Korean Beauty Haul | Jolse & Memebox

As I've mentioned before, I'm catching up on my hauls from this year before the year is over.  So this time it is a Korean beauty haul from Jolse and Memebox.  For those that don't know, Jolse and Memebox are two well know places where you can purchase a variety of Korean beauty and skincare products.  Memebox is based in San Francisco while Jolse is from Korea.  There are pros and cons to both of the websites, but I will get into that in a future post about where I've purchased Korean products from before.  

I honestly don't remember when these were purchased but I think it's from the second half of this year.  These are all the products that I've been dying to get my hands on for a while now and I decided to grab them while the websites had some sort of sales on them.

First up is this little tool from Etude House called the Lovely Etti Hair Band.  If any one has ever searched the rasianbeauty hashtag on instagram before, I'm sure you've come across a handful of people wearing these head bands with cat ears sticking out of them while doing some sort of face mask.  These things are so adorable and I've been lusting after them for a while.  I purchased this off of Jolse when they had a sale... for Labor Day I believe.  I decided to grab one for myself and one for my sister since my grandfather now calls her "meow meow."

The Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask was purchased off of Memebox.  This is another product that has been raved about in the rasianbeauty community and I just had to try it out for myself.  It is a clay mask that bubbles when exposed to oxygen (or something like that).  So when you apply a clay mask on but it starts to bubble on your face.  The Holika Holika Soda PoreCleansing Oxygen Bubble Mask was just something I was curious about.  I haven't seen it on a lot of other website and saw it on Jolse so I decided to grab it before I can't find it anywhere anymore.  I think the reason I was really curious about this was I really want to clean my pores and try to get rid of some blackheads, and I was curious on how it compares with the Elizavecca clay mask.

As usual, you get a variety of samples with your purchases.  I am really happy to see that I have another sample of the TonyMoly Panda's Dream White Hand Cream!  I actually really like the scent of it and will definitely purchase a full size of it in the future.

Have you guys tried any of these products before?  What is the latest product you've purchased that you're excited about?

Beautynetkorea Haul #2

Today I am here with a SUPER old haul from beautynetkorea.  How old you ask?  Well I made the order back in mid-February... Yah I'm just catching up with my hauls from 2015 before the year ends... 

Like I've mentioned in my first haul, the shipping for this website is free but that means the prices are a little bit higher than websites that don't offer free shipping.  The products are shipped directly from Korea, which means it takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks to get here (California).  I think that's the only con of buying from these websites that ships directly from Korea; I want these products to play with immediately!

The products I purchased:

• Holika Holika Baby Silky Foot One Shot Feeling
• Secret Key Gold Premium First Eye Patch
• TonyMoly BCDATION in shade Natural Beige
• Welcos Merit Killing Me Zombie CC Cream Set
• TonyMoly Panda's Dream Eye Patch
• Holika Holika Pig Nose Clear Black Head Perfect Sticker

As with almost any Korean product purchases, I got a handful of free samples!

• TonyMoly Panda's Dream Eye Patch
• Holika Holika Wine Therapy Sleeping Mask in Red Wine
• TonyMoly Intense Care Dual Effect Sleeping Pack
• Missha Time Revolution Immortal Youth Cream
• TonyMoly Panda's Dream White Hand Cream
• Skinfood Broccoli Toner

Is it sad to say I've only tried two things out of the whole haul?  I've tried the eye patch several times and I can't really say how I feel about it yet because the scent bothers me to the point where I can only have it on my face for several minutes before I take it off.  And the other thing I tried was the sample of TonyMoly hand cream (whch you'll see in my upcoming empties post), and I really like it to the point where I almost purchased it at Sephora for a lot more than I would have paid for on beautynetkorea.  

What are some of Korean skincare/make up things you guys have picked up recently and how are you liking them?

Unboxing | Target Beauty Box November 2015

I'm back today with another Target beauty box unboxing.  This box was released on Thanksgiving night or Black Friday and was sold out relatively quickly!  I'm so glad I got my hands on it before it sold out.  

This particular box was $10 and came with 8 products.  I would say the contents of this box total to be more than $10 so the box was a great deal again.

Like always, it came in a black box with red tissue paper.  It also came with a card that tells you what the products are and a coupon for $3 off of $15 beauty purchase at target that expires in January.

The products that were included in this box are:

• Maybelline Push Up Drama Mascara in Blackest Black
• Goody Ouchless Elastics Sweat Stretch
• CoverGirl Star Wars Lipstick in shade 30
• CeraVe Eye Repair Cream
• Laneige Water Bank Moisture Cream
• Olay Microsculpting Cream
• Pacifica Love3 Eye Shadow Trio in Natural Mineral
• Hair Food Dry Shampoo

Like always with these Target beauty boxes, you got to see what the products on target's page before you make the purchase.  For this box, I was excited to see that they had the Laneige cream, CoverGirl Star Wars lipstick, CereVe eye cream, and the dry shampoo by Hair Food.  The price of the mascara and the lipstick together is already well over $10, so this box was well worth the $10.  

Did you order this box as well?  If so, what product(s) are you most excited about?

ELF Haul

Today I am here with a SUPER old elf order of mine.  I made this order back in February of this year when they were having a 50% off sale site wide or something, which is why I don't have a lot of their newer products such as their Gotta Glow Lip Tint, or their new brushes, or their new tinted lip balms.  But the products I picked up were new-ish back in February and I wanted to post about all of my 2015 hauls before the year ends. 

This order consisted of some of the things I was eyeing from ELF for a while and finally made an order and took advantage of a great deal.  Like I said, most of these products were new to me but have been released by ELF for a while now.  

The products that I picked up were:

• Moisturizing Lipstick in Rosy-Go-Round
• Moisturizing Lipstick in Wine Tour
• Lip Balm Tint in Nude
• Lip Balm Tint in Peach
• BB Cream SPF20 in Buff
• Pressed Mineral Blush in Sweet Retreat
• Blush in Tickled Pink
• EX-tra Lip Gloss in Luke
• Matte Lip Color in Wine
• Matte Lip Color in Cranberry

So far I have played around with all the lip products but haven't really touched the face products yet.  

Have you tried any of these products before?  Also, what are some of the newer ELF products you have been eyeing recently?

Sephora Favorites: Beauty Sleep

So I have to confess, I've been spending a lot of money at Sephora recently that I've just became a VIB member this week since joining beauty insider 4 years ago.  I don't know if I should be happy about this new status or be ashamed that I spent a good amount of money at that store this year.  I have to say, some of my favorite things to buy at sephora, aside from the products checkout line, are their Sephora Favorites sets.  

I'm a huge fan of the Sephora Favorites sets because you get to try out so many different high end products for a fraction of the cost.  And today I am here to talk about this Beauty Sleep set from Sephora that I can't seem to find online anymore.  It was available a month ago, right before the VIB sales but I don't know if they sold out or discontinued it.  It seems like it's a great set and a lot of people would be interested in it.  

Unlike my previous Sephora Favorites sets, this set is not exclusive to Sephora inside JCPenney, and it does not come with a makeup bag.  Instead it comes packaged in a gold cardboard box and had the blue sleeve over it.  The products fit snuggly in the box and they seem pretty secured in there.  

This set comes with:

• Origins High Potency Night-A-Mins Mineral-Enriched Renewal Cream
• Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil (0.24 oz)
• Ole Henriksen Invigorating Night Treatment (0.25 oz)
• Korres Wild Rose + Vitamin C Advanced Brightening Sleeping Facial (0.51 oz)

The main reason why I purchased this was to try out Sunday Riley's Luna.  I've heard so many people talk about it and have seen so many people post about it on instagram.  Unfortunately I don't have $100+ to spend on a full size so when I saw this kit with the sample size, I knew I had to get my hands on it.  I've never tried any of these products before but I love the concept of overnight skin treatments because you can just put it on and not have to worry about anything until the morning (and because I'm lazy).  Unfortunately I won't be trying these for a while because I'm still recovering from a horrible hormonal breakout but you can bet I will definitely write about my two cents on these products when I do try them out!

Did you get a chance to snatch this set up when it was available?  Have you tried any of Sunday Riley's products before?

Sephora Favorites: Skin Wonderland

Today I'm back with another Sephora Favorites set exclusively from Sephora inside JCPenney.  If you guys can't tell, I'm a huge fan of these sephora favorites set that are more skincare related and have purchased several of these throughout the year.  I know Sephora put out a bunch of these favorites set throughout the year as well but for some reason, I'm just not that drawn to them.  Maybe it's the fact that they don't come with a makeup bag or the fact that they're a bit more on the pricey side.

This time around, the set was a bit more expensive at $39 but it came with 11 products + a makeup bag.  I believe I wanted the set for the mainly for the FAB cream, Fresh Sugar lip balm, Glam Glow mask, Kate Somerville Exfolikate, and Josie Maran whipped argan oil body butter.  But more on the products later.

I was kind of disappointed that the bag that came with this set isn't as cute as those of the previous sets.  I feel like they were going with the holiday theme-ish bag so we got this light gold bag that resembles a worn leather.  I wish it were a different design but I can't really complain.  

The products that were included in this set are:

• Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm (7 ml)
• Peter Thomas Roth Rose Stem Cell Bio Repair Mask (15 g)
• Boscia Detoxifying Black Cleanser (30 ml)
• Shiseido Ultimate Power Infusing Concentrate (15 ml)
• Marula Pure Beauty Oil Foaming Cleansing Oil (30 ml)
• Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment (2.2 g)
• First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream (1 oz)
• Glamglow Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment (15 g)
• Ole Henriksen Truth Serum Collagen Booster (0.33 fl oz)
• Kate Somerville Skincare Exfolikate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment (15 ml)
• Josie Maran Cosmetics Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter in Apricot Vanilla (2 fl oz)

Like I've mentioned above, I really wanted the Fresh sugar lip treatment in this kit for some odd reason.  (Yes, I am aware that a full size of the lip treatment would have cost less than this kit but this kit comes with so many other products!)  As always, I went straight to Sephora inside JCPenney after I heard about the existence of this kit and took it home with me without a hesitation.  I swear these Sephora Favorites sets from SiJCP are my weakness!  Whenever I see a new one, especially the skincare related sets, I have to go and get it.  I think it's a great way to venture into the high end skincare products that Sephora has to offer.  

Did you manage to get this set?  If so, what products are you most excited about?

First Aid Beauty | Peace, Joy & Fab Set

Today I am here to tell you guys about an awesome set from First Aid Beauty that is currently available at Sephora!  The Peace, Joy & Fab is the holiday set from First Aid Beauty that is an amazing deal that include five products that are worth twice the value of the set!

I decided to split this set with my sister since she was running low on her Ultra Repair Cream and wanted the Facial Radiance Pads as well.  I love the Face Cleanser and is always up to try the mist and a new sleeping cream.  So this set was perfect for us to split.  

The set comes with:

• Vitamin Hydrating Mist (2.0 oz) $16
• Face Cleanser (2.0 oz) $10
• Facial Radiance Pads (28x) $15
• Ultra Repair Hydra-Firm Sleeping Cream (1.7 oz) $38
• Ultra Repair Cream (6 oz) $30

If you add up all the values of the products, it ends up being $109, which is half the price of the set ($54).  If you love First Aid Beauty products, I would recommend this set to you!  It is such a good deal to buy this set because all the products are essentially half of the price if you were planning to buy them individually.  I'm really excited to try out the mist and the sleeping mask but unfortunately I won't be getting around to them for a bit; my face has been breaking out from unconfirmed reasons and I don't want to introduce new products to it yet.

With Black Friday around the corner, is this one of the products that will be going home with you?

Collective Haul: September & October 2015

Today I am back with another collective (aka HUGE) haul.  I wanted to stress that this was the results of buying random things throughout the months of September and October.  I was on a spending ban for the month of August, and I will do a super late update on that coming up soon.  Anyways, these are the products I picked up the past two months.

Like my last collective haul, I will be breaking up the haul into different sections.  And as you will see later on in the post, I've been on a huge nail polish kick.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to post swatches up here soon!

Skincare products: 

• First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser
• First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream
• Pixi Glow Tonic Exfoliating Toner
• Nip + Fab Bee Sting Fix Lifting Mask
• Yest to Blueberries Face & Neck Oil
• Formula 10.0.6 Get Your Glow On Tightening Peel Off Mask

Body Products:

• Bath and Body Works French Lavender Honey Shower Gel
• Bath and Body Works Pink Chiffon Shower Gel
• Bath and Body Works Pink Chiffon Fragrance Mist

Lip products: 

• Sonia Kashuk Liquid Lipstick in Vintage Wine
• Sonia Kashuk Matte Lipstick in Crushed Petal
• Makeup Revolution lipstick in Rebel with Cause

Random: 

• Softlips Cube in Passion Fruit
• Maybelline Volum' Express Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara in Very Black

And now a crazy selection of nail polishes I've managed to get my little hands on... #sorrynotsorry

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy: 

• Diamond Top Coat
• Ace of Spades

Orly: 

• Mirrorball

Chinaglaze: 

• Take a Hike
• Ruby Pumps
• Fairy Dust
• Sleeping Under the Stars

Sinful Colors: 

• Sinful Shine Top Coat
• Sinful Shine Haute Shine
• Rich in Heart
• Aubergine
• Ruby Gusten

Sooo... That was a pretty big haul, that's really heavy on nail polish.  For some odd reason I've really been on a nail polish kick and I like to buy nail polishes but I haven't found a good time to paint my nails.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to paint them soon and put swatches up!  (Especially of Orly's Mirrorball!).  And so far for the month of November, I've only purchased 5 things... and I hope it stays under 10...

What are some of the things you guys have purchased recently?

Empties | 2015 Vol. 2

This is a really belated empties post that was meant to go up sometime in September... and as we can all see, that never happened.  Anyways, the products in this post were used up during the months of May to August of this year and sadly I only used a few more items than I did in my previous empties post.  

Like usual, I've separated the items into different categories, starting off with packet products.

Packet products:

• Up&Up Cotton Rounds.  Purchased this at Target and it seems like a regular cotton rounds.  Nothing extraordinary, but goes on sale often at Target so it makes it really easy to stock up during the sales.
  Repurchase?  Bought multiple of these cotton rounds when it was on sale.  Might not repurchase after I finish using them, only because I want to try some from Korean brands.
• My Beauty Diary Strawberry Yogurt Mask.  This is one of my older sheet masks that I want to get through before they get bad.  The mask came with a lot of essence, which is nice, but I remembered the actual mask being really poorly fitted.  The piece between the nose and the mouth was really awkward and just didn't sit will on my face.  I don't remember if it did anything spectacular to my face since it's been a while.
  Repurchase?  Most likely to try again in the future if/when I get through my collection of sheet masks.
• Garnier Ultra-Lift Miracle Sleeping Cream.  I received this sample in my spring walmart beauty box.  The packet contained enough product for me to use at least three times, which was really nice.  It honestly seems like a regular cream that they just marketed as night cream.  I did like the thin texture of it and luckily my face did not break out from it!
  Repurchase?  Have already purchased the full size using the coupon that came with the sample.
• Simple Micellar Cleansing Water.  This was a wasted sample because I thought the sample would come in a small bottle that I could use multiple times instead of a tiny rectangular cloth soaked in the micellar water.  So it's safe to say I wasn't expecting the cloth so I ended up wasting that sample.
  Repurchase?  Purchased the full size using the coupon that came with the sample.

Lotions and moisturizers:

• Nivea Extended Moisture.  I believe this came in one of the first Target beauty bags ages ago, that actually came with a makeup bag!  I used to use it as a hand cream, which took forever to use up so ended up using it as a body moisturizer and it went by a lot faster!  My sister was not a fan of the scent but I didn't mind it.  It had a thin texture and soaked into the skin relatively fast.  I still have another one of these samples but in a different scent somewhere in my collection.
  Repurchase?  Most likely not
• Lubriderm Advanced Therapy Lotion.  Wrote about my thoughts in my previous empties post.  Still feels the same about the product.  I thought I used this up pretty fast since I had it next to me at work and applied it several times throughout the day.  I'm currently on my last tube of it and it's almost done!
  Repurchase?  Nah, there are other ones in the market that I want to try.
• Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream.  This is one of those Youtuber-made-me-buy-it products.  I heard Tati and several other youtubers raving about it so it was only logical for me to go out and purchase some for myself.  Yes, you read that correctly... purchased some.  Anyways, I did not see it perform any life changing tricks on my legs but it did a nice job at moisturizing them.
  Repurchase?  Already have several of them in my collection.
• Bath and Body Works Fresh Picked Hand Cream in Strawberry.  This is actually the same product I went through in my first ever empties post.  I decided to go back and squeeze every drop of product from that tube, and there was quite a bit of products left in there!  I wish Bath and Body Works didn't discontinue it though; I don't even know if they even sell this line of products anymore, but it is one of my favorite hand cream ever!
  Repurchase?  Definitely would in a heart beat if I ever see it again!

Body washes:

• The Body Shop Sweet Lemon Shower Gel.  This was an older Christmas gift I received several years ago that also included a loofa and a body lotion with it.  I've already used the loofa but haven't gone through the body lotion yet.  I don't know if it's the current loofa I'm using but I don't remember this shower gel lathering up that much.
  Repurchase?  Would not go out of my way to purchase shower gels from The Body Shop, but if I ever see them on sale, I might purchase them.  
• Bath and Body Works Georgia Peach & Sweet Tea Shower Gel.  This is one of BBW's summer scent and it's one of my favorite out of the collection.   It smells like Peach but not quite full on fruity peach.  I found that this shower gel lathered up so much better than the one from The Body Shop.
  Repurchase?  I have a collection of these travel size BBW shower gels to go through!

Miscellaneous products:

• Elf Brush.  This is the brush that came with Elf's cream liner.  The liner dried up ages ago and I've been using this brush to clean up my manicures.  It does a decent job but I didn't take care of it well so it started shedding and I decided to retire it and purchase another elf brush as a replacement.
  Repurchase?  I don't think I'll be purchasing the Elf cream liner just for the brush, but might purchase it to try it out in the future if I ever get into cream eyeliners.  
• Aussie 3 Minute Miracle.  This is probably my most used hair mask and it's the most affordable one too!  I really love how you only need 3 minutes for this compared to 5-15 minutes for other hair mask.  It's really convenient for me to just put it on and put my hair up into a bun while I wash the rest of my body.  And by the time I'm done washing the rest of my body, I can just rinse this out and be all done.
  Repurchase?  Already have and will buy more once I run out.

Face products:

• Garnier Clean+ Purifying Foam Cleanser.  This face was took forever to use up!  I thought the bottle was interesting because it seems like you would push down on the pump to get the product out, but you actually squeeze the body of the bottle.  It comes out as a foam and cleansed my face alright.  I don't think it left my face feeling dry, but I could be wrong since I finished this 5 months ago.
  Repurchase?  Most likely won't because I like to try out different products.  
• Nasarang Rose Balancing Toner.  I received this in my first ever memebox and I really enjoyed using this.  It felt like a very light moisturizer and absorbed into my skin relatively fast.  I don't remember the scent bothering me at all, so it must not have been a strong scent.  I remembered feeling sad when I finished using this product.
  Repurchase?  Most likely not but it was nice to use when I had it.
• Verikos Advanced Power Tightening Cream.  Another product I received in my first memebox!  This was a thicker product, kind of like a mixture of gel and cream and had a light lemony scent which I liked.  I don't think I observed any tightening properties but it was a nice cream to layer on top of my other skincare products.
  Repurchase?  Probably won't because I don't need anything with tightening properties yet and I like to try different things.

So, I'm quite embarrassed that I only used up 15 products from May to August.  It was a little bit more than the first four months of the year but it's still shameful.  I really don't know how many more products I'll be able to finish by the end of the year but I'm really embarrassed that I'll be using up less than 50 products for the year of 2015.  I'll definitely have the total count along with the next set of empties up either at the end of December or beginning of January.  And hopefully I'll be able to go through more products in 2016.

What are some of the products you've gone through recently?  Did it take longer than you had expected to go through those products?

Unboxing | Target Beauty Box October 2015

Another day, another unboxing.  This time it's the Target Beauty Box from October 2015!  (I'm only a few weeks late... right?)  

I wasn't planning on getting this box until I saw the content of the box.  This time around, the box was $10, instead of the usual $5 or $7, but it also came with 10 different products!  What made the box sweeter was that one of the product in there alone retail for almost $20 so that's definitely a good deal.... right?

I definitely love Target's black box and red tissue paper together!  The box also came with a card had a list of products inside, along with a $5 off coupon for $15 purchase, which I already used for something!  

This box came with:

• Revlon Colorstay Ultimate Suede Lipstick in Backstage
• Roc Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream
• Hello Supermint Fluoride Toothpaste
• Skinfix Ultra Rich Body Butter
• Acure Organics Moroccan Argan Oil + Argan Stem Cell Triple Moisture Shampoo
• Acure Organics Moroccan Argan Oil + Argan Stem Cell Triple Moisture Conditioner
• CoverGirl Intensify Me Eye Liner in Intense Black
• Olly Undeniable Beauty Grapefruit Glam Vitamin Gummies
• Goody SlideProof Flat Elastics 
• S.W. Basics Exfoliant

The two products that had me interested in this box was the Skinfix body butter and the Roc product.  I believe they advertised a Roc eye cream but I received a deep wrinkle night cream instead.  I don't really have a use for the night cream right now but I might give it to my mom, who will get a better use out of it.  I'm really happy with the shade of the lipstick I received; it was a nice darker red shade, and not some crazy bright pink that I would never wear.

This box was a steal for me because I can see myself using every single one of these products, except for the night cream which will be going to my mom!  Did you end up getting this Target box as well?  Do you think Target will put out a possible Holiday themed box?  

Unboxing | Walmart Fall 2015 Beauty Box

Ahhhh! A super late unboxing of Walmart's Fall 2015 beauty box.  My apologies but I guess I'll always have these unboxing posts up late... I'll definitely work on that next year!

So about Walmart's beauty box.  It is $5, or I think it's free but with $5 shipping fee, and they send you a box ever season.  This is my 5th box, so I've been subscribed to this service since it first released a year ago!  I have to say, the boxes have been a hit or a miss within the year, but this particular one is definitely one of the better ones!

The fall 2015 beauty box came super packed and I was surprised to see that there was a nice mixture of trial size products and sample packs.

Sample packs:

• Crest 3D White Professional Polish
• Nivea Extended Moisture Body Lotion
• Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer
• Biore Self Heating One Minute Mask

Beauty-ish Samples:

• Aveeno Positively Radiance Daily Moisturizer
• Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes
• Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara

Random:

• Schick Hydro Silk Disposable razor
• Aussie Mega Hairspray
• ACT Avaced Care Plaque Guard Mouthwash
• Dove Advanced Care deodorant 

I know I've been on the fence about this box for the past few seasons now but I think Walmart is definitely stepping up and this is one of their best boxes yet!  I definitely can see myself using all of these products and I'm really happy that there was a nice range of different types of products included.  (It also helped that this is the most amount of products they've given in their box too!)  I hope they keep this up, especially now that Sephora is starting to launch their own subscription box, and Target has been stepping their beauty box game by releasing almost one a month lately!

Are you guys subscribed to Walmart's Beauty Box?  If so, are you a fan of the products that are included in this box?  If not, are you thinking of subscribing to it?

Where Did I Go...

So I kind of fell off the face of Earth, in terms of blogging wise, for the past three-ish months.  I just don't know what happened, besides life.  I was applying to a program in July, then found out I didn't make it in August and that kind of slapped me in the face.  I was hoping and counting on the fact that I would make it into the program and could get my life together but that didn't happened.  I guess that's what happened when you put all your eggs in one basket. 

Now I feel like my life is stuck in a rut and I don't know how to get out of it.  I've been quite bored with life and how it's all the same day in and day out, week after week, but I feel like I don't have the energy to try to change that.  I have been wanting to get back into blogging but I somehow always talk myself out of it, until now.  I always felt like my picture qualities aren't as good or what I'm writing is just random things people don't want to hear about, but I guess we all have to start somewhere and this is my start.  I have a handful of unboxings and hauls that will go up after this and I hope to get into more nails and reviews in the future.

Please look forward to me becoming more active on here and on my instagram!

Haul & Review | Insider Beauty

Today I am here with my tiny haul from InsiderBeauty when they had a sale about 1.5 weeks ago.  They were selling the oh-so-famous LeeJiHam's Tea Tree 90 Essence for $30 and had free shipping on orders $30 and more.  I thought I would take an advantage of this sale and try out the essence.  I purchased this right before I went on my spending ban, so I didn't break the ban!  Now I thought I would do a mini haul and a review of the customer service I received from InsiderBeauty.  

My package came with a little post card and all the items were wrapped neatly (unlike my attempt in the picture above) in a black tissue paper with a sticker of their logo in the center.  I was really impressed with the presentation.  

I was really surprised to find that not only was my product in a bubble wrap, they also took the time to gift wrap my product in a black tissue paper with their logo sticker.  I've ordered from many places online and have not had my products gift wrapped before, unless I specifically checked a box for that!

Now the packaging of the product was slightly damaged (bottom left corner) but that is definitely not their fault.  I'm pretty sure that happened during the transit and it's just the outside packaging that was damaged; the product inside was completely fine.  And let's be real, I'm only going to be keeping the packaging for the next few weeks until I start decluttering and throwing them away.  

Another thing I was really impressed with was the samples they included!  I know when you order Korean products from ebay sellers, you get a good amount of samples.  For some reason, I was not expecting to find any samples with my order and was completely surprised that they included some at the bottom of my package!  Now the samples that came with my order were:

• Leaders Insolution Coconut Gel Mask with Broccoli
• Primera Peeling Facial Mild sample
• Su:m 37 Water-full Timeless Water Gel Cream sample
• Primera Organience Emulsion sample

Now for the customer service part.  I placed the order Friday, July 31 in the morning and received a confirmation email within a few minutes.  Then I received a call with a number that I didn't recognize, so I didn't pick it up.  No voice mails were left but within a minute, I received an email from Angela saying that they've received my order but wanted me to call them back to verify some information before they can process my order because my card was flagged.  I called them back and they were so nice and asked me some questions to make sure I was the one who made that order.  

After we hung up, I received shipping confirmation within 5 minutes.  I was really impressed at how fast everything was being processed!  I have never received a shipment confirmation within 30 minutes of me placing an order before.  What was even more impressive was that I received the package, which was shipped to my sister... because I have asian parents who don't like it when I buy unnecessary things, on Monday, August 3!  The package was shipped from NY to CA over the weekend!

I am just completely impressed with InsiderBeauty, even though this review might not do them justice.  I would definitely recommend them to everyone who wants to try out Korean skincare and makeup products.  I will admit the selection of products they currently have is on the smaller side but I'm sure they'll expand with time.  

With that said, have you shopped from insiderbeauty before?  Also, what is your favorite place to buy Korean beauty and skincare products?

PS: Memebox is currently having a sale right now and LJH's Tea Tree Essence is $30 after the discount for those who want to try the essence as well!