May 5, 20225 min read

Taiwanese Skincare Brand unicat Review

小資保養, 平價保養品, 開架保養品, 保水, 修復, 保濕, 抗老, 積雪草, 比菲德氏菌, 護膚, 敏感肌, 混合肌, moisturize, skincare, 保濕原液, 保濕精華液, 面膜, facemask, face pack

The weather is unbearably hot lately, I could not go to sleep without keeping the air-con on for 1–2 hours. The problem with turning on the AC is that I wake up with extremely dry skin. I do a full skincare routine before bed and always go to sleep with smooth plump skin, but by the time I wake up, my skin is parched. I recently received unicat's anti-stress moisturizing serum and premium hydrogel mask, so I was hoping that it would fully hydrate my thirsty skin. I've mentioned how I have a mixed skin type. Though my forehead and nose are prone to blackheads, they are also dry and even flakey at times. I like that unicat's products are gentle and moisturizing, which suits my needs well.

unicat is a Taiwanese brand that I recently learned about. The ingredient lists are short and clear. Their products are GMP certified and pretty cheap as well, which makes them perfect as part of the daily skincare routine. It is part of their mission statement to use gentle, organic, and faintly acidic formulas. I have mentioned recently that skincare is not just about putting active ingredients on your skin, but about adjusting your skin type, too. A faintly acidic environment is the healthiest for your skin.

Most online shopping sites only has the 7-day guaranteed return policy regulated by law, while unicat has a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If you have any problems with the product within 30 days, be it a product defect, or if you simply don't like it or think it's not suitable for your skin type, you can get a full refund for your order on their official website. I like that, it puts my mind at ease. Not just because of the financial security where products can be refunded with no questions asked, but mainly because it shows the immense confidence the brand has in its own products and service.

Cheap and Effective Moisturizing and Repair Skincare–unicat anti-stress moisturizing serum

It's called a serum in English but it actually says in the description and in Chinese that it's a face essence. I've previously talked about what that is, let's go through it again. Face essences are similar to serums but they are much simpler in terms of their ingredients, they are also lighter and penetrates your skin easier. At the same time, their concentration and effectiveness are also higher. This face essence contains 3% centella asiatica extract and 2% Bifidus ferment lysate. It says "bifidus ferment filtrate" on the bottle which is a common translation mistake seen in Taiwan. It also contains no artificial coloring or fragrance.

Centella asiatica has been all the rage recently as the holy grail of repairing. I'm sure you've all heard of it. As I researched what it's all about, I saw that it has another fun name: tiger grass, which has a really cute story behind it. It's been said that tigers that get hurt during a fight would look for centella asiatica in the woods and roll around on it to cover its wound with juice from the grass. Soon it would be able to recover fully!

Centella asiatica has actually been used as an herb since ancient times and was recorded in the Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Of course, modern scientist are not going to pass by on the opportunity of studying such a great ingredient and adding it to skincare products. Centella asiatica does not contain caffein or other stimulants that may irritate the skin, which means that it can be safely used on all healthy skin types.

I hear about Bifidus a lot but I mostly hear about it being taken orally for digestive health. So what does it have to do with skincare? This is actually an ingredient that can be found in many expensive and famous skincare products like SKII, L'Oréal, Lancôme and more. The fermented probiotics have even smaller molecules than the originally do and become easier to be absorbed. Studies show that they not only have great moisturizing properties, they can also help defend your skin against the damage of UV rays.

unicat's anti-stress moisturizing serum (face essence) looks sticky in the bottle but feels very light on the skin. It's not sticky at all. It feels like allowing your skin to drink water and take probiotics! Which of course translates into low-consumption. I only need about two drops for my entire face. And it's cheap so it's perfect for me, who is constantly broke for no reason. I think I ate all my money?

If you have been watching my Instagram stories, you might have noticed that there's been a red patch on my right eyelid for a while. I think I've shared this ridiculous story. Around late February, we were having a birthday dinner for my sister at a really dark restaurant and a mosquito bit me somewhere near my lashes out of nowhere. It was so terribly itchy, I couldn't stop scratching. I hurt my skin with my claws and it had an allergic reaction. I couldn't use any skincare products around my eyes for a month and had to apply an allergy ointment with steroids. Which is how this dry, red, and itchy patch came to be. I was able to start using skincare products below my eyes but any skincare product or vitamin C coming into contact with this part of my skin would leave it stinging with pain. I couldn't cover the redness with concealer either because it's dry and the concealer wouldn't stay. So I kept applying aloe vera all the time and it did not improve.

First thing I did when I got unicat's anti-stress moisturizing serum (face essence) is to apply it to this annoying patch to see if I can improve the hydration in this area. There was no discomfort, stinging, or any bad reaction. After using it for about 3 days, it was no longer visible, I could only feel a slim line of dryer skin when I touch it. After a week of intensive care, I am proud to announce that the nuisance is finally gone. I'm going to cry. Out of happiness of course.

Cheap and Effective Moisturizing and Repair Skincare–unicat Premium Hydrogel Plump Mask

When I saw that its hydrogel mask, I originally thought it meant that the mask itself would be in jelly form. It is called jelly mask in Chinese after all. But it turns out that the mask itself is a thin film of fabric that clings perfectly to my face. It's the serum in the mask that has a gel texture! Before I ripped open the packaging, I could feel that the contents were squishy like a jelly drink.

The mask itself soaked up the serum perfectly, and there was still plenty of serum left in the bag, which was enough for me to apply on the entire surface of my body. the premium hydrogel plump mask feels really light and did not cause any breakouts afterwards. The price and texture both make it something that I can use on a daily basis so that I can keep my skin hydrated.

Personally, I'm lazy, so I only use it about once or twice a week at night. I use it along with my hexapeptide, resveratrol, and retinol. On other days, I use the anti-stress moisturizing serum in the morning with my vitamin C serum and salicylic acid.

This skincare routine has kept my face elastic and plump even when I wake up in the morning. My cheeks are so squeezable that I couldn't help poking it. The results and improvements are definitely my biggest motivation to keep up with my skincare. I hope Aphrodite sees all the effort I am putting in and blesses me so that I continue to look like I am 20 when I am 50.