Review | Kicho Sheep Oil Cream | Hello Pretty Bird! - A beauty and not-so-glamorous lifestyle blog

22 June, 2015

Review | Kicho Sheep Oil Cream

Press Sample

This review originally appeared on HelloPrettyBird.com.

This may sound weird to some of you, but I'm sure all of the true skincare addicts out there can relate: I can't commit to just one cream. It's not because I'm fickle (well, not just because of that anyway)—my skin feels drier on some days than it does on others. You can blame seasons, hormones, or phases of the moon, but regardless of the reason, drier skin days call for richer creams. Today I'll be taking a look at a cream that fits the "help, my face is going to crack into a million pieces if I don't smear some serious s**t on it" bill nicely—Kicho Sheep Oil Cream.

Review of Kicho Cosmetics Sheep Oil Cream with lanolin and 8 berry complex.

Product description:
Lanolin extract from Germany improves overall skin texture, tone and moisturize while reducing appearances of fine lines and wrinkles. 8 different berry extracts (Sea Buckthorn Berries, Blueberry, Goji berry, Strawberry, Açaí palm, Raspberry, Black Mulberry, Cranberry Fruit) keeps your skin moisturized and healthy. A daily moisturizer formulated with lanolin and 8 berries prevent signs of aging and provide significant moisture and smooth texture.

If you're grossed out the concept of "sheep oil", don't be—in this case it refers to lanolin, which is a very common emollient ingredient in beauty and personal care products. For those who aren't familiar, lanolin is a wax substance that's extracted from sheep wool—basically, it's sheep sebum. In its raw form it's kind of stinky, but it is extremely effective at softening and protecting the skin (which is why it's so common in things like lip balm, nipple cream and body lotions). Unless you adhere to a strictly vegan lifestyle, chances are you have something containing lanolin kicking around your vanity or medicine chest.

Full ingredients:
Water, Dimethicone, Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Lanolin Oil, Beeswax, Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-7 Dimethicone, Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate, Sea Water, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Sodium Hyaluronate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, PEG-100 Stearate, CI 19140,Dimethicone/PEG-10/15 Crosspolymer, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract, Ceramide 3, Dipeptide-Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate, Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract, Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Extract, Fragaria Chiloensis (Strawberry) Fruit Extract, Rubus Idaeus (Rasberry) Fruit Extract, Morus Nigra Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Fruit Extract, Lycium Chinense Fruit Extract, Totarol, Decylene Glycol, Ethylhexyl Glycerin, Hexylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol, CI 15985, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil, Citrus Medica Vulgaris Peel Oil, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Lavandula Angustifolla (Lavender) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Peel Oil, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Flower Oil

I've input the ingredients list into CosDNA if anyone's curious. Bottom line is that there are a couple of possible minor acne triggers in the mix, but none of ingredients seem to bother my skin, so on my face the cream went. Lanolin is obviously the star ingredient here, but Kicho Sheep Oil also boasts a variety of berry extracts:

Kicho Sheep Oil Cream ingredients


A truly global affair! In all seriousness though, many of these extracts are known for having anti-inflammatory or anti-oxidant properties.

Pricing/availability:
Kicho Sheep Oil Cream costs $45 for 65g of product and is available from Cupidrop, a US-based shop specializing in Korean and Japanese beauty products. (Their info pages say that they do ship internationally, FYI.)

Authenticity sticker.


The cream is housed in a small but substantial-feeling glass jar.

Kicho Sheep Oil Cream packaging

Basic, but it looks very attractive sitting on your nightstand.

Kicho Sheep Oil Cream jar lid

The cream itself is a light, off-white (almost yellow) color. Kind of like custard.

Kicho Sheep Oil Cream texture consistency

One of the first things I noticed about this cream was the scent—as soon as you open the jar, you're hit with a very cool and refreshing herbal fragrance. I'm guessing that's largely due to the eucalyptus oil. In any case, the cool aroma seems to be more than just fragrance—I feel a temporary cooling sensation on my skin for a little while after I apply it. It's very, very refreshing.


The texture of of Kicho Sheep Oil Cream is creamy and rich, but surprisingly un-oily. I wasn't sure if it would be too rich for my combo skin during the summer when I first opened it up, but I find that it sinks in pretty quickly and doesn't leave me feeling greasy or shiny. It's also very moisturizing, so I've found that it makes for a great night cream (though I've also tried it during the day and it doesn't feel so heavy that it messes up my makeup—score!)

Overall, I like Kicho Sheep Oil Cream. It's great for those days when my skin is feeling a little more dehydrated and scaly than usual (retinol flakes, man.) But I could easily see this being a good everyday cream for normal to dry skin types. Normally I steer clear of really rich and creamy creams in the warmer months, but this one isn't so heavy or oily that it feels like it's smothering my skin. The cooling sensation it provides is also really nice—who knew I'd find a rich cream that actually made my skin feel less hot and suffocated in the summer months? Oh, and speaking of which, a lot of lanolin creams smell downright nasty (it's sebum extracted from wool, guys!) so I was really pleased that this one smelled like cooling herbs instead of sheep sweat. I'm so surprised I could baaaaaaah! (In a good way, of course.)


To purchase, visit Cupidrop.com. They also carry some other interesting niche brands that are hard to find in the US (like A.True and CosRX), so be sure to have a good browse around while you're there.


What do you think of Kicho Sheep Oil Cream? Do you seek out lanolin as a skincare ingredient?


Disclosure: The product featured in this post was provided to me for review by Cupidrop, however any opinions expressed above are honest and my own. I did not receive any other form of compensation. For more information, check out my full disclosure policy.
 

8 comments:

  1. I'm using a goat cream right now and donkey milk emulsion, apart from the horse oil ampoule on my nighttime routine....so, sheep is new to me and I'm super intrigued...Actually, the goat milk displays an illustration of sheeps...

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  2. Sounds like you have a whole barnyard in your collection, haha! It's so funny that the goat milk cream shows a picture of sheep. Maybe there's a bit of sheep in there too?

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  3. I never knew exactly what lanolin was. That's really interesting and it sounds like some serious stuff! It sounds great for dry skin problems.

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  4. Yeah! The source of lanolin is a little gross if you think about it, although it kind of makes sense in a skincare context. If it can protect sheep from losing moisture from their coats, it can certainly protect skin!

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  5. Interested, I too did not know what lanolin was. So I wonder if this is cruelty free?

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  6. It depends on how you define cruelty-free. Lanolin can be extracted from sheep's wool (so without killing or harming the animal), but as with any intensive farming situation, how the animals are treated may or may not be cruel depending on the conditions of the farm. I've also read that some lanolin is a by-product of sheep raised for their meat, which obviously isn't cruelty-free. A tricky subject indeed! But I don't know where Kicho gets their lanolin from, other than that the box says it's sourced from Germany.

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  7. I really like the sounds of this moisturizer. I don't even know if any of the products that I use have lanolin but I'm sure they do. The price of this isn't bad either.

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  8. It's very likely. Lanolin is in all sorts of stuff, especially lip balm. There's even a brand called Lanolips, lol.

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