[Review] COSRX Natural BHA Skin Returning Emulsion

Price: $14.90 on bbcosmetic

(Use affiliated coupon: C10T190S3 for 8% off) 
Verdict: 5/10
Repurchase: No

Price & Shop

I received this Cosrx Natural BHA Skin Returning Emulsion from  BBCosmetic in exchange for an honest review a while back but all thoughts are my own, as always. ^^ It's $14.90 per piece but you can get it for $13.70 after the 8% discount code (C10T190S3  applied during checkout). For those of you unaware with the free international shipping store, check out my review of them here.

This is one of the items they sent to me really early on. It took me a while to get the review down because I really wanted to love this product. Unfortunately, it looks like the Emulsion and I are just not meant to be.

Packaging, Ingredients and Directions

Like most other Cosrx products I've tried, this came in a white box that was very no-nonsense and down-to-earth, with ingredients, application methods, and purpose all written politely over it in black. The pump jar inside is white and non-transparent. I really like Cosrx's packaging of products. Their dispenser, cover, and container are all meant to be sanitary and easy to use. I have no problem with how they package things and hope they never change their less-is-more concept.

Ingredients: Centella Asiatica Leaf Water , Butylene Glycol, Alcohol, Dimethicone, Betaine Salicylate, Betaine,1,2-Hexanediol, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Allantoin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Centella Asiatica Extract, Lecithin, Xanthan Gum, Zinc PCA, Panthenol, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil ,PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Arginine, Ethylhexylglycerin, Ethyl Hexanediol

First, I just have to say the ingredient list is gorgeous. There's so many things in the ingredients list that I love:

Centella Asiatica Leaf Water has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. It's often used as treatment for skin injurires and conditions and is known to increase level of antioxidants and aid in healing. 

Tea Tree Oil is one of those things I feel like my skin really digs. It's able to soothe and heal blemishes and is a natural antibacterial. Tea tree oil can also be used on it's own (once diluted properly) to disinfect pores and dry out whiteheads, blackheads, pimples, and other blemishes. Used incorrectly and it could actually dry out skin though, so I've never attempted using just pure tea tree oil. 

Orange Peel Oil is an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory oil that isn't just for acne-prone skin. It's shown to increase ability to absorb vitamin c and increase blood flow, which can aid in anti-aging. 

Running this through cosdna doesn't come up wtih anything in particular to look out for.  There is, however, alcohol in the product so if you know you're sensitive to that, you should do well to avoid it altogether. T.T sorry. 

According to their description, the combination of centella asiatica water and natural BHA is able to moisturize and vitalize skin by soothing skin trouble and fill in moisture on the cellular level and naturally hydrate the skin. It's recommended for people with oily or troublesome skin. 

Directions: This emulsion is fairly thick and should be used after toners and essenses. So it's cleansing -> toner -> essense -> emulsion -> cream. I used this after A-sol as suggested in order to achieve a greater healing effect. 

Texture and Fragrance

The texture of this is fairly liquidy with just the right amount of viscousness. You can probably tell by the picture that it has a slightly milky consistency. It's easily spreadable and smells a little like tea tree? I couldnt' really figure out the scent for this but it faded the moment I spread this on my skin so I was fine with the fragrance. 

Performance

Cosrx Natural BHA Skin Returning Emulsion marketed itself as an all-natural product with organic BHA molecules that deeply penetrate into the skin to calm, soothe, and hydrate while taking care of skin concerns. It also claims to be able to revolutionaize and transform your skin with active ingredietns such as the BHA molecules that effectively refines skin to look perfect.

As I mentioned earlier, I applied this after cleansing, toning, and putting on Cosrx A-sol, as recommended. Unfortunately, my skin did not particularly care for this product since it just sits on my skin instead of being absorbed. It's one of the few products that makes my skin immediately uncomfortable. I felt like my skin couldn't breathe with just a thin layer of this spread on, if that makes any sense. While it wasn't doing anything horrible to my skin, I could feel my skin getting more congested as I left this on and I usually just end up splashing water on my face to try and wash it off. I tried this every other day for a few days. Stopped for a week and tried other products, then came back to this to make sure I wasn't just overthinking it, but the same uncomfortable feeling lingered. My skin just didn't want to like this at all. 

It's such a shame since the ingredients list is absolutely gorgeous and the bottle had a good amount of product for the price and I had been looking for a good moisturizer to layer over my skin. This looked like it could be it but alas, we weren't meant to be. 

I ended up exchanging this with a Cosrx A-sol that broke out my friend and she loves it. She loved it so much she's bought a backup for it. She has particularly sensitive skin that reacted badly to the cosrx a-sol, cosrx honey moisture, most Innisfree products, and pretty much every other skincare product she's tried so having this work for her was a small miracle in itself. I'm really glad it worked for her. According to her, it was moisturizing enough that she didn't need to layer other creams over it. I'm not giving it a zero since it worked so well for my friend, but I can't really give it anything over a 5 either since my skin really didn't like this. :( 

Price: $14.90 on bbcosmetic

(Use affiliated coupon: C10T190S3 for 8% off) 

Verdict: 5/10

Repurchase: No



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