Gift Guide: Last minute Christmas presents for your loved ones!

Still having trouble finding the perfect Christmas present for that special someone? Then you definitely can not go wrong with these high end, high quality items that will definitely bring your loved one joy! These popular luxury items are advancing in the beauty industry as a miracle product because of one ingredient— snail secretion. Yes, you heard right! Snail secretion has found its way into some of the top products of this year! In this blog post we’ll show you some of these products that look, and feel amazing.

1). Skin79 Golden Snail Intensive Cleansing Foam - $14.00

Makeup cleanser that removes residues while catering to those with complicated skin problems. This cleanser is great for those that want to add a nice smoothness to their skin after cleansing without stripping their skin too much.

2). Skin79 Golden Snail Intensive Toner - $30.00

Improving the texture and clarity of your skin this toner brings back the moisture balance to your skin! It also helps to close your pores after cleansing to prevent further bacteria entering into your pores that cause break outs.

3). Skin79 Golden Snail Intensive Essence - $36.00

First step in adding moisture into your skin this helps remove fine lines, and wrinkles. Combats dull skin and strengthens the skin's barrier to bring back its elastic potential!

4). Skin79 Golden Snail Intensive Emulsion - $33.00

Enhancing your skin's softness this keeps the skin moist by providing nutritional ingredients.

5). Skin79 Golden Snail Intensive Eye Cream - $39.00

Prevention is key to avoiding those stubborn crows feet! Snail eye creams are great for those wanting to brighten their dark circles, and getting rid of fine lines forming around your eye area.

6). Skin79 Golden Snail Intensive Cream - $44.00

Last step in hydrating your skin for the night as this this cream is very rich in nutrients! This will help to control various skin problems such as fine lines, dark spots, elasticity etc. an all around miracle cream to add to your skin care line!

All of these products listed above contains rare ingredients such as bird's nest, 6-year old red ginseng, and golden extracts that provide anti-aging effects while bringing your skin to a healthier state! Definitely a must have for those seeking firming effects, and also brightening as well.

(Image: Basic Kit | | Price $59.00 — Image: 4 Kit | | Price: $107.00)

Confused over which item to get? Why not buy the whole thing hassle free! Unfortunately, this offer is only available in-stores but you’re able to stop by and just buy the whole set! Two different kinds of sets are offered at our retail store in Portland, Oregon— the Intensive 4 Kit, and the Intensive Basic Kit.

(Image: Makeup Set | | Price $24.00 — Image: Skincare Set | | Price: $35.00)

We also have basic Holiday Sets that are an all around perfect assortment of skincare and makeup items. The Holiday Skincare Set includes an essence and moisturizer that contains Ceramide ingredients. These ingredients help to maintain the health and retain moisture within the skin. The Holiday Makeup Set on the other hand includes makeup remover, lipstick, and a waterproof eyeliner!

Gift Guide: Korean Cosmetic ♡ Stocking Stuffers

Still debating on what to get your friends for Christmas? Beauty products are definitely the way to go! They’re cute, adorable, and definitely affordable! These Korean beauty products will surely brighten anyone’s day, and with the K-beauty trend booming in 2015 you definitely can not go wrong with gifting these products. In today’s post we’ll show you the top 5 products you can gift your friends, or stuff in stockings! 

1). Eyelashes

(Image: Pretty&Cute Eyelashes | | Price: $3.50 Each)

What better way to glam up your friend’s holiday than to gift them with full voluminous eyelashes? These pairs of eyelashes are affordable, and yet the quality is amazing. Customer’s favorites have got to be the Pretty&Cute Eyelashes in No. 102. Synthetic lashes will offer a tremendous boost to any eye look! 

2). Lip Balms

(Image: The Face Shop Lovely ME:EX Dessert Lip Balm  | | Price: $9.99 Each)

Coming in different varieties and scents The Face Shop Dessert Lip Balms have got to be the cutest in the market. The contents come in a adorable honey pot with a honey dipper spatula included! This product has three different scents: strawberry, orange, and honey— while moisturizing cracked, and dry lips. 

3). Under Eye Sticks

(Image: Tonymoly Panda's Dream Eye Stick | | Price: $12.00 Each)

Hydrating, moisturizing, and adorable to just have in your purse— these eye sticks are a hot item right now! These miniature panda’s come in two different types: hydrating, and whitening. The Hydrating Cooling Stick is great for those that have puffy under eyes, while the Whitening Stick is great for those who have dark circles. Because this product is so adorable, whichever you choose, we’re sure any of your friends would love this product! 

4). Hand Creams

(Image: Tonymoly Fruit Hand Creams | | Price: $8.99 ~ $11.00 Each)

The winter season brings us lots of annoying skin problems— especially for the hands! Our hands are probably the most neglected part of our body when it’s chilly out because they tend to get chapped, and cracked. Tonymoly Fruit Hand Creams are great for moisturizing, and they also contain anti-aging plus whitening properties!


5). Sheet Masks

(Image: Skin79 Fresh Garden Sheet Masks | | Price: $4.00 Each)

You can never go wrong when it comes to sheet masks! Stuffing someone’s stockings with these babies is like gifting a miniature spa treatment— but of course the affordable way! Sheet masks typically are in the $2 - $4 range and you can pick a wide variety for specific skin types such as, troubled skin, oily skin, anti-aging etc. Hydrating sheet masks that contain Hyaluronic Acid are especially popular during the cold and dry season. 

Snail in Skincare

 We've heard about it being use as facial treatments, we heard about it on ABCnews, but is it true? Is "snail" really the miracle ingredient in skincare? Absolutely, snail is amazing and works like wonder for your skin. We know it sounds icky and may give you goosebumps just having the thought of putting snail on your face, but don't worry, its no where near sticky or icky as you may think. By using skincare products that contain snail secretion as their main ingredient, it is lightweight and absorbs quickly into your skin and for those of you that are worry about the snail themselves, no worries, no snail were harmed in the process of getting the secretion, they all live and play together in a snail farm where they are fed with red ginseng for the best quality snail secretion :)

Why Snail?

It's a multi-functional ingredient! 
Snail extract contains allantoin, collagen, elastin, glycolic acid, hyaluronic acid, vitamin E and protein which are the seven key factors for promoting healthy and beautiful skin! 


It's anti-aging! 
By containing collagen, snail products help lifts and firms the skin along with diminishing any fine lines you may have. 



It's brightening! 
Not only does snail help even out your skin by reducing blemishes such as sun spots, dark spots and etc;  it's  also an effective treatment for acne and acne scars! How you may ask? Because it has unique enzymes that arrange acne tissue to heal wounds as well as improve the appearance.


Top Snail Product:
                                          
                      [click product image to get to product page on www.prettyandcute.com for more details on the item]



Comment below and let us know what you think about snail extract being use in skincare or if you have any questions regarding snail! :) 

Eliminate Those Gross Blackheads!

Tired of those little black dots on your nose? Tired of spending so much on products that don't work!? Here's a little blackhead removal guide that will guarantee you a clean nose!

Step 1)

Holika Holika Pig-Nose Clear Blackhead Sugar Scrub

is an exfoliating blackhead removing wash-off scrub. Contains soft white sugar for exfoliating rather than the traditional rough black sugar in other exfoliators. Removes dead skin cells, allowing for easier extraction of blackheads and other impurities from pores. Also, contains pink clay ingredient to help absorb excess sebum without over drying. Lemon extracts and Aloe Vera gel provide a brighter complexion and nourish the skin.

Step 2) 

Lioele Pore Opening Massage Gel

is a new technology that is a pre-treatment for blackheads removal. It Contains natural honey that can soften keratin and open pores. The self-heating formula can effectively open up pores without the hassle of conventional steam machine. 

Step 3) 

Holika Holika Pig-Nose Clear Blackhead Perfect Sticker

gets rid of blackheads that are deep-rooted in pores and makes your nose soft and fair. Pig Nose Clear Blackhead Perfect Sticker is a disposable pink colored nose strip that removes whiteheads, blackheads, and dead skin cells. The pink clay ingredient helps absorb sebum and eliminates blackheads. This strip will remove all unwanted impurities from your nose at once, leaving it smooth and clear.

Step 4) 

Holika Holika Pig-Nose Clear Blackhead Massage Gel

 is a gommage type blackhead peeling gel with soft and moist jelly oil. Natural olive oil ingredients remove dead skin cells and soften/loosen blackheads for easy removal. Aloe Vera extract minimizes pores, calms skin, and moisturizes.

Let us know what you think of this guide down below! (:

Difference between a manufacturing date and an expiration date?

Do you happen to know what the date represents on your Korean cosmetic product? Korean manufacturer’s tend to have a very peculiar way of dating their products, and sometimes it can be confusing to decipher. As a Korean and Japanese company we’ve had our fair share of customers coming in who are concerned whether the product is expired or not; and we assure you that’s definitely not the case. For some unbeknownst reason Korean manufacturer’s traditionally label their products with manufacturing dates instead of an expiration date. So how can you tell the difference? Don't worry, we'll show you how! When you leave you’ll be a professional manufacturing label reader, and you’ll never have to worry about buying expired products ever again! 

When products are unopened, and unused they have a shelf-life of 2-3 years depending on what product, and what brand you have purchased. Those 2-3 years are added to the manufacturing date to make up the expiration date.

How can you tell if it’s the manufacturing date? It’s fairly simple. Usually the manufacturing date is accompanied by these Korean characters “제조” which means “manufacturing" in Korean. 

Here’s an example in the photo below: 

(14.10.27제조) - 2014, October 27.

14 Year -10  Month - 27 Day - Manufacturing (Pink Box)

Typically the year the product was made is listed first followed by the month and day. Then add in 3 years from the manufacturing date and your expiration date should be (17.10.27제조) or 2017, October 27. Once you get the hang of it it’s fairly simple right?

Now let’s move onto the expiration date shall we? When Korean manufacturer’s label an expiration date on the product it will have either “EXP” standing for expiration, or the Korean characters “까지” which means “good until” or "best used by.” 

Here’s an example of an expiration date:

(EXP) 16년03월까지

(EXPIRES) 16 Year - 03 Month - Best Until / Expiration Date (Pink Box)

This one’s a little bit different because instead of a day it just lists the month and year it will expire. If that happens then you generally have by the end of the month to use that product.

So that about wraps it up for this discussion! Can you tell the difference between manufacturing dates and expiration dates now? If not then we’ll be more than willing to help! Just comment down below or shoot us a message at support@prettyandcute.com and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding your product dates!