Innisfree Ginger Oil Cream - Review
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I think what I love most about Innisfree is their innovative product lines. Every few months they release a new line of products (or at the very least a new addition to their already existing product lines) and last Autumn was no exception. As part of their fall/winter lineup, Innisfree announced a ginger-oil-centric series of serums, creams, and essences that promise to:
make skin more hydrated, firmer, and healthier
As with most of their skin care ranges, they claim to to contain lots of of natural ingredients from the Island of Jeju. I'm sure you can guess what is extra special about this cream and what special ingredient goes into it? Why, ginger of course! Thanks to the awesome beauty site Byrdie, I have learned that Ginger is known to:
- Fade Scars (Because of its toning and antioxidant properties, ginger can reduce the appearance of hypo-pigmented scars; scars that are white or much lighter than your skin tone)
- Rejuvenate Skin (Both ingesting ginger and applying it topically have major anti-ageing benefits. It contains around 40 antioxidant properties that prevent free radical damage and protect against ageing. It also evens skin tone and improves elasticity)
When I finished my go-to deep moisture cream, the Innisfree Eco Science Cream, I thought I'd be a devil and try out the new Ginger Oil line from my favourite Korean Skincare brand, Innisfree. I was a little worried that the smell would be overpoweringly 'gingery' but I was very pleasantly surprised. I LOVE the fragrance of this cream. It's got a very light, citrus fragrance with a hint of ginger. It's not overpowering at all and fades with wear.
The cream itself is a thick consistency, but don't be fooled! It is absorbed quickly into the skin and doesn't leave behind a shiny residue. I was worried that I would only be able to wear it at night, in the same way as the Eco Science Cream as it takes a while to soak into my skin, but again, I was pleasantly surprised with this cream. It is absorbed into the skin after a few minutes, and while it definitely doesn't leave a very matte finish, my skin looks even and smooth after application.
My skin also feels incredible soft, and not at all sticky like the 'oil' part of the name suggests. I've been using it my day cream for the past month and have been so happy with it. While it's perfect for Winter day wear, I do find my skin is a tad dry when I wake up after wearing it at night. So for those extra cold days, or when I need an extra boost I either pop on a Face Mask or I use the Eco Science Cream.
The round tub contains 50 ml of product, and will last you around 2 months of everyday use. It's a little pricey, costing W28 000. I picked up the cream during one of the membership sales at Innisfree. By joining the Innisfree Membership club you are able to benefit from their monthly 30%-50% sales as well as the fun extra pop up sales throughout each month). I loved this cream so much that I just picked up another jar during the sale last week.
I found an amazing site that lists the ingredients of certain Asian brands (in English). Click here to see the ingredients list for the Ginger Oil Cream. As you can tell from the above list, there is actually only 0.1% ginger oil. I found this by SmittenGinger who had the following to say about the Ginger Oil Serum:
"It's important to note, however, that ginger oil is only 0.1% of the actual product. That's a disparaging number at first, but any more and there would be concerns about irritating the skin.
Ginger oil is, after all, a well known chemical irritant in high concentrations. If there were more than 0.1% concentration in this serum, I'm sure there would be reports of burning, stinging, inflamed skin, flushing, and all sorts of other nastiness that comes if you put high amounts of any essential oil directly onto the skin. That said, there is still enough in here to firm up the skin and give this product a very pleasant (if slight) gingery smell". Thank you SmittenGinger!
I have really been very happy with this cream (so happy in fact that I bought another tub before my first one has even run out!). We are supposedly near the end of Winter here in Korea, and I would say this is the perfect time to use this product. It might be a too oily for my skin come summer, but right now it's perfect and my skin is super soft and I can definitely notice a gently glow.
I bought the Innsifree Ginger Oil Cream from my local Innisfree branch, but you can also find it online here in Korea on Gmarket.
It's been a very long time since I bought anything from Skinfood. I think the last purchase I made was a repurchase of their signature Black Sugar Serum (and that was back in 2014!). South Korea is well known for their cutesy packaging and beautifully designed products, and more importantly, for how effective their products are. It takes just a moment of looking around at the women here to be able to see how beautifully cared for their skin is. A large reason their skin looks the way it does is because of protecting their faces (and every other body part) form the sun, but they also spend a lot of time and effort on their beauty routines (do you remember my post on the 10 Step Korean Skincare routine?).
There are so many Korean skincare and beauty brands, and each of them is associated with something unique. Etude House is know for it's very cutesy and girly packaging, Missha is seen as a higher end brand, Tony Moly is what all the school girls favor and Innsifree is seen as the Eco-friendly flagship brand. I always saw Skinfood as one of the cheaper brands, more so when it came to quality than actual price. Most of the products from Etude, Tony Moly and Skinfood are actually priced very similarly but from the look of their packaging, I wasn't really blown away.