Gorgeous nails in 5 steps!

Recently, I bought some nail stickers from Gmarket. Boy, have the technology improved by leaps and bounds! When I say nail stickers, I do not mean those small stick on designs you paste onto your nails as nail art. Those are passe. Now, these stickers come in various forms: one big rectangular sheet, nail tips, or 10 individual pieces to paste directly onto nails. At first look, they may look daunting and difficult to use. But I promise you, you’ll definitely say “easy peasy” when you actually use them!

You will require base coat, nail scissors, emery board, top coat for this ‘project’.

You can purchase the nail stickers from here. I bought it at S$3.00 but they often have sales at S$1.50 per piece (base price).

Shopping list for Korea

8 April: I’m feeling a little bored at work, and since I can’t concentrate on doing any official work, might as well plan my shopping list for Korea next Friday. Yea, I’m going to Korea next Friday! Woot!

1. Innisfree skincare
   
   I have been using its highly-raved Green Tea Seed serum for the past 1 month, and I think it moisturizes pretty well. I mean, I use this serum in place of the usual moisturizer and my skin has been kept in balance. It smells pretty manly, very fresh and green, and absorbs quickly into skin without being sticky. Thumbs up! I also like its Volcanic Clay mask which I have reviewed previously.
2. Mise en Scene haircare
   
   I actually came across this brand when I was shopping at the Korean grocery store one day. My sister thought it was pretty cheap (S$7.80) for a 550ml bottle of shampoo. So we got the Pearl Shining Moisture shampoo and it was good! I liked how it lathered pretty well and left my hair soft, even without the use of conditioner! I’m not sure if my hair shined more than normal, but the colour of the shampoo was a soft, muted gold. Very nice! My colleague uses this brand too (we’re both siao about K-pop) and has ‘tompang-ed’ me to get her 2 bottles of conditioner for damaged hair.

25 April: But we all know shopping lists are just LISTS. When we step into the shops, other factors influence our decision making process and tadah, we leave the shop with more than what we had in mind. And so, I left Korea with the following:

1. 10 cleansers (3 from Etude House, 4 from Holika Holika, 3 from Innisfree) – In my defense, 2 of the cleansers from Etude House were on 1-for-1 offer, the 3rd from Etude House came in a set with cleansing oil, the 4 from Holika Holika came in a set, and 2 of the cleansers from Innisfree were also on offer, and the 3rd cleanser was for Mom.
2. 4 peeling gels (The Face Shop) – all Mom’s!!!
3. 5 tubs of loose powders (3 from The Face Shop, 1 from It’s Skin, 1 from The Saem) – 2 of the TFS’ loose powders are Mom’s and the rest…. er…. mine.
4. 2 sleeping masks with whitening effects (The Face Shop) – all Mom’s too
5. 1 makeup remover (cleansing oil from Etude House, mentioned above)
6. 3 tubs of deep cleansing masks (Innisfree) – Cos we can’t get Innisfree here, and they don’t ship overseas on Gmarket Korea! I had to stock up… right?
7. 2 bottles of nail polish removers (Holika Holika) – hey… only W2000 a bottle… that’s cheap!
8. 4 tubes of eye cream (3 from It’s Skin, 1 from Innisfree) – the 3 from It’s Skin were in a set that gave us free masks.
9. 7 bottles of serums (6 from It’s Skin, 1 from Innisfree) – the 6 bottles of serums from It’s Skin are from its popular line called Power 10, and they had different types to suit different needs. So basically 3of the 6 bottles are for Mom. The Innisfree serum I got is the Green Tea Seed serum which I introduced above.
10. 4 lipbalms (Innisfree)
11. 3 tubs of sunscreen powder (Holika Holika) – Just something really interesting and we have 3 ladies in the house!

HSA is now monitoring Japanese-made cosmetics because of the nuclear problem, so I foresee that Korean brands are going to benefit from it. Korean cosmetics are really cheap and they’re usually at the forefront of cosmetic innovation. If you’re going to Korea, or have friends/relatives going, why not ‘tompang’ them? The prices of the products are usually 1/3 of what retail prices are in Singapore, for the same product.

I also got loads of other samples that came free with my purchases…  Tip: if you’re traveling outside Seoul, I think it’s better to purchase your stuff in other cities because you get much more samples there than in Seoul. I didn’t use much cash for my purchases, but instead used the card. I dare not check my bank balance now. :X

Etude House lemmings

I walked into Etude House today. For the 3rd time since they opened shop in Singapore. Yeah… I seemed to have a lot of Etude House products but I’ve only ever paid Singapore retail price for them like once. The 2nd time was when I was in Malaysia (love the exchange rate!!) and thereafter, it was Gmarket Korea (love the online prices!). I passed by the shop on the way to ION this afternoon and decided to check out the products that I wanted to purchase online last night, but thankfully didn’t cos I had a change of mind for some products. I did purchase a toner from the shop though, only because it was aerosol form and couldn’t be shipped from Korea. So anyway, after spending like 20 minutes in the shop, I’ve shortlisted the following items to include in my next Gmarket order.

Petit Bijou body wash 300ml. It smells wonderfully like a baby.

Baking Powder mineral (cleansing) water. Just wanted to test it out and compare with Mandom Cleansing Express.

Pure Joy Cleansing Gel 150ml. It’s a new product that isn’t available in the stores yet, but the toner which I’ve tried feels good.

Pure Joy toner & lotion. I’m getting a little bored with my rosewater toner and need some change. Pure Joy is free from alcohol and other stuff that I don’t usually like in my skincare and it doesn’t stink!

Apricot Stick lipglaze in #6. I bought this as a Christmas present (Tine, have you received it?) but was so tempted to keep it for myself when I received it in my last order. Even more tempted to buy it when I saw it in store again! ^^

Facial packages

With the recent spade of spas and beauty salons closing shop overnight, many people are wary of signing up packages now. Though it may seem enticing and cheaper to sign a package, especially if you foresee yourself going  regularly and saving some money at the end, it really is quite a risk, isn’t  it?

Having said that, I recently committed myself to a 20-session facial package at a beauty salon near my house. It isn’t a big well-known name like Adonis or Citibella, but it has been around for quite some time and my sis did some online research and found that this spa is quite reputable and has got some good reviews. Besides, it was a 10+10 session package and I could share it with my sis. Seeing that it works out to be only $64 per session and I could use some help with my terrible skin, we bit the bullet and signed on the dotted line.

I also have some other packages – gym and nail but I don’t think I’m going to continue with them. The gym and nail salon that I frequent are quite established so I don’t think they will close shop without warning, but the locations are not that accessible for me. That, to me, is pretty important because I just lose momentum after a period of time, and stop frequenting those places.

I like the service at my nail spa but it’s at Holland Village and I often have to drive there cos I’m lazy like that. Parking is a pain in the back there, so I decided to find an alternative nail salon once I’m done with the package. Sad, but until they have another branch closer to home, it’s bye-bye.

3M Nexcare Microfibre cloths

Just a quick one… I was at Watsons the other day and I saw something new! 3M Nexcare has just launched their range of microfiber face & body sponges. I have been wanting to try micro-fibre cloths for a long time now, since I read about them on Vogue forum a couple of years back. However, there isn’t a brand that manufactures such cloths for face, only for other purposes such as kitchen and cars. *sounds a little scary to use such cloths for your face, isn’t it?*

The main selling points of micro-fibre cloths are
• Removes dirt (makeup, oil & grime) cleanly without being harsh to skin
• Gently exfoliates dead skin to unveil smoother & fairer skin
• Absorbs incredibly to produce a luxurious lather yet dries quickly

These 3M cloths and sponges retail for S$6.95 at Watsons. There are also different products for different parts of your body: face glove & face cloth – removes makeup effectively, dual-sided shower towel & dual-sided shower puff – exfoliates and renews skin.

New business idea

Korean and Taiwanese makeup and skincare products have been taking us by storm lately. I’m just wondering if you girls would be interested to purchase these at 10-15% (up to 20%) off retail prices:

Please please please leave me a comment to let me know anyways!

And they say resistance is futile

Indeed… I couldn’t resist spending a couple of tenners on these… def looking forward to receiving them soon!

Metholatum Acnes in town

Remember a few months ago, when I was talking about how good the Mentholatum Acnes products were, and how expensive they are in Singapore (because Metholatum Singapore were not bringing them in yet)?

Guess what? They’re now available in Singapore, with most products exclusive to Watson’s! I just love Watson’s, don’t you girls? What’s more is that the products are not expensive at all, with most ranging from S$2.90 to $9.90! Did I just hear someone shout “wow, that’s affordable!”??

Here are the items available at Watson’s currently: (picture credits to Sasa.com)

Review: Everyday Minerals blush

Item Reviewed: Everyday Minerals blush

Price/pack size: US$2.50/mini (US$8 for a big tub)

Available at: Everyday Minerals

Ingredients:
*Apple: Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Zinc Oxide (CI 77947), Iron Oxide  (CI 77491), Ultramarines (CI 77007).
*Best friends: Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Zinc Oxide (CI 77947), Iron Oxide (CI 77491),
*Nick Nack: Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Zinc Oxide (CI 77947), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492), Manganese Violet (CI 77742); Ultramarines (CI 77007).

Description: Versatile, pure and playful, silky-smooth with endless variety – must love color! 4 styles for every complexion

Review: I managed to score these 3 blushes for cheap on the local EDM-LJ community. No sifters and those jars don’t seem to be the original ones, but that’s fine by me. Beats paying more and waiting for the samples to arrive from US. *Funny thing that EDM does not have samples for blushes, so we’re forced to get the minis, even if we only want to try the colours*

As you can see from the swatch, Apple is the darkest on me – I’ll have to be extremely light handed with it, lest I have a baboon’s ass on my cheeks. Nick Nack appears to be a light pink, a natural flush on my cheeks. Best Friends is great for a natural no-makeup look, being a little peachy on me. Apple & Best Friends have the tendency to turn orange if you buff too much.

Among the three shades, I prefer Nick Nack as it’s easy to use and match. No worries about going overboard as well. One thing to note is that EDM blushes do not break me out, so that’s a plus!

Rating: 4/5 (-1 for not being able to test samples)

Would I buy again: Yes, in other colours!!

my loots

ok, though i said the benefit sale wasn’t worth going, i still managed to rake up $97 at the register, just because i didn’t want to leave empty handed.

Prices as mentioned in an earlier post (clockwise from top):
Betty bag – $10
Non Fiction foundation – $23
Show Off shimmer powder – $10
Fantail brush – $12
Lipstick – $15 each

Prices (clockwise from top left):
P&J pouch – $10
Paris Hilton Just Me for Men 50ml- $17 each Price @ StrawberryNet
Morgan Sweet Paradise 60ml- $23 Price @ StrawberryNet
Morgan Love De Toi Glamstar (Ltd Edition) 35ml – $18 Price @ StrawberryNet
Adolfo Dominguez Aqua Fresca 120ml – $25
P&J Protective Dual Foundation -$20
P&J Nail Polish in #12 – $8
Antonio Banderas Blue Seduction for Women 50ml – $16
Lipstick in #19 – $10
Lipstick in #56 – $12

Total damage: $186 at the Prestige sale.