September Korean Glossybox featuring Codilus

Update: 

Unfortunately as of October 5, 2015 Dowaja is no longer open for business.

My first ever subscription box unboxing.
Wow! Exciting! 

And it should be, because it took a bit of effort to get my hands on this subscription.
Why? Because it’s Glossybox from Korea.

The team behind Dowaja shopping service was responsible for getting the September edition of Korean Glossybox to me, and they did a stellar job. When I first heard about Dowaja, which is an English speaking buying and forwarding service based in Korea, I immediately saw it as an opportunity to get my hands on a Korean beauty subscription box.

After reading about other people’s experiences with Dowaja, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. To be honest, my first impressions were not exactly all that positive.
The popular kids on the block (or the blog) were getting replies to their emails and their deliveries in record time. And me? Well… Let’s just say I was a very unhappy camper at first. But I am very pleased to say that after my initial dissatisfaction, Dowaja fixed what needed fixing and my experience with them turned out to be as awesome as everyone said it would be. I can’t recommend them enough.

(And no, this is not an affiliate link, I just think they are doing a fabulous job).

They ordered the box for me, they checked the contents of the box when it arrived at their office, they notified me that one item was an aerosol can and therefore impossible to ship to me by air.
They suggested options on how to solve this problem. They offered deluxe samples as a replacement for the pressurized product. They read my mind and picked the best deluxe samples ever.

I've used the peeling gel before and it's da bomb! Dowaja clearly used their psychic powers to pick this set for me.

They offered me different shipping options, they securely packaged my Glossybox and mailed it out in record time. And it finally arrived yesterday.

And oh yeah, did I mention that Dowaja does it all in English?
Yes folks, in English.

Dowaja also provided me with a link to the contents of the box, but I chose not to look at it. I wanted to be surprised. However, I did stumble upon an unboxing somewhere deep in the bowels of them innertubes by total accident. But that only made me even more curious, because people, crocodile oil. 

This is what was in the box (minus that one pressurized item, which was a shampoo), a nicely curated mix of western and Korean products.
Clearly, some careful thought went into the selection. It wasn’t the slapdash, "stick any odd cheap crap in there" subscription box that I so often see on western blogs.

Because you can specify your skin type when you sign up for the box, it looks like what I got was the dry skin version. Of course the item that I was curious about the most was Codilus. Because, crocodile oil, folks, crocodile oil.

image source: Codilus website



Apparently, snails, donkey milk and sea horse farts based skincare is for amateurs. Crocodile is where it’s at now. And apparently crocodile oil skincare is a real thing, too. I vaguely remember something about croc oil way back when, when I was in South Africa. But it was firmly in the witchdoctor kind of remedies category.

And though unlike sea horses and starfish, croc oil skincare actually has a very fancy pedigree (all the way from the pharaohs apparently), the opinions on whether it works or not are divided.

In this Ph.D. thesis (by the way, so poorly written that it reads like a 5th grader's science homework assignment), the author claims that croc oil is indeed nothing else than ineffective folk medicine - scroll down to page 108 for the conclusions chapter.

These folks however, from University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, with fancy degrees already under their belts, claim otherwise - that crocodile oil is good for the skin.

Crocodile oil has been used by traditional practitioners world-wide to treat microbial infections and inflammatory conditions. However, the scientific rationale behind its use is not completely understood. This study provides an updated fatty acid profile and novel scientific evidence of the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties of crocodile oil, obtained from the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), justifying its use by traditional healers. 

These guys from Xiamen University in China also say that their results show that croc oil does have skin healing properties. This is also the same study that Codilus references on their home page - link here.


Ugh, my head is about to explode.
And by the way, did you know that snake oil is also a real thing? Apparently.
I'm wondering when a brave Korean skincare company decides to release a snake oil cream. This should be interesting...

~~~~

Anyway, back to the September edition of Korea's Glossybox.

As it's customary with subscription boxes, we have a set of info cards:

Yes, you're seeing it right. That's Kamill hand cream in there, all the way from Germany.
Refinery 29 claims that Kamill hand cream is really popular in Korea. Hmmm... curious that the Refinery's story comes out that same month as this box containing Kamill.

By the way, Ziaja, a Polish brand that Poles are always so fond of claiming how popular and exclusive it is in Korea, didn't make the list. Let's see if it will show up in any of my upcoming boxes.

So, in all I got 4 products:

• Suiskin Enzyme Powder Wash (CMS Lab) 100ml
• Codilus Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++ 60ml
• Dr.G Bio-RTx™ Mentor Cream 5 for dry skin 20ml
• Kamill Hand and Nagelcreme Q10 20ml

The cost was around US$15 (or $16, don't remember exactly, but it was very affordable) plus Dowaja's 10% service charge plus about 5 bucks air shipping (no tracking number).

All in all, I am quite satisfied with the contents.

I am familiar with Dr.G Bio-RTx™ Mentor Cream 5 and while it's a perfectly serviceable product, my dry skin prefers other options. It feels very plastic and at least for me, it did not provide my skin with enough moisture, even for day use. At night time I need industrial strength moisture, so this cream was strictly for day use. And despite its "for dry skin" tagline, it's definitely meant for skin that is less dry than mine.

Update: This cream broke me out.

Dr.G Bio-RTx™ Mentor Cream 5 ingredients along with the analysis are here - link.


Suiskin Enzyme Powder Wash is new to me, though I've heard of the brand.
Suiskin website is here and here is the intro to the brand as presented by Hope in a Blog.

The powder is actually very finely granulated:

It dissolves completely, but I wasn't able to get it to foam, no matter how hard I tried.

Getting an accurate pH reading was tough. I wasn't able to do it.
All I could determine was that the powder is indeed in a low-pH cleanser category.

Suiskin Enzyme Powder Wash ingredients:

As you can see, it contains Papain, so people sensitive to papaya extracts should not use it.
By the way, the ingredients for this wash on cosDNA website do not match up with the label. I'm going to trust the label.


And finally, the product I was really curious about it.

Codilus Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++ Crocodile Oil and Water Drop

As a sunblock fanatic, I was excited to see a new (to me) sunblock in the box. As a very picky sunblock fanatic, I was disappointed to see a sunblock I knew nothing about.

All the info on the box and the brand's website is in Korean. I asked Joan from nonsonoquitter to help me decipher what was going on.

She determined that the croc used is of the Australian variety, and that this sunblock doesn't seem to be waterproof.

I'm really funny when it comes to animal ingredients in my skincare. I refuse to use snail slime, because I sympathize with the poor snails that are forced to produce to meet the global slime demands.

I am reluctant to use horse oil skincare, because c'mon, horses!
Emu oil? Hell no!!!

But crocodiles? No such reservations.
Crocodile oil? I'm all yours.
Heck, give me proper hunting gear and I'll go get me my croc oil myself.

And with that in mind I unsealed the tube and patch tested on my arm. Yeah, crocodile oil is similar in composition to human skin and shouldn't cause any allergic reactions, but better to be safe than sorry.

The first thing that hit me was the smell. Of alcohol. This was definitely Biore UV Aqua sunscreen level of ethanol.

Then, the texture.
They weren't kidding when they said oil and water drop.
This is exactly what it was.

Again, I see certain similarities to Biore sunscreens.

Codilus Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++ seemed very oily at first. Seemed, because at the same time, it wasn't.
Just like Biore, it absorbed to lovely nothing leaving zero stickiness, zero white cast, and zero filmy residue.

But unlike Biore, it was deliciously moisturizing.
It was lighter than Anessa (Shiseido) and Allie (Kanebo) sunscreens. It reminded me of Astablanc (Kose) daily protector. It felt like a moisturizing cream masquerading as sunscreen.

Today it was sunny, so I bravely slathered it onto my face. Despite the high alcohol content, it gave me no adverse reaction. For research purposes, I topped it off with foundation and it worked great under makeup.

Honestly, this looks to be a very decent sunscreen suitable for dry skin (if you don't mind the fact that it contains ethanol).

Through brute force, and with the help of several different websites (including All of Cosmetics, HwaHae app, the amazing ingredient data with names in both Korean and English courtesy of Sidmool, and this list) I translated the ingredients and entered them into cosDNA.

Codilus Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++ ingredients and analysis are here - link to CosDNA.
Because apparently CosDNA doesn't have crocodile oil in its database, despite it having a valid INCI name, the oil dropped to the bottom of the list.
On the package it's listed right after xanthan gum, for what it's worth.

I'm kinda curious about that Codilus Saleoleum Balm (which is already available on ebay and Gmarket) now. And the mysterious Codilus Magma Cream which won an award at the K-Beauty Expo last month - link here, but can't be found anywhere on line.



And that's it for my first Korean Glossybox.
Looking forward to the October edition!

Iope Air Cushion XP Matte Finish in M13 (Light Vanilla)

Amore Pacific, Amore Pacific what am I going to do with you?
You frustrate me beyond words.
Seriously, what is wrong with you?
Is everyone who works at your company colorblind?

It all started with this blog post. As soon as I completed it, I hopped over to TGI Wholesale and got me a cushion.

Amore Pacific had indeed added a supposedly lighter shade to their Iope Air Cushion line up.
Suddenly, I had a chance not only to try the matte finish cushion, but also one in a new, "lighter" shade - number 13. Killing two birds with one click. Awesome.
I didn't have to think twice about it. Duh!
Of course I clicked "buy".

Amore Pacific, Amore Pacific, co ja mam z toba zrobic?
Wkurzasz mnie tak, ze czasem az slow brak.
Serio, co sie tam u was w firmie dzieje? Czy kazdy, kto u was pracuje, jest daltonista?

Wszystko zaczelo sie od tego wpisu. I jak tylko skonczylam go stukac, to natychmiast wskoczylam na strone TGI Wholesale poszukac sobie poduszki.

Wiesc internetowa niosla, ze Amore Pacific rzeczywiscie dodal nowy, jasniejszy, odcien do swojej linii slynnych Iope Air Cushion. I nagle mialam okazje nie tylko aby kupic nowa wersje matowa (nie matujaca, jak niektorzy pisza!), ale rowniez kupic ja w nowym, "jasniejszym" odcieniu - numer 13. Swietnie. Nie zastanawialam sie ani chwili. Oczywiscie, ze kliknelam "buy".

If this is the first time you're hearing about cushion foundations, may I strongly suggest you start reading what's in the archives already - just click the "cushion foundation" tab in the top menu.
But if you're still not certain what it is - think Lancome Miracle cushion, only better, with literally dozens (if not hundreds) of different choices.

I've had this cushion - Iope Air Cushion XP Matte Finish in shade M13 (Light Vanilla) for over 3 months now. And I've been birthing this review nearly just as long.

So let's get this cushion party started.
Shall we?

The box is exactly the same as its N (natural) version sister. Not a good choice, if you ask me. It's easy to get them confused, and it really simplifies things for the fake-makers.


Jesli to pierwszy raz, kiedy spotykasz sie z produktem "podklad w poduszce", to lepiej zaczac od przeczytania tego, co juz na blogu bylo - kliknij w zakladke "cushion foundation" w gornym menu.
Ale jesli nadal nie jestes pewien/ pewna, co to mam byc, to wyobraz sobie Lancome Miracle cushion, tyle ze w lepszej wersji, z dziesiatkami (jesli nie setkami) roznych opcji, do wyboru, do koloru.


Iope Air Cushion XP Matte Finish w kolorze M13 (jasna wanilia) mam juz ponad 3 miesiace. I prawie tak dlugo tez pisze te recenzje.

Wiec do rzeczy...

Pudelko jest takie samo jak w wersji N (naturalnej). Nie jest to najlepsze rozwiazanie, wedlug mnie. Latwo sie pomylic na pierwszy (a nawet i na drugi) rzut oka. I takie samo pudelko bardzo upraszcza tez zycie podrobkowiczom.

Yes, there are slight differences in the font, but it's due to the fact that my N (natural) version was manufactured and bought last year.

Shade M13 is labeled as "Light Vanilla". Hmmm...

Here you have the list of the available (as of this entry) Iope air cushion varieties and their colors:

Tak, sa minimalne roznice w czcionce, ale to glownie z tego powodu, ze moja wersja N (naturalna) wyprodukowana i kupiona zostala w zeszlym roku.
Kolor M13 jest nazwany "Light Vanilla" (jasna wanilia), hmmm... Ale o tym za chwile.
Tutaj mamy liste dostepnych na dzien dzisiejszy (daty tego wpisu) rodzajow i odcieni poduszek Iope.

Iope is one of the many brands hailing from Amore Pacific (a major Korean cosmetic company expanding globally as we speak).
Iope is a solid mid range brand, and while it offers a full assortment of skincare and makeup, it's definitely most famous for its emponymous air cushions. Iope is THE cushion foundation brand. It was their first air cushion back in 2008 that started the cushion foundation craze. Yes, cushion foundations have been around for quite a long time now (despite what the Lancome sales lady told you).

Iope to jedna z bardzo wielu marek nalezacych do koncernu Amore Pacific (koreanskiego kosmetycznego molocha, ktory powoli wchodzi na rynki swiatowe).
Iope to solidna srednio-polkowa marka (w Polsce moze uwazana za ekskluzywna i selektywna, choc wcale taka nie jest w azjatyckiej rzeczywistosci), ktora oferuje pelna linie pielegnacyjna i kosmetyczna. Jednak na swiecie Iope jest najbardziej znana wlasnie ze swoich podkladow w formie poduszki. To wlasnie Iope swoja najpierwsza poduszka w 2008 rozpetala swiatowa manie poduszkowa.
Tak, podklady w poduszkach to zadna nowosc, choc zapewne panie sprzedajace Lancome powiedza ci co innego.

The Matte Finish version, just like all the other Iope Air Cushions out there, is labeled as SPF50+/ PA+++. It sounds like a fabulous idea at first, until you realize that there is absolutely no chance whatsoever, never, ever, that you are going to apply on your face enough of this product to get adequate sun protection. So please be smart and always use a stand-alone, separate sunblock / sunscreen.

Wersja Matte Finish, jak sama nazwa wskazuje, daje efekt wykonczenia matowego. Jeszcze raz podkreslam, ze "matte" odnosi sie tu do efektu koncowego, a nie do wlasciwosci matujacych, bo pierwsze gorzkie zale w recenzjach tej poduszki juz sie pojawily w necie. Jednak niemal wylacznie na blogach nie-anglojezyczynych, wiec domyslam sie, ze to po prostu blad w tlumaczeniach. Niestety czesto przez takie bledy dochodzi do smutnych nieporozumien odnosnie wielu kosmetykow. Tak tez zapewne jest i w tym przypadku.

Jak wszystkie inne Iope Air Cushions, ta rowniez posiada filtr SPF50+ / PA+++. Na pierwszy rzut oka to wspanialy pomysl. Ale tylko dopoki nie zdasz sobie sprawy, ze nigdy przenigdy nie wyszpachlujesz sie az tak, aby uzyskac obiecany poziom ochrony przed sloncem. Osobny filtr pod makijazem to czysty zdrowy rozsadek.

Just like with all the other Iope cushions (and the majority of other brands too), the box comes not only with a fully loaded cushion compact, but with a separate, sealed refill, as well. Along with a leaflet in Korean, English and Chinese.

The convenient thing about this compact is that refills from other Amore Pacific brands (with the exception of low-end, drugstore brands like, for example Etude House) should fit into it as well. I'll be using this handy feature real soon, because I'm literally drowning in cushion compacts. So, from now on, I'm just going to buy cushion refills. (Famous last words...)


Tak samo jak przy innych Iope poduszkach, tak i ta przychodzi w pudelku z zaladowanym kompaktem, i rowniez z dodatkowym wymiennym wkladem. Mamy tez ulotke po koreansku, chinsku i angielsku.

Wygodna sprawa jest fakt, ze wiekszosc wkladow wymiennych marek nalezacych do Amore Pacific (z wyjatkiem tych tanich i bardzo tanich, jak np. Etude House) pasuje do innych poduszkowych kompaktow Amore Pacific.

Here you have the matte finish and natural sisters side by side.
As always with Iope, it's an absolute nightmare to keep this compact clean.

Tutaj mamy siostre matowa (po lewej) i naturalna po prawej.
I jak zawsze w przypadku Iope, utrzymanie tego kompaktu w czystosci to syzyfowa praca.

On the bottom of the compact (actually, the bottom of the refill), you have the date of manufacture (not expiration) and again the color code. Yes, they are made in Korea, and should be used within 12 months of opening.

Na spodzie kompaktu, a w zasadzie na spodzie wkladu wymiennego, mamy date produkcji (a nie date waznosci, choc niektore koreanskie firmy podaja date waznosci, wiec trzeba uwazac) i kolor. Wyprodukowane w Korei i do zuzycia w ciagu 12 miesiecy od otwarcia.

So let's open this baby, shall we?
Inside it's the usual deal. You've seen one cushion, you've seen them all.

Czas to cudo otworzyc.
W srodku, to samo co zawsze. Niemal kazdy kompakt poduszkowy wyglada tak samo.

I know many people are quite curious about the Rubycell applicator puff.
I've heard some women choose to forgo the puff and use a foundation brush instead, or a beauty blender, or even their fingers to apply this type of foundation.

Wiem, ze sporo czytelnikow jest ciekawych "Rubycell" aplikatora. Czytalam tez, i na blogach i w babskich pismach, ze niektore kobiety nie uzywaja dolaczonej gabeczki do nakladania, i zamiast tego nakladaja ten podklad pedzlem, lub po prostu palcami.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend that. That Rubycell technology is there for a reason.
The puff picks up just enough of the product and ensures even application. Its special porous material has antimicrobial properties that inhibit growth of mold and bacteria. So don't worry, it's supposedly safe to dunk it in the cushion over and over, even after touching your face.

Unfortunately, it's a witch to clean, so I just buy multi pack replacements. Makes life a lot easier.


Nie polecalabym takiego sposobu nakladania. Technologia Rubycell jest w tej gabeczce nie bez powodu. Ten maly krazek nabiera dokladnie tyle podkladu ile potrzeba i gwarantuje rownomierna warstwe produktu na twarzy. Wykonany jest ze specjalnego materialu, ktory nie pozwala na rozwoj bakterii i plesni. Wiec mozna z powodzeniem naciskac nim na poduszke i pacac po twarzy.

Niestety, zawsze jest jakis minus. W tym przypadku to fakt, ze ten aplikator jest niemozliwy do idealnego wyczyszczenia. Najlepszym rozwiazaniem jest kupno paczki dodatkowych aplikatorow.

As you can see, the puff rests on an inner lid, which is actually the refill itself. So if you're planning to buy just a refill to save money, be forewarned, without the extra protection of the compact, your refill is going to dry out in a hurry. Unless you keep it in a ziplock bag, or something.

You lift the inner lid, and if your cushion is brand new, you should see this:


Jak widac Rubycell aplikator spoczywa na wewnetrznym wieczku, ktore jest wieczkiem wkladu wymiennego. Wiec jesli dla oszczedzenia pieniedzy planujesz kupno samego wkladu, licz sie z tym, ze wklad ten wyschnie w ekspresowym tempie. Widzialam na YouTube i na blogach, ze preferowana metoda przechowywania samego wkladu, ktory juz zostal otwarty jest szczelna plastikowa torebka z zamknieciem (ziplock).


Po podniesieniu wewnetrznego wieczka, widzimy to:

There should be a sticker protecting the surface of the cushion.
I know that some people save those stickers and reuse them to keep the cushion fresh(er) longer. I don't bother. The sticker goes in the trash.

And under the sticker is this:

W swiezym, nowym kompakcie i w swiezym, nowym wkladzie, powinna znajdowac sie naklejka chroniaca powierzechnie poduszki.
Ponoc niektorzy nie wyrzucaja tych naklejek i uzywaja ich jako dodatkowej ochrony poduszki dla utrzymania swiezosci przez dluzszy czas. Ja sie tak nie bawie. Naklejka laduje w koszu.

A pod naklejka mamy to:

And that's the cushion foundation itself. It is exactly what it sounds like - a piece of sponge (cushion) saturated with foundation (BB type, CC type, whatever type).
You press on it with the Rubycell puff and stamp it onto your face. Done.

Ok, let's do some pressing:

I to jest wlasnie podklad w poduszce. To nic innego jak kawalek gabki o bardzo niskiej porowatosci nasaczony podkladem (BB, CC, albo czymkolwiek innym).
Naciska sie na powierzchnie tej gabki aplikatorem i stempluje na twarzy. Proste jak obsluga cepa.

Wiec postemplujmy troche:

The cushion surface looks awfully dark but as you can see, the foundation itself is pretty light in color.

You can also see the texture and porousness of the cushion. Compare it to your Lancome Miracle Cushion. Go ahead, I'll wait...

Did you notice the difference?
Korean cushions are a lot finer. And there's a reason for it other than pleasing esthetics.
Thanks to finer pores your Rubycell puff can pick up less foundation, which means less foundation seeps inside the puff, and less foundation gets wasted. Also, smaller pores mean that your cushion will stay moist longer. It's all about efficiency and maximizing your cost performance ratio.

And here are the specs of your Iope Air Cushion XP Matte Finish:

Powierzchnia poduszki wyglada na bardzo ciemna, ale jak widac, podklad sam w sobie jest raczej jasny.
Na zdjeciu widac tez porowatosc gabki. Porownaj to do swojej poduszki Lancome Miracle Cushion.

Zauwazylas roznice?
Koreanski poduszki sa bardzo niskoporowate. I jest ku temu powod duzo wazniejszy niz ladny wyglad. Dzieki tym malym porom, Rubycell aplikator nabierze mniej podkladu. Co za tym idzie, mniej podkladu wsaczy sie w aplikator i mniej podkladu zostanie zmarnowanego. Odpowiednia ilosc podkladu na aplikatorze pozwala na idealne stemplowanie na twarzy.
Drobniejsze pory w poduszce chronia ja tez przed przedwczesnym wysychaniem.

A tutaj specyfikacje produktu wedlug zalaczonej ulotki:

On the box there is an additional blurb that the product is sweat-proof as well. And yes, I can confirm that. It is indeed sweat proof under normal, everyday conditions.

Now, the swatches...
(all photos unedited and in natural light)

Na pudelku jest tez dodatkowa informacja, ze podklad ten jest potoodporny. I moge to potwierdzic. Przy codziennych warunkach jest rzeczywiscie odporny na pot.


Tutaj swatche (dzienne swiatlo, bez edycji zdjec):

Yes. That was my reaction as well. What the hell is going on here?
Why is it so damn bloody pink???

It was supposed to be Light Vanilla, for crying out loud.

Now, I'm pink. I'm as pink as they come. My face is so pink that it broke the tone matching machine the one time I tried it when it came to our sole department store in my town.

But this???


Tak. To rowniez byla moja reakcja. Co su sie dzieje?
Skad tu tyle rozu?
To miala byc jasna wanillia, a nie rozowa wanillia.
Jestem rozowa. Jestem tak rozowa, ze maszynom oceniajacym podtony cery brakuje w moim przypadku skali.

Ale to tutaj?

Awful. Just awful...
Clearly the color formulators at Amore Pacific are either totally blind, or they haven't seen an actual live woman in a really, really long time.

But wait, it gets worse.
You can see just how pink it looks on the face.

Smutne. Po prostu smutne.
Jak widac formulatorzy kolorow w Amore Pacific maja powazne problemy ze wzrokiem.

Ale zaraz bedzie jeszcze gorzej.
Ten caly roz na mojej twarzy.

Nothing on my face except Iope Air Cushion Matte Finish in M13 (Light Vanilla). No concealer, no corrector, no setting powder, no nothing. Cushion only. (Taken on my 44th birthday after only 4 hours of sleep, so bear with me here, please).

As you can see, the coverage is minimal.
It only evens the skin tone in those place where the skin tone is pretty even to begin with. For the red and splotchy parts it does absolutely nothing.

Nic innego na twarzy oprocz Iope Air Cushion Matte Finish in M13 (jasna wanilia). Bez korektora, bez  concealera, bez pudru, bez niczego. Tylko poduszka. Zdjecie robione w moje 44 urodziny po 4 godzinach snu, wiec wygladam jak wygladam. Swoje lata juz mam.

Jak widac krycie jest minimalne.
Poduszka wyrownuje koloryt w tych miejscach, gdzie jest on w miare rowny sam z siebie. Nie robi nic na czerwone placki na twarzy i na wieksze plamy.

~~~


When used without a primer on my finely lined skin, it embraced and made love to every single wrinkle on my face, even to those I never knew I had.
When used without a primer on my porous face, it went on a pore finding mission.
However, if my skin was suitably primed and smoothed over with copious amounts of silicones, Iope Air Cushion Matte Finish behaved a lot better.

It did moisturize somewhat, not enough for winter, just right for summer.
And it didn't oxidize.

But damn, that color. You can clearly see the difference between my face and my neck.

And as you can see, it isn't very matte either.

Here you have a side-by-side comparison with the natural version:

Kiedy uzywam ja bez primera na mojej pomarszczonej twarzy, wlazi w kazde zalamanie i kazda najmniejsza nawet zmarszczke. Nawet w tych miejscach, gdzie nie wiedzialam, ze zmarszczki mam.
Bez primera kazdy por natychmiast wyglada na pieknie podkreslony i wyolbrzymiony.
Ale kiedy twarz jest nawilzona i potraktowana baza pod makijaz, ta poduszka Iope zachowuje sie bez zarzutu.

Dawala minimalne nawilzenie. I nie utleniala sie na twarzy.

Ale ten kolor. Nic tylko plakac. Wyraznie widac linie demarkacyjna pomiedzy moja twarza, a szyja.

Tutaj porownanie z wersja naturalna w kolorze N21:

Where I can't complain at all is its lasting power.
It stays in place for solid 8 hours without any touchups and setting powders. I found it didn't really want to cooperate with any additional powders on top. It worked best left to its own devices when applied over a primer (and a sunblock!).

And yes, it does have a scent. Mildly annoying, lasting for about 20 to 30 minutes after application. On some days it makes me sneeze like crazy. And on some days I hardly notice it at all. But people sensitive to fragrances should be prepared. I know that for some people the heavy scents of Iope products are a deal breaker.

Nie moge narzekac na trwalosc.
Trzymala sie na twarzy mojej solidne 8 godzin bez poprawek i pudrow. Nie chciala wspolpracowac z pudrami wykonczeniowymi, wiec kladlam ja tylko na primer (i oczywiscie na flitr!).

Tak, ma zapach. Wkurzajacy, ale ulatnia sie po jakichs 20 do 30 minutach. W niektore dni kicham po nim, w inne nie. Nie wiem od czego to zalezy. Ale ludzie z wrazliwoscia na zapachy powinni jej raczej unikac.

• Iope Air Cushion XP Matte Finish in M13 (Light Vanilla) - Ingredients / Sklad:

So there you have it.
The non-matte matte Iope Air Cushion.

I to juz prawie wszystko.
To solidna poduszka ze stajni Iope,

If this is your first cushion, I'm reasonably certain you'll be happy with it.
If you're expecting flat matte, you will be disappointed.
If you want satin glow, you'll be just fine.
Just make sure to pick a proper shade.


Jesli to twoja pierwsza poduszka, to mysle, ze bedziesz z niej zadowolona /ny.
Jesli oczekujesz plaskiego matu, to bedziesz rozczarowana.
Jedyny problem to dobre dobranie koloru.

I bought my cushion from TGI Wholesale and, as always, it was a perfect transaction, speedy delivery, and lots of extra samples in the package.

And my quest to find a perfect cushion match shall go on...

Ja kupilam swoja poduszke na stronie TGI Wholesale, i jak zawsze obluga klienta byla top-noch.

A moj projekt znalezienia poduszki perfekcyjnego koloru nadal trwa.

Dear Amore Pacific

I know that you visit this blog with surprising regularity, so today I'm going to tell you what I, and hundreds of other fans of your products, think.

So, listen carefully.

The word on the street, or rather, on Instagram is that you already released two new cushions:

• Iope Air Cushion Matte Finish

and

• Iope Air Cushion Intense Cover

Here's proof (courtesy of Agathblog):

source: Aritaum Magazine (March-April 2015)


That is very nice, and I am very happy for you.
It's great that you listened to your customers who wanted more coverage and who are not into Korean glow. That shows you are serious about expanding your business overseas. Why do I think so? It's no surprise to anyone that it's primarily Western women who adore matte finishes and love their heavy spackle.

I'm glad you listened to them and prepared products that will make them happy.
And as soon as I can get my hands on them, I will try them, too. Don't worry, my brutally honest opinion will appear here on the blog, as always.


OK, so it's clear you want to expand overseas, increase your sales in foreign countries and win new fans abroad.

So, I've prepared a few hints to make this process a bit easier for you.

1. Increase your color range.

Us, foreign folks, come in all shades and skin tones.
21 and 23 aren't gonna cut it.

Oh, wait! There's also a mythical shade number 13 (light vanilla), that is impossible to get anywhere outside of Korea.

source: iope.co.kr

It seems to exist primarily on your website, because the few places online that supposedly stock it, do not ship abroad. And the stores that ship abroad deny its existence, even when faced with direct evidence on your website.

It's nice that you thought, well sort of, about lighter skinned people.
Though guess what?
Some of us are even lighter.
N13 is not going to be light enough.

And what about our sisters (and brothers!!!) from other mothers???
There are dark skinned people in the world, too. Plenty of them, in fact. And this shouldn't be news to you, but in case it is - they also use makeup!

Being from Korea, you should be well aware of this fact. And if you're not, just take a look at the American servicemen and women stationed in your country.

You want to expand your sales abroad?
Then remember that them foreign folks come in all shades, from super very light (like me), to dark (like this fabulous cushion lover).

2. Provide ingredient lists in English on ALL products for ALL markets.

I always thought that this one should be obvious, and that only Japanese companies (like SK-II and Shiseido) are that dumb.
Apparently, I was wrong.
You are not exactly the sharpest one of the bunch either, from a foreign consumer's point of view.

You put leaflets in your products with explanations in English, because we, dumb foreign folk, have never seen a cushion compact and thus need instructions how to use it in a language we can understand. Fair enough.

But if you are going to go that far, why not provide INCI as well?

Oh, and while we're at it, there's no mention on there of your mystical N13 and C13 shades?
The production date on the cushion this leaflet came from is listed as December 8, 2014.
So when exactly did this number 13 appear?


Anyway, back to the INCI subject...

I know that some of your brands provide ingredient lists in English in some markets. But why not in all? So if you can print it in English on a Laneige cushion intended for Singapore, or the US, why not for Korea as well?
What are we, in other countries? Chopped liver?
Do you honestly think that only Koreans shop in Korea? Really? Seriously?

Then you should definitely get out more. Take a walk in Myeongdong and see for yourself.

The irony of it is that your cheap brand - Etude House prints ingredient lists in English on their mass market products. Yet your higher end brands don't do that.

Or is this your secret plan for world domination by forcing the barbarian foreign hordes to learn hangul?
Some fans of Korean cosmetics do just that. But the rest of us actually have a life outside of K-beauty.

So, one leaflet, bilingual in Korean and English (yeah, add Chinese in there as well, I know you have to), with full ingredient lists in both languages, please.
You do that, and your sales will increase.
Why? Because there are plenty of women out there that would like to try a Korean cushion, but are afraid to try, because they don't know what's in it. And they are convinced by equally hangul-deficient "experts" out there that Korean cosmetics are dangerous.

If you don't have enough qualified staffers to translate ingredient lists, I can recommend this lady. She does a tremendous service to the K-beauty blogging community. If she can do it, surely a huge corporation like Amore Pacific should be able to, as well.

3. Use uniform color names across all markets.

This one should also be a no-brainer.
But apparently, not to you.
Why, oh why on earth do you change the cushion color names in the US?
You have no idea how much that hurts you.


And finally...

4. Offer the same colors worldwide.

It seems that you are indeed aware that darker skinned people do exist in the US, so you sell darker cushions there. And rightly so.
But guess what???
There are plenty of lighter people in the US, as well. Some are a lot lighter than you may think. It seems you are still stuck in the typical Asian way of thinking that Western women like to tan. Yeah, a lot of them do. But a lot of them don't. And a lot of them are naturally very pale. Very, very pale.
What about us?

I love cushions, but frankly, I'm stuck wearing turtlenecks on days when I want to use cushion makeup.
Offer us a variety of colors worldwide, and your sales will soar.
You won't have to worry about the next western brand releasing a cushion product, because you will be better.

5. Now, go and do it, for chrissakes!  

(And I shall be looking for this pink unicorn of yours. I mean for the N13 cushion.)

Iope Air Cushion Blusher

In recent weeks I have been accused of writing positive reviews in exchange for monetary compensation, of writing negative reviews in exchange for monetary compensation (yes, I can't quite figure out how that was supposed to work, but hey, my readers are fearless in coming up with totally insane beauty blogging conspiracy theories), and I have been contacted by companies asking me to write positive reviews of their products in exchange for monetary compensation.

Well, sorry darlings, I hate to disappoint you. While I appreciate your interest in my humble blog, things don't work quite like that here.
The opinions presented on my blog are mine and are not for sale. Unless you are offering me a Lamborghini. Then we can talk.

I had to update my "contact" page to make these things perfectly clear.


W ciagu ostatnich tygodni zostalam oskarzona o pisanie pozytywnych recenzji za kase, o pisanie negatywnych recenzji za kase (nie jestem pewna jak taki uklad mialby dzialac, ale widze, ze takie fantastyczne teorie spiskowe to pikus dla moich czytelniczek), i zostalam poproszona przez pewne firmy o napisanie pozytywnych recenzji za kase.

Niestety, bardzo przykro mi Panstwa rozczarowac. Jest mi niezmiernie milo, ze zainteresowali sie Panstwo moim blogaskiem, ale tutaj rzadze ja. Moj blog to monarchia absolutna, i opinie tu przedstawione sa moje i wylacznie moje. I nie sa na sprzedaz. No chyba, ze oferuja mi Panstwo Lamborgini. Wtedy mozemy negocjowac.

Musialam uaktualnic moja strone "Contact", zeby nie bylo nieporozumien.

~~~

Disclaimer:
This product was provided to me for review purposes, however the opinions presented here are mine, and mine only.

Ten kosmetyk otrzymalam do zrecenzowania, ale fakt ten nie wplynal na przedstawiona tutaj opinie, ktora jest tylko i wylacznie moja.

Now, that we have that out of the way, we can move on to my favorite topic. Cushions!!! Yay!!!
Yes, I am that shallow. Cushion makeup is what I love. I collect cushion makeup the way some women collect lipsticks or eye shadow palettes.

No a skoro sprawy organizacyjne mamy z glowy, to teraz mozemy przejsc do mojego ulubionego tematu. Poduszki!!! Yay!!!
Tak, jestem taka plytka i powierzchowna. Kocham podklady w formie poduszki. Kolekcjonuje te poduszki, tak jak inne kobiety kolekcjonuja szminki czy paletki do oczu.

Today's cushion is a little special. It's a blusher. And it came to me courtesy of Jolse, who very kindly sent it to me for review purposes. Now, that's one brave internet retailer, so go over there and give them some of your hard earned money. And no, I am not an affiliate.

I have been procrastinating with this review for a looooong time. Why? I've been trying to find something about this product that I absolutely (or even moderately) hate and thus can complain about. So far, however, no luck. And how was I supposed to write a review with no major complaints? Impossible!!!

OK, so you all know that I love cushions. Click on the "cushion foundations" tab in the top menu to find out more.
Iope Air Cushion (Iope is one of the bazillion different brands belonging to Amore Pacific) is the granddaddy of them cushion foundations. It's the cushion that rules them all. The one that allegedly started the whole cushion makeup craze.

Dzisiejsza podusia jest specjalna. Bo to roz. Roz w formie poduszki. Przybyla do mnie od Jolse, ktory to sklep bardzo uprzejmie dostarczyl mi egzemplarz do recenzji. I znajac moje pyskate opinie, trzeba im przyznac, ze to bardzo odwazny krok z ich strony. I nie, nie jestem w ich programie partnerskim.

Dlugo zwlekalam za ta recenzja. Dlaczego? Bo choc szukalam uporczywie i namietnie, to nie znalazlam w tej poduszce niczego, do czego moglabym sie przyczepic. A jak ja mam napisac recenzje bez narzekania? Niemozliwe to!

OK, wiec juz wszyscy wiedza, ze kocham poduszki. Prosze kliknac na zakladke "cushion foundations" w gornym menu, aby dowiedziec sie wiecej.
Iope Air Cushion (Iope to jedna z marek koncernu Amore Pacific) to pra-matka tej poduszkowej generacji. I niekwestionowana poduszkowa krolowa. To ta poduszka rozpetala poduszkowy szal, i w Korei i na swiecie.

I also love blushers. Ever since I realized that using a bronzer as a blusher is a dumb idea (yet, surprisingly, embraced by an astonishing number of women worldwide), blushers have become an essential part of my daily makeup routine.

Kocham tez i roze. Odkad zorientowalam sie, ze uzywanie brazera (bronzera?) jako rozu to nietrafiony pomysl (ale wiernie praktykowany przez rzesze kobiet na calym swiecie), roze staly sie nieodlacznym elementem mojego codzinnego makijazu.

A touch of blush and voila! I look vaguely alive, as opposed to something that should be waiting for an autopsy on an episode of CSI.

And today I present you the Iope Air Cushion Blusher.

Myzniecie pedzlem i gotowe! Wygladam na osobe w miare zywa, a nie jak cos co czeka na sekcje w odcinku CSI.

I dzis mam przyjemnosc przedstawic wam Iope Air Cushion Blusher, czyli Iope roz w poduszce.

This blusher comes in two shades: 01 - Rose Pink and 02 - Peach Pink.
I have it in Peach Pink, and though I am naturally very pinkish, this delicate peachy color works just fine.

Roz ten jest dostepny w dwoch odcieniach: 01 - Rose Pink i 02 - Peach Pink, czyli bardziej rozowy i bardziej brzoskwiniowy.
Ja dostalam brzoskwiniowy, i pomimo tego, ze jestem naturalnie rozowo-rozowa, to ta brzoskwinka, o dziwo, jakos nawet calkiem calkiem pasuje.

So, what do we have here?
It's a cushion, alright.

It comes in a compact, which is smaller and a bit daintier than the eponymous Air Cushion XP.

Wiec, co my tu mamy?
Zdecydowanie poduszke.
Kompakt jest nieco mniejszy i lzejszy niz kompakt z podkladem Air Cushion XP.

Left - blusher, right - cushion foundation.
Po lewej - roz, po prawej - podklad.

I am not sure why, but it boasts SPF30/PA++.

We have the usual stuff on the box:

Nie wiem po co, ale dali mu SPF30/PA++.
Na pudelku, to co zawsze:

It's sold without a refill, and we get 9 grams of product. But fear not, refills are easy to find and almost all reputable internet retailers carry them. As always, it pays to shop around, because the prices do vary widely (and wildly).

Inside the box we have a leaflet (nothing interesting) and a compact:

Sprzedawane jest to w pudelku bez wymiennego wkladu. Dostajemy 9 gramow produktu. Ale bez paniki, wklady wymienne sa do kupienia w niemal kazdym sklepie internetowym sprzedajacym koreanskie kosmetyki. I jak zawsze warto sprawdzac ceny, bo te potrafia sie roznic. I to znacznie.

W pudelku mamy ulotke (nic interesujacego) i kompakt.

Inside the compact, there's the usual cushion stuff:

W srodku kompaktu, to co zawsze przy poduszkach:

And just like its cushion foundation big sister, the blusher also features the signature Amore Pacific Rubycell applicator:

I tak samo jak przy podkladzie Iope Air Cushion, ten roz jest wyposazony w typowa dla Amore Pacific gabeczke (typu Rubycell) do nakladania:

One of my favorite bloggers - Of Faces and Fingers, pointed out something that had bothered me as well. But as I am too technologically challenged to attempt a screenshot extraction from a video, I finally decided to borrow an image from her. (Thank you!)

Look at how Lisa Eldridge is holding the cushion puff (source):

Jedna z moich ulubionych blogerek Of Faces and Fingers wspomniala u siebie na blogu o czyms, co mnie rowniez niezle zdziwilo. Ale ja jestem luddystka i nie potrafie sama zrobic screenshota z filmiku na youtube, wiec pozyczylam zdjecie od niej (dziekuje!)

Zdziwilo mnie to, jak Lisa Eldridge trzyma aplikator z poduszkowego kompaktu i jak nim naklada tenze podklad:

That is a major no-no and I am very surprised that when she visited Korea nobody told her how to do it properly.
When I was buying my very first cushion, the lovely Hera sales lady demonstrated how to hold and use a cushion applicator correctly. She specifically stressed that we should not bend it in half as it will damage the structure of the puff.

So how should we hold the puff?
In this way:

Lis byla w Korei, kupowala poduszki i dziwie sie, ze nikt jej nie pokazal jak to sie poprawnie robi.
Kiedy kupowalam moja pierwsza poduszke, pani ze stoiska Hery bardzo cierpliwie demonstrowala jak trzymac gabeczke i jak nakladac nia podklad. Przestrzegala mnie przed zginaniem, skladaniem i rolowaniem gabeczki, bo to zniszczy jej strukture i zakonczy jej zywot bardzo przedwczesnie.

Wiec jak powinno sie to ustrojstwo trzymac?
Ano tak:

And the product should be applied in a patting (or stamping) motion to achieve the best results.

I had to find out for myself and sure enough after a month or so, the surface of my first Hera applicator literally tore in half.

As you can see in the picture above, Iope shows you that the blusher works seamlessly with the foundation cushion. Step 1 - Iope Air Cushion foundation, Step 2 - Iope Air Cushion Blusher, Step 3 - all done.

Simple? Very!

Produkty poduszkowe powinno nakladac sie wklepywaniem, aby otrzymac najlepsze rezultaty.
Musialam oczywiscie przetestowac to wlasnorecznie i fakt, po okolo miesiacu gabeczka z kompaktu Hery po prostu rozpadla sie.

Jak widac na zdjeciu powyzej, ten roz ma wspolpracowac idealnie z poduszkowym podkladem Iope.
Krok numer 1 - podklad Iope Air Cushion, krok numer 2 - roz Iope Air Cushion. Krok numer 3 - gotowe!

Proste jak obsluga cepa.

As always with cushions from Amore Pacific, the cushion surface is protected by a sticker.
Under the sticker we have a cushion saturated with a very gentle peachy pinky color:

Jak zawsze przy poduszkach Amore Pacific, powierzchnia poduszki zabezpieczona jest naklejka.
Pod naklejka mamy gabke (poduszke) nasaczona delikatnym brzoskwiniowo-rozowym kolorem:

It looks very dark inside the cushion, but once it's out you can see how delicate it is in real life.

The color is almost too gentle and I had to take out a lot to show you what it looks like.

Wyglada na ciemny w tej gabce, ale jak juz go wydobedziemy, to okazuje sie bardzo delikatny.
Musialam niezle sie napackac tutaj, aby go pokazac:

I will add a side by side swatch of Rose Pink once when I get it.
When it's blended out, it looks, well... how to put it? It looks perfectly natural. The way most Asian blushes look.
Your cheeks, only better.


More or less like that:

Kiedy jest roztarty i wklepany to wyglada... hmmm... naturalnie. Tak jak prawie wszystkie inne azjatyckie roze.
Jak nasze wlasne policzki, tylko lepiej.

Mniej wiecej tak:

Some reviews said that the lasting power of this blush is minimal. On my skin, when applied on top of one of my cushion foundations in the morning, it was still visible at 4pm after a full day of work. About the same result as my favorite Jill Stuart blusher.

Fans of Western cheek colors might be disappointed though, and I'm sure will complain that it's not visible enough, that it's too subtle, or not pigmented enough.
Subtle and natural are the two main blush demands of the Asian market, and I think Iope offers an excellent product here.

Niektore recenzje twierdza, ze trwalosc jest minimalna. Na mojej skorze, kiedy nalozony na jeden z moich poduszkowych podkladow rano, nadal byl widoczny o 4 po poludniu, po calym dniu pracy. Czyli tak samo jak moj "zwykly" roz od Jill Stuart.

Fanki zachodnich rozy moga byc jednak zawiedzione, i beda narzekac, ze roz Iope nie jest bardziej wyrazisty, ze jest slabo napigmentowany, ze jest za deliktany, malo widoczny, za bardzo naturalny.
Delikatnosc i naturalnosc rozu to dwa najwazniejsze wymagania Azjatek. I ja uwazam, ze tutaj Iope trafilo w dziesiatke.

I'm very happy with it. In fact, I'm so happy that I ordered the other shade available - Rose Pink. And not just for me, but also for my friend.

Update: 01 Rose Pink just arrived!

Ja tam jestem zadowolona. Tak bardzo zadowolona, ze zamowilam drugi dostepny kolor - 01 Rose Pink. I to nie tylko dla mnie, ale rowniez i dla przyjaciolki.

My only complaint?
What Iope, only two colors? C'mon now!!! I want more!!!


I okazalo sie, ze mam na co narzekac.
No jak to Iope???? Tylko dwa kolory? Bez zartow prosze!!! Kiedy mozemy oczekiwac wiecej?

I was properly chastised for not including a shot of the leaflet.
So, by popular demand, here it is:

Dostalo mi sie po czapie, za to, ze nie zalaczylam zdjecia ulotki. Wiec tutaj jest:

No ingredients today, because c'mon, give me a break. It's a freaking blusher we're talking about here.

Skladu nie bedzie, bo na litosc, to tylko roz :-)