Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream Review

Hello! Today it is a very rainy day (again), which is something I really enjoy when I write or read. I am a little frustrated because there are a few items I want to order for my K-beauty routine that includes the fabulous snail and bee line by Benton, as well as an oil face cleanser, masks and makeup up but I will have to wait for another week or two. Anyway.... Today I am going to do my review about a Korean skin care product that has been quite popular in the word of mouth K-beauty world. I am talking about Dynasty Cream by Beauty of Joseon. I bought it after having read a few positive reviews and I was very curious to try it and I could not find any set of samples for sale, so I decided to give a try and buy the whole size. Before really starting with this review, I must say that the brand Beauty of Joseon makes part of the Korean Traditional Skin Care style, this means Dynasty Cream is filled with botanic wellness and a quite traditional style of beauty treatments. I also liked the fact that there is Orchid in the formula, and I was looking for some quality cream that can be more affordable having this botanic element, to test a new way to avoid the expensive Orchidee Imperiale by Guerlain. Here is how the packaging looks like:

Joseon Beauty Cream[/caption]   This nice wrapping beautifies the container. Here is how it looks like without it:

    Note: I have been told that starting January 2016, the wrapping is not added anymore to the packaging. I bought this cream around November 2015. Now, what does this cream intend to do on your skin? Targets: Wrinkles, tired skin, skin that needs moisture, whitening (meaning here brightening, making your skin glow. Important to know in the K-beauty cosmetic world, instead of whitening as for discoloring the skin) Benefits: Smooth skin, hydrated skin, glow and moist. Active Ingredients: Orchid, Ginseng, Honey (Boosting aminoacids, vitamins, nutrition); Green radish, rice bran, pumpkin (Moisturizers); Safflower seed oil (probably not tolerated by all skins, probably not by mine) (Rich vitamin E content); ceramides (Skin firmness, elasticity); Adenosine (wonderful anti wrinkle component); Niacine (overall skin brightening). For a full list of components plus skin tolerance and hazardous elements, you can check here the formula from Cosdna :

   


 Although this cream is very promising, there are certain elements in its formula that can make some skins sensitive to it: Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Cetearyl Alcohol, Olive Oil can trigger acne, pimples, while they can also irritate certain skins. In my case, it does create a sort of red bump that fades away after around half an hour. Like when you have been bitten by a mosquito and the effect on your skin is this huge round red bump that itches. I have had this effect a few times but it disappears after a while by itself. Now the concerning element is Ceteareth-20, which is used as surfactant. In cosmetics, a surfactant is added to help the product spread and make it malleable in order for the formula to be able to let the other products penetrate on your skin, coating it to lower the product tension on your skin. I think I get the definition but it appears in RED color, so I checked and it is another alcohol, in this case a fatty alcohol. It helps other elements to solve and be spreadable on your skin. The reason why it is considered hazardous for those who are Pro Natural and organic skin care, is because Ceteareth-20 can make other elements that are dangerous penetrate the skin. In this case, whatever other agents that make part of this formula must be safe so that this fatty alcohol becomes Safe. I personally think it is good to know, but in this formula I don't see any other hazardous elements, so this point is not too useful to stop me from using this cream. Except for the bars that appear in yellow, if wanting to be extremely precautious. Overall I think this is a quite safe cream, the only problem as I wrote before has to do with "skin tolerance" to certain elements that I mentioned, especially alcohols and oils. My skin is sensitive and this is why I think I got certain reactions. But the morning after the effect is absolutely marvellous: My skin is clearer, bright, rested. And hydrated.   I think in my case, the perfect way to use this cream is by night as a sleeping pack added over some propolis hydrating cream, like Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Shield Cream, my savior this winter, a great choice I made to keep my combination and sensitive skin hydrated and protected against the winter blowing wind, cold and snow.


A D V I C E  If your skin is combination, a whole dose is too much and it can take some time to completely be absorbed by the skin.

F E E L I N G

 

 The first time I used this cream, I thought it would feel like Mizon All In One Snail Cream, as my eyes saw a certain similar texture. But the effect in my fingers is different. The smell is to me very acceptable,  a sort of freshness and spa sensation scent if I can put it that way. The feeling is similar as AIO by Mizon but yet not the same, more liquified probably. It spreads easily, little is better, just go and try less than a full plastic dose and from then correct if necessary, as it will take more time to be absorbed if not knowing really how much you need each time. After a minute it is ready. This cream needs some little massage. On my skin the effect is instant: a wonderful glow that I am going to use when putting on make up, on my strobe make up times to add a beautiful glow to my cheeks. The second effect comes when it has completely been absorbed: my skin is smooth like  a baby. Something in the effect reminds me of a cream by Jeanne Piaubert that I used from my mother's bathroom years ago, when I was not yet even taking care of my skin. It was a cream that oxygenated the skin, by hydrating it, if this makes any sense to you. I felt the same when starting to see its effects: soft, moist, baby touch.

PROS: Very smooth, massaging cream that relaxes just by spreading it on the face. Hydrating, Nutritious, brightening, glow effect.

CONS: The alcohol in this formula is probably making me react momentarily to this cream. Whatever it does, disappears within an hour or less. Probably too much concentrated for my combination skin.

MY PERSONAL USE: My ideal way of using this cream is by night, as a sleeping pack, as a layer over Benton Aloe Vera Propolis Soothing Gel. A very deep and interesting article about Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream was written by Cat Cactus in her blog Snow White and the Asian Pear, which I recommend you to read. It's a great article that you can read  here. If you have tried this, let me know how it worked for you or your thoughts about it if you would like to try it. Thanks for reading!