What: SNP The Sound of Your Heart Buuk Soothing Mask, 25 ml / 1 sheet
Price & Where: Php 149 at Watson's

Character masks are a nice way to break mask monotony. They're silly, they're novel, and they're fun to use with friends or even if  you're alone by yourself. It's been awhile since I've used one so I tried this one - SNP The Sound of Your Heart Buuk Soothing Mask.

this glorious sunflower character is called Buuk

The mask is based on a character from The Sound of Your Heart (read on Webtoons, watch on Netflix, it's hilarious) and I have actually tried one of the four mask variants back in May! Wow, time really flies so fast. Anyway, read on to see how this performed!

 About the Product

the back portion of the mask (click to see full size!)

closeup of the English translation (click to see full size)

Product Description:
"Soothing and vital mask that cares smooth skin by filling a soothing energy to the irritated skin and controlling the excessive sebum."

How to Use:
After cleansing your face, tone skin and apply the mask to the face evenly centering around the eyes and mouth. Leave on for 10-20 minutes, and peel the mask from face. Pat gently any remaining essence to skin.

sneak peek

Ingredients:
Water, Glycerin, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Juice, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Water, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Punica Granatum Fruit Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Beta-Glucan, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract, Castanea Crenata Shell Extract, Betaine, Butylene Glycol, Carbomer, Disodium EDTA, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Polysorbate 80, Triethanolamine, Alcohol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Ethyl Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

The ingredients in red are potential irritants and acne triggers while the ones in orange have a safety rating of 3-5 (based on Cosdna). Avoid if you are allergic or sensitive to any of them.

There's a lot of plant extracts inside (like a lot: licorice root, green tea leaf, pomegranate fruit, Scullcap root, Japanese knotweed root, Korean chestnut shell) but aside from green tea, I'm not familiar what else would make this a soothing mask. From Cosdna analysis, most of the ingredients are there for moisture. Hmm, we'll see.

My Experience

The pack contains 25 ml of essence inside and it's enough to really drench the mask. You can see the extra essence pooling at the bottom of the pack in the picture below. There's a lot! I used it on my neck, arms, etc.

lots of extra essence

The essence is clear and runny but it's thicker than water. It has a floral scent but nothing too drastic. About the mask - it is made of very thick material, kinda like wet wipes. Perhaps it's to show the design better? The mask is sturdy and won't rip easily.

I look like a sunflower, but at the same time, I do not really look like one.
What is going on here haha

I'm not blessed with a tall nose so that part is quite loose 😂 otherwise, the mask fits me great. It clung well enough but, since the material is thick, the creases would tent after a while. I kept flattening those parts during the whole 30-minute period this was on my face.

After taking it off, I patted the essence on my face until it got absorbed. It took around 5 minutes. It dries quite sticky and I am not a fan. I normally don't wash mask essence off my hands but for this mask, I have to.

Results?

Despite the stickiness, I really L-O-V-E the bright glow it gave me! My skin is sufficiently hydrated and looks radiant. However, this is a soothing mask, right? 

I specifically watched out for soothing results and honestly, I did not feel soothed during the time I had this on. I have a few pimples here and there and this mask did nothing to calm them. This has no cooling effect, no crazy relaxing aroma, no something that I would call soothing - you get the drift. If they called this a brightening mask instead, I would probably say I love it.

Final Verdict

the mask laid flat

The mask is not bad but I expected more soothing effects which it did not deliver. While I did enjoy using this, I will probably not repurchase.

I recommend this to The Sound of Your Heart fans! It's nice if you wanna live as Buuk for a short time. 

I still have two masks from this collection (Choseok Brightening and Sensation Wrinkle) so keep watching out for my review! Thanks for reading!

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Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. The item featured is bought with my own money. This review is based on my own experience and opinions. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa.

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What: Skin Genie Dark Therapy Soap, 135g
Price & Where: 200 PHP at Skin Genie

In this post, I'm gonna review another whitening soap from Skin Genie! The last one I tried from them didn't fare very well, so read on to see if this Dark Therapy Soap performed better!

Product Description:
🔹 Speedy Whitening 🔹 Moisturizing 🔹 Detoxifying

The description is short and to the point. I'm gonna look for whitening results (speedy or not) and gonna watch out for its moisturizing properties. Not sure though how I'll verify the detoxifying claims.

Ingredients:
Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil, Aloe Vera Extract, Fruit Acids, Mushroom Extracts, Glycerine from Coconut, Activated Carbon

The fruit acids look like it's the only whitening ingredient? At least, according to this Cosdna analysis. The mushroom extracts is probably kojic acid from koji mushrooms, but I can't really tell, can I? It's too vague. I guess we'll never know.

How to Use

Apply to damp skin and massage into a light foaming lather for 1-2 minutes to get the maximum effect. Rinse with warm water and pat dry.

Below the cardboard label is this sticker label. Probably the old packaging?

The soap is stamped with the Skin Genie logo.

I cut it into three just in case it melts fast. It does not. 

Experience

The soap doesn't melt fast. It lasted me for almost two months and I used it twice daily! It doesn't lather much. The resulting suds are tiny, like so:

resulting lather

pH = 8.8

The pH is quite high, but for soaps, pH range between 7.0 - 10.0 pH is totally normal. Anyway, even with the 8.8 pH, this soap is surprisingly moisturizing. It did not make my skin feel dry or tight after. I also did not experience any breakouts or any allergic reaction.

Was It Effective in Whitening?

I'm not gonna mince words: this was not effective for me.

Skin Genie has solid products but I'm skipping this. Even after finishing the whole bar, my existing tan lines haven't faded and I haven't seen any signs of whitening. :/ Most whitening bars usually show results after using one bar; this one didn't so I won't repurchase. I dislike giving negative reviews but I really can't recommend this. 😭

If you are interested in trying the product for yourself, you can get it directly from Skin Genie (check out their SNS info below) or through online stores like BeautyMNL. Our results may vary.

Tried this soap already? How's your experience?

Check out Skin Genie:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkinGeniePH/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skingenie/

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Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. The item featured is bought with my own money. This review is based on my own experience. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa.

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What: Dermal White Collagen Essence Mask Review
Price & Where: 70 PHP at BeautyMNL

Hey, guys! Finally, I'm down to the last of my Dermal stash. Yesterday, I used Dermal White Collagen Essence Mask. Read on to see how I liked it!

About the Product

the back of the mask

This main ingredient is bark extract from Morus Alba, commonly known as White Mulberry. I guess that's why this is called White? There's a snowflake in front of the packaging, different from Dermal's other variants which usually show the main ingredient on the front (e.g. the snail mask has a snail image, green tea has green tea, and so on).

The packaging is simple - you know, just the usual plastic you tear open. Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese instructions are included at the back.

closeup of the English instructions

Anyway, back to the mask. Mulberry extract controls the activity of Tyrosinase, an enzyme that controls the production of melanin. From my understanding, the Mulberry extract will inhibit melanin production making the skin look brighter, cleaner and smoother. This also has Vitamin E and Collagen for skin nutrition.

Ingredients:
Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Morus Alba Bark Extract, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Beta-Glucan, Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polysorbate 80, Disodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Methylparaben, Fragrance

Just an observation, I noticed Dermal is very consistent with their formula. They just swap out one or two ingredients (like the white mulberry) and the rest is the same. So far, I haven't had any negative reactions but of course, don't use if you are sensitive or allergic to any of the ingredients.

Experience

This is the most fragranced out of all the Dermal masks I've tried so far. It has a flowery baby powderish scent. It's really strong when you open the pack (Like BAAMMM! Fragrance!), but thankfully, the scent was milder once I put it on my face. The others have fragrance too but they were gentle and not as noticeable like this one.

The mask contains 23 grams of clear and slightly viscous essence. Since it's made of thick material, it's not dripping wet. It's soaked enough but there's no extra drops on the pack. This variant has the same size and shape like the others and I think it fit me great. It's snug and clung nicely to my face.

boo

This has a soothing, cooling effect that I really like. I didn't even put it in the fridge! It lasted long too, like, twenty minutes later and it's still doing it's cooling magic! I was able to keep it on my face for 25 minutes before the edges started falling off and then I took it off. The essence took around 3-5 minutes to dry.

So, results?

The essence left a tacky feel even after drying but I'm wowed by the radiance this mask gave me! I wasn't expecting much because the last two masks I've tried from Dermal were... uhm, just okay... but this really lived up to its claims. My skin looked really bright and glowing! Moisture is okay too. The next morning, my skin still felt soft and smooth. My skin was not as bright like when I first took off the mask but it still looks dewy.

Will I repurchase?

Yes, I like this mask. Since the brightening effect is temporary, I recommend using this in the morning (or before you go out) to take advantage of its brightening powers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

If I have to rate the Dermal masks I've tried so far, it would be:
Green Tea > Syn-ake = White (this one) |    great big wall   |  > Bee Venom > Snail.

I love the Green Tea variant, I think Syn-ake & White is good while the last two are just so-so. Of course, YMMV.

Overall, I think Dermal is a decent brand. I won't say it's the best but I see myself purchasing more from them. They have tons of variants so I'm looking forward to trying the rest! Tried Dermal masks before? What would you recommend?

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Disclaimer: This review is written based on my own experience. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. This is not a sponsored post. Item featured is bought with my own money.

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What: Dermal Bee Venom Collagen Essence Mask
Price & Where: 70 PHP at BeautyMNL

Hey, guys. Back again with another Dermal mask review! Today, I'm reviewing the Bee Venom variant!

My skin condition before using this was not good. I have a pimple breakout from a new toner so I thought I'd try this one since this is supposed to be for soothing, firming and repairing skin. Read on to find out how it performed!

About the Product

The back of the packaging.

First of all, the packaging is very simple. At the back, you'll find Korean. English, and Japanese product information and instructions. When I cut the pack open, it smelled like honey to me. Is that because... bees? Heh.

closeup of the product information

Ingredients:
Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Bee Venom, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Beta-Glucan, Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polysorbate 80, Disodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Methylparaben, Fragrance

The main ingredient of this mask is bee venom so great to see it so high up in the ingredient list! 

From a quick research, bee venom can supposedly control the facial muscles for immediate lifting, tightening and firming. Interesting. Never used a bee venom skincare product before so I'm looking forward to its effects. Of course, don't use if you are allergic to bees or any of the ingredients.

My Experience

By now, I'm sure all Dermal masks use the same mask material. It's the same thick mask with eye flaps. I have a round face, and as usual, the fit is great for me.

The pack contains 23g of clear, watery essence. I put this one in the fridge and it really felt refreshing when I put it on. The mask is soaked enough with just a few drops left in the pack.

I took a nap and 40 minutes later, it was still wet and clinging to my face. I think my nap contributed to the long duration? Usually, Dermal masks dry out within 10-15 minutes for me if I do normal stuff around the house.

So, results?

This is so much better than the snail variant! This is more moisturizing and my skin felt really soft after. My pores shrunk and the bigger ones on my nose really look smaller.  Downside is it leaves a tacky feeling and the hydration is brief. It only lasted til the next morning.

I think it also smoothed my skin but honestly, if I want firming, I'd go for the Syn-ake version instead.

Remember how I said I have a pimple breakout? I don't think this did any soothing or repairing, yikes haha. Pimples were still red and painful to touch. If I want to deal with breakouts using Dermal masks, I'd pick Green Tea. 

One more thing: I'm now convinced I'm not allergic to bees! xD I did not experience any negative effects like hives or something.

Will I Repurchase?

Maybe not. I think it's decent but if I'm looking to solve a skin issue, I'd prefer the masks I mentioned above. Also, Dermal has like 70+ variants. I wanna try those too!

Tried Dermal masks before? What would you recommend?

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Disclaimer: This review is written based on my own experience. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. This is not a sponsored post. Item featured is bought with my own money.

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What: Kolours Dual Conditioning Hair Color
Price: 256 PHP

I previously had my hair dyed brown. It's more than 2 months now and I really need to retouch my roots! Thankfully, before I made any decisions, my latest Saladbox arrived and I got two boxes of Kolours Dual Conditioning Hair Color inside!

I received both the shades Thai Tamarind and Shanghai Mahogany. My go-to hair color is brown, but this time, I wanted to shake it up a little bit and get red hair. Shanghai Mahogany it is! Read on to see how it performed on my hair!

About the Product

Kolours claims that their product is especially made for Asians. According to them, they have perfected the right formulation to penetrate darker and thicker hair right to the very core. Their Color Retention Technology will ensure that the dye can stay vibrant for up to 3 months! Amazing, if true. We'll see.

what's inside the box

The box contains a colorant tube, a developer bottle, two sachets of after-treatment conditioner, an instruction leaflet and a pair of plastic hand gloves.

Btw, they call this Dual Conditioning because they claim that the natural moisture, softness and shine of your hair would be preserved throughout the whole procedure. The dye is infused with Vitamins E and B5 so hair gets nourished and moisturized during the coloring process. After that, the Vitress conditioner will make sure hair will get an ample dose of hydration after treatment.

The Ingredients of the Hair Color, Developer and Conditioner.

Hair Condition

Preview of the Results.
Virgin Untreated Hair vs Lightly Colored Hair.

This is what the hair is supposed to look like after coloring. Of course, color will vary depending on the state of hair. Speaking of hair...

My hair just before coloring with Kolours. OMG HAHA
Indoors vs Outdoors

This is the state of my hair prior to coloring. It's been more than two months since my last hair dyeing session and as you can see, my black hair is waving hello. The rest is a light brown. It looks very dry so hopefully, this won't fry my hair even more.

My Experience

Colorant and developer mixed together.

The product is easy-peasy to use. Just pierce the colorant tube, empty it on the developer bottle, shake, snip the applicator tip and bam! It's ready to apply.

Since my roots are the darkest, I applied it there first and waited 30 minutes. After that, I applied the rest to my hair and waited another 15 minutes. You can check if you're happy with the color by doing a strand test. Just wipe off a strand with a cotton ball or tissue. If it's done, just proceed with the after-treatment. If not, just wait for the color to develop more.

During the application. Just waiting.

The creme colorant is 50g while the developer is 70ml. After mixing both, the blend is more than enough to coat my hair very generously. I was able to go through my hair twice and there's still lots of product left on the bottle. If the result is patchy, I think it's all on me. You have to be meticulous!

There's a pair of plastic gloves included and I used it at first. However, I thought it was delaying my progress so I discarded it. DON'T BE LIKE ME! Obviously, it's there for a reason! Look at my poor fingers!

the rest of my fingers look like this too

Something in the ingredients (I'm suspecting the ammonium hydroxide or the hydrogen peroxide) made my fingernails very brittle. I keep my nails very short but see the white edges? Those are not trimmable nails. Somehow, something in the dye seeped through and it separated my skin from the nails. See the arrow pointing above? You can clearly see my nails having a white air pocket underneath and it felt as if I got a splinter in there. Sounds painful? It was. ;_;  It hurt no matter how much I rinsed it off. I soothed it by slathering my hands with lots of mineral oil. Again, USE THE GLOVES!

I accidentally put some on my scalp and it stung (the product warns not to apply on scalp) but it's kinda weird because I got some on my forehead and it didn't bother me at all. Weird, right? I didn't do any special preparation btw but the dye didn't stain my forehead or my hands.

Regarding scent, it was okay during application but it got worse the longer I waited. It smells like piss! My eyes were watering so much and my sis, who was in another room, even said it smells like hell. 😂😂😂 After 45 minutes, I was so ready to rinse it off.

Vitress after-treatment conditioner

I rinsed my hair first until the water ran clear. My hair surprisingly did not feel dry or brittle as much as I expected. I massaged the conditioner in, left it on for 3 minutes and then rinsed it off. After drying, my hair does not feel damaged. Hmmm. Dual Conditioning claim: approved!

Color Results

Drum roll, please. Just kidding.

Sorry about the emoji, I look dead in the pic xD
but look at the color. Shanghai Mahogany! 

The pic above is taken the day after I dyed my hair. I think the result is close to the box color. When I'm out in the sun, it looks even more vibrant. I did not patch test but thankfully, no allergic reaction for me.

a few days after

As you can see, it managed to dye my black roots to a lighter color. It's patchy at the front but I think that was my fault since I somehow missed that area.

The pic above is just a few days after but the red color has faded a lot! I only shampoo every other day (I condition daily) so it's quite disappointing that the color has deteriorated so quickly.

A week later and it has faded even more. It looks brown to me but the red undertone is still there if you are directly under the sun. My hair currently still looks like this. It will probably become more brown-ish as time goes by.

my hair 1 week later

Final Thoughts

I think the product is okay, but of course, it has its cons. The color looks vibrant and close to the shade on the box but it faded really quickly. It has a strong smell too and is damaging to nails if you don't use gloves. If you're willing to overlook those, then this is a very affordable hair color considering the generous amount of product inside. Such a cheap way to try new hair colors!

I will probably try Thai Tamarind next month so stay tuned! I have a feeling brown shades will last so much longer. 😂

Tried this already? How's your experience?

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Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. This review is written based on my own experience. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa.

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What: Monstory Cool Cool Mon Sleeping Mask, 100g
Price & Where: 1,000 PHP at Althea

Hello, this is my review of the Cool Cool Mon Sleeping Mask from the brand Monstory. I got this inside my Althea's Super Food Box (read my unboxing here).

About the Product

I tried looking for more info about Monstory but I can't find much aside from the fact that they're a Korean company and that their products are all made of natural ingredients. So far, their website currently lists three products: Green Mon, Girly Mon and the star of today's review - Cool Cool Mon.

The product came like this. It is sealed with plastic. No box.
All the info is written in Korean. No English translation.

Cool Cool Mon is a sleeping pack, unlike the other Monstory masks which are the wash-off type.

The container is made with thick and sturdy plastic and holds 100g of product. It has a lid inside where you can write the opening date to remind you if it's past expiry. You can keep this for two years after the manufacturing date but the shelf-life is 90 days once opened. You have to keep it refrigerated after opening.

look at this cute waterdrop monster

Claims & Ingredients

Container is full to the brim!

Cool Cool Mon is an anti-aging sleeping pack. It claims it will make the skin look younger by boosting the skin's elasticity. Aside from that, it has high density moisture layers to improve skin vitality. Lastly, it's supposed to clean skin by removing dead skin cells overnight.

The main ingredient of this sleeping pack is green caviar (Caulerpa lentillifera, also known as grape seaweed). It's full of nutrients such as calcium, iron, minerals and other vitamins. Interesting.

pic taken from Wikipedia.
In the Philippines, grape seaweed is called lato and we usually eat it as a salad.

Here's the full ingredients list courtesy of Cosdna. Monstory guarantees that the sleeping pack is free of mineral oil, artificial flavor, artificial pigment, paraben, and components derived from animals. Of course, please check if your own allergens/irritants are present and don't use if you are sensitive to any of the ingredients.

My Experience

texture of the sleeping pack

The mask is a white gel with tiny green balls mixed in. The balls dissolve when you apply it on your skin, no extra effort needed. It smells herb-ish to me, but the scent is gentle and not overpowering. Since you have to keep this in the fridge, it feels very refreshing and cool once applied. This is great to use during summertime. Of course, the cooling sensation will subside after a while.

I use this as the last step of my skincare routine. Even if I massage it in, it doesn't get fully absorbed. There's an oily film left behind but it's usually not there anymore in the morning. Either my skin absorbed it overnight or else, my pillows did, haha.

Results?

Whenever I use this, my skin would look radiant and bright after washing my face the next morning.  I guess that's the dead skin cells removed? Aside from that, my skin would feel so soft and hydrated. Moisturization: check! It looks smoother too so firming claims approved! I did not get any negative reactions, so plus points for that.

Will I Repurchase?

Yes, but honestly, only if they produce this in smaller quantities or if it's on sale. 

The product is not bad. It's very moisturizing so I think this would suit people with dry skin. I have normal-combi skin and I personally like it too! However, my one biggest con is its size. 100g is a lot to empty within 3 months! I used this about 3 times a week and I tend to apply very generously, but I'm not even half-way through my jar. I ended up tossing the rest since it's past the recommended 90-day shelf life. Such a waste, if you ask me.

If Monstory releases a smaller (and cheaper jar), I'd get it again with no hesitations! If you have a friend to share it with or if you find this on sale, then snatch it quick!

Tried this product? Tell me about your experience!

Check out Monstory:

Website: http://www.monstory.kr/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monstory.korea/

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Disclaimer: This review is written based on my own experience. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. This is not a sponsored post. Item featured is bought with my own money.

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