Review : Naruko Rose & Snow Fungus Aqua Cubic Moisturizer




Product Description
NARUKO Rose and Snow Fungus Aqua Cubic Moisturizer provides long-lasting and in-depth hydration to the skin. It forms a water-binding film on the skin to protect against water loss. This moisturizer improve, firm and tighten pores, keeping skin healthy, tender and translucent.


Key Ingredients :
White Willow Bark extract : moisturize and repair the dry cuticle
Natural Snow Fungus extract : gives the skin endless moisture
Vit E microcapsules and Retinyl Acetate : enriched in antioxidants and helps tighten rough, large pores
Bulgarian Rose essential oil : conditions and relaxes stressed muscles

Naruko products are known to be parabens-free, contain no artificial fragrances and are not tested on animals.
Parabens come in the forms of butylparaben, ethylparaben, isobutylparaben, methylparaben, or propylparaben, and they have been linked distantly (meaning in limited studies and with only a handful of subjects or animal studies) to breast cancer due to their weak estrogenic activity and their presence in a tiny number of breast cancer tissue samples. Parabens can also make your skin look older, diminishing skin tone and accelerating the formation of wrinkles and age spots.

However, according to Paula, parabens actually have a very "natural" origin. They are formed from an acid (p-hydroxy-benzoic acid) found in raspberries and blackberries and that there is no research proving parabens should be avoided when you shop for personal-care products.
From a natural point of view, if you are indeed concerned on parabens, then there are some healthy alternatives (source) :
Neem extract: Derived from the azadirachta tree in India, neem is a potent antibacterial that, when combined with other botanicals, forms an effective preservative.
Neopein: This innovative, broad-spectrum preservative is a proprietary blend of natural plant extracts that protect water-based products from bacteria and fungi.
Phenoxyethanol: A nontoxic, broad-spectrum preservative used to protect against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Phenoxyethanol must be used in conjunction with other preservatives like potassium sorbate to be effective. ( note that according to this source, its best to pair this with diazoldinyl urea which releases formaldehyde )
Polyaminopropyl biguanide: Kills a wide range of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. An excellent alternative to parabens, polyaminopropyl biguanide does not disrupt hormones or release either formaldehyde or volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Potassium sorbate: Derived from the mountain laurel ash, potassium sorbate is a mild antimicrobial that also protects against yeasts. It is used in conjunction with phenoxyethanol to protect against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.
Rosemary oleoresin: An oil-soluble antioxidant that helps to prevent rancidity.

At 120ml, its best to be used within 6 months after opening which I thought was quite a short duration. I have been using this for close to 4 months and still have about 50% left, with daily morning usage. Considering that it costs $23.90, its quite a value-for-money moisturiser.

It has a subtle rose-scented fragrance and the bottle has a wide opening but once you got the hang of it, the wastage can be minimized. The white milky lotion-like consistency is easy to massage into the skin but I took some time to adjust to its texture initially. For the record, all, if not most of my moisturisers come from Biotherm. Despite the overhyped and overpriced products, their moisturisers work very well for my combination, sensitive and dehydrated skin.

However, the ever-increasing prices of their moisturisers made me take a step back and re-look other brands. Moisturiser, to me, is the most important step in my skincare regime, because of my dehydrated skin. Serums do contain more goodness than moisturisers but I haven't found the holy grail serum as of now. Because of the rave reviews of Naruko, I decided to take the plunge and try their hydrating moisturiser. In Taiwan, I was told that this range is very good for hydration by one of the promoters. This moisturiser is one of  the products in the trio set I purchased, where it contains a toner and night gelly.

Being used to the cooling gel texture commonly found in Biotherm moisturisers, I was surprised to find that this Naruko product is like a milky emulsion type. It took about a minute for it to sink into the skin after which the slightly sticky feeling disappeared, leaving soft and supple skin in its place.

On their website, this product is recommended to be used with cotton pads and wipe it in a circular motion. However, I am used to using moisturiser with my bare hands so I did not follow their recommended step.
On a normal good day where my skin is doing fine, this moisturiser works well to maintain the hydration level on my skin. However, when my skin is dehydrated and rough, this moisturiser failed to perform any "magic". The hydrating ability is just not enough to soothe, tone and moisturise my badly thirsty skin during those bad times.

Ingredients
Phytoferulin®, Tremella Fuciformis Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Salix Alba (Willow) Extract, Panthenol, Ceramide, Serine, Alpha-Arbutin, Saccharide Isomerate, Retinyl Palmitate, Encapsule Vitamin E. Tocopheryl Acetate, Glycereth-26, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Dimethicone, Polyquaternium-51, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, PEG-7 Olivate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-40 Stearate, Ceteareth-20, Phenoxyethanol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Essential Oils of Rose (Rosa Damascena), Rosewood (Aniba Rosaeodora), Palmarosa (Cymbopogon Martinii), Petitgrain (Citrus Aurantium Var. Amara)

Update (20th Feb 12) :
After 5 months, the scent have turned racid, which smells more like spoilt milk which is kind of nauseating. The colour and texture remains the same. This is the first time that I have experienced a product turning bad on me so I was kind of surprised. It does contains 2 preservatives in the ingredient list.

Phenoxyethanol : Common cosmetic preservative that is considered one of the less irritating ones to use in formulations. It does not release formaldehyde.

Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate : A synthetic preservative that is typically used in concentrations of 0.1% or less. It is very active against fungi but has weak antibacterial activity, which is why it should always be used with other preservatives in water-based products

Source : Naruko


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