Ending my Empties: Aesop, Innisfree & The Face Shop

Hi friends!

I am still in the throes of moving house, and have been hit with a hard (obvious) realisation: I have way too much stuff. Considering I came over here with one suitcase full of things, and I have now wheeled over at least four suitcases’ worth (back and forth, back and forth)… it’s pretty impressive, that’s for sure. So now I am even more obsessed with finishing things and throwing things out, for my own satisfaction as well as Gav’s sanity (oops).

With all the difficulties that come from hoarding excessive amounts of crap, I do find it incomprehensibly thrilling to finish a product/book I own and to finish it/recycle it/pass it on. It pains me to throw out perfectly good things, which is why I often hang onto ill-fitting shoes and too-short dresses for too long (to be fair, that is a problem with Korean dress sizes in general for me: everything requires leggings underneath. NO EXCEPTIONS!)

So you can only imagine my pleasure this morning at finally finishing an item of mine. Yessss! Victory!!! I was ecstatically happy and proud of myself: one item down, 485747854989475 to go. This led to me thinking that I should report all of my ’empties’ (nearly empty beauty products) back to you, and hopefully be a great motivation to keep working my way through more of my ‘goo’ hoard (see: Jenna Marbles’ video on this – SO true).

Without further ado, pleas welcome the players today: Aesop‘s Camellia Nut Facial Hydrating Cream, Innisfree‘s Green Tea Pure Cream and The Face Shop‘s Avocado Body Moisture Cream.

Cute little things, aren’t they?! I have actually enjoyed all of these products, but am equally happy to see the end of them… in the nicest way possible!

Firstly, let’s start with the Aesop Camellia Nut Facial Hydrating Cream. My brother actually bought this for my as a Christmas present at the end of 2012, along with a number of other hideously expensive/supremely luxurious Aesop products. Spoiled much? As a proud Aussie, I love this brand and their natural, earthy ethos. I remember I used to walk past their store and think it was a bit bizarre how everything looked the same, but I quite like the minimalist style now. Moreover, the product is amazing!

This cream is very rich and not for the faint of heart. When I first tried it, around that Christmastime, it was too hot for it to effectively work on my face without turning me into a greaseball (Australian summertime Christmases ftw!). However, when I came to Korea, early on (as well as recently) it was amazing, because the weather here can get so dry. This is definitely a nighttime cream, and moisturises deeply. This cream don’t play! Its scent is quite herbal and natural, and actually grew on me a lot. Gav says I smell like a koala when I use it, which can only be a good thing. Despite a close inspection of the ingredients list I could find no eucalyptus oil; however, a lot of other natural extracts (coconut oil, grapefruit seed extract, wheatgerm oil et. al.) to do good things to your skin. Yum!

Next up, Innisfree’s Green Tea Pure Cream. I bought this on a whim a while back when Innisfree was having one of their sales. These don’t come around as often as Nature Republic’s, and I don’t have much experience with this brand, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. I actually decided to start using it just before I went to Perth, which turned out to be a godsend. This cream is really light, and you can actually see the little speckles of what I can only imagine is the green tea/green tea complex contained within. It’s perfect for hot weather (such as Perth in summer), although it may not be that moisturising in a deep Korean winter (it’s definitely not).

This Green Tea Pure Cream just so happens to be the product I finished this morning, and I thought I had taken pictures of its consistency… but I hadn’t. Nonetheless, it blended so smoothly onto my skin and provides a light amount of moisture with a non-greasy finish. I also had read about some people saying the scent is too strong – there is definitely a heavy green tea fragrance in this cream, but I really like it! If you are looking for a lightweight, delicious-smelling face gel/cream, this is your new best friend 🙂

Last but not least, we have The Face Shop‘s Avocado Body Moisture Cream. I bought this a while ago during a Face Shop sale, which tends to be the only time I visit this store, unfortunately. Unlike Nature Republic and Skinfood (and more than a few other stores, let’s be honest), The Face Shop hasn’t fostered any sense of brand loyalty with me. Granted, I am a novelty here and some people may feel uncomfortable talking to the peculiar white girl gesturing and smiling widely at them, but I haven’t ever had a really warm experience in The Face Shop. In the other stores, despite my lack of Korean language skills, I still manage to fumble through it and make friends, and I now wave to a number of sales assistants/friends as I walk past now. It’s great! In the Face Shop (at least near my house), this hasn’t quite been the case – and they have never given me any samples, either! Not a one :S

Anyway, despite this, I still really like this cream. I had it sitting in my room for a while, and one day Gav’s skin was really dry so we cracked it open.  He is quite a discerning/elitist product user, however this cream managed to get his seal of approval. I was intrigued, and tried it myself. It’s delicious! It has a really thick consistency and a yummy avocado scent. A quick scroll through the ingredients shows avocado oil somewhere near the bottom of an exhaustive list; however, there seem to be quite a number of natural extracts. This is a great cream for winter, as it has such a rich consistency. I really like how it comes in a squeeze tube too, as the pump bottles always require a bit of a horizontal shake n’ bang to get the last of the product out. Not so with this cream!

Have a look at how thick it is here (yum):

So, I finished the Innisfree Green Tea Pure Cream this morning, and am well on my way to ending both the Aesop Camellia Nut Facial Hydrating Cream and The Face Shop Avocado Body Moisture Cream. I am so proud of myself! Overall, these are three really high-quality products that I would definitely purchase again. Of course, you need to use them in the ideal seasons to get the best effect, but they have all been kind to my skin – and they smell delicious!

Thanks for reading! I’m going to keep working away at my empties and report back soon (rest assured, there’s enough to keep me going for the next few years!). Until next time,

Steph x