Happiness is : Korean Beauty Haul

'What are your must buy beauty and skincare product when you are travelling to Korea?'

I've been working on improving my skin condition by using Korean skin care in the last four months and finally I can notice the difference. Now my complexion is obviously better, no noticeable blackheads, smooth and moist skin, with just some acne scars on my cheek and forehead that definitely need some time to heal, and occasional pimple on my forehead during that time of the month.
But honestly say, I am happy with my skin right now and it has never been better.
In buying skincare, I am not a loyal buyer of certain brand, but instead I buy several famous product that have good reviews from several brands, for example : toner from etude, serum from innisfree, etc.

For my current skin care routine and my skincare history routine, check the later post.

Well, here are my must buy beauty list when I was in Korea:

1. BB cushion

After the era of BB cream, CC cream, not it is time for BB cushion. BB cushion is a compact BB cream in a cushion compact packaging. It is convenient, simple, and effective for me. Most of them promise to give moisture to the skin and has semi-dewy to glowing finish which I adore.

Like I said before my skin condition has been better, so I found BB cushion product really pull out the best of your skin. If you have already had a good skin, it will works like wonder, but for those who have problem skin, it will also work fine!

From Korea, I bought Hera mist cushion C21 and IOPE air cushion C21.

 

Check out my comparison for Hera, IOPE, and Lineage BB cushion here.

2. Innisfree

Innisfree has been my favourite skincare brand since I tried their Super Volcanic Clay Mask. Therefore, I decided to try more of their product lines.

Green tea seed serum and cream.
Since I have dry skin by nature, I think this will be a suitable product starter for me.


Orchid lines
At first I bought it for my mother because of the promotion (buy cream and get hand cream + deep cream... I know.. I know.. marketing.. =__=). By the way I am still happy for my purchase since I bought it at duty free which is cheaper than outside store and I have Lotte Duty free VIP card for more 10% discount (more info here) so I think it is a pretty decent deal.

Since my mom wouldn't use it, I am thinking to use it as my summer cream because it has less moisture than the green tea line but still good for nourishing your skin.

I also bought Innisfree waterproof sunblock at the airport Sheila duty free because I still got extra penny.

3. Banila.co

I only bought Banila Clean it Zero because of my friend's suggestion. I've been using it now for removing my make up or bb cream and I just love it! It removes your makeup easily without drying out your skin. A little goes a long way and it has spatula inside which is good for hygiene. It is a good make up remover for your dual cleansing routine. (Triple cleansing for me : eye makeup remover + cleansing oil/milk/balm + cleansing foam.)


4. Etude House

I just love Etude House because it is the first brand that makes me fall in love with Korean skincare. First I just bought their makeups (CC cream + eyeliner + concealer) and they gave me a lot of skincare samples. Long story shorts, I used the skincare samples, I loved them, and I purchased them.

5. Missha

I heard a lot about Missha's Aqua Snail Cream and my mother wants to try it, so I bought the snail cream and sleeping mask.

I also read a lot of review about Missha Perfect Cover BB cream so I decided to give it a try.

6. Laneige

Laneige water sleeping mask has won a lot of awards and good reviews. I have used the small 40ml sample and I think it is a good moisturising sleeping mask. It makes my skin moist and plump in the morning.

7. Skinfood
I don't know a lot about skinfood. But since I need scrub for exfoliator, I read a review about skinfood Black sugar Mask so I decided to give it a try.
I also bought this cute little cheek blush from skinfood. The colour is nice and it is convenient to carry around.

So I guess that's it! Stay tune for my review of those products.. see ya!

Happiness is : Travelling! Part 2 - South Korea

Hello again! After a tiring schedule in Japan (we didn't even get to enjoy a proper Japanese traditional  meal other than ramen, takoyaki, yakisoba, that we found on the small street shops), we moved on to Seoul, South Korea.

In Seoul, we only planned to go shopping (for sure!) and meet our Korean friends, and since we had a lot of time, we just want to enjoy Korean food! In Japan, we had to change travel destination everyday and wake up early. Although we enjoyed Japan very much, we thought we would take it easy in Korea..

So our hotel was just the opposite of Myeongdong. So everyday would be : Myeongdong, myeongdong, myeongdong....!!

Myeongdong is like a shopping paradise for us. We basically went there everyday and checked every stores multiple times just to compare the price, think about what we should buy and compare promotion (sometimes the same brand has different promotion at different store).

In front of Lotte duty free entrance.

Lotte duty free opens from 9:30AM to 9:00PM everyday, and inside is always full of tourist, most of them are mainland China's. Oh that's right.. If you can speak Chinese, no need to worry at all because every shopkeepers in Myeongdong and other tourism areas in Korea can speak Chinese. Whether they are Korean that learn Chinese or Chinese students in Korea. So when I was in Korea, I felt like I am in mainland China because everyone tried to speak Chinese with us.

 I always love Asian culinary, Japanese and Korean food are one of my favourites. Korean food is just so suitable for my taste because I love spicy and heavy flavour.

Beautiful view in Gyeongbuk Palace.

To be honest I think Korea still cannot be compared to Japan for their travel destinations and nature's charm. At the beginning, my goal in visiting Korea is for shopping and buying the skincare products. But what made our journey unforgettable is that we are able to meet our Korean friends there. They took us to a lot of interesting places, eat delicious food, and to be just hanging out with them was wonderful.

Thanks a lot to all my friends and hope to meet you again soon!

Happiness is: Travelling Part 1 - Japan

During this winter vacation, my friends and I decided to travel to Japan and Korea for around 2 weeks. Because Taiwan is near from those two countries, so the plane ticket will be cheaper than if I apply from Indonesia, so I thought why not? It would be fun, and perhaps would be our last trip together. And besides, applying Japan visa from Taiwan only takes 1 day! 1 day! It will take almost a week and a lot of other requirements if I were in Indonesia.

So there we were: Hello Japan!
(Sorry for the bad quality pictures, I took most of them with my phone, no editing.)

First stop : Osaka - Shinsaibashi District

This is my favourite shopping district in Osaka. You can find almost everything in here, from Japanese drugstores where you can find a lot of Japanese beauty products, clothing stores from H&M, Uniqlo, GU, ZARA, Forever 21, and a lot more than you can imagine.

It was a sale season that time when I visited Japan (yeah!), but unfortunately we only had 1 day, so although it was the second time I visited Shinsaibashi, it was still not enough for me.

Day 2 : Kyoto - Kiyomizu Temple

 Me and Japanese girls in Yukata, like a thorn among roses..

One thing I like about Japanese architecture is the beauty lies within it's simplicity.

We spent all day sightseeing and taking pictures in Kyoto - Kiyomizu area (yeah, my travel mates are kind of a little bit has interest towards self photography :p). But for me I prefer natural photos, without models (other than myself ^^;;).

Day 3 : Osaka Universal Studio

Okay so my friend really wanted to go to see the new Harry Potter ride in Universal Studio Osaka. So after we had bought tickets from Shin-imamiya Station the day before, we woke up early that day and took the train to Osaka Universal City.

It was only 8:30 in the morning but the line was crazy!! So many people because that Monday was a holiday in Japan.

Osaka Universal Studio Map

In order to be able to enter the new Harry Potter area, after we manage to get inside the universal studio, we still have to get in line for another entrance ticket for entering Harry Potter area. So basically we had to run from B to 9 to get the Harry Potter ticket.

My friend was really eager to get there because she said it would be hard to get, so she told us to get in line separately and run as soon as we enter Universal Studio to get that ticket.

Then after a tiring run in the morning, I manage to get the tickets first for 3 of us; and you know what? It was not even hard to get like she told me.. If I had known that, I would have saved my energy from running. :p

Hogsmeade :)

 And they have Hagrid's house and the castle!

Harry Potter Wizardly World is definitely a must visit place for the fans, and the atmosphere is so detail. They basically have everything set up to create Harry Potter world. And for you who are very curious to taste bitterer, you can have it for about 700 - 1000 yen here. For me, other than the main ride and the buildings, if you not a hyper fans and just want to enjoy ride in Osaka universal studio, go to other ride. I recommend Hollywood Dream roller coaster. That one is a must!

Day 4 : Takayama old town

Day 4 and 5 we visited two of my favourite places in Japan. Takayama and Shirakawa. I knew this place from 4 years ago when I went here to travel with my university as our architecture department's international field trip.

It takes 4-5 hours by bus from Osaka to Takayama, but along the road, you can enjoy the natural scenery of Japan. 4 years ago I visited here when it was autumn when I could feel a nice autumn breeze and enjoy the colours of the season, now is the time for snowy winter. :)

Walking around this old street area is just too relaxing for me. Just look at those Japanese traditional architectures, if those don't make you feel that you are in Japan, I don't know what else can! Unfortunately most of the shops are closed by the time we arrived, and also Tuesday is their holiday. (That's weird :/) But some souvenirs shops and restaurants were open. :)

Day 5 : Shirakawa go

From Takayama we took a bus and went to Shirakawa go. The journey took about 1 hour 40 mins, and the view was amazing! Since the weather was so good, I could swear that I saw the snow was shining and glittering because of the sun!

Shirakawa go is famous for it's gossho style traditional house, which has triangle roof just like a praying hand (Gossho is to pray in Japanese). This village is protected by Unesco as one of the world's heritage place.

Gossho Style House

One word : Breathtaking!

I am sure that no matter how many times I visit Japan, I can never have enough. I just love this country so much for travelling!

See you guys on Part 2 : Korea!