When people ask you the name the pretty, cutest Korean beauty brand, the first brand that comes to mind is usually Etude House. This super cute brand, well known for their princess-like packaging and undeniable appreciation for all things baby coloured and sweet, is usually targeted towards a younger audience – teenagers and those who are just dipping their feet into the world of beauty. Not to be stopped though, Etude House has somewhat of a cult following even with the young but mature crowd (such as myself), especially because their affordable price point and attentive design also comes with, for lack of a better phrase, pretty darn good quality.
This product that I am about to very happily review was sent to me by Beautynetkorea, and is a pore minimising face cream. This product claims to balance out oil and sebum in order to shrink pores and smooth out your skin. The thing to keep in mind when using these products is that pore size is very much genetic and there is no natural way to rid your skin of pores – they are just as necessary a body part as your arms and legs! However, when these pores are clogged or with the secretion of sebum, it can give the appearance of bigger pores.
If you’re interested in this product, or in checking out everything else that Beautynetkorea stocks, click their name to go to their site. Otherwise, let’s continue!
And with that, it’s straight onto the review!
The Wonderpore Balancing Cream is a part of their entire Wonderpore series – the toner which has been recommended to me a lot in the past, but I haven’t tried it out yet. The product comes in its signature light blue packaging and has a pretty and simple foil design on the edges. Overall, the packaging is very Etude House; it’s youthful, feminine and very easy on the eyes.
The product comes in a blue plastic tub with a silver lid. It’s a sturdy tub, light and nice to look at, but the plastic looks rather cheap to me and I feel like Etude House should have invested just a little more into this design. Although the plastic is lighter, I usually prefer tempered glass tubs or, in general, something that looks a little more elegant.
The tub comes with a plastic interior cap, which is useful for if you’re travelling and want to make sure that the cream doesn’t spill everywhere. The plastic spatula is also useful for hygienic purposes – I usually use something similar for my Cloud9 whitening cream – but unfortunately doesn’t really have a ‘place’ to sit inside of the box. It sort of just floats around.
Moving on from the packaging though, the formula is less of a ‘cream’ but is more gel based. It is light, feels cool on the skin and absorbs quickly. I think this would be suitable to be worked into a full skincare regime (as it is not quite hydrating enough for winter weather), but may be able to be used without additional night cream in summer. This would also be a good product for those with oily skin who would like to balance out their skin overall.
As you can see in the above photo, the formula has a gel consistency and absorbed quickly (though this is obviously also dependent on how much you put on). It doesn’t leave a sticky residue though and has a pleasant fresh scent that isn’t too strong and fades quickly. As part of your skincare routine, it would be best to put on your toner and serums before applying this cream. You can then sit back for a while and let it absorb before applying any heavier night creams.
I tested this product for around two weeks and also tested how it affected my skin when I stopped using it. Overall, I saw no bad side effects. As a matter of fact, it did noticeably minimise my blackheads and pores.
This product is the most effective if you use it after first removing impurities from your pores, as the cream can then work on regulating your sebum control without having to deal with excess that has already built up. As an example, here are the products that I used in lead up to implementing this cream into my skincare routine:
- Skin Food – Black Sugar Scrub
- Innisfree – Volanic Clay Mask
Afterwards, I used the Balancing Cream once a night and saw visible results within days. My pores were minimised, my blackheads stayed away and my make up also applied more evenly because of this. When I stopped using the cream, I noticed that my blackheads did return, most likely because my oil secretion was no longer being regulated by the cream. Over a week though, I didn’t see that it was any worse than how it was before.
Overall, I’m quite happy with this product. The formula is nice and it definitely works, though I wish that they would spend more time on the packaging! It might be one of the first times that I have been disappointed in Etude House’ packaging design.
Regardless, here’s the verdict:
SO WHAT IS IT?
A skin balancing cream that works to minimise pores.
THE GOOD
- Hygenic and sturdy packaging
- Cooling and easily absorbing formula
- Gel consistency is light on the skin
- Works well
- Quickly visible results
- Light, fresh scent
- No bad side effects noticed
THE BAD
- Cheap looking plastic packaging
- No ‘holder’ for the spatula so it floats around (wouldn’t be handy for travel)
- Skin returns to original state after you stop using the product
WOULD I REPURCHASE?
I sincerely hope that they improve on this packaging if they decide to rerelease the Wonderpore line. The formula is really great though and I think I would be willing to overlook the plastic tub for it! I am definitely going to work on integrating this into my daily skincare routine, and would definitely repurchase this.
HELPFUL TIP
Pore strips are fun, especially if you’re like me and genuinely enjoy the tearing process. However, they aren’t the best way to clear pores and they can leave some of the blackhead or excess sebum lodged in the skin, preventing the pores from tightening again. Try wash off clay masks instead to draw out the sebum in its entirety.
WHERE TO GET IT FROM
The Wonderpore Balancing Cream is currently on sale at Beautynetkorea for USD$11.96 and is super affordable. Click their name to go to their homepage or, alternatively, click the below banner to go straight to the product page:
By Stella
