Skincare Snippets 2019-01: Laneige Fresh Calming Line

This is interesting! We’re kicking off 2019 with an informative Skincare Snippets featuring the Laneige Fresh Calming Line.

As you all know, I try my best to make unbiased judgments. So I didn’t really try to see what the Fresh Calming line was for. I had a trial kit anyway, so I just used it ‘til the first product finished up - that would be the toner. Pretty shocked that I’ve been using the kit for about two weeks running, as I thought it would only really last a week. It makes sense for the toner to go first though - it’s roughly the same size as the rest of the samples, but I use way more toner in my routine than anything else.

First impressions: this seems made for oily skin. The moisture feels so lightweight, I felt myself craving for some oil or cream. After a few days of supplementing the line with a mini Laneige Sleeping Mask, I realized that was still not cutting. Of course, the Sleeping Mask couldn’t really help this case as it works to seal what’s already there - and it can’t seal anything that isn’t. I started adding squalane oil or Embryolisse Lait Creme to my routine.

Now that I’m done with the routine, I read up on the line and checked to see why I wasn’t 100% on it, AND I FEEL SO VALIDATED BECAUSE IT IS FORMULATED FOR OILY SKIN. The Fresh Calming Line highlights lychee extract for sensitive skin, and features oil-free formulations for dehydrated yet oily skin.

I mean wow. I’m so happy to be at the point where 5 years ago I was just trying random things and checking if my skin forms flakes after 4 weeks, to now actually sensing if a formulation has oil or not. And regardless of the oil content, here are my thoughts on each item:

Laneige Fresh Calming Gel Cleanser smelled the sweetest of the bunch. The whole line features a 4-free formulation (mineral oil, animal-based ingredients, synthetic coloring, sulfates) which I found amazing! I really wish my skin type was made for this line, because I love what they did with it. The clear, runny gel doesn’t lather up much, which is quite understandable due to the lack of sulfates, but I have been getting used to that with low pH cleansers. I feel it does sufficiently clean whatever is left of double cleansing.

Laneige Fresh Calming Balancing Toner is made for sensitive skin. It is so far from the stickier toners I’ve gotten used to, but it was a nice change of pace. I liked how fresh it made me feel after.

Laneige Fresh Calming Balancing Serum stood out pretty well. Even made for oily skin, I love how the texture sinks in to my skin. As deep as it goes though, my skin still feels parched, and I eventually learned to add the Embyolisse Lait Creme on top.

Beauty by Tellie Score: 3 / 5 - very well-formulated, but not for my skin type

While not formulated for me, the Fresh Calming Line was a joy to use. I highly recommend it to people with oily skin as it is such a lightweight yet sufficiently hydrating line. If you have sensitive skin to boot, the more I recommend it for you. I do not have particularly sensitive skin, but it felt way calmer and more stable in the past weeks that I’ve been using the Laneige Fresh Calming trial kit.

I got this kit as part of a gift set for attending the Laneige PH opening in SM Makati.