Thank you for your kind words and for your comment!

I actually wish you left a comment or contacted me before buying the set…usually, at the facial (Amore), they use products they sell (e.g. Sulwhasoo), so if you already have a reaction to them, I would advise against buying! They are pretty ‘aggressive’ in sales, in a nice way of course, but since you already had a reaction I wish they didn’t push you to buy and offer a refund after trial if it doesn’t suit you. If your skin already reacts to Sulwhasoo, chances are repeated exposure (why would you do that?) will only make it worse. Korean products are so heavily fragranced and contain alcohol they aren’t suitable for sensitive or very sensitive skin.

Amore staff will always recommend Sulwhasoo over Iope and Laneige, Sulwhasoo is their star line and the quality is much better than the other two. The basic set you buy is good for hydration, but for lines/wrinkles/spots I personally find the need of a good treatment program/serum/essence in addition to the basic 3 steps. The History of Whoo was more effective in whitening in my opinion after having used Sulwhasoo’s Snowise and The History of Whoo Gongjinhyang:Seol. The Seol line was not hydrating enough for my age (36) though, I had to use another hydrating cream at the end to seal in the moisture. But the whitening effects were superb to anything else I had used, including Snowise.

I find the staff at Jasper (selling The History of Whoo) much more generous with their samples, they gave me a trial set of Seol whitening toner and emulsion to try without a purchase and that’s how I got into the whole line. You might want to look them up – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jasper-Cosmetics/157443227651399?sk=wall

If you do try their spa and have a reaction don’t buy any of the products though! I would try samples before first.

I would take the set back to Amore and tell them you had very severe burning sensation and cannot continue to use it, ask for a refund and if they offer exchange perhaps get something else. I don’t know what though, but maybe use their testers to see if you react to the products before accepting the exchange.

Not that this is important anymore (if you are going to return the products), if your skin is combination and has a bit of oiliness, skip the cream and only use emulsion for the day.

You can always contact me by using the contact form, though I don’t do personal consultation because it’s hard without seeing you face to face and I am afraid of recommending the wrong stuff!

Good luck at Amore…hope they keep their word and let you get your money back or at least an exchange…

I probably will do something else with the mommy blog…have half a year left on the domain but no time to up keep it…but thank you for checking it out anyway!

Thank you sooooo much for your reply, virtual hug!
Your suggestions are all very helpful, I will definitely get my skin checked out by a professional. Argan oil sounds really cool too! I’ve heard rave reviews about it but never quite knew what it was and was intimidated by it being an “oil” haha. I will definitely look into that!

Thank you again for giving such a detailed feedback. I really appreciate it!

PS. I lurked your mommy joseibi blog, and you have a beautiful family!

Welcome! And an early happy birthday!

All the Amore staff will always recommend Sulwhasoo over Laneige. They seem to have a certain ‘disdain’ towards Laneige which is kind of funny; but at the same time, after using Sulwhasoo I have to agree with them. The quality is second to none, Laneige doesn’t even come close!

So to answer your question, 29 is still okay to use Laneige Perfect Renew, but if you have it in your budget, even just get Sulwhasoo Herb Soap, Balancing Water and Emulsion (basic line) will do your skin a lot of good. It’s an expensive luxury line but worth the money (every penny). If you don’t have it in your budget you can wait till you are past 30, when you notice your skin is turning a little drier, then start Sulwhasoo. Once the fine lines come in it will be very hard to get rid of them (trust me)! The Water Sleeping Pack (by Laneige) is no longer adequate for me and hasn’t been for years now (I’m 36). I generally notice my skin turn drier when I was 30-31. Once you see/feel it, it’s time to upgrade. Or like I said, if you have the money, start now and your skin will thank your wallet later.

That was my issue with Seol as well (not hydrating enough)…it is definitely not hydrating enough if you are past 30 or if you have dry skin. Hwanyu is very rich so hopefully it will help. Don’t forget you can now post your own review – it will be good to know whether it works for you!

Thank you so much for all your kind words!

It’s such a hard thing when nothing seems to work with your skin! I felt like that in my 20s before I learned how to take care of my skin as well. I had the mild acne in my teens into my early 20s; and it was that desperation (for perfection) that drove me to try Proactiv as well! And as you mentioned, it really inflicted a great amount of damage. I still think that in may ways, my skin is still suffering because of the 1-2 years I was on it, and my acne was really mild (2-3 on forehead, occasionally one or two on cheeks or chin), it was not worth the damage Proactiv cost subsequently. I found that since then, my skin has become very thin, dry and dehydrated; whereas before, it was always plump and ‘juicy’ (oilier).

I don’t know if I can really accurately give you any consultation without seeing you in person but a few things stood out when I read your comment – I don’t know what age you are now, but you had used Proactiv for 3 years, it will take a long time (I am talking about up to a year or even longer, as in my case) to recover from the abrasiveness. Your skin probably felt super raw after you got off Proactiv for awhile like mine did – and it will take a long time to repair the skin with lots of cloth essence mask or even cream masks.

Your cheeks – if the redness is consistent, you may want to actually see a doctor because sometimes it could be rosacea, not acne. It could also be allergy too. While I loved the Korean skincare, a lot of it contains a fair amount of alcohol and added fragrance which can irritate sensitive skin and rosacea.

One more thing I could advise you to try is argan oil – it is known to be good for pretty much all skin types and heal acne too, just be careful to get a solvent free one. I would advise getting a small trial bottle to start to see if it works for you because it isn’t cheap. Josie Maran makes one and sometimes it comes in mini bottles at Sephora. I believe there are much cheaper brands out there but make sure it isn’t solvent based.

Because you tend to only get ‘acne’ on your cheeks and not elsewhere I really hope you can get that checked out, because it can give a similar symptom as acne but the treatment is totally different! Stay away from AHAs and other acids, alcohol, fragrance, etc. Your doctor will give you treatment options and there are brands and products that are rosacea-friendly (e.g. argan oil).

Hope this helps!

xoxo

First off, I just really want to say a big THANK YOU for operating this blog. It has provided me with tremendous knowledge with all of your thorough reviews and product descriptions. I am really beyond thankful that I stumbled upon this site!

I just wanted to ask you for some skin opinions, hopefully you won’t mind! I will try to keep this short and simple, any help is really really appreciated

When I was in my early teenage years I started getting the odd pimples, and because of that I decided to try proactive. Despite it being extremely irritating to my skin, I continued using their products for well over 3 years. This was because of several reasons: first, I was very uneducated about skin health and didn’t realize the damage I was inflicting upon my skin, and second, I thought it was the only thing that worked in somewhat keeping my pimples at bay.

What happened at the end of those 3 painful, proactive-filled years, was that my skin was drastically damaged. They became very very red and inflamed, (especially my cheek areas right beside my nose), and I walked around for years looking like I had a severe sunburn in the shape of a butterfly ….LOL. What’s even worse is that I would get lots of break-outs on those areas as well.

What really saved my skin was when I started using Korean products a couple of years ago. A saleslady told me instead of having oily skin, like I originally thought I had, my skin was probably producing oil to combat the extreme dehydration it was going through. Thus, I started using skinfood’s moisturizing lines. They somewhat helped combat my skin, and to this day….I’m still using their products….but it’s only been like 2 years haha.

So that brings us to right now. Right now my skin is…okay? but it’s no where to being “healthy”. My cheeks (close to my nose and under my eyes) are still very red and very very prone to break outs. I never get breakouts ANYWHERE ELSE, but JUST THERE on those cheek areas T.T it is extremely frustrating and I don’t know what to do I should also mention that I have extremely large pores on my nose, and on those cheek areas directly adjacent to my nose and under my eyes. These pores are ALWAYS clogged as well.

Upon discovering your blog, I realized perhaps I have very dehydrated skin, just like you? Even though a saleslady has told me that in the past, I have always wondered just what type of skin I had. From my (extremely lengthy) description, do you think you can recommend me some ideas (or which general direction) to go in to take care of my skin? If you could even recommend some products, I will really, literally, bow at your knees.

Wow, I really apologize for writing such a long blurb. But recently my skin has been FREAKING OUT, and I just can’t take it anymore. I no longer want to walk around with huge butterfly-shaped red cheeks anymore. I just want healthy skin

Again, thank you so so much for everything. For taking the time out of your busy lives to look after so many of us, really shows how selfless you are and just how beautifully you are both inside and out.