it a go because I mean I bought it already, and miraculously, I would say, I actually felt a huge improvement in my skin overnight. Prior to using this product, my skin would get so itchy, a.k.a irritated, but after using this for just one night, the itchiness just went away. Despite the amount of oils in this serum, the texture of this serum is surprisingly lightweight and overall just feels like a light facial oil. After I felt like my skin got better, which is probably about 3 to 4 days later, I immediately stopped using it.
While I really like how fast it worked in calming down my skin and providing my skin with a ton of hydration as a quick fix, I really do not like how this contains so much oils as down the road, clogging will definitely come since tamuna oil itself has a comedogenic rating of 3 which is rather high. Even though these oils claims to be able to provide a ton of skincare benefits, like it helps with the fading of scars, it promotes healing, etc, all these benefits looks really attractive to people with acne prone skin but you can actually get these benefits from other ingredients, without the risk of them clogging your pores. For example, treating your skin gently and making sure it's properly moisturize will also promote healing, aloe vera promotes healing, using chemical exfoliants help fade acne scars, niacinamide itself reduces redness. Maybe these oils will work quicker in delivering your these benefits, but at the same time, it might also be causing you reoccurring breakouts, so it's really up to you to decide whether you want to be patient and go the long way that'll definitely bring you to your final destination, or take a shortcut but risk ending up going around in circles.
Eventually, this isn't something I will repurchase but unlike the first two products, I still reach out to this at times whenever I feel like my skin, particularly my neck and hands, needs it. I will not be using this on my face any time soon because of the oils. I think people with normal to dry, and non-acne prone skin will love this product because it does have a really nice, light and smooth texture. It doesn't contain any harmful ingredients, and it also smells really good.
Finally, we have our final product which is
The Beet Shield (US$20, 20,000won). I am just gonna go straight to the point and say that I am actually disappointed that this product has alcohol in it. Although Krave beauty did explain why they chose to put in a large amount of alcohol (it is the fourth ingredient) in this sunscreen on their website, and although they have also said that their test on a group of users didn't reflect any signs of irritation or negative reactions, they have also state that they wouldn't recommend this to anyone who has skin diseases like rosacea. I don't know about you but rosacea, like eczema, is a type of skin disease which you can actually develop, so instead of waiting until I got rosacea to avoid this product, I thought it would be wiser to just avoid it since let me tell you, there are a whole bunch of sunscreens in this world that doesn't contain alcohol.
I am obsessed with sun care and because it is an essential for everyday wear, i.e. it's something you must use, every single day, I've been testing out many different sunscreens. During this period of 2 months, I've used a total of 4 different sunscreens; Supergoop's Unseen sunscreen, Etude House's Sunprise Natural Corrector sunscreen, Some By Mi's Truecica Mineral 100 Calming sunscreen and The Beet Shield. Out of all 4 sunscreens, although the Etude House and Some By Mi sunscreen contains a small amount of fragrance, The Beet Shield is the only one that contains alcohol in it, moreover it's the fourth ingredient in the list. Therefore, even though I do like the texture of this sunscreen, it is very lightweight which creates a lovely base for makeup, it doesn't leave a white cast, it actually feels refreshing and moisturizing to wear... This is definitely not something I will repurchase. Ingredients such as alcohol and fragrance can cause damage to your skin and this might not be noticeable until a couple of years later. So even if it feels good at the moment and you don't see any irritations, it still isn't good for your skin.
If you want recommendations for sunscreens, so far the best one I've used with no problematic ingredient is the Supergoop Unseen sunscreen and the Bioderma Photoderm sunscreen. These sunscreens do not contains alcohol, essential oils, or any other drying ingredients. The Bioderma does have fragrance but since it is the last ingredient, it shouldn't be capable of damaging your skin at all as it probably only has like less than a tiny drop of it.
Overall, I really appreciate that most of the products do not contain harsh ingredients, making them suitable for most people, in a sense that if you're not acne-prone, it's most likely that the products from Krave Beauty will be suitable for your skin since they will not cause further dryness or damage to your skin. Unfortunately, they didn't really work well with my current skin which is acne prone, and damaged.
Labels: beauty, face, haul, korean, review, skincare
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