Korean goodies: Skinfood Tomato Whitening Toner review

Skinfood was the first Korean brand I've used and I feel strongly sentimental about it, so my reviews might tend to be a bit partial in the brand's favour. However, in spite of my strong desire to like their Tomato Whitening Toner, I don't think it did anything to my skin. 

It promises to brighten the skin, reduce redness and acne scarring, soften and condition the skin, prevent premature aging. Contains tomato extract, vitamin c and anti-oxidants, but no alcohol or parabens.

What I can say is that it comes in a nice bottle, though the screw-on cap is a bit impractical. The toner has a very nice, subtle scent. It's not drying, but I don't feel it's particularly moisturising either. It was a pleasure to use it every night and morming, but to I really need to take this extra step if I don't see any results? Of course not. Used this up, but I see no point in repurchasing. Dear Me by Enprani remains unbeatable.

Stila Perfectly Poreless Putty Perfector versus Unni Recipe foundation (Korean)

This review is long overdue. The thing is that I'm in two minds about this product and I go to and fro from loving to hating it.

Stila Perfectly Poreless Putty Perfector is an innovative product, yet I noticed that months before its release I received in one of my Memeboxes its Korean dupe, which received no love or hype from Korean beauty fans and went completely unnoticed. I never meant to review that product, though I quite liked it myself, however now I think a comparison would be more than appropriate.

The products which are the subject of this review are extremely similar, the only differences being the colour and size of the packaging(Unni is slightly bulkier), the shade and the price ($39 for Stila versus $24 for Unni).  

So what are they? It's easier to describe them in terms of what they are not. They are not cushion foundations, nor are they powder or cream ones. The texture is weird, the product is moldable and thicker and more powdery than cream products.

In both cases the product comes in a compact equipped with a mirror, a non-porous sponge and a protective shield which houses the sponge and protects the product from drying.

I'm in two minds about this product. On the one hand, if applied sparingly this product can make my skin look perfect. The coverage is medium at most and it's not buildable at all, but this foundation feels as if it was mixed with a smoothing and pore minimising primer which blurs all imperfections. My oily skin looks matte and the finish is on the powdery side, so I can apply bronzers or blushes without powdering my face first.

However, this is not a foolproof product. If you apply a bit too much, you'll end up with a cakey face. Think Japanese theatrical make-up kind of thing. Another thing is that it's totally unforgiving if you have any dry patches. I have really oily skin and I didn't realise I had any until I used any of these products.

While I really do enjoy the finish for an hour or so, my skin feels as if it was suffocating underneath and starts to produce incredible amount of sebum, which in turn breaks the foundation down and makes it melt, so you might have guessed already, it's not terribly long lasting.

The best use for these foundations is in my case to carry one of them in my handbag and use for touch-ups on the go, just like those of us do with cushion products.

I like these products overall, but I don't recommend buying them as I don't know who they are good for. Dry-skinned ladies should stay away from this kind of product for sure, oily skins would notice a severe melt-down and possible breakouts. 

Buying a product just for touch-ups is a little bit of an expensive whim, but if you can afford it, why not give this weird product a go?