Comparisons of Innisfree Sunscreens: Perfect UV Protection Essence Water Base, Oat Mild Moisture Sun Cream, Perfect UV Protection Cream Triple Care

I recently posted on Reddit asking what people wanted to see reviewed and the new Innisfree sunscreens came up at the top of the list!

Commonalities:

• SPF 50+
• PA+++

What an anticlimactic list.

Perfect UV Protection Essence Water Base SPF 50+ PA+++

Ingredients:
WATER, ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, HOMOSALATE, GLYCERIN, ETHYLHEXYL SALICYLATE, DIETHYLAMINO HYDROXYBENZOYL HEXYL BENZOATE, CAMELLIA SINENSIS LEAF EXTRACT, OCTOCRYLENE, CETYL ETHYLHEXANOATE, 1,2-HEXANEDIOL, CURCUMA LONGA (TURMERIC) ROOT EXTRACT, SALVIA HISPANICA SEED EXTRACT, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, BEHENYL ALCOHOL, HYDROXYACETOPHENONE, POLYGLYCERYL-3 METHYLGLUCOSE DISTEARATE, FRAGRANCE, SACCHARIDE HYDROLYSATE, PROPANEDIOL., TROMETHAMINE, CARBOMER, ACRYLATES/C10-30 ALKYL ACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, SODIUM HYALURONATE, POLYACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER-6, HYDROGENATED LECITHIN, PHENOXYETHANOL, CERAMIDE NP, CENTELLA ASIATICA EXTRACT, PORTULACA OLERACEA EXTRACT, PEG-10 RAPESEED STEROL, DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL, GLYCERYL STEARATE, GLYCERETH-20, T-BUTYL ALCOHOL, HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL, HAMAMELIS VIRGINIANA (WITCH HAZEL) LEAF EXTRACT, OCTYLDODECANOL, CITRUS UNSHIU PEEL EXTRACT, CAMELLIA JAPONICA LEAF EXTRACT, ORCHID EXTRACT, OPUNTIA COCCINELLIFERA FRUIT EXTRACT, ECHIUM PLANTAGINEUM SEED OIL, HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL UNSAPONIFIABLES, CARDIOSPERMUM HALICACABUM FLOWER/LEAF/VINE EXTRACT, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM BENZOATE, POTASSIUM SORBATE
Sunflower oil + Jeju green tea extract= protection against UV rays
Hyaluronic acid + ceramides= hydration
Portulaca oleracea extract + centella asiatica extract= astringents

Price: $16 USD
Size: 50 mL
Shelf life: 1 yr
Fragrances: Herbal. Only detectable if sniffed up close. Gone within 10 minutes.
Claims:

• 5-free system: animal ingredients, mineral oils, synthetic fragrances, tar dye, talc 

Initial thoughts:

• Super light! It feels pretty much like some of the Biore sunscreens (Aqua Rich Watery Essence, Perfect Milks)
• The color is actually a super pale "yellow". Definitely not noticeable when spread onto skin and not even that noticeable when squeezing out of the tube.

Oat Mild Moisture Suncream SPF 50+ PA+++

Ingredients (Couldn't find an ingredients list ANYWHERE. Jolse even listed ingredients as "none". To make matters even worse, Google translate wasn't picking up on the tiny squished letters in any photo I took so I had to translate all this sob sob. Also, pretty sure some of these aren't real ingredients. I tried to fix as many faulty ones as I could but idk how good of a job I did here lol):
Cyclomethicone, purified water, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, propanediol, dicaprylyl carbonate, cetyl diglyceryl tris(trimethyl-siloxy)silylethyl dimethicone, cetyl ethylhexanoate, aluminum hydroxide, 1,2-hexane diol, distearyl dimonium hectorite, oat kernel extract, chia seed extract, Centella asiatica extract, Houttuynia cordata extract, hemp seed oil, sunflower seed oil, Cardiospermum grandiflorum flower/leaf/vine extract, orange peel oil, scented geranium flower oil, hydrogen dimethicone, magnesium sulfate, stearic acid, polyglyceryl 2-dipolyhydroxystearate, dimethicone crosspolymer, butylene glycol, phenyl trimethicone, fructooligosaccharides, saccharide hydrolysate, pullulan, ethyhexylglycerin, octyldodecanol, sorbitan sesquioleate, polyglyceryl 3-polydimethylsiloxyethyl dimethicone, tocopherol
Oat kernel extract= intensive moisture

Price: Official price unknown but bought for $13 USD
Size: 40 mL
Shelf life: 1 yr
Fragrances: Citrus. FUCKING strong...I applied it to my arm for photos and the scent wafted to my nose almost immediately. Never goes away...it's kind of headache inducing after a while not gonna lie.
Claims:

• Hypoallergenic: gentle enough for babies
• Moisturizing

Perfect UV Protection Cream Triple Care SPF 50+ PA+++

Ingredients:
WATER, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, ZINC OXIDE (CI 77947), DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, PEG-10 DIMETHICONE, DICAPRYLYL CARBONATE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), ISODECYL NEOPENTANOATE, NIACINAMIDE, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, CAMELLIA SINENSIS LEAF EXTRACT, MICA (CI 77019), DIMETHICONE, MAGNESIUM SULFATE, METHYL METHACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER, METHICONE, PHENOXYETHANOL, ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE, GLYCERYL CAPRYLATE, FRAGRANCE, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, STEARIC ACID, POLYGLYCERYL-6 POLYRICINOLEATE, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, ADENOSINE, IRON OXIDES (CI 77492), TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE, BIOSACCHARIDE GUM-1, IRON OXIDES (CI 77491), IRON OXIDES (CI 77499), HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL, CAMELLIA JAPONICA LEAF EXTRACT, ORCHID EXTRACT, CITRUS UNSHIU PEEL EXTRACT, OPUNTIA COCCINELLIFERA FRUIT EXTRACT, SACCHAROMYCES FERMENT LYSATE FILTRATE
Sunflower oil + Jeju green tea extract= protection against UV rays

Price: $16 USD
Size: 50 mL
Shelf life: 1 yr
Fragrances: Herbal. Only detectable if sniffed up close. Gone within 10 minutes.
Claims:

• 5-free system: animal ingredients, mineral oils, synthetic fragrances, tar dye, talc 
• Water resistant
• Triple care: UV protection, anti-aging, whitening
• Long lasting

Initial thoughts:

• This sunscreen is tinted! It's not obvious, but triple care is beige.

For reference, I bolded sunscreen filters, made moisturizing ingredients green, and questionable ingredients red. It seems like the oat and triple care are both physical sunscreens while the essence is chemical.

Oil Control:

Essence, oat, and triple care after less than a minute (with flash). You can really see the color discrepancy. Oat got so excited, it wet itself as soon as it got to the paper. Not even kidding.

After around 10 minutes with the paper held in front of a bright light so that you could clearly see all the oil that oozed out. The speed at which the oil circles grew plateaued at this point but continued to slowly grow. Obviously oat is the oiliest, then triple care, and then essence.

NO ESSENCE I HAD HOPE IN YOU. This is after around 8 hours, simulated to be like a whole day of work indoors.

Moisture Test:
Essence and oat both claim to have hydrating properties so I put them to the test! I have mild eczema (the flaky kind, not the red easily irritable kind) on the insides of both my elbows so I put an equal amount on both.
Immediately: Essence mildly burned upon application but oat was fine. I didn't feel anything with oat.
10 minutes: The side with oat on it started to itch occasionally. Not that much, but I just felt the urge to scratch a few times. I felt nothing with essence.
1 hour: Both were completely absorbed into my skin. The skin with oat went back to its rough, flaky state while essence felt like normal skin.

Swatches:

Sunscreen alone-- essence, oat, and triple care. Oat and triple care have white casts while essence looks like my normal skin with a very slight yellow tinge. 

Essence, oat, and triple care under makeup. Natural lighting and flash above. The white casts aren't a problem under makeup.

Outdoor Test:

I went outside to tan my arm for 3 hours with the strips of sunscreen on it and applied the sunscreens onto different parts of my face as well. My face becomes oily all over when going outside so I didn't need to worry about which zones were oilier than others.

Oat and triple care have a similar consistency, like a normal sunscreen but not very oily. I might be imagining this, but oat might be slightly thicker. Essence feels like water upon application but quickly takes on a light sunscreen texture once it sets in.

I was really digging the texture of my skin with oat and triple care on it. It feels sort of tacky and rubbery? Not oily at all, it kind of feels like smooth dry rubber.

The area where essence was applied onto started to get oily after around 10 minutes! It wasn't as oily as western sunscreens but it was noticeably oilier than the other two sunscreens.

Admittedly, I don't tan very easily. I go outside every other day and I've only seen my body have tan lines around 5 times in my entire life. I still wanted to show you guys a picture just in case you were curious. This is with makeup washed off.

Waterproof + Longevity Test:

Only triple care claimed to be waterproof so I tested it by applying it to only half my hand and waiting 15 minutes for it to set. I then ran water over my hand for around 1 minute and gave the water 2 minutes to soak into my skin.

As you can see, the water droplets stayed on the side where triple care was applied onto.

After 5 hours, I ran my hand under some water again and it was still waterproof! However, I did stay indoors all day so that might be why it was so well preserved. 

Essence:

• Lightweight, appropriate for indoors and shit for outdoors
• Moisturizing! Did well on eczema and did not irritate it either
• Little to no fragrance
• No white cast whatsoever

Oat:

• Heaviest and oiliest of all the sunscreens
• Not moisturizing, if anything it was slightly irritating to my eczema
• High fragrance. It could double as a perfume to be honest
• Surprisingly matte "rubbery" texture. I like how it feels on my face
• White cast if worn without makeup, but under makeup it is fine

Triple Care:

• Normal sunscreen texture. Creamy
• Waterproof
• Little to no fragrance
• Matte "rubbery" texture that I enjoyed outdoors and indoors
• White cast if worn without makeup, but under makeup it is fine

Overall...

Triple care is suitable for outdoor use while essence is suitable for indoor use. Oat, to be frank, kind of sucks. I guess that's why it's not on the official Innisfree website...jkbutnotreally. If I had to pick only one, I'd pick triple care. I actually like essence and triple care equally, just for different uses.

I know I didn't test if triple care was whitening and anti-aging but if you want, I will update you guys in the future!

P.S. Any other beauty bloggers might wanna join the Maple Tree Blog's AB See link party! Increase traffic and network with other bloggers through this special bi-monthly event :) This week's theme is Back to Basics and I think my sunscreen is an imperative part to any skincare routine.

Hokkaido 100% Pure Horse Oil vs. Eczema

Imagine my surprise when my eemo handed me a bright, red box with the label "100% Pure Horse Oil" on it. 

Trying my best to be as polite as possible, I feign a smile and graciously accept the gift with open arms. My eemo is a tour guide for Koreans who visit Japan so she flies to Japan every other week and often picks up things that interest her. This week, it had to be horse oil.

Not gonna lie, I felt pretty disgusted when I found out that horse oil was being used as a beauty product. But then I realized that I was just being a culturally insensitive little bitch. (Hey, don't get me wrong if you don't support horse oil if you're vegan or if you care for animals. I'm just saying that if you're alright with other animal products don't hate on the horse oil.)

Horse oil blew up last year in Korea as an alleged cure-all for acne, eczema, and other skin conditions. It's been used for hundreds of years across Asia and the first account of it being used was 

found in an ancient Chinese medicine book called Bencao Gangmu.

This seems to be a no-brand horse oil but since it just appears to be horse oil with no other ingredients, it should be the same as other horse oil brands. Thanks to my boyfriend (he's starting up his cooking blog so please check him out!) for translating the Kanji, which says: Hokkaido Pure Horse Oil Highest Quality.

This 70 mL glass jar came in a nice box but I lost it since I received this last year :( The price was 3,500 yen. 

The consistency is very similar to coconut oil, which I've also used as a moisturizer. It melts into a liquid at body temperature yet maintains a creamy, solid state in the jar. I really hate putting oil on my face so I reserve this only for the eczema on my face and body. The oil just sits on top of your skin and takes the longest time to soak in.

Last year, I had an unknown skin rash (probably eczema) that grew on my eyelid overnight. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING I did would help it go away, even pills or steroids. This is where my eemo comes in, swooping with her horse oil. I was pretty desperate at this point to get rid of the rash so I slathered a layer of horse oil onto it before I went to sleep to dream about normal looking eyelids. When I awoke, my eyelids looked significantly better and were not flaking! They still didn't feel like normal skin, but I was happy to know that something was working.

I don't use this oil anymore after I discovered ceramides, but it was one of the products that helped my weird eyelid rash. It's an alright moisturizer/oil for super flaky skin but I wouldn't recommend it for daily wear if you don't have the patience to let it soak in. Putting makeup on top of the unsoaked oil will result in your face looking and feeling like a greasebomb.

Left: unmoisturized eczema

Right: eczema after leaving a layer of horse oil on overnight

On application, it feels like nothing. But then my eczema slowly starts to burn (not in an unbearable way, it's just common in my experience whenever I put a moisturizer on my eczema). As you can see, the photo on the right is less flaky and scabby than the photo on the left but it's nothing dramatic or life-saving. 

I'll stick to my ceramides, thank you very much. 

Anna Sui Glittering and Protective Lip Gloss Review

Hey everyone, it's been a super long time. In short, I've just been focused on school work but I've gained enough motivation to start blogging again! I also bought a new camera (coughitsjustaniPhone6cough) so I thought I'd test it out.

My family friends recently gifted me this beautiful Anna Sui Glittering Lip Gloss in 600 and Protective Lip Gloss in 302 from Japan. I think the box is super pretty! These are my first Anna Sui products but I know she's famous for her elaborate packaging.

Some info on the products from Anna Sui:

Glittering lip gloss- "Dazzling brilliance and shimmering hydration all in one amazing lip gloss!

Anna Sui's Glittering Lip Gloss offers a translucent base with a sparkling finish all in a light, refreshing texture."

Protective lip gloss- "A colorful lip gloss that protects delicate lips from UV rays and dryness. SPF 20 keeps lips protected from UV rays while ultra-hydrating Plumping Oil wraps lips in a veil of moisture to keep dryness at bay."

Each lip gloss is 8 mL each (0.24 oz) and $22. Glittering comes in 14 colors while Protective comes in 9.

Glittering Lip Gloss Ingredients:

Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Triethylhexanoin, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Dextrin Palmitate, Diisostearyl Malate, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Diphenyl Dimethicone, Ascorbic Acid, Ascorbyl Dipalmitate, Honey (Mel) Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Extract, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Tocopherol, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Barium Sulfate, BHT, Calcium Carbonate, Dimethicone, Hydrogen Dimethicone, Lecithin, Methicone, Perfluorooctyl Triethoxysilane, Polyglyceryl-2 Triisostearate, Silica, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Tin Oxide, Zea Mays (Corn) Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (Parfum), Citronellol, Geraniol, Linalool, [May Contain (+/-) Iron Oxides (CL 77491), Iron Oxides (CL77499) Mica, Titanium Dioxide (CL 77891), Red 7 (CI 15850), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140)]

Protective Lip Gloss Ingredients:

Polybutene, Polyglyceryl-2 Tri Sostearate, Diphenyl Dimethicone, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Dextrin Palmitate, Phytosteryl/Behenyl/Octyldodecyl Lauroyl Glutamate, Caprylic/Capric/Myristic/Stearic Triglyceride, Dextrin Palmitate/Ethylhexanoate, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Paraffin, Ascorbic Acid, Ascorbyl Dipalmitate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Honey (Mel), Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Extract, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Tocopherol, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Barium Sulfate, BHT, Calcium Carbonate, Dimethicone, Dipropylene Glycol, Hydrogen Dimethicone, Lecithin, Methicone, Silica, Zea Mays (Corn) Oil, Fragrance (Parfum), Citronellol, Geraniol, Linalool, [May Contain(+/-), Iron Oxides (CL77491), Iron Oxides (CL 77499), Titanium Dioxide (CL 77891), Red 7 (CL 15850), Yellow 5 Lake (CL 19140)]

The lip glosses themselves come in a small, beautiful plastic tube. It feels very hardy and travel friendly. Protective is on the left (a hot pink color in the tube) and glittering is on the right (a sparkly coral color). It seems like the protective lip gloss line has a white cap while the glittering lip gloss line has a black one.

Each lip gloss has a doe-foot applicator.

The lip gloss is extremely sheer, thin, and shiny. Both give the lips the wet, juicy look that is sought after in Japan but the glittering lip gloss obviously has glitter in it. In comparison to other lip glosses I have tried, this isn't very sticky and the consistency is rather "oily" but I do feel that the oil does keep my lips moisturized throughout the day. The protective lip gloss is definitely tackier and sticker than the glittering lip gloss.

They don't smell or taste like anything though I detected the faintest bit of lychee-scent in there. I might be lying to myself so don't quote me on that!

As you can see, there isn't much of a difference between the two. The protective lip gloss looks wetter and shinier than the glittering lip gloss. Because I have pigmented lips in the first place, I never really use lip glosses for color-- just shine. These lip glosses literally add no color to my lips.

The difference between the glittering and protective lip gloss is very little. You can barely see the glitter so if I had to choose only one, I'd go with the protective lip gloss due to the SPF it has.

Lasting power: Nothing extraordinary. It lasts until before you eat and afterwards, it's completely gone.

Color: Pretty sheer. Nothing too pigmented which is okay for a lip gloss.

Moisture: Didn't dry my lips out...hoorah!

All in all, these lip glosses are okay. They're nothing absolutely fan-fucking-tastic but they do the job. I'd rather buy a cheaper lip gloss from the drug store because the formula feels the same. Spend the extra $10 if you wanna pay for the fancy packaging haha. Would not purchase again simply because it is not worth the money.