Gmarket Order No. 2

I have received 50,000 kwon gift certificate for writing reviews, thank you Gmarket!

I didn't buy as much as I did last time for this order, but it's still quite a bit of stuff. The shipping from Korea is faster this time I think, then again for some reasons Etude House was a little slow on processing my order (it wasn't slow last time at all), but over all it got here fairly quickly.

I wanted to get more clothes, but the coat was kind of expensive (it's good price for a coat, but a lot of money is still a lot of money) so I decided to stop right here, lots of red this time doesn't it?

Tony Moly sent me so many gifts and samples! It made me really happy! Korean cosmetic brands are very generous, I didn't even buy that many things from them. Although the face roller thing was broken when it got to me, I don't mind though, since it's free and it never occurred to me that I'd ever get a face roller. I wanted to try Tony Moly this time because I heard everything is organic from there, and it's somewhat a top brand in Korean skincare...but it doesn't seem to very popular outside Korea though. I'll post up my thoughts on the products after I tried them a little more.

Rest of the items are for my future cosplay uses, the Etude House brightner, false lashes, and the yellow boots. The yellow boots is very close to what I need, and it's very cheap so I'm not so scared about altering it...just hope that it's comfortable to wear though. And the samples from VOV...I have no idea what they are! There is no bits of English to be found on the tiny little package! Maybe I'll do some research later on, or just try it out myself and see what it does, haha.

Gmarket has so many things to buy...but not everything is for oversea orders. I guess it's really depending on the sellers, maybe more sellers will be willing to ship oversea in the future.

Etude House Product Reviews

Happy Tea Time Cleansing Foam - Milk Tea

Where to buy: http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=162334606
Price: $2.64 (shipping varies)
Direction: Wet face and dispense small amount onto hands. Lather and apply foam to face gently massaging entire area. Wash and rinse thoroughly with warm water.
General Rating: It's okay
Scent: I wouldn't say it really smells like milk tea, but the smell is decent.
Related Products: It also comes in lemon tea, peach tea, green tea, and aloe tea.
Amount used: Once
I have only used this product once, so I can only provide my first impression of this product. The texture is really creamy, even after mixing with water and producing foam. I do feel clean after using this face wash, it makes my face feel really soft, but at the same time it also makes my skin feel a bit squeaky, which is the only thing I can't get used to, and that's the reason why I'm planning to give or sell this face wash to someone else. In general, it's a very average face wash, it does clean your face like a face wash suppose to, I'm not very impressed with it, or maybe it's because I only used it once. It does come in with other "flavors" perhaps different flavor will provide with you different effects.

BB Magic Cream 30 SPF/PA++

Where to buy: http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=157638513
Price: $9.66 (shipping varies)
Direction: After facial cleansing, apply small amount of product to hands and spread evenly across the facial surface.
General Rating: Pretty good
Scent: It smells kind of like department store make up, but this could be just me.
Amount used: About 3-4 times a week, for 2-3 weeks.
This is the first BB cream I ever used, I like it. At first I thought the coverage was mediocre while I was applying it, it looked a bit light, but after when it sets on my face, the coverage is actually not bad. The coverage is somewhat build-able, but the cream is generally fairly thin, and the tone is pretty light. The texture is dewy, and I would suggest to put some light mineral powder over so your face won't look as shiny, but it doesn't make my face oily on its own. (I have oily skin) It also evens out my skin tone very well, and at the same time, I think it also improves my skin, slightly reduced my acne and made my face smother, but I'm not exactly sure if the effect is really coming from this BB cream, different users can do comparisons. I would definitely recommend this BB cream, it has done nothing but good to my skin, and I use it as an outdoor moisturizer + sunscreen.

 

Dear Darling Gloss - 06

Where to buy: Can't find the link to my shade anymore...but you may find the same lip gloss in their store in different color.
Price: $4.39 (shipping varies)
Direction: N/A (we all know what it does. )
General Rating: Pretty good
Scent: It smells like candy, also a bit strong while applying.
Amount used: 2-3 times
I don't wear lip gloss regularly, I wear them when I feel like to. The shade I chose was somewhat pinkish nude, but since it's a lip gloss, it's not very pigmented, so it's kind of hard to see the color on your lips (especially when you have dark lip color). I like it because it smells great, and it makes my lips looked really smooth, and it's not too oily. What I don't like about it is quite a bit of glitter in there, I was never really a fan of glitter. I think what ultimately attracted me to buying it is the packaging, Etude House's products always look so cute and delicate!


I haven't used enough products to give my opinion on Etude House entirely yet, but from what I've seen so far is that the products are generally good, and also very affordable, well...the original price anyway. Buying from Gmarket, you are buying for their original price, but the only shipping option is EMS, which is fast but expensive. Etude House do have an English Site, their prices are higher and limited products, but they have flat rate shipping which cost about $6-$8, I think in the end...you pay right about the same price. I would suggest to buy from Gmarket instead because if you buy from their official shop, you will get awesome free gifts from them (also free domestic shipping) when you purchase 5,500 KRW or up which is about $4 or so.I got a travel set, I haven't tried any of the products that's in there yet, I'll take them with me next time I'm going to Anime Convention weekends. And do research a little bit about the products before you buy them, since everything is in Korean on Gmarket, and even if you go to their English sites...they really don't provide much  descriptions for their products, so go around on Google and look for some reviews (like this one!)...unless you can tell exactly what it does from the item image.

Happy Shopping!

Gmarket Order No. 1

It's my first Gmarket order! Quite a lot of stuff for my first order though...haha. I was really thinking that I should just order everything I want at once because the shipping is really harsh for each order. I kind of wish that there are more shipping options, then again...the items came very fast. Gmarket actually returned quite a lot of the shipping fee back to me, since their estimate cost went way over the actual amount.

I ordered from mostly Etude House and Alice Enjoy, the other items are from varies stores that I don't remember the names of. Even though there is an Etude House US online shop, but they have very limited of products, and the prices are slightly more expensive. I finally received my first BB cream, I will post a review on it a little later on.

I bought a lot of dress this time, I'm trying to get into a new style...heh, kind of. Alice Enjoy is a very elegant and classy brand, they have the vintage style from possibly 50s. I think this brand can be qualified to be a "modern" Lolita brand, because the style in general is very conservative and beautiful. I will definitely order from them more later on when they have new items come in.

 Sorry, most of the pictures were taken by my old camera, and my apartment has really bad lighting in general. (and the first dress is suppose to be a maroon color) And I think I messed up the color for the boots, I wanted them in black, I'm thinking about selling them, let me know if you are interested in.

Gmarket definitely made shopping in Korea a lot easier for me, I'll definitely place another order from them.

I might make a post to show the original pictures of the items from the shops later on.

IQQU Acne Serum

I have been suffering from enormous amount of acne lately, I have tried the drugstore spot treatments I already own (I use Neutrogena and Clean & Clear), and some of the home remedies I have read about online. These treatments usually work for me, but this time is probably my worst case of acne I've had in years. I decided to turn to Michelle Phan's acne serum from her new beauty line IQQU.

Where to buy: IQQU Beauty International
Price: $33 (I live in USA, the shipping was $8)
Direction: Apply sufficient amount of this treatment evening over clean skin until fully absorbed.
General Rating: It works
Scent: Okay, unless you do not like tea-tree-oil-ish smell.
Related Products: more on IQQU Beauty International
Amount used: been using it semi-consistently for about a week.
THIS PRODUCT WORKS. I think that's all you really need to know. I wouldn't call it a miracle cream, it does take some to see the effect. It does help reducing acne, it doesn't make it disappear right away, but the result after applying is significant. It usually takes a couple of hours to see the difference, to see a clear result would be the next day when you wake up. This product is pretty expensive, but general spot treatments from drugstores cost about $6-$10, and the size of the IQQU bottle is about twice the size of average spot treatment tubes, so it's actually not bad. It definitely worth what it cost, it helped me when no other serums or remedies can, it is definitely an outstanding product. The only problem I really have with it is the dispenser of the bottle, sometimes it takes a couple of pumps to get the serum out, and sometimes the pump will make the serum fly and splat onto something else (across my bathroom), and it usually leaks a bit after pumping, have to be very careful with it. You can always just twist the bottle open to get the serum without using the pump.

Of course, just because there is an effective product around, doesn't mean it will stop acne from spawning upon your face (sometimes somewhere else). I have been living very unhealthily lately, my sleeping schedule is messed up, so is my digestion. I don't know if it has been proven or not, but I think digestion does contribute to activeness of acne, because if your body is not properly...circulated (let's put it in a less gross way), leaving all the gunk in your body, it will try to find some other ways to get out...you get the picture? I believe this is one of the cause of my acne...because after I fixed my digestion problem (took some pills, lots of yogurt and orange juice...for some reasons orange helps my digestion, I don't know about other people) the bumps start to disappear from my forehead...but it did not make all the acne fade away due to...other reasons.

I have been follow Michelle Phan (Ricebunny) through her blog and videos for about almost two years or so now. I loved her tutorials (especially the DIYs) and reviews, I have learned a lot from her in makeup and skin care, she is a awesome guru and a wonderful girl, I believe that she can make a difference in the world.

Avon Moisture Therapy Skin Bump Minimizer

Where to buy: Currently Discontinued (I bought it from eBay)
Price: N/A (I paid $3.99 + $3.00 shipping on eBay)
Direction: Moisturize 2-3 times a day
General Rating: Pretty good
Scent: Not great, but tolerable.
Related Products: N/A
Amount used: Just start using it, about two weeks.
This is probably the best product and the most recent product I have tried, this is also a pretty popular KP treatment. It reduces KP, and minimize the existing bumps, make it generally less noticible. This kind of similar to KP duty, that it is not a very good moisturizer because the lotion stays on the top layer of your skin. I do not know the reason why this product has been discontinued, and I think it is not the first time that it has been taken down. You may be able to find this product on eBay or other sites that still have the stock of it, and be sure to compare prices around.

Aromatherapy Stress Relief Body Lotion- Tranquil Mint

Where to buy: Bath & Body Works
Price: $12-$13 (travel size $5)
Direction: Moisturize once a day
General Rating: It’s somewhat works.
Scent: Strong, some people might not like it.
Related Products: N/A
Amount used: I only used the travel size kind.
This is actually from the same post I read where I found the Vaseline Lotion, the direction the author suggested was once a day, and about 98% of her KP was gone after a week or two. Again, my result was not as great as hers, its effect for me was close to the same as the Vaseline Lotion, right around 15-25% of my KP was gone (actually more like staying the same, just keeping it from growing more back). I didn't use it for long, since I only bought the travel size just to try it, I tried it for about two weeks. This is generally a pretty good lotion, it is kind of watery as well, I think it may be a better treatment to something else (it might be able to keep the mosquito away), but for KP it's not the best.
Oh, smell it before you buy it.

Vaseline Total Moisture Conditioning Body Lotion

Where to buy: CVS, drugstore.com (should be able to find it in local drugstores)
Price: $4-$5
Direction: Moisturize 2 times a day (unofficial)
General Rating: Pretty good
Scent: Fairly nice
Related Products: N/A
Amount used: I went through the tube, I am almost done with the bottle.
I found this lotion in the Keratosis Pilaris Community forum, I don't remember who posted about it but she claims that she used it two times a day for two week about 90% of her KP was gone, I decided that I am definitely going to try this lotion. I did what she said to apply twice a day, after 2 weeks...I wouldn't say 90% of my KP is gone, more about 20-30%, which is still good, but same thing as KP duty, it really doesn't improve anymore after the first couple of time using it, and my KP stays about the same after a few of months. The lotion itself is kind of watery, but very moisturizing. This is probably the cheapest lotion that can help reduce KP, it is pretty effective.