Thursday, May 12, 2016

Massive Haul from Korea

I just got back from a 6 days trip to Seoul, South Korea and thought of blogging my haul from there. Just to record down the stuff that I have and to review which are good buys and ought to be repurchased.

Here goes:



As we  all know, Korea is famous for its skin care, cosmetics and plastic surgeries. As a beauty junkie, I could not resist getting some of those stuff.

I bought tons of masks, skincare, cosmetics, body products, etc.

Let me try to name the items that you see in the photo above from top left, row by row.

The 3 tins in a box are from Seatree, which is a brand that produces steam cream - similar to Steam Cream from Japan. These are Donkey Milk cream which the SA recommended for my boy. He was having some rashes on his face due to the dry and cold weather in Korea. The cream did work and his skin got better.

Next are some Collagen Eye Masks from Etude House, miscellaneous face masks from Olive Young, hair mask, packs of masks from Nature Republic (NR), Skinfood, hand masks, face masks from Seatree.

On the second row: Aloe Vera Gel from NR, lip masks from The Face Shop, more face masks from various places including innisfree.

On the third row: cherry blossom hair mists from The Face Shop, Aloe Mist from NR, It's Raining Men shower gel from Lush, Clean It Zero cleansing balm from Banila Co., Iope Cushion Foundation, Innisfree facial foam, face mists from innisfree and Banila Co., some hand creams.

On the final row: Whoosh shower jelly from Lush, Skinfood Black Sugar Masks, innisfree Super Volcanic Pore Clay Masks, The Face Shop Sunblock for face (which has a real nifty application method), a nail polish from Skinfood, Bubblegum lip scrub from Lush and a hair oil.

Phew! That was a long list.

Moving on...the cosmetics that I got were quite minimal. In fact, I was a little regretful that I did not buy more since the prices there are so much cheaper compared to Singapore. For example, a lip item from Etude House costs $10 in Korea but is selling for $17.90 in Singapore. That's almost double the price!

Anyway, I am happy with my purchases.



From top left, clock-wise: innisfree Cushion Base, Etude House Liquid Lips, EH Rosy Tint Lips (love the flowery packaging), Seatree eyeshadow, Clio eyeline, Banila Co. brush, NR brush, EH Color My Brows brow mascara, EH Play 101 pencils, innisfree Shadow Pencil, Banila Co. Kiss Collector Lip Crayon, Kiss Collector Luster lipstick, The Secret of Whoo lip balm set, innisfree Long Wear Cushion and a innisfree single shadow.

I wished I had gotten more eye products - I am an eyeliner junkie, I think I have more than 20 in my stash which is crazy. I also did not get any mascaras as I still had a couple of unopened ones. Mascaras also do not have long shelf life which I am afraid will be useless if I bought too many back.

Other than the cheaper prices there, some of the shops do have sale on certain items so you can get further discounts. Like the Banila Co. Lip Crayons, they were on a 30% discount. As a tourist, I was also entitled to tax refund if I purchase above 30,000 won in a single receipt from any store with the tax refund logo.

Not forgetting Myeongdong - the place which is famous for its cosmetics and skin care stores - they really are generous with the freebies and samples that they give out.









Below are all the freebies and samples that I got.
















@_@

Masks, skin care, even wipes and a couple of lip tints. Since there are so many of these, I have given out quite a few as souvenirs to my friends and family.

I must highlight that only the stores in Myeongdong practise this - to give out samples and freebies. I bought some stuff from innisfree in Lotte World but there was no sample given. Oh well!

I have used some of the items and would like to blog about about them in the near future.

Thanks for reading, if there is really anyone reading..Happy hump day!


Sunday, May 3, 2015

Mini Haul from Hong Kong

I finally had the chance to visit Hong Kong for a short trip. My first visit to Hong Kong was when I was 12 years old, which is like 20 years ago!

Anyway, it was a short but nice trip. I wished I had planned it for longer though. Perhaps a 6 days 5 nights trip instead of a 4 days 3 nights trip. There just wasn't enough time to see and try everything.

As you all know, Hong Kong is famous for its shopping and food. There were lots of cosmetics shops like Sasa, Colormix, Bonjour everywhere. I didn't really spend a lot time in there, I basically just went in to find the things I want, bought them and left.

Here's my mini haul:


Top row: Guerlain Meteorites, Innisfree Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask
Bottom row: Nextbeau Piggy face masks, Bifesta Sebum Cleansing Water, 3CE Long Wear Eye Crayon & Creamy Waterproof Eyeliner, Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Cleansing Foam, Koji Curler, Heroine Make Mascara
 
The things that I got in Colormix were definitely cheaper than Singapore. The Bifesta cleansing water retails for about $17 in SG while in HK it only costs about $10? I got 2 bottles and have opened one to use. It's my go-to cleansing water as it's really efficient. The Heroine Make mascara was about $14 in HK while in SG it's $19-21. I could have gotten more things but I really didn't have time to browse through the shops.

The Koji curler was also very affordable at only $7 for one. Initially I wanted to get the Shu Uemura curler which is about $17, as compared to $30 in SG but I chose Koji in the end as it's so much cheaper and as good to use.

I saw a big Innisfree shop in Mongkok and went in for a look thinking that the prices might be cheaper than Singapore. However, after buying these, I realized the prices are almost the same as Singapore. >.<


The Cleansing Foam is quite nice, it lathers up with lots of foam and smells lovely. After cleansing, my face doesn't become oily as fast.

The Super Volcanic Pore Clay mask is superb as well. My face felt thoroughly clean after using it, looks brighter and felt fresher.

My purchases entitled me to a free cardholder with a Korean star on it, whom I do not recognize. Haha...

Next up, 3 Concept Eyes haul from Stylenanda in Silvercord, Tsim Sha Tsui. Initially I wanted to get a Lip Marker for a friend but I ended up with a couple of items for myself as well. The SA told me that she would give me a sample of their BB cream if I purchase 3 items.


I got the Creamy Waterproof Eyeliner in #2 Zorro. It's a pearlescent black as described in the website. Basically it's black with some fine glitter. I love this kind of eyeliner. Makes it standout than the usual black.

The second eye product I got was the Long Wear Eye Crayon in #Fallen, a soft cocoa brown. I haven't tried it yet but the SA said that it was a long lasting and easily blendable shadow. She was using the same shade on her eyes and it looked gorgeous.

The BB cream sample I got is the Back to Baby with SPF35 PA++. I've used it once and the coverage is medium to low. It also doesn't make my face oily like some BB creams do.

As for the Guerlain Meterorites, I have read so much about it on blogs now I finally got one for myself! This is actually purchased from the airport duty free. It's a duo package and each tub contains 8g of product. I've yet to open this but will do soon to try it out!

Well, that's all for my mini haul. If I have time, I'll also blog on my Hong Kong trip in detail.
Hope you enjoyed this short post.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Etude House Etoinette


The Etude House Etoinette Collection is too lovely to pass up and I caved in today after collecting the new 
member card. Also got the Happy Fresh Foam in White Clay for oily skin on top of the Etoinette goodies. The bottom pedicure set is a free gift.


Be My Love Crystal Shine Lips Special Set came with a mini comb that is oh-so-cute and at the same price of one single Crystal Shine Lips. I chose the pink hue, code number PPK001.


The lipstick is embossed with some pretty details. The colour is a soft pink which is not really opaque with one swipe. However, it is really shiny without the usual shimmer.



I also got the Tear Eye Liner Set, in Set #02. It's a set of Charming Tear Liner in pink and Deep Brown Liner. These liquid liners are supposedly waterproof and smudgeproof. 


Swatches from top: Crystal Shine Lip, Pink Tear Eye Liner and Deep Brown Liner.


As I collected my new member card, they also included 3 samples inside - a piece of Aloe Mask, samples of Precious Mineral BB Cream & Collagen Moistfull Cream.



 It's a good haul indeed! Thanks for reading. 

Sunday, July 15, 2012

NOTD Water Marbling

I was looking through Instagram and saw lots of water marbling nails that are oh-so-pretty. Thought I would try it out myself after looking at some Youtube tutorials.

Left hand

Right hand
It was quite difficult to do, taking a total of 2 hours for me to complete the whole thing. What I found out was that cheap nail polishes are not suitable for this technique. It just won't spread when dropped into the water. The nail polishes that worked were OPI and China Glaze.

I quite like the end result and may attempt more of this technique in future :) Thanks for reading!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Friday Photo Meme - What's In Your Bag Edition

Photo meme inspired by Yumeko!
1. Cellphone
LOL, I didn't have a camera with me, so I used my laptop's webcam to take a photo of my cellphone. It's an iphone with a Hello Kitty cover which is also a mirror. You can see the reflection in kitty's face!

2. Purse
It's a Gucci purse I bought for myself last Christmas during the year end sale. Love!

3. Cards in my purse
These are some of my most essential cards in my wallet: a Kinokuniya privilege card, Watsons member card,  Clarins and 2 Starbucks cards because I'm a coffee addict like that!

4. Makeup
Chanel Luminous Matte Powder and a MAC lipstick. I didn't carry out my makeup bag as was with light makeup today, it also reduces the weight of my bag significantly!

5. Random stuff
Watsons wet wipes, a Hello Kitty pen and a Bath & Body Works Island Margarita hand gel that I nicked from my bf. It was given to him by his colleague and he doesn't use such 'girly' stuff..that's what he said.

I guess by the time I post this up, it is already Saturday! Oh well, to keep up with the theme created by Yumeko, shall keep it as a Friday Photo Meme.

Thanks for dropping by!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Essence Colour & Go - Nude It!

Looks similar to my skin tone on first coat. A little darker upon second coat. The picture below is 2 coats without any top coat. Lovely :)


Monday, April 23, 2012

Essence Haul

Items I got from Essence: blush brush at S$6, Kajal pencil in Teddy and a nail polish in Nude It!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

EOTD - KATE Deep Eyes PU-1

Finally, a long weekend! It's Good Friday, have blessed one, everyone! I had some time to do my eye make up before going out today and thought of using the KATE Deep Eyes palette that I found in my stash.


It is basically a pink-purple palette.



Swatches
Sorry the swatches are too light. I'll try to swatch it again and update with a better photo.

The application instruction at the back of the packaging
   
EOTD
Hmm...the shadows are too light to be noticeable in the photo but this is my EOTD, after adding some liner and mascara.

Stuff used
Skin 79 BB Cream, MAC Eyeliner in Engraved, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Fairy Drops Mascara, KATE & Etude House blusher.

Thanks for dropping by!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Eyeliners Swatches - Elianto & elf

Here are the swatches of the forgotten eyeliners mentioned in the previous post. Unfortunately one of it is a 'FAIL'. 

elf Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in black (left) and Liquid Eyeliner in Midnight (right)


Elianto StayOn Eyeliner Pen in black (middle)



As you can see, the elf Waterproof Eyeliner Pen is already faded and watery. I guess I have kept it unopened for too long and the ink has vaporized? LOL 


Elianto pen tip VS. elf Liquid eyeliner brush

 I've also swatched some other liquid/pen eyeliner that I have to see how they look against each other.

From top: Kate super sharp liner, essence eyeliner pen, Etude House Oh m'Eye Line, Elianto, elf & FAIL elf :p

 All eyeliners are in black except for Etude House in 02 (I think it's dark grey) and elf Liquid Eyeliner in Midnight (a dark navy blue).

Taken in flash, sorry if it's blurry as I used my iphone for the pics

A photo of the rest of the eyeliners in case you are interested on how they look like. Essence is a Eurpoean brand that just entered into Singapore's market and it's highly recommended for super affordable cosmetics. The eyeliner pen that I got was only S$5.40. I was so tempted to get the nail polishes as well but I managed to refrain myself =)

Thanks for reading!

Unused Stuff I Found in My Stash!

I was tidying up my make up and beauty stash when I discovered I have tons of unused stuff!

Lookie what I found!
I cannot believe that I have actually hauled so much stuff that I can forget about them. Definitely need to put a stop to buying cosmetics till I have used up my current stash.

Stash includes MAC Technakohl Liner in Auto-De-Blu, Etude House Multi Eye Shadow Brush, MAC Viva Glam Cyndi, Canmake Four Shiny Eyes in 09,

Canmake Gokunobi Mascara, elf Liquid Eyeliner, Waterproof Eyeliner Pen, Daiso Eyeshadow pallette, Kate deep eyes in PU-1, etc.

Guess I'll have to explore these stuff in the coming weeks. I'll show you some swatches in the next post =)

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Bangkok Trip


Some photos from my Bangkok trip in January, it was fun and memorable. Hope you will enjoy the photos ^_^

Arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport
Baiyoke Sky Hotel lobby
The famous Erawan shrine
Such a beautiful shrine at Talay Bangkok (al-fresco dining with live band)



Christmas Deco at Talay Bangkok
View from 82nd floor of the hotel

Random photo of the buffet breakfast
Walking towards Chatuchak market!

Local ice lollies with different flavours like Coke, grape, apple, etc.
Only managed to take photos of the pets for sale there, was too busy shopping!
Chicks as pets?

 
Guess what are these? At first glance, I thought the right platter was soft-shell crab but actually it's cockroaches!

They're fried bugs.





Taking the river taxi like a boss =)
View of a temple from the river taxi
Flower market - Pak Klong Talad
Spot the star fishcake

Taking the river taxi like a local was one experience which I like. It was cheap to travel by boat, cost me about 15 bhat per person. We took the river taxi just to get to the flower market, they sell tonnes of flowers at very cheap prices. 5 stalks of roses only cost 25 bhat!



 Another shopping paradise - Siam Square.
We love Siam Square

Some of our haul

Naraya bags at MBK shopping mall.



It's been 6 years since my last visit to Bangkok in 2006 and it's really great to be back there. It's hot, dusty and crowded but I like it all the same!