The best Asian skin care product purchases from Taipei

I love traveling to Asia. It always gives me a good excuse to shop my heart out. But despite my excitement about the opportunity to shop for Asian skin care all I wanted, I am a reasonable shopper. So although at first I was tempted to put whatever struck my fancy on my to-buy-list, I was determined to stick to only the reportedly best Asian skin care products I could find. So after hours and hours of browsing through blogs, review and rating sites, such as Glowpick from South Korea and Cosme.net from Japan, I eventually edited my list down to smaller number of products and brands of absolute cult status among the beauty interested. In hindsight I must say my research paid off nicely.

The skin care products I picked are all chock full with effective active ingredients, and best of all, most were fairly inexpensive. It’s difficult even to say which one of these is my favorite, because so far all excel in their performance. But first read on to see the Asian skin care products I purchased during my two weeks away.

From left to right: My Beauty Diary sheet mask, two sunscreens by Bioré, a light emulsion by Skin Food, the Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence and Ampoule by Missha, a Hyluronic acid lotion with Vitamin C, and the SK-II Facial Treatment Gentle Cleanser.

Not pictured are a few Asian cosmetics I bought as well, such as the Etude House Darling Eye Brow Drawing Pencil, a staple product of mine, or the Lioele Secret Pore Rich Balm.

I have to say that I always end up buying some sort of make up, and then end up never using it. They’re nice to try, though.

But back to my Asian skin care purchases. Like I’ve said, I think I chose well! It doesn’t seem like much, but that’s because I was very selective about my buys. So without further ado, let’s get straight to it.

The star among all of my purchases must be the Missha Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence!

Quite a mouthful.

A dupe for the legendary SK-II Facial Treatment Essence, I made an informed decision to buy this over the original. Now, I don’t know about SK-II, but this is amazing. I bought two bottles of this, which I think will last me forever.

Along with The First Treatment Essence, I also purchased the Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Ampoule. While not entirely useless, I think, I can’t really say anything about its effects. As far as I can see, it does about nothing. I hope it pays off in the longterm, since its main properties are anti-aging. Then again, I started using this at the same time as the Essence, so maybe whatever good has come to pass recently is partly because of the Ampoule, too. Who knows?

While Hada Labo and the Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing Lotion are better known, JuJu Aquamoist is often seen as the direct rival brand because of its similar packaging. Reading into the differences between the two, I opted for the JuJu Aquamoist Hyaluronic Acid Moisture Vitamin C Whitening Lotion, because of its L-Ascorbic Acid, or Vitamin C, content. I will get into Vitamin C as an active ingredient in skin care another time. In any case, I purchased this in the hopes of brightening my red acne scarring.

While I did not purchase the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence, I picked the Gentle Cleanser of the same line. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m neither expecting much nor do I expect nothing. I guess I’m hoping it to simply cleanse well and not irritate my skin.

While I’m not a sheet mask fan – so slimy! so cold! – I couldn’t leave Taipei without at least one My Beauty Diary sheet mask. The brand is cult among Asian beauty fans, and it’s from Taiwan. Plus, I found one with Vitamin C, and I love Vitamin C in skin care.

The old Skin Food Tomato Whitening line has recently been replaced with an improved version apparently. I always liked the old Skin Food Tomato Whitening Emulsion, so I purchased its newer version. I haven’t tried it yet, though.

Another favorite among beauty bloggers I purchased is the Bioré UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence Water Base SPF 50+ PA+++. I bought three tubes! I also purchased the Watery Mousse by accident.

Now interested in more info and reviews on these? I wrote some here, here and here :) But also read my posts on double-cleansing, proper sun protection and layering skin care, to find out more about Asian beauty. Also, what Asian skin care products would you buy if you got the chance and did I maybe miss something?