K-Beauty Haul!~ (Tony Moly, Etude House)

K-beauty is annoyingly hard to come by in the UK. I mean, there is some about, but when I think k-beauty I think about two brands in particular: Tony Moly and Etude House. Ever seen any of that stuff here? Nope! But you know where does (just about) have it?! Malaysia! And guess where I spent my summer…? Okay I’ll just stop now… xD

As you can see, I didn’t really buy a lot, as even though stuff in Malaysia is notoriously wayyy cheaper than the UK, make-up (in my experience) isn’t. But still, it’s much cheaper than a) buying online from and paying insane shipping and import, or b) going to South Korea and buying the stuff in person, so yeah. 

Panda’s Dream So Cool Eye Stick Serum

SOS Care Pink Clay Therapy Pack

Brightening White Colour Clay Therapy Pack

Tony Moly has some of the cutest packaging I’ve ever seen and every time I see their stuff I wanna buy something random just because it’s so damn cute. Saying that though, their skin care apparently is pretty great. Their Panda’s Dream So Cool Eye Stick for example, besides being freaking adorable, actually works quite nicely for puffy under-eyes and is also pretty damn soothing during hay fever season in particular! And as for the clay therapy packs, well… my face is having major issues at the moment and could use some help. PLUS, have you seen the packaging?! So simple but oh my gah, I was sold as soon as I saw it! <3

Matte Chic Lip Lacquer in RD302 Seulgi Burgundy

Dear My Lips-Talk Case in #16 and #18

Dear My Glass Tinting Lips-Talk in GR701

Ahh, the Etude House stuff was super on-a-whim purchasing. For example, the Matte Chic Lip Lacquer I’d seen be talked about on YouTube, so I know there’s some hype surrounding it, but what made me choose to buy it? Embarrassingly, the fact that it’s a Red Velvet collab colour. And I guess I like like, two of their songs? Ha, random, I know, but that kind of spurred me on to just giving in and buying it. Plus, the colour is very nice!

[feat. RevolutionxEmily 'The Wants' palette + Etude House Matte Chic Lip Lacquer in Seulgi Burgundy]

As for the other lip things… to be honest, I was entirely sold on the idea of being able to customise your lip colour and case to the point where you can even get engraving done as a complimentary service, like so:

(oh my gah how cool is that?!?!??)

Pretty damn cool, right?? I thought so too!! ;D

So that’s all the k-beauty products I bought this time! I did want to buy some sheet masks as well, but in the end didn’t see the point as, like I said, this stuff isn’t easy (or even possible?) to find in the UK, so I’d end up with like, a week of nice skin and then never again? Eh, can’t be bothered, maybe next time if I can afford to buy in bulk!

BONUS: Also I spent so much at the Etude House store that they gave me some skin care freebies! Yay! =D

-Philippa. x

Note: Ah. So, I just got reminded that you can get Tony Moly at Selfriges... but like, that hardly counts, right? Personally I think that it's so expensive there that you might as well fly to France and just get it from Sephora! xP

Miss A Mini Haul! (and review?)~

Being as poor as I am, I don’t get to shop all that often. So instead I choose to live vicariously through others on YouTube posting their many haul videos and THUS, I discovered the gem that is shopmissa.com!

(sorry for the rubbish glare in the pic, but i really wanted to show off what little packaging i had left and there is next-to-no lighting in my room so flash was sadly a must!)

The real treasure about Miss A (particularly if you live in the US) is that everything, and I mean everything (well, sort of…) is $1! Oh my gah WHAT!? But that’s not all! According to the many review videos I have watched, the products, despite their unbelievable price point, are pretty damn decent too! Can this be true?! I decided to make a little purchase to find out for myself!

As you can see I only bought 5 items totalling at $5 (roughly £3.90) and at a glance they all look pretty promising…

AOA Scrubby Facial Cleansing Pad - $1 - available from Miss A (also available in other colours!)

AOA Brush Cleaning Egg - $1 - available from Miss A (also available in other colours!

AOA Hand Mirror - $1 - available from Miss A

While I haven't fully utilised these yet, I can say from at least playing around with the ‘tools’ (and by playing i mean touching and rubbing them…), the quality is really quite amazing for being so cheap - the hand mirror in particular - and while I have yet to use the face scrubby or the brush cleaner I have poked at more expensive equivalents in shops and these feel pretty darn comparable to those, especially the brush cleaner. One thing for sure is that they don't feel cheap.

AOA Wonder Metal Liquid Lipstick (in ‘Sleek’) - $1 - available from Miss A

AOA Wonder Matte Liquid Lipstick (in ‘Tease’) - $1 - available from Miss A

These beauties, however, I have already used and tested and they are the BOMB! Lame I used that terminology, but seriously, they’re great! I’m really sad I only bought two (and i will elaborate on why in a bit) but am really quite happy with the ones I did get so far. 

The metallic one is the slightly less awesome of the two, as it requires a little bit of work to get the coverage full and even, but is still a great colour, very metallic and does dry down completely matte! The other one however… ugh! I love it so much! The colour is absolutely gorgeous and despite looking more pink in the tube, once it fully dries down is more purplish in colour, which is right up my alley! The pigmentation and coverage is great, really easy to work with and again, this dries down matte and is completely budge-proof.

All in all, Miss A is one heck of a remarkable discovery and I am so happy to have found it! Not only are their products pretty darn decent*, but there’s tons of them too! From socks to hair accessories to brushes to individual eyeshadows, they have them all!

Now for the boring (but important) bit of this post. The reason I only bought 5 things, despite them all being so cheap and there being soooo much to choose from, is because of shipping. Miss A’s international shipping is a flat rate of £9.95, which is pretty fair for something coming from the US. But then there’s customs and sadly, the limit before having to pay customs (which in my experience so far has totalled in at between £8 and £25) is currently £15. However, that being said, I honestly don’t mind making a few small orders of just under £15 just avoid potentially painful and unpredictable customs charges, as in the end the value of everything, including postage, is still a really decent price. So yeah, just a bit of a warning for those of you looking into doing a bit of a shop with Miss A!

And on that note, I shall end this post! Hope you liked it and see you in like 4 months time when I next post! xD

Philippa. x

*Miss A carries their own brands AOA and a2o, as well as other brands like Elf, Kleancolor, LA Color, Beauty Treats, etc. Obviously the quality of the products will vary from brand to brand, but I only purchased from the AOA line, so my comments on how AMAZING everything is is, for now, exclusive to that line.

#KVDxDEBENHAMS

Something a little different today; as many of you may know, the one and only Kat Von D recently finally released her Kat Von D Beauty line in the UK! Woo! To celebrate said long-awaited release, Kat had a special Meet & Greet in London’s flagship Debenhams store on Oxford Street, which, I was fortunate to attend earlier today! Oh my gahhh!

Freebies! Feat. tote bags, mini eyeliners, mini lipsticks and vegan biscuits! So cute! (sorry that the second pic is so out of focus, btw! i suck, know!)

I’m sorry, but how awesome are these freebies?! Made the 3.5 hours shuffling reaaaally slowly around Debenhams so worth it! They were even giving out mini Kat Von D transfer tattoos, which was an awesome way to incorporate her tattooing side with her make-up stuffs!

I did actually have to buy one of her products earlier in the week in order to get a wristband granting me entry (and whoopsie me, totes forgot to take a picture of the wristband as well!), and I decided to buy one of her Studded Kiss lipsticks in the shade ‘NaYeon’, which is a really cool super dark grey colour with gunmetal glitter in it. I think it fits right in with my current KvD collection! ^^

Studded Kiss lipsticks in ‘NaYeon’, ‘Vampira’ and ‘Cathedral’ - £16 each (via Debenhams.com)

All in all, the day was pretty awesome; got to meet Kat (albeit, only for about 5 seconds, lol), got a pic with her, got a couple of hugs, so yeah, worth my time in the cold and rain I’d say! Also, shout out to the lovely gals I met in the queue who helped the time pass a lot quicker! Much love! <3

Typical me, too excited to look decent in the photo! Oh dear... xD

SO, potentially interested in trying out Kat Von D Beauty? Her full collection (minus the odd bit here and there) is now available in the UK exclusively at Debenhams.com! Something missing? Can’t wait for it to get to the UK? Check out her full, full collection at Sephora.com!

Philippa. x

PS.: this is not an ad, lol!!

PPS.: something i am super looking forward to is her latest palette, the metal/matte eyeshadow palette! can’t wait for it to reach the uk!

PPPS.: damn, should have taken some pics of the awesome displays they have all over debenhams; if you happen to be in the area, go check it out! it's amazing!

Review? Nyx Cosmetics~

Nyx Cosmetics has recently exploded onto the UK scene after finally launching in-stores in Boots nationwide (despite also having previously been available online) and I have to say that I too am totes in love with this brand!

For me the selling point is this: they are a cruelty free company selling a large selection of conventional and non-conventional shades to suit everyone’s tastes and at an affordable price point. The one thing I will point out, however, is that the international pricing is super inconsistent, which is a little bit annoying (see example below), but that’s just how the cookie crumbles I guess...

Nyx Lip Suedes:

UK = £6.50

US = $7.00 (about £5.40)

Norway = NOK109 (about £10.20)

Silly, right? Anyway, onto the products. I currently only own lip products, but as I mentioned before the thing about Nyx that really caught my eye was the variety of non-conventional colours that they offered.

Nyx Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick (in Stone Fox) - £6.50 (via Boots.com)

I love the texture of this! It’s really creamy and thick and because it’s so pigmented application is super quick and easy for full coverage. It doesn’t dry down fully and maintains tackiness, which means that it is definitely not transfer proof. However, apart from when eating, the colour lasts really well and won’t become patchy even when rubbing your lips together. Overall, love this product, need more colours!

Nyx Lip Lingerie Lipstick (in Embellishment) - £6.50 (via Boots.com)

I first discovered these after watching one of Jessica Haze’s (/mirrorsandhaze) videos and fell in love with the colour ‘Embellishment’ and just had to have it! Unlike the lip suede this does dry completely matte (though still with a very slight tackiness to it) so is almost completely transfer proof. Because of this, however, it is very drying on the lips, but I mean, that’s to be expected with liquid to matte lipsticks, right? My one sadness with this product is that, sigh, my skin tone doesn’t do it justice, as it’s meant to have quite a noticeable lilac undertone which is pretty much non-existent against my skin, but that’s my fault rather than the products, so what can you do. =/

Nyx Matte Lipstick (in Up The Bass) - £6.50 (via Boots.com)

Lastly we have one of their matte lipsticks. This is probably the product I use the most, despite this being my least favourite of the three. I love the colour and the texture of the product, though it is a little on the cheap side in terms of staying power and evenness of application and isn’t really as matte as I had hoped. On top of that, the packaging sucks a fair bit as the bullet doesn’t click in properly and frequently shifts to hitting the lid when in my bag, which is super annoying. Other than that though, for the price and the pigmentation, it’s definitely worth a go.

So that's my review-not-so-review on Nyx Cosmetics - I highly recommend anyone that hasn't tried some of their stuff to go out and do so! I know I will definitely making a few more purchases in the near future (*ehem* despite having no money *ehem*)!! ;D

-Philippa. x