Last month, Althea Korea sent me one of their non-subscription Beauty Box; 7-Step Korean Skincare Box and the theme is K-Beauty Glow! Now, I bet you're already know what Korean skincare is all about; the ultimate goal of having bright, healthy (read poreless and baby soft), glowing skin and if you're still new and clueless to this most extensive (rhymes with expensive) skincare routine out there or just want to find some products that can help to cut down some steps in the routine and save some money, just read on and maybe put on some sheet mask on your cleansed and toned skin as this is going to be a long post.
A quick run through on Althea Beauty Boxes, these are beauty boxes that are launched 2 to 3 times a month on their website specially curated by Althea Mermaids with different and interesting themes or trends to basically bring out the K-beauty products to the eyes of ours; Asian beauty enthusiasts. As mentioned above, these are non-subscription beauty boxes so do follow their social media like Instagram for updates on these affordable starters and see if there's one box that befits your needs both for skincare and makeup. I actually bought a box of Vitamins-themed Althea Box before so do check it out here! Before we go to the products included in this box, let me just talk about Althea Korea box for a bit. Isn't it cute?
Althea Korea was still in the midst of Holiday season when they sent me this box hence the holiday-themed package. Quite frankly, I'd prefer to have the word "Holiday" rather than just Christmas as here in Malaysia, we're majority Muslims and as this limited edition box was released during November to January, it was indeed a holiday season with long school break, Christmas, and indeed it was the time when I personally take a long paid leave from work.
The box is in dark blue colour, a little bit of purple undertone with theme park during snowy season illustration on the sides of it. There's golden star patterns printed on the inner sides of it and I just love how cute they are as I opened the box, almost like I could hear chimes softly ring from afar.
ALTHEA 7-STEP KOREAN SKINCARE BOX
Products included:
- Natural Pacific Perfect Deep Cleansing Oil
- The SAEM Healing Tea Garden Tea Tree Cleansing Water
- Dr.Frog Control-Tox Peeling Gel (120ml)
- Son&Park BEAUTY WATER (340ml)
- Leaguertox V-Shot Silhouette Lifting Ampoule_1ea
- Rire Camu Camu Moisture Cream
- Lebaton Pearl Whitening Essence Mask
If you've been reading my blog for quite some time, you'd notice that I'm all about brightening skincare products but beginning 2016 I have been incorporating some anti-aging skincare products into my routine to combat the dryness especially around my neck area. For that, I'd tried some deluxe anti-dryness moisturisers and serums but I haven't still found the one that suits my dehydrated normal to oily skin yet so I do actually hope that I might find something good among these curated items in this box.
As Korean skincare routine generally consists of 2 to 3 products for cleansing stage, scrub or peeling product, toner (or toners for the trending 7-skin method), essence, serum, ampoule, eye cream, spot treatment, moisturiser, sleeping masks, and maybe more of that special kind of treatment skincare products like booster i.e. vitamin-filled product to help boost your line of skincare, activator i.e. product that can help in activating the cells at the deepest layers of skin for it to be able to absorb your line of skincare, finisher i.e. the last sealant on top of all the layers of your skincare, and other types of products with specific target and function. All of these 14 to 16 products basically complement each other and the key for applying them is according to their textures and viscosities i.e. from the most watery to the thickest or heaviest of creams.
Now, let's go back to the 7 products included in this box and I going to go with the cleansers and the toner first.
Assuming that I wear full makeup, the moment I stepped into my house; the first thing I do is to remove my makeup. I use a separate eye makeup remover to remove waterproof mascara, followed by cleansing water to pre-cleanse my skin as it's a habit of mine to just chill for a bit before I'm off to shower. I'd be using a cleansing oil to thoroughly cleanse my skin as it really melts off the makeup as I massage it well for a minute or two on my facial area. Then, I will do double cleanse with a cleansing foam or water-based cleanser. Every two to three days I will use scrubs to remove dead skin cells which you guys know how important it is to ensure high rate of absorption of your skincare products. Lastly, to wrap up the cleansing stage I would use a toner to remove any leftover of the cleansing product and helps restore the moisture loss during the cleansing process.
In this Althea Box, a cleansing water is included and it's The SAEM Healing Tea Garden Tea Tree Cleansing Water. Any skincare products with tea tree as featured ingredient is basically meant for those with normal to oily skin as it helps removing excessive sebum deep in pores which can lead to acne if not being properly taken care of.
This refreshing cleansing water can be used to remove light makeup i.e. sunscreen or cc cream and impurities that have been accumulated throughout the day and it's actually doesn't require rinsing off with water afterwards. Still, I will at least rinse it off with water if it's the only cleanser I use for the night.
It's watery, as I use it with cotton pads; wiping it all over my face and it gives me soothing and slightly cooling sensation as it removes my makeup of the day. I really like it and definitely would love to restock this product.
Next step would be an oil-based cleanser to remove waterproof makeup like BB Cushion or thick foundation. With Natural Pacific Perfect Deep Cleansing Oil, I don't even need to use eye makeup remover for my waterproof mascara. Just take a few pumps and massage gently the eye area until the mascara melted off although I would massage my whole facial area first then proceed with eye area. I don't want to drag the black ink around.
In the above photo, there are some of my base makeup swatches; from left, colour corrector cushion, BB Cushion, matte BB Cushion and a full coverage foundation with a pump of the cleansing oil.
I would just massage the oil for few minutes or till everything is melted then I would just add a little bit of water to emulsify the oil and massage for a little bit more before washing it all off with water. I always follow up with my regular cleansing foam afterwards.
I do like this cleansing oil as it cuts the necessity for me to use a separate makeup remover for my eye makeup and the fact that the oil is light and easy to remove at the same time melts off my makeup really well is making me repurchasing it when I'm finished with it.
When it comes to taking care of dead skin cells, I always opt for scrubs however these days my cheeks are too dry for aggressive black sugar scrubs so I bought a honey version of the mask but still, I'd love to find other options if possible. The last time I tried something with a 'peeling' word in its name it was more like a mask that when you rub it enough on your skin, the substance will turn into a rubber-like and roll your dead skin cells with it. I guess not with this DR. FROG Control-Tox Peeling Gel.
It's a clear gel and when I spread it around my facial area, it doesn't change into any other form and as I go with the instruction, to just massage all over for few minutes and wash it off afterwards. I did felt my skin much smoother and brighter; as you see in the right photo of my hand.
Now the product that I anticipated mostly from this box is indeed this Son&Park Beauty Water. You guys have seen it being featured many times here in my blog and Instagram, the story of how I got my hands on the very first bottle all the way from Seoul back in the day (2015) as this brand was not readily available at local beauty store nor online. I fell in love with this toner or should I say Beauty Water as indeed it's more than just a water. It hydrates, gently exfoliates the skin, making it soft and supple and just ready for next product application.
If I were to compare between the one that I bought back in 2016 and the new one on the left that was included in this Althea Box, there's not much of a difference other than the cap is now engraved with the brand's logo. I feel like the scent, texture and effectiveness are pretty much the same as before. I love it, it's on my HG skincare list and I will repurchase it for the 6th time once I've finished with this one.
Next is these two products for moisturisation of the skin and included within the Althea Box; Leaguertox V-Shot Silhouette Lifting Ampoule and Rire Camu Camu Moisture Cream.
The ampoule contains patented ingredients; L-Carnosine (anti-aging and elasticity improvement), Oligo-HA (wrinkle and elasticity improvement) and Argireline (wrinkle improvement and lifting effect). These patented ingredients; sweet almond seed extract, pomegranate extract and raspberry extract are sourced from nature.
The ampoule is indeed thick and it has this cooling sensation which is so nice once applied on my smile lines, neck lines even on my crow feet i.e. outer-V eye area. It soothes the tight feeling at these area on my face and neck and I love applying at least 4 to 5 dots on them. As it leaves sticky feeling to my skin, I'd prefer to apply my moisturiser right after.
I love the packaging for this product as it's in the shade of pink that I like with a golden lid. The design is simple and pretty. To this point, I've only heard the term 'moisture cream' and never had the intention to try one as I always think that it's going to be thick and heavy for the skin. I'm completely blown away by this one.
This moisture cream supposedly provides abundant hydration and nutrition to the skin as it contains camu camu extract that is rich in Vitamin C and camellia oil that is rich in oleic acid hence it brightens (with 9 types of flower extracts and Niacinamide) and anti-wrinkles (with adenosine) at the same time.
The texture is that creamy, sticky and elastic however once spread and massaged well onto my skin, I feel my skin is so smooth and it does give a subtle glow to my skin but most importantly the cream is not sticky as I had expected.
This cream gives off strong scent however so if you're not keen on products that contain fragrance then maybe you want to stay away from this one though.
Last but not least, the seventh item included in this Althea Box is a sheet mask and if you ask me, you can never go wrong with a brightening sheet mask in your skincare routine.
Lebaton Essence Mask in Pearl Whitening supposedly brightens up dull skin with pearl extracts and other natural ingredients like Centella Asiatica extracts, ginkgo biloba extracts, aloe barbadensis extracts and camellia sinensis extracts to soothe the skin.
The sheet is quite thin considering it's a natural cotton sheet almost as thin as cupra sheet. The essence is clear and slightly watery with faint scent. I see brightening effect though temporary but I love the hydrating effect this gives. It's really affordable and I'd love to use this kind of mask in my morning routine. Definitely going to repurchase this along with the other 2 other variants from the mask line.
Overall, I would say that these 7 items are sufficient for those of you who just started your journey in Korean skincare. Once you have patted down these products in your routine, you are ready to add more products like facial essence, serum or treatment ampoules. The ultimate goal when it comes to Korean skincare is having a bright, clear, healthy and glowing skin so taylor the products according to your skin needs.
For those of you who are already down with your own routine, having these products won't be redundant either as each of the product functions on its own and can possibly aid in boosting your skincare effects. Take the Beauty Water for an example, even if I don't do scrub for a week maybe two, the dead skin cells don't accumulate as much as compared to those days I was merely using a hydrating toner. If you haven't jump in on the cleansing oil wagon then you might just try that cleansing oil from Natural Pacific.
I know at this point of time this particular Althea Box has already sold out and I might say that once the box is gone, it's gone. Though I've seen some boxes made return to the webstore, that's just luck. The prices offered for each of the box are affordable and take this box for example, it's much cheaper to just get this box rather than just getting the Beauty Water itself. Therefore, the next time you saw an Althea Box launched on the store, just grab them if it suits your need and who knows you might discover great new products for your skin.
Would you be interested in this kind of non-subscription box? Or do you want me to do full review on any of the products above? Let me know in the comment section below.
Until next post, annyeong~
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Disclaimer: Links provided are non-affiliated. The products were sent to me for review purposes and all opinions here are based on my personal use of the products.
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