A Few Things From the Japanese Market!

Every time my family and I visit our relatives in Southern California, we always go to Mitsuwa and Marukai in Torrance. I picked up two things that I first saw at Mitsuwa, but bought at Marukai.

Juju Cosmetics Whitening Mist Peach Flavor

I saw this at Mitsuwa while looking around in the cosmetic/skincare section. They had a tester so I sprayed some on my hand. Later on I touched my hand and it was SO soft!!! We went to Marukai after where I bought it for $13.98. Mitsuwa sold it for $13.99. I don't really use facial mists, but I bought this one to use all over my body and for when I feel like I need extra moisture. The mist is very strong, but fine. I put it as far as my arm can go so I don't get showered in it. 

Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Dipropylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Methylparaben, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid, Fragrance, Xanthan Gum, Placental Protein, Sodium Hyaluronate, Prunus Persica (Peach) Leaf Extract

Ugh, I just saw it had Placenta. I hope it's not from a pig!!!

Kracie Purenavi Facial Cleansing Serum Unfoaming

I also saw this at Mitsuwa first. I was looking for a new cleansing oil to try. I wanted to try this one because it is fragrance, paraben, and colorant free. It also does not have mineral oil which I think my skin reacts badly to. I totally forgot if I was looking at the cleansing oil or cleansing serum at Mitsuwa, but when I went to Marukai they only had the cleansing serum. I got it at Marukai for $12.98.

Ingredients: Water, Dipropylene Glycol, PEG-20 Glyceryl Isostearate, PEG-20 Glyceryl Triisostearate, Alcohol, Glycerin, PEG-45 Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Citric Acid, Grape (Vitis Vinifera) Seed Oil, Sodium Citrate, Butylene Glycol, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Trisodium Hedta, Lemon (Citrus Medica Limonum) Extract, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract

When I first tried this, it REEKED of alcohol. It didn't help that the first time I tried it was after a night of drinking vodka -__-. The second time I tried it, the alcohol scent wasn't as bad, but it was still there. After, I checked the ingredients and yup alcohol is the fifth ingredient from the top. Other than the alcohol scent, I think it's a good cleansing serum. I use 3 pumps for my face and another for my eyes. I've never tried or used cleansing serums before so I don't know the exact steps, but I apply this with dry hands and a dry face and just rinse off with water. I don't use a cleansing foam after because I feel like this does a good job itself and it doesn't leave any residue behind. After I wash my face with this, it feels clean and bright! I wouldn't purchase this again and I'm afraid to try the cleansing oil in fear of it smelling like alcohol too, but I'll finish this up! 

Lush Forum Special Big Perfume

Ever since I got Big Shampoo from Lush, I've been searching for a perfume with the same scent. Luckily I found out about their Forum Special Perfumes soon after! 

Lush Forum Special Big Perfume

I got it for $39.95 during their Chat Party. Unfortunately it's out of stock now, but it was in stock for about 2 weeks following the release. When I opened up the package I was surprised at how small it was, but it's only  1 fl. oz. (30ml). Hopefully this lasts me till next year when they have the Forum Specials again! 

It leaked a little bit on the way here, but I like how I can smell it just walking by it. It smells exactly like the Big Shampoo! Now I don't have to wait until I use it to get the smell!

I also purchased a body butter tin to house my Big Solid Conditioner, but dumb me didn't check the dimensions. It looks like I'll have to cut it up for it to fit! I also got a sample of Trichomania Shampoo! I gave it to my sister to use because her homemade concoction of baking soda and vinegar wasn't really working.

Mini Face Shop Haul!

Left to right: Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam sample, Lovely ME:EX Angel Skin Makeup Base, & Oil Specialist Brightening Cleansing oil sample

I was looking for a green makeup base to cover the redness on my face. At first I wanted to try the ones Skinfood offers, but the stores in the U.S. don't carry them. I decided to go to The Face Shop since it's nearby. I tried the Radiance Makeup Base on my hand and it was really thick. The sales associate showed me the Lovely ME:EX Angel Skin Makeup Base and it was much more liquid. I got if for $14 and the sales associate gave me two samples. The cleansing foam is the same size as the makeup base!

Lovely ME:EX Angel Skin Makeup Base swatch

Unfortunately the makeup base doesn't cover the redness on my face completely. The redness still shows through even after applying a few layers. I do like how it brightens my cheek area under my eyes (that's where my skin is red). This makeup base turns white, but it's not thick so you can blend it in. I wouldn't purchase this again, but I'll continue to use it.

Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam sample

I've been using this with the cleansing oil sample recently. It's not as thick as the cleansing foam I've been using (Etude House's Happy Tea Time) so it lathers up quickly. It does its job, but I don't like the bar soap smell it has.

Oil Specialist Brightening Cleansing Oil sample

I haven't really used cleansing oils before this except for the Laneige sample I got, but I only tried it once. I tried this out recently when I was traveling. When I first used it, it made my skin feel so soft! I like the floral scent it has. I love how it takes everything off, even my mascara and liquid eyeliner. Even though it's a whole other step, I prefer it to using a cotton pad and makeup remover to remove my eye makeup.

Sadly, I think my skin is reacting badly to it because I got pimples on my forehead and small bumps on my nose within the days of using it. I don't know if it's the mineral oil my skin is reacting to. It makes me sad because I really like this cleansing oil and most other cleansing oils have mineral oil them. I think I'll try this out another time to see if this really breaks me out. 

Laneige Snow BB Soothing Cushion SPF50+ PA+++ No.31 Brown Beige

Laneige Snow BB Soothing Cushion SPF50+ PA+++ No.31 Brown Beige

Finally reviewing this BB cushion I got in November! I purchased it on Gmarket for $27.63 (29,900 won). There are other BB cushions out there, but I bought this one because they had a third shade (the other brands only have 2). 

Description:

"New Concept Cushion-type BB: A new-concept cushion-type BB with five active ingredients for Whitening + Sunscreen + Sweat-proof + Soothing + Makeup contained in the cushion to maximize the refreshing and soothing sensation. Every time you touch it, the air pump in the cushion contains air bubbles for thin and skin-friendly makeup. Also, it is provided in two separate containers to preserve the active ingredients and their functionality. The formulas can be used fresh and safely from start to finish."

"Cushiony Soothing Cushion Puff: The special puff designed to feel the refreshing soothing sensation absorbs moisture less than ordinary puff to deliver the refreshing sensation of moisture to the face and stay clean and sanitary. The formulas apply smoothly without irratation and even a small amount can spread to cover a large area."

This product is gimmicky in my opinion, but I wanted to try it out because I loved the dewy look it gave. Even though it's gimmicky with all of it's claims it's easy to use. I find that I apply this faster than a regular BB cream. One gripe is the cushion. It gets dirty easy and it takes a long time to clean. After a week of using it, I felt like I needed to clean the cushion already. I use Daiso's detergent for my makeup brushes and even though it is pretty strong, I had to wash the cushion 2-3 times for it to be completely clean. This can be a problem for germaphobes. Also, the inside of the compact can get pretty dirty/messy. 

I would say that the shade is close to an NC30, maybe even lighter. The shade is very close to Missha's Perfect Cover BB Cream in No.27. It has beige undertones.

Left: without product Right: with product

Sadly this shade doesn't work for me because my face and neck are different shades. When I was first using it I thought it worked out well because it was sheer, but after finding out that it matches Missha No.27 I stopped using it because Missha No.27 is too light for me right now. 

(Gimmicky) Claims:

-Whitening: "contains White Plus Renew ComplexTM...for bright and clear skin"

-Sunscreen

-Sweat-proof: "High molecules strong against sweat and sebum form a network to form an elastic barrier on the surface of makeup to hold makeup and UV screen for a long time. Also, highly elastic cushion powder holds up the makeup barrier that can easily be collapsed by sweat and sebum for long-lasting makeup even with one layer."

-Soothing

-Makeup Effects: "The spherical powder with similar refraction rate as the skin controls oil absorption and light diffusion to prevent excess shine and creates a natural and clean skin tone with medium coverage."

This product does give me that dewy look which is great everywhere else except for my T-zone! After I apply it, my T-zone looks really oily/greasy so I have to apply powder. Unfortunately it doesn't last long. After 4 hours my face gets greasy/oily. I find that my face gets oily faster using this compared to other products. It does feel nice applying it, like a cool sensation. I also appreciate the high SPF. I can skip that step when using this. I also like how it's sheer. I think that it can be built up to medium coverage.

Overall, I wouldn't buy any more refills for this (this already came with an extra one). I feel like this would be great for the summer because it is light, easy, travel friendly, and has high SPF, but I can't use it over the summer because that's when my skin gets darker! The only time I can use it is over the winter when my skin lightens up, but by then I prefer a thicker BB cream/foundation for more moisture. 

Omi Solanoveil Protect Face Milk SPF50+ PA+++

Woo finally able to blog again! I have so many things to post! First off is a sunscreen that I got back in August. I'm almost done with it so now I can review it!

Omi Solanoveil Protect Face Milk SPF50+ PA+++

I purchased this back in August from adambeauty. I bought it for $10.50 and paid $2 for shipping. It's a bit small at 40ml, but I'm at month 4 and there's a little bit left (with using it mostly everyday). The good thing about it being small is that it is travel friendly. 

This sunscreen contains hyaluronic acid and arbutin. It does not contain alcohol.

Claims:

- "light diffusing effect to cover skin imperfections"

- sweat & sebum resistant

- makeup base

It's one of those shake, milky-type sunscreens. I have to work with it fast because it's so liquidy, but it doesn't bother me that much. It kind of smells like gasoline (I don't know, I'm weird -__-), but I don't even notice the smell anymore. It has a very slick feel because of the cyclopentasiloxane. 

You can't really tell in the photo, but it does make my skin whiter. I don't mind it because I put my foundation/BB cream over it anyway. I think that it did whiten my skin over time simply due to the SPF content. To me, it wasn't that sebum and sweat resistant because my skin started to become oily after 4-5 hours and the initial application leaves an oily finish. Again I don't mind because I'm going to put a powder over everything anyway. 

I would repurchase this again because it's cheap and has a high SPF content. I was planning on trying the whitening one, but I saw that one of the ingredients was pig placenta. Yeah, not going to put pig placenta on my face -__-.

Quick Shopping Trip!

Urban Outfitters Structured Crossbody (on sale for $9.99)

Skinfood Nail Vita #RE-106 $3

Lush Big Solid Conditioner $9.25

Picked up a few things recently! I've been looking for a new bag that's smaller, but not tiny and found one at Urban Outfitters in the sale section! I also picked up Lush's Big Solid Conditioner because I love the scent of the shampoo so much! I haven't used it yet because I don't have a container for it! I should have bought the one they have there T_T

Skinfood Nail Vita #RE-106

(Sorry for my crappy nail polish applying skills!)

Lastly I picked up a Skinfood Nail Vita in #RE-106. I saw it before, but didn't get it because I was thinking of waiting till my stampcard was full to get a free one. I went ahead and got it though because I've been wanting that color of nail polish.

I absolutely love the color! It's a deep, almost black purple, that kind of looks brown-ish in some lights. I got my nails done a few weeks ago with a similar color from opi, but I didn't get the name of it so I've been looking for one just like it! It is streaky so I had to apply 3 coats to get it opaque. Also, it's been the second day and it's already chipping! I don't know if it's the actual nail polish or a new top coat I used. I bought Won't Chip from Orly today, so I'll see how it goes.

Gmarket Haul #6

I had some problems with this Gmarket order. Finally coming around to posting it two months after I put in the order! First the haul:

It arrived in the usual 3 days. The estimated weight and shipping cost was 3.00kg and $44.07. The actual weight was 2.68kg. Shipping per item was $8.81.

Mizon Toners in Chamomile and Bulgarian Rose

9,900 won (~$9.15) + 2,500 won shipping fee

Link

This was the other rose toner I was talking about in the Meishoku Organic Rose post. I got it because it was a rose toner and it was really cheap. I haven't used it because I have all the other rose toners to go through. I did take a whiff and I can barely smell any rose scent. It is very subtle. It contains 210ml.

Laneige Snow BB Soothing Cushion SPF50 PA+++ in No.31 Brown Beige

29,900 won (~$27.63) + 2,500 won shipping fee

Out of Stock

I first saw BB cushions while looking at some Gmarket hauls online. I wanted to try it because of the dewy look it gave. I was thinking of getting the Hera one, but the shades they had were too light for my complexion. When I saw that Laneige had a third shade (the other brands only had two), I immediately searched Gmarket to find one for sale. I was able to find one seller who had the shade and could ship worldwide, but unfortunately it is out of stock now.

I am going to make a separate post reviewing it, but what I can say now is that it matches very closely to Missha's Perfect Cover BB Cream No.27. It is also very sheer and does not have any oil control. 

The seller also gave me a bunch of samples!

Black Faux Leather Jacket
41,000 won (~$38.71)
Shop: Migunstyle (Link)

I've been wanting a black leather jacket and looked around Gmarket for one. I found other shops/sellers with the same jacket, but Migunstyle had the cheapest price. I got a size 66/Medium. It looks big in the picture, but I prefer it loose. I think that if I got a Small it would have been tight around the shoulders. I can layer underneath this jacket and zip it up all the way without it being too tight. Overall, it is exactly what I was looking for. The only con to it is that one of the zippered pockets in the front is small so I have to dig my hand into there and my hand gets caught against the zipper. Ouch >_<.

Black Circle Skirt

6,900 won (~$6.38)

Shop: Migunstyle (Link)

I was looking for a simple black circle skirt as well. Other shops/sellers had black circle skirts, but I got it at the same shop because it was cheap and I was getting the jacket and other items as well. It is an okay skirt. I would say it's good for $6.38. 

So onto the issues with this order:

1) It took a long time to ship out

All of the orders I've made with Gmarket before have shipped out a week after I made the order. This order shipped out two weeks after I made the order. 10 days after I made the order, I sent an inquiry asking why it was taking so long. They replied back the same day apologizing and saying they "would contact the person in charge of the matter". After 3 days my order finally shipped. A few days later I saw in the News section that they were having delayed worldwide shipping orders because they were having an increase of them. I just made another order recently so now I know to keep that in mind.

2) Out of stock item and wrong item sent from the shop "Migunstyle"

One of the items I ordered (this grey Beatles tee) became out of stock so I was refunded the money. When I received my package, I received the wrong skirt from the same shop/seller. I looked at their shop and they weren't even selling the skirt -__-. First, I sent an inquiry to the seller, but they replied back in Korean. I put it through google translate and it said something about sending it back for a refund. 

Next, I sent an inquiry to the Gmarket customer service. They said to email them attachments of pictures of the wrong item sent. After a week of not hearing from them, I sent another inquiry and they answered 3 days later. That same day I got refunded for the skirt. Overall, it took a long time to finally get it resolved. It is frustrating emailing back and forth and waiting for their answer. I'm just glad it's over with, but now I'm weary of buying from that shop now that I've had issues with it.

Other Gmarket news:

YOU CAN COMBINE CASH BALANCE AND PAYPAL! WHOOO!

I saw in the News section that you can use multiple payment methods. On the order I just made, I used my cash balance and paypal. 

Here is a screenshot of the payment page of the order I just made:

This is pretty good news considering that we couldn't use our cash balance unless it covered the entire order. 

So overall, not a smooth Gmarket order. Hopefully I won't have any problems with my next one!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I got a pearl drink before the Thanksgiving meal -__-. So full...