Recently, Wishtrend held an event to apply to be a reviewer for Klair's brand new UV essence. I had put my application in but had forgotten to notify them of me doing so and hadn't actually realised for a couple of weeks. I asked about it and queried whether I was too late for the event and while I was, they were ever so kind to still send it out to me to try out! Sunscreen is something I don't use as often as I should, I guess I fall into the mindset of living in Scotland where it is usually very dreary and that there's little sun so I don't really need it. A lot of the makeup bases I have actually have SPF in it already but the days that I go out bare-faced, my skin isn't always protected, but I also don't want my face to look super white from having applied a sunscreen to it.

Jinmee / 진미 is a brand new UK based Korean beauty brand helping you follow the K-beauty philosophy of skincare first. Bringing products to let you simplify your skincare routine while also getting the most out of the products you use. Taking inspiration from the owner, Karen Hong's own Korean heritage and the sheer focus on skincare. While the skincare industry is so vast with so many products aiming to help with any skincare problem, Jinmee wants to teach you that the application of your products is just as important as the product itself. They recently got in contact with me to work with them for the launch of the product I'm going to be speaking about today, which they have generously gifted to me.

Jinmee comes from the term best beauty, which I believe derives from the hanja 眞美 / true beauty. 

Today I'm super excited to share with you their first product the Hydrapuff, It's very common to use cotton pads along with your skincare, particularly when it comes to toner. But more often than not, you'll find these often quite thick pads can often soak up more product than it is actually applying to your skin. The Hydrapuff aims to reduce product waste (as much as 50%!) and be a multifunctional product. Not only letting you use it in place of cotton pads but easily being used as mini sheet masks to target specific areas with your skincare.





The pads come in a gorgeous box with splashes of bold watercolour, combining it with the brand's signature coral and a little rose gold. Simple but aesthetically appealing!



Each pad comes as a set of two, that can either be used as one on its own for swiping application of products or taken apart in half by tearing down the perforation line to make it two little parts of a sheet mask. You can use as many as needed to cover your face or target specific areas. For instance, suffer from redness in your cheeks? Use one pair of the Hydrapuff pads, soak it in a brightening serum, apply and leave for 5-10 minutes. You will only need a small amount of product for it to be fully moist.


They are incredibly thin compared to your average cotton pad, possibly about the same thickness as a sheet mask before any essence is added, if not a tiny bit on the thicker side.




I have only used these twice so far but am so far enjoying using them and I'm looking forward to trying out different products and DIY masks to make the most out of them and really amp up my skincare routine. I already have a few ideas in mind with what I'm going to use them for and you can bet I will be sharing them with you guys! If you have any ideas for things you think would work with this product, let me know and I can test it out for you!

The Hydrapuff is currently available on the Jinmee store retailing at £6.50 for 60 pairs and will launching in Topshop stores late October!

If you would like to learn more about the hydrapuff itself, be sure to check out their F.A.Q on the site to do so.

Will you be adding the Hydrapuff to your skincare collection?

Anyone else manage to accumulate a massive amount of sheet masks to the point you don't think you're ever going to be able to get through all of them? I'm currently finding myself in that position but I'm aiming to work through them over the next few months to at least reduce my pile down! Today I'm going to be sharing a little review on the Skinfood Beauty In a Food Mask Sheet in my most favourite ever scent/flavour of anything ever, watermelon. I love the scent of watermelon, even if it's that artificial one, it still smells the best to me and is super refreshing. Plus the actual fruit is delicious.

Water, Glycerin, Propanediol, Butylene Glycol, Citrullus Vulgaris (Watermelon) Fruit Extract, Isododecane, Nymphaea Alba Flower Extract, Sodium Polyacrylate Starch, Ethylhexylglycerin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Hizikia Fusiforme Extract, Aronia Melanocarpa Fruit Extract, Caulerpa Lentillifera Extract, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp Copolymer, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hyaluronate, D&C Red No.33(Ci 17200), Fragrance

 As per usual with a sheet mask, after washing your face you apply the mask evenly to your face and leave it on for 10-20 minutes. I usually end up leaving the mask on for the full 20 minutes to get the most out of it. This particular mask fits very well to my face, there are a couple of slits, namely along the jaw and the inner corners of the eyes just to make it easier to adapt the mask a little to suit your face shape and feature aligning. This made it super comfortable to wear and I suffered from no slippage while upright. It has a moderate scent of watermelon without being too much, it's a little on the artificial smelling side but at the same time, also smells quite like an actual watermelon.



There is the perfect amount of essence in the package and it's not too moist to the point that it drips everywhere but there's enough to rub down into your neck to moisturise it.

Unfortunately, my experience with this mask has not been a good one. After taking the mask off, my skin was very red and blotchy and suddenly burning and felt hot to touch. It was just so painful and tight and just didn't look good. It didn't feel remotely nourished and felt drier than it was before I did the mask if anything. Wasn't what I was expecting from the mask at all. I don't normally react to sheet masks or any kind of skincare as my skin is pretty resilient to ingredients and isn't sensitive for the majority of the time. The mask was also manufactured this year as well, so it's not like it was expired or anything. It just didn't work well. That's not to say you will have the same reaction, but this is the honest experience I had with it.

I'm a little bummed. I really like Skinfood as a brand and have loved their skincare and make up for years, so for my first experience with their sheet masks to be like this is a little discouraging. However, I'm not going to write the masks off completely and will possibly give this particular mask or the other versions of it a try again in the future and see if my skin reacts the same then too. It may just be a case of the fact I changed my hormonal contraception this week and it may just be a hormonal difference causing my skin to react in such a way, or it could just be that this mask in particular just doesn't agree with me, sadly.

One of the major downsides of being thoroughly into K-beauty, is the fact that a lot of the time when it comes to buying stuff you have to allow a few weeks for shipping. Sometimes it would be great to just be able to walk into a store and be able to pick up some of your usual pieces. Well, some good news is that now Boots stores in the UK are now stocking It's Skin! For the moment it's just a few of the products from their Power 10 range, but hopefully, this will open up to a few more products and some of their make up as well (which is affordable and one of my go tos when I need something in an emergency) With the ever-increasing popularity of Korean skincare in particular, it's exciting to see what other brands make it over here into stores.

I have used a few of the serums from the line and absolutely loved them, with them being on the relatively affordable side as well, they're great little powerhouses dedicated to helping you with your own particular skin issues. The line features the serums, cleansers, sheet masks and moisturisers and is all colour coded so you can end up having an all matching coloured set of skincare.

It's not all too rare for you to have some skincare products just sitting there, being used occasionally or just not being used at all. Throughout my own journey of learning what skincare works for me, I've learnt that some products just aren't for me or don't have as great an effect on my skin as I need. However, this doesn't mean they are bad products or that they are bad for my skin. It's more a case of there are other types of products I would prefer. I'm intending to looking more into products I want to help certain issues with my skin and I'm planning on a beauty spending ban for the rest of the year unless it's necessary (such as base makeup or eyeliner). So, for when it comes round to getting new products, I don't want products that may end up ignored or are nearly done anyway to be sitting about taking up space. 
So here's a small selection of the products I intend on finishing up by the time 2019 comes around. This is just the skincare section as there are some makeup products, but the amount is vastly smaller.
CLEANSERS

As someone who wears makeup regularly, it's so important for me to make sure I thoroughly cleanse my skin. A big advocate for double cleansing, I find the oil cleanser to be the most important but I want to have an equally good second cleanser. I'm not overly strict with how my cleansers are, as long as they don't give me that artificially soft skin feeling afterwards and doesn't dry my skin out to no end, then I'm good. Foam cleansers are great for a light wash of the skin and tend to be on the gentle side, so ideal for sensitive skin. However, for me, while they don't cleanse well, I no longer seem to enjoy foamed up cleansers. This is just my own personal preference. So I'm aiming to finish the Innisfree The Minimum Facial Cleanser (originally mentioned in this post) and the Neogen Real Fresh Foam Green Tea Cleanser. Both very good cleansers with nice delicate scents (I particularly love that the Neogen one has actual green tea leaves at the bottom of the package. I just need something a tiny bit more robust on my skin. A non-foam cleanser and one that is actually a Japanese product is the Rosette Cleansing Paste Acne Clear Cleanser. This was the first Japanese cosmetic product I have tried and one that I enjoy using. It helps aid acne clearing when my breakout begins to subside but because I have had it for quite a while, I would rather finish it than use it many years later.
TONERS

I love, love, love my toners and they are definitely a product I end up owning too many of. My preferred method of applying is to put an amount in the palm of my hand and gently pat it onto my skin until it is absorbed. Sometimes repeating this multiple times. A different method than using typical cotton pads as I often worry about product waste. Two toners I'm going to use up are the Etude House Wonder Pore Freshener (mentioned here) this is one of those cult K-beauty toners that everyone has had at one time or another. I really do like this toner, however, I have about 3 months until it expires, so this will be the one I try to use up first. Alongside this is the Innisfree The Minimum Toner. This toner made me fall in love with the concept of spray toners, something so easy and convenient for the busy mum I am in the mornings when I don't have a lot of time to focus on skincare.
AMPOULE

So there is actually only one product here and that is the Innisfree The Minimum Serum Ampoule. A product I have enjoyed and is actually the one in this list that has the least amount of product left of it. It didn't have as drastic an effect that my skin actually needs, but it did help me add some extra moisture into my skin overall.
WHAT'S COMING NEXT?
There are actually a few skincare brands I intend on purchasing from when the new year begins and you can bet you will be seeing a massive haul of those products. I've yet to be able to try out Cosrx, a very highly praised brand when it comes to Korean beauty and I particularly want to try the AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner, for which I have seen a lot of positive reviews from. There are also a few more Innisfree products I want to get my hands on and I feel like I want to dip my toes into mid-range brands such as Huxley, Heimish and more. While I am using up the last of my Innisfree The Minimum line, I fully intend on replacing them with products from the Etude House Soon Jung line, one that I have sampled before but really want to incorporate into my full routine. 
If there are any brands you haven't seen me talk about that you love or ones you're more interested to know, please let me know and I'll get and research what products tickle my fancy from them. 
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