Hong Kong House (Sydney shows support for the Umbrella Revolution of Hong Kong 2014)

I'm sure by now, everyone has heard of the political situation that is happening in Hong Kong. I won't go into detail about the circumstances, but my parents are from Hong Kong and I lived there for a few years when I was a child. Many of my friends also have parents who come from Hong Kong so we definitely have been keeping an eye on the situation. 

On 2nd of October, 2014, I went to visit Hong Kong House at Town Hall to read some of the messages of support for the people of Hong Kong. This silent show of support mirrors the 'Lennon Wall' that has been set up in Hong Kong.

I have left some of these pictures in their original resolution so the messages can be read.

Sasa, Bonjour, Mannings Hong Kong sunscreen and skincare haul

So this was a from end of July/ early August. My dad went to Hong Kong for business and he asked me what I wanted him to get me. I replied with 'Socks and lollies.' Then I wrote down a list of stuff I wanted which he passed onto his high school friend's daughter (who is also my friend who is a few years older than me) to get! I was really excited because this stuff is expensive in Sydney T_T

My friend got most of these from Sasa, Bonjour, and Mannings. She gave me the receipt but I just chucked it in a box somewhere after adding up the prices. Be sure to shop around in HK. Even different branches of the same store (I'm looking at you Sasa) have different prices. You can easily get ripped off.

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--

MCM x LuHan

Stress, stress, everywhere. Stay safe everyone! <3

(For the first time this year, I felt like sketching something... and it came at 2am. I hope those terrible rumours about Lu-ge aren't true and that he takes some time to recover well). 

[10/10/14 edit]: So the rumours were not baseless. I hope Luhan recovers well and is able to progress with his career. EXO-M was the first group I followed from debut. What's going to happen next? Is EXO-M going to merge into EXO-K and permanently be EXO? Or will K members join M whilst doing promotions? 

Asian Sheet Mask Haul (Etude House, The Face Shop, My Scheming, My Beauty Diary, Missha, Innisfree) and Quick Review

(31/8/14: Work in progress, I've picked up ten billion other boxes of masks since I've drafted this post in February. My favourites are Leaders Insolution and My Beauty Diary)

I love sheet masks. Unfortunately, it's an expensive habit I've developed for something a one time use item. They're fantastic for nourishment and for giving your skin a bit of pampering throughout the week. I used to think that $3 a sheet is a pretty good deal and the most I've paid for one mask is $4.50 (The Face Face Vita C Gel Mask).

Personally, I would not pay for more than $1.50 a sheet mask anymore, and you can easily find good deals around Sydney. Here are the masks I used last year (and some quick thoughts):

Missha:

My very first sheet masks of 2013! I decided to venture out and try them in around February. Missha has since closed down in the QVB. 

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^^