Mega Empties Post Part 1: Acne Skincare, Lotions, Cleansers, Oil Makeup Removers

It's been a while since my last empties post in October last year, and since them, I've accumulated a loooot of empties to show you guys! To be clear though, not alll of these are my empties, there are a few bits and bobs in there that are contributed by my mother and sister, because they do help themselves to some of my skincare products from time to time! I'm happy to let them indulge though, because to be honest, I obviously have way more skincare than I can ever use up!

Oh yes, look at all the empties I've accumulated!

The products I (with a little help from mum and sis) have used up really run the gamut - every step of the skincare and makeup routine is covered here! But because this would be too long of a post, I've split it up into two. For today, we'll just cover the acne skicare (unfortunately this is all mine, my mum and sis have way better skin than me, sigh), lotions and toners, as well as cleansers and makeup removers.

Who's been a good girl and using up all her skincare before opening a new one? Yours truly!

So, without further ado, let's get started! I'm officially going to cram a bunch of mini-reviews together into this blogpost, so let's hope this doesn't end up being too long!

Stuff I've Used Up! Super Mega Empties Post: Skincare and Makeup

This is a pretty major empties post, because the last time I blogged about my empties was half a year ago in December last year (it was also a pretty large post, that I split into two parts, part 1 and part 2). This time around, I have even more stuff!

The nice thing about empties is that, for me, using a product up comes with a sense of accomplishment (as in, hey, I actually stuck to something long enough to use it up!) and also a sense of permission (as in, hey, I've used up a lipstick, now I can buy another lipstick)! So for a beauty junkie like me, it's both gratifying and enabling!



Obviously, there's a lot to go through, so without further ado, let's jump right in!

ISOI Bulgarian Rose Blemish Care Serum Review and Ingredients Analysis

ISOI is a Korean skincare brand that touts itself as using natural products and "no harmful chemicals" (quote directly from the front page of the website). ISOI stands for "I SO Intelligent", and the main page of the ISOI site also encourages people to "Be an Intelligent Customer, and use isoi" and its "speed-effective natural skin care". And, the bestselling product from ISOI is its Bulgarian Rose Blemish Care Serum, which I'm reviewing today.

ISOI Bulgarian Rose Blemish Care Serum: The best-selling product from ISOI

Let me first say, the irony of encouraging people to be intelligent consumers while trashing "harmful chemicals" and promoting "natural skin care" in general is not lost on me. The fact is, as far as skincare is concerned, chemicals are not inherently bad, and not everything natural is automatically good. This is particularly the case for skincare, where the application is topical, as opposed to ingested, so while certain ingredients are good for the body when eaten, they might not have the same effect on skin. For example, even simple, natural things like lemon juice can be bad when applied to skin, because they are phototoxic could trigger skin reactions when exposed to sunlight after application, while certain "chemicals" like retinols, are good for skin.


ISOI Bulgarian Rose Blemish Care Serum: ISOI bills itself as a natural skincare brand with no harmful chemicals
But that's just the marketing, and in a highly competitive market, brands will market themselves in whatever way sells best to the customer and gets their attention. And, the natural skincare trend has been blooming for awhile (as we've recently seen at BeautyAsia 2015 and other trade shows), and shows no signs of abating. And since I'm the kind of consumer who pays more attention to the ingredients list of the product than who the spokesperson for the brand is, I'm pretty much indifferent to how the product is marketed. So, marketing aside, how does the product fare?

To answer that question, we'll start at my very favourite (and my very usual) place to begin a product review - the ingredients list!

La Roche Posay Serozinc Ingredients Review and Analysis: What Does the Science Say About Zinc Sulphate?

La Roche Posay Serozinc has been making quite the waves on the blogosphere, and many bloggers seem to be raving about this product, and following a twitter conversation with Ling, who has her own blog, I got the idea that, in light of all the raves Serozinc has been getting, it would be good for me to take a more analytical approach to the product. La Roche Posay claims that the product "cleanses superficial skin irritations" on their website, and the product is promoted as an anti-blemish toner. You apply it to cleansed skin, wait for a while, and then continue on with the rest of your regime.

La Roche Posay's Serozinc is highly anticipated and highly raved (Source)

Escentual's site promotes Serozinc as "created with just three ingredients: La Roche-Posay’s ultra-soothing thermal spring water, healing zinc sulphate (0.10%) and astringent sodium chloride (0.75%). Together, these three ingredients target blemishes, marks and excess oiliness, ensuring your complexion feels fresh and comfortable at any time of day." So I guess we already know what the product is made of, and what the claims are. A lot of the rave reviews for Serozinc seem to have come from the fact that it is so simply formulated, which I suppose must be refreshing in a sea of products making complicated ingredient claims.

Serozinc is really getting a lot of hype despite the simple formulation (Source)

But before I start, I must clarify that I have never actually tried this product myself personally. Although ideally a more complete "review" (in the sense of a blog review) would have my own personal experience with the product woven in (as I do with my normal reviews), for the purposes of this post, we are looking at what the science says about the usefulness of Zinc Sulphate, which will in turn help consumers (like you and me!) decide whether it's really worth spending your hard-earned money on the product. So just take this as me doing your science homework for you, to help you make an educated decision before you buy the product! So, without further ado, let's take a look at the ingredients in the product!

LJH Cosmetics Tea Tree 90 Essence Review and Ingredients Analysis

LJH Cosmetics (or LeeJiHam Cosmetics) is a Korean line of skincare (and some cosmetics, like BB creams), and is a line that is fairly niche, and fairly new to me - I've never heard of the brand until now! LJH apparently stands for LeeJiHam, and is the last names of its three founders, Lee Yu-Deuk, Ji Hye-Gu, and Ham Ik-Byeong (last names are all listed first as per Korean convention), and the three founders are also all doctors, hence the billing of some of the LJC Cosmetics product ranges as "Doctor's Care". LJH Cosmetics also likes to bill itself as a "cosmeceutical", rather than a cosmetic company, so it does seem to me that the company has a lot of its marketing riding on its "doctor" credentials. You guys know I'm all about skincare that's backed by science, so this brand piqued my curiousity.

LJH Cosmetics Tea Tree 90 Essence: A Korean product that targets blemishes

One of the first things I tried was the LJH Cosmetics Tea Tree 90 Essence, because it was one of their more popular blemish products. And although I'm going to be turning 30 in a few years (time flies!), it still seems to me that my acne and pimples are still partying like it's 2004 or something. Anyway, this was the first product that caught my eye, and I thought I should review it on my blog!


LJH Cosmetics was apparently founded by three doctors, and "LJH" are their last names' initials.
As usual, we start off with the ingredients list, which is always my favourite place to look, because you know, beauty science is pretty fun. After all, if the brand was started by three doctors, it should be pretty impressive ingredients-wise! So that's the perfect place to start