Korean skincare for acne? Cosrx 🌹 Skinfood 🍦 Yadah review

❔❕ Does it work? True to hype? Does it make acne go away like so many people claim? Does it make it worse?❔❕

Decided to write this review because I myself couldn't find many in depth reviews about how these hyped products actually work (especially on real nasty acne prone skin), especially the Yadah items, I hardly found any reviews online about their cosmetics so I hope this is helpful if anyone else been wondering about Korean skincare products and their effectiveness against acne prone skin or skin in pretty bad shape.  

About 4 months ago I replaced every item in my entire facial skincare regime to a Korean one. I've had severe genetic acne for about 10 years. To put it short, nothing ever, no matter what I tried, had any positive effects on my acne, let alone come close to clearing it. I have tried of course tons of different products through the years but never tried Korean or Asian skincare. After reading/seeing all the positive reviews I gave in. I was not expecting any miracles to happen to my hopeless skin but I thought before I make it a fact that nothing ever can help my acne in the universe I'd give Korean skincare products a try.

 

So now my current skincare routine is a 10-12 step Korean skincare routine. I have been using these products for about 4 months now every day, often twice a day (moring and night).  I bought some of these on Yesstyle and the rest on eBay from different South Korean stores. The brands that I will mention here are Etude House, Skinfood, Cosrx and Yadah.

 Here is a pic about the results so far.  Sorry looks a bit horrid  but real. acne is a pain in the neck, it dun' look like no field o' roses

On the left side is more or less how my skin looked pretty much always and ever since I was 11-12, and the right side is how my skin tends to look nowadays on good skin days, after using only Korean skincare items on my skin. 

 So I still have a number of red bumps and spots, and I usually have a breakout-period once per month. However it is still quite a big difference and even my breakouts are much, much milder and go away much quicker. Honestly, my skin has never been in such a good condition and I'm much happier with it than ever before.  

So here below is 1. what 2. how 3. when I use, and how each of the products work for me:

  My main skin problems btw: tons of acne , sensitive and very dry skin 

Skinfood  Rice brightening cleansing oil and foam

 I find that in general Skinfood's rice brightening line actually helps brighten your skin and they visibly help to make my skin look more even, brighter duh and less red. I use the oil first to dissolve all my makeup. Taking one pump is enough for me, lathers up well with just some drops of water. It effectively dissolves and removes a full face makeup.Then I take about a pea size amount of the cleansing foam. It has a pasty texture and it lathers up as you continue massaging it on the skin and add drops of water. Sometimes I like to leave it on for some minutes to work because it feels like a nice face mask.  It leaves the skin balanced, refershed, soft and smooth, brighter. This one feels more deep cleansing too. I can use it both day and night. They have the same smell, mild and pleasant, a bit like a nice rice-y fragrance.  And the packaing is cute and pretty!  Really love these two.

Yadah  Anti Trouble bubble cleanser and soothing toner

 Now Yadah was a brand that I had a really hard time finding reviews about. Yadah caught my attention because I liked their concept of minimalising harsh chemicals and focusing on using more natural, soothing, nourishing ingredients in their products. The foam cleanser is very mild, I don't use it in the night to remove makeup because it is not that deep cleansing for that in my opinion.  Instead I use this in the morning or on days when I don't wear makeup. It leaves the skin feeling so soft, clean and hydrated! The toner works how they claim, it is visibly soothing my acne spots so that's nice.  The glass bottle is a bit heavy almost, the size (100ml) is small, if you use it with a cotton pad it will run out quickly. Instead I put a pump or two on my hands and pat it on my face. I actually feel it works more efficiently that way. Also works as a soothing spot treatmeant. It does not dry out the skin at all, it leaves it feeling clean and balanced! Minimalistic but cute packaging. They both have the same mild fragrance, it reminds me of green tea and something citrusy or herbal, I really like it actually.  

Etude House  Baking powder pore cleansing foam and Wonder pore 10 in 1 freshner

 These two are both rather deep cleansing, but not drying at all! The baking powder foam cleanser also has a pasty consistency, I take a pea sized amount and massage it around plus add drops of water if I need to make it lather more. This one cleanses the pores more thoroughly, I use it on days when I had makeup on and need to cleanse as efficiently as possible. The toner is also quite deep cleansing, I put some on a cotton pad to wipe entire face to clean away any possible leftover makeup. My skin feels balanced, clean and hydrated  afterwards. These are both a must have for me. I am sure these two help me prevent a lot of breakouts. + Cute packaging!

COSRX  One step original clear pads

 Ok the packaging is just a win already, 10/10 👌 I love this cosrx guy on it, I've seen him appear in some of their product images but so happy they even put him on the packaging hah. These pads are the best thing I ever tried for my acne.  It feels very cooling and refreshing on the skin and makes it feel so hydrated&balanced. Sometimes I can skip moisturizer with this. And it calms my acne so well and quickly, makes smaller ones go away overnight. Would not want to live without these.  The smell is quite nice too and mild and refreshingly herb-ish in my opinion. It does not wipe away all my acne no, but it helped so far to clear up my skin a lot. I could really see and both feel the difference even after the first use. You get 70 pads in one box btw. When I run out I will surely buy 2-3 boxes at the same time because you can use them up quickly. 

COSRX  Natural BHA skin returning A-Sol and Advanced snail mucin power essence

 As for the BHA toner, I bought it in order to use it as spot treatment and that is what I would only recommend it for because it is quite drying otherwise. Sometimes it makes spots go away, sometimes it makes them grow bigger....I don't know. I would not repurchase this. I feel the Original clear pads actually do a great job treating my spots and actually calm them. Moving on to the snail essence, I never thought this could be beneficial for my acne prone skin, but it somehow makes it visibly more calm and nourished and feels more 'elastic'. A tiny amount goes a long way! It's useful, it's a keeper. 

Skinfood  Milk shake point makeup remover and Premium peach cotton toner

 The point makeup remover is inteded to use to remove eye makeup and long lasting lipstick and it works perfectly efficiently for that, yay! It doesn't leave an oily or strange feeling on the skin. Cheaper than other lip and eye makeup removers. A decent amount of product in the bottle. Super cute packaing, love it. The peach toner is another huge win. This is supposed to be used on oily skin so I was afraid it might dry my skin out a lot. But it makes it very supple and smooth like nothing else. And I mean seriously smooth, it gives the best ever base for makeup. Therefore I only use this in the morning when I know I will wear makeup that day. It gives a nice smooth surface, my foundation sits soo much nicer and smoother and it controls sebum and oils through the whole day. Seriously impressive. The peach smell to it is strong but it goes away, and it doesn't smell too unnatural, smells fine I think.  + Another cute packaging. It doesn't break me out at all, in fact, as I said it controls the skin super well. If you use makeup, you need this, regardless of skin type.

Skinfood  Rice mask wash off

 This one has an interesting thin consistency with very fine soft grains in it. You can go light-handed with this one, it's enough to just make sure to have a thin even layer on the whole face. I use this 2-3 times a week. It's nice to put it on when my skin feels drier and flakier. Like when it feels like you could use a face mask lol. Always leaves my skin feeling super smooth and soft, hydrated.  It definitely brightens too and makes my skin look less red and way more even in tone. If you are looking for extra moisture though you might (also) wanna pick up their black sugar mask!

Yadah  Pore refining emulsion

 This emulsion feels very cooling, it absorbs quickly, gives sufficient moisture and leaves my skin smooth and very soft. I do think my pores look better and smaller thanks to this. But most of all it makes my skin feel so well nourished from the inside. I rarely skip using this. Packaging's simple but cute.

Yadah  Anti-t moisturizing cream

 This one has a very interesting thin, unique consistency, not sure how to describe it. A small amount goes a very long way and it's so moisurizing!  The packaing itself is some kind of glass it's kinda heavy (same as the Anti T toner), not so good for travelling, but...~ It doesn't leave the skin tacky or oily at all, just very soft and well moisturized. Can always count on this one. Would recommend this for every skintype, oily or dry skin too. Though if you are looking for extra or 150% guarenteed moisture I'd suggest you pick up Yadah's Pure green moisturizer. All in all I love all Yadah products I have because they are all calming and nourishing for the skin. 

Here is the order I use these~ I don't claim this is how every item has to follow each other but this works for me~

Tip: always wait a little before applying following product.

Individually, these are all affordable. Sure the costs add up when you buy several items but they are still much cheaper than many fancy brands and work way better. I wouldn't go back to regular EU or US brands. Plus you get a decent amount of product with each and they last up to months, some I think might last for a year.

 You don't necessarily need to have 12 or 10 items in your skincare routine, it's up to you what works for you.~ I started with 5 items, they worked fine but I was curious if I could make my routine more effective&intense. Now I can say the results wouldn't be the same if I skipped any of these.

Unlike 95% of things I tried before, these never caused any irritation whatsoever.  My skin is far from perfect still but I feel like these products actually do what they can and help a lot. If you are debating whether to try some of these popular hyped items I'd definitely say go for it. ~~