#7 - TesterKorea Mini Haul Review!

Hi there! It's almost September... school is about to start! t_t

It's important to look good on the first day of a new school year right? So I did a mini haul at TesterKorea on makeup products :}

So a timeline for you girls first! (Click to enlarge)

I chose registered airmail (the cheapest option) to ship out my order, and took about 7 business days to get to me. The processing speed was actually pretty fast! Excluding the public holiday, it only took 1 business day to ship out my items. 

So my package came like this!

Really, it's wrapped tightly with plastic tape. Guess it's to make it waterproof? But that makes the cardboard un-recyclable... since I can't get the tape off the box :{

Now have a look on the inside!

Nicely packed, eh? I've ordered 3 regular products plus some samples, all the regular products are wrapped in bubble wrap. The samples are in a small plastic bag.

Moving on to the content of my mini haul plus gift samples ;}

This time I bought:

- Innisfree No Sebum Mineral Primer 

- It's Skin Babyface One-step Base (Green)

- It's Skin Babyface Jelly tint (Tomato Red)

- Etude House Nymph Aura Volumer #3 Samples x10

- Etude House Correct and Care CC Cream (Silky) Samples x10

- Skin79 White Reviving Skin Radiance Solution Samples x30

I've read that some buyer received SkinFood cotton pads as freebies to take up the space inside the box, but I didn't get any :/ Maybe it's because my haul was too small that they all fit in well in a small box...

Anyway, they are still generous with freebies!

Look at that! They gave me testers for toner, emulsion, ampule and cream! A complete basic skincare regime! That's thoughtful isn't it? 

So the shipping and delivery at TesterKorea was very smooth and pleasant! Now I'll comment on the price and service in the following summary :)

Pros: 

- List price close to retail price in Korea

- New members receive a 10% off coupon - I used it on the primer!

- Customer service was fast  - I submitted an enquiry related to payment method, and got the reply very promptly.

- Has many shipping options (check my last post for details)

- Generous with freebies!

- Can pay South Korean Won directly via credit card, which usually has the best exchange rate.

Cons:

- Some products go sold out very quickly, and the restocking might take a few days

- List price is in South Korean Won, might be troublesome to some

Overall I'm really pleased with TesterKorea! Have you bought from them before? Tell me what you think! ;D

Cheers,

Cheri.

*DISCLAIMER* This is not a sponsored post. I am writing this post based entirely on my opinions.

#6 - "Where do I buy Korean cosmetics online?" Overview

Hey there!

So after the success of ordering at Gmarket, I am now looking into other websites to decide where to do my haul next time! *smirk* It's really important for us shoppers to look for reputable and reliable platforms, so I am writing this post for all of you out there as a reference ;)

In my post i'll include Gmarket, Qoo10, TesterKorea, KoreaDepart.
(The overview is on buying fashion and beauty products only at the moment)

Short Introduction:

Gmarket - Famous, reliable online shopping website based in Korea. Now subsidiary of Ebay.

Qoo10 - Formerly known as Gmarket Singapore. Joint venture company between Ebay and Gmarket. Very similar to Gmarket.

TesterKorea - Shopping site based in Korea. Has accessory division apart from beauty section. Beauty section has both regular products and samples.

KoreaDepart - Shopping site based in Korea. Has fashion, food and speciality divisions apart from beauty section.

Comparison:

(Click to enlarge)

Recommendation:

Gmarket:  Go for it if you buy a lot of heavy products/ buy from many sellers/ want to have fast delivery.

EMS allows up to 30kg each shipment, and Gmarket offers the lowest rate of EMS. It will collect all your orders from different sellers for free too. Via EMS, your order usually will arrive within 1-2 weeks.

Qoo10: Go for it if you want to join group buy/ buy from 1-2 sellers only/ don't mind waiting for a few weeks for delivery.

Most sellers offer free normal airmail and charge a little on registered airmail. Not all of them offer EMS and if they do, the rate is high compared to Gmarket. However, airmails can take up to a month to deliver your items and only allow up to ~2kg per shipment.

TesterKorea: Go for it if you want to have flexibility in choosing shipping method/ are on a sample haul/ want something hard to find online.

It has many shipping methods to choose from. You can choose registered airmail if your order is light, and choose EMS when it is heavy. It also has a "Want" board where you can post the items you don't find on the website, the admin will buy and put it up for you if possible.

KoreaDepart: Go for it if you want to buy at its outlet/ are living in Asia. 
There are many products in its outlet section at very lovely prices. Also, many Asian countries are in KoreaDepart's "fixed cost zone" - meaning you pay for shipping only at 1 price and can save shipping costs.

Well thanks for reading this long post! I've just ordered something on both Qoo10 and TesterKorea, now waiting patiently for them to be delivered! I'll write up reviews on these sites when my orders come!

Cheers,
Cheri.

*DISCLAIMER* This is not a sponsored post. I am writing this post based entirely on my opinions.

#5 - Etude House I'm Blooming Sebum Control Mist Review

Heyyy everyone! It's time for another review! I'll be reviewing the Etude House I'm Blooming Sebum Control Mist today :} It's another something I got from my previous Gmarket haul.

Ah, Etude House... why are all your products so pretty? Look at this lovely pink bottle!

Some details picture... the Etude House I'm Blooming Sebum Control Mist claims to reduce sebum production and made of natural ingredients.

The mist is basically colorless with a very, very, very light scent that distinguishes it from distilled water. The mist was fine when used according the instruction - spray from 20cm away. If you spray the mist too closely, you'll see too much product will adhere onto the skin, forming droplets. 

As for the sebum control property, it does make my makeup last longer by keeping the oilies at bay. I sprayed 2 times in around 6 hours, and my t-zone was significantly less oily than before. 

I'll keep using for the rest of the summer!

Pros:

- Lovely packaging

- One bottle can last for a long time (It has 100ml and you use only a little each time)

- Can act as what a mist should do - fix makeup, hydrating

- Has sebum control property

- Cause no allergic reactions and breakouts

Cons: 

- Droplets will be too big if not sprayed from 20cm away 

- A bit heavy to carry around (100ml)

Repurchase?: No, I think this bottle can last me for a looooong time. I probably would like to try something else by then.

Thanks for reading! See you later!

Cheers,

Cheri.

#4 - It's Skin Power 10 Formula LI Effector Review

Hey there! Sorry for not posting more often in the past month, was a bit busy with all sorts of things! Anyway, I finally have time to post again! I'm going to review the It's Skin Power 10 Formula LI Effector from my previous Gmarket haul.

The It's Skin Power 10 line is a hit in both Korea and other parts of Asia! As most of you know, there are many variations of the Power 10 Formula Effector - each with a different function. I chose the LI version based on the list below.

 (THANK YOU SO MUCH to whoever translated the information and made this picture! It helped me a lot in choosing which effector to get. This image was saved to my hard disk quite a while ago so I can't trace to the source... t_t)

The serum is inside this small glass bottle! It comes with a pump dispenser (see picture below) - I love this kind of packaging as it's hygienic to get the serum out.

The serum itself has a liquid-gel consistency, see the bubbles there? That's air being pumped into the gel. It has a pale yellow color in the tube, but it doesn't affect your skin color after spreading out.

After using this for 2 weeks, I can say it definitely lightened some of my acne scars by reducing the redness of it! Its effect on my darker, brownish hyperpigmentation is not prominent at the moment, but i'll keep using it to see how things turn out.

*Update 1/9/2013* It really is slowly fading my dark spots and making my skin tone more even! That took me for about a month to see the result. But i am satisfied with it because it works great on my sensitive skin, unlike some whitening products that irritates me too much. 


Pros:
- Moisturizing
- Reduces redness on skin
- No allergic reaction or breakouts
- A little goes a long way (I need only one droplet and a half of serum for my entire face)
- Hygienic

Cons:
- Glass bottle (Need to handle carefully)
- Might be slow in tackling hyperpigmentation.

Repurchase?: Probably not. Although it's a good product, I want to try the other Power 10 Formula Effectors as well!

I'm now ready for more reviews and planning my next haul too *smirks*... stay tuned and see you for now!

Cheers,
Cheri.