M2: The Review

A few months ago, I ordered the M2 Skin Refinish 20% from the States and blogged about my initial impression here. Now after almost four months of use here's my review.
I will not discuss the product details (formulation, ingredients, complete benefits) of M2 Skin Refinish here. You can check my earlier post or the official product site for that.

But in a nutshell, M2 promises to be an all-in-one night potion that can:

-rapidly even skin tone

-reduce breakouts

-soften wrinkles



How I use the M2 Refinish:

1. I use a thin layer (about one big pea sized amount) and pat it all over my face and neck every night. But that's because I have a high tolerance for pain and stinging. For those new to chemical skin exfoliators, you can use it every other day until you develop a tolerance for the initial stinging effect of the lotion.

This M2 Skin Refinish and my eyecream are the only stuff I use at night. Which is why I am totally sold on M2 Skin Refinish. Unlike other medical grade products (such as Obagi and its five step protocol), this is essentially a one step, catch all product good for people like me who hate complicated regimens.


My take on its efficacy:

While it does not literally remove dark spots on the face, it does help a bit even out the redness.If you want something to remove dark pimple marks fast (say in a few week's time), this will dissapoint and you are better of with a more potent formulation (say Obagi's Hydroquinoine based Clear).

When I began using the M2 Skin refinish, I had some fresh pimple marks, and three months after, while they have lightened a bit, they are still not as light as I want. So at least
for me, this vouched for lightening ability of M2 is a bit over-rated. Because what it really does is to brighten your face uniformly but not whiten it to the extent that your skin will be a shade or two lighter.

For the anti-pimple part, I give this serum a perfect 10. It does what is says. It prevents not only acne, but even blackheads and whiteheads from popping through. I did get a few pimples
while using M2 but it's actually my fault as I've been eating too much foods to which I am allergic to, my allergic reaction being a zit or two popping up. But when I am really good with not eatingthe "bad foods" I notice that I do not get pimples at all. What is also great about M2 is that it controls the oilies well. Even when I was in sweltering Pinas weather last May, my skin didn't really oil up. And here in Seoul, with our humid summer, my skin is still pretty "normal", without the slick greasy look that it usually has during the summers in Seoul.

Wrinkle Smoother - To be honest, I don't really know how to gauge its efficacy as a wrinkle corrector as I am still in my early thirties, thus still no wrinkles. But if it's any consolation, I've been told by a Korean colleague that I look prettier(ahem!) now than when I first came into the company more than a year ago, so I guess it does help make the skin look younger.


Points for Improvement:

1. The container - I dropped my first M2 bottle once and the swivel spout broke completely :-( I was still able to pump out the contents though but it was such a dissapointment to find that for such an expensive item, the container was so flimsy. Now, I really take extra care not to bump or drop my recently opened 2nd M2 bottle.

2. The sticky factor - Yes, the serum is pretty sticky for about five minutes after application. Then it dries up into a shiny film. So yes, you need five minutes at least to dry out the lotion before going to bed unless you want the serum to get smeared all over your pillows or sheets.

3. Price and Availability - I order this from the States directly ($47 per bottle plus shipping. So I order two at a time to save up on shipping). It took only about 7 days before I got my UPS package from the US, pretty great customer service and fast delivery! I live in Seoul though, but in the Philippines I think one online site sells this at a pretty reasonable price ( Just to be clear, please, we do not carry M2 stuffs at the moment at the shop). I would offer to get orders for those who are interested but I just began my second M2 bottle so it will be at least two more months before I order my M2 stuff.

In a nutshell: Yes, I do love this product. It is effective and it rids me of the four to seven skincare steps that's oh so common here in Seoul. And though it is not really cheap, a bottle can last you from 3 to 4 months depending on your use, so that's pretty reasonable.