The name of the brand is called Arcona, and it was opened up by a rather exceptional esthetician in California. The brand is 100% organic and all natural, which is probably what attracted my Korean dermatologist to this brand because he LOVES natural skincare, even though he believes that most "natural" skincare on the market today is marketing bogus.
the concept of the brand is to contain a lot of active ingredients so that they can address skin issues most effectively, and not using a lot of "filler" ingredients. As a result, their moisturizers generally look like serums. I really like this concept because I hate cosmetics companies' use of "filler" ingredients. They are usually the ones that cause me most trouble. They cause my skincare products to not absorb properly, sit on the top of my skin, and cause oilyness, while all the time, I am deriving no benefits from those "filler" ingredients. The only time I like "filler" ingredients is when they appear selectively in my night cream, so that they can seal in the moisture and nutrients the night cream is supposed to contain.
I asked my SO to buy me their Basic 5 Kit for Oily skin from Nordstrom for me (so I made the purchase myself and I am not paid for the review). I really liked the lightness of all the skincare products, but my skin had a reaction to it for the first week or so. The reaction (a surge of pimples) did not irritate me a lot since I expected it. After all, I was going from a skincare line with only a small amount of active ingredients to a skincare line full of active ingredients. I expected that it would take a while for my skin to get used to it, and I would probably get a reaction out of it. However, the reaction still bothered me because I kept wondering whether this would just be an initial reaction that would calm down, or whether my skin is just incompatible with those ingredients. Luckily, my skin started calming down by the 2nd/3rd week.
Unfortunately, I am still carrying red acne marks from the surge of pimples I had in the first week. (my red marks from acne used to clear up within 3 days, but now they stick around for a while due to this. However, I have noticed my acne marks fading so much faster now because of all the antioxidants that I am using on my face.
I will review the products in another month, after I have used the products for a longer time, and know more about them. :)