Manyo Factory, Revisited

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

About a year and a half ago, I wrote an overview of my favorite skincare brand, Manyo Factory. I thought it’d be fun to revisit the brand and see if my feelings are unchanged. Spoiler alert: still love it to bits. Some of the products have dropped out of rotation (or downgraded to I’ll Buy it On Sale status) while some have been repurchased quite a few times.

There's a lot, A LOT of products mentioned today so bear with me. Will try to keep it short for each product/line if I can help it.

Cleansing Oil

I went through two bottles of the Pure Cleansing Oil and a few minis of the Herb Cleansing Oil. I like them, particularly on days when all I wear is a dab of tinted moisturizer or a swipe of concealer. Neither of these two oils is enough to break down full face makeup or my clown colored eyeshadow looks but for minimal days, it’s more than adequate. Not too keen about having multiple kinds of oil cleansers at my sink for different kinds of days (ok if we're being truthful, this is already a problem and I'm trying to correct it) so currently I don't seek this cleanser out, but if it's on sale I'll get it.

Soda Cleansing Foam

I went through a full sized tube tube and a few minis. I like the stuff, despite it's higher pH (UnboxingBeauty tested it here and it's around 9). I'm generally not too phased by high pH cleansers and I don't really have blemishes or dry patches any more so overall I'm feeling like my barrier is in good shape, it's your call on whether it's for you. I recently found that I absolutely love this cleanser mixed with an enzyme powder (currently still working through Tatcha Gentle Enzyme Powder*), it leaves my face so clean and soft, removes excess sebum with ease.

Clearskin Toner

May I never run out of this stuff. HG, squared. You know how pharaohs were entombed with goods for the afterlife? Bury me with a million bottles of Clearskin when I die. I'll need them all! I can't do strong acids, but I love this very mild spray for constant use. Misting this over slicker ampoules, serums, what have you, makes them sink in much faster and less greasy feeling. Oddly enough, I never cared much for it when wiped around with cotton. Toner is not exactly exciting stuff, but this one really does it for me. I'm determined not to acquire many more backups of products, but this one I'm ok with buying 2-3 extras, because they'll definitely get used. I've used ten bottles since I wrote my original overview.

Galatomist Mist

This mist has the consistency of water, but ever so slightly wetter and slower to evaporate off my face. It doesn't do much for me, but I did douse my face with it during car trips during the summer when my spouse blasted the AC. Not repurchasing.

Lactobacillus Bifida Mist

Oh I adore this spray! I've repurchased it, for a myriad of reasons. It looks lovely paired with a powder foundation, it leaves my skin feeling velvety soft, and it's a source of GHK-Cu. I like how it keeps my skin from dehydrating during flights. Full review here.

Bifida Ampoule

Ehhhhh. In my original review where I said that this was aight. I recently bought another bottle on sale and while I'll use it, the results ... ... ... actually, I'm not super sure I see/feel any other than a moisturizing effect. I still prefer Missha Long Name Purple Ampoule for glowing, plump skin.

2 Week Express System & Niacin Alpha (didn't open this tube yet, sorry no texture pics)

This is so good, there's a wicked part of me that wants to keep it all to myself, like my little skincare secret. I wrote a fairly comprehensive post on my before and after results fairly recently (read here). I've gifted a few boxes to my family members that have melasma, because it's the bee's knees when used with a niacinamide rich product like Manyo Factory Niacin Alpha. I recently used it again for the second time around and it was still wonderful.. Even though it seemed the proportions of the product had changed a little - the powder didn't seem to dissolve very well into the liquid, but it still worked splendidly for bright, clear skin.

L to R: Lactobacilus Bifida Cream, Special Treatment Cream Essence Rich, Special Treatment Essence Cream Regular

Lactobacillus Bifida Cream

I like this 'bagel cream' a lot! It leaves the skin super supple and an advantage it has over the Special Treatment Essence creams is that it doesn't smell like socks.

Special Treatment Essence Creams

I've repurchased both the regular and the rich versions of this cream, several times. The regular smells like stinky gym socks and roses, but it makes my skin crazy supple. I usually run my hands over my face several times after I apply it. The rich version smells more intensely of roses, but it is reaaaaaally emollient. Most people don't need something that heavy. I'm probably going to stop buying the rich and stick with just the regular, I believe I'm about to open my fourth tube.

Midnight Recovery Cream

Full review here. I thought this would only last me a few weeks, imagine my surprise when it kept going for months and months - you only need a very small amount to feel like your skin is very well moisturized. I use it like an all in one cream in the winter time- some nights I just mist a bit of toner and a dab of this. Plus, two kinds of ginseng. The greatest improvement for me was how my skin seemed fimer.

Overnight Miracle Pack

I'm on my third tube of this pack! They repackaged it into a prettier and also smaller tube. I'm not thrilled there's less content but the old size would last so long that I never finished it before it started to yellow. It's probably for the best, smaller tubes means I'm keeping fresher products in rotation and Manyo's formulations are really plant rich so I want the ingredients at their peak, not their decline. This is great for nights when I don't want to do very complicated routines, I might dab a little of some other treatment around but it's this pack that I slather all over to ensure that my skin has enough hydration throughout the night. I'm still scratching my head as to how something this lightweight feeling can retain moisture that well. Full review here.

Floral Moist

Listen, this line isn't for me. I've tried the lotion and balm, I cannot fault either aside from the odor which I find repulsive. It's a powdery, rotting floral, mixed with the smell of a hospital. The lotion is a nice moisturizer for the body, the balm is a lovely occlusive layer for cuticles and feet. But no thank you.

Ultra Moist Spa

From this line, I've tried the cream and the ampoule. The ampoule is the only thing I've ever used from the Manyo Factory brand that had me suspecting that it broke me out. It's too bad, because it's packaged in this lovely vivid robin's egg blue dropper bottle. Such a nice color. The cream is quite nice, it sinks into the skin very easily and doesn't feel greasy in the slightest. Would rebuy it, but probably not at retail price because it's not exceptional.

Aqua Cream Sleeping Pack

I finished one tube of earlier this year and it's been on my mind lately. This has a strong lavender scent which wasn't my favorite thing in the world, but I would always wake up with bright and moisturized skin. I think I should repurchase it, but not in a crazy hurry to do so. Come sale time, I'd definitely grab this.

Galactomy Pore T-Serum

This one deserves its own review, it's going to be hard to condense into a little blurb. I've purchased three bottles but I'm guilty of not yet completing a write up about it. It's hands down the best mattifying product I have ever used, I like it under my makeup to keep my t-zone matte yet not dehdyrated. The one and only drawback is that it's slightly minty, but I've made my peace with it.

D-Toc Mask

Very recently reviewed here. I liked it a lot and already repurchased.

Active Refresh Herb Peel

I love the gentle exfoliation from this gommage. The cellulose clumps up as you gently rub this slightly cooling gel around your skin. It lasted a long time for me, I'm currently trying to go without this product for now just to see if I can decrease the stuff I have around all the time.

Active Refresh Herb Mask

This is the one Manyo Factory product whose very short lifespan (seriously, you have to use it up within a few weeks of opening) I find really off putting. It's not good enough for me to want to use that frequently. Full review here.

Treatment Lip Balm

This one has a mentholated scent/taste that is reminiscent of Tiger Balm. I liked it - moisturizing but not oily- but I don't know if I'd repurchase it.

Lip Serum left, Honey Lip Oil right

Lip Serum Treatment Essence in Apple Juice

This was GWP from MelodyCosme when I made a big order last year. I like the way it smells like the apple-y Miranda soft drink. It's thick and sticky, like a very heavy gloss.

Honey Velvet Treatment Lip Oil

I originally wasn't too keen on how this smells from a foil sample (slightly artificially sweet) so I bought it when it was on sale. I now really enjoy it after realizing that it can last 6+ hours on me. If I apply it at bedtime, I'll wake up with it still on my lips. Like the Lip Serum, it's a thicker product that makes the lips feel really slick and moisturized, also sticky. Would repurchase. Only odd thing is that it started out slightly yellow but that faded to clear. Probably because I kept it by my bed by large windows and it got a lot of sun action.

Looking back, it's kind of nutty how many Manyo Factory products I've tried over the last couple of years. Well over 20! It's the one brand that consistently doesn't break me out or have any sort of stinging reaction, whereas maybe 70-80% of products I try are not compatible with my skin. I'm pretty devoted to many of their products, and definitely see myself repurchasing them for years to come. I've mentioned quite a few so let me just recap by listing my top five favorites: Clearskin Toner (but it's not an exciting product so I could easily someone buying it and going "what's the fuss? I don't get your fanaticism, Mimi"), Midnight Recovery Cream, Overnight Miracle Pack, Lactobacillus Bifida Mist, and the Galactomy Pore T-Serum.

In the United States, the best places to purchase Manyo Factory products are MelodyCosme and oo35mm. MelodyCosme is my favorite, because Margaret is very generous with samples, is transparent with expiration dates, and there's now a great rewards program that earns you points you can spend in store from your purchases. This gets you $10 off of $50 (and gives me $10 as well). Another option is to utilize a shopping service like KoreanBuddy (check out my review here) to order it from Korea (sometimes in bulk), or use the international Manyo Factory site.

Have you tried any Manyo Factory products?

All products featured were purchased by me. Post contains reward link. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.