The Skinfood Store: Reviews of Egg White Pore Foam and Black Sugar Mask

One of my stops last month during my tour of Korean beauty stores was Skinfood.

Some info on Skinfood:

"Feed your skin, it deserves a treat" is SkinFood's basic philosophy. SkinFood creates delicious cosmetics from familiar ingredients such as sugar, rice, vegetables and fruits. From yummy strawberries to crunchy apples, refreshing aloe vera and invigorating coffee, SkinFood offers over 900 products that pamper, protect and please your skin."

Entering the store

 The back room is for manicures and nail art.

Everything was so darling!

Top Sugar:  Black Sugar Mask Wash Off

Gotta give it to Koreans for their presentational skills.

I went with some of the top products showcased in the store.

$10 for 5.7 oz. Not bad.

This was wrapped in cellophane when I bought it.

I was a little surprised by the ingredients.  I guess I had assumed from Skinfood's motto that it would contain a lot less things that I couldn't pronounce.  

The highlight of this cleanser is the egg white extract, which contains amino acids.  Amino acids has deep cleansing properties (bye bye blackheads!) and help with anti-aging by supplying nutrients that keep skin smooth and elastic.  Sounds amazing, right? 

I started looking up products on cosdna.com, and it's really neat!  You can see if there are acne-triggering ingredients or irritants.  When I looked up Egg White Pore Foam, there were unfortunately some red flags.  You can see them here.  For example, Stearic acid, sesame oil, and olive oil can cause breakouts for some people. For me, the natural oils sounded great to put on my face and then wash off (and my skin doesn't get bothered by them) so wasn't a deal breaker just yet.

 The cleanser was easy to squeeze out.  The cream is really thick and has a pretty pearly sheen to it.  There is a fragrance that is kind of floral.  It may be overpowering to some folks.  I could do without it.  But I'm very particular about scents.

I know it has nothing to do with how good a cleanser is, but I loved how easily it foamed up.  You need very little product to get this going.  Heeeeeey.

From what I've been reading, foamy cleansers can strip the skin.  I didn't feel any noticeable tightness in my skin afterward.  But I imagine this product drying out your skin during the cooler weather.

My skin felt really bouncy and clean after washing.  My makeup came off, but getting the eye makeup off took a little more work.  AND this stuff stings your eyes like a mother!! I would do a two-step cleansing and maybe start with an oil cleanser that gets your eye makeup off before using a foam cleanser.

Soooo...I was going to write that I would use this during just the sweatier times of year. It feels like it really gets all the residue off of your face. And I DID feel like my pores were less noticeable. 

Then I read some bad news from other bloggers. A lot of them agreed that the pH level of the Egg White Pore Foam is super high, which compromises your skin health.  The high alkaline level allows your skin to be an environment susceptible to dryness and bacteria causing infections and acne.  Apparently, we should use avoid using skincare products with a pH of 6 or higher. According to this blogger, Egg White Pore Foam has a pH of 10.5!  This freaked me out so I think this cleanser will be for my makeup brushes...and feet.  If you don't have skin problems, you probably don't have to worry. But I read that it could lead to issues after long term use. Boo.

Although the Egg White Pore Foam cleanser was a disappointment, I really loved LOVED the Black Sugar Mask!

Around $14 for 100g/3.38 oz

This product also came wrapped.

The main ingredient is sugar.  Black sugar is rich in potassium, iron, calcium, and other minerals.  It's also what exfoliates the dead skin cells.  It also contains several seed oils, shea butter, and fats.  According to cosdna.com, sorbitan laurate and the candelilla wax could be possible irritants.  

Under the cellophane wrap was a sticker with a description, instructions, and the ingredients (again).

 Once you take off the top, there is another lid covering the scrub.  It's just loosely sitting on top of the rim.

 When you take off the lid, you notice (a) it kind of looks like poop (b) the lovely LOVELY lemon scent!

It doesn't come with a spatula, so I used a spoon to scoop out (too much).  You probably need less than half of that.  The consistency is what you'd imagine for a sugar scrub.  It reminded me of tamarind candy paste.

After cleaning your face, don't towel off.  Massage the scrub gently onto your damp face.  Massage lightly to avoid over exfoliating and hurting your precious face skin.  Adding water while you massage helps to melt the sugar (keeping it less granular) and decrease the chance of irritation. The syrupy/jam part of the scrub thins out or gets absorbed into the skin (or both?) ...as you can see here.

You don't need to massage it until it disappears. I just massaged for about 40 seconds. You should avoid eyes (obvi) and mouth area.  I don't think I avoided the mouth area enough.  After leaving it on for 10-15 minutes,  I washed it off with lukewarm water.

I was left with soft, supple, and brighter skin. No stickiness. And although there is no greasy residue, I did feel like my skin was slightly moisturized- probably from some of the fatty/oily ingredients.  But it was a healthy feeling.  The scrub also got rid of my whiteheads.  It is recommended to use this scrub once a week.  I would definitely recommend this! It is supposed to be cheaper alternative to Fresh's Sugar Face Polish.  You can purchase it online here.  The Egg White Pore Foam is also available on the same site if you are interested - just beware of the pH level!