Jini Beauty – June 2016 Review

Jini Beauty is an Asian skincare subscription that typically offers 1-3 full-size products and 2-3 deluxe samples. When you first sign up, you’ll be asked to choose your skin type from the following categories: Oily/Acne Prone, Dry/Mature, Normal/Combination, and Sensitive/Troubled. This box ships around the 15th of each month and arrives very quickly and promptly (I’m just late on this review), which is awesome because I am not good at waiting for my subscription boxes!

$24.95 per month
Ships only to US

*Affiliate links

This is a review of the Sensitive/Troubled skin type box.  For reference, my skin tends to be very dry around my chin and mouth area, and can get red and irritated easily.  I’m always looking for products that moisturize well without tons of harsh chemicals.

Jini Beauty always includes an information sheet that describes how to use each product, which is super helpful because a lot of the time the instructions on the product itself are in Korean.

PETITFEE Gold & EGF Premium Eye Patch

The box literature says that these hydrogel eye patches contain “EGF (epidermal growth factor) and pure gold to help stimulate cells and restore elasticity.”  They come in a white jar that has its own little spatula to lift out the individual eye patches (since they stick together easily).  There are 60 eye patches total in the jar.  I tend to like the feeling of hydrogel-anything, so these were pretty soothing on my skin.  I didn’t see any notable effects beyond hydration though, and the fit of these eye patches was not great.  They were too arched to the point where my under eyes were left untouched but the corners of my eyes got poked.  I had to cut a few down to size, which was not easy because hydrogels.  You also leave these on for 20-30 minutes, which is quite a long time to be masking just one small part of your face.

Ri Re Bosong Bosong Powder Sheet

OH BOY did I have an issue with these face sheets.  So the description on the info sheet says these are “sweat absorbing powder sheets” meant to “remove oil and sweat.”  So when I first tested it out, I used it like you would a blotting sheet.  BUT WAIT.  It’s packaged like a makeup wipe, it’s damp like a makeup wipe, and it *removes makeup like a makeup wipe* (which most good blotting sheets promise never to do).  So is it a makeup wipe?  I wasn’t sure, so I decided I would try it out in that capacity as well.  It definitely removes all of my face and eye makeup, but there is so much alcohol in the wipe that in addition to majorly drying out my skin, it stung my eyes pretty badly.  So it’s a no-go as a blotting sheet, and it’s a no-go as a makeup wipe.  I thought about using it on a hot no-makeup day as a refreshing wipe, but the dryness from the alcohol content gives me major pause: who wants to use these on the go when it requires the extra step of adding moisturizer after?  In conclusion, I’m not sure what I will be using these for, but if you have suggestions please comment!  There were three different fragrances available: Baby Powder, Fresh Citrus, and Fresh Soap.  Guessing by the scent, I think I received Fresh Citrus.

SKINFOOD Royal Honey Propolis Essence

SKINFOOD Royal Honey Propolis Shield Cream

I like when Jini sends products from the same line that are meant to work together.  In this case, the essence (basically, a serum) and the cream both contain propolis (a resin created by bees), royal jelly extract, and black honey extract for soothing and hydrating.  The cream also contains ceramide, which creates a barrier to seal in moisturizer (thus, “shield cream”).  The essence went on kind of heavy, and dried to a slightly tacky finish, but I wasn’t bothered because the minute I put on the cream over it, the tackiness went away.  I didn’t smell any fragrance from either, which is nice for sensitive skin users, and my face did feel softer and more moisturized.  The essence is a pretty large size too: I’ve been using it for a month and I’m not even halfway through (I use one dropper-full at night).  The cream is a much smaller size and got used up more quickly.

NEOGEN Dermalogy Mexican Aloe Essential Mask

Jini usually includes at least one sheet mask in each of their boxes, which differs according to your skin type.  I tend to be pretty skeptical about the abilities of sheet masks that make great claims like whitening, tightening, anti-wrinkle, etc., so I prefer to just use them for hydrating and soothing.  This mask was quite drippy with essence, which I actually like so you can leave it on longer if you choose.  The Mexican aloe calmed my skin pretty well and left it soft and smooth, but the effects didn’t really last.  With some good sheet masks, you can feel the hydrating effects for one or two days after, but by the next morning it didn’t feel like I had masked at all.  I like these masks as a soothing spa night step, but maybe not as part of my actual routine.

Holika Holika Glitter Nails, Flower Shower

The final product included was this cute nail polish.  It’s a clear top coat with pink, red, and white flecks, and big pink and red flowers.  Below is my attempt at using it over a pinky/peach OPI base nail color:

It’s a cute concept and I really wanted to like it, but it took quite a few thick coats just to get that much glitter on my nails, so I ended up removing it immediately after.  Maybe a different base would have allowed the pink flecks and flowers to show up better, but I usually paint my nails pink or red so it’ll take me a minute to find a new color.

Overall

This box was a bit of a miss for me.  My favorites were the Royal Honey Propolis Essence and cream, which I’ve been using pretty consistently since I got the box.  The mask and the eye patches were nice, but I probably wouldn’t repurchase since they weren’t very effective beyond hydration, and there are better products for that.  The nail polish will take some figuring out, but it’s certainly a better inclusion than the mysterious face wipes.  In general I’ve seen better from Jini (*SPOILER ALERT* I loved their next box, which I will review soon!), and since I did find at least two products that I loved in the whole box, I’ll continue to subscribe and see where it goes.

Purchased. Affiliate links. All opinions are my own and no compensation was received.