Korean Beauty Products On eBay

I recently made my first (long overdue) foray into Korean cosmetics in London's China Town*, where I bought eight sheet masks, including one whitening mask and one containing snail slime, with plenty of help from the lovely assistant. I nearly bought a lip tint from 3 Concept Eyes (fans of StyleNanda will know this brand) for £18 when my companion pointed out they were under £10 on eBay.

So I spent the next few evenings trawling eBay and making a Korean cosmetics shopping list, then I finally made my first purchase via iamlove-shop on eBay. They have a huge range of skincare and makeup from brands such as The Face Shop, Tony Moly, Missha (whose BB Cream is reportedly one of the best ones out there FYI), Innisfree and Mizon. I plumped for something I identified as low-risk, a solid perfume stick from Tony Moly called "Bebe Powder". I absolutely love the smell of baby powder, so I reckoned it could almost definitely not go wrong. There's 9g of perfume and I paid $11.58 + $2.50 P&P which adds up to £8.82.

Bebe Powder on the left (image from Kpopheaven.com)

It arrived this morning and I am thrilled! There was a risk I'd find the kawaii bunny packaging tacky, but I think it's rather lovely. It smells so fresh and powdery, plus the main ingredient is shea butter so it is very smooth and not at all drying. It's not a strong scent - I don't think anyone else can smell it unless they hug me or something like that. I like to use it on my wrists and around my ears and neck. I also use it under other perfumes. The order also came with two samples of Tony Moly Aura CC Cream, Intense Care Sleeping Pack (moisturiser?) and Red Appletox Honey Cream.

Other Korean beauty shops include beautynetkorea, pzh888, rubyruby76 and sing-sing-girl.

Here are the next few products I have my eye on - and at those prices, I really have no excuse not to get them!

Top row: Missha The Style Sheer Fluid Blusher in 04 Vivid Coral, 3 Concept Eyes Cream Blusher in Baby Peach, 3 Concept Eyes Lip Marker in Red and Pink.
Bottom row: The Face Shop Pastel Cushion Blusher in Rose Cushion, Skin Food Egg White Pore Foam, Skin Food Brightening Rice Mask

*sorry, don't know the name of the shop but I think it may have been down Newport Court?

Kjaer Weis Cream Blush in Blossoming

Ages ago I posted about a sample set I ordered from the American beauty site Spirit Beauty Lounge. One of the samples I ordered was a cream blush from Kjaer Weis - an organic brand who, at that point, I'd never heard of, but the they seem to be getting more and more coverage, which is great - which actually turned out to be my favourite blush out of the samples I'd ordered. That's not to say I didn't like the other shades (two RMS Beauty Lip 2 Cheeks) but they didn't suit me nearly as well and I also found them a little patchier. I'll swatch them nonetheless.

Blossoming is a warm peachy-pink shade - the kind of blush that suits me best  - in a super creamy formula. The standard blush, i.e. not the sample, comes in a heavy metal compact, and the idea is that you can buy refills instead of repurchasing the whole thing. I love it when brands do this although it does tend to be a practice of high-end brands such as Guerlain, so even the cost of refills does sting. The original is £38 and the refills are £19 at Naturisimo.

Swatched above heavily then blended out. Excuse the goosepimples and the state of my face in the following shots, I took these at about 8am which is really early for me because I'm a student. The advantage is that my deathly pale morning face shows the blush rather well.

 



It's super blendable, even without moisturiser underneath (bad habit) and virtually impossible to over-apply. It's a perfect autumn-winter shade for me and would probably suit 99% of those with pale skin, though I'd skip it if I were darker. There are 4 other shades in the range though, so I think everyone will be able to find one that suits them. A huge thumbs up from me!

Blog I Love: Tinted Red

Tinted Red is a treasure trove of lip (and other) swatches. The day I found it I read every single post on there.

Her lip swatches are excellent. Here, for example, is Guerlain's Orgueil:

Can't recommend it enough!

Rivoli

I finally got round to buying Chanel Rouge Allure in Rivoli at the end of August. I've wanted it ever since my MAC What Joy! was stolen at a party (!) but it seems as if putting items on my (imaginary) wishlist means it takes me far longer to buy them than if I were to just get them on a whim... Anyway, Rivoli is a dark, reddish berry shade, almost totally opaque with a shiny satin finish.

The following photo shows the difference between the bullet colour and the colour on the lips:

The following is an outdoor, sunlit shot (skin looks surprisingly good but I have practically no top lip...)

Lip primer almost definitely required. Not the colour/formula to wear if you are planning on doing a lot of eating or drinking. I don't mind touch-ups, but this berry shade obviously carries quite a high risk of high-impact smearing.

Rivoli has, like most berry lipsticks I imagine, some down sides, but it's such a gorgeous colour that I would recommend it to anyone who likes high-end lipsticks. Maybelline Red Garnet is very similar, and Revlon Red Velvet is similar but sheerer. MAC's Hang Up, Dare You and Dubonnet are all nice deep shades.

Wishlist

Now that we are fully entering fall autumn, most people make little, sometimes subconscious, changes to their beauty or skincare routines.

Here are some things I want to put on my face to celebrate the changing season:

NARS x Guy Bourdin Blush in Day Dream (available November 1st at Selfridges)

& Other Stories Eye Pencil, £6, and Creamy Pearl Eye Colour, £7, both in Challis Gold, www.stories.com

(budget version of NARS Iskandar Eye Paint or Stila's Comex Gold Magnificent Metals Shadow)

Becca Beach Tint in Fig, £20 from Space NK

Bite Beauty High Pigment Lip Pencil in Tart (pictured) and Corvina, from Selfridges (or Sephora, $24)

There are so many things I need-want from Sephora, mostly from Bite, Tarte and Fresh. My Sephora wishlist grows almost daily...

What new makeup are you lusting after for autumn?

"Eve Lom Cleanser" or "Why I no longer wash my face twice a day"

So at the end of September I used up the last of my Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser, an absolutely wonderful foaming gel cleanser (sorry Caroline Hirons, I know foam is naughty) and decided to take a risk and try out a different one.

After a few grim days of using Avene Gentle Gel Cleanser - not very good at removing eye makeup, even worse at keeping skin clean - I made the trip to Space NK to ask for advice. As Space NK ladies are wont to do, she pointed me straight towards Eve Lom's legendary cleanser. I bit the bullet, handed over £55 (!!!) and headed home.

This new routine takes at least twice as long as a cleanse with the Kiehl's gel, not to mention the fact you have to actually use a muslin cloth. I hate the feeling of the balm on my skin, I hate the feeling that I might not have got it all off with the cloth, I hate using a cloth. I hate that it doesn't get all my mascara off. I hate using it so I use it, like, twice every three days. My skin got a little worse over the first few days of using the cleanser but after a go with Origins Clear Improvement Mask everything is looking fine. Not great, but definitely fine. I've only moisturised twice since I started using Eve Lom, mostly because I feel like my skin would get too greasy after using both the balm and a moisturiser as the balm does leave it looking glowy. So basically, my skincare routine has kind of fallen apart. At least the stuff (apparently) works as an exfoliant.

Bottom line, I will be powering on with the Eve Lom because it cost an arm and a leg, I will definitely post about it again once I finish it to give my final opinion, but I suspect I'm about 20 years too young to be using a balm cleanser. My skin is still relatively teenager-y and this formula probably isn't the best fit.

Finally managed to log back in to the blog + new lippies

So for a month or so I've not been able to log in to my blog (Google issues) but I'm back on and I've bought lots of new makeup!

Here are my new lip products:

Top to bottom: Chanel Rouge Allure in Rivoli, YSL Glossy Stain Rebel Nude in 105 Corail Hold Up, Bite Beauty Lush Fruit Lip Gloss in Garnet, MAC Lipstick in Impassioned.

Skincare changes have also been made (more on that later) and I bought a load of Korean sheet masks!! More on those as I try them out.