Gmarket Haul #10

Haul 10 from Gmarket Korea!!

Just like Haul #9, this haul was triggered by the awesome Innisfree sale. I love Innisfree a little too much.

I ordered twice & combined both shipping. I actually exceeded the 30 items per cart limit (because of the masks) and had to split my order.

I placed my order on 20 February (thursday), most items reached the warehouse over the weekend. It was dispatched from Gmarket Warehouse on 25 February (tuesday), reached Singapore in the early hours of 26 February, and it was delivered to my doorstep on the 27th. 7 days to my doorstep is pretty impressive!!! (my record was 4 days though!!). Total shipping was about S$30, which is quite okay considering the number of items I got! Most items are mine, some are my sister's and some are my friend's (had to put that out there in case you think I bought all these myself! lol)

Mandatory box shot 

Once again, it came in a box that was wayyyy too big for what it holds!

Barely half full (or half empty, if you're a pessimist, lol)

All the individual parcels from each seller!

 My Innisfree came in 2 boxes because I ordered twice. One was filled to the brim, while the other was half full. 

All items unpacked!

As you can see, without the extra bubble wrap & individual boxes, my items could fit into one of the small Innisfree box and a little more outside. I've mentioned before that I guess that Gmarket does not repack so as to prevent disputes, since they are just the middleman. (although I think now some sellers combine parcels  from different buyers & send to Gmarket..) As long as my items reach my in good condition, I'm alright with it.

Again! I shall start with my Innisfree purchases! NOT all items are mine! But most are... The sale prices were good & I had been waiting for a long time! (I bookmark the shop & check a little too obsessively).

Innisfree Soybean Energy Essence, Innisfree Bija Anti-Trouble Skin

Innisfree Soybean Energy Essence is actually one of the top sellers and there were a lot of good reviews on this product. It is a first care product, meaning it should be the first product to apply in your skincare routine. It was only about 23,000+ won for the 150ml bottle, down from 35,000 won.
I also ordered the bija anti-trouble skin because I loved the facial cleanser [reviewed here] & I was thinking of trying a new toner.


Innisfree It's Real sheet masks

These are the 6 'flavours' I've chosen to try. The Rose, Bija & Royal Jelly ones are one of their latest. I've already tried the rose mask & I love it!! Made my skin so smooth the next day and it smells so good. I bought multiple of each. These were 470 won each. So much cheaper than anything I can get anywhere so I had to stock up!


Innisfree Intensive Ampoule Masks

This was the first time I ever knew of this mask actually. It is a two-step mask and it was almost 5 times the price of the It's Real mask.


Innisfree Eco Quick Dry Multi Coat, Eco Base Coat & Eco Nail Color Pro

I love Innisfree nail products. They are really pocket friendly & the formula is good too. Easy to apply & some are one-coaters! I also got a multi-coat & base coat to try.


Innisfree Daphne Blossom Perfumed Diffuser

These were 50% off & at 11,000 won, it is a pretty good deal. It is a room diffuser. I've yet to try it, but I will open it this week!

Innisfree Jeju Cedar Wood Hand Cream, Jeju Sugar Berry Hand cream

These are 30ml each & they were soooo much cheaper than in SG stores. The SG store retails them for $6, which I personally think is still a reasonable price and it is also good that you can smell them before purchasing. I wanted to buy them online before smelling but thank goodness I didn't! Some smelled really weird to me!!


Innisfree Make up Lip Brush, Melting Lip Balm in #2, Glossy Lip Lacquer in #3, Color Glow Lips in #2 & #6

I haven't tried much Innisfree makeup products but I like their lip products. Color Glow #6 is the one that Yoona wore on the ad and it was (is?) so popular!


Innisfree Bija Anti-trouble Spot Essence W

This was about 9,500 Won after discount. Pretty good price for what it is meant for!


Innisfree Olive Real Oil Mist, Jeju Sudachi Soothing Mask

I love my facial mists! I wanted to order the Green Tea mist but that was in an aerosol bottle so I thought I'll give this a try.


Moving on from my Innisfree haul!


Earrings from Rinda Rinda (린다린다)

I needed some 925 silver earrings that I could wear on a daily basis as mine were getting old & gross. The cheap ones from Forever21 or Lovisa kinda get old easily & I wanted one that will last longer. Lovisa sells 925 silver earrings but those were $20!! & so I turned to Gmarket. These are all mostly <$10.


Earrings from Su & Su (수앤수)

All of these are also <$10 & they are all quite well made!


Banila Co Eye Love Deep Brown Eye Pencil

Sis wanted this because it had good reviews. Banila Co was very generous with their samples!
(if you didn't realise, Innisfree didn't give any samples again, despite a big order. But the sale prices were good enough)


Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint

Again, not mine. Etude House does not ship to Singapore (probably because they have stores here). I had to get these from another seller. The price was somehow cheaper than the official Etude House minishop, but thank goodness the manufacturing date was alright!


W Magazine (January 2014)

Just because.
Lol. This came in that huge thick yellow bubble wrap envelope & inside, the magazine was ALSO wrapped with 3 more layers of bubble wrap!! The seller also gave me the cover that I wanted (I left them a memo with my first & second choice). The edge was actually slightly crumpled (probably even before it was wrapped) but it was alright... Beware of buying magazines from Gmarket too because magazines actually weigh a lot! I would advise you to order only if you have a lot of other small light items that can split the shipping fee.. or unless you don't mind the shipping fee.



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That's all! I'm overall really happy with how fast & efficient Gmarket still is. Their customer service also seemed to have improved a bit. I sent 2 inquiries & they were answered well (i.e. they understood what I was asking & gave me what I wanted to know).

If you have any questions regarding Gmarket Global (Korea), feel free to leave me a comment anytime! I'll be happy to help :)

Day & Night Time Skincare Routine

Hi all!

Here's my current day & night time skincare routine. I've been using the same products for some time because they have kept my skin in a good condition so far. Most of the products I am currently using are from Innisfree. I find that their products are affordable & work really well for me.

1. Innisfree Bija - Anti-Trouble Facial Foam
This is my second tube. I bought my first in Korea and I loved it so much that I bought another when Innisfree opened in Singapore. One tube really has a lot of product and my first tube actually lasted 6 months! I use it twice daily. I was tempted to try another facial foam from another Innisfree line, but hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it right? I highly recommend this even if you have normal skin!

2. Etude House - Wonder Pore Freshner
For those who are unfamiliar, this is a toner. This is also my second 500ml bottle! It is an inexpensive product that does what it claims. This is the only Etude House skincare product that I've ever tried. My only complain is the big difference between the retail price in Korea and Singapore. In Korea, it is only 15,000 won (even cheaper during sales) but it retails for >$30 in Singapore!

3. Biore - UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence (SPF50+ PA+++)
I currently have 3 sunscreen products but this is the one I reach for the most often. It is so lightweight & easy to apply. I also do not feel like I have anything on my face. It is also SPF50 & PA+++! It retails for $18.90 in Singapore but I got this in Malaysia at a discounted price of $10!

4. Innisfree - Green Tea Pure Cream
My favourite moisturiser ever! I've gone through 3 tubs and just started on my 4th tub. Now I only use it in the morning. It absorbs really quickly into my skin, which I really like because I'm usually in a hurry in the morning. It is lightweight and spreads on really easily and makes it even easier to apply my sunscreen on moisturised skin.

1. Innisfree - Green Tea Pure Cleansing Water
This is a recent purchase and I have been enjoying it. I needed a less heavy-duty cleanser to wash of light makeup or sunscreen during the mid-day/evenings when I get home from a day out. Using my usual oil makeup cleanser is a bit too much sometimes. I used to use the Biore Milk Cleanser but I ran out of those. This really cleanse my skin well and I've seen significant results. I will review this soon.

2. Innisfree - Green Tea Mineral Mist
If I do wash my face mid-day or in the evenings when I get home, I'll spray on this mist to keep my skin moisturised. Yes, I'm a bit crazy about moisturising these days because like I've said before, after reading many interviews and articles, I'm convinced that good skin = moisturised skin. Not just for acne or dry skin, but it can also help prevent wrinkles in future.

1. Innisfree - Bija Anti-trouble Facial Foam

2. Etude House - Wonder Pore Freshner

3. Innisfree - Green Tea Seed Serum
I love the Innisfree Green Tea line and this is also one of their star products. It smells good (like the rest of the Green Tea line) and it gets absorbed into my skin really easily, especially on those days I use my silicone face pad to exfoliate my skin. My skin became a lot softer & smoother after I started using this. I already have a second bottle as backup!

4. Innisfree - The Green Tea Seed Cream
This is the 100ml special xmas version. I finished a 50ml before this and I decided to repurchase. This is a slightly heavier than the usual 50ml plastic tub. The consistency is thicker than the Green Tea Pure Cream. I feel that it is more moisturising and more rich than the pure cream, but I still like the pure cream for being more lightweight and watery, if that makes sense.

5. Burt's Bees - Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream
My fave cuticle care product. When my cuticles look dry, I use this and it usually looks a lot better the next day. It seems small but a little goes a long way and I can't seem to ever finish mine. It also smells good. I highly recommend this if you are looking for a nail care product! This costs S$9 at Sephora but it is worth it!

6. Innisfree - Eco Science Eye Cream
My first ever eye cream! I bought this when it was on sale. To be honest I have yet to see any significant results on my eyes but I guess eye creams are more meant to be for prevention than cure. This is lightweight and the pump works well to dispense a small amount each time.

7. Crazy Rumours - Pink Grapefruit Juice 100% Natural Lip Balm
One of my favourite lip balms I've ever tried! I hardly use lip balms in Singapore but when I go to cold countries, they are my must-haves! My lips get dry really easily and I have to apply it religiously when I go overseas. I bought this because it is pink grapefruit!!! I mean, I bought this because my lips are a bit dry lately. I like this because it doesn't feel so sticky on my lips and they have worked well in keeping my lips from cracking. I will try more flavours from Crazy Rumours in future!

8.  Innisfree - Jeju Gardenia Hand Cream
This is actually just one of the hand creams I am using right now. I've sniffed all the "flavours" available at the Innisfree store and I like this the most! It smells nice & keeps my hands moisturised. Highly recommended!

1. Daiso Silicone Face pad
This is my 2nd silicone face pad. I bought them from Daiso for only $2. Cheap, but they work well in exfoliating. I could feel that my skin is smoother when I rinse my face. I also find that my skin absorbs my serum faster after I exfoliate my skin. I use this 2/3 times a week. Cheap but it does what it is supposed to do!

2. Innisfree Capsule Masks
My first non-sheet masks! Each capsule is good for 2-3 uses but sometimes I find that I can get 4 uses. It really depends on how much you apply each time. I buy those that are meant to be used overnight because it is just more convenient to be able to go to sleep & just wash it off the next day!

3. Innisfree It's Real Sheet Masks
One of my favourite sheet masks brand. They always smell good and the scent doesn't smell very artificial. I've ever opened a random brand of mask I got free & it had a strong chemical smell that put me off and I just didn't feel like putting it on my face. Sheet masks are good to keep your skin moisturised! I use them 2-3 times weekly too (although I've been forgetting to use it these days)

4. My Beauty Diary Sheet Masks
This brand used to be a lot more popular when the sheet masks trend took off! This is a Taiwan brand. And while many other people have moved on to other brands, I still use this because it is affordable and it is easy to apply. Some masks have way too many cuts but this is just right. They have changed the sheet mask recently & it has a lot more cuts & is also paraben-free now.

Close up of my silicone face pad

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That's all!

Review: Innisfree Eco Nail Remover

This review is for a product that I've bought recently & it is already a favourite of mine.

Innisfree Eco Nail Remover claims to be "The nail color remover that quickly and gently removes even the darkest shades of nail color." I bought this at $4 for 100ml. 

I've only used this a couple of times but I really like it. I like that it does not have a strong acetone smell. It smells like a orange-"flavoured" car air freshener. Yes. That's how I would describe it. It reminds me of a car air freshener that my dad used to use. I looked at the ingredients list & indeed, it smells like what it should be.

I googled what is citrus unshiu oil and found that citrus unshiu is a citrus species of Japanese origins, kind of like a mandarin orange. It is also known as Satsuma Orange. The oil does not irritate our skin. I don't really know the effect of this oil in a remover. But I think that it is the what that masks the strong smell of acetone? Sometimes the smell of nail polish removers can be a bit choking and pungent and the smell lingers a bit where I've just used it. But that wasn't the case when I use this, which is quite nice. Of course, I still try to ensure ventilation. 

It is an effective nail polish remover. I used it to remove my Illamasqua speckled nail varnish which has black glitters and surprisingly this Innisfree remover removed almost all of the glitters easily. I also didn't feel that it was very drying on my cuticles. 

I'm not usually that picky with nail polish removers. As long as it removes the nail polish and doesn't damage my nails, I'm okay. I've only ever tried Sally Hansens and Silky Girl. I like Silky Girl because the opening of the bottle is small and I can easily pour out the amount I need. I really dislike Sally Hansen's remover because the opening of the bottle is so big and it is so troublesome to ensure that you don't pour out too much. I bought this not knowing how the opening it is like, but thankfully it has a small opening.

For those who are considering buying this from overseas, the packaging is quite secure. It is the kind that you have to push & twist open. It took me some time to open it for the first time -sheepish-...

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Overall, it is a good product. I recommend it. It smells good, does what it should, and is still pocket-friendly.

2014 New Year's Resolution

Happy New Year! It is already 2PM on 1 Jan 2014 in Singapore but some people in the world have yet to countdown. Well, things here in 2014.... are still the same! Lol. Anyway, thought I'll pen down my New Year's resolution this year:

1. Exercise more
2. Blog more here
3. Be more decisive

Yeah. Let's just leave it at those 3 for now because at least I know I will actually try to make those happen. 

Have a wonderful New Year's Day! 

Quick Review: OPI Avoplex High Intensity Hand & Nail Cream

Hi all! Just here to do a quick review about OPI Avoplex High Intensity Hand & Nail Cream today!

I got this as a gift from my friend but I've only started to use this recently. I love hand creams but I don't use them very religiously because Singapore's air is definitely NOT dry. lol. I started to use this because my hands were getting really dry from sitting under the aircon all day and they started to look really dry & old (!!). I always forget to use hand cream so I decided to put this by my bedside so that I'll remember to use it. I wasn't really having high expectations and I wasn't really expecting to see much effect until after a long term use. It was only until one day when I happened to look at my hands while I was typing and I noticed that my hands looked A  LOT better!! And they feel really smooth too. And that was after only using this for slightly more than a week.

I've also mentioned before that my nails became really weak after using a Holika Holika nail polish (sorry HH, I love your bb cream but the nail polish really made my nails horrible). My nails became really weak and it is those kind which you can... bend? that sounds really gross but I hope someone can relate to that. My nails broke easily but then, I thought that was inevitable because of my long nails (actually my nails aren't that long...). But now that I think of it, I think these problems only came after using that HH nail polish... ):
After using this OPI hand & nail cream, I realised my nails are also a lot stronger & harder! They look a lot healthier too. I was only expecting the cream to moisturise my skin, but it helped my nails too. I never really believed how a cream can help nails get stronger but now I'm proven wrong. I've also grown my nails out slightly longer than usual for my xmas manicure and my nails still did not break.

I personally don't really love the scent, but it isn't unpleasant. I use just a big pea size amount every night before I sleep. I can't use it during the day because I wash my hands really often and it is kinda a waste. But I find that just using it at night already helps my hands & nails a lot. I was actually trying to finish this tube up so that I can move on to other hand creams but now I find myself hoping that I won't run out of this!

I definitely recommend this hand & nail cream. It worked wonders for me. I read that it is also an award winning product. I actually never really cared about what awards a product has won because I've used a lot of great products that haven't won any awards anyway.

If you have any favourite hand & nail care products, do leave a comment & recommend them to me! :)

Haul: Beauty Blender, The Konjac Sponge Company, Sleek Makeup

 So we ordered from Luxola again because they had a 35% flash sale some time ago. My sis & I got a few things we've always wanted to try.

Sis convinced me to share a Pro Double Blenders from Beauty Blender with her. We have both read & heard a lot of good reviews on this product. I don't own a lot of makeup brushes and some days I use my fingers to apply my BB cream or liquid foundation. So I thought I'll probably use this often if this really works like everyone claim it does! I've seen (or read) people using this for foundation, concealer, and blush. I think its pretty multi-functional so it is good if you're just starting to try out makup tools and don't wanna buy all kinds of brushes for all kinds of applications. I'm just concerned about having to clean & store it well. I'm also wondering what's the lifespan of one! Beautyblender is also latex free, non-allergenic and odour free. 

Next, we each got one Konjac Sponge Puff with French Green Clay from The Konjac Sponge Company. Konjac sponges have been around for a while but I never got around to trying one because I don't know which brand is good! Are they all the same?? I like finding new cleansing products/tools to try out. I held back on getting this because the original price seem a little too much for something that is supposed to only last 2/3 months. But the reviews were all really good so I decided to try it out myself!! They have a small variety of sponges and I decided to get this French Green Clay version because it seemed like what I would need.

& lastly, I got myself the Face Form in Fair from Sleek Makeup!

I actually really like the packaging. It is really slim & great for travel. Moreover, its a 3-in-1 product so that makes it really handy!

I actually never owned any bronzer/contour/highlighting product before this and so I thought this is a good chance (& price) to try them out. I've read reviews saying that the contouring powder looks natural on the skin and doesn't make you look orange or muddy or just simply bronzer-gone-wrong -- which are my biggest concern. I also really love the blush.

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That's all for my mini haul!

lol.

Traffic Sources

Lol. I get it. I shall do more reviews on other brands as well!