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

May was a happy month for me. I went out to Free Comic Book Day and wore a dress I made. A few strangers came up to me to tell me I looked cute:) This month I used up quite a few staple HG products. I find that six months is usually the sweet spot for me, and a few of the full sized products I used up were opened in December.

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

April was a big month for me. I started my second full-time job ever in a field where I can use my degree. I also treated myself to a limited eyeshadow palette I have been eyeing since February. It started getting sold out in various online stores so I decided to grab it off ebay for a few dollars extra before it completely sold out. 

My dad came back from a business trip to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, then went to Melbourne for a different business trip the week after. A few days he came back he got very sick. Several days after that, my mum caught whatever he had. I was so worried I was going to get it too because my mum kept on coughing everywhere and her doctor told her to not pass it onto my brother and I. Both my parents took sick days off to recover and have since fully recovered.

Rose Rose Shop Haul and Review #3

Backlog haul:) This one is from Rose Rose Shop in July 2015. This was definitely an impulse haul. I had initially only wanted more Mizon stuff, namely the AHA 8% Serum and more moisturisers. I really wanted to try more hand creams so in they went. In the last minute, I decided to try the Cosrx AHA and due to the upper weight bracket I had to pay for shipping, I threw in a whole heap of other stuff I wanted to try.

Ordered: 26/7/15

Shipped: 28/7/15

Received: 6/8/15

Shipping was unexpectedly quick!

Finish all the samples 2k16 and Project Pan: Everything

I documented and inventoried all the makeup and skincare I own. No nail polish because that's not as interesting and most of what I own was gifted to me by Stefanie or Christina. This exercise made me realise how much 'stuff' I've accumulated. My reasoning for this stash varies from hitting free shipping, getting the most out of my shipping bracket, not having to go out of my way to replace something, and random stuff I wanted to try out after reading reviews. I want to be able to have a better idea of how long it takes me to use up things so I know I don't have to buy multiples at a time.

Would I rather have the money or have my 'stuff'? It depends. There are things I can do without, but there are also things I feel like I need, like BB cream or eyeliner. Because I wear makeup, I need cleansing oil, makeup remover, and cleansing water to clean that stuff off. Cleanser is a non-essential luxury step to me so I don't use it (but really wanted to use one again and I will buy a cleanser when I land a high paying job).

I made separate spreadsheets for makeup, skincare, haircare, fragrances, and samples. Here is a snip of my skincare inventory.

An example of my skincare spreadsheet

Makeup and Skincare empties + review Jan 2016 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k16)

This year, I decided to make a spreadsheet to keep track of my consumerism and consumption. I already keep track of my spending and get a better idea of how long it takes to finish using something (I had fun making pivot tables...).

Since early January, I have finished using a variety of samples and full-sized products.

Samples

1. Tony Moly Tomatox sample- 3
   - I used this on my neck to try and even out the colour difference between my face and neck; didn't really do much but gave me a mild brightening effect. It didn't break me out or give me a weird rash. WNR*
2. Milky Dress sample- 2
   - gave me a ghostly glow on my neck. I liked that you didn't have to wash this one off and it smells nice, like bubblegum. WNR
   

My makeup collection (featuring lots of Dolly Wink and Etude House)

My cousins who live in Hong Kong and my friend who has moved to Indonesia wanted to see my makeup collection. So here is my current collection that I photographed last night (no... I'm not procrastinating >_>). I will name my favourite from each category:

Eye Products in Stick Form

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.

Rose Rose Shop Haul and Review #1

I'm sure most of you have heard of Rose Rose Shop (RRS). It took me over year to finally convince myself to buy something from them because of their higher shipping costs. Even though their product prices are often lower than other stores, the cost of shipping really detracts from their attractive prices. 

Anyhow, RRS had and currently still have a free shipping option for all Mizon items. You just have to pay $2.50 USD for a tracking number. I had previously tried a tube of the Mizon Blemish Mark-X and really liked it and saw that it was going for a very good price at RRS. I also really wanted to try the 8% AHA Peeling Serum, and off to RRS I went.

Paid: 09/12/2014
Payment Received: 09/22/2014
Shipped: 09/26/2014
Received: 7/10/2014

It took around two weeks (10 working days) for my package to be shipped from payment, and a month to get my package from the day I paid. I emailed RRS one working week after I had placed my order to ask if they have received the payment. They were very polite in responding and said that they will give me extra samples for taking so long to process my payment... they didn't. 

No fear if you live in a country that requires custom fees on packages... RRS marks your package to be $5.

Wearing my Alice dress...

I decided to do a little wardrobe test to see what I'd look like wearing the dress I made from the previous post.

I hate taking photos of myself on my cameraaaaa OTL. Not only is it hard without a tripod, I don't have a flip screen to see what I look like. Unfortunately, I also dislike doing photoshoots with photographers because I feel too self conscious. Guess it's back self-timer for me >_>

Urm, lots of weird mistakes with the photo (yes, there is a window on my left where the light hits). At least Rilakkuma is in focus! You also get a general idea of what the dress looks like when it is worn.

And, a selca of my makeup face! 

???

Here is a list of the makeup I am sporting on my face--

Jolse haul #1

Okay, so this was my first Jolse haul back in April (I know, I posted my third haul, then my second, my fourth, and now my first?!). I guess this is another one of those subtle introduction into the products I have used or currently own.

Ordered: 24/4/14
Shipped: 25/4/14
Arrived: 2/5/14

Peripera Peri's Tint Water #5 Candy Juice

I love lip tints! They come in so many colours and textures, and you can create the super trendy and extremely pretty Korean ulzzang gradient lip look with them. 

This is my first product from Peripera. What do I think of it? Read on to find out!

I picked up this colour in my February 2014 Testerkorea haul (you can read more about it here). I think this colour was previously released as a Gmarket exclusive and I couldn't find it on ebay, BeautyNetKorea, or Rose Rose Shop during early 2013. It was constantly sold out on ebay. I also only saw two blog swatches of it, but it looked amazing so I knew I had to have it!

Sydney Sephora Day 1 Gift

Today, I went past the new Sephora that is going to open at Pitt Street Mall on the 5th of December to see the Lego Christmas tree. Kat Von D herself is going to come to the opening on Friday! It is the first Sephora to open in Australia, so there is definitely a lot of hype and excitement with the promise of never before available brands (such as Tarte, Makeup Forever, KVD etc.). Unfortunately, Urban Decay is still not going to be available to Aussies:(

On the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of December, Sephora will be handing out little gifts to help celebrate the opening. 

Today is a pink compact mirror! I don't think I'll be back the other days, and it's probably not worth lining up for the freebies, but do drop by if you are close.

TIP: Benefit is also doing a liner swap until the 5th of December. Just bring in an old eyeliner and swap it for a free sample of They're Real Push-up Liner! There's a Benefit inside Myer at the Westfield right across the street from Pitt St Mall if you are going to visit Sephora. 

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!

Jolse haul #3 (Etude House Etude Pink Dear My Blooming Lips Talk Limited Edition Lipstick) swatch + review

Just a quick review. Still gutted that I spent ages writing a very long haul and review I did on Testerkorea that got deleted (!). It was filled with my OHUI and Laneige purchases.

For this purchase with Jolse, I waited until it was their 10% off Etude House week and used a $5 coupon I won from their Facebook competition from awhile back.

Pictures from Etude House's Facebook page--

Jolse Haul and Review #2

I've purchased from Jolse and their ebay shop a few times before, but this is my most recent haul from them (I'll put up haul #1 another time haha orz)! I've also had a Testerkorea and a Roseroseshop package from earlier this year. I've also gotten a package from my dad/ friend in Hong Kong, and purchased so many things from a new shop in the city called Kim Sun Young. And I'm thinking of ordering more stuff from Roseroseshop soon coz they have free shipping for Mizon items. I'll put them up another time:D

As always, Jolse has lovely customer service. They have 10% off sales on Tony Moly, Missha, Innisfree, and Etude house every week of the month, other special deals, and a Facebook giveaway every Wednesday. On top of that, they have quite a nice reward program where you can accumulate mileage points to use on your next purchase.

They have world wide free shipping, and you are guaranteed to get three free samples with every purchase. These benefits stack up. For example:

One item: 3 samples 

Over 2 items: +3 samples and blotting paper

Over $20: pore strip

Over $40: free tracking number

Over $50: free sheet mask

Jolse's site crashed for around a week mid July, so they had a store wide 15% off sale along with extra gifts and vouchers for when they opened back up. Perfect timing as I had just finished my Ohui essence and cream, my Nivea foaming cleanser was up to its last days, and my Etude House BB deep cleanser was also running out. I was looking for a new moisturising toner and had been wanting to purchase OR205 for a long time... this was my chance to pick it up at a great price!

The package^^

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.

Beauty Wishlist

Because I need one to keep my beauty wants in check. I always have a mega-list of things I want to try:

Nature Republic Hand cream (feating EXO)

Sample Reivew: The Face Shop Face It Power Perfection BB Cream SPF 37, PA++ 02 Natural Beige

First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! Can you believe that 2014 is coming at us so quickly? I'm very excited for next year (because it will bring me my next makeup/ skincare haul hehe). Today I'll be reviewing a makeup staple; BB cream.

I love BB cream! I have worn it almost everyday since the end of 2008 when my cousin introduced me to it. I have ventured into the CC cream realm but my heart will always remain loyal to my BBs (I may also jump into the cushion foundation train in the near future). I feel very frustrated whenever I hear girls in Priceline dismiss BB cream as being inferior to foundation. NO.

Needless to say I was pretty happy when I got a few sample packets of The Face Shop's Power Perfection BB cream.

The Face Shop Power Perfection BB Cream in 02 (Whee sorting through samples)

Sasa haul and review~ (more Korean and Japanese goodies ofc)!

I love, love, love visiting Sasa whenever I go to Hong Kong (I think I've got the two Mong Kok and the Tsuen Wan store layouts memorised by now). With all the raving reviews of Sasa floating around the interwebs, I decided to give their online shop a go. My experience with Sasa has always been positive and continue to be so as their prices are reasonable. 

I was lucky and was able to take advantage of Sasa's free shipping to Australia. All you had to do is spend over $29USD-- easy peasy with the dropping AUD conversion rate.

Hello there Dolly Wink

Dior Voyage The Make-Up Palette (So Dior Travel Collection)

So I got given this huge Dior makeup palette recently:

Ehehe, I already swatched everything >_<

The palette contains:

- four eyeshadows
- pressed powder
- mascara
- blush/ finishing powder
- two lipsticks

It also contains:

- double-ended eyeshadow applicator
- sponge
- lipbrush
- blush brush

The only things I think I could use are the eyeshadows and the mascara. I don't use finishing powder and the blush doesn't show on my skin. The lipsticks don't match my skin tone (and I don't wear lipstick anyway).

Unfortunately, even then, the eyeshadows swatch out the same as my Dolly Wink brown palette:

And the purple and the cream colour is pretty much the same as my "Dior me, Dior me not" Lip and Eye Colour Palette (though I do think the travel palette's purple is prettier... but it's too light to suit my darker skin).

So all in all, I'm fairly disappointed I can't make much use of this palette. I already have sets/ palettes which do a better job (such as Benefit/ Estee Lauder). I'm not a huge fan of Dior beauty products in general. Sorry. I guess I do like the Dior Kiss lipgloss, but even then there's still points I don't dig. Don't even get me started on their perfume. 

I think I will love Dior a lot more in ten years time. The brand is a bit too sophisticated and mature for me right now. So yeah, just my thoughts and not really a review.