Tatcha - first impressions

Tatcha has finally started to make ripples in the Polish beauty blogosphere, so I guess it's high time for me to write a few words, too, and share my first impressions.

So make yourself a cup of tea (Earl Grey, hot!) and settle down for a read.
This is going to be rather long.
Consider yourself warned.

Tatcha had appeared on my radar for the first time around March 2014.

When I first heard about this magical "Japanese" company, I immediately wanted to know where and how I could get my grabby hands on their stuff. Imagine my surprise then, when upon checking the company's website, I learned that Tatcha is headquartered in the US and does not sell its products in Japan. And apparently, has no plans to do so.

My bullsh*t detector immediately went into overdrive.

I read Tatcha's geisha beauty secrets PR spin and felt a wave of nausea coming over me. Even I, the ultimate bs mistress that I am, can only handle so much idiotic PR drivel in one sitting. Please, I beg you, tell me that people don't take this geisha stuff seriously. They can't be that naive. Or can they?

Still, Tatcha was getting rave reviews and I was becoming more and more curious.
Until I try something, I do my best to keep an open mind, geisha beauty secrets magically uncovered in Kyoto by a woman, who it seems, can't speak Japanese, and all.

So imagine my surprise when one beautiful early summer morning in 2015 I fired up my gmail and, lo and behold, there was a message from Tatcha in my inbox.
One miss Alexandra was contacting bloggers and offering to send me Tatcha's introductory Ritual Discovery sampler to sample. Of course I said yes. I sent miss Alexandra my address and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, I decided to follow up.

Miss Alexandra responded that sadly, Tatcha being a small company, it didn't have a budget for working with international bloggers. That of course, was a pretty dumb lie. Other international bloggers, in Europe and in Singapore, were already showing off their Tatcha PR booty on Instagram.
But they were popular bloggers with thousands of followers and I was a no-name nobody.

I truly hoped that miss Alexandra was just a clueless summer intern, who didn't know any better. But no, she's an actual Tatcha PR employee. Scary! She clearly assumed that since I was a no-name nobody very far away, lying to me would be pretty harmless.

Well, you know, this is them innernets generation. I might be a small fish in a country far away, but we do have wi-fi over here. And as a small fish beauty blogger, I do follow big fish beauty bloggers. And shock and horror, sometimes we even talk to each other. Because the popular kids on the blog know that in order to stay popular they need the support of (the) hoi polloi like me.

But apparently, miss Alexandra over at Tatcha slept during her PR101 classes. If she had paid attention, then she would have known that simple "Sorry, our mistake. At this time, we are targeting a different audience. Let's keep in touch." was a perfectly acceptable way of getting out of this situation. No need to lie. At least that's how we used to handle it back in my days.

Anyway, when I saw one of the popular bloggers with thousands of followers proudly present her PR sample of Tatcha Ritual Discovery Kit, I left a comment.

Tatcha reacted with lightning speed. Suddenly, the company was apologizing for the "misunderstanding" and offering to rectify the situation. Pretty pathetic that it had to come to that.

I declined Tatcha's offer and instead did a haul.

This is what I got. Like I told you, despite this unpleasant experience, I was trying to keep an open mind. My policy has always been "no dissing until you try it".

One good thing about Tatcha is that the company sells trial sizes. That is a marvelous idea. Considering how much full-size Tatcha products cost, this is an affordable way to sample what the brand has to offer. And this is exactly what I did. The two full size products that ended up in my shipment were freebies. And I really do appreciate the gesture. One of them, the indigo cream, turned out to be the discovery of the year for me.

My shopping list:

• Dry Skin Ritual Discovery Kit
• Revitalizing Eye Cream Travel Size
• Moisture Rich Silk Cream Travel Size
• Deep Hydration Firming Serum Travel Size
• Soothing Triple Recovery Cream (Indigo) Travel Size
• Camellia Beauty Oil Travel Size
• Deep Hydration Revitalizing Eye Mask (Single Set)
• Deep Hydration Lifting Mask (Single)
• Classic Rice Enzyme Powder Travel Size (freebie for signing up for Tatcha's mailing list)

and 3 (yes, three) foil packets that are complimentary with every order, and which you can select yourself:

• One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil Packet
• Enriching Renewal Cream Packet
• Soothing Renewal Treatment Packet

My order also included two complimentary full-size products:

• Indigo Soothing Triple Recovery Cream - I love this stuff! Could bathe in it!

and

• Silken Pore Perfecting Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 35, which is very nice, but at US$68 for 60ml is not worth it. Especially considering the relatively low and very un-Japanese (for a company that plays up the whole Japanese mystique spiel) SPF.

Tatcha's "origins" story makes any Japanese woman, who had the misfortune to hear it, laugh. As it does anyone else with even the most basic understanding of Japanese culture and cosmetic market. "Othering" in any shape or form is borderline discrimination. "Othering" to pitch and sell a product is the lowest, most arrogant form of marketing. And I suppose that is at least one of the many reasons why Tatcha does not have a physical presence in Japan.

Yet at the same time othering of mystical, mythical creatures, such as geisha for example, makes perfect business sense, if the products you're pitching are skincare and beauty. The myth, the aura, and the exoticism all help to sell the magic.

Tatcha identified this niche, created a vaguely plausible story to lend it some basic legitimacy and now is laughing all the way to the bank. There's even a real life geisha in the mix, one Kyouka, who made her full fledged geiko debut in the Gion Kobu district of Kyoto on October 29th, 2012.

She's the one on the right, pictured here still in her maiko days, from the looks of it.

Image: Wikipedia commons

That fact itself rings all sorts of warning bells to anyone with at least a rudimentary knowledge of what real geisha are and how they operate. To put it plainly, self-respecting geisha don't sell their services to western skincare companies. And if they do, they don't want that fact to be widely known in Japan (reason number 2 why Tatcha is not available here).

Of course there is a new breed of geisha out there, as well. Women, who started in the business as part-time geisha (usually as university students for whom it was simply a part time job), eventually graduated to full-time geisha status. They brought with them new, thoroughly modern, attitudes to this traditional profession.

On one hand, it's good, because as the world goes forward, geisha evolve along with it. On the other hand, we get individuals such as Kyouka, who are willing to lend their faces and names to foreign brands, so long as it leads to more international exposure for them. In other words, very business savvy, for whom this is just a stepping stone to bigger, brighter things. Because trust me, we haven't heard the last of Kyouka yet.
I have a strange feeling that a book detailing the beauty practices of modern geisha, co-authored by Victoria Tsai (Tatcha's founder), is in the works. And along with that, the usual media circus. Just wait and see.
Patience, my friends.

"International" is the key word here, for obvious reasons. Such approach would be laughed at domestically. And besides, Japanese women have other, more credible and a lot more experienced, skincare and beauty guru to follow than geisha. The geisha beauty secrets legend appeals to western weeabos and women who have never been inside a Japanese drugstore.

Tatcha's founder, Ms Tsai, is very careful of how she presents her company. She spins her geisha yarn very carefully, but anyone familiar with the history of beauty in Japan can easily call her bullsh*t.

For example, on Tatcha's website, she says:

The beauty secrets she learned from the geisha introduced her to a different approach to skincare — that less is more. Their skin care philosophy and time-tested ingredients were captured in an ancient text widely considered to be the oldest beauty book written in Japan...

Ahhh...

She needed geisha to figure it out? Really! Really?

All she needed to do was go to any Matsumoto Kiyoshi (a popular Japanese drugstore chain) and take a look at the cleansing isle. But then we wouldn't have the sappy "how Tatcha was born" story and without the "geisha beauty secrets" spiel it would be impossible to charge the kind of prices that Tatcha does now.

And speaking of geisha beauty secrets, kabuki actors use the same techniques. But I guess "the skincare tips I learned from kabuki actors" wouldn't carry the same dollars signs weight as mythical geisha. Pity, because super-kabuki performances are a lot more fun and entertaining than what geisha have to offer. Be sure to go and watch one next time you're in Japan.

The second part of Ms. Tsai's words, that "their (presumably geisha's) skin care philosophy and time-tested ingredients were captured in an ancient text..." is simply not true.

The text she is referring to, and which she claims recorded and described the skin care philosophy of geisha, is nothing other than "Miyako fūzoku kewaiden" (A Handbook of Cosmetics in the Capital) published in 1813 (republished in 1982).

screenshot source: Amazon.co.jp

It was a compilation of traditional (and not so traditional) beauty, skincare and makeup techniques to assist the Japanese ladies to look their best. It was not exclusive to the geisha world, as Ms. Tsai would have you believe, though she is very careful not to say it outright. She puts the imagery in your head and lets your mind work out the association on its own. By the time you finish reading the stories on Tatcha's website, you are convinced that "Miyako fūzoku kewaiden" holds the keys to eternal life. Or at least, to eternal beauty.

Yet in reality, there is absolutely nothing mythical or mystical about it.

This is Ms. Tsai's account of how she came to know this book:

I first heard whispers about these books from geisha I met while researching the products that would eventually form the foundation of TATCHA's skin care ritual. The techniques they described were time-tested but rarely written down or shared beyond the wall's of the geisha house. Geisha are serious about keeping secrets, even their phone numbers and addresses are not listed and must be procured through several intermediaries.  

Very surprising, since this book is not, and has never been a secret. Unless of course Ms. Tsai's geisha friends were playing a practical joke on her, there was no need to secretly whisper about it, because it is very well known to anyone who is interested in the history and evolution of beauty in Japan.

And Ms. Tsai isn't the first who thought it might be a good idea to look for inspiration in this old text. Pola Beauty has been doing it for years. In fact "Miyako fūzoku kewaiden" is required reading for Pola Beauty's researchers.

Also odd are these claims:

As I began my search for this book, I learned that very few people even knew of its existence, and that only a few written copies still exist. I turned to museums, hoping to find some documentation or clues about how to find it.  

Months later, a researcher and I tracked it down in an antique bookstore. When I finally held the book in my hands, I could barely breathe from excitement. Its whisper-thin pages danced with delicate calligraphy, recording centuries of secrets – most of which remain startlingly relevant in our modern times.

Odd, because used copies of the 1982 reprint are readily available on Japanese Amazon (just google: 都風俗化粧伝).

But I guess "an old beauty manual I found at Book Off" wouldn't carry the same dollars signs weight as "a book of geisha secrets found in an antique bookstore".


So now you have reasons 3, 4, 5... 7 - 11 as to why Tatcha doesn't have an actual store in Japan. Japanese women would laugh so loud, you could hear them in San Francisco.

And speaking of San Fran, that's where Tatcha is headquartered.
While the majority of its products are indeed formulated and made in Japan, the company is very much American. And to be honest, Tatcha is not claiming to be a Japanese company.
That is another one of those crafty associations that our brains make when they hear the words "geisha" and "skincare".

But just as the fact that my MacBook was made in China doesn't make Apple Inc. a Chinese company, the same is true about Tatcha. That its products are manufactured in Japan, doesn't make Tatcha a Japanese company. It only adds another, carefully planned and designed, layer of passable credibility to Tatcha's main marketing points - magical geisha beauty secrets, you folks! Straight from Japan, you folks!

Ok, I need a break now.

This is the summary of my first impressions:

Tatcha is an American company that sells Japan-inspired, nicely packaged, ridiculously overpriced, but overall quite average cosmetics (Pola Beauty, or even SK-II it ain't, trust me) to mainly western women, who don't know any better (a single bio-cellulose sheet mask for US$28, anyone?).

In the coming weeks I will be reviewing the products I purchased, tried and used up.
I'm tired now.
My limits of nonsensical geisha PR drivel have been reached for the day.

I need a nap.

To be continued...



PS. Yes, I finally got me my own domain. Yay for me!

A-True Real Black Tea True Active Mask

I have just finished putting ointment on my face. This is round two, or maybe three, of treating my latest skin eruption.
That's why, even though I received this box of A-True black tea masks a good few weeks ago, the review is appearing only now. 

Wlasnie skonczylam smarowac twarz antybiotykiem. To druga runda, a moze i trzecia, leczenia mojej najnowszej eksplozji na twarzy. Wiec mimo ze maski A-True na bazie fermentu z czarnej herbaty otrzymalam juz kilka tygodni temu, to recenzja pojawia sie dopiero teraz.

Why am I telling you all this? Because my skin got so bad that it required not one, but two visits to a dermatologist. And this alone should tell you how serious it was. I am used to breakouts. I can deal with breakouts on my own. But this was no ordinary breakout.

I'm mentioning this, because it happens to be very relevant to this review.
Everybody who visits this blog with some regularity knows that I love A-True. This brand is like no other.
A-True skincare is based on tea ferments and while it's still very much a niche brand, and pricey at that, it has a devoted following in the K-beauty realm. It's gotten a lot easier to purchase now that Jolse, Cosmetic-Love (which I think is Jolse in disguise), and even my friend's shop Berdever (probably the best prices of the bunch, but if you don't speak Polish, you're out of luck, sorry!), carry A-True products.


Dlaczego to tym wspominam? Bo moja skora tak sie zezlila, ze wymagala nie jednej, a dwoch wizyt u dermatologa. I juz to samo w sobie wyjasnia jak powazne te syfy byly. Do zwyklych syfow na twarzy jestem przyzwyczajona. Sama moge sie z nimi rozprawic. Ale te tutaj, to nie byly zwykle syfy.

I dlaczego o tym pisze? Bo to dosyc wazne w tej recenzji. Kazdy kto czyta ten blog mniej lub bardziej regularnie, dobrze wie, ze kocham A-True. Ta marka jest inna niz inne. Kosmetyki A-True opieraja sie na bazie sfermentowanych wyciagow z herbaty, i choc jest to nadal firma niszowa, i do tego dosyc droga, to ma coraz wieksza rzesze fanow w Azji.
W chwili obecnej jest tez coraz latwiej kupic kosmetyki A-True. Jolse je sprzedaje, Cosmetic-Love (to chyba Jolse incognito), i nawet "nasz wlasny" (nie, nie moj, to sklep mojej kolezanki), polsko-japonski Berdever ma je w swojej ofercie.

I love my A-True cushion (though the lack of refills irks me to no end, luckily, other cushion refills fit into the A-True case), I love the White Snow Tea Brilliant line, and I am currently testing the Darjeeling Black Tea anti-wrinkle line.

I am also a sheet mask fanatic. A-True makes sheet masks (or rather, a sheet mask). And the rest is history.

Kocham moja poduszke A-True (ale fakt, ze nie ma wkladow wymiennych wkurza mnie bardzo, na szczescie wklady innych firm pasuja do kompaktu A-True). Kocham linie White Snow Tea Brilliant, i w chwili obecnej testuje linie przeciwzmarszczkowa Darjeeling Black Tea.

Jestem rowniez fanka masek do twarzy w formie plachty, czy jak to tam po polsku. Sheet maski, maski plachtowe. A-True rowniez robi maske w plachcie. I reszty mozecie sie domyslic.

I had the A-True Real Black Tea True Active Mask (now that's a mouthful, try to say it twice really fast, LOL) in my cart at Jolse for a long while. I didn't have it in me to click "buy". Why? Because while I might be insane, paying US$36.50 for four (yes, 4) sheet masks is not something that I am willing to do on a whim. If the brand's name starts with "S" and ends with "II", then yeah, maybe...

So when A-True offered me a review sample, I was overjoyed. I got my chance to try a sheet mask (and let me tell you again, I love sheet masks, you should see my stash!) from a brand that I also love. It seemed to be a match made in Korean skincare heaven.

Mialam pudelko tych A-True Real Black Tea True Active Mask (juz dluzszej nazwy nie mogli wymyslic?) w koszyku u Jolse, ale jakos nie bylam w stanie kliknac "buy".
Dlaczego? Bo moze i jestem rabnieta, ale 36.50 dolarow za cztery, tak 4, maski plachtowe to lekkie przegiecie, nawet jak dla mnie. No chyba, ze nazwa marki zaczyna sie na "S", a konczy na "II". Wtedy pewnie bym kliknela.

Wiec kiedy A-True zaoferowalo mi pudelko owych masek do recenzji, bylam przezachwycona. Bo ja kocham maski. I kocham A-True. Spelnienie marzen mych, po prostu!

Disclaimer:This product was provided to me for review purposes. However, the opinions presented here are my own, and mine only. Favorable reviews on this blog CANNOT be purchased (unless we're talking a Lamborghini). 

Uwaga:Dostalam ten produkt w ramach wspolpracy, ale nie mialo to wpylwu na przedstawiona tu opinie. Opinia jest moja wlasna, szczera, a pozytywne recenzje na tym blogu nie sa na sprzedaz (no chyba, ze szanowna firmo, oferujesz mi Lamborghini).

The masks came via EMS, and when they arrived I wasted no time. As soon as I took some photos, I went ahead and decided to try the highly acclaimed A-True Real Black Tea sheet mask.

The box looks simple (me likes!), the packaging is simple (me likes again!), there is a bilingual leaflet in the box (me likes soooo very much!!!). So far so good.

I cleansed my face, read the instructions, ripped the mask pouch open and got very irritated very quickly.


Maski przyszly ekspresem i nie marnowalam z nimi czasu. Obfocilam co trzeba i zabralam sie za testy A-True Real Black Tea True Active Mask.

Pudelko jest bardzo minimalistyczne (lubie!), saszetki rowniez (tez lubie), jest dwujezyczna ulotka ze skladem po angielsku (bardzo lubie!). Jak na razie, bez zarzutu.

Oczyscilam twarz, przeczytalam instrukcje, rozerwalam saszetke (krzywo, ale za taka cene, to powinna sie lepiej otwierac) i od razu sie wkurzylam.

The first step of "directions for use" tells us loud and clear:
1. Remove the protective film from the mask.

Ok, that's great. I'm all for protective films. But where the heck is it?

Pierwszy punkt w instrukcjach uzycia mowi nam to:
1. Usunac ochronna folie z maski.

Dla mnie "film" to cienka warstwa (najczesciej folii), ktora przylega do wszystkiego i ktora pokrywa cos.
No super, ochrona to podstawa, ale gdzie, do jasnej cholery jest tu ten "film"?

There was a lot of netting around the mask, but unless I was going blind in my old age, I didn't see any protective film.

Step 2 tells you to put the mask on your face.
Step 3 tells you to remove the net from the surface.

Maska pokryta byla siatka i niestety nie znalazlam tam niczego, co wygladaloby jak "film". Choc mozliwe, ze slepota zaczela mi na starosc doskwierac.

Punkt 2 mowi, zeby wsadzic maske na twarz.
Punkt 3 mowi, zeby zdjac z maski siatke.

I tell you that doing it in that order is physically impossible. Whoever wrote these instructions clearly had never tried this product.

A ja mowie wam, ze zrobienie tego w tej kolejnosci jest fizycznie niemozliwe. Ktokolwiek spisal te instrukcje, nigdy tej maski nie uzywal. Albo w ogole jej nigdy na oczy nie widzial.

As we all know, sheet masks can come in a wide variety of types, shapes and forms. Some are cotton, some are paper, some are hydrogel. And then there's A-True.

On the leaflet it says that "Our 100% Bio-Cellulose is cultivated from acetobacter xylinum bacteria yielding fermented fibers from natural sources."

Cellulose? This was like no other cellulose I've ever seen. This was almost a slightly gely plastic wrap-like substance that wasn't papery, wasn't cottony, wasn't hydrogely, and at least to me, it didn't resemble any cellulose pulp  that I'm familiar with.

Jak dobrze wiemy, maski plachtowe maja wiele roznych odmian, od bardziej papierowych, po wlokienne, albo hydrozelowe. I teraz mamy tez A-True.

Na ulotce stoi jasno, ze "nasza 100% bio-celuloza kultywowana jest przy uzyciu bakterii acetobacter xylinum pozyskujac sfermentowane wlokna naturalnego pochodzenia." czy jakos tak.

Celuloza? Nigdy takiej celulozy nie widzialam. To byla niemal zelowo- plastikowa substancja, ktora zdecydowanie nie przypominala niczego papierowego, ani wlokiennego, ani utkanego, ani hydrozelowego. I nie wygladala na zadna mase celulozowa, jaka kiedykolwiek dane mi bylo spotkac.

This felt almost rubbery. The mask was very smooth, very slick, and very clingy.
The shape didn't quite fit my face, but that's my peasant face for you. Hardly anything fits it. The mask has a seam right down the middle, which in theory should help it conform to the shape of your face. Yeah, in theory...

Ta miala niemal gumowa konsystencje. Byla gladka (pomimo widocznych tloczen na zdjeciach), sliska i bardzo przylepna.

Ksztalt nie bardzo mi pasowal, ale mojej wiesniackiej twarzy malo co pasuje.
Maska miala szew posrodku, i w teorii taki ksztalt maski ma lepiej przylegac do twarzy. Taaa... w teorii.

Right about then I got very irritated again (and sheet masks are supposed to be a relaxing experience), because even though the packaging states that each mask pouch contains 25 grams of essence, most of that essence stayed in the pack.

Here, the blame goes to the mysterious cellulose substance that this mask is made out of. The mask is very thin, very slick and frankly, it reminded me of kitchen cling wrap. There was simply no way for this material to absorb any significant amount of essence.

I w tym momencie znowu sie wkurzylam (a mowia, ze maski maja byc relaksujace!), poniewaz choc saszetka oznajmia, ze zawiera az 25 gramow esencji, to niestety wiekszosc tej esencji pozostalo wewnatrz tejze aszetki.

Tutaj zwalam wine na ta gumowa celuloze. Maska jest bardzo cienka, i bardzo przypominala mi kuchenna folie plastikowa. Taka struktura nie pozwolila masce nasiaknac esencja.

I scooped the remaining essence out of the pouch and tried to pat it onto the mask. It didn't work. I tried to put it under the mask. It didn't work. Finally, I smeared it on my neck and chest area.

By then I was very frustrated and to be honest - disappointed. Of A-True I expected better. Much better.

I waited patiently (while reading "The Untold History of the United States), and after 20 minutes, or so, I removed the mask.

During those 20 minutes I didn't experience any burning, any itching, any pain, or any discomfort whatsoever.

Wycisnelam reszte tej nieszczesnej esencji w saszetki i usilowalam wklepac w maske. Nie szlo. Chcialam to rozsmarowac pod maska. Tez nie szlo. W koncu po prostu posmarowalam sobie tymi resztkami szyje i dekolt.

Czekala cierpliwie przez okolo 20 minut (czytajac arcyciekawa ksiazke) i maske zdjelam. Podczas tych 20 minut nie odczuwalam niczego, co odbiegaloby od normy. Zero szczypania, zero swedzenia, zero uczucia bolu, zero nieprzyjemnosci.

I took the mask off, looked in the mirror and stared at my face in shock and horror.

My face was bright red. And I mean bright, pulsating red. I looked like a burn victim. Yet nothing hurt and I felt absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Apart from my skin's vivid red color, everything else seemed perfectly normal.

I thought it might be a good idea to wash my face, but as I felt no adverse reaction, I decided to wait and see what happens.

After about an hour the redness disappeared. My skin looked ugly. The pores were enlarged and open, the texture looked beaten and felt rough to the touch, the skin's surface seemed tired, and I hate to say it, but there's no point beating around the bush - it looked damaged.

That certainly wasn't what I expected from a single use sheet mask that costs about 9 dollars.

Sciagnelam maske, spojrzalam w lustro i nie bardzo wiedzialam co sie stalo.
Mordo, ty mojo! Czerwona byla. Wsciekle pulsujaca czerwona. Wygladalam jak poparzona.
Ale NIC nie bolalo i oprocz czerwonego koloru, wszystko wydawalo sie jak najbardziej w normie.

Po okolo godzinie czerwien w koncu zniknela. A moja skora wygladala po prostu brzydko. Pory zrobily sie ogromne i spuchniete. Tekstura skory byla nieprzyjemna w doktyku, a sama cera wygladala na zmeczona, i co tu duzo mowic, po prostu - zniszczona.

Nie takiego efektu oczekiwalam od maski plachtowej, ktora kosztuje okolo 9 dolarow za sztuke.

The next morning I woke up, looked in the mirror and literally wept. And those were not tears of joy.

My face looked horrible. There was zitness galore, painful areas where huge cysts were about to form, red spots were angry zits were appearing, and enough small bumps to share among several acne sufferers.

I tried my usual over the counter acne treatment but the next day it looked even worse. I had no choice but to see a doctor.

I waited a week for my face to calm down.

To be honest, I didn't really know what caused this sudden breakout and I didn't suspect A-True at all.

Nastepnego dnia, kiedy rano spojrzalam w lustro, to niemal sie poplakalam. I bynajmniej nie lzami radosci.

Moja twarz wygladala tragicznie. Syf na syfie, wsciekle obszary, gdzie wielkie czerwone gule zaraz mialy wyskoczyc. Czerwone plamy, gdzie mniejsze krosty siedzialy zaraz pod skora. I tyle malych syfow, ze moglabym sie podzielic z kilkoma tradzikowymi nastolatkami i dla wszystkich by starczylo.

Probowalam zajac sie tym sama, ale niestety rezultaty nie byly zachecajace. Nie bylo wyjscia, Poszlam do dermatologa.

Czekalam niemal tydzien, aby skora sie w koncu uspokoila.
I tak szczerze, to w tamtej chwili wcale a wcale nie podejrzewalam, ze to moglo mnie spotkac ze strony A-True.

My skin got better and I thought it was time to try the mask again. This time my face didn't get as red as before but I still didn't like how my skin looked immediately after removing the mask.

This mask is supposed to deliver these benefits:

• radiant and 
• firming and 
• hydrating and 
• tone and 
• brightening and 
• boosting.

It did none of the above.
But the next morning I woke up with an active volcanic range on my face.
As I still had enough meds from my first dermatologist's visit, I didn't go this time. I just used the rest of my ointment.


Stan cery w koncu sie poprawil. Wiec postanowilam sprobowac po raz drugi.

Tym razem nie bylo az tak tragicznie. Nie wygladalam juz na poparzona.

Maska ta ponoc ma nam dawac:

• blask, i
• ujedrnienie, i
• nawilzenie, i
• tonowanie, i
• rozjasnianie, i
• wspomaganie.

Nie zrobila niczego z powyzszych.
Nastepnego dnia z nowu obudzilam sie ze wsciekla skora na twarzy.
Poniewaz mialam jeszcze sporo masci, wiec wizyte lekarska sobie odpuscilam.

Now I also had circumstantial evidence that the A-True mask might have been to blame.

So what did I do next? Like any other reasonable skincare blogger, I waited for my face to get better and then used the mask again.

That time I had to go to the doctor to get more medication. I also had clear proof that the A-True Real Black Tea True Active Mask does not agree with me. At all. And it pains me to no end to say that, because you know how much I love A-True...

I am still working on bringing my face back to normal. The last crop of zits is quite stubborn. My pores are humongous. And the texture and feel of my skin are simply nasty.

Wiec teraz mialam mozliwa hipoteze, ze przyczyna tych erupcji mogla byc maska od mojej ukochanej firmy. A-True Real Black Tea Active Mask potrafilo mi niezle dokopac.

Nadal pracuje na calkowitym zaleczeniu twarzy i powrocie do normalnosci. Ostatni wysyp syfow jest dosyc uparty. Pory sa gigantyczne i bardzo rozezlone. A twarz, i w wygladzie, i w dotyku, jest po prostu okropna.


A-True Real Black Tea True Active Mask ingredients:
Sklad:

I was curious what caused this violet reaction. There were only two possible choices: either the essence, or the mask itself.
To find out which one it was, I drained the essence from the fourth mask and applied it to my neck and decollete. Just the essence, no mask. There was no adverse reaction this time.

I am well aware of the fact that whenever fermentation is involved, you should proceed with caution. Especially if you have sensitive skin. But I have used fermented cosmetics before (including other A-True products) with no adverse reaction, and I had no reason to expect a skinmageddon this time around.

This is my face after diligent prescription treatment. You can imagine how bad it was to start with.

Ciekawa bylam co mnie tak uczulilo. Byly tylko dwie mozliwe opcje.
Jedna z nich to zuzycie esencji luzem. Posmarowalam sobie nia szyje i dekolt. Maske wyrzucilam. Zuzylam tylko plyn. Nie mialam zadnej nieprzyjemnej reakcji.

Zdaje sobie sprawe z tego, ze sfermnetowane kosmetyki nie sa dla kazdego i ze nalezy sie obchodzic z nimi bardzo uwaznie.
Moje poprzednie doswiadczenia przy uzyciu sfermentowanych substancji byly zawsze pozytywne. Wiec i tym razem nie oczekiwalam erupcji calej twarzy.

Tutaj po bardzo stosowaniu antybiotykow w formie masci:

That will teach me.

No to teraz mam nauczke.