[REVIEW] Benton PHA Peeling Toner

I'm so excited to be back at blogging and of course the new Benton product!

They sent this PHA Peeling Toner to me for review purposes about 3 weeks ago so let's read what I thought about this product :)

If you aren't familiar with PHA, it is basically in the same team as those AHA and BHA but PHA molecules is bigger than those two so makes it more suitable to sensitive skin people. I've tried one product with PHA before and basically it suits me so well so I'm pretty excited about this one.

From Benton:

+ Contains Natural Moisturizing Factor, Chrysanthemum Extract and 3% of the third generation PHA (Lactobionic acid) which helps clear impurities and sebum secretion.

+ Minimum photosensitivity of PHA and it melts impurities on the skin while forming water barrier, leaving the skin smooth and clear.

+ Contains Sodium PA and Hyaluronic Acid which are Natural Moisturizing Factors, and Centaurea Cyanus Flower Water and Chrysanthemum Extract which are also known as natural moisturizing water or soothing water. These ingredients leaving leave skin moist by soothing and moiturizing skin that may become dry from removing dead skin cells and impurities.

+ The peeling toner is free of artificial fragrance, coloring, volatile alcohol, PEGs and other controversial ingredients. It is mildly acidic, dermatologically tested product which helps with sufficient moisturization, allowing even sensitive skin to exfoliate without burden.

Simple and clean design.

Pump bottle.

My thoughts:

+ I've been using this from the Day 1 it arrives until now and Benton specifically wrote that rather than using this everyday, 2-3 times a week is recommended or suitable frequency so that the toner could adapt to the skin properly. I'm using it 2-3 times a week or more since I find that it adapt to my skin quite well.

+ A cotton pad is suggested to be used with the toner so I didn't directly patting it on my face.

+ The toner is quite runny in consistency so it took quite an amount to soak my cotton pad and honestly I hate using cotton pad because it feels that I'm wasting product on the cotton pad more haha

+ Since the texture is quite runny and clear, it absorbs into my skin in seconds. Although it doesn't feels extremely moisturizing but I don't feel any tightness which is good. So it shows that it has the moisturizing properties despite the texture.

+ This toner is used as the the next step after I cleanse my face. I feel that my next step of skincare (e.g: serums, moisturizer, etc) absorbed much much much better after I applied on this toner. I was rather surprised because it usually took time for those skincare to be fully dry on face and honestly it shorten the time taken for me to finish my routines.

+There's little to none of fragrance with this toner. Most of the time I couldn't detect any and if I did, it did have the faint smell of AHA.

+ I had acne on the sides of my face and I sometimes use the cotton pad with toner soak in with aggression so sometimes it does irritate those parts so I recommend you to be careful on those areas or better, use patting motion on those areas and don't keep layering it on because it will irritate your acne.

+ Does my skin improved? I'm not so sure about this however, it did feel smoother and like I said, it helps in helping my skincare absorbed better.

+ One thing that I had complain with this toner is the pump bottle. I find that the texture is rather runny and this pump does not help at all. Most of the time the pump is too tight and when I try to pump the liquid, it keep spurting everywhere :l  I do hope than Benton can improve on the bottle's function or just put it in mist bottle. That would 100% helps.

+ Would I make a purchase? For now I think no because I love my Benton BHA Aloe Toner because it has everything I like especially that it is more moisturizing than this. However, I would use this as a side toner as interval to my current toner.

That's all, thank you for reading :)

[REVIEW] COSRX PHA Moisture Renewal Power Cream

Hello :)

I've been wanting to post this as soon as possible on the blog but blog review do take some time because of editing pictures and writing a long review compared to Instagram so I actually posted the shorter review of this on my Instagram so in case you haven't followed me on Instagram, do follow me @ashihana :D

I'm a huge fan of COSRX and I'm sure many of you are too so when I saw they released this cream and I too were looking for a new moisturiser to try so I immediately grab this when it is available on eBay :D Ebay do have sellers who are selling this cheaper than a lot of online sellers and a lot of them are credible so I had no problem with trusting those shops.

In two weeks, by free shipping, I received my product safely and as expected, it was as small as the COSRX Centella Blemish Cream XD I'm not sure how long is this gonna last on me because the Centella finish up pretty fast because it is only a 50ml product.

Product Description:

 PHA Moisture Renewal Power Cream designed for dry skin is formulated with PHA to help your skin appear smooth, dewy, and moisturized.

Volume: 50ml

PH (30℃): 4.0 ± 1.0

So what is PHA?
"Polyhydroxy acids, aka PHAs, are a third-generation of peeling ingredient that is just as effective, but less irritating than AHAs and BHAs. They promote a mild peeling by acting at a top surface level to smooth skin and improve overall tone. PHAs are also known for attracting moisture to prevent skin moisture loss while effectively exfoliating"

Who Should Use PHAs?
The great thing about PHAs is that, since they have larger molecular structures-which limits how deeply it penetrates into the skin-, they are more gentle on the skin, causing less irritation when compared to AHAs and even BHAs. This characteristic makes PHAs great for every skin type, especially the sensitive ones. So if you tried AHAs and BHAs in the past and have noticed signs of irritation and redness, PHAs could be the perfect for for you.

What Good Can They Do For Your Skin?
Along with being less likely to cause irritation, PHAs have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Plus, some PHAs, like galactose-which is a sugar used in collagen synthesis-can help skin heal faster. Other forms of PHAs include lactobionic acid, which is derived from lactose in cow's milk, and gluconic acid (or gluconolactone), an antioxidant acid that naturally occurs in cells.

Source: theklog

 

 Based on cosDNA, all of the ingredients are green level 1-2 so they're safe to use on the skin :)

 It does have that safety cap like you would see on most Kbeauty products :)

My Thoughts:

The cream itself has a silky and easy to apply on the skin. As it claims, it is definitely heavier because only just a little amount of it can supply ample of hydration to the skin. 

It was recommended that the cream to be used at night because it is heavier to be used on the day but it didn't matter for me. As nowadays I felt like my skin will be a little dry, so I use this day and night. It just the amount that I'm using on both times is different where I put a lot more at night and a little lesser of the day.

One thing about the heavier cream is that it usually will cause me to have those milia especially under my eyes and I was also a bit skeptical about this. However, after using it for about 3 weeks, I didn't see any production of milia under my eyes or any parts of my face and that's a really good thing!

The cream also had this natural coconut smell which I guess that is probably because they're putting 50% of the Cocos Nucifera Fruit Extract (Coconut) as the first ingredient. I would also like to clarify that this ingredient is not acne triggering as I've seen some blogger said. Don't confuse this ingredient with Coconut oil because coconut oil is the ingredient that you need to watch out when putting it on the skin because it can block your pores.

Rather than AHA or BHA, this cream is using PHA instead. It's a gentler version of AHA and BHA and I think it does a better job than when I use products with AHA/BHA alone. I can see that my skin texture have improved so much and it look like I had a glowy skin every morning because of this cream. It also able to calm my redness from the other day too :)

Despite the absence of silicone in this cream, I don't find it suffocating my skin nor it entrapped the pores like a lot of creams do. I find this more breathable and hydrating at the same time.

There are some days that I do feel that I have a slick of oil on my face whenever I woke up from the sleep and it probably had something to do with me trying those moisture-sucking cleanser or I just put a little too much of the cream the day before. Another reason is probably I don't wait until my skincare steps are properly applied so it will disturb the process of absorbing the next skincare steps.

Overall, I do love this and would definitely make a repurchase. Just to note you guys that I'm already at the 3/4 of the tube and thinking that I should buy a backup! :D

Anyway, thanks for reading <3

xoxo Mizu