We Tried It: Korean Beauty Products

The beauty world won’t stop buzzing about the latest in Korean skincare, so I figured it was time to play catch up by testing out a few of the wackiest (and coolest) products found during a recent trip to N.Y.C.’s Tony Moly in K-Town. Below, my reviews! 

Courtesy Sarah Kinonen

Who Tried It: Sarah Kinonen, Style & Beauty Editorial Assistant
What I Tried: Tony Moly Kiss Kiss Lovely Lip Patch
Level of Difficulty: 4
Level of Effectiveness: 5
Here’s the deal: For my official Korean beauty tester product, I decided to start out with something (fairly) simple. So I reached for my Tony Moly Kiss Kiss Lovely Lip Patch to turn my dry, cracked lips into a “soft, smooth and kissable” pout (as the packaging claims). After applying the very slimy gelatin-like “patch” onto my pout, I immediately had to hit the couch since the mask was so slippery I had to wear it while lying on my back. Once I was comfortable, I had to keep it on for 20 minutes (!), which meant no moving and absolutely no talking (something my boyfriend didn’t seem to mind). While it was wasn’t the easiest product to use, I did manage to use those 20 minutes to empty out my Gmail and double-tap too many cute puppies on Instagram. So it really wasn’t that bad. Once time was up, I slowly took off the mask to reveal slightly smoother and softer lips — but unfortunately it was only temporary. Within a half hour, my dry skin was making a nasty comeback. So overall, the patch was super-cool in theory, but didn’t quite meet my expectations.

Courtesy Sarah Kinonen

What I Tried: Tony Moly’s Intense Care Syn-Ake Eye Mask
Level of Difficulty: 3
Level of Effectiveness: 7
Here’s the deal: The next night, I wanted to focus on my puffy under-eye bags (which usually require a lot of concealer to hide) with the brand’s Intense Care Syn-Ake Eye Mask — a pair of eye patches that claim to be made out of a synthetic peptide found in snake venom. So I slowly took them out of the packaging (fully expecting to experience the same slime sensation as the lip patch) and applied them to my freshly washed face. These stuck slightly better than the lip mask, but they still weren’t the easiest to wear. The package said to leave directly under my eyes for 30 to 40 minutes, but I felt uncomfortable with the masks that close to my eyes, so I moved them slightly down and left on for the allotted time. Once it was time to take off the patches, I immediately noticed a bit of a tightness where they sat. Since the recommended use is two times a week, I guarantee if I were to use the patches twice a week, every week, my puffy bags would eventually fade away.

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Courtesy Sarah Kinonen

What I Tried: Tony Moly’s Red Cheeks Girl’s Patch
Level of Difficulty: 7
Level of Effectiveness: 5
Here’s the deal: Enter in the wackiest product I’ve ever tried: Tony Moly’s Red Cheeks Girl’s Patch. As someone whose fair-skinned, sometimes I fall victim to redness in my cheeks, (that could also be because I’m constantly embarrassing myself, but who knows?), which is why I was interested in trying a product that claims to hydrate, soothe and reduce natural redness. Anyway, like the other products, these slippery, slimy patches weren’t the easiest to wear. In fact, one of them actually ripped while applying (if you look hard enough, you can see which one!). And because they were made out of the same gelatin-like material as the lip mask, I had to lie down while wearing them for the 30 minute-period. But once 30 minutes was up, my cheeks were slightly lighter in color but very wet from the excess liquid in the patches. Overall, I’d say they temporary soothed my skin, but for long-lasting results, I’d have to work the patches into my beauty routine two or three times a week.

Courtesy Sarah Kinonen

What I Tried: Tony Moly Egg Pore Nose Pack
Level of Difficulty: 1
Level of Effectiveness: 8
Here’s the deal: And finally, I ended my Korean beauty experimentation project on an old favorite. (OK, so it’s new to me, but the concept is from a favorite Biore product I relied on in middle and high school to unclog the pores on my nose — you know what I’m talking about.) After showering in the early morning and slightly wetting my nose, I applied a Tony Moly Egg Pore Nose Pack with every intention of ridding my nose of every blackhead in sight. I kept the patch on until it completely dried (or after 15 minutes) and slowly peeled it off, one side at a time. And like the Biore strips, this one pulled the backheads right off. Like, enough to make me want to go out and buy 35738760 more patches to de-clog ALL of my pores. It’s safe to say that out of everything I tried out, the nose strips were hands down my favorite, as they offered the most results in a speedy amount of time.

What do you think of the products? Would you ever try them out? Share below!

–Sarah Kinonen
Follow @sarahkinonen

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