Naruko has become of my favorite skincare brands. They use state-of-the-art ingredients, they have superior formulations and the best is that their prices are affordable. What is not to love?
They have several lines: Raw Job's Tears (whitening), Apple Seed and Tranexamic Acid (dull skin), Rose Fungus (dry skin), Tea Tree (troubled skin), Lupin (wrinkles), Narcissus (fine lines)... etc.
I have used products from the Raw Job's Tears and the Apple Seed line and I have to say, gotta love them all!
This is my current moisturizer. I like it because it is very lightweight (meaning, no clogged pores!) and because it has whitening properties. This was around $23 off ebay, which is a really good price considering what you get.
About the ingredients: this contains several whitening ingredients, such as licorice, tranexamic acid, alpha-arbutin, ethyl ascorbic acid and lactic acid. It also has some other beneficial ingredients, like green tea, retinol, peptides, yogurt powder, gingko, grape extract and jojoba. I think it is a very good formulation for a moisturizer (if not the best formulation I've ever seen!). It's hard to find a moisturizer that has so many good ingredients. Also, they don't use alcohol or a heavy amount of silicones, so there's no risk for irritation or break-outs!
And the texture is superior.
I have been using this for 4 months now and I have to say, I am very happy I bought this. Prior to this, I was using heavy moisturizers that I suspect that were clogging my pores. But most Naruko products come in gel form and are very light. They also absorb really quick and don't leave your skin with a sticky feel.
Also, I have noticed that my acne scars and my hyperpigmentation don't look as obvious now. I think it's thanks to the skincare regimen I'm following now. You should use this with a serum for better results (I have been using Skinfood Omija Whitening Serum. See my review here) and stay away from the sun as much as possible (and use a sunblock with a high SPF).
To sum up:
PROS: brilliant formula, helps lighten skin, light texture, non comedogenic, non pore-clogging, affordable price.
CONS: None. Well... you have to purchase this online if you don't live in Taiwan :/
Would I repurchase? Yes, yes and definetly yes! This has become my HG moisturizer and I hope Naruko never discontinues it!
Overall rating: 5/5
I bought this last year because I wanted to try Korean sleeping masks and this is probably one of the most popular ones. It claims to brighten skin while you are sleeping and to even out skin tone when used regularly.
I couldn't find the complete list of ingredients nowhere, but apparently this contains lemon extract, which is a source of vitamin C, and arbutin, a whitening ingredient derived from plants like bearberries. This sounded really promising and I couldn't wait to try this.
How it looks like
This comes in a cute lemon-shaped packaging. The product itself is a light yellow-colored gel that has a strong smell of lemon biscuits. It comes with a spatula, so this is rather hygienic! And you don't need to apply a lot (otherwise if would feel sticky on the skin).
Usually I apply this at night, on my face, neck and underarms. If I use this on my face, I usually don't apply other products.
Results
I used this every other night for 2-3 months before I ran out of this product. Usually, i used this twice a week for a quick treatment. You are not supposed to use sleeping packs every day, they are more like a weekly treatment.
Did I see any results? Sadly no. When I woke up the day after my skin looked the same. I couldn't see any brightening or improving on my skin tone.
Would I recommend it? No. I would say skip this and get a whitening serum instead. It will be more effective.
Overall rating: 2/5
I bought this last year at my local Filipino store . I was so excited because I had read tons of rave reviwes online and I thought I would like to give it a try to fade my old acne scars. At first I thought it was working indeed. I used it in both my face and my underarms (to brighten them). I thought it was awesome (and strange) that my face looked so brightened after rinsing the soap off. It looked really really fair, like if my skin had lightened 2-3 shades all of a sudden. Saddenly, this effect didn't last long, and it fade away after some minutes. I still kept using it religiously 2 a day, hoping to make my ance scarring less obvious and my underarms a bit less embarrassing. But then, after 2 weeks of using this, I started breaking out badly on my cheeks. At first, I didn't think this soap could be the culprit, so I kept using it. Only when I stopped using it, my face started to got clearer (but it left me with some awful acne scarring on my cheeks that I'm still trying to heal).
I was so disappointed. I couldn't understand why a supposedly "natural" soap could have such a strong reaction on my skin. Then I decided to look at the ingredients. This has 9 types of soap... 9! If one type of soap is bad enough for drying out your skin, imagine what 9 types could do. This soap strips away every single oil of your skin. It is not gentle at all. But that is not everything. When looking at the ingredients, I noticed something very strange. This has sunscreen, in the form of titanium dioxide. And guess what titanium dioxide does after you apply it to your face? Yes, it leaves you an annoying white cast that makes you look pale like a ghost. Titanium dioxide is used both as a sunscreen and as a pigment to color cosmetics. And surprisingly, it is used in Likas Papaya Soap to make you think it is "whitening" your skin, when in fact it is only leaving you some white pigment that fades away when you wash your skin again. Simply as that.
And what about the famous papaya ingredient that is supposed to lighten your skin? Let's see. Papaya enzyme has indeed some mild (very mild) exfoliation properties, and this soap contains indeed some papaya... as the last ingredient. So it probably has a tiny amount just so the makers can say they're using that ingredient. And I guess a "Papaya soap" sounds more attractive to customers than a "Titanium dioxide soap" that can only whiten your skin in the same way makeup and sunscreens do.
You could at least say that this works well as a soap. But no. This has sodium laureth sulfate, a known skin drying ingredient that irritates your skin with constant use. You know you are using cleansers with SLS it they leave your skin dry and tight after rinsing. Doesn't matter how much you moisturize afterwards, the harm is already done. SLS works by stripping the natural oils of your face, and therefore it can trigger acne. I got really painful breakouts on my cheek after using Likas as a face cleanser. So you don't want this soap or any soap in bar form near your face, if you don't wanna ruin your skin.
So I hope I helped people understand how the "magic" in this soap works. I was very disappointed myself when I figured out everything. But I guess it was too good to be true.
Skinfood is a Korean cosmetic brand that is quite popular because all their products are supposed to contain some kind of food extract (mainly fruits and vegetables). You can find entire lines that are dedicated to a single "star" ingredient (such as the tomato line, the mushroom line, the red orange line...etc). They have a really cute packaging and their prices are also alright! (especially in Korea). Moreover, you can get their products off ebay for decent prices too.
I picked this serum because of its ingredients. It has niacinamide, sodium ascorbyl phosphate (a form of vitamin c), mulberry extract and licorice. It also has some other beneficial ingredients such as arginine, ceramide 3, allantoin, black willow, chamomille and lactobacillus. The only downside is that this has some alcohol and some fragrance, but they are listed at the very bottom of the ingredients' list, so the quantities are probably minimal.
I really like the texture of this serum. it's lighweight and you only need one plump for your whole face and neck. It has a slighty fragrance that is quite pleasant and it absorbs rather quickly. I have been using it everyday for 5 months and I still have more than half of the product left! I think this is a very good investment, since it lasts forever and one bottle (50ml) just costs around $20.
Results: I have seen that my dark spots are slighty fading. However, I have been using more products other than this and I believe the whole use of all these products is what has helped me to achieve a better complexion.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely yes, especially if you have combination or oily skin. The serum has a really nice texture and it is not sticky at all. Plus, I think using this along with other skin lightening products helps you achieve a clearer skin! (remember that you can't rely on a single product. You have to combine different products so you get the best from different ingredients).
Overall rate: 4/5
