Review: Etude House Happy Teatime Line (Milk Tea)

I love milk tea! I've loved it even before tea shops started sprouting around the metro, but it was rather hard to find. Sometimes the 7-11 I went to back in college would be out of bottled Mineshine milk tea. Now I don't have to go so far to get my fix; I can just use my cleansing cream and facial wash from Etude House's Happy Teatime line. It's a different kind of craving. ;)

Let's tackle them one by one after the jump.

The Etude House Happy Teatime line has several varieties of cleansing creams and facial washes. The Milk Tea variants are meant to be for "softening". I assume it's to leave your face soft after cleansing, because they do have a "moisturizing" line. I think the differences between each line are actually pretty minimal, because who wouldn't want to "revitalize" or "clarify" or "brighten" their skin, right? So it's really just a matter of preference. In this case, I chose milk tea for the milky, powdery scent. I loveloveloveit. ♥

The Happy Teatime Milk Tea Cleansing Cream contains milk protein that helps in removing dirt and makeup, while keeping skin moisturized. One jar gives you a hefty 180ml of product, for just Php198.

Packaging is adorable, as usual. The cream is housed in a plastic jar with a sturdy screw-top cap, which has a teapot and doily design on top. So cute! The jar is pretty big, though, and it'll take up space on your dresser. Plus the packaging itself is not hygienic, you will want to have a spatula on hand to pick up product.

The product itself is actually very light, at least compared to other cleansing creams I have used, like Daiso's. The lightness makes it easy to spread, so you use less product to cover a wider area. It also leaves a less greasy after-feel (hello Pond's). To use, gently massage it on your face and neck, then wipe it off with cleansing tissues or wash it off with warm water. Both methods will leave your face rather damp, which should be no issue since a round with the facial wash is next anyway. You can also use regular tissue paper, but do wipe gently since this is more abrasive. It does leave your skin soft and smelling nicely (but lightly) of milk tea.

The only caveat with this product for me is that it stung my eyes. This happened when I using the cleansing cream to remove my eye makeup, which included waterproof mascara. Granted, it did remove the mascara almost completely, and I probably worked it in too much in an effort to do so. So while it does a good job in removing makeup, I will either try to be more careful next time or use a different makeup remover for the eye area.

Didn't manage to take a picture while it was still full, sorry!

The facial wash is meant to be used after the cream as a supplement cleanser. It also has that milk tea scent, but unlike the cleansing cream, it's housed in a tube. While it's only 150ml compared to the cleansing cream, it's also cheaper at Php148. And honestly, 150ml is a LOT. This is one of the first Etude House products I ever bought and I'm still struggling to empty it! I already cut off the top half to really finish off the entire thing, as seen here.

What the product looks like from the tube: little logs of creamy goodness. I decanted it for travel.

This is actually nothing special in terms of performance, but then again, facial washes are hard to get wrong (unless they break you out, of course). Like the cleansing cream it can sting your eyes but only if you actually try to work it in that area which you shouldn't anyway. What I did appreciate is that it didn't leave my face too tight after washing. It was just as squeaky clean as it's supposed to be. Those with combi-dry skin will appreciate this fact, while oily-skinned types will like its oil-zapping powers.

I don't think I'll repurchase these anytime soon since I still have other cleansers lined up, but I do recommend this. The Happy Teatime line is solid value for money and their products do the job they're supposed to, just be careful when using them around your eyes. You'll have fun choosing between variants as well. :)

Have you tried this line from Etude House? Would you give it a try if not? Do share!