Herborist Discovery Kit

My interest was sufficiently piqued after Herborist was introduced on Nu Ren Wo Zui Da sometime ago (女人我最大). 

Googling Herborist after the show, I found that Herborist was the only Chinese brand stocked at Sephora France. This news was quite prominent in China's media for a while due to the perception that a skincare brand from China had made it in France! 

I decided to purchase the Herborist discovery kit while at the Watsons flagship store one day. While browsing the actual products, the packaging is fairly luxe. The heavy containers with beautiful floral/herbal imprints would not look out of place beside Japanese skincare packaging. 

Herborist Discovery Kit 

Actual plastic box of the kit when the paper cover is removed

The Herborist Discovery Kit consists of 4 products:
1) Black T'ai Chi Mask
2) White T'ai Chi Mask
3) Revitalizing & Firming Day Cream
4) Revitalizing & Firming Eye Cream

According to the instructions, I was to use the products in the following order

A) Black T'ai Chi mask

B) White T'ai Chi mask

C) Day Cream

D) Eye Cream

L to R: Eye cream, White T'ai Chi mask, Black T'ai Chi mask, Day cream

I skipped the eye cream but followed the first 3 steps. I believe the Black T'ai Chi mask is meant as cleansing and exfoliating, since the instructions stated applying the black mask and massaging for 5 mins. It got increasingly difficult to massage as the black mask started drying up and I felt as if I was just trying to smear mud on my skin. 

Comparing the Black T'ai Chi mask to another black exfoliator product, the Kose Seikisho Exfoliating Massage Gel, I much prefer the Kose product due to the particles that I can feel as I massage my face. There doesn't seem to be any tactile particles in the T'ai Chi mask, only thick gloop. 

The products are lightly scented and quite pleasant, however would I repurchase these products? Highly unlikely. The T'ai Chi masks did not make a strong impression on me. Although I might just try other products in the Herborist line as I am intrigued by them. I'm also planning to bring the black and white T'ai Chi masks on my next holiday as the size is handy.

I will update this post with the ingredients list soon (it's difficult to capture the words on the transparent box with a compact camera!).

Disclaimer: I did not receive any payment or payment in kind for writing this blog post. Any opinions mentioned are my own.