Cosrx Galactomyce 95 Whitening Power Essence

Back then around the first bloom time of Kbeauty (when every Internet publisher was saying how superior, 3/7/10 whatever years ahead, targeted and affordable it is). Cosrx was one of the shining stars on Reddit. I kept seeing it mentioned on people's routine posts and since it was widely available even on Amazon. I got a few items and...hated every single one of them. 

To quickly recap: The low pH gel cleanser didn't clean well, stung my eyes and leaves a film (Cerave foaming gel was cheaper, much more forgiving and effective). Their famed pimple patch does indeed dry out zits, but it also leaves behind a big red mark the size of patch, with a resulting hyperpigmentation that's way more stubborn than a hand picked zit. 

Blogger Blooper - The bottle was totally fine from the fall (just not fine with my skin). The Galactomyce 95 Whitening Power Essence is a hydrating treatment, enriched with ferment, that moisturizes and evens out skin tone and texture . 

There is a little smell that's not offensive, the texture is tackier than water but not too heavy, there is an undisclosed amount of niacinamide (an ingredient I know that works on me) but I never found out how effective the Cosrx essence is. After one use, it gave me little red bumps and rashes and I couldn't find other body part to repurpose it to.

 Anyway, a few google search told me that people on Makeupalley hate it as well (but on merchants' sites it gets stellar reviews...Hmmm) and the brand started to get polarizing reviews on Reddit. Later on, news from users came out Cosrx is not remotely popular or widely available in Korea either. I guess they just have an amazing marketing team.

Cheeky instruction that would be cute for people who can use it. 

Thanks to brands like Cosrx (and other political events), now I am pretty good at spotting shill/sponsored content on reddit and other parts of the net...I have since created a mental blacklist of brands that constantly fake the hype (actually there are only 2-3 brands in my white list) and tried to stay away as much as I can.