Jan 3

Jan 3 PRODUCT REVIEW: COSRX PHA MOISTURE RENEWAL POWER CREAM – BEST BRIGHTENING FACE CREAM, BEST ANTI-AGING MOISTURIZER

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COSRX | PHA MOISTURE RENEWAL POWER CREAM

This review was originally part of my blog article titled, A Complete K-Beauty Routine with the Best Facial Skincare from Purito, Cosrx, Missha & More! You can catch the full piece here.

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K-beauty isn’t perfect by any means. While it’s relatively uncommon to find irritants like denatured alcohol, fragrant plant oils and fragrance in Korean skin care, brands do make one common mistake: moisturizers in jars.

I loathe products in jars.

I often equate them to the process of buying a new car. The second you drive the car off the lot, it’s value decreases significantly. The same goes for skin care in a jar! The moment you open the lid and expose the formula to light, air and bacteria, it begins to degrade. All the most sensitive ingredients, often the most beneficial antioxidant extracts and vitamins, are compromised when exposed to the elements. At the very least, you have to use a spatula — never put your fingers into the product.

And that’s the whole point of using a jar to begin with — consumers love to put their fingers into the product. As counterintuitive as it is, I have to admit, it’s pleasurable.

Now that my jar rant is over, onto the COSRX PHA Moisture Renewal Power Cream! Marketed as ideal for drier skin types in need of gentle exfoliation, the texture is, in fact, a pleasure to use. That’s not exactly unique in K-beauty. The COSRX formula reminds me of two popular K-beauty creams, the Laneige Water Bank Moisture Cream and Hanyul’s Pure Artemisia Watery Calming Cream. All three have a super lightweight, whipped texture that’s not a conventional gel cream and isn’t a thick cream either.

Two distinguishing characteristics set the PHA Moisture Renewal Power Cream apart. First, it’s a really clean formula — it doesn’t even contain Phenoxyethanol, a common synthetic preservative that’s also potentially irritating to skin when using multiple products that contain it.

Second is the inclusion of the Gluconolactone PHA, or polyhydroxy acid. Think of PHAs as the gentler younger brother of AHAs. Both have proven exfoliating benefits when applied to the skin, but PHAs like Gluconolactone, Galactose and Lactobionic Acid are far less irritating than the more common glycolic and lactic AHAs.

COSRX’s water-free PHA Power Cream contains a few moisturizing plant oils as well as Niacinamide and a tiny amount of Sodium Hyaluronate. Perhaps the most intriguing ingredient in the formula is the very first ingredient in the formula, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract — the extract of the fruit of the coconut tree that is rich in nourishing fatty acids, proteins and B complex vitamins.

While skin loves all things coconut, many people find it comedogenic, meaning it clogs their pores and promotes the occurrence of acne blemishes. If you have a proclivity for blemishes resulting from clogged pores, you should incorporate a well-formulated Niacinamide serum into both your AM and PM regimens. Niacinamide is the clogged-pore killer!

IMO the COSRX PHA Moisture Renewal Power Cream is a terrific moisturizer for all skin types — except, perhaps, very oily and acne prone skins.

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