SKINFOOD Peach Sake Pore Serum - Pore Minimizer & Sebum Control - Skin Smoothing Facial Serum for Oily Skin - Pore Refining Serum & Pore Tightening 45ml (1.52 oz)

So, I am a recent (month or two) convert to the wonderful world of Korean beauty products. Although I immediately saw results with these products (yes, impossible as it sounds, nearly all of the things I have tried have been amazing) I decided to wait it out and use a regimen for awhile to see what really happened in a longer term scenario using the Korean products and the many-step beauty program.For reference: (This is my skin, so if you have similar skin you can intuit that you may experience similar results from these products. I hope this helps!)I am 36 years old, but I still have quite oily skin. It's good on one hand as it has meant I look younger with my fewer wrinkles, but it's a pain to deal with oil, pores and pimples as an adult. Recently my aunt complained of a pimple and she is in her 60s... so I know this isn't a teen thing for me and there are others like me out there, too.With aging I've found I am less prone to breakouts. The ones I get are usually hormonal or have a very specific reason, like I did a cleanse that gave me three big cysts. Yuck! But though fewer pimple concerns is nice I have found that I now have more sensitive skin than when I was younger. So, I can't use harsh acne or oily skin products. It seems like salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide or anything strongly alcohol based will almost instantly dry me out to the point of pain, irritation, redness along with more breakouts and more oil than when I started. It's just not worth it.Yet, while I can't use harsh products, I still have oily skin with large pores that can easily be congested and need *constant* *daily maintenance* or they clog. A day of not exfoliating/treating and I can see all my pores fill back in with oil and debris. It's gross. It's annoying. It's something I've had to deal with all my life but never been able to find the right balance of keeping the skin clean and healthy, not stripped or yo-yo'ing between dry/oily or stripped+irritated/clogged.So, if you have similar skin: oily! maybe a bit sensitive! clogged pores! read on...One of the first Korean lines I tried was the Skin Food line, "Peach Sake". I got the toner, emulsion and serum - as well as the bb cream and finishing powder. I don't always use the bb or the powder, but I use the toner, emulsion and serum every morning. Their use has yielded FANTASTIC change in the quality of my skin.At first use my skin loved this stuff. It smelled yummy- peaches! It didn't bother my sometimes sensitive skin- no burning, itching, irritations, redness. It actually made my oily skin feel *nice* and even *pretty!*- smooth, soft, less oily, but importantly *not stripped*. And maybe very most importantly, using this line has improved my skin over time: it is softer, has better tone, has better texture, it is less oily, and I have notably smaller pores. My skin undeniably looks much better today than it did when I first used these products a month ago.Although I have been using another line at night, Mizon Snail, I exclusively use the Skin Food Peach line during the day because it works best under make-up or even with bare skin, out and about in the world. The Mizon Snail line seems to leave an unfavorable film on the skin that isn't great looking on it's own and simply doesn't work under make-up at all as it sloughs off and makes bb cream or cushion compacts smear around to an uneven, patchy finish. This doesn't matter at night - so I use the snail products for additional clarification of my skin tone - but for the daytime, Skin Food Peach Sake products on the other hand, leave the skin fresh, soft, relatively oil-free and ready for make-up, or no skin make-up, because you might find your skin really looking nice enough on its own.Here is what I typically use during the day, in this order, lightly patting in the smallest amount of product needed to spread over my face and neck, usually letting each layer dry before adding the next step:1. I spread The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Light Oil on my face and gently work it into my skin, particularly on forehead, nose and chin, then rinse with warm water.2. I use my Clarisonic Mia 2 Facial Sonic Cleansing System, Lavender to exfoliate (this is my second skin cleansing step) using the white egg soap in TONYMOLY Eggpore Shiny Skin Soap.3. I pour a bit of SKINFOOD Peach Sake Toner (for pore care) 135ml into my hand and pat it all over my face, particularly forehead, nose and chin. NOTE: there is a plastic stopper you need to remove before you can easily dispense product.4. I dab out a bit of SKINFOOD Peach Sake Emulsion (for pore care) 135ml on my hand and pat it into my slightly toner-damp skin. Then I let it dry. NOTE: there is a plastic stopper you need to remove before you can easily dispense product.5. I squirt 2 pumps of Skin Food Peach Sake Pore Serum 45ml Made in 'Korea on my fingertips and pat it onto my skin, particularly on forehead, nose and chin. I let this dry.6. If I will go outside that day, I apply Biore Sarasara UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence Sunscreen SPF50+ PA++++ 50g (Pack of 2) as this is the one sunscreen that doesn't seem to bog down my pores or make me feel sticky.7. If I want to, I apply skin make-up, either Skinfood Peach Sake Pore BB Cream (SPF20/PA+) #1 Light Beige or MISSHA M MAGIC CUSHION SPF50+/PA+++ NO.21 and maybe Tonymoly Cats Wink Clear Pact, Clear Beige or Skinfood Peach Sake Silky Finish Powder 15g+free Sample.Now, I don't always feel the need to add extra moisture to my skin, but when I do I have been happily using these products: SKINFOOD Facial Water Vita-C Cream 75g goes on before make-up, and Skin Food Facial Water Vita-C (Mist) 145ml as a refresher during the day that doesn't smudge make-up, and is especially good after blotting up excess oil with [Too Cool for School] Dinoplatz Dear Brachiosaurus Oil Blotting Paper + Refill. I also have liked these two little eye sticks: TONYMOLY Panda's Dream Brightening Eye Base + so Cool Eye Stick (2pcs Set). They don't have a super strong effect, but I don't have significant wrinkles/dryness so they add a little boost of coolness and eye circle cover and they simply feel/look nice.Again, at night I use a different line, which I really feel compliments this day time regimen and has been integral in changing my skin from problem skin to the best skin I've had in a couple decades. It was brought to my attention by another reviewer, and for that I am ever so grateful!! If you are interested in that info you can find it on the review I am writing for the Mizon line, which you can find by searching my reviewer profile for "Mizon" or just look for my review on one of the product pages here: [MIZON] All in One Snail Repair Cream (75ml)Bottom line: I love the Skin Food Peach Sake line! It has helped my change my skin for the better to a level I was simply unable to achieve with even my Clarisonic and some other products. I truly believe this line is fantastic for oily/clogged skin and that regular use will change the way your skin looks and feels. Highly recommended! Good luck, and I sincerely hope you get the same, or better, results as I have! Hope this helped!Disclaimer: Everyone is different and their skin is a physical reflection of this difference. You may experience irritation with Peach Sake where I did not. In which case you should immediately stop using the product. Aside from retinol, which I have used and understand its sometimes peeling effects, I never use a product if it starts bothering my skin. I feel like irritation is a sign to stop using/consuming something, or at the very least carefully pare down use or reconsider product combos. Please don't push your skin, hoping you will have similar results of my "the best skin of your adult life!" if you are feeling itchy, peely, whatever-not-good-ee. It's not worth it! And something out there will be your wonder product, you just have to find it. Took me this long to find Peach Sake, so I know it can take time and lots of sampling. Best of luck! :-)

Warning: LONG review – My skin is EXTREMELY oily, cystic/hormonal acne prone and sensitive to boot. I have been using the Skinfood Peach Sake skincare and make-up line for approximately 2 months now and here are my findings:I purchased all of the products through k-beauty and the products are authentic and shipped fast, usually less than one week. I usually have to wait 2-5 weeks for my products coming straight from Korea, which is not great when you run out of something your skin loves. The line smells fantastic, softens skin and does a great job of controlling shine/oil/sebum.There seems to be a lot of confusion about the skincare line and what the products are, what they do, and how to use them. First of all let me point out that description/name of products that are used in different countries have totally different meanings/functions – case in point is the ‘toner’. American ‘toners’ or astringents are extremely harsh and drying on the skin and contain a massive amount of alcohol. In my opinion, they are awful, no one should use them, and they are too harsh for ANY skin. People generally think because you have oily skin you must punish and strip it of all oils to ‘cure’ it and make it ‘normal’, when all you are doing is damaging your skin, making it freak out that it’s so dry, and forcing it to overproduce even more sebum and exacerbating your problem.Korean skincare products are generally applied lightest texture to thickest texture. For the Peach Sake products they should be optimally applied in this order: Toner – Serum – Emulsion. If you have combination skin, I think you can skip the serum. If you have extremely oily skin mostly in the dreaded T-zone, the serum may only need to be applied in this zone to work best for you. I live in New England, where we are having an especially cold and dry winter, the serum made my face dry and ashy on cheeks and around my mouth. I then only applied it in T-zone, and have put it on hold to wait for more hot/humid summer weather in case I need it. The Toner and Emulsion have been working just fine for me, even with my extreme sebum production.All of the products have moisturizing properties, along with different skin benefits, that deliver the ingredients to different layers of your skin. It is important to wash your face properly every morning and evening before applying the products. In the evening, if you wear make-up, you should do a ‘double wash’, which means you use an oil based make-up remover cleanser (especially if you wear BB creams. I use DHC cleansing oil), and then a ‘normal’ face wash to make sure all make-up/impurities are removed from your face.Some people are saying it is hard to get the products out of the bottle. I find it is hard to control the product and make sure you only get out what you need, which is a VERY small amount. There is a rubber stopper, with a central rubber knob that pops out, in both the toner and emulsion bottles. I am wondering if some people are not realizing that the central rubber knob needs to be popped out to use the product.If you use the Korean ‘tap-tap’ method, you will also only need a very small amount of product to cover your whole face and neck. I have been using the products for two months and still have half of the Toner and Emulsion. I have run out of the Serum and re-ordered another bottle that I am saving for summer in case I need more oil control then.After washing your face, PAT dry with a towel, a couple pats will do, your face should only be ‘damp dry’ – please do NOT rub at your face with your towel! Cup you palm and dab about a dime sized in circumference amount of the Toner in your palm. Rub your palms together to warm the product, press you palms vertically against both sides of your face/over your cheeks, then horizontally across your face with one hand across your forehead and the other across your mouth. I also press my palms into my neck/throat, then GENTLY pat all over my face (please, no slap-stick Three Stooges moves, don’t knock yourself out, ladies!), you can also gently tap your fingers as you go like you are lightly tapping on piano keys.When the product is absorbed (your skin will still have the feeling of being slightly moist), you can use 1-2 pumps of the emulsion, smoothing it onto your T-zone and either gently spread or tapping it from the center to the outside of your face until absorbed. Your skin will feel cottony/powdery soft and dry after this product is absorbed.Lastly, cup your palm again, tap out about a dime-nickel sized in circumference amount of the emulsion, rub your palms together again, and apply just as the toner described above. When absorbed, your face will feel powdery soft, smooth and moisturized (not as cottony dry as the serum). You can and may still need a moisturizer after the emulsion. I have been using Laneige Water bank Gel during the winter, afterwards I use a skin finisher, which I cannot find anywhere in the US. A skin finisher is NOT a moisturizer, primer, BB, or CC cream. I have been using the Sulwahsoo Luminature Essential Finisher which I will review later. I am just mentioning this because this is my normal skincare routine: wash – toner – emulsion – moisturizer – finisher.Speaking just on the Skinfood Peach Sake Toner, Serum, and Emulsion line alone – it has worked for me better than anything else I have tried for oil control without freaking out my sensitive skin. Does my skin still get oily, yes it does. However, I have gone from using 6-10 blotting sheets a DAY with reapplying powder 3-6 times a DAY, down to ONE sheet of blotting paper mid-day with MAYBE needing a dab of powder in my T-zone, but not always. A HUGE improvement to say the least. My makeup applies a lot easier and smoothly since Skinfood Peach Sake, stays in place and looks just as good at the end of the day as when I freshly applied it in the morning. The only con I have for this line is that although it has helped immensely with controlling sebum, it has not PREVENTED new acne from forming. At the same time, it has NOT CAUSED acne break outs or skin irritation. I still got my normal hormonal acne break-outs. Yea, I wasn’t really expecting it to help with that, as nothing but BC has controlled the whole hormonal cystic acne break-out nightmare, but I was hoping with the oil control that it wouldn’t be so bad.All-in-all, great line to try if your main concern is overproduction of sebum and oil control. I have delegated this line to my morning routine and have recently started a tea tree oil skincare regimen for nights to see if that helps the acne side of my problem, which so far has been having good results for me (again, I will review that later after more time, but I am using a combination of products from both Skinfood and the Body Shop).

This is a really good product for pore reduction, fine line smoothing, and even controlling oiliness. It doesn’t make me break out at all, which is practically a miracle for me since my skin needs no special occasion to suddenly have more acne. The fragrance is nice and light, I wouldn’t call it offensive at all. 2 pumps covers my face a neck and it absorbs quickly.It’s just…why does this have glitter in it? I feel pretty embarrassed leaving the house as a grown woman with my face covered in sparkles. It reminds me of that over-perfumed glitter lotion I could get a Claire’s back in the early 2000’s. I was cool with it then because I was a child but it’s not really my jam in my 30’s. Honestly, if I can find a suitable product with a similar price and results I’m going to switch to it as long as it doesn’t sparkle.