I’ve been buying most of my K-beauty products from YesStyle. 

Pros: reliable quality, tracking works, free shipping, secure payment, at times good deals and great range. Cons: takes me literally 1 month before package arrives (to Sweden), sometimes I need to pay customs, if I need something ASAP I may have to pay (again, literally) more than 3x the price I get it for when they have deals, which is even more expensive than buying it from Swedish retailers. Case in point: Dear, Klairs’ Midnight Blue Calming Cream, which atm sells at 2.5x the price I paid in November.

So, I’m looking into alternatives that have good and reliable pricing and a wide range (Dear Klairs, Cosrx, Pyunkang Yul, Beauty of Joseon, Illiyoon, Isntree…) as well as no-hassle shipping and payment. Worldwide/EU shipping a requirement! 🙏🏼🤩

📣 EU citizens: your best K-beauty retailer?

A while ago a skinfluencer I follow hyped Swanicoco’s Peptine eye creams and I bought it on a whim. My current routine is C-vitamin based during daytime with retinal during nights. My retinal eye cream is soon empty and so the Swanicoco cream is coming up next.

My concern now is that I heard copper peptides should not be combined with C-vitamin, and could even be damaging if used together. Fine, I thought, I’ll only use it nights instead. But now I’m reading some sources advising against combining copper peptides with retinoids too!

So please give me your input here: is there any way that I could use the Swanicoco eye cream often enough to see effects while still keeping my C-vitamin/retinal routine? (Including other core products from mentioned routines below.)

Copper peptides with retinoids/vitamin C routine?

This was tested by the Swedish drug authorities and  they found the SPF protection to be so low they banned it from being sold in Sweden.

I threw this after reading the news, see “bad” below.

The glass bottle should be held with dry hands since it needs a firm shake to get the precious drops out of the bottle.

Calming and hydrating, easily applied. Skin feels clearer and less prone to break out.

I use a couple of drops during the dry Scandinavian winter time, to soften my cheeks. Works well for my combination skin and has more of a dry oil feel. It’s also useful for dry hair ends.

I so wanted to like this but every square millimetre of my skin touched by this toner felt like fire, and my skin became intensely red and swollen within seconds of applying it. Not for sensitive skin!

Judging from afar everything seems good about this: active and soothing ingredients at a good price.

- Packaging is not hygienic
- Stings my eyes
- Didn’t notice any long-term benefits or changes besides moisture to the eye area.

Cleevie