TIRTIR Matcha Calming Cream Review — Gummy Mask for Oily Skin
TIRTIR has been the master of make-up and gloriously smooth and poreless skin. Designed to create skincare that blends with fabulous make-up looks, they’ve been a beloved for dry skin with their fabulous Milk Skin Toner and their nourishing Ceramic Cream. Their formulas are rich in medicinal herbs and remedies that help soothe irritation and help skin glow, whilst also melding flawlessly with their creamy foundations. So, it was an exciting addition to their repertoire to add the TIRTIR Matcha Calming set. Complete with a jelly toner and a thick, pudding night cream – it is their foray into acne-care.
Is it worth it? It has a high price tag - but promises healing, soothing and deep refreshment. With almost 100 ingredients, including green tea extract, centella, PDRN, lavender, chestnut and so much more! With the addition of skin firming peptides, this cream promises balancing of red skin, improvement of acne, hydration and peptides for firmer skin and fine lines. Let's test out the true results!
What's In The Bottle?
Niacinamide: brightening vitamin B3 that helps reduce dark spots and balance skin texture for a flawless glow.
Gardenia Flower extract: reduces fine lines and improves skin barrier health for improved hydration and healing.
Adenosine: reduces wrinkles and skin softness, whilst also stimulating collagen production for refreshed and more youthful skin appearance.
Vitamin E: powerful antioxidant that helps reduce general redness and irritation, whilst providing a smooth moisturized finish.
Green tea Extract: powerful extract that helps improve skin elasticity, whilst balancing sebum in oily skin for smoother, clearer skin. A great ingredient for acne-prone skin.
Centella asciatica Extract: improves cell healing and reduces swelling, irritation and redness with key soothing agents that help refresh skin texture.
Panthenol: nourishing vitamin B5 that helps cools inflammation and restore skin barrier function for softer, calmer skin.
PDRN: DNA fragments that absorb deeply into cells to trigger healing pathways and rejuvenate cell energy, to enhance regeneration.
Heartleaf extract: rich herbal remedy that helps hydrate skin barrier and cool inflammation and redness, for clear and balanced skin.
Licorice extract: rich in antioxidants, helps promote cell protection against environmental pollutants while improving acne spots, dark spots and eczema.
Lavender extract: boosts collagen production in skin cells for a plumping effect, whilst also reducing acne-causing bacteria and calming irritation.
Chestnut shell extract: rich in a variety of molecules that help boost skin brightness as well as improve natural skin elasticity for refreshed, glowing complexion.
Ceramide: small molecule that helps fill cracks that form in your skin biome, preventing water loss and helping to strengthen skin texture and softness.
Green tea catechins: extracted from green tea leaves, catechins are a powerful antioxidant that help protect your skin from environmental pollutants, reduce cell stress and enhance natural hydration and skin elasticity.
Hibiscus flower extract: this extract inhibits enzymes that originally break down elastin in our skin, preventing fine lines and helps improve natural radiance.
Peptides: this cream contains a rich variety of peptide molecules (including Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 and Hexapeptide-11) that help stimulate collagen production, firming of skin and inhibits facial muscle movement to reduce appearance of wrinkles.
Who Should Avoid?
Although fun, this mask is not super hydrating and generally incompatible for dry skin types. It also is a thicker consistency (before it absorbs), which might make it unpleasant for those who have tactile sensitivity. It's designed for balancing oily skin and improving acne spots, whilst firming fine lines (making it ideal for more mature oily skin types).
The Results
The first thing about this cream is that the texture is not like cream at all! It's described in marketing as ‘pudding-like’, but it's thicker than even pudding. It actually is almost like a gummy that draws apart in careful blocks, before melting into the palm of your hand. It does make applying the perfect amount a little difficult - but it does come with a little spoon to help.
This thickness continues when you spread it on your skin (making you feel like a cold buttered piece of toast) and it can feel difficult to get an even layer. All this to say, the application process wasn't really my cup of tea. But the results were awesome. First you start with this thick almost ‘face mask’ of the cream, but after an hour, it absorbs seemlessly into your skin to firm and dramatically reduce redness.
True to TIRTIR's speciality, it helps reduce appearance of pores and enhances your natural glow. The firming peptides also improves skin lift, giving a lovely plumping effect when you wake in the morning. After two weeks, you can see the cream helped balance oils on my face, as well as reduce appearance of pores. It also brought a lift to my cheek bones, which peptides tend to do (even in such a short time). Overall, it's a great night mask for oily skin and gives a perfect morning canvas for make-up.
The main downside is that thick nature of the mask risks triggering acne in sensitive skin types, so I wouldn't fully recommend if you have acne triggered by botanical extracts.
Final Thoughts
This is a fun little night mask and an interesting look at TIRTIR's foray into oily skincare. It's perfect for make-up lovers who want to achieve that poreless, lifted look and has a rich variety of botanical extracts that will leave you glowing in the morning. Perfect for reducing redness.
Want to upgrade your make-up? TIRTIR has some of the best in K-beauty, from stunning, poreless cushions to nourishing serums. Check out the range, available on Arktastic!
Excited for more skincare reviews? Check out our review of the amazing new Purcell Pixcell Biom Treatment. Or struggling with irritating spots? Check out our guide to allergens in skincare.
