Korea Trip (& Hauls)

안녕하세요!
 
just less than a week ago, i came back from the land of beauty products (and procedures), KOREA~
 
now, just a disclaimer that LT and i are both korean fanatics
we are k-pop addicts and k-cosmetic addicts too!
 
though we went to korea together, LT came back to Singapore first, and i stayed on for another week, hence my lack of reviews *sorry ):
 
this post too, will not be one of a review, but rather to introduce my haul!
*its quite massive so brace yourselves
**including samples too
 
ta-dah! all compiled

 
now im gonna introduce my haul by catergorising them into the different brands they belong to!
 
first up, we have ARITAUM (amore pacific)
amore pacific is actually a huge brand that umbrellas many other smaller brands such as those you can find in any aritaum stores

one of their more popular brand and product is actually the IOPE Bio Essence Intensive Conditioning Formula
of which i bought 2 bottles of, and got the equivalent of 1 full product of eye cream (in samples)
i started using this product prior to my korea trip and it had worked wonders for me then!
so though it was expensive at 60,000원 per bottle, i bought it

 
and amore pacific's most popular brand, LANEIGE
i love and swear (my skincare routine) to death by laneige!
however, because i was running out of money by the time i got to buying laneige products, i only bought what i needed urgently
which was the skin refiner
couldnt resist getting a sleeping pack in the end too, because it was only 25,000원, whereas in Singapore it costs SGD45 per tub

 
my samples from laneige and iope

 

next, we have INNISFREE

come to think of it i didnt buy as much as i thought i had did from innisfree
probably because they were one of the more expensive brands around compared to their (similar price range) counterparts like nature republic, etude house etc

but innisfree is one of my top 2 favouritest korean brands!
love their natural and environmental aspect with regards to packaging and products
and innisfree products always smell so niceeeee

my favouritest product out of all!
and probably one of my top buys of the trip too!
the creamy tint lipstick! ♥

innisfree samples

 

besides innisfree, my other favouritest korean brand would be NATURE REPUBLIC 

i have previously declared my love for nature republic's eyeliner
and guess what, i went back and bought 25 more :O
i couldnt resist!
they were having like a massive summer sale and my eyeliners were all on 50% discount!
loads of brown this time (:

nature republic samples

 

got the jang geunsuk standee and passport cover because one of the outlets we went to, we sort of befriended the sales assistant there and talked to them so much they gave us a lot of freebies heh heh

 

SKINFOOD

skinfood believes in feeding your skin the right sort of nutrients

which gives rise to their sometimes weird but always delicious products made from real food items

 

i only bought recommended items which i had researched on prior to the trip

the peach sake pore serum is THE BOMB btw

samples

LT's favourite, ETUDE HOUSE

found out during the trip that etude house is actually better known for their cosmetics rather than skincare
but too late, i already threw my money into the wonderpore edition -.-

and im usually not a nail polish person (because i bite them since i was 4 yrs old so they're short and ugly) but i couldnt resist etude house's nail polishes!!
whats more, they were on a 1+1 offer!
so thats 50% discount again! haha

samples
plus i bought the cup for 2,000원
plus a shinee poster which is not included here

HOLIKA HOLIKA
again, only bought products that were recommended and researched on prior
this aqua petit jelly bb cream is SUPER RAVED ABOUT in youtube omg i am not kidding

but why so stingy with samples?!

THE SAEM
bought the first essence in busan because im a weak being and i just cant bring myself to rejecting people (especially pleading sales assistants)
their concealer is also recommended (and on 50% discount!) which was why i bought it

and so the pleading sales assistant gave me a bunch of GD stuff too

 
THE FACE SHOP
right after LT left korea, their summer sale started -.-
by that time i had already bought 4 (out of the 7) items you see below
but the lipsticks were from a 1+1 promotion done by suzy

wanted to buy a lot more from the face shop but the outlets i went to were out of EXO merchandises (or left with members i dont fancy) so i didnt buy as much as i had initially planned to

samples

 

TONY MOLY

tony moly had a 30% sale but i only bought this recommended item

my korean friend said that they have the best gel eyeliners ever because Kim Yuna (skater) cried so much on national tv while wearing tony moly's gel eyeliner but they did not budge at all! hahaha

but i find it a little inconvenient to apply, with a brush and all, so i dropped the idea

ITS SKIN
again, another case of failing to rejecting pleading sales assistant so i got this
its apparently good for soothing troubled skin? cant remember already

 
APIEU
relatively new brand in the market
went to apieu on their monthsary day (every 25th of the month) so there was 25% discount on everything
b2st is the spokesperson for apieu and i was really just aiming to get b2st merchandises haha

mission accomplished!
though they didnt have my yoseob ㅠㅠ

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL
already did a review on these in my lipsticks post
so this is just re-stocking

 

 

and thats about it!

sorry i have been really busy ever since i got back from my holidays due to work so i cant review as much as LT

but i will!

in a matter of time, i definitely will (:

LIPSTICKS

 

i am very much a lipstick person

love the lasting effect, and the fact that lipsticks often give better coverage and are fuss-free

 

i hate too much shine and glitter so lipglosses are a big no-no
im no longer 15 yknow, i need grown up stuff now

worst still, they are sticky and it really annoys me if i am constantly reminded that my lips are smeared with stuff

furthermore, glitters are an absolute nightmare to remove, so one wrong swipe and you're gonna sparkle the wrong way!
 

without further ado, i present my current lipstick collection :*
 

L to R: MAC Viva Glam 1; Too Cool For School Hot Girl Lip Sticker in Tangerine, Real Red, Lady Salmon; Banila Co. De La Rouge RG05; Holika Holika Face 2 Change Red Queen 

here's the swatches

ok i know..
i am very obviously a fan of red lipsticks
heck, its even my favourite colour!
but i like my final lip colour to be somewhat an orangey sort of brighter red, not a dullish red bcos that would make me look older

since my work requires me to don full lasting makeup, i decided to throw all focus to my red lips bcos its obvious and bright, and i will stop receiving 'reminders' about how plain my face is etc
this method is actually quite effective!
bcos the rest of my face is super plain, with just eyeliner, a little mascara, usually no blush

i know many people fear wearing too much of red on the lips bcos it might come off as tacky
but red lips are actually a classic! its a fad that will never die (at least by my rules!)
since red lipsticks are pretty strong in terms of colour, i usually just dab a little on if i dont want to carry such an obvious look-at-my-lips look

the trick to choosing the right red is to look at your skin tone first
since i am of a warm tone, i tend to pick reds which are more suited for warmer tones, which means no blueish undertone
the good thing about being of a warm skin tone is that i can pull off brighter reds!
bcos the contrast isnt that big and my lips wont look as overwhelming than if cool-toned people attempt the same look
but its okay to pick a cool colour too, bcos you can always blend it in with a warm colour and achieve a new exquisite shade of red!

also, i (repeatedly) said i hate glitter/shiny lipsticks
so most of my sticks are matte
if i feel a need to add some shine to my lips, i do so by dabbing lipbalm/lipcare over so that i can benefit from its moisturing effects too!
yes, the thing about lipsticks though, is that it can get pretty drying for your lips, so always remember to moisturise your lips before application!



Mac Viva Glam 1

got this stick about 2 years ago?
IT SERIOUSLY LASTED ME A LONG TIME
til now im still not done with it!
if im not wrong, this cost me SGD$28, as with all other MAC lipsticks
i bought this on impulse after getting chided at work for 'not wearing any makeup' just bcos my face wasnt popping (with colours) enough
so i was all like 'enough is enough. you want popping? i'll give you popping!' and marched to a MAC store, asked for the reddest matte lipstick and paid up

BUT! this is now my holy grail lipstick and i cannot. live. without. it.
its provides me with such a long lasting effect, even when i eat whole meals/drink multiple times it just wont budge! <3
seriously $28 is super worth it considering how well it has worked for me

this red is a little too dark for my liking though, more maroonish than red
so i always blend with my orange lipstick, or dab it lightly whenever i need some colour on my lips
blended or dabbed, it comes out beautifully, i promise



Too Cool For School Hot Girl Lip Stickers

i bought these babies in korea last year at 7,000원 per pop
THEY ARE REALLY WORTH YOUR 7,000원

i love all 3 colours almost equally
the colours produced are all vivid and vibrant and makes my lips looks so good i wanna smooch myself heh
however, the lasting effect isnt as good as my MAC one
they can withstand at most 5hrs tops?
definitely reapplication is needed after meals or drinks
and coverage is just average, not as thick as you would expect
but then again at 7bucks, what more can you ask for really
im just really thankful and embracing such lovely colours

i use the tangerine one the most under my MAC for work to create a orangey-red finish
i usually do this by applying lipcare, then smother on my tcfs tangerine all over til my lips are entirely orange, then dab my MAC over it
and walah! perfect orangey-red colour!
currently im on my 2nd stick bcos i finished my first one and got a friend (who happened to be going to korea!) to get one more for me

my red one i use as a substitute for my MAC on days where i dont need my lipstick to last that long
this is also my 2nd one but only bcos i lost my first stick );
it still looks brand new bcos recently i've been trying to finish up my MAC one so that i can get a new holy grail
2 years is a long time to be using the same lipstick :O

and my salmon one i use on days where i dont feel like having red lips, but still need some natural looking lip colour because i have naturally dark lips so i need to brighten them up to a more normal shade



Banila Co. De La Rouge

honestly i havent not started on this product so i cant say anything for now
but the sales assistant in banila co seoul was raving about how good this product works (they all do anw)
so lets see how true this is when i start on it SOON (:
im thinking that this would make an awesome substitute for my MAC too bcos it is brighter than my MAC



Holika Holika Face 2 Change Red Queen

omg this product was such a letdown
it isnt even true to its colour
while it looks like an orangey-red in product, it actually turned out very pinkish,  sort of like fuschia, in real life upon application
its the exact colour i hate

furthermore, this product is FAR from a lipstick
it actually does more as a gloss bcos of the high water content and texture
its a product i have been trying to use under my other sticks just so that i can actually finish it (seems impossibly seriously)
but if one day i should ever get irritated with it, im all ready to chuck it

this was actually the first lipstick i bought during my major trip to korea last year
but turned out to be the worst ):


so that was all for my lipstick collection at the moment
im heading to korea again in a few weeks time and can already foresee myself getting more sticks (right ones this time i hope) to try out in the name of beauty

when it comes to lipsticks, so far my experience is that, what you pay for is really worth what you get
my most expensive stick, the MAC one, is seriously awesome
i really cant live without it and will recommend it to everyone out there looking for lipsticks to try
it is good to invest in a solid lipstick which will bring you through tough and smooth times
getting cheaper alternatives to play up different looks and shades is fun too, but nothing beats the consistency that you can trust a solid lipstick to deliver

and one trick about making your lip colour last is definitely BLOTTING
always blot your lips after each application so that the colour can be absorbed and stays longer

however, i heard that applying too much colours to your lips can cause them to turn purple?
IS THIS TRUE?!