Asian Beauty Haul

Today I’m going to share a collective Asian beauty haul. Some of these things were brought back for me from Japan by friends, some I got on Yes Style and some on Loverte. 

I got the Missha 7 Days Tinted Eyebrow in Maroon Brown to try a pen style brow product as an alternative to the famous Suqqu one, which I’ve been lusting over for years watching Lisa Eldridge’s makeup tutorials. The price point of the Missha is a lot more reasonable, and I wanted to test if this would be a style of brow product that I’d like.

The It’s Skin Power 10 Formula LI Effector is a re-purhcase for me. It’s one of my favourite serums. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is that I like about it – in a way it’s kind of unremarkable. The ingredients are good, it’s affordable, no fragrance, I like the texture... Yeah. It’s nice. I was also in girl-math mode and decided to try the WR and GF Effector serums as well, to get to free shipping. I didn’t really care for either to be honest. Something about the texture and fragrance just didn’t do it for me.

To round up the serum category, I got the Neogen Dermalogy White Truffle Serum In Oil Drop. I was looking for a dupe for the Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Capsules, and this one kept coming up. I didn’t find them to be all that similar. The texture of the Neogen serum is a lot more oily, not smooth and silky like the ceramides. The main issue I had with it is that it made me break out very badly and I stopped using it almost immediately. As I mentioned recently, these days I don’t use the ceramide capsules either and my skin is actually much better – live and learn. My mom ended up using the Neogen serum and was kind of indifferent to it.

I re-purchased the Hada Labo Gokujyun Lotion (Moist) and the Retinol Lifting+Firming Lotion for myself and my mom. It’s a really simple product and very affordable, especially if you can get it in Asia. It’s a staple for me and hopefully will remain so for a long time!

Since discovering the Hada Labo lotions, I’ve been on an essence/hydration kick and one of the most talked-about Korean brands with this focus is Pyunkang Yul. I picked up the Pyunkang Yul Essence Toner to try and compare to its Japanese rival. I also got the Mist Toner, because everyone seems to have a mist in their skin care routine on YouTube and the fomo got to me.

I got the Abib Gummy Sheet Mask Milk Sticker as a gift with one of my orders. I just don’t get the hype with sheet masks. I’ve probably tried around a dozen and I’ve never had a wow experience. I’d rather just use a serum and not deal with another single use product and its excessive packaging... 

The Anessa Perfect UV Sunscreen Gel regularly comes up as a top Japanese sunscreen (as well as its Milk version), so I decided to try it out. It’s really good! But really expensive to get on YesStyle these days... If you can get it when traveling to Asia, fantastic! Otherwise I think there are sunscreens that are better value in Europe and the US etc.

I re-purchased the Gracy Eye Brow Pencil after having really loved the one a friend got me in Tokyo. I was over the Moon to find it on YesStyle, but spoiler alert – this didn’t turn out to be the same product. There’s actually a soft and hard version of the same pencil. The one I loved was the hard one, and the one they sell on YesStyle is the soft... I was very disappointed and thought they had changed the formula. It was only when I found a Gracy counter in Tokyo myself that I realized there were two versions! So, if you also like this pencil and want to get it online, pay very close attention to which formula it actually is.

The Shiseido Selfit Eyebrow Pencil is actually a dupe for the Gracy pencil I like, which is a dupe to the discontinued Shiseido pencil I liked. Stay with me on this one. Shiseido has a lot of brands for the domestic and international marked. The Shiseido eyebrow pencil I liked was part of the international brand until their makeover a few years back. Both Gracy and Shiseido Selfit are drugstore brands under the Shiseido umbrella, which you can shop in Asia (or online). It makes sense that some products would have very similar if not the same formulas, just different packaging at different price points. In fact, they could be identical. So, if there’s a Shiseido International product that you used to love that is no longer available, I’d have a look at their brands in Asia – chances are that same product is still available there under a different name and in a different box.

The MQNY Waterproof Pencil Eyeliner was another product I got to justify shipping costs (or avoid them). The description and pictures were very tempting, but the pencil was actually terrible. Extremely soft and messy, smeared like crazy and was very hard to get off. Hate is a strong word, but I hated this pencil. 

Last on today’s list are the Etude Bling Bling Eye Sticks in No 01 Shooting Star (white), No 08 Ivory Star (beige) and No 09 Tail Star (gold). Again, I was drawn to the very enticing product images. I’ve always wanted to get some nice stick cream shadows – think Laura Mercier’s Caviar Sticks or By Terry’s Ombre Blackstar, but the price has stopped me. These Etude ones were exactly in the colour family I was looking for. Overly excited, instead of picking one, I got three. Why? Shipping... I really should have just picked one, because as it turned out, I don’t like the formula, and now, instead of having one cream eyeshadow that’s just meh, I have three. The shadows have a really greasy, old-fashioned and cheap-looking shine. There’s not a lot of pigment or staying power. I use them as an inner corner highlight underneath a powder shadow.

Overall, a mixed bag. On one hand, logically, I see that it’s best to stick to items you know and love when ordering online and reserve trying new products to physical stores where you can at least try out the textures (especially when it comes to cosmetics). But then again, one of the best things about shopping online is having access to products you otherwise wouldn’t... So, striking a balance is key 💋

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