Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review July, August, and September 2017 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k17)

... Okay, this is a bit insane but I kept three months worth of empties. I was lazy okay (￣□￣) I couldn't fit everything into one photo so I don't have a photo of everything.

I got a helix piercing at the beginning of September because I had wanted one for the longest time. Since I have long hair and the jewellery is tiny, very few people have noticed it.

In this time period, I also went to Kcon and saw EXO perform live! I'm still a bit in denial, it was a dream come trueeeee. I was a bit bummed that my current bias D.O (Do Kyungsoo) didn't end up coming but I saw all the other members! Lay wasn't going to come anyway so I wasn't too disappointed at not seeing him.

I also won a Peripera Airy Ink Velvet lip tint in #4 Beautiful Coral Velvet from the beauty panel at Kcon (*adds more lip products to my collection*). 

BTS keeps on rising. I was slightly disappointed with DNA but it grew on me quickly. I love every song on the album and I have a deep appreciation of the hidden track 'Sea'. 'Mic Drop' and 'Dimple (Illegal)' are my favourite tracks. Of course, being Jimin biased, I love 'Serendipity' as well. Will stop fangirling now and move onto my unbelieveable three months worth of empties.

My friends and I also booked a holiday for next year. I'll be gone for most of February 2018! Super excited.

Samples

Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review November 2016 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k16)

Can't believe this month is nearly over! I had an exciting and eventful November... I went out a lot. This month, I met Wengie in person. She was a lot skinnier in person than I thought she would be. Although I'm not a religious viewer of her Youtube channel and I don't read her blog, I thought she was very cool in person. She was very nice and offered me hugs:)

I also watched Chihayafuru part 1 and 2 of the live action. In the Christmas holidays, I plan to watch the anime to catch me up to speed now that I am interested in the storyline. I want to see if Chihaya eventually gets the Queen title.

Gifts from Lydia and Kevin

At the beginning of June, Lydia just returned from a trip from Japan and Korea. She got me some last minute gifts before she headed off to London. She is currently living there and having fun. Her friend also came to visit from Hawaii which is why she also off loaded some Hawaiian Macadamias to me.

Kevin went to visit Taiwan at the beginning of 2016. Even though I have seen him countless times since then, he has always forgotten to bring me the souvenirs he purchased for me until our graduation day.
 

Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review June 2016 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k16)

I got a bit itchy for new products this month (what is this no buy I put myself on:/) and purchased the Melano CC toner and essence, a Lucky Box, an eyebrow product, and a new cream. In terms of Priceline purchases, I got a face oil and a hydrating toner mist from Swisse.

Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review June 2016 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k16)

I got a bit itchy for new products this month (what is this no buy I put myself on:/) and purchased the Melano CC toner and essence, a Lucky Box, an eyebrow product, and a new cream. In terms of Priceline purchases, I got a face oil and a hydrating toner mist from Swisse.

Massive haul from Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (Etude House, Skinfood, Hada Labo, Nature Republic, 3CE, CLIO, My Scheming, My Beauty Diary, FaceQ, Naruko)

The Australian dollar is terrible at the moment, but I still managed to shop happily on an overseas trip. I truly think I would have been less restrained if the dollar had been better. Here are the things I purchased!

Skincare and haircare part of my haul! Most of this came from Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Combined haul: Nature Republic, Skinfood, Etude House, Innisfree, Banila Co

Some goodies I picked up from a physical store in Sydney last year! These were from three separate trips in August and September last year.

Trip 1

1. Nature Republic 92% Aloe Vera Soothing Gel x 2 (two for $10)
2. Innisfree Soybean Energy Essence x 2 (20c each)
3. Skinfood Premium Lettuce & Cucumber Watery Soothing Pack x2 (20c each)
4. Skinfood Egg White Pore Hard Foam x 1 (20c)

It came in an Aritaum bag!

Skinfood Black Sugar Perfect First Serum + Black Sugar Perfect First Serum Cotton Pad Review

Skinfood's Black Sugar line is one of their best selling lines. I purchased two of these serum and cotton pad sets back in Christmas 2013 and promptly used them up in the first half of 2014. 

This is a first essence meaning you use it straight after cleansing. It's supposed to help your skin absorb your other layers (e.g., serum, essence, cream) better. This formula contains niacinamide as the fifth ingredient for brightening! Alcohol is the third in list, so you may want to be careful if you are sensitive to alcohol.

Front...

...and back.

Testerkorea haul and review #2 (Nature Republic EXO Standees, masks, photobook|| O HUI, Laneige edition)

*Sigh* I actually wrote this on 4th of September and it got deleted! The entire thing. Here is my review again that I managed to salvage as an image that I lovingly retyped -_-

This haul was from a while ago, so these are my thoughts on the old site, before Testerkorea had a total site overhaul in June, 2014. I have not ordered from them since. Unfortunately, my second shopping experience was not as fantastic as my first one, but it was still great service!

Order Timeline

Email for manual order: 11/02/14
Confirmation of order: 12/02/14
Payment sent: 12/02/14
Payment confirmed: 20/02/14
Items shipped: 25/02/14
Arrived: 04/3/14

As you can see, the order process was a pain. It took around a week and a half for everything to be shipped. The package arrived surprisingly quickly through standard shipping though (four working days)!

Oh, so many foam pieces!

Testerkorea review + haul!

So... I've been eyeing items on my wishlist on Testerkorea for awhile. The final push was when they were having a fantastic 30% off sale on a lot of popular brands (Missha, HolikaHolika, It's Skin, Tonymoly, Skinfood, Etude House, Innisfree, The Face Shop, Nature Republic, A'pieu, Too Cool For School, Sum37, The History of Whoo, Sulhwasoo, Ohui) throughout the 6th to the 20th of December, 2013. Best of all, they had the Exo Nature Republic hand creams I've been dying to get!

Background
Testerkorea is a website that sells full-sized and sample sizes of Korean skincare and makeup. Prices are extremely competitive (pretty much market price in Korea) and are given in Korean Won. Of course, you need to pay for shipping in addition to the price of the goods. The website accepts payment via PayPal or Thai Bank Transfer.

New members receive a 10% off coupon to use on any item. There is a membership service for those who spend over a certain amount with them. You will get an additional discount on your items.

My Experience
My first experience with Testerkorea was actually a pretty good one despite a few hiccups.

Skinfood Fruit Juice C (Whitening) Serum Review

Skinfood Fruit Juice C Serum (for Whitening Care)

I purchased this serum in my February skincare haul from Bonjour HK. The Bonjour website is actually quite friendly-- I initially wanted the Skinfood Tomato moisturiser, but my friend in Hong Kong said the line was discontinued in Hong Kong shops (so sad). I purchased this as a substitute because I wanted to try a whitening (brightening) product to lighten the scars on my face.

Let's find out if this baby works!

What they say: 'This skin-brightening essence contains fruit complex extracts with vitamin C and nano-processed vitamin C derivatives to revitalise skin. It also contains arbutin to keep skin looking radiant and vibrant.' (from the English Skinfood website)

Contents: 50ml; the serum is packaged in a half frosted bottle with a pipette dropper

Application: Use after your toner. Squeeze a few drops onto your palms and pat into your face for absorption. Follow it up with your moisturiser.

My Thoughts

Vitamin C is notorious for brightening so I picked this up in a heartbeat. IT SMELLS SO LOVELY; a fresh, citrus smell. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out for me. My face was not visibly brighter even though I used up the bottle very thoroughly everyday and night for around three months straight:( I'm not sure if it was because I only used a drop rather than three drops as others have suggested to cover my face.

The serum is light and non-sticky. It absorbed quite quickly and felt light on my face. I think it did a good job moisturising even though it was not slanted to do such a thing. Ironically, I think my face has actually gotten a shade darker even though I no longer see sunlight during my weekdays and have stopped wearing sunscreen with my 6am- 6pm schedule (so naughty).

Pros:
- smells good
- light weight, non-sticky formula
- cheap (I purchased it $13)

Cons:
- didn't whiten or brighten my skin
- no visible lightening of pimple scars
- quickly used up

Overall:
I have heard Skinfood is very hit-or-miss with their skincare products. This serum is a miss for me. I'm not pulled in by their makeup range but I do adore their wash-off packs (yes, the famous Rice and Black Sugar one I hauled together with this serum). I have heard good things about the more expensive Omija Whitening range from Skinfood though!

☆/ 5


TL;DR: It smells good and feels nice on the skin, but it did not do what it claimed for my skin. I would personally give this a miss. 
Have you tried any whitening or brightening products? What would you recommend?

My (Korean and Taiwanese) beauty/ mo lieu haul for 2013

So... Cathy is a bad influence on meXD She told me about some of the products she tried from Korea/ Hong Kong that were nice so I ended up buying a lot of stuff she recommended to me. It was cheap from Bonjour HK:(

My dad got me a whole lot of stuff from his China and Hong Kong business trip. Let's take a look~

Presents from my dad piled in front of my room

 My dad purchased me practical items. Just like a dad.

He got me some socks for work, a drink bottle, two Rollei UV filters (37mm & 58mm), a 16GB micro SD card for my camera, and a screen protector.

Everything else is stuff I ordered online. The prices were really cheap so I purchased enough to last me for the next six months. Simply because I can:D

This is what I ordered online:

1.) My Beauty Diary 2013 New Year pack; Birds Nest/ Collagen/ Natto/ Aloe masks in a pack of 26 (135 HKD)
2.) My Beauty Diary Black Pearl (54HKD)
3.) My Beauty Diary Strawberry Yoghurt (58HKD)
4.) Daria hair velcro (26HKD)

Before unwrapping.... 

5.) Skin Food Black Sugar Mask Wash off (58HKD; this was on sale! I wanted two, put they only let me order one:/)

6.) Skin Food Rice Mask Wash off (68HKD; ... so I ended up buying two of these because I heard this was also a best seller)

7.) Skin Food Fresh Juice C Serum (105HKD; I actually wanted the Tomato moisturiser, but they were out of stock and the line was discontinued)

8.) Etude House Happy Essential Foam Vitamin C (49HKD; I had initially wanted the Happy Tea Time Cleansing Foam in Green Tea, but that was also discontinued)

After unwrapping...

All in all, this only cost 78AUD. A box of 10 My Beauty Diary sheet masks is $20 in and around the city. The cheapest I've seen it go for is $17, and I was considering buying a box.

I have to say, I like the facial foam the best. It works especially well with the cleansing net I bought from Daiso. I've used the serum quite a bit. I was hoping to get rid off this dark spot on my cheek. However, I did not have high hopes for this product as I have read disappointing reviews but I still wanted to try this whitening serum.

So far, I've seen my face brighten a bit after a week of use with using the rice mask, black sugar mask, and the sheet masks. Missha and The Face Shop masks tingle and make my face itchy though I really enjoyed the Green Tea and the Pomegranate masks.

The My Beauty Diary ones fit well and are comfortable-- unfortunately, I had already placed my order when I purchased a packet of the Earl Grey Tea and Macaroon mask. Otherwise, I may have picked up a box of that one because it smells soooooo good. The Bird's Nest one is also very good^^ The Natto, Black Pearl, and Japanese Cherry Blossom ones are meh to me because they smell the same... but nonetheless, they are all great!

I'm going to focus on pampering myself this year, and work towards my goal for next year! Here's to a late 2013 resolution!