Labo Labo Super Moist Review: Gel, Lotion, UV Cream, W-Washing

Labo Labo, a subsidiary brand of Dr Ci:Labo, is a Japanese skincare brand, with an emphasis on simple products that give results, driven by science. The brand also believes in minimizing some ingredients that could be perceived as problematic by customers, such as fragrance, colouring, and mineral oil. Recently, they've launched their Labo Labo Super Moist 5H5C skincare range, which is a moisturizing line that also targets the first signs of aging. The Super Moist line consists of the Super Moist W-Washing cleanser, the Super Moist Lotion, the Super Moist Gel, which is basically a lightweight gel moisturizer, and the Super Moist UV Cream, a sunscreen.

Labo Labo Super Moist 5H5C Skincare Range: Consists of a Gel, Lotion, UV Cream, and W-Washing cleanser

As you can tell, the range is pretty much a simple skincare routine unto itself - cleanse, lotion, moistuizer, and sunscreen. You'll notice that there's the tagline "5H x 5C" on the packaging of the products too. That refers to the brand's claim that the products have 5 kinds of hyaluronic acid (Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Acetyl Hyaluronic Acid, Hyaluronic Acid Hydroxypropyltrimonium, Hyaluronic Acid Dimethyl Silanol Hyaluronate, and Sodium Hyaluronate), as well as 5 kinds of collagen (Hydrolyzed Collagen, Water-Soluble Collagen, Succinyl Atelo Collagen, AMPD-Isostearoyl Hydrolyzed Collagen, and Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Collagen).

In addition to collagen and hyaluronic acid, the products also contain EGF (Epidermal Growth Factor, which shows up in the ingredients lists as rh-Oligopeptide-1), which is a kind of protein tht is thought to stimulate cell growth, which could be useful in topical applications, and could potentially be useful in wound healing. There are also 3 types of plant ingredients (Brown Algae, which shows up in the ingredients lists as Eisenia Arborea Extract, Glucosylceramide, and Millet Seed Extracts). So between the plant extracts, proteins, and hyaluronic acid, there's something for everyone in this range!


Labo Labo Super Moist 5H5C Skincare Range: With 5 kinds of collagen, 5 kinds of hyaluronic acid, EGF, and 3 plant ingredients
Collagen, hyaluronic acid, growth factor, and plant extracts - it sounds exciting, doesn't it? And of course, you're probably wondering, wht would this look like in the products, and how would they work? To find out, let's take a closer look! This is going to be a long review, with 4 products to look at in-depth, so I hope you're ready!

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser Review and Ingredients Analysis

Cetaphil's Gentle Skin Cleanser has been one of my staple products for awhile, but I've just never gotten around to actually doing a proper review until now! I'm sure you've heard of it, unless you've been living under a rock. It's pretty popular as "the cleanser for sensitive skins". One of my roomates back in University (a long, long, long time ago, before this blog was started even!), once commented when she saw the Gentle Skin Cleanser in my skincare stash, "Oh, you're using that! That's the one all the sensitive skin people use!" When you get to that point, you know the product has quite the cult following among its users. It's not just among users though, some of the dermatologists I've been to have also suggested this product as one of the affordable but easily available gentle cleansers for sensitive skin, which is how I started using the product in the first place.

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser: One of the world's most iconic cleansers

Obviously, as you can tell, I've used the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser since before I even started this blog - and in fact, before I even started University (now that's even longer ago!), and it's still in my beauty stash to this day. There is one sitting right at my sink, in the largest size you can buy, right now. Yet, I've never actually written a proper review on this cleanser, although I did mention in this beauty box review that I've been using Cetaphil for a long time. I put it down to the fact that sometimes, simple everyday products often get less attention than the flashier, newer things, and with new skincare products flooding the market all the time, it's easy to often overlook reviewing the daily staples.


Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser: A famous cleanser that is also one of my personal favourites
Well, not any more! Finally (after years later), I am getting around to giving this a proper review. And as with always, I like to start with the ingredients list, to take a closer look at what's in the product.

The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam and Real Nature Face Mask Rice Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Face Shop's Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam and Real Nature Mask Rice are some fairly popular products from the brand, and this year, they are banded together as a set for The Face Shop's Christmas 2015 Around The World collection! I have a few items from the Around The World collection, but I thought that I'd split my review of the collection into 2 parts, so that the post wouldn't be too long. In particular, I've noticed that the Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam seems to be quite widely used, so I thought that this set deserved a little more attention on its own!

The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam and Real Nature Face Mask Rice

Although both products are rice-themed, and thus actually quite compatibly packaged together, they don't actually come from the same skincare range. The Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam is one of several Rice Water-themed skincare items, including a cleansing oil and a cleansing milk. The Real Nature Face Mask Rice, meanwhile, comes from a range of Real Nature Face Masks - in addition to Rice, you have Real Nature Mask Aloe, Real Nature Mask Green Tea, Real Nature Mask Kelp, and quite a bunch more. In the Around The World gift set, you get one cleanser together with two of the sheet masks.


The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam and Real Nature Face Mask Rice: Comes in a set as part of the Around The World Holiday 2015 Collection
Anyway, without further ado, let's start our look at both the Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam and Real Nature Face Mask! Of course these are super cute and very gift-able as a set, but let's look at the ingredients in the product, and see how they work!

BonjourHK Haul and Mini-Reviews: DHC, Hada Labo, Dr Bauer and More!

I'm always discovering new ways to buy more makeup and beauty products from, and recently I was introduced to BonjourHK's onlince website! I'm actually somewhat familiar with Bonjour, as it is a chain of stores across Hong Kong selling beauty products at accessible prices, much like Ulta (if you're in the US), Watsons, Guardian or Sasa (if you're in Asia). When I visited Hong Kong 3 years back, I stepped into quite a few Bonjour shops, although I didn't buy anything (I ended up with the smallest haul ever - sigh!). But the thing I liked about Bonjour is the eclectic mix of brands and products - there's everything from mainstream brands to niche Asian beauty brands I've never heard of before.

My BonjourHK Haul: A whole bunch of skincare and makeup items from various Asian brands

I actually never realized that Bonjour had an online website, but they do! And the website has pretty cheap shipping (which is free if you buy above a certain dollar amount threshold), and they ship internationally, too. And of course, the range of brands and types of products are just as varied as ever - there's everything from skincare to makeup to skin devices, and the brands range from fairly mainstream Asian brands (like DHC and Hada Labo) to more niche ones (like Choosy and Yu Mei). I was super excited when the package arrived, right on time within the 7-21 days window stated on the website.


My BonjourHK Haul: Includes brands both fairly well-known, as well as some undiscovered gems
The mass of products above, as well as the fact that I actually want to do a mini-review for each product rather than just run through the haul, means that this post is going to be pretty long (and photo heavy). So if you're going to read onwards, don't forget to buckle up before you go! And if you're all ready, let's just head straight into my product-by-product quick review!

Bioderma Review: Sensibio, Sebium, Hydrabio, ABCDerm Micellar Cleansing Water

Bioderma's Sensibio H2O micellar cleanser is one of the more popular cleansing waters around, but did you know that Bioderma's H2Ocleanser range also includes other related products? I didn't know this, but apparently there is also Sebium, Hydrabio, and ABCDerm. Sebium is for oily skin, while Hydrabio is for dry skin, and ABCDerm? It's actually for babies. So there you go - basically a Bioderma for every need, beyond the classic Sensibio!

Bioderma Sensibio, Sebium, Hydrabio, ABCDerm Micellar Cleansing Waters: One for every skin type

I know you're probably looking at the clear, simple-looking plastic bottles of watery-looking liquid, and probably wondering: is there any difference between the two? Which one should I actually buy? And truth be told, it's a reasonable question to ask - after all, all of the liquids in the various bottles look like water (if you don't count the tint in the Sebium version) and feel like water, and to the eye, there is no discernible difference. But of course, if you're like me, then you know the best place to start with such an examination: the ingredients list!


Bioderma Sensibio, Sebium, Hydrabio, ABCDerm Micellar Cleansers - the options you have are many
Yes, this is going to be one of those ingredients analysis pots with all my geekery. But I thought before I do that, I thought I would answer the question: Why is a micellar cleanser called a micellar cleanser? What is a micelle anyway? Is it just a different name for the same old thing? So with that - let's recall something from our old school days: emulsions!