Qils' Clandestine Affair

korean skincare & cosmetic brands

You may have noticed my obsession with Korean skincare and cosmetic brands.

It basically started when I visited Seoul in 2011.

The beauty houses are everywhere, even underground along the way to subway and don't let me start with the streets at Myeondong. OMG that place is a shopping heaven!

I wrote a post about the street here.

I have two main reasons why I love Korean brands like Etude House, Skinfood, The Face Shop, Holika Holika, Tony Moly, It's Skin and Missha, among others.

First, these brands really pay attention with their packaging. I guess they truly understand how girls go crazy over the cutest things. I probably bought most products because they have irresistible packaging.

I mean, look at Etude House, the whole shop is in pink!

Everytime I pass the shop, I can feel it "pulling" me in. Not just me, my purse as well.

Their shops in Seoul are much cuter! Even the cash machine is in pink!

The second reason would be the price tag. They are much cheaper than those high end brands at departmental stores although I won't deny the quality and effectiveness of these high end brands like SKII, Biotherm, Estee Lauder and Lancome but as long those Korean products don't break my skin out, I'm a happy customer. Furthermore, especially for cosmetics which I use daily, products with cheaper price tag are more affordable for me who doesn't get a RM5000 paycheck at the end of the month.

Oh I almost forgot another reason.

It'd be the models of the brands.

How could I ever forget this?!

(^.^)

*Song Joong Ki for Laneige Homme*

*pic credit: Laneige*

*Kim Hyun Joong for The Face Shop*

*pic credit: The Face Shop*

*Won Bin for Biotherm Homme*

*pic credit: soompi*

*Nickhun for It's Skin*

*pic credit: It's Skin*

*Yunho for Missha*

*pic credit: continuetvxq*

*coming soon: GD for The Saem*

*pic credit: bigbangupdates*

I know Biotherm isn't a Korean brand but I am beyond thrilled that Won Bin is endorsing the brand for now.

He's like the epitome of anti-aging guys, like seriously!

Either he ages backward or those skincare products he's been endorsing are bloody effective!

And I so cannot wait for GD's endorsement commercial to be released! My friends are heading to Seoul in April and I am so gonna ask them buy me anything with GD from The Saem!

Additionally, I'm somehow is praying silently for other brands to sign TOP as the model. It's gonna be a huge deal! That man is scrumptious!

Back to the products, periodically, you'll get freebies related to the models such as calendars, posters, CDs etc which I would usually succumb to.

Which girl doesn't like products that are cute, cheap and err, endorsed by super hot, adorable guys?

(^.^)

BR: Missha The Style Eyeliner Pencil in Black

*nowplaying: Big Bang's "Still Alive"*

(^.^)

Another eyeliner beauty review!

As I'm a monolid or someone with single eyelid, I always use liquid eyeliner for my upper lids and pencil eyeliner for my waterlines. If I use pencil eyeliner for my upper eyelids, it'll get all over my lids. Very nasty.

(*_*)

Anyway, this is the first item from Missha that I'm gonna share about.

Missha is also a Korean brand but it is a tad expensive compared to Etude House and The Face Shop.

It doesn't have standalone stores in Malaysia but there are many Malaysia sellers that offer Korean brands skincare and cosmetics items these days.

Missha is famous for their BB Creams (which I'm not a fan of, they gave me breakouts) and their famous (dupe) versions of SKII Facial Treatment Essence and Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair which I heard are quite effective as well.

You can checkout Missha website here.

*protective sticker*

*period after opening (PAO): 6months*

*i usually only use pencil eyeliner up to 4months max because it may be unhygienic*

*after 1 swipe*

Missha The Style Eyeliner Pencil in Black

Loves:

Glides easily on my lower lashline and waterline.

Fairly pigmented.

Very intense black.

Loathes:

It's not waterproof, smudge-proof and oil-proof. Boo.

The brand isn't widely available in Malaysia.

I have kind of predicted this one isn't gonna be smudge-proof as most pencil eyeliner but I'm happy with the intense black it provides.

Nevertheless, I won't be repurchasing this because I want to try other brands.

BR: Loreal White Perfect Double Eye Zone Brightener

My mom has always stressed about the importance of eye cream/gel/serum to me and my sisters.

I have started wearing them since I was probably 15yo. I used to "steal" my mom's eye cream before she bought a more suitable type for me.

I don't really have serious dark circle, eye bag or wrinkle around my eye area but it's never too late to start preventing them.

I just finished this eye product thus I would like to share the results.

*came with a box which i already disposed*

*Step 1, blue pump: anti dark circle gel*

*Step 2, white pump: whitening cream*

*consistency*

Loreal White Perfect Double Eye Zone Brightener

How to use:

As the last step of skincare routine, apply Step 1 around under eye area, followed by Step 2.

The pros:

The gel is really lightweight, quite soothing.

It's available widely nationwide.

The cons:

The whitening cream is too heavy for my skin and has weird smell.

I honestly couldn't see any difference it made to my eye area.

The one from Biotherm that I used before at least made my eye area seemed brighter.

Not a fan of this product from Loreal, will not repurchase.

BR: elf Natural Radiance Blusher in Flushed

I rarely leave house without eyeliner and lipbalm. These are my two essential items.

If there's an item I could really leave home without, it'll be a blusher.

Why?

Because my cheeks redden easily especially on a hot day that it gets annoying sometimes. I may have looked like I've just finished running a marathon. True story.

(*_*)

However, being a woman that just have to spend money on things I don't quite need, I always buy blusher now and then. I sort of want my make up stuff to be "complete".

So I thought of writing a beauty review on one of my always-look-like-new blushers.

*bad ingredients: paraben*

*fair size*

elf Natural Radiance Blusher in Flushed

The pros:

Very pigmented. I only need a light swipe for this blush or I'll look like Bozo the Clown.

The compact size is convenient for me to bring along anywhere.

Doesn't break my skin out.

The price is cheap.

The cons:

Doesn't include brush and built-in mirror.

Contains paraben.

Hardly available in Malaysia.

I notice most of elf products contain paraben which I'm not so happy about.

I'm aware that paraben may be safe if used in small amount but if all of my skincare and cosmetic items contain it, I can't help but to be worried of the possible negative outcomes.

Should read ingredients carefully the next time I'm out shopping.

*my skintone is between MAC NC20-NC25*

keep you friends close...

...and your enemies closer.

"Today's allies become tomorrow's foes

Right under my nose there are trust and betrayal

Then there's the cold question

Why can't I have a normal life?"

Iris OST by Big Bang

should i or shouldn't i?

*pic: trustedreviews*

I have been thinking for months whether to buy Samsung Galaxy SIII or other smartphones.

Currently I'm using Blackberry Curve which is already 2yo and it has started to annoy me because it hangs often. God I hate that small black running clock thingy. And don't let me start with times I've to "pull batt" it.

Super annoying.

I love the digits. I almost give up on other smartphones and stick to Blackberry solely because of the digits. I type way faster than touch screen keyboard.

But the thing about Blackberry is the built-in memory is too low. I can't update my applications anymore because my memory is already full. And applications can only be saved in the built-in memory.

(*_*)

If I were to get SIII, it'd be between Pebble Blue and Garnet Red.

There are also Sony Xperia Z and HTC Butterfly..

I so can't decide.

Indecisiveness is no fun!