April 2015 Makeup Faves ♥︎

Oh my my, this post is so overdue! Almost forgot about this until I logged into blogger again just now. It's almost the end of May and I've yet to write this out.

I've 2 products that I've been loving this month. I mean I love more than 2 products but they've probably been mentioned before so I decided not to mention those I've already mentioned before. Especially since I'm not someone who changes favourites easily. It would be such a bore to repeat the same products every month.

For the month of April... I've been loving...

Skinfood Rose Essence Soft Cream Blusher 06 Edge Rose

Chanced upon this product while watching Youtube videos (as usual) and decided to get it along with other purchases from koreadepart.com. Will be blogging about that website separately for those who are interested!

The packing is really thin and compact! Plus it comes with a mirror (as seen below). I like to carry this in my makeup bag as it's like super easy for on-the-go touch ups.

I chose this shade despite it being the darkest in the series. It is a sweet rosy pink shade (seen below) and it blends pretty well.

It has a soft powdery finish so it doesn't feel thick and uncomfortable to have on. Not only that, it has a faint rose scent which does make it smell pretty pleasant.

Innisfree Waterproof Skinny Microcara

I got this product in Korea last year after watching many video and all recommended this. It wasn't very expensive, I think less than 10,000 won. In Singapore, it costs around $17, which isn't too bad as it lasts about 3 months even if you use it daily.

The tube is small and convenient to carry around. I like that it's thin so it's pretty easy to apply as it's easier to control the brush.

The skinny brush is probably the main selling point for this product. It's so skinny! With the bigger brushes, I often poke my eye but with this, it's easy to manoeuvre and I don't poke my eye anymore!

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Just 2 product favourites for the month of April! Stay tuned for the products I've loved in the month of May! Phew! Managed to get this post up before the month of June! Hehehe.

Also, do stay tuned for some major changes this blog will be undergoing very soon! Layout change, URL change, etc!

Beauty Observations In Korea ♥︎

Another blog post on Korea! I hope you're not bored of me talking about Korea just yet! There are still many things to talk about and share. It's been about a almost a year since we went to Korea! I've already forgotten most of what we saw and did there but I'll try my best to write my observations down for those who are interested :)

So let's get started! What I saw in Korea about fashion, hair and makeup!

Fashion

In terms of fashion, Korean people are quite fashionable! But that's a fact that most people already know. I'm, unfortunately, not really a fashionable person. I don't keep up with trends and I wear whatever looks nice and comfortable. So I think my sister had more fun shopping there than I did.

It was summer when we were there so everyone was in their summer outfits. I saw loads of people wearing denim shorts, cropped or baggy tops, plaid or patterned shirts with folded up sleeves, sun dresses and high waisted or normal patterned skirts!

I think at that point in time, patterned skirts were the trend, so even when we went shopping, those skirts were placed near the entrance and they costed more. My sister managed to get a few as most were quite expensive and we decided they were over priced. I think the prices of clothing in Korea really follows the trend. So if it's currently popular, it'll cost more.

We went to places like Dongdaemun where it's known for cheap clothing but honestly, we were very disappointed. We did our shopping elsewhere. As long as there were nice clothes and something that catches our interest we would go there.

Hair

With regards to hair, Korean people in general, they have really nice hair styles. Maybe they've just got really good hair stylists at their hair salons so no matter which hair salon they go to, they'll have really nice hair!

I noticed quite a variety of different hair styles. Long hair, short hair, curly hair, straight hair... but there was one thing that was really common... they really liked having bangs. Sure, there were people with long fringe but there were more than a handful of people spotted with bangs. Their bangs always looked so perfect and curled so nicely.

Something else that stood out was the hair colour. I think it was common for them to have variations of dark brown hair. I didn't see many with light brown or blonde hair. Then again, this is based on my memory and it's a little fuzzy now... 

Makeup

Korean girls (and some guys) are generally pretty good at applying makeup! Although it may seem they apply thick and heavy makeup, the concept they are going for is the natural look.

I noticed many girls using brown eyeshadows and have their eyeliner drawn pretty thinly. It looks like they have no makeup on. They have very nice and neat straight eyebrows as well. Natural looking makeup makes it seem like it's natural beauty and at the same time it covers all flaws.

For the lips, gradient lips is still the trend in Korea. It just makes the lips slightly coloured so it's not too bright or overpowering but it's just nice to add some colour to the face. And of course, it's very natural.

As for eyebrows, really needless to say, straight brows are in. Everyone is sporting straight and thick eyebrows. Straight and thick eyebrows makes you look younger and with eyebrow gels or mascaras, you can have your eyebrows match your hair colour. Well, I wouldn't be surprised what kind of makeup product would come out next since Korea's makeup industry is doing pretty well.

Plastic Surgery

This didn't come as a surprise. I mean when people mention Korea, they would think of Korean dramas, Kpop but also plastic surgery. I think plastic surgery might even be the first thing that people think about actually. Haha.

Back in 2012, I didn't see many post surgery patients walking around but this time round, we saw so many! It's actually quite scary at times. It's rude to stare but you can't help not staring especially since the patients' faces are bruised green and blue and there are blood clots here and there. Yes, they are just walking around without any bandages or masks to hide their faces.

Of course, over the years, definitely there would be an increase in patients with more publicity and more good reviews regarding Korean plastic surgery clinics.

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Well, there. That was some of my observations I made during my trip in Korea last June. It's based on what I can remember and purely my own opinions. Thanks for reading through all that! Haha.

To conclude, I've come to realise that Korea generally puts a lot of focus and emphasis on outward appearances and beauty. Not just for females but it's for males too. I mean the fact that your outward appearance can determine whether you can get a job or not, I mean that speaks volumes right? And also the fact that there is a plastic surgery program to help people improve their lives proves even more how much Koreans focus on beauty.

It's not wrong to want to look pretty on the outside but most importantly, what is on the inside matters most! :)

Daehanminguk 2014 Day 7 ♥︎

18th June 2014.
Myeongdong, Sukira (KBS Building). 

Details of our trip are starting to get sketchy by now but I'll try my best to give an accurate recount of what we did and also to provide useful tips and advice!

If I'm not wrong, this was the day we tried to locate Eunhyuk's cafe, then known as Tous Les Jours. Unfortunately, we arrived in the area but it was too near closing time so we decided to hop into a cab and head to Yeouido for Sukira instead.

I don't think we did very much on Day 7. We basically blocked out this day to just well... Shop. What's a holiday without shopping right? Hahaha. So since we stayed opposite Myeongdong, we spent the bulk of the day combing their streets and emptying our pockets.

We probably started the day out late since we stayed out pretty late the day before, waiting outside the SM Building. If you've not read about our experience, do check it out!

As we started our shopping trip around Myeongdong, we stopped at Olive Young first! This I remember clearly because Olive Young was having a sale! Olive Young is something like a drugstore and in a local context, it's like Watsons. Sadly, I didn't manage to get anything there. But of course, I went crazy at the other road shop brands like Etude House, The Face Shop, Innisfree, etc.

We went back across the street to the side where we were staying on. In front of the subway entrance, there's this Korean restaurant that serves food at a pretty decent price. We ate here the most I think. Of course, we had Macs a couple of times too.

My all time favourite Jjajangmyeon!

Mandu!

Tangsuyok! Which is just sweet and sour pork.

After lunch, we headed to Lotte Young Plaza. It's a new mall that is catered for the younger crowd. It's actually a departmental store I think but selling more... well... fashionable stuff. We went there basically for the SM Popup Store and also StyleNanda.

Address: 81, Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul 서울특별시 중구 남대문로 81 (소공동)

Yes, we did quite a lot of damage at the SM Pop Up store. I can't remember what we got exactly but we spent quite some time there deciding what to get. Of course, we were happy with our purchases. Hehehe.

We then headed up to StyleNanda to check out their 3CE makeup products. We ended up getting a few items as well. You can check out the items I got and my thoughts on them here.

After leaving Lotte Young Plaza, the 4 of us decided to spilt up and do our own shopping around Myeongdong. I think we spent about an hour or so combing the streets and buying whatever we needed to buy. I went with my sister so we got some gifts for friends and family. And as usual, my sister got some stuff for herself on my tab. Hahaha. That's what older sisters do don't they? They pay for your things.

We met back at the guest house to drop off our things before heading to Macs for dinner! Macs tastes good everywhere!

I usually make it a point to try Macs in whatever country I visit, to like see the difference. In Korea, they have really good coke and fries. Hahaha. It's interesting how the coke is served in a plastic cup. So you have to empty the cup at the counter and separate out your trash for I'm guessing recycling purposes.

After dinner... Here comes the interesting part of our day!

We planned to drop by Eunhyuk's cafe Tous Les Jours before going to Sukira. Since my sister was a fan of Eunhyuk, it was kind of a must visit place.

Address: Digital-ro 26-Gil Street, Guro-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul. High End Building, Uunderground 5B1 Floor, No. 105

We took the subway and alighted at Guro Digital Complex station and when we got out of the station... We were feeling pretty lost. It was almost 9pm and we were no where near the cafe, plus the street was rather quiet as well. So we googled for the closing time of TLJ and sure enough, it closes at 9pm!

We stood by the roadside deciding whether we should continue to look for the cafe and try our luck, maybe it would still be open. Eventually, we decided to just catch a cab and head to the KBS Building because we definitely wouldn't make it in time before the closing time. We still needed to walk for some time from the subway station.

Address: 13, Yeouigongwon-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul 서울특별시 영등포구 여의공원로 13 (여의도동)

If you aren't taking cab, you can alight at the National Assembly Station and walk for about 15 minutes before arriving at the KBS Building. I've tried walking from Yeouido Station back in 2012 and it's definitely a further walk!

Usually if there are special guests then I think there would be a need to book a spot beforehand. Back in 2012, we were there waiting since about 5pm. There were already spots booked from the night before. I guess after the years, fans slowly stopped coming frequently and there weren't many fans gathered too.

So upon our arrival at the open studio radio, we managed to find a spot at the bench right at the back. It was good enough to see what was happening on the inside. I think we stayed all the way till the end of Sukira and we got to see Ryeowook leaving as well. He would exit by the lift lobby so fans would gather there to see him leave. I remembered a fan even brought her graduation gown in hopes that Ryeowook would congratulate her. Unfortunately he didn't. He seemed quite tired too.

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That concludes our 7th day in Korea! Taking forever to complete blogging about our Korea trip but I'll try to finish it soon! Do stay tuned for posts on the remaining 7 days of our trip!