Hi friends,
Long time no see! Recently I’ve been enjoying the shops in Korea even more than usual, hence my delayed absence. It’s a bit out of hand, and I’m having a great time. Last month I hit up Missha for a few items… and it hit my wallet back. It’s truly a wonderful thing! For my whole first year in Korea, I barely went into Missha, as its harsh lighting and almost clinical feel put me off. It’s a bit glam looking and I am more of a natural, earthy Nature Republic gal myself.
However.
I wandered in during their Missha Day (the 10th of every month) and stumbled across possibly the best smelling product EVER. And I mean ever. Let me introduce you to Missha’s Facial Choco Cacao Scrub:
Honestly, if you are a chocolate lover you need to get your hands on this. It smells incredible! It actually smells just like cacao, which is funny seeing as it is one of the main ingredients. Once I had a sniff of this gem, there was no way I couldn’t buy it. Being a chocolate addict from waaaay back, this is right up my street. It actually feels like I’m having dessert when I use it, which can only be a good thing!
The second thing I noticed with this scrub is that it is super dense. In comparison to Skinfood’s Rice Mask Wash Off, which is sort of like a mildly exfoliating moisturising treatment and one that I mentioned here, Missha’s Choco Cacao Scrub is thick, rich and does not play around. I find that I have to work this in between my fingers for a few seconds before applying it, otherwise it would just sit in big, chocolatey, delicious blobs on my face. I also find it a tiny bit harsh for my skin, hence the warm up before application. I do find that I need to apply this gently, otherwise it would be too harsh for my delicate (self-proclaimed) BritishRose skin. But for most people with normal tolerance to exfoliating products, I think this would be absolutely fine.
Look at that! Just makes you want to dive right in, don’t it?
The positive flipside to this denseness is that I find this scrub to be super moisturising. It is very thick and it takes me a little longer to wash off, but I sort of feel like it is doing more than other products – or at least something different. Sometimes I do find little bits of ‘scrub’ after I get out of the shower, but when I’m washing my hair and therefore more frivolous with the water it’s fine. Because it is thick, I feel like it absorbs more and adds a bit of moisture to my skin. I like my showers hot hot hot, so this is a very good thing.
One small potential issue I have with this product (and a number of other similar products, for that matter) is what it actually uses to exfoliate. There is a very good chance Missha’s Facial Choco Cacao Scrub contains microbeads, which are the tiny plastic balls in exfoliating products that pollute our oceans and choke our marine life. Not cool. Understandably, they are now beauty industry’s Public Enemy No.l. Although Missha certainly wouldn’t be the only culprit, I am trying to be more aware of the consequences of my actions and this is an issue that requires people to vote with their wallets. Read more about that here. If this is the case, it’s not ideal, but as I said I’m not completely sure at this stage (as I can’t read the Korean ingredients, d’oh!) and will let y’all know if I find out anymore information.
All in all, however, I think this scrub would make a great present, purely because of the chocolate angle. If I haven’t made it clear already, it smells amazing and like I am actually eating pure cocoa. Yum. I don’t think it’s necessarily the best scrub ever, it’s a little bit scratchy and I would appreciate if it wash off a bit easier, but I still really look forward to using it just to get my chocolate fix. And you should never underestimate how important that is to me.
This scrub does leave my skin feeling super smooth and it actually reinvigorated/ignited my interest in Missha. I have since bought a number of things which I shall be reviewing shortly… as soon as I start actually using them!
I would also like to say a big thank you for everyone for your support of my blog, especially recently. I have been lucky enough to have a lot of feedback and I really appreciate every single bit. So thanks for the love! <3
That’s it for today folks, thanks for reading and see y’all soon!
Steph x
I didn’t know that about microbeads! That’s really shocking, I’m going to avoid them at all costs from now on. Thank you for highlighting it! I love the sound of this one though, you can’t go past a good chocolate skin product ♥
Oh I know, they are terrible! And I had no idea just how bad they were, which is why I’m now trying to educate myself on the issue :S This one smells sooo good but I think there are other products that are just as yummy and better for the world. Now I just have to find them! 😉
Such a shame companies continue to use them! Maybe I’ll do a chocolate themed lust list in your honor! I loveeeee chocolate haha x
Ooh that would be amazing! I am a bit of a chocolate fiend too hehe so that works perfectly for me! 🙂
I have one scheduled early May 🙂 v excited x
I found somebody’s listing of this product on COSDNA here: http://cosdna.com/eng/cosmetic_5e6f133350.html
Looks like microbeads (polyethylene) are in there. It can be so tricky to avoid them… they go by different names and are easy to overlook when you’re scanning an ingredients list. If you’re looking for an alternative, I think Giovanni makes a chocolate scrub with sugar and walnut shell powder. You can get it on iherb (which does ship to Korea).
Oh thank you for the heads up! I am certainly a little *too* familiar with iHerb and have always been happy with their products. Maybe when I finish some of my stash I will invest in that one, because chocolate-smelling scrubs really are too good to give up! And yes the microbead thing seems frustratingly sneaky. However, I am determined to try and make one positive change at a time! Every little bit helps methinks 🙂
This seems like the perfect product for my mom! She loves chocolate and scrubs 🙂
Yes the smell is amazing, I actually want to eat it. Still have to restrain myself sometimes lol 😉 I think it sounds like this product would be perfect for her!