Sephora Pre-Summer Beauty Goodies

Don't call it a comeback...

Wow, it's been about six months since I'd last blogged. That's half a year! These days I really do feel that time goes by quickly. Luckily it's now June and summer is almost officially here!!

I would apologize for being away for so long, but truthfully...that's just the way it is and has to be. I will say though that I've missed blogging and although I'll probably never be a consistent blogger who posts weekly, bi-weekly, or perhaps not even monthly, I will post whenever I have time. I don't blog for a living and I don't intend to do so. I just want to be able to blog for the sheer pleasure of it.

With that said...it's been almost equally as long since I'd last hauled makeup. *gasp* Right? That's crazy talk! Of course, I have plenty of makeup, even with giving away or tossing out unused or unloved items regularly. Anyway, I felt the need for some retail therapy and feel quite happy with my most recent Sephora haul (part of it acquired during the last VIB sale).

I'm glad I can post a teaser of my goodies with you so that I can finally start using them, keke.

Etude House and Gmarket Haul

Hi everyone! Wow, a whole month has flown by since my last post. I truly apologize that I haven't had time to post as often as I'd like. Please understand and I will try to post whenever I can, although it will probably be very infrequent compared to before.

This past month, Etude House had a 30% off winter sale! Korean brands like Etude House have their own mini shops on Gmarket (search for 에뛰드하우스★직영샵). I try to check Gmarket's beauty calendar at the beginning of every month to see which brands are having sales. Another thing I do is follow Facebook pages for Korean beauty brands like Etude House, because if the brand is having a sale in Korea, often it will also have the same sale on Gmarket! Shopping the sales can be a great way to accommodate the shipping costs, especially for the U.S.

Here is my beautiful haul! It looks small but took a lot of thought and will power to only buy what was "necessary," keke.

SkinFood Haul

Hi everyone! I have missed you all so much! Where did the last three weeks go?! They just flew by, without leaving me a moment to blog. Aside from my makeup artistry class, I also started a new side job which has been taking up most of my free time. I'm really sorry I just disappeared but I simply didn't have the time. Please forgive me? I will try to make time for blogging. *fingers crossed*

Moving on...as you may already know, SkinFood is one of the most popular affordable skin care brands in Korea. Aside from being very affordable (as in drugstore prices; each item below cost less than $20 USD), they have really cute packaging for all their many skin care lines, the most popular of which is probably the Peach Sake line. I have tried some of their products, which have varied between hit-or-miss for me, but I just couldn't resist the attractive pricing and packaging while I was in Korea.

Without further ado, I present to you my SkinFood haul!

Eyes, Lips, Face - Massive ELF Haul

Whether you love or hate e.l.f. products, there's no denying that they are super affordable. Since I'm taking a makeup artistry class, I wanted to have a separate set of brushes and makeup kit to use on others. Of course, I could use the brushes I already have since diligent sanitation is always required, but I have my reasons and like having separate sets.

Tammy was kind enough to let me know there was a 50% off discount code not advertised on the website and I went click happy! e.l.f. products are already really affordable with most of the items I wanted, but slashing half off was awesome. I haven't tried a lot of e.l.f. products but with the sale, it was hard to resist since if I didn't like a product, the average price I'd spent on it was only $1.50 or $3!

Summer Swimwear Sale at Victoria's Secret

It's that time again...you know, when you (or at least I) browse through the catalogue of sexy, curvy yet slim Victoria's Secret models with their stellar abs. *sigh* Oops but I digress...I meant to say, lookie at the swimsuits I got from the Victoria's Secret sale! It's still going on now so if you want new swimwear, check it out (and don't feel too bad if you don't have a killer body like those models, keke).

Korean Musical, Kpop and Random Hauls in Seoul

While I was in Seoul, I got to watch the Korean production of the Broadway musical, "Catch Me If You Can" ("?? ? ?? ? ?"), starring Key from SHINee. *squeals* Okay okay, admittedly Key's not one of my favorites from my favorite group, but it was still cool that I could watch him perform live. Basically, see him in person and hear him sing live!

The musical took place at Blue Square, Samsung Card Hall, in Hannam-dong, Seoul.

Etude House Haul and SHINee

Without further ado, I present to you...the beautiful unveiling of my Etude House haul from Myeongdong. Please be forewarned that this post is extremely picture heavy and also filled with lots of pink.

Ahhh the glory...

Their latest hot item for spring is the Dear My Blooming Lips-Talk lipstick. Long story short, I ended up with two gift sets, enticed by the SHINee notebooks they came with.

The Body Shop Gives Joy

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone!!  Did you spend the holiday and time off with your family and loved ones?  Eat lots until you could do nothing but laze around, and then hate yourself for it when you stepped on the scale?  Shop the Black Friday sales and scour the Cyber Monday ads until you're sure you need another job just to pay for all of your spending?  Don't worry, I won't judge you! ^_^



Surprisingly, I haven't done that much shopping this weekend...yet (it's still not quite over), but I will report back to you if I do!

Sephora Friends & Family Goodies

Late like a white rabbit but here is what I ended up getting from the Sephora Friends and Family Sale with the one-time-use 20% off code.

The Body Shop Body Butter Sale

This is a boring post, secretly (or not so secretly) I could call it the "I skipped dinner even though I'm hungry to blog" post, or the "No, I didn't go to IMATS even though everyone else did" post...but I won't. ;)

About a month or so ago I missed the Groupon $40 for $20 Body Shop deal (*kicks self*), but luckily I was able to catch the Memorial Day online sale and now there's another sale.

Buy 3 Get 2 Or Buy 2 Get 1 FREE Sale, annnnnnd $10 Select Body Butter or Body Scrub Sale

H2O+ Green Tea Products Sale and Reviews

Hi...remember me? *sheepish grin* I've been away for a while, doing other things...but like always, I come back.

I wanted to do this review since H20+ currently has a clearance sale with all of their green tea products marked at 40% off. So, if you've ever been interested in trying them, now's a great time! Also, they usually have a code for free shipping (I think on orders over $50, I see their ads a lot on other blogs and websites), but I can't seem to find the code. =\

I'd bought these products the last time they were on sale for 40% off, back around late November/December.

H2o+ Urban Defense Facial Cleansing Milk, Green Tea Antioxidant Face Complex, Green Tea Reviving Eye Cream, and Green Tea Antioxidant Serum

IMATS and A Piece of Me in July 2010

Last weekend a friend from SF was in town and invited me to go to IMATS. Seeing as I missed it last year, I decided to check it out.

Sabon Goodness and 20% Off Sale

I hate to do this to you...but I just popped over to the Sabon® NYC website and saw this:

Sabon 20% Off Sale (Online Only)

Christmas Humor and More Pics from My Swap with Yume-chan

Merry Christmas if you're on the other side of the world!!This is a super long post! Sowwie.

"I told the witch doctor I was in love with you, I told the witch doctor you didn't love me too, and then the witch doctor he told me what to do, he said ohh to the eee the ooh the ah ah, to the thing to the tang, walah walah bing bang!"

Do you know where that's from? HINT: "ALVINNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!" haha yes, the damn song was stuck in my head yesterday and it's from the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks. I thought I wouldn't like the movie but I tivoed it and it's grown on me. I like listening to it in the background as I wrap gifts or do other things. My favorite scene of the movie is the Christmas scene where the chipmunks give their gifts to Dave, it goes something like this:

Preview: My First Japanese Swap with Yume-chan!!

I am sleepy but I just wanted to post a quick entry about my first swap! It started out with me asking Yumeko about KATE eyeshadow palettes last month and turned into a super swap! I was so excited to receive my parcel in the mail today. It feels like Christmas, totally made my day and made up for the not-so-great mood I was in yesterday.

Weekend Goodies

I went to Mitsuwa yesterday where everything was 20% off! (Excluding alcohol, cigs & dairy products. 20% off sale is this weekend only, so you can still go today!)

I also took my nephew with me for the first time and he loves Mitsuwa. We were there for over an hour, maybe close to two hours. He even bought himself 2 wooden swords! They are black and pretty nice...real life size. He told me he's going to use one for his Halloween costume next year. (Sorry...I didn't take any pics of his swords, haha.)

Here are the goodies I got!

Shiseido White Tsubaki Shampoo & Conditioner...I've been eying this for months!

i heart Japanese goodies

Warning: Picture overload AND kawaii overload. Proceed with caution.

Yesterday this Japanese + beauty product-crazed gal dedicated her time to doing serious damage at Marukai, Ohayo USA and Nijiya.

I started off with lunch at Sushi Boy inside Marukai, enjoyed a Rainbow Roll and Washington Roll...washed down with candy-flavored apple juice....mmm.