|REVIEW| Holika Holika Golden Monkey Glamour Lip 3-Step Kit

HOLIKA HOLIKA?
My attention was caught when I first met Holika Holika. At first I thought the name is a derivation of the word Holy, since the brand promises to magically transform our skin with its products (can you see the correlation? HAHA). Little did I know it was actually derived from the English suffix “-holic”, which means addiction (like alco-holic) and the Korean word “holida” which means temptation. The people behind Holika Holika sure know how to name things because it didn't stop there. To catch our attention even more, they named this lip kit "Golden Monkey".


WHY GOLDEN MONKEY?

We all know Holika Holika for its infamous Pig Nose Clear Black Head 3-Step Kit and its Gudetama Nose Clear Black Head 3 Step Kit which has the cutest packaging ever. I couldn't help but wonder why they named this lip kit Golden Monkey, so I did a little digging around the web. Turns out, Golden Monkeys are known for their pink and noticeable lips, which are the kind of lips we try to achieve with makeup and special beauty tools (remember the Kylie Jenner lip trend?).

Holika Holika Golden Monkey Glamour Lip 3-Step Kit (RM13.90 for 1 packet of 13g / 0.46oz)

First of all, the reason I wanted to try out this lip kit so bad is because I'm extremely prone to dry and chapped lips. Secondly, I often get bleeding lips from my uncontrollable urge to peel my lips whenever they become too dry and they hurt terribly whenever I talk/smile. Not to mention it degrades the makeup look I try to achieve for the day because the lipsticks simply won't go on nicely. Imagine spreading peanut butter on a rye bread, that's right.

LOVE THE PACKAGING

Holika Holika products all feature this unique, eye-catching packaging which I'm absolutely in love with. Most of their products are also super affordable and I'm so delighted when Lush N' Blush decided to carry their products! Well, since they claim their products to be high in quality, today I am going to test this lip kit out to see if they stay true to their claim. It's REVIEW time!

After tearing the package apart

Before I begin, here's a picture of the current state of my lips.

Not cracking yet but definitely very dry

This Glamour lips special kit consists of three steps:

STEP 1: LIP PEELING PATCH

A lip peeling patch with pure cotton sheet

Ingredient list (Skincarisma):

Water, Glycerin, Cellulose, *Butylene Glycol, Gold, Nelumbium Speciosum Flower Extract, Chrysanthemum Morifolium Flower Extract, Gnaphalium Leontopodium Flower Extract, Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Flower Extract, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Flower Extract, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Extract, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Carbomer, Illicium Verum (Anise) Fruit Extract, Propanediol, Propanediol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Tromethamine, Chlorphenesin, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance, Disodium EDTA 

The white lip patch

The lip patch is a gentle white pad which contains pure gold and cellulose which I used to lightly exfoliates my lips. I read that it also contains botanical extracts that can nourish my thin and delicate lips, which is nice! When I first opened up the package, some white liquid leaked out and I thought it smells like some type of gel I used before, a good smelling one.

In this step, I used the exfoliating pad to clean my lips and gently massage the skin around it. Make sure to pay attention to your lips so that they are not overly exfoliated. Then, I wiped my lips to remove the dead skin and residues. Here are some white residues that came out after some gentle rubbing of my lips with the pad.

Look at the white residues, I wonder if this is from my lips, or the white liquid itself

Here's how my lips look after step 1.

All red because the top layer of dead cells are removed and my lips reacted a little to the gentle rubbing.

STEP 2: VOLUME LIP PACK

A volume lip pack with hydrogel mask

Ingredient list (Skincarisma):

Water, Glycerin, Agar, Ceratonia Siliqua Gum, Xantham Gum, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, *Chondrus Cripus (Carrageenan), Allantoin, Triethylhexanon, Gardenia Florida Fruit Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolysed Collagen, Paeonia Lactiflora Root Extract, Convallaria Majalis Extract, Magnolia Liliflora Flower Extract, Ipomoea Purpurea Extract, Lilium Candidum Flower Extract, Hamamelis Virginana (Witch Hazel) Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Beta-Glucan, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Fruit Extract, *Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Methylparaben, Fragrance 

Before I opened up the plastic package that covered the hydrogel mask. Can you see the air bubbles?

The hydrogel mask is light pink in colour. Can you see that it's chipped up there (explanation below)? This was taken after I was done using the mask.

AIM TO MOISTURISE AND HYDRATE

The clear liquid the mask came with contains hyaluronic acid extracts, which aim to moisturise the skin, and collagen extracts, which can effectively soothe and moisturise the lips. It smells refreshing like some hair shampoo, which was pleasant to my nose. On a side note, the hydrogel mask is very easily torn, so be careful while using it. If you can see it, I accidentally tore mine (picture below: upper lip area, on your right) while I tried to reposition it higher after sticking it onto my skin.

During step 2

OOH IT WAS COOL

For step 2, I put on the hydrogel mask, which was cooling and stuck on unexpectedly well. The mask is smooth on both sides so I suppose it doesn't matter which side goes on to the skin. I pressed it in to cover the inner part of my lips so that they are receiving the goodness from the mask as well. As a result I accidentally tasted the liquid, which was sweet and it didn't kill me. :D

While I was enjoying the mask, it detached a little when I temporarily opened my mouth but stuck back again when I closed it back, which was good! I left it on for 15 minutes as recommended on the package. After that, I used the fatty pad of my ring fingers to lightly pat in the remaining serum, which I thought was  really soothing and ultra hydrating.

My lips becomes super smooth and comfortable after the mask session

STEP 3

Lastly, honey lip essence

Ingredient list (Skincarisma):

Polybutene, Diisostearyl Malate, Mineral Oil, *Dimethicone, Dextrin Myristate, Caprylyl Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Fragrance, Ethylhexylglycerin, 1,2-Hexanediol, CI 19140, CI 15985, Honey Extract, Royal Jelly Extract, *Butylene Glycol, Adansonia Digitata Seed Extract, Equisetum Arvense Extract, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Fruit Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Sophora Japonica Flower Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Fructan

Here, the key ingredients are the manuka honey and royal jelly extracts which have great healing power. Their presence makes a luxurious lip oil which can nourish the lips and help retain moisture, giving a smooth but non-sticky finish. I applied the honey treatment to my lips, concentrating on areas that is usually extra chapped and voila, here's the final results of my lips.

Look how glossy it is!

The lip essence has the sticky texture and the sweet scent of honey. But when I tried to taste it to see if it would taste like honey too, I was delighted to confirm it doesn't. Don't get me wrong, I would love for it to taste like honey because I'm a honey lover! But as I'm going to save the essence for more uses (it has enough for at least another three uses) and keep it in my room, I would love for it to not have the ability to attract ants or any insects.

How I store it for extra uses later

Ingredient list note: 

Bolded are the star ingredients in the product whereas underlined are those flagged as 3 & above under 'Safety index' in CoSDNA. Safety index ranges from 1-9 and the lower the number means the less hazardous. Those with asterisk (*) are more likely to cause acne than those without.

The back of the mask, it expires on 21 September 2018

FINAL NOTES

My lips felt soft and supple after completing all three steps. Although the glossy lips went away once I ate, my lips stayed moisturised and hydrated throughout the day. Therefore I highly recommend this as a quick fix to get you ready for a date night or huge event! However, this will be a one time thing for me because it is a little pricey as a lip mask and I thought there are better masks that are cheaper and work for the whole face as well as my lips.

Where to buy:

Lush N' Blush - RM13.90

Thank you for reading, see you in the next post!

The product is sent to me for review purposes by Lush N' Blush. Check out their website on https://lushnblush.com.

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