Review | Nature Republic aloe vera 92 per cent soothing gel

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Arguably the most famous and bestselling product Nature Republic has is its 92 per cent aloe vera pots. To be fair, I've seen displays of these pots sell out at other retailers, but Nature Republic pots seem to be the most popular and fairest of them all.

Review | Nature Republic aloe vera 92 per cent soothing gel

Arguably the most famous and bestselling product Nature Republic has is its 92 per cent aloe vera pots. To be fair, I've seen displays of these pots sell out at other retailers, but Nature Republic pots seem to be the most popular and fairest of them all.

Review | Nature Republic UV Lock Flower Non Chemical Sun Liquid

It was on a balmy Saturday that I found myself at a Nature Republic near Ehwa University. I was attracted to the sun and the big ECO MILD in English on the bottle.

A saleswoman came up and helpfully steered me to some more adult products.

Why?

This is for children, she said in Korean. I didn't really understand her because there wasn't a bear on the front. But then I looked at the bottom.

베이비 공용, which translates to baby sunscreen.

Three things…to beat the heat

My hood is going through a brief heat wave. I love it!

What I don't love is that slightly gross look I tend to sport when I'm out and about in this heat. Shiny face and I feel just a little bit sticky.

Since sweaty and shiny aren't a good look for me, I'm sharing some of my favourite products for staying and looking cool when it's so hot.

1. Etude House Wonder Pore Freshener: It's something I've talked about in the past. While I love its makeup removing superpowers, it also works well as a mist. I don't notice any of the benefits that the bottle purports – deep cleansing, smaller pores, refined skin tone. What I do notice is a nice layer of moisture to my skin right when it needs it.

Pro tip: transfer some of the freshener into a small spritz bottle and mist and refresh your look.

Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner can be found online.

2. Avène Thermal Water This is quite possibly the most frivolous and wasteful thing that I have ever bought, in terms of skin care. Most people will get more out of it if they live in an area that has hard water since rinsing your face with hard water is not good for the skin. Fortunately, I now live in an area with soft water which is amazing for skin and hair.

Now, its only true moment of glory is the month and a half of summer where I spritz myself with some water and mist my skin when it needs an extra dose of cooling and moisturizing love. It's good to use after applying makeup to set it, use throughout the day as a mist and good on sunburns.

Pro tip: Keep it in the fridge for extra cooling powers.

Though if anyone is interested, I did live in an area with hard water before and I used a full bottle of this thing and my skin stopped having crazy breakouts.

Pro tip: If you live in an area that has soft water, what you could do to save money is DIY. Hit the dollar store for a spritz bottle and fill it up with regular water. I don't know how it'll set your makeup but it should be a pretty comparable alternative.

If you live in an area with hard water, have skin and hair that is sensitive to it and/or want the makeup setting benefits, just bite the cost and head to the drugstore for any thermal water.

Avène can be found in Murale and select drugstores, including London Drugs and Shoppers Drug Mart.

3. Nature Republic Aloe: I haven't reviewed this yet, but just know that I love it. It's a perfect allover moisturizer for the summer: cooling and soothing to the skin, it's light but delivers an ample amount of moisture. It's also multipurpose! It can soothe sunburns and act as a nice, light face mask.

Nature Republic Aloe can be found online and at T&T Supermarket.

Empties | June

Another month, another empties post!

This month, I finished a couple of items I've already reviewed and am in the process of replacing and repurchasing.

1. Thayer's Witch Hazel with Aloe toner: This has two of my favourite products to calm and moisturize my skin: witch hazel and aloe. This toner is great at toning my face and picking up leftover makeup and dirt that cleansing leaves behind. It's also great at prepping my skin for my serum and regular moisturizer and can be used as a spritzer to refresh skin throughout the day.

Thayer's toners can be found at Whole Foods, natural health stores and online.

2. Aromatica Rose Absolute First Serum: This is more of a two-in-one product because it feels like a toner and a serum. And, if you're so inclined, you can even use it as a moisturizer for the warmer months. I like almost everything about this product – it calms my skin, is gentle, has natural ingredients, chic packaging, multiple uses and it lasted a long time. What I don't like about it now is its cost and accessibility.

Outside of Korea, it can only be bought online at a small number of retailers.

3. Coconut oil: I love coconut oil! I've forgotten which brand this used to be – the label got rubbed away by the oil – but it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that the oil has to be cold-pressed and organic. I've used this as an allover moisturizer, face cleanser, hair treatment, eye makeup remover and to keep my teeth super white (oil pulling). I could go on, but I love coconut oil's many uses so much it deserves its own post.

Can be found at most grocery stores.

4. Nature Republic pearl de caviar cleanser: I talked about this cleanser before. It was a pretty good cleanser and had good value. This is a deluxe sample size (50 ml) and it lasted an insane amount of time. Several months, with twice daily usage. I didn't need to use a lot of product because it foamed up really well. And I really loved the scent. It didn't smell so much to be overpowering; it was just enough to leave a subtle scent which washed away pretty quickly.

Pearl de Caviar cleanser is sold in 150ml bottles at Nature Republic stores and online.

5. Skinfood 40 percent shea butter body cream: This really helped to soothe and moisturize my dry skin last winter. I mostly used it on my hands and took it everywhere with me. The tube, which is so convenient, lived almost exclusively in my purse. It's a nice, rich cream that left my skin moisturized even hours later.

Skinfood can be purchased online.

Summer skin care swaps

Summer is just around the corner (Saturday, woot!) and I've been preparing for its imminent arrival. Last weekend I put most of my sweaters away – three out of five of them! I tucked a good chunk of my scarves into storage, too (way more than just five, if you're curious). But summer preparations aren't just limited to my wardrobe. Nope! I've swapped my skincare routine too.

Empties | May

One of my skin resolutions this year was to use up my products.

Like, completely.

It's usually very hard for me.  I buy something, I fall in love, I obsess over it for a minute and then the love is gone.

Half of the product still intact. Untouched. Casually tossed over for the next new thing I've fallen in love with.

I'm over it.

So I'm really excited! This month I finished off 5 products!

Review | Nature Republic Pearl de Caviar Silky Foam Cleanser

I was really excited to receive – by way of a Nature Republic promo – a deluxe sample of this cleanser with my sun cream.

I mean, wouldn't you be with "caviar" in the description?!

Haul | Nature Republic

Let me start by saying: I'm not a huge Nature Republic fan.

(I'm more partial to Innisfree, and that's not just because Lee Min Ho is their spokesman.)

But, summer is here and I really, really love its sun products.

I stocked up!

Below is Nature Republic's aloe vera gel and the eco-mild sun liquid. Both of which I'm big fans of.

And samples! I love samples!



Reviews to come soon!