Asian Skincare 101 - Bird's Nest

Starting today I will be writing more about Asian skincare. We often see ingredients like bird's nest, ginseng, snail slime et cetera on the packaging of Asian skincare products. I know it sounds gross, but if you're Chinese, you probably ate it before or heard of it since you were little. My mom always told me that those things are good for the skin and is super expensive. Nowadays we see it more and more often in Chinese as well as Korean skincare products as an ingredient. Bird's nest has lots of benefits that you may not know. Today I'm going to tell you more about it.

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WHAT IS IT? WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
Bird's nest is made out of a solidified saliva produced by the males swifts/swallows. This saliva is very nutrient-rich so when consuming the nests, it provides lots of health benefits. (I know…. it sounds disgusting.) Bird's nest is edible but is also used in skincare products. It's great for any age.

Bird's nest is rich in protein, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron and amino acid. It increases the body's resistance against disease, it reduces heat in the body, fortifies the spleen and digestive system and even promotes longevity (the process of ageing is retarded through the antioxidant content in the bird's nest). It also promotes the secretion of body fluids, stimulates cell regeneration and promotes blood circulation. These are well-known benefits of bird's nest that most Chinese people know. For women it results in young, radiant and fairer skin when consuming this often.

EAT BIRD'S NEST
You are able to eat Bird's Nest - create a soup/dessert with it or just drink it from the bottle. It's actually better to consume it than using skincare products with that as an ingredient, since it's always better to cure the inside first. It doesn't have much taste to be honest. The texture is a bit slimy and like jelly. However, you gotta drink this often to be able to see results, it's pricey so you do need to save some money to drink it often. If you are going to buy a box of bird's nest (without added ingredients) it can be around €2000.- per box, it looks like this. There are fake ones, so make sure that you're buying it from trustable stores. The famous Chinese brand BRANDS is selling small bottles of bird's nest. These are less expensive but still pricey. You can purchase these at their store www.store.brandsworld.com if you live in Asia:

CHINESE PRODUCTS WITH BIRD'S NEST
You often see bird's nest as an ingredient in sheet masks - My Beauty Diary and My Scheming has them. You can purchase the My Beauty Diary Bird's Nest Mask at Yesstyle.com and at Walmart.com. You can purchase the My Scheming Bird's Nest Collagen Mask at Yesstyle.com as well. Watsons has their own bird's nest skincare line, more information on their website. Also Bio-Essence has their own Bird's Nest skincare line called the Bird's Nest Nutri Collagen & Whitening series, more information can be found on the bio-essence website. This line is sold at sasa.com. The brand Ginvera is even selling shower- and hair products with bird's nest, more information at ginvera.com. I haven't tried these products personally so I can't share my opinion about it.

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KOREAN PRODUCTS WITH BIRD'S NEST
More and more Korean brands are adding bird's nest to their skincare products' ingredient list. Korean brand It's Skin and The Face Shop have some bird's nest products in their assortment. The It's Skin Prestige Bird's Nest Cream and Prestige Bird's Nest Gel mask can be purchased at w2beauty.com. You can purchase the Bird's Nest sheet masks from The Face Shop at yesstyle.com.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK? WOULD YOU GIVE THESE PRODUCTS A TRY?

source: pictures are taken from the shops that i mentioned in this blogpost.