Review: LANEIGE Pore Trouble Skin Refiner

      God, I'm on a roll! 

     So... just when I signed off and started thinking about my next post I glanced at my bureau and found my lonely Laneige Pore Trouble  Skin Refiner and eventually thought of writing a review. Yep, being in my early twenties brings forth mental issues, meaning my superficial take on aging and the jazz. I know I don't have wrinkles as long as the Great Wall but I might as well start taking care of my skin or I might as well keep all cameras away from me decades from now because I'll be too ashamed to be tagged as the old woman who has a weathered face. So yeah, I jumped on the Korean skincare line a couple of years ago and plunged into the Laneige hype that is Song Hye Kyo. 

     So just for the curious, here's my take on this product.... and for those who want to dive into what this product supposedly promises, you might want to hold on the buck for a while and read...

     This product promises to:

                     -remove excess sebum and dead cells

                     -refine skin pore and bring back vitality to skin

     To start with, I have an oily skin type. I rarely get an acne outbreak unless I develop a certain allergy, it's that time of the month or alas, a product I unwittingly tried without consulting Dr. Google. I remember purchasing this product at a Laneige counter in Trinoma a couple of years ago. I was getting paranoid over the gradual enlarging of my pores that I felt like I had to buy it. Back then, I had this distorted notion that if something sells at a pretty steep price, it had better be good unless... Well, I really was not thinking much about the unless part. 

      So yeah, 1,300 pesos after... I found myself with these realizations:

• The best part of it all is that the bottle is really nice. Then again, I did not purchase it for the bottle but more of what's inside it. 
• For Php1, 300 pesos, I could have just bought a much cheaper and more effective product such as Burt's Bees Garden Tomato Toner.
• Did it make my pores look smaller? They sure feel didn't... much more seem like it.
• It did have that cool sensation that lasted three seconds max.
• It smells like Listerine and alcohol.
• To end, thank God it didn't break me out but didn't do anything for the price of US $25 

       In the end, I think consumers of this product pay more for the beauty of the bottle and not its content.

       So... is it a bad product? No, if you don't feel ripped off with buying something that has cheaper alternatives. Yes, if you can ask a friend to give you a pretty bottle and if you can darn well afford a cheaper but more effective toner (since it pretty much does the same job).

      After almost finishing the bottle, do I find myself repurchasing? Um, no thank you. One pretty bottle is enough. 

<(=' . '=)>