Favorite skincare discoveries 2017

Here are my favorite new skincare discoveries for 2017. 2017 was a great year of skincare for me. It was the year where I started my Instagram (koreanskincarebyfie) and about half a year later I decided to start this blog because I wanted to write more in-depth reviews. It was the year where I learned to read ingredients list before purchasing new products. It was also the year where I started to understand what the ingredients actually did for the skin.
I've tested a bunch of products in 2017 and here are the products that really stood out to me. Some of these products are PR gifted but that has in no way influenced my choices.

Klairs Rich Moist Foaming Cleanser*
First of all, I really like the ingredients list. It doesn't contain alcohol or fragrance and it contains a ton of extracts. Due to the special kind of pump, the product is already foam when it comes out. That makes it so much more gentle because you don't have to rub to make it foam and it also makes it easier to spread out on the face. This is without a doubt the most gentle cleanser that I've ever tried. It leaves my face clean but not tight at all. The only con is the smell. It has a strong smell of tea tree and well, I hate the smell of tea tree. I will repurchase this if I ever find it on sale (the price is pretty high considering it only contains 100 ml.).

Klairs Supple Preperation Facial Toner
Before I tried this, I thought that it could never live up to the hype about it but I fell in love with this from the very first application. The texture of product is viscous so I apply it with my hands instead of a cotton pad. I use this in my AM skincare routine almost everyday and I use the 7 skin method. It leaves my skin so hydrated and smooth. A little product goes a long way and even though I use the 7 layers of it, this has lasted for half a year and I still have some left. Just like the Foam Cleanser, this toner doesn't contain alcohol or fragrance. I already have a backup of these for when I empty this bottle.

Laneige Water Bank Essence EX
This essence was lightweight and it absorbed quickly without leaving any sticky residue - it just left my skin smooth and ready for the rest of my routine. I was really surprised by how hydrating it was. The only con about this was the smell. It has the classic 'water bank' smell. It's not unpleasant but it is quite strong. I might purchase full size in the future but for now, I'm just glad that I have another deluxe sample of it in my stash.

Pyunkang Yul Moisture Serum**
This is the first product that I've ever tried from Pyunkang Yul and it won't be the last. The ingredients list is great and I really like that it doesn't contain water. I started using this in the beginning of December where the weather was getting colder and my skin was getting drier. My skin was getting irritated because of the cold weather but this helped calm my skin. This doesn't irritate my skin at all and it's just a pleasure to use. It's moisturizing and it has helped reduce those dry patches.

Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Mask EX
I've only used this for about a month but I can already say that I'm in love. This has a strong herbal, hanbang high end smell but after I've gotten used to it, I've started to like it. The texture is thick and it feels so luxurious on the skin. It absorbs within a couple of minutes and it leaves a slight residue but that goes away after a while. When I wake up in the morning after using this the night before, my skin feels moisturized and it just looks glowing and plump. This is just perfect for my dry skin and I honestly don't have anything negative to say about it. I've purchased a bunch of samples (ml/price is lower with samples than the full size product) so I won't run out of product anytime soon.

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask Grapefruit
I had the 'Berries' version before this and effect-wise they're the same but this 'Grapefruit' version just smells amazing. This has really saved my dry, chaped lips. Whenever I use this at night, I wake up with moisturized, non-flaky and plump lips. I also use less lipbalm throughout the day if I have used this the night before. As for the price, I would usually feel like $20 is a lot for a lip product unless it's lipstick but in this case, it's money well spend. The jar contains 20 ml. and it lasts forever. I will keep repurchasing this forever because no other lip product I've tried has had such amazing effects.

Skinfood Black Sugar Honey Mask Wash Off***
This is my favorite exfoliating wash off mask. It contains sugar grains to exfoliate. When I apply it, I gently massage my face to exfoliate. I leave it on for 15 minutes and when I wash it off, my skin is baby soft. This doesn't dry out my skin at all, it actually leaves it feeling moisturized. I have half of this left but I've already purchased a backup so I won't run out.

Products marked with * are kindly gifted for review purposes from *www.kocono.dk/, **surisuri.dk/ and ***eopenmarket.com/.