memebox Archives

Corinna B April 25, 2016

Korean Skin Care – Where Do You Begin??

I’ve been getting tons of messages from readers telling me that they want to try Korean skin care, and that they go on the Memebox website but get totally overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin.

I hear you!

That’s how it was for me too. For me the foray into KBeauty didn’t begin with a box of freebies from any company, it started with me stumbling upon the Memebox website by chance, and then trying to figure out what to buy and where to start.

Read about Korean Skin Care here

I didn’t start with a 10 step regimen either – I just added in bits and pieces along the way.
I’m not an easy sell with skin care, because if I don’t see a near immediate difference to my skin then I don’t want your product. And that’s where Korean skin care got me. The difference to my skin has been amazing. My skin has never, ever looked better!

I sometimes take a side-step over to Tatcha for some high end luxury Japanese skin care, but for the most part it’s a little too pricey for me to use on a consistent basis. My everyday skin care game is K Beauty.

So for those of you who are as confused as I was in the beginning, here is a mini guide to where to start on the Memebox website, or in trying Korean skin care for the first time.

My most recent order from Memebox

Start by identifying your skin care concern. Is your skin oily or dry? Do you have breakouts and blackheads? Are you worried about aging?

When you click the skincare tab on the Memebox site it will offer you those options, so you can dive into products specifically to meet your skincare needs.

Korean skin care technology is vastly superior to the skin care technology here, so the products get very very specific.

Try An Essence

One place to start is by adding in an Essence. Essence is comparable to a serum, targeting specific skin care concerns, but it is much more concentrated and is delivered in a lighter, non greasy formula.

They have an Essence for every skin concern under the sun.

I start my day by rinsing or cleansing my skin, (normally just rinsing, if we are going to be completely honest). I follow that with a skin mist, which softens the skin and has some essence in it.

I have been trying out a different mist each time, and have loved them all. My latest order has the Scinic Aqua EX Jelly Essence Water. I use it after cleaning at night and after rinsing in the morning. Sometimes if my skin is feeling tired I will spritz it on during the day (it’s a great product to keep in your desk drawer!) to revive you and make you look fresh again.

I layer my Essences. I normally follow the mist with another formula, in the mornings I use a Vitamin C based Essence so that I can maximize on the antioxidant, skin protecting benefits of Vitamin C, or maybe I go for something lightening and brightening. In the evening I use an Essence that is more about anti aging and extra hydration.

These products are not at all expensive. The It’s Skin Essences that I have been using (pictured here) cost between $10 and $13 each. I have yet to see a $100 product here that gives the same kind of result!
Pictured above are It’s Skin YE Effector Essence, It’s Skin VC Effector Essence and Scinic Aqua Jelly Essence Water.
If any of them are out of stock I just get another one that deals with my specific skin concerns.

Add An Ampoule

In the Korean layering system an Ampoule is used after an essence. Ampoules are even more concentrated powerhouses that get the ingredients penetrating even deeper into the skin. Again you can get really specific to your own skin concerns, and layer things. For example if you feel like your skin is dehydrated and dull you can use an essence for lightening and brightening and an Ampoule for extra moisture.

Or maybe your concerns are blackheads and extra oil and dark spots. All you need to do is layer your concerns one over the next. I get my biggest concern in Ampoule form and the others in Essence.
I try a new Ampoule each time, and each time they have been fabulous. With this order I chose the Scinic Propolis Ampoule, because it’s full of antioxidants and nutrients. And because I liked the bottle.

Add A Sleeping Pack

This one took me a while to get on board with, largely because the crazy names they use don’t translate so well (Snail Slime and Donkey Milk Yogurt for starters!) and in the description it sounded like a pillow case ruining step.
But I’m so glad I did add in sleeping packs. What it is is a final step in the night time skin routine. After you have layered on your mist, your essence, your Ampoule and your emulsion (a lightweight but power packed moisturizer) you seal everything in with a sleeping pack.

The ones I have tried have a slightly gel like texture, but disappear into the skin, creating a fabulous barrier. None of it winds up on your pillowcase!

Try A Peel

I am not a fan of exfoliating scrubs. I always think they scratch up the baby skin underneath and keep you in a perpetual state of rough skin. I prefer to do enzyme peels that gently lift away the dead skin. I dont like peels that feel like fire ants are crawling over your face and I don’t want to look like I’m shedding skin either.
They have peels for every possible skin concern, from oily skin to blackheads, to dry skin, to dull skin – you name it!

I’ve been using this SNP Peel every other week. It makes my skin look amazing (and feel super fresh), but there is no stinging involved and no flaking. It takes about 10 minutes, and I follow it with a sheet mask.

Add A Sheet Mask

I’m pretty obsessed with these! They are just so very convenient and your skin loves you for it. And they are perfect for travel! After a long flight a sheet mask restores your skin and makes you feel lovely.

My Sunday night routine when I’m not working is to use the peel if it’s the right week, and follow it with a sheet mask. I buy several different ones with each order I place, because they only cost a couple of dollars each. Sometimes I want brightening, or tightening, or collagen or anti aging – I often buy them just because I like the look of the package! Regardless, I always see a big difference to my skin.
Check out all the different sheet masks they offer here

If you want to try K Beauty, but are unsure of where to start, or if you don’t want to do a 10 step skin care routine, but still want to find out what all the hype is about, try adding in any one of these items, or more, to you daily skin regimen. You will be blown away by the results!

I haven’t looked at the K Beauty items available at Sephora, so don’t know their pricing, but one of the great things about Korean skin care is that it is so ridiculously affordable! My last entire order from Memebox, pictured at the beginning of this post, only cost $100, came with free shipping, and because it ships out of California it arrived in 3 days!

Corinna B March 9, 2016

How To Spring Clean Your Skin

Finally, finally, winter is on it’s way out and spring is here!
As you are packing away your winter clothes and readying your home for the new season, it is also time to do a little spring cleaning on your complexion.

Winter is the worst season for your skin. Between the harsh, cold weather and warm to hot air with central heating and open fires, those of us who are not celebrities or supermodels tend to get overly sensitive, irritated, dried out skin.
Now is the time to restore your skin, get it glowing and vibrant again and ready for spring.

Here are three important steps to spring clean your face:

Step One: Change Up Your Cleanser.

In my experience as a makeup artist the single biggest skincare mistake women make is using the wrong cleanser for their skin type. Mostly they are using a cleanser that strips their skin and dries it out.
Personally, I advocate foaming or wash type cleansers only for oil girls and girls battling acne. For anyone else foaming/wash cleansers tend to strip the skin too much.
I am a huge believer in oil cleansers. If your skin is in any way dry, irritated or sensitive an oil cleanser is an amazing choice for you.

For oily skin girls oil cleansers are also fabulous. (I see you backing your way across the room, but hear me out). Think about what happens when you put oil and water together. They separate. They don’t play well together. The truth is, if you want to lift away oil, oil is the best thing to use!

I’m in love with these Korean beauty oil cleansers available from Memebox, the world’s largest online K-Beauty store. (It’s HQ is in northern California, so your order ships from there and arrives in a couple of days, most of the time with free shipping).

Korean-Oil-Cleansers

I’m Cleansing Oil #02 Fresh Oil for oily or combo skin

I’m Cleansing Oil #1 Moist Oil for normal through dry skin.
Oil cleansers dissolve all makeup, and clean your skin beautifully.
At only $14.00 they are a smoking deal. You don’t need much, so they last for ages.

Step Two: Clean a Little Deeper And Remove Dead Cells

With the correct cleanser working for you, now it’s time to get some masks happening.
You need to get rid of all the dead skin cells on the surface that are clogging your pores and making your complexion look dull.
Here are three options from Memebox

Exfoliating Masks
Black Sugar Mask Wash Off $14.70
An exfoliating skin-softening mask that will remove dead skin cells and create a soft, radiant complexion with Brazilian black sugar and helps decrease the number of black and white heads.

If your skin is feeling sensitive or irritated you may want to avoid a scrub style exfoliator. Here are 2 options that give you smooth, radiant skin without scrubbing:
Clay-Skin-Mask

Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask $14.00

Innisfree’s Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay mask is one of Korea’s best skincare items of all time. The award-winning product provides 6 intensive pore care functions which effectively puts the skin at its best state. It minimizes pores by contracting them, control excessive sebum production, exfoliates, removes deep-seated dirt, brightens up skin tone and gives a soothing cooling sensation. It contains Jeju volcanic capsules that has AHA to effectively remove dead skin cells and maintain smooth and soft skin.

Enzyme-Masks

I have this next one in my Memebox shopping cart. I love enzyme peels and very gentle peel-style exfoliators!

SNP Advanced Peeling Gel $15.00

Free your skin from dead skin cells with SNP Advanced Peeling Gel. This peeling gel gently removes skin impurities along with dead skin cells that usually cause rough skin texture and clogged pores. With seaweed extract as its key component, this peeling gel not only removes dead skin but also supplies abundant nutrients to help improve the skin’s overall condition. It also moisturizes the skin to give a softer, smoother skin texture.

Step Three: Nourish

Once you have your skin beautifully cleansed and masked it’s time to add back in nutrients that your skin is craving.
In Korean beauty the final step each night, after loading the skin up with essences and ampoules is to seal all the goodness in with what they call a sleeping pack.
A sleeping pack falls somewhere in between a night-cream and a moisture mask. (don’t worry – they don’t wind up all over your pillowcase).
When you get up in the morning you simply rinse away whatever is left with a warm washcloth.

sleeping-pack-korean-beauty

The Waterest Vital Sleeping Pack is only $25.00
Invigorate and restore radiance to your skin while enjoying a relaxing, beauty sleep! Waterest Vital Sleeping Pack features premium revitalizing natural ingredients that boosts the skin’s nourishment and moisture retention to ensure great skin the very moment you wake up. It contains double-fermented lotus flower extract which delivers moisture to the skin twice as fast. It helps purify and hydrate the skin overnight to give you smooth, soft and glowing skin the very next morning.

And now your skin is spring cleaned and reboosted, and you are looking once again like your most gorgeous self!

Corinna B March 7, 2016

Coolest New Skin Care Product Ever! 7 Seconds Morning Sheets

I just discovered the coolest new skincare product (ever!) for the busy, modern girl-on-the-go!

Do you find yourself skipping parts of your A.M. skincare routine because you are running late, over slept, or just can’t deal, and then all day long your makeup doesn’t sit quite right because your skin didn’t get prepped properly?
Or maybe your post-workout skin is flushed and sweaty and won’t talk to your skin care products, leaving you looking like an oil slick landed on your face?
Or maybe you live somewhere hot and dry and your skin is literally begging you for some love when you get home?
Or maybe you sit in front of a computer screen all day and your skin hates you?

I have the answer for you!
It’s a South Korean beauty secret called 7 Seconds Morning Sheets.

korean-skin-care
This one-step product has clarifying toner, essence (a fast absorbing super lightweight super serum) and moisturizer all in one. At $19 for an entire tub they are a smoking deal too!

You keep your 7 Seconds Morning Sheets in the refrigerator so that they stay nice and cold, (or if you are like me and take them out and about with you, keep them in a lunch cooler with an icepack).

The way they are supposed to be used is in the morning you lift out one of the little sheets and spend 7 soothing seconds wiping it across your face.

During that 7 seconds your skin gets a high potency, pre makeup treatment that lasts all day.

If you tend to have an oilier complexion this may be all you need.
If you are like me and trend normal to dry, you may add in some other products too.
If you are or have a teenager this is a super fast way to give your skin what it needs to look gorgeous.

After much scientific research (A.K.A me playing with them endlessly), I found they were great to keep in a lunchbox cooler with icepacks and take with me on shoots to give my models a little high speed skin loving. I also found that after the gym they are skin savers. When I am working day and night for multiple days in a row and I just feel and look like hell, they are soooo wonderful, all icy cool and refreshing.
Days like today, spent in front of a computer screen feel rewarded with 7 seconds of skin swiping.
Now I’m trying to figure out how to keep them cold on a plane for some travel-skin rescue!
They also work without refrigeration, but I like the cooling effect.

You can find this treasure in a tub on my favorite skin care website, Memebox.
Memebox is the world’s largest online Korean skincare store and is based out of California, so shipping is super fast and mostly free (I think you just need a $35 order to get free shipping)