I'm back (from exams and vacation)!

First of all, many apologies for not replying to your comments. I finished exams and got on a plane the day after. I think I've replied to all those who asked me a question, so if you're still checking this blog, please check. If I haven't replied you, please let me know.

This is a photo I took when I went on vacation.. I wonder if anyone who reads this has been here too? I went there with absolutely no expectations and didn't research much because I had exams but was absolutely blown away. It's a beautiful place.

Meanwhile, while I was gone I made two orders while I was on vacation and was lucky enough to get a bunch of samples. Since school is out I'll have more time to try and review them here. I've just finished using one today and I'll be trying them each one by one so stay tuned!

Review: Etude House Be Clear Moisturizer SPF30 PA++

Finals are coming up so I will be in hibernation, but before that I thought I'd make this post. I've been looking more into moisturizers with SPF because summer is coming along and I don't want to get tanned. I have oily/combination skin, so I really want something light. Last summer, when I went to Asia for a little more than a month, I tried Hadalabo Shirojyun Arbutin Whitening UV Milk SPF20 which didn't really live up to its "milk" name because it was pretty greasy and made my face pretty oily after several hours. I got a sample of the Skinfood Gold Kiwi No Sebum Matte, which was on the other extreme, because it felt like I was putting white flour on my face.

Review: History of Whoo Qi & Jin Eye Cream (anti-wrinkle)

It's almost been a month since my last post. School has been getting busy lately and my face has been getting hypersensitive, which I'm assuming is triggered by hay fever. As a result, I get little red bumps to everything I put on my face. So I won't be trying any samples on my face until this is gone. Meanwhile, I have my first higher end eye cream...sample. According to my blog, I've tried 10 eye creams so far, and while Skinfood Salmon Brightening Eye Cream has helped with my dark circles, nothing has really helped the fine lines under my eyes. The exception is with my most recent sample, The Face Shop Smim Fermentation Concentrate Eye Cream, but I bought this eye sample around the same time I bought The Face Shop's.

Review: It's Skin Power 10 Formula VC Effector with Vitamin C Derivatives

I first came across the best-selling line from It's Skin, the Power 10 Formula when I got samples of It's Skin Power 10 Formula CO Effector with Phyto Collagen. It's a line of different ampules, each targeting a specific skin problem. CO stands for collagen and helped to firm up the skin. I got pretty impressive results, not really in terms of skin firming because I don't think my skin has started sagging yet, but my skin looked pretty resilient, bright, and smooth. So I decided to buy the whole version and got this sample for free from my purchase. This one, VC effector, contains vitamin C to help brighten the skin.

Review: The Face Shop Smim Fermentation Concentrate Eye Cream

Samples I bought back in March 2013

This was an unexpected find. I've never tried much of The Face Shop's products. The only one that sticks out in my mind is The Face Shop Raspberry Lines & Lift Collagen Eye Patch which works wonders for the fine lines under my eyes. But the effects are only sustained if I use it almost everyday, which is impossible logistically (I have to put it up really close to my eye and leave it there for 30-45 minutes) and economically (these patches are $3 each?).

I say this was an unexpected find because when I was ordering online I could add one more sample and yet have the same shipping cost, so I just decided to randomly choose an eye cream sample and ended up with this one. And it ended up being my best eye cream for fine lines so far!

Review: Mizon Multi Function Formula All In One Snail Repair Cream

I've used tons of snails products, but most of them are masks. This is actually only my second snail cream. Mainly because the first one was so great already. My first snail cream was Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream, which worked wonders for me. In essence, it evens out my skin tone, calms the redness under my cheeks where I had a lot of acne scars, and brightens my whole face making it look like I got 12 hours of sleep. I can put it even over a pimple when I get one or two during that time of the month and it won't break out.

Paradoxically, however, one of the two problems that I have with Missha's snail cream is that it makes my face way too oily. When I put this cream on during the day, if I'm not careful and I keep touching my face, the oiliness WILL turn into a pimple. So to keep using this cream and not break out into pimples, I've been using Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever Pore Primer Essence for sebum control during the day.

My second problem was with the price. It's $39.99 on Missha's Canadian website for 47g of cream. $33 on eBay. Not exactly cheap. Mizon's snail cream is $20 for 75g on eBay! Half the price for 28g more cream!

Review: Skinfood Lemon Tea Salt Mask Foam

I was sick for the latter part of last week so I didn't get much blogging done on the weekend. But after sleeping 17 hours out of a possible 24 hours (by skipping class ha ha ha...), I feel much better so here I am! I usually don't buy things I haven't tried before in full size. The reason I made this an exception was because I've had great success with Skinfood's Black Sugar Scrub Foam, and somehow I thought that since the sugar worked so well, maybe salt would work just as well if not better! Yes, it makes no sense..I know.

Review: It's Skin Power 10 Formula Propolis

This sample is apparently a limited edition of their Power 10 Formula line. I got this and It's Skin Power 10 Formula CO Effector with Phyto Collagen as samples when I bought It's Skin Prestige Creme Hand D'Escargot back when I went to Korea for the summer. The snail hand cream was a dud unfortunately but It's Skin Power 10 Formula CO Effector with Phyto Collagen was impressive enough for me to go venture into GMarket for the first time and buy the full size along with another product from the same line for sebum control (will review once I get to trying it).

Review: Etude House Collagen Moistfull Firming Eye Cream

I wonder how much money I've spent on eye cream samples so far. Probably enough to buy a jar of nice Shiseido eye cream! Nothing seems to work very well except for Skinfood Salmon Brightening Eye Cream, which I bought a full jar of because there were no samples. Yes, this is my attitude these days when I try new eye creams these days. I actually never thought I'd try this eye cream but I've read reviews and they haven't been that great. But I saw it on eBay for $2 including shipping so I thought, well, why not? Fortunately, this time I was pleasantly surprised.

Review: Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask with scoria and green complex

I've been wanting to try this clay mask for a long time. I've heard lots of reviews about it being great and I've always wondered how it compared to my favorite clay mask, Origins Active Charcoal Mask at clearing my pores, brightening my face and preventing breakouts. I was lucky enough to find it at a reasonable price on eBay a few months ago so I purchased it!