After consultation with [MENTION=6561]OrangeAppled[/MENTION] and [MENTION=21890]Codex[/MENTION], purchased and received my first Korean beauty product haul.
In case there's other newbies out there who are interested in getting into K-beauty stuff, but are feeling overwhelmed, Orangeappled wrote a
super helpful post earlier in this thread (it's post #513 if the link thing doesn't work for you) on how to create your routine. Here's another
general outline on how Korean beauty routines are usually structured.
I also talked with the good people at
Peach & Lily about specific product recommendations for my combination, acne-prone skin, which you can request if you email them. They sent some great [MENTION=21890]Codex[/MENTION]-approved) recs, which is how I created my basic regimen. I actually ended up making most of the purchases from a
wholesale k-beauty site, which ended up saving me about $200 off the Peach & Lily price. Everything I got came out to about $120 + what I paid for shipping, which is incredible given the amount of product I got. Let me know if you're interested in specific product links. They're all bucketed on a spreadsheet somewhere.
Starter Haul
1 - Double Cleansing
Oil Cleanser - Cremorlab T.E.N. Cremor Cleansing Gel Oil
Cleansing Mousse - Aromatica Sea Daffodil Cleansing Mousse
2 - Essence, Toner, Serum
Toner + Serum - Rose First Absolute Serum
Essence - Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence
3 - Moisturizers
Moisturizer - Mizon All-in-One Snail Repair Cream
Eye Cream - Snail Repair Eye Cream
4 - Mask
Sulwhasoo Clarifying Mask
Here's some obligatory haul pics. Testerkorea sent everything in a really adorable clamshell box.
Cleanser, essence and toner/serum
Moisturizers
They also sent a cute thank you packet with samples
I've been using the products for about 2-3 weeks now and have had a really positive experience so far. I was a little overeager and ended up trying EVERYTHING at once.
This was a mistake.
Switched it up and have just been doing the double cleanser morning/evening + moisturizer, and do all of the products only the evening. I use a super basic, spf 30 Cetaphil moisturizer during the day. It's really evened out my skin, made it incredibly soft and the tone of my skin is like...more beautiful? Idk, I feel like my skin tone is richer and more "glowy". It's also drastically impacted my makeup game. Continuing to follow the wisdom of the good ladies of Korea, I stick to a BB cream and it's getting to the point that that's usually all I need.
I also just feel really good after I've gone through my routine, which was not something I expected. I just feel calm and like shits gonna be alright. It sounds strange but I'm guessing if the products are good for your skin they're probably good for you, too.
That's my follow up. I've shunted my manuka honey to a body mask for now, so it's not like I'm cheating or anything.
Thanks again to OA and Codex.