ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Cream and ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Essence Review

This week's review is double feature of ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Cream and the matching ElishaCoy Skin Repairing Snail Essence.  I'm doing both at the same time because I just want this duo of colossal failure out of my bathroom and out of sight/mind.


I had purchased them in in a set, because I had been searching for a snail filtrate cream to replace my Skin79 White Reviving cream, and I was looking for a serum to boost hydration on my skin.  Why not save $$ by getting them in a set?  I'm a committed proponent of having a wide range of moisturizer types to choose from, because with my nastily combination skin, it's easier for me to apply/layer different types of moisturizers in the areas with individual needs than use a one-size-fits-none general moisturizer.

I am going to warn you right now: I am highly disappointed with these products.  They were a complete let-down, and at their price they should have been amazing.  ElishaCoy is known for having high-quality products, and when I first researched this product, I was encouraged by the only review I could find at the time: Hope in a Blog's review of the cream.

She compared it to the Mizon Snail cream, and since I have been using the Mizon Snail Gel (reviewed) to great effect, her rave review of the EC compared to the Mizon left me with high hopes.  I'm glad it worked for her, because these products sure sucked for me.

Well, let's get this review over with!

Shiseido Perfect Whip Cleanser Review

This week's review is of the best cleanser sidekick for my Clarisonic, the Shiseido FT Sengansenka Perfect Whip Facial Wash.  This cleanser is unlike anything I had ever encountered in western skin care, and on its own it seems gimmicky and unremarkable, but when paired with my trusty Clarisonic, it's a match made in skincare heaven.  I've also included how to make Perfect Whip foam, using two different methods.


Shiseido is a very widely recognized Asian luxury brand, but this particular product is from their 'drug store' line of products, so they are affordable but still considered to be decent quality.  I wouldn't dare use conventional drug store skin care like Neutrogena, etc, on my face (cue skin rage) but I've heard good things about Shiseido's drug store products and certainly my skin likes the Perfect Whip just fine.


Details:
Full product name: Shiseido FT Sengansenka Perfect Whip Facial Wash
Purpose: A foaming cleanser with a unique foam formation that resembles a very thick, dense shaving cream more than your traditional foaming cleanser.  It creates a thick cushion of foam on the skin, and is supposedly to be very gentle on the skin.
Texture: Starts as a pearly ultra thick cream and looks like toothpaste out of the tube.  It's slick and stringy at first, but when water is added and agitated with fingers, brush, or foaming net, it whips into a giant cloud of dense, superfine foam which resists pressure.  Almost like a mousse texture.
Scent:  Medium.  It has a sort of chemical smell, like Clearasil, Neutrogena, etc, but with a pleasant fruity/floral scent on top. Doesn't linger after rinsing.
Packaging: A squeeze tube, so be careful as a little goes a long way.
Quantity: 5oz, which is a large amount considering how little you need.
Availability: I bought mine from Amazon, also available various places online.  If you happen to live in Japan, it will be easily available.
Price: With shipping, it came out to about $9 from the above seller.  Compare that to the $33 for the ElishaCoy All-In-One BB cleanser that also has a place in my beauty lineup, it's a steal.
Rating:  5/5!  9/22/14 Update:  I have since learned that any cleanser over 5.6 actually damages your skin (click here for full post including scientific sources) so sadly this previously loved cleanser is no longer something I can recommend.  
Repurchase: You bet.  I have had a Clarisonic for years, and have always been hunting for the perfect cleanser to pair it with-- this foam is it.  As this cleanser is a stratum corneum-wrecking nuclear pH level of 8, no.  Never again.  I miss you, Perfect Whip, but you're destroying my ability to fight off acne bacteria every time you touch my face.

Onward to the review of this strange, but brilliant, little product!

Fair Skin Friendly: BB cream swatches on NC15 skin

Instead of a review this week, I thought it would be helpful to swatch my BB cream collection compared to MAC's Studio Fix in NC15.  Although there are a lot of BB cream swatches out there, most swatchers had deeper skin tones than mine, which made finding a match difficult.

To help out other similarly fair ladies out there find the right BB cream for them, I swatched all the BB creams in my collection, ranging from those I only tried in sample sizes up to those I purchased in full-size and wear on a regular basis.  I have tried many others in sample sizes, but unfortunately I tossed them as soon as I realized they were the wrong shade for me, not realizing that I'd be blogging my adventures in skincare one day. **Update:  I have recently swatched even more bb creams which you can find here.

I will warn you that the light on a mid-afternoon on a chilly day in the desert in February isn't as conducive to taking photos as I had hoped, but I also included photos in the shade which made the contrast between the different BB creams more obvious.

As you can see in the photos below, I have swatched the MAC Studio Fix NC15 along my arm, so each BB cream swatch can be visually compared to it.  The below image in the sun (on the right) is the most colour-accurate of all the photos.

Click here for a full size of the swatches, unblended, in the shade and in the sun

Although the above image taken in direct sunlight provides a better idea of the differences in the BB creams when they are unblended, the picture below with blended swatches is unfortunately a little blown out by the sunlight reflecting off my pasty, pasty white skin.  For that reason, I will be using a close-up of the below image taken in the shade for the swatch breakdowns.

Click here for a full size of the swatches, blended, in the shade and in the sun.

Now for the detailed breakdown for the below close-up:

Weekly Review: ElishaCoy Moist Up Super Hyalurone Cream

This week's review is of the ElishaCoy Moist Up Super Hyalurone Cream, a product I purchased on a whim while buying Mizon's Snail Recovery Gel as my first foray into snail skincare goodness after my success with the Mizon Snail BB cream.


As you can see from the image above, I waited until I had emptied the jar before reviewing the Moist Up Hyalurone Cream, because I wanted to give it a chance to win me over, which in the end it did not. (Unlike the Snail Gel, which is angel dust in a tube an upcoming review. Edit: reviewed here!)

We will discuss how the Snail Gel makes me want to devolve into hoarding like Gollum on a bender another day, because this review is about Moist Up Cream, not about magical unicorn tears the Snail Gel.
But what if we RUNS OUT of the Preciousness again?!  
Actually that reminds me, I should check to see how much is left in my current tube.  I may need to indulge in a shopping frenzy.  We will return to your regularly scheduled blogging shortly.

[...]

Ok, now that I may or may not have preemptively ordered enough Snail Gel to last me 6 months, let's get on to this week's review!