Review: Skinfood Tea Tree Essence (for trouble skin)

Hello, hello! Every time I get a follower (thank you so much btw T_T) I feel guilty for not having enough posts. So today I'm going to review something I got months ago for my acne. I'm not a big fan of Skinfood, nor could I find any reviews on this at that time, but I had heard quite a lot about how beneficial tea tree oil is for 'troubled' skin and had never tried an essence before. Thus, I got this from rubyruby76 on ebay but I'm sure I didn't get it for such a high price, it was $12.98 back then. Definitely search for something cheaper if you're interested. The capacity is 30 ml, which I can assure you that is more than enough.

So what does Skinfood claim? On their official website, they say: A soothing essence for troubled, oily skin, containing tea tree oil and willow herb extract that control excess sebum.
The product itself says something different along the same lines, has Skinfood's motto and the rest is in Korean. Too bad, I'm curious about the ingredients. If someone can read Korean, do let me know!
The bottle itself is made out of hard plastic and the 'paper' feels a lot like, uh... paper. Not very smooth, if you know what I mean.

Ah packaging, how I love you. Look at dat butt.

 Having a pump is definitely a plus, very hygienic. Not to mention it looks more elegant this way!

 

But let's get to the product itself.

This is pretty much the amount of a pump. Two are enough for my whole face.

The consistency is runny, but not too much. I would describe it as thick water. Or a thin gel. The first thing you will notice about this is the strong smell. Have you smelt tea tree oil? It smells like that, but a bit more pleasant. To be honest, I really don't like how the actual essential oil smells (I get nauseous ;__;) but this is okay! It goes away after a while too, so no worries. It's also a bit sticky before it dries. Not the annoying kind of sticky, as if you're applying an H&M lip gloss all over your face. Just a little bit~

So does it work? I can't say I notice a dramatic difference. My acne is slowly but steadily getting better, but I doubt it is because of this product because when I skipped this for a couple of months, I saw no difference. It doesn't irritate my skin, but the improvement is either little or nonexistent. It does feel very refreshing and I will continue using this until I finish it, but I feel you could spend your money on more effective acne products.

Review: Holika Holika Dessert Time Lip Balm

Hello? How have you guys been? My life is kind of hard right now; it mainly consists of studying for my Panhellenic Exams, which means I'll be busy for a whole year +_+
On another note, I've been doing a lot of online shopping and today I'll review the cutest lip balm I own (or have seen generally, to be honest).

 It looks like a cupcake! Most people prefer the pink one of the same collection but what can I say, I love this one.

 This is what the bottom looks like, not that I can read anything. The downside is that it comes without a box so you can't read the ingredients. I really hope it doesn't contain mineral oil ;____;

 

How gorgeous is that color? And the best thing is, it totally smells like a cupcake. One day I was applying this and my brother was like 'what smells so nice?'. It's a really sweet, yet kind of artificial scent. Very very nice!

Time for before/after pictures!

Here comes the disappointing part. On my lips you can't really see it. It makes them glossy, slightly more red (you can't see it very well on the pictures but it is kind of pigmented), but that doesn't last. This is a lip balm though, not a lip tint, so I can't really blame it. So how does it serve as lip balm? I don't have chapped lips at the moment but I don't feel like it is super moisturizing. It's nice but I'm not sure if it would cure extreme dryness. I'll update this on winter, that will be the real challenge!

I got this on sale on Cosmetic Love, it costs $7.86 now. If you think it's worth it (I, for once, don't regret this purchase), give it a try!