Review: Etude House First Snow Ice Cotton Toner

Item Reviewed: Etude House First Snow Ice Cotton Toner

Price/pack size: S$25.90/150ml aerosol can

Available at: Etude House retail outlets (Sadly, you can’t get this from Gmarket as it cannot be shipped via air)

Ingredients: *all in Korean…*

Description: Solution sprays to form ice cold toner pad for moisturizing, pore constriction and soothing efficacies.

Usage: Shake well and spray onto palm in circular motion until formation of round pad. Press flat and use pad to apply toner to all areas of face and neck.

Review: I was intrigued by this product when I read about it on Mischievous Mack. Tried to save money by attempting to buy it on Gmarket, but unfortunately, this product cannot be shipped overseas due to its packaging (aerosols are classified as dangerous goods). Luckily, it wasn’t too expensive in the stores. The product reminds me of silly string! But it was not silly at all… the product solidifies to form the cotton pad and can be applied to face quickly and easily. I don’t think it can save you money by replacing cotton pads because you won’t get a lot of product in one can, but you’re paying for the novel idea.

The toner is cooling and feels really nice on skin, especially after a hot and grimy day. It smells quite nice, quite like Elizabeth Arden’s green tea perfume. As you wipe the “cotton pad” around your face, it will get smaller and smaller, eventually leaving you with a small piece that cannot get any smaller, and that’s when you know you can throw the lint away. The toner dries quickly on face, and is also moisturizing so oily skinned girls may choose to skip moisturizer if they wish. Having used it 3x so far, I cannot comment on pore constriction, but it is moisturizing enough for me.

Rating: 3/5

Would I buy again: Maybe… not sure if it’s value for money yet.

Review: Mario Badescu Facial Spray

Item Reviewed: Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs & Rosewater

Price/pack size: US$7/4 oz. bottle

Available at: Onlyaesthetics, 5 locations including Delfi Orchard & Holland Village (I ordered mine online though)

Ingredients: Deionized Water,Aloe Extract, Bladderwrack Extract,Herbal Extract, Rose Extract,Gardenia Extract,Propylene Glycol

Description: A refreshing, hydrating mist to use anywhere anytime. Simply formulated with fragrant Herbal Extracts and Rosewater for a pleasant, pick me up for dehydrated, tight and uncomfortable skin. Spray your day and night creams for a boost of hydration or use it to set make-up or spray on dry hair throughout the day. Safe for all skin types. Gentle, non-irritating.

Usage: Mist on face, neck and hair as needed. Will not disturb make-up.

Review: I usually use it as a daytime toner (I use the AHA toner, also by MB, at night) – spray 5 times into the heart of my palm and pat it gently all over face. I’ve been using it for a while now and haven’t got a breakout, so that’s pretty good news to those acne-prone I suppose.

This is great if you are looking for a boost of moisture without heavy creams/gels/lotions. The aloe content really helps to hydrate skin. I also love the short and simple ingredient list.

Rating: 4/5

Would I buy again: Maybe

Review: Hydrosols from Yours Essentially

Picture credits to Viva Woman

Item Reviewed: Hydrosols (Rose, Lavender, Lemon Balm & Neroli)

Price/pack size: ~$4-5 /15ml

Available at: Yours Essentially

Ingredients:

Description: Hydrosols or distillates are products from steam distilling plant materials used for aroma-therapeutic purposes. They cannot be made by combining essential oils with water. The highest quality of hydrosols come from the distillers who steam the floral and plant material strictly to produce a hydrosol. Yours Essentially offers hydrosols that are produced in this manner. Hydrosols contain very small doses of the essential oil; they are usually clear and have the appearance and consistency of water. They are also generally safer for babies and individuals with low immune systems.

Pure hydrosols do not have possess the anti-bacterial properties as compared to essential oils, hence they are subject to degradation. Our hydrosols are free of additives and preservatives; they are a fresh product and should be treated like perishables. Store them in the fridge to prolong their shelf life, however, it is fine to decant a small amt to bring out as a facial/body freshener.

There are many uses for hydrosols and they will impart both fragrance and therapeutic benefits to your products. Gentle enough even for babies, Lavender, Helichrysum or Rose can be used for a nappy rash; spray directly on skin to soothe and heal, or add some to small bucket of warm water for washing at change time. It can also replace synthetic baby wipes.

You could use them as toners (we love!), body sprays, DIY clay masks formulation, room sprays. Expired hydrosols (don’t toss them out!) could also be diluted to water the plants or used as a hair rinse.

Review: I’ve been using hydrosols on and off for some time now, with Garden of Wisdom introducing them to me. But I haven’t been completely satisfied with GoW’s level of service and packing (perhaps they were just starting to get busy with many international orders then), so I stopped using hydros after I finished my bottles. Then recently, I started to get into them again after my toner was running low.

Naturally, I had to have rose and lavender cos they were my favourite scents. I’ve used all up except for Neroli (but that’s running low too) and have to say, I LOVE lavender. It’s pretty hydrating for a simple hydrosol (I spray about 4 times and let dry in between each spray), and I simply love the scent. It’s all natural and no alcohol too, so that’s a plus! I also use hydrosols as a wetting agent for my masks.

Rating: 5/5

Would I buy again: YES!

Clinelle Purifying Toner

More reviews!

I promise to update soon! I have tons to items to review – GoW fruit hydrating mists, strawberry scrub, scar cream, WPK hydrosols, and the latest buy, Clinelle scrub & whitening mask!

Coming soon!

Love love,
“psawyer”

Helichrysum hydrosol

Product brand: Unknown
Product name: Helichrysum hydrosol
Product price: SGD$7 for 30ml
Product quantity:30ml/60ml

Description:

Helichrysum Hydrosol is the aromatic water obtained from Helichrysum italicum. Helichrysum Essential Oil is known for its anti-inflammatory and healing characteristics. Our Helichrysum Hydrosol contains small amounts of essential oil and shares many of the same qualities and can be used in much the same way.

The gentler helichrysum hydrosol is the perfect toner for Rosacea, couperose (thread veins) and inflamed or irritated skin. It is a wonderful cool compress for bruises, as well. Having seen how wonderful Helichrysum’s essential oil is in healing scars, I’d suggest trying helichrysum hydrosol (perhaps blended with calendula hydrosol?) for treating acne scars.

We’ve used it diluted (and sometimes mixed with Tea Tree EO) as a mouthwash after oral surgery or tooth extraction. Some recommend it as a mouthwash for gingivitis and/or receding gums.

I’ve heard back from people using Helichrysum Hydrosol and Roman Chamomile hydrosol together to sooth sunburns, radiation burns, rashes, skin irritations of all types. One client raves about the combination in keeping eczema manageable.

This hydrosol works well as an after workout/sports rub due to its powerful anti-inflammatory and mild analgesic properties.

Helichrysum hydrosol is very helpful aftercare in any surgery helping to speed the healing of incisions and needle wounds while also helping to reduce swelling and bruising.

It has also been used by men before and after shaving to help prevent and/or heal ingrown hairs.

Review: michelle and jess were raving abt how good hydrosols were in the forum, and michelle also told me that hydrosols are much better than rosewater toners. i guess there shld be a tinge of truth to it (hvn’t done my research yet) since the prices differ so much. i bought my helichrysum hydrosol locally at whoopeekiddies.com cos both MRH and GoW are out of stock till many months later.

i’ve been using my hydrosol for the past few days, using it day and night, after my rosewater toner (paranoia about not washing my makeup off cleanly) . no doubt it stinks, i’ve already been forewarned about the herbal smell, so i’m ok with it. i haven’t seen much reduction in my acne scars, however the hydrosol absorbs very quickly into the skin and leaves my skin very soft and smooth! with such a low price, i think it’s definitely worth a try!

Garden of Wisdom spree

Sorry, spree has closed!

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I swear those girls on LD are bad influence!!! I actually made up my mind not to buy anymore skincare products unless they’re a necessity (like my rosewater toner which I’ve only repurchased when I only had 1 last application left out of my old bottle). Then, all the raves and talks on the forum about hydrosols and whatnots from MountainRoseHerbs (MRH) made me interested. Especially when I’ve always wanted to buy stuff from Garden of Wisdom (GoW) but never did because I only had 1 pathetic mask sample in mind.

So now, I guess I might be ordering from GoW (MRH doesn’t offer sample sizes, shipping is expensive too!). If anyone wants to order and share shipping, please let me know! =D

So far, I have the following in mind:
- GoW Pumpken Mask 5ml (US$2.70): claims to be very good in clearing out pores and brightening face
- German Chamomile Hydrosol 1 oz w/ mister (US$1.90): sets and refreshes mineral makeup! Good as a toner too
- Green tea powder *65% catechins* 1 oz (US$3.80): thought of using it as a mask.
- Soy wax (pure) 8 oz (US$1.05): base for DIY lipbalms! =D
- Kukui Nut Oil 2 oz (US$5.90): for DIY lipbalms too!

Shipping is abt US$12 for flat rate envelope… sounds good to me! But I reckon I can add a few more items to maximise postage.