Review | A’Pieu Madacassoside 4 Step Sample Kit

When I was still living in Korea, I popped into the A’Pieu store in Seomyeon Underground to get some pimple patches and a Madecassoside Ampoule that was recommended by one of my favourite Youtubers ‘Liah Yoo’.

One of the members of staff pointed me in the direction of a set that included the Madecassoside Ampoule and Madecassoside Cica Gel, along with 5 sample strips of the Madecassoside 4 Step Kit which consists of Step 1 Madecassoside Fluid (toner), Step 2 Madecassoside Cica Gel, Step 3 Madecassoside Cream, and Step 4 Madecassoside Cica Balm – so in total I got 2 full size products and 20 samples in this set for 22500₩ (roughly just under £15).

I’ll review the two full sized products in a later post once they are almost finished, so for today’s post I will focus my review on the Madecassoside 4 Step Kit. I forgot to take pictures of what the actual products look like so I’ll try to be as descriptive as possible.

A’PIEU Madecassoside 4 Step Kit

Step 1 | Madecassoside Fluid:

Scent: Slight lemon scent

Appearance: Cloudy liquid

Texture: Thin, light and slippery but not too runny. It absorbs quite quickly but can be a tiny bit oily/ clammy feeling if you use too much.

Ingredients:
Water, Centella Asiatica Leaf Water, Glycerin, 1, 2-Hexanediol, Niacinamide, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Madecassoside, Dioscorea Japonica Root Extract, Ceramide NP, Adenosine, Glycereth-26, PEG/PPG-17/6 copolymer, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Styrene/VP Copolymer, Tromethamine, Butylene Glycol, Acrylates/ C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, Allantoin, Carbomer, Propylene Glycol, Hydrolyzed Corn Starch, Beta-Glucan, Asiaticoside, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Sucrose, PVM/ma copolymer, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil, Sodium Polyacrylate, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Lavandula Hybrida Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Peel Oil, Juniperus Mexicana Oil, Disodium EDTA, Chlorphenesin.

Step 2 | Madecassoside Cica Gel:

Scent: Slight medicinal scent with a hint of citrus.

Appearance: Yellow tinted jammy gel.

Texture: Feels refreshing, light and smooth. A little clammy feeling. It leaves that silky soft silicone feeling on the skin. Could be a nice texture for the summer time if you like that fake silky smooth silicone feeling.

Additional Thoughts: When using the gel alone, it feels less heavy than when using it with the entire kit. Skin feels smooth hydrated and plump. It still has the silicone feeling but not too much. It’s slightly tacky and does not completely absorb which I personally feel like can clogs my pores if I use too much. As mentioned before, I have a full size tube of this so will do a full review when I finish it.

Ingredients
Centella Asiatica Leaf Water, Glycerin, Caprylyl Methicone, Niacinamide, Centella Asiatica Leaf Extract, Echium Plantagineum Seed Oil, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil (Sunflower), Cardiospermum Halicacabum Seed Extract, Panthenol, Pentylene Glycol, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Madecassoside, Polyglyceryl-6 Behenate, Dimethicone, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Methoxyethyl Acrylate Copolymer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Hydroxyacetophenone, Tromethamine, Caprylyl Glycol, Asiaticoside, Allantoin, Adenosine, Silica, Octyldodecanol, Tocopherol, Xanthan Gum, Disodium EDTA

Step 3 | Madecassoside Cream:

Scent: This has the familiar citrus bathroom cleaning products scent.

Appearance: White cream.

Texture: Not too thick or thin, but definitely thicker than the cica gel. Although the texture seems thicker than the cica gel, in my opinion once you work it into the skin, it feels much lighter like a viscous light cream, and is less clammy than the cica gel.

Additional Thoughts: The cream felt quite cooling, soothing and smoothing on the skin upon application, however, when using the cream only (at night) I was able to notice that it leaves an occlusive film on the skin and does not completely absorb. Each time I used it, I got whiteheads and closed comedones the next day.

Ingredients:
Centella Asiatica Leaf Water, Water(Aqua), Cyclopentasiloxane, Propanediol, Phenyl Trimethicone, Glycerin, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Niacinamide, Cyclohexasiloxane, Panthenol, Ethoxydiglycol, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Sodium Chloride, Rubus Suavissimus (Raspberry) Leaf Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Caprylyl Glycol, Pinus Densiflora Leaf Extract, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Leaf Extract, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Butylene Glycol, Madecassoside, Pentylene Glycol, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Adenosine, Lactic Acid, Sodium Lactate, Urea, Serine, Disodium EDTA, Sorbitol, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Asiaticoside, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Lavandula Hybrida Oil, Juniperus Mexicana Oil, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Peel Oil, Allantoin, Chlorphenesin, Phenoxyethanol

Step 4 | Madecassoside Cica Balm:

Scent: It has a medicinal scent like many other multi-purpose ointment balms but I also detect a slight citrus hint.

Appearance: Pale yellow balm.

Texture: Thick balm texture with a smooth yet slightly tacky residue, quite like most multi-purpose balms. It’s a soothing and protective barrier, good for spot treating specific areas as an occlusive sealant layer.

Additional Thoughts: I ended up using the balm on my heels after moisturising them to lock in the moisture. The balm would have been to heavy to use on my face as I hate that heavy clammy feeling.

Also, it doesn’t contain lanolin so it’s not that type of balm if anyone is wondering. I guess if you don’t like lanolin then this is a nice alternative.

Ingredients:
Centella Asiatica Leaf Water (55%), Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, 1,2-Hexanediol, Dipropylene Glycol, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Olivate, Madeccasoside (2%), Niacinamide, Cetearyl Alcohol, Isohexadecane, Sorbitan Olivate, Centella Asiatica Extract, Panthenol, Adenosine, Asiaticoside, Butylene Glycol, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil, Lavandula Hybrida Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Peel Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Litsea Cubeba Fruit Oil, Carbomer, Stearyl Alcohol, Betaine, Stearic Acid, Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Myristyl Alcohol, Lauryl Alcohol, Allantoin, Tromethamine, Ethylhexylglycerin, Coptis Japonica Root Extract, Tropolene, Disodium EDTA.

Overall Thoughts

All 4 products leave a silky smooth slightly oily residue on the skin. The problem I have is that I can’t get passed the fake soft fuzzy feeling that this gives as it can get clammy and too much for my combo acne prone skin. They all also sting on open pimple sores.

My skin looks instantly brighter and healthier which is probably because of the Niacinamide. My forehead looks quite shiny and cheeks look oily after a few hours of after layering all the steps and I’m sure this is way too heavy to use all together on my skin type. Layering could be good for winter or very dry skin types. I also noticed that I kept touching my skin more than usual because it felt so clogged so I just want to extract > I ended up washing my face at night to get rid of the feeling.

After using it as a full kit once, I decided to separate the rest of the samples from the kit and used them differently the next few times. Either way, the silicone mixed with oil and other moisturising ingredients feeling bugged me and although I didn’t get any full on breakouts in general, I did definitely get lots of tiny bumpy closed comedones from using these products.

Will I repurchase? I’m glad I got these as samples and I will not repurchase any of these in full size. I am in the middle of testing out the full size of the cica gel as well as the ampoule which wasn’t included in this kit. I’ll say in advance that the ampoule is the only product that’s worth it for me in this line so far but I’ll give more details as to why in a later post. Also after using this kit, I was tempted to not even use the full size of the cica gel, but I don’t want to waste it so I will see what happens if I use a smaller amount each time.