Starting the year off with the very first beauty-related post of 2016, which is a makeup and skincare acquisitions post! I haven't done a post like this in a while, since I've become more mindful of the things I buy. These items were bought around late last year, and not all at the same time. I happened to have a lot of stuff by the end of the year, so I thought I'd share them with you, and do some super-quick reviews while I'm at it!
VDL Perfecting Last Foundation in V402
One of my favorite beauty items in 2015 was VDL's Perfecting Last Foundation—I received a sample when I first visited the VDL store in ATC, tried it, loved it. I loved it so much I that I used that tiny sample as sparingly as I could. I told myself I'd get a full bottle once I ran out of my favorite Colorstay, so I went out and bought it as a year-end present to myself. Turns out, that the shade that I got wasn't the same as the one in the sample. It looked the same when I swatched it, so I only realized it as I was applying it on my face. I went back to the store after a couple of days to exchange it, but they didn't have stocks of my shade left. Sigh.VDL Real Skin Foundation in M01
Sooo, because they didn't have my shade of foundation, the SA suggested that I buy this foundation, which is two shades lighter than the one I bought, to mix with it. I went along with her suggestion. It's a good thing VDL was on sale, since buying two bottles at full price would be crazy for me! As a bonus, they gave me a ton of samples of the Perfecting Last. (I still have about 29 samples as of this writing, haha.) I haven't tried it on my bare face as it's too light for me, but the Real Skin has much lighter coverage than Perfecting Last.
O.S.T. Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum
In K-beauty there are always certain items that are almost always sold out everywhere.. this is one of them. It's a highly–raved about item that received numerous awards in 2013 and 2014. I've been using it since 2016 started, but I haven't properly looked at my face in the mirror yet, so I can't tell you if it's effective or not. I'll do a review after a month or so.COSRX BHA Blackhead Power Liquid + AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid
Sometime last year I stumbled upon this thread on the Asian Beauty Reddit, where they talk about the pH of cleansers and how it affects your skin's moisture barrier. I got so engrossed in this ~*~science of skincare~*~ business that I eventually found threads where they talk about chemical exfoliation. I've been dealing with my acne scars ever since high school, and nothing's really worked, so I thought, why not? COSRX's BHA and AHA offerings were much cheaper than most brands' (Paula's Choice, Mizon), so I was able to buy both. As for how effective they are, I'll do the review next time as well.
Hada Labo Shirojyun Arbutin Lotion
I ran out of my Gokujyun Lotion just before the year ended, so I bought this as a replacement. I'm a bit disappointed in myself for not buying my Hada Labo things while we were in KL, but I didn't have any pocket money with me when I went. This cost me about P700, but in KL they were selling this for ~P500. Sigh. (And oh, if you were wondering why my bottle doesn't have its signature blue label, it's because this happened.)Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence
As part of my skincare goal, I finally went and bought sunscreen. I have issues with sunscreen being sticky when applied, so when I read the rave reviews, I got really curious. High SPF and doesn't feel gross underneath layers of makeup? Yes please. Coincidentally, it's also Cosme's #1 sunscreen for 2015!ARITAUM Pore Master Sebum Control Primer
I needed a new primer as I ran out of my Canmake one, but couldn't find a good affordable one online. I saw this while I was buying K-beauty stuff, and I read one blog saying it could be considered a dupe of Benefit's POREfessional. I thought I'd give it a go since it was only ~P400. If you're looking for sebum control, this is just okay. What this primer is really good at is blurring pores, so if you're looking for something that can do just that, you can check this one out.
Etude House Look At My Eyes Cafe in BR403 Caramel Latte
I was torn between waiting for local Etude stores to get the In The Cafe palette, or just getting colors I want in singles. In the end I decided to go with the latter, since I might not use all the colors in the palette anyway. Just as the name says, it's a matte caramel brown color that's good as an all-over color.Etude House Look At My Eyes in BR402 Takeout Without Syrup
I got confused because apparently Look At My Eyes shadows are different from Look At My Eyes Cafe ones. The former are shimmery while the latter are matte. But I've been seeing this color for a while now, so I was 100% sure about getting it. It's a warm reddish-brown color that I really like. It's shimmery, but the wearable kind. (Also, for some reason you can't see the shimmers from my swatch.) I'll try to do a look with this next time. These days I always reach for this because it's great for a lazy one color shadow look.Etude House Drawing Eye Brow in #6 Black
The only reason why I was even at Etude House. I got sick of seeing my eyebrows looking brown in photos, so I wanted a black eyebrow pencil. How I ended up buying two pans of eyeshadow, I have no idea.Visée Glossy Rich Eyes in PK-2
Stumbled upon this while browsing an IG account selling pre-loved stuff. Super impulse buy, but I don't regret it. It was only P150! And it's so pretty. Plus it's Cosme's #1 eyeshadow for 2015! I do have a bit of trouble getting the pink to show up on my eyes, but that's probably just because of my lack of eyeshadow skills.
VDL Festival Lipstick Love Mark in 302 Marcus
Freebies from VDL. I bought the foundations at two separate times, and I received the same freebie during both. The color...how do I even describe this? A sort of plum/rose color. I can't describe it since I don't normally reach for these types of colors. I tried it and it looked nice, even on me. I'm not sure if I should keep one though, because I rarely wear this color anyway.ARITAUM Color Lasting Tint in 02 Baby Wink
My first ever ARITAUM tint. I got curious ever since I watched this episode of Saeun's HiddenTem, where she chose it as the best lip tint because of the staying power and finish. When she said that it was moisturizing, I wanted to try it immediately. Luckily, I found it on a trusted source of K-beauty goods. This was the only color left that wasn't pink, so I got it. It still looks a bit pink when first applied, but it looks nice once blended out. Also it looks orange-y on me, so it's fine. I love it.A'PIEU Bebe Lips Glossy in GRD01
Glossy lip tint in stick form. It's not super glossy, just that it's not matte. The color is a blue-based red that looks pink on me, so I'm not that fond of it. I only like it because of the cute pen packaging.Nichido Juicy Lips in Pink Champagne
Given to me as a gift. It looks more red in that swatch but it's actually more pink in real life. It's not a pink that I'd normally wear. Weirdly enough, on my lips it looks softer and more LARME-ish.Maybelline Baby Lips Electro Lip Balm in Berry Bomb
Bought this because I was almost out of my current Baby Lips. I considered getting my usual mint one, but I thought I should try other flavors, so I picked up this berry one. Wrong move, because I found out afterwards that it was tinted and has a scent that doesn't sit well with me. Sigh. If I'd known it was tinted, I would've just gotten the orange one!Hello Kitty Lip Cream P
I got this as a gift from Laura. It's so cute! Ashley and I both got one. I didn't want to open it yet because I'd just opened my new Baby Lips, but I got curious so I tried it anyway. It's just as the packaging says, a lip cream. Super faint pink tint. It says peach, but I can't remember if it's peach-flavored or just peach-scented. It glides on well, and it goes great with my lip tints. More importantly, the scent doesn't bother me as much as the berry Baby Lips, so I might just use this once I run out of my mint Baby Lips.
Last but not least, masks and samples! I have APIEU Green Recipe Sheet Mask (Apple), Innisfree It's Real Squeeze Mask (Strawberry), Coenzyme Q10 Mask, Etude House BB Cream samples, and a ton of samples of the VDL Lumilayer Primer and Perfecting Last Foundation. The Innisfree mask and the BB Cream samples were gifts from Hanie. All the others were freebies. Love how K-beauty stores are so generous with freebies!
And that's it! I said in the beginning that I was only going to do some quick reviews, but this ended up becoming longer than I thought. Actually, I got the idea to do quick reviews from Allie, who did one before. I might do more of these in the future, in between longer reviews and such.
Have you tried any of these products before? Any you'd like to try? Like I said, I'll still make detailed reviews of some of these, so if there's anything you're particularly interested in, just let me know! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿
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