Etude House Skin Malgem Moist review

Dear Beauty Diary,
I am here with a review of the Etude House Skin Malgem toner in Moist. In the Skin Malgem line, there are 5 toners with 1 moisturizer. 2 of the toners are astringents, which mean they are best for oily skin (they contain alcohol, which may be drying), since they clean the pores. The 2 astringents are Fresh and Smoother. Fresh and Smoother should be applied with a cotton pad. The other 3 toners can be used as either a toner or a toner + moisturizer, because they offer more moisturising benefits. They are Moist, Deep Moist, and Essential. Moist is for normal to dry skin, Deep Moist for extremely dry skin, Essential is for combination oily and dry skin. I should have gotten Essential, but the Etude House store I went to doesn't have it. :( The moisturizer is called Emulsion, where it contains serum, emulsion and moisturizer all in one. Each of these bottles cost $25.90 ($20.96 USD) each.

Skin Malgem toners can be used with a cotton pad, spray or mask. How innovative can this product get?

The packaging is very simple for Etude House standards. However, the simple packaging still looks very appealing! The toner comes in a plastic translucent bottle. The plastic is pretty thick in my opinion. Each of the toners have different simple but cute designs on the front of the bottle.

Here's the product description:

[mal:gem] - the Korean word for cleanness, clarity and pureness.

Skin Malgem hypoallergenic toners promote clean, clear and pure complexion with moisturizing and pore cleansing formulas.

[Directions] Dispense solution onto toner pad and use pad to wipe all areas of face and neck.

The bottle is made of plastic, and it looks somewhat frosted. Its translucent, which makes the toner look very thick. However, the toner is actually very runny in reality.

The left Korean words with the 6 raindrops mean water. Yup, this toner-moisturizer is water based. The right word with 3 triangles means keratin.

Mouth of the bottle

I transferred some of the Skin Malgem toner into a mini Skin Malgem bottle that Etude House sells. 2 mini Skin Malgem empty bottles cost $3.00 ($2.42 USD). As you can see, the toner is actually clear.

Skin Malgem toner is actually very runny. It has the consistency of water.

After spreading out the toner

When you pour out some of the toner at first, its very runny. You can chose any way to apply it. Sometimes I use a cotton pad, other times I pour a little into my palms, rub my hands together, and pat onto my face. However, after a few seconds of applying this toner to my face, the toner becomes very sticky. Its so sticky that its comparable to the Hada Labo toner. I don't mind and even like very slightly sticky products, but overly sticky products just make me not feel like using them. :(

This toner is very moisturising too, and the advertising posters say that it can be used as a toner + moisturiser. I feel that the Sukin facial Moisturiser works really really well for me, so I use the Etude House Moist Skin Malgem as a toner. However, Skin Malgem in Moist seems to form an almost impenetrable layer that sits on top of my skin for quite some time (half an hour or so), making any products I apply on top of it not absorb into my skin, mix together, peel and form white and translucent streaks. Urrgh that is so disgusting. So I now have no choice but to use the Skin Malgem in Moist as the last step of my skincare routine. Which means I only use it at night before I sleep. I can't possibly wait for half an hour for it to absorb into my skin, before continuing with my skincare routine.

Other than the above mentioned, I like mostly everything else about this toner. It sure is very moisturising and provides sufficient moisture to my face to make it plump and healthy. I usually only need a little for my entire face, so its very budget friendly.

I have normal to oily skin, with dry skin on the rare occasion. Even though Skin Malgem in Moist is for dry to normal skin, I have been using it and nothing bad has happened to my skin. Thus I can safely conclude that Skin Malgem in Moist can also be used on oily skin. Better still, the moisture provided by Moist is just enough for those who have oily skin (a.k.a. me, thus I use this at night as my last step in skincare. I just cleanse my face, spritz on my trusty, loved and hyped about Etude House I'm Blooming Deep Moisture Mist, then pat on some of the Skin Malgem in Moist toner).

The Skin Malgem in Moist is made up of many many fruit extracts, thus all these lovely fruits (combine with a bit of perfume that Etude House included) creates a most wondrous scent. Its very sweet, light and fresh, and I'm sure almost everyone will like this scent. I don't know how to describe this scent, but its really delicious, and you probably won't be irritated by it. The scent is quite heavy though, but will be gone after you apply it onto your face.

The ingredients list, as you can see, many fruit extracts are included :)

Once again, these toners are hypoallergenic, and the Etude House advertisement posters say this is because they use a fruity base. Ah well. Compared with other skincare products, this toner does seem quite natural. Except for certain ingredients like panthenol, disodium EDTA, fragrance, etc. I haven't heard of these toners breaking anyone out, nor have I gotten pimples or irritated skin from using this. So I guess it should be pretty safe.

Tried the Skin Malgem toners? Which is your favourite? ^_^