I'm currently writing this at uni, while I take a break from all my readings (it's only day one??!! *cries*). I went a little crazy 2 months ago when I decided to give Innisfree's international shopping site a try - since Korean cosmetics in Australia is either unaccessible or ridiculously expensive.
Their website is really easy to use, and the English is pretty good, so no worries about buying weird products. Although products are a little pricey, they have good offers for free shipping as well as special 10+10 or 5+5 deals. With the right timing, you could get a brilliant deal!
Now let's get down to business --
Nose Strips ($4.59) are always on my to-buy and to-try lists. I personally really love the Biore one and this is quite similar in the way it works. It does, however have more of a herbal smell to it which I'm not a total fan of. Also, I have no idea what scoria and green complex is.
Packaging like most other brands, nothing special.
In terms of effectiveness, it would be on par with Biore -- both are not super effective in pulling every single black/whitehead out, but does the job for the tricky ones.
The strip is a lot more effective when used as part of the Jeju Volcanic Blackhead 3 step program ($7.86). The first step is the most miraculous in my opinion - it's a wet sheet mask that brings out all your white/blackheads. They will seriously pop out! Then apply step 2, which is the regular pore strip. After that's done, close up your pores with the final cooling mask.
I was like a few cents off my free shipping quota so I popped in one of these capsule masks ($2.49). I thought it was some thing special, but it turns out to be like normal wash off masks, but in a smaller size.
It's not very big - I got two tries with one capsule. I would say that this would be best if you were going travelling and didn't want to pack your masks into little containers. I guess it would also be good if you just wanted to try the mask out before purchasing full size (but there is no full size for these).
There is a little gap at the rim, which I assume is used to 'seal' the capsule for the next use. But it doesn't work very well -- the seal tends to pop back up really easily. So I recommend to use it quickly and to keep it refrigerated between uses.
And this is how the mask actually looks like - the little green pellets are snips of aloe. The gel although looks clear actually has little exfoliating bits in it too. The mask is cooling when you put it on, but loses the cooling element very quickly. Instead of a mask, I think this works better as an exfoliating wash than as a mask.
Theses hydro gel masks ($3.93 each) were on a 1+1 sale, so each mask was under $2 - score!
I'm yet to try any of them yet, but I do not they are better than the regular sheet masks. I've heard that the second skin masks are really good, but I haven't managed to get my hands on them yet.
You would have guessed that my original intention was to buy hand cream! These tubes looked so cute online, and they were on some sort of sale (or not...I don't remember anymore). For $5.90 a tube, they were smaller than I expected, but they do seriously smell heavenly. I'm still going through my first tube, and I never want to use it as it smells so good -- such a hoarder (buy and never use).
The consistency is grainier than I expected though - the Missha one I got from Korea is smooth like crazy, but this one looks as if has little grains on it. But when you rub it in, you don't feel the grains at all - weird, but wonderful.
And since I was already on a spree, might as well go all the way right? Jeju is famous for their volcanic mud stuff, so I went and bought the Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask Set ($19.65). I'm yet to try any of them yet. But, the mask does look promising.
Looks exactly like cement -- not much of a scent.
Since foundation/sunblock was on a 1+1 deal, I snagged a couple too ($7.86 for both). I think they only have 2 (maybe 3) colours, so there's not much choice...compared to the usual full range offered by other companies.
They were a lot smaller than expected, especially when compared to the Etude House BB Cream. However, in one way, I am quite relieved that the packaging is small -- the colour payoff and texture isn't the best...
Looks more like an ointment tube than a foundation.
I got colour numbers 21 and 23 -- 21 is lighter than 23. Although it looks quite good on the hand, it doesn't have that much coverage -- more like a tinted moisturiser. However, unlike a tinted moisturiser, it doesn't moisturise...it's more like a tinted sunscreen. It also flakes off quite a bit, if you rub your face after applying it. So for someone like me (who compulsively touches my face throughout the day), it's not actually a good choice.
And what is a Korean shopping trip without some freebies. I don't know how these got accumulated -- some were from general freebies and others were from the freebies kit that Innisfree gives you when you go over the 80USD (I think).
Well, I think this post has gone on for quite some time now....but the photos were too pretty to leave them unblogged about!
I'll be back in a couple of days with a travel post!
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