Long time no blog again XD (is this becoming my standard greeting...) So today I just want to share a quick haul post with you all ^_^
By the way, all pics are taken under yellow lighting!
Most of the products are from Taiwanese drugstore Watson's (屈臣氏) (Another good Taiwanese drugstore will be 康是美 Cosmed if anyone's interested) but I also have a few products from Korea ^_^
Let's start with the products I got from Korea. Took a week-long trip to Seoul last month ^_^ I must say I really enjoyed myself there. The weather was so beautiful (reminded me of Colorado). But I didn't end up buying too much while I was there XD Main reason being there are too many choices/brands that I haven't even heard of O_O (apparently the Korean brands that are popular among the US youtubers/bloggers aren't even that popular/common in Korea... and I didn't even see a single Lioele product while I was there LMAO) and I didn't want to risk buying things I haven't read/heard reviews on LOL. Also the things I did have in mind buying I actually ended up not liking upon swatching/trying on at the store... so that's that XD
Anyway! Enough said, first I got some facial washing sponges from Etude House
They were $1 USD each ($1000 Won). They are SUPER soft and I do love to use it to clean my face (use it to lather up my facial cleanser). However I don't use it everyday cuz I heard anything other than your hands can potentially be too harsh on your face? For me it's true cuz my skin is quite thin and delicate and after using it for 2 weeks straight my skin started to feel quite dry/irritated. But using it every so often is nice ^_^
Next I got a pack of those TonyMoly rice sheet masks. This is actually my last sheet XD I would say I've really been enjoying these but not to the point of loving them. I pampered myself every night while I was in Seoul cuz it's much drier there and it just felt so nice! (I like having my masks chilled in the fridge) I do recommend ^_^
From TonyMoly I also purchased these Crystal Stick Eye Shadow. I got them cuz they were SUPER cheap (I forgot how much.... maybe like $3 USD each??? And they are very well pigmented.
The colors are a bit darker in person. They are super easy to apply and easy to blend. On their own they look great but they do crease by the end of the day... so I will need to use a base underneath this. I haven't tried using these as a base so we'll see.
Last thing I got from Korea is this blush from Etude House
It's called Lovely Cookie Blusher and I got it in #2 Strawberry Choux. Been eying this blush ever since watching this video from 陳佩佩/ newapplearial. It looks so pretty on her, and it doesn't disappoint after seeing it in store ^_^ wasn't expensive either so I picked it up. Really glad I did, I think it's the perfect pink *^_^*
In person the color is brighter. It looks quite subdued under yellow lighting.I don't really use the applicator that comes with it (for hygienic reasons) but it does apply blush pretty well as Arial/ 陳佩佩 mentioned in her video.
That's all I got from Korea XD Hope that wasn't too pathetic??? LOL! Apart from that just a few hair accessories and a couple of shirts that's all lol!
Now moving on the stuff I got from Taiwanese drugstore!
I picked up this Majolica Majorca liquid eyeliner
Errr... I actually purchased this by mistake. I saw a Taiwanese blogger use a brown Majolica Majorca eyeliner and couldn't quite remember which one so I got it. Big mistake. Of course no eyeliner stays on my eyes like MAC liquidlast does. It also doesn't really stay on my lash line either-- it tends to flake off, which is very irritating to my eyes. Ugh. Plus it doesn't apply that evenly either.
Swatch is on the left (the darker brown). See how the color isn't deposited evenly? So this eyeliner is a huge miss for me. I'll try to use it up though... le sigh...
The eyeliner that I intended to get is this one
Eyeliner pencil by Majolica Majorca BR677.
If you guys have been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I'm not a believer of pencil eyeliners. However the Taiwanese blogger 圓圓 I saw only uses this on the middle part of her lower eyeliner, which I thought looks so gorgeous on her-- it gives her eyes such a pretty brightening effect. Check her post here if you're interested ^_^
Swatch. It works well on the middle part of my lower eyeliner (all eyeliners work on my eyes except for the outer corner-- that's the tricky part and the reason why MAC liquidlast triumphs over all). I must say the effect doesn't look quite as nice on me XD reddish brown tend to make my eyes look tired. I will have to play around with it more.
Also got another liquid eyeliner from Kanebo for my lash line. Honestly I have no idea if this is any good. It was the cheapest liquid eyeliner I could find at Watson's *shrugs*
Next I stumbled upon this at 光南 (not Watson's)
I was like... O_O++++++++ The DIY kit for making homemade masks!!! Don't know if you guys recognize it but it looks like the exact same ones Bubbi has =D So excited that I found this! Now I can spare my foundation brush from all the yogurt and the fruits XD Was so cheap too.
There are various colors like blue and purple, but honestly... they don't look as good as the pink one XD
I am running out of both my Laneige Mutli Cleanser AND my Shiseido Pureness foaming cleanser. So when I saw both the Za and Shiseido Perfect Whip are on sale (both only $99 TWD) I couldn't resist picking up both :D after all, I will always need cleansers XD
The biochem (倍優) cleanser (which is a Taiwanese brand) I didn't mean to purchase. But after being attacked by SA and learning it is an amino acid face wash I decided to give it a try. Yep, I got sold after knowing it contains amino acids XD last year I tried an amino acid wash from fancl and it felt so nice, but I didn't purchase it due to the price. Hopefully this wil work out well as a cheaper alternative. A bit wary about how it's gonna turn out since I'm not familiar with the brand, but it seems okay when I tried it on my hands at the store. I did look through the ingredients and everything seems to be in order.
Also purchased this Dr. Wu mandelic acid serum based on newapplearial/陳佩佩's recommendation. She talked about how this really helps eliminate her whiteheads. While I don't have whiteheads, I do have a ton of blackheads XD So I got this hoping it would help.
So far been using this for a week (not everyday). It absolutely does NOT eliminate my blackheads, BUT!! I do feel like it slows down my blackheads production if that makes sense XD In other words, my blackheads don't get so thick and bumpy fast. I will have to use it for a longer, but so far it seems to be working to some extent. This serum is on the more expensive side, $800 TWD.
And... I finally caved and bought the Bourjoirs Healthy Mix foundation XD After seeing Pixiwoo use them in sooo many of their videos, about time right? XD Bubbi also talked about the Healthy Mix foundation in her recent favorites video, but I noticed the ones she like are the Healthy Mix GEL foundation. So they're not the same. However I do prefer this one because when I tried it at Watson's, the coverage is ever so slightly better than the gel one, also it smells better XD however if you're sensitive to smell or just prefer your foundation not fragranted, go for the gel one (I wouldn't say the gel one doesn't smell like anything, it does have a... ingredients kind of scent to it? I don't know I find it a little bit less pleasant than this one)
My shade is in #52 Vanilla. I must say it's a great foundation. In Taiwan it gives me a very dewy finish unlike the semi-matte finish most ppl say. Will have to use it more to do a proper review. It's around $10 or $11 USD?? which is on the pricier side for drugstore foundation (? maybe not so much nowadays) but I think the price is really good for its quality. The texture reminds me a little bit of the NARS sheer glow, but less coverage, and more dewy/glowy. (By the way my very first drugstore foundation!!! So excited XDXDXD)
Last drugstore item-- thermal spring water spray from Avene (雅漾)
Got the travel size cuz it was on sale plus I heard it's good for calming irritated skin. It does offer a very nice cooling sensation (I think it's because it's from aerosol can).
Okay last item of this haul, which is department store product, my very first SK-II product =DD
Got it at the duty-free shop while was waiting for our flight to South Korea. It's the Cellumination Essence-in Foundation. I must say at first I had my eye on the SK-II Facial Treatment Cream Foundation. But upon swatching it I found I wasn't that fond of the texture/finish. And since I was already there I randomly swatched this cream compact foundation and was very pleasantly surprised: the finish looks soooo skin-like and natural that I was immediately sold 囧 Even though in the back of my head a little voice warned me that cream foundations tend to not hold up well on my combination skin, I ignored it XD Thankfully this foundation didn't disappoint me. I found that this foundation held up as good as I could hope for from a cream foundation. I also found that it wears so much better if I don't powder. Whenever I powder on top of this foundation it just slides and cakes later on in the day.
My shade is in #420. The white swirly patters is supposed to contain Pitera which is their patented skincare ingredients. Can't say about the skincare benefits but I do adore this foundation <3 very much <3 Hopefully I will do a more detailed review.
That's all I have! Hope you guys found a couple of items that interest you? =D Off to chill with my Kindle before I go to bed. Night blogger ^_^
