Haha… I just know that there are some of you waiting for this post 🙂 Truth be told, I did not buy very much, relatively speaking 🙂 I did stumble on a sale going on at Lotte Department store where I picked up some very lovely winter jackets (down filled!) at 50,000 Won (about RM140 each!) so I’m dying to go on a winter holiday next LOL Otherwise, I wasn’t quite into buying clothes, shoes or accessories.
What I did return with a lot of, was face sheet masks. Everyone who has ever raved about how incredibly cheap face masks are in Korea were not wrong. I picked up different masks from the different Korean brands – Skin Food, TheFaceShop, ElishaCoy, Baviphat… just to name a few. The masks are usually sold in packs of 10 or 20 and I got them for between 10,000-20,000 won (RM14-28) a pack. This was a shared pack, and I took out quite a few for gifts and suchlike. Should have picked up more 😛
Other than that, who leaves Korea without picking up BB Creams? They are everywhere, from the cheapest to the most expensive of brands.
L-R: Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream, Elisha Coy Always Nuddy BB24, Elisha Coy Time Capsure BB, Elisha Coy Diamond Shiny Pearl BB, Bobbi Brown BB Cream, Skin Food Platinum Grape Cell Essential BB Cream
Well, perhaps I cheated a little. One of them isn’t Korean and was actually picked up at KLIA – the Bobbi Brown BB Cream which I actually thought was not bad. I was actually at quite a loss when I stepped into the various stores and was totally overwhelmed. There is just so much choice available for everything, even if every brand started to look alike after a spell. They all seem to sell the same thing – just in different packaging 😛
I also picked up some products from ElishaCoy – BB All in one Cleanser, Milk Cacao Black Sugar Scrub and Cacao Green Tea Age Fitness mask.
I loved the smell of the cocoa in the mask and scrub which was instrumental in my picking them up. The reason you see so many ElishaCoy products is because I stumbled on a Beauty and Cosmetics Expo at Coex mall so I went in to browse. ElishaCoy had a booth there and all their products were 50% off! The BB creams you see were 1,000 won each only (RM2.80) so I figured they were worth a shot 😛 I can’t remember how much the rest cost but they weren’t expensive.
In terms of colour cosmetics, these were all I got.
L-R: Holika Holika Magic Pole mascara, Etude House Miss Tangerine Sweet Shower Lips and Etude House Miss Tangerine Cream Choux Blusher
I did tell you I was overwhelmed 😛
I have a couple more bits and bobs – a herbal shower gel from Tony Moly that makes you smell like bak kut teh (herbal soup) and that ubiquitious Tony Moly snail cream.
And everyone who has ever raved about the generosity of Korean cosmetics houses with samples weren’t kidding either. Here’s all the samples I accumulated (this is the shared loot and not all are mine)
Most of the boxes of cotton pads and face masks were given out as an enticement for you to enter the store. Competition is very great amongst the Korean beauty brands hence the need for enticement. You aren’t obliged to buy anything, but if you want the sample, you have to at least step into the store and browse. If you don’t they take it back! The rest of the sample packs were tossed in at the counters when you make your purchase. The more you buy, the more and better samples you get. But you almost always at least end up with 2-3 sachets of skincare samples for making a purchase.
And lastly, on the flight home, I picked up this item from Chanel – Les Roses Natural Finish Face Highlight and Blush. It said in the duty free magazine that it was a flight exclusive which means you can only purchase it on board the aircraft.
Chanel Les Tendres de Chanel Natural Finish Face highlighter and blush – Les Roses
I was taken by it, and I think it’d make a very pretty blush 🙂
And that’s it! Reviews will naturally come as I start digging through the products, but if you have something you want an earlier heads up on, do let me know and I’ll try to oblige 🙂
Paris B
*drools at the sight of all those glorious face masks and BB creams*
*Hands S a bib*
Ooo!!!…really wanna know ur opinion on the Tonymoly snail cream… n really do like their concept of giving many samples n freebies..think we should have more of that here..hehe..once again..i’m jealous..i really need to plan a trip there for next yr!
It’ll take me a little while to get to the snail cream but I’ll try to get some thoughts out as quickly as I can 🙂 They are generally generous with their samples but then it could just be because its “local” while our local distributors have to “import” it and thus have a ration on samples 😉
Review the Chanel blush soon, please! It’s gorgeous.
Righty ho! I’m dying to dig into that one too 🙂
I would love to know how this blush does as I’m flying this Friday and am planning to buy some duty free cosmetics.
The blush is very pretty 🙂 I can’t make it for a review before Friday, but I will say that it applies a very light pink and is very sheer.
Chanel blush <3
Yay me too! <3 😀
a friend is going to Korea next week. I wanted her to help me get BB cream but not sure what will be good. If you can only buy 1 which will you buy and why? i have combination skin. Thanks for help 🙂
Gosh, I think I’m the wrong person to ask about this one 😛 I don’t generally use BB Creams (only bought these because Kathi of Lotuspalace raved about the Holika Holika one and because I was picking up the Skinfood one for another friend. The Elishacoy were too cheap to pass up) and when I do, I prefer those from the Western brands because they are lighter in texture. That said, I have tried the Skinfood one a few times, and I thought it was alright provided you use very very little. But then, it won’t offer a lot of coverage. If you use too much it gets oily. I do quite like the Bobbi Brown BB Cream which is lighter in texture and offers decent coverage, but it isn’t Korean – only available at Duty free for now. Sorry I’m not much help. BB Creams just aren’t my forte 😛
*droolllllllllllllll* looking forward to the reviews especially the bobbi brown BB!
I do like that one! If that’s any consolation 😛
OOOO!!!! 6 BB Creams!!
I likey! Especially the Chanel blush!! GAH!!!
I’m salivating right now… I’m in shopping rehab, woman!
Haha from 0 to 6 BB creams. Not bad eh? 😛
Wow so many masks and I agree with you, you have to get in the store or they won’t give you samples! So funny! I actually preferred the cotton pads! hahahah I had loads to bring home by removing them out of the box and transferred into a zip lock! I’m good at saving space hahah
BTW, can’t wait for your BB cream reviews, you bought quite a number! (considering the fact that you’re overwhelmed) 😛
I liked the cotton pads too! I purposely went to a few just to pick up the cotton pads LOL! Yeah I did pick up quite a few BB Creams eh? But considering how cheap 3 of them were, you would have too! 😉
oh my~
i can’t wait for the reviews.
*drooling*
Should be coming up soon 🙂
ah.. i miss shopping in Korea. I was there many yrs ago, when all the Korean brands were not here yet. I bought so many nail polish and they were so cheap.. I don’t buy them here :p. And the freebies… ah… I love it that they give more to tourists 🙂
Are they more generous to tourists? I didn’t notice… but it might be because almost everyone in the store was a tourist LOL! But I did notice that if we bought a lot, and asked for extra samples or a mask, they’d oblige which I thought was nice.
those days I went, i noticed, yes. Cos I saw some local girls seems like asking for more samples, but the SA shakes her head.
And 1 time I saw this cute little flower small mirror (the Missha flower) with strap at the counter and I was playing around with it. The cashier then just drop it into my bag. Am not sure if it is free gift at all. 🙂
That was very nice of the SA – it was probably a gift with purchase anyway 😉
You actually make me wanna go to Korea, for a shopping spree! =)
Only if you love Korean cosmetics dearie 🙂 Or maybe Korean fashion too! 😉
Wow!! Samples over-load…Now I wanna go Korea and haul more!!
Hope you get there soon! 😉
Lol, they take the freebies back if we dont enter the store? Awkward…. 🙂
Yep! I didn’t know that the first time. Walked past a Tony Moly store and this man stuffed a mask into my hand and jabbered to me in Korean which I did not understand. As I was looking for coffee, I just smiled at him and walked past and he came after me to take the mask back!
Wow Paris! Is that Honey Sleeping Pack edible? 😛
Haha… No 😛 I gave 2 tubs to some girls in my office and were careful to tell them that it is NOT edible – they thought it was and I didn’t want them poisoned 😛 It does smell like honey though.
LOL 😀 That is so sweet of you 😛
Anyways, I am going there end of this month too. Can you remember which restaurant you went for the lovely bibimbap you had in Seoul? 😀
Hmm let me see if I can get the pics up on the food blog 😛 it was in one of the streets in Myeongdong, upstairs. There was a banner downstairs showing pics of the food – bibimbap with grilled pork was 5000 Won. The cheapest I saw.
Thanks dearie 🙂
Bibimbap with grilled pork, yummy~! 😀
Hiya Paris! Greetings from Coffee Bene, Seoul 😛
I have tried the Bibimbap with grilled pork at the place you recommended. It’s not 5000 won anymore 🙁 It’s 6000 won now though. Will send you some photos when I get back 🙂
Thanks again dearie 😀
Gosh! They inflated the price that quickly? It’s only been under a month!
gosh that’s a huge lot of masks! 😀 will definitely have to make a trip to Korea one of these days…soon soon!
PS: are those FEATHERS of some sort I spy in the top right corner of the samples pic? :O
Haha yes! They are purple feather pens given out by Holika Holika. Right up your alley eh? 😉
got my loot? 😀
Yes i did 🙂 I wasn’t sure if you wanted that many neck masks (they weren’t very cheap) so I didn’t get too many. Pass to you when I see you next
wow, that is indeed a lot of masks! and they really are generous of samples! i wish it was like that here too! looking forward to your reviews!
I wish it was like that too here! LOL I’ll try to come up with some reviews soon 🙂
OH!!! love love!!! ?~
Pawis!!! u bought the cacao scrub i recommended ages ago!! whee
Hurrah! I knew there was something I had to pick up from Elishacoy, thanks to your raves, but I couldn’t remember what! Thank goodness I got it right 😉
RM2.80 for a BB cream? That’s the price of a lolly here! No wait, lollies are even more expensive!
I don’t think it would be wise for me to go to Korea then. I might end up buying the whole shop 😛
I couldn’t get a bowl of noodles with RM2.80! But that was only because it was at the expo 🙂 I don’t know how much they sell otherwise but in general, prices of Korean cosmetics are pretty affordable. Definitely damaging on the wallet.