Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Review: SKIN79 Super+ Hot Pink BB Cream

I prefer much lighter foundation products for the spring and summer. In both, it starts warm to blazing hot. This means my combination skin goes from combination-dry to combination-oil slick on my T-zone as well as the area closest to my nose! Really, really gross. No amount of powder will quell it for long. Its like an angry sea monster: once it's been angered, it is the biggest challenge to calm it. With all that oil and the heat, my liquid foundation melts off areas quickly and it can feel like a mask. Ewwww.

Even now, in March, my face feels a bit oily. Its also been much warmer than usual at the moment.

I turned to tinted moisturizers and then BB cream. I initially would mix my foundation with my moisturizer for lighter coverage on days I didn't want the full cover of my foundation and was too lazy to use a brush or my fingers to blend. That didn't last long. Next I tried out a a real tinted moisturizer. UGH. It had SPF 50 and it was the only one I liked to use to protect my face during the summer.

Biggest.
Mistake.
Ever.

One of the two active ingredients for the SPF was titanium dioxide and a lot of it. I'm allergic to titanium.  This was the one product I was using on my face that caused me pretty big breakouts in little clusters. I don't get many breakouts nor are they usually clustered together. I get, on average, maybe 3-4 pimples in various places (forehead, chin, maybe my cheeks) and whiteheads on my nose on a pretty rare occasion. I was not happy to have these pimple clusters! When I determined what was breaking me out, I chucked it. It didn't match me very well, because in the US, "Light to Natural" means "Orange to REALLY ORANGE." That was also the lightest shade available. I dislike many drugstore foundations for that: they don't make a shade lighter than whatever light shade they already have so when my makeup oxidizes, it looks unnatural. Particularly when you're very fair. I'm also so very wary of what I put on my face in terms of foundation, particularly from the drugstore. (I know Rimmel London makes some pretty light shades of foundation, but like I said, really wary of what I use!)

Now to the BB cream. I chose the Super+ Hot Pink from SKIN79 because its meant for acne and controlling sebum. Two things I deal with in the summer, mainly all that oil. I can say from the time I used that 5g mini-tube, it did control my oil nicely and didn't oxidize to looking unnatural! It does oxidize from being gray to match your skin but won't oxidize any further thankfully. With 40g now, I should have enough to last me a nice amount of time. I've never personally had much issue with it fading away, as I used the 5g tube during the time I was in school and I would have to walk home. I also had given up on touching up my face during the day at the time, haha. Admittedly, it would fade a little from sweat but hey, I still looked pretty good!

I do realize that this BB cream uses titanium dioxide as well, but since its SPF 25, it isn't quite as extreme as the tinted moisturizer. This hasn't caused me any breakouts! I wore it for some weeks till I ran out, didn't notice any more pimples than I ordinarily would.

Box + Bottle
This comes in a hot pink box with the product name on the front and "BB" as well as the SKIN79 logo in a holographic-silver foil. On the top of the box is a red circle with "SUPER+ Beblesh Balm" on it in white. If you look at the front of the box, you'll notice that it says "Wrinkle Improvement," which was added in 2012. Previously it said "Wrinkle Free." On the sides of the box is information about the product in Korean and English. The QR code, when scanned, takes you to the SKIN79 Korean site. This is another great marker to determine if you have real SKIN79. On the bottom is a barcode and the manufacturing date as well as an expiration date. The back of the box should also have a perforated line to open the box and view the instructions inside. Obviously, I already opened my box.


Inside the box is printed with SKIN79 all over along with information about the BB and instructions in three languages (English, Korean, and Japanese). It also includes an application diagram.
Now the bottle...
Rilakkuma iPod 4 case (5 in/12.7 cm), BB Cream (3 ½ in/8.89 cm), iPod Touch 4 (4 ¼ in/10.79 cm)


Rilakkuma Case w/ iPod 4 in it & BB Cream

The bottle is pretty short. Transparent hot pink, matching the box with the same text and coloring. The bottle has the signature Authenticity sticker, which says "VOID" when it's pulled off. A seller on Amazon, Seoul Glamour, I believe, said bottles made after mid-December no longer include the Authenticity sticker. Mine was manufactured in November 2012. I cannot say if this is true or not but I will most likely contact the North American SKIN79 sellers (licensed by Wizcoz to sell SKIN79) and ask if the sticker is still in place or not. The button is a simple, lightbulb-like silver button which is a very easy marker to determine if you have real product. The nozzle won't have a plastic cover when you first open the box and take out the bottle. The bottom is attached to the bottle, as the whole thing is one big shell. No silver bottoms! On the back in white is the same paragraph in English from the box.
See the holographic quality of the "BB" logo and SKIN79?
Back of the BB. Note the security sticker
The button
Man I love this BB cream. I only apply BB cream with my fingers, rather than a brush as I would do with my regular foundation. Application is simple if you follow the diagram in the box! I usually take a small amount, dot it on my cheeks, nose, chin, forehead and then blend it into each area. I put a lot of focus on my undereye area since I've been needing to conceal some darkness there. I give a minute or two to set while I do other things (change or get dressed, mess with my hair, etc). Put some powder on top and you're good to go! This won't (thankfully) leave skin feeling sticky without powder as liquid foundation can be without powder or like Garnier's "BB Cream"-labeled tinted moisturizer.*

Scan of the interior box

Left: Neutrogena SkinClearing Liquid Foundation in 10 Classic Beige, Right: SKIN79 Super+ Hot Pink (unblended)**
Left: Neutrogena SkinClearing Liquid Foundation in 10 Classic Beige, Right: SKIN79 Super+ Hot Pink (blended)
Left: Neutrogena SkinClearing Liquid Foundation in 10 Classic Beige, Right: SKIN79 Super+ Hot Pink (blended, with flash)
It won't match everyone, and not everyone will like it. It's lovely for summer if you can't find a tinted moisturizer or other light product that matches you and you're fair as I am! There are a lot of Asian brands that produce BB creams, so your options are pretty unlimited if you don't find this to your liking. I only paid about $13 on Amazon for this, from Pink Gelee, who only sells SKIN79. I can't find her store anymore, sadly. If you purchase through Amazon, don't bother with the customer reviews. Search for reviews of the seller elsewhere on the web! If you purchase through eBay, you can rely more on the reviews left by buyers. There's also the websites listed on the Muse's website.

PS: I emailed SKIN79 North America and they were no help. Seriously.
Here's what I said: "Hello. I was wondering if there had been a packaging change to the SKIN79 Hot Pink Super+ BB Cream, mainly in regards to the authenticity sticker. Has it been removed? One seller on Amazon said bottles produced after mid-December 2012 no longer had the authenticity sticker and I wanted to check if this information was true. I wasn’t going to buy from them, as I already have a real bottle of the Hot Pink. Thank you!"
Here's their response: "All sellers on Amazon and Ebay are not Authorized sellers, and have been known to "mix" real with fake.

Regarding the label, this is only a packaging concern, and has nothing to do with the original product contents.
Thanks, SKIN79 North America"
What??? Thanks for NOT answering my question, guys! Ze Boyfriend was even baffled by this. I wanted to slap whoever responded to my email. They never said whether or not the label was removed. Idiots!

*I will not be reviewing this or any other of the Western branded "BB creams," since they're purely tinted moisturizers without much pigment! There are other blogs that do have reviews of these "BB creams."

**This was a BB cream sample of Hot Pink, hence why its so much BB cream in the swatch! As you can see, this was oddly dark from the sample. I haven't checked out the bottle yet. Obviously, my liquid foundation doesn't match me whatsoever.  

UPDATE: I checked the BB with a tiny little dot I blended on my jawline. Perfect match ~
BIG UPDATE: Thanks to an anonymous commenter and her friend, I can assure you that SKIN79 Super+ Hot Pink BB Cream manufactured during 2013 still has the Authenticity sticker in place! Thank you for the tip too! Thanks to Nina (you can see her comment below), I have been informed that Wizcoz, the makers of SKIN79, has removed the authenticity stickers from the Hot Pink BB Cream manufactured in April 2013 and any bottles produced after. Rather an unfortunate thing, really; the sticker was a genius idea and really helped in identifying real product from fake.

LATEST UPDATE: It seems I'm updating this a lot... I follow Pretty & Cute on Facebook and have learned that SKIN79 has a global site! This means you can get information direct from SKIN79 in English (I'm sure you can accurately translate the website with a translator.) This is important: the authenticity label has been removed. This is official information and you can check global distributors, get information on fake products and the like. Shop safe, my lovely readers!!!!

UPDATE AS OF 11 DECEMBER 2013: SKIN79 has made changes to the Hot Pink BB Cream box. The perforation line is no longer on the box! Thanks to a reader below, the page featuring this information is linked here. There are also notices relating to other BB creams that you may find useful. Thank you to all of the readers who have left comments and information here! :)

Months later... Here's what my bottle looks like now in August. The holographic logos have become worn away, due to being in my bag. It has rubbed against clothing, a brush, a comb and has been tossed around on the floor when I dig through my bag.

 As well as that, here's the bottom of the bottle for some clarification on the manufacturing date.
This manufacturing date matches the box. I believe each is coded by batch.
 

SPOOKEHDOOM

31 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this review! I just received mine from an ebay seller and when I saw "Wrinkle Improvement" instead of "Wrinkle Free", I got so scared that I received a fake! I'm so glad you liked it -- can't wait to try it out myself! :)

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    1. You're most definitely welcome! :) SKIN79 changes packaging very frequently for this particular BB, to prevent fakes. They made the "Wrinkle Improvement" change last year. I would hope my makeup is wrinkle free already, since no one wants wrinkles ;)

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  2. So I think it would be better if, in case I would ask skin79 about authenticity stickers, not mentioning that I buy from ebay or amazon. This way they maybe reply in a correct way?! o.O

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    1. I was doing fact-checking and apparently the American branch, which, by the way, doesn't carry the Hot Pink BB, can't read. They just ignored the overall message and went after this one particular statement. One statement, without answering my question whatsoever. I would happily email the Korean branch but I wouldn't be able to translate the response if it does come back in Korean.

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  3. i'm confused if they have removed the authenticity stickers also i'm going to order one of of the skin79 north america website and see for myself (i'm also going to compare it with the real one my friend bought in Korea at one of the stores just to be sure)

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    1. SKIN79 North America only just brought this BB back to their site, with updated graphics. It would appear they have removed the stickers, but I would check with your friend's product. It depends on the manufacturing date on the packaging of both. Since your friend has the real product from the source (Sout Korea), it would be your best comparison. A good thing to note: your BB shouldn't have a silver bottom!!

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  4. Thanks I compared it and it was real :) but it still had the authenticity label on the back so I guess they havent removed them? I'm also going to qr scan it when my iPhone is done charging to see if it takes me to the Korean website to be extra sure it is real :)

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    1. You can check the manufacturing date on the bottom of the bottle. Mine says "20121129," meaning November 29th was the date it was produced. :) That will give you an idea of when the bottle was produced. Good luck and glad to know you got an authentic product!

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  5. it's such a relief to fin out it's real :). My BB cream was manufactured in February of this year so i guess they are going to continue to put the stickers on them? When i qr scanned it it took me to the official Korean website so i'm 100 percent sure it's authentic :)

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    1. If its from 2013, then it's probably a definite! Good to know they won't get rid of that authetniticty sticker, it's a great idea. It's great that you have authentic product. Hope you like the BB!

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  6. I am a reseller of Skin79 BB cream and according to South Korea office ( where I get mine) they removed authenticity sticker for the ones manufactured from April 2013

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    1. Well, I'm not sure when the anonymous commenter's SKIN79 was manufactured; I don't have the date from her. I'll update the post soon though, so thank you for the information.

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  7. I emailed the SKIN 79 USA too and they are SO USELESS. PrettyandCute states that SKIN 79 has moved to using expiration date on 2013. But they will not even confirm the date on their bottle. Seriously this is a general knowledge that I can easily ask if I buy from them. But they will not answer the questions no matter what.

    Does someone know what date they are using now on the bottle?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pretty & Cute is licensed to sell SKIN79, which means they'll have accurate information. When I last looked at the Hot Pink product page, it stated that the authentication stickers were removed as of 2013 (this has been removed from the page itself). I'm not an affiliate, but I do like P&C. In the post you linked, it states SKIN79 has removed their authentication stickers and the manufacturing date. They now print the expiration date instead; I would assume that the date will be on the bottom of the bottle, which is where they had put the manufacturing date.

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  8. I also found this link which seems to be very informative:

    http://prettycuteblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/skin79-product-updates-2013.html

    Disclaimer: I do not have affiliation with prettyandcute, and actually I have not ever ordered from them yet as I have always gone with Amazon. Recent experience is making me rethink this.

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    1. I would trust Pretty & Cute, because they are a Lioele partner as well I believe. If you're worried, why not ask P&C on their Facebook page? I have seen them respond to questions with appropriate and helpful answers. I ordered from them just recently and did a review of their service actually. I hope this gives you peace of mind!

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  9. Can I trust buying from http://www.imomoko.com?

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    1. I am so sorry, I deleted your original comment! Blogger doesn't allow for deleted comments to be restored either unfornately.

      Yes, though, I would say you can trust buying from Imomoko. Another blogger, Izzy @ Musings of a Muse, highly recommends Imomoko! You can read her page here:
      http://www.musingsofamuse.com/2011/09/where-to-buy-asian-cosmetics-where-to-buy-japanese-cosmetics-where-to-buy-korean-cosmetics.html

      Right now, she's on vacation so you won't get an answer if you were to ask her question.

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  10. Thankyou for the review! Probably the best I've ever read about this product!

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    1. You're welcome! I try to be as thorough as possible, especially with these types of face products.

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  11. Can I trust buying from yesstyle.com? They're selling it for only $18 on there which is really cheap compared to other websites. O:
    thank you!

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  12. I know lots of girls absolute LOVE YesStyle, and they are a reputable place as far as I know. I haven't yet ordered anything but I also haven't explored the beauty department very much. The few reviews seem to have received the real deal and I don't think such a reputable online store would cheat you. I'm always happy to help!

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  13. Thank you for this review, it kind of helped me, though i'm still concerned about the products i bought of eBay, here's what i found pre suspicious - from two Skin79 Orange BB Creams i found that both where kind of wierd in ways, first one had the Authenticity sticker though after removing it, it said '' VOID '', yea i was socked as well, bottom of the box didn't have the manufactures exp dates or codes though what the box did have was the dotted line to rip open the box for more info, and inside there was all the different languages ( Chinese, English, Korean, Japanese ) the lettering on the box seems pre normal no mistakes so far, though the lettering on the first bottle rubbed off pretty easily, though does reflect when put to the light, like the real one is ment to, so that's confusing, and 2nd bottle ( Same product ) looked pre much the same just with no sticker, though on the box there was the manufactures exp date and code that matched the bottom of the BB Cream, another thing simpler was the lettering rubbed off as well, there was wording on the inner flaps of the box though this time the box had the dotted line to rip apart, onto the HOT PINK BB Cream, most things where normal just the lettering on the BB Cream bottle rubbed off as well, with no sticker on both products, as for the last and final product was the VIP GOLD BB Cream, as normal as you would think i guess, but because i bough x2 of each items from the same seller on eBay i don't know if there real or fake, after that whole passage, would anyone be able to advise me on the x6 Skin 79 BB Creams concerns ? :/

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    1. It is possible you got both real and fake products. The newer the bottle, the less likely the authentication sticker will be there. Do your bottles all have a date on the bottom? Anything pre-April 2013 will have an authentication sticker but after April 2013 the bottles will no longer have stickers.

      My box has the expiration date and manufactured date on the bottom, with the bottle only having the manufacturing date that matches the one on the box.

      The holographic logos on the bottle can be easily scratched off. I'll be adding photos of my bottle currently, as the scratched off logo is due to normal wear from traveling around.

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  14. Hi!
    My bottle seems real, but I am worried about the box. Inside there really are 4 languages, but it don`t have that ripping place.
    Date says 20. 08. 2013 (in other order of course), so Im not worried about the sticker, bud did they change the box also.... If not, then OMG I never seen such a great fake product..... IT has everything right.... Sorry for my english and hello from Estonia :)

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    1. Hello :) From what I've seen on other blogs, the box still has the spot to rip the box open. Does your box have the bar code and expiration date on the bottom? It should match the date on your bottle. It might be a really good fake! The real BB cream comes out very smooth into a bead, but the fakes also come out sort of clumpy like in the swatch photo I posted. You might be able to get away with a patch test on your arm with the product, to see if your skin reacts at all which the fakes tend to do.

      Thank you for reading and I hope this helps you out! I'm a big fan of Kerli and her photos from Estonia are stunning!

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  15. Thank You for Your answer. Well I am confused even more now :D Yes, cream really forms a bead. I even tried white paper test and 1 hour later there really was some oil, but only underneath the bead and tiny bit around... if I compare it with Skin79 official photo, then it seems like nothing, but then again maybe it should be absolutely dry underneath?
    Then I skanned QR code and got here... http://m.skin79.com/product/product_view.asp?prdNo=00073 ..... seems real, but then again, it doesent look like legit korean skin79 site?
    Yes I have bar code and exp date... CH021 .... korean letters20130820........ EXP : 20160219 and same 3 rows on the bottle bottom. Then again, You only have 2 rows and korean letters at the end of manufacturing date
    I even pulled out my container and inside there was short air pump like on real ones. What do You think?

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  16. So new information to myself and others who struggle !!! http://www.skin79.com/eng/Product_Notice Dotted line is really removed :)
    And here You can see other changes for pink BB cream and other skin79 products... http://www.skin79.com/eng/Product_Notice

    So my bottle seems real. Sorry for spamming Your blog ! Good day !

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  17. You weren't spamming my blog, just looking for information! :) Good to know about the box and that you have real product!! I hope you like it! I'll update the post with this new information as soon as possible!

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  18. I don't know if you know this, when the pump runs out, and you think the product is gone, not so!! You remove the pump up, cut into the inner plastic, get a dark jar for storage, and you have quite a lot left at the bottom! I didn't know this until I watched a youtube video of a lady that did this!

    ReplyDelete

Leave a comment and I'll get back to you as soon as I can ~