Missha Super Aqua - Anti-Trouble Forumula: Control Toner Review

Hello hello! It has been a while, my apologies. Finals are underway and my last one is this Friday. (It's an easy one thank goodness)

Today, I bring you a Missha toner. I have been using it for a couple weeks now, and I have finally used it long enough to write a review.

Taken from the box:

Toner to control  excessive sebum and keep moisture - oil balance. Prevents and controls various skin damages such as redness and dull complexions with its unique formula

Korean Skincare Haul!

I recently made a handful of purchases online and had to wait about a month for all the items to come in before posting about them. 

I've begun to expand my skincare purchases over to Korea, a number of friends have been recommending a few different brands to me, and also because a few items I have been using from The Body Shop etc have not been sitting well with me. 

I don't wear a lot of makeup anymore. At most I put on some lipstick. I'm starting to lean towards taking care of my skin with proper skincare products as much as possible so I won't need concealer etc. It won't be perfect, I know, but even with makeup I prefer the natural look to begin with. And so far I've noticed my skin is looking really good. My skin is hydrated and has a nice glow even. The bags under my eyes aren't as profound, and I like to think the products I've been using have been helping. 

So onto my purchase:

From left to right:
1. Missha super aqua toner for troubled skin
- it's supposed to help with redness and pore prevention. I have not used this yet, as I am finishing up my aloe calming toner from The Body Shop
2. Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever
- this is more like a primer you put on before you apply foundation, but I am using this as the last step after my moisturizer. Less pores are always good, right?
3. Skin79 New Therapy Serum trio
- I cannot wait to use up the serum I'm using now, so I can try these three. I got these for such a great price and I've heard good things about them too. They recommend layering and using all three together.
4. Skin79 The Oriental Lifting Eye Controller
- I've already incorporated this eye serum into my skincare regime, so a review will come soon.

Have you tried any of these? What's your favourite Asian beauty product?

My Beauty Diary - Apply Polyphenol Mask

My apologies for the lack of posts. I finished writing the last of my midterm (finally) for this month. So I have a few weeks until my next round of midterms begin. 

Anyway, today I will be reviewing a My Beauty Diary - Apple Polyphenol Mask.

My Beauty Diary is I believe I Taiwanese brand (feel free to correct me) of skincare. They are most known for their masks, they have well over 15 types. As well as some face scrubs. I am currently using Strawberry yogurt acid facial wash. 

I've been dying to try these masks for many years. And finally, found them on yesstyle, selling them for a pretty reasonable price. $15 for a pack of 10, considering they're $20 on ebay. 

I chose Apple Polyphenol because the purpose of it is to 'tighten pores, brighten and clarify' the skin. 

Maybelline Color Show & ORLY nail polish haul

This will be a short post. I know I have been rather sporadic. I have a few school assignments due this week, but for the most part, I have been procrastinating. If possible, I could acquire a PhD in procrastination.

Anyway, I've had these polishes for a while now. A proper nail swatch will be taken soon.

(Left) Alluring Rose 15 (Right) Nailtrition

Lancome Colour Design 'Ooh La la!' Metalic swatch

Hey there, long time no post.

My apologies. I'd like to make the excuse that I have school and it's taking a lot of my time; but considering I'm writing this instead of doing my school work... you can easily conclude that I procrastinate a lot. And I mean a lot.

Anyway, onto my post!

I have had this lipstick for a while now. But since I got this in a gift bag during a time I wasn't yet confident enough to wear any other lipstick colours aside from nude, this has been collecting dust.
Granted, I haven't worn it too much, I still quite like it.

Lancome's 'Oh la la' shade came in a gift bag as I mentioned above. I wasn't too keen on it, since it's metallic, but after trying it on again, I found it's great for the fall!

Tony Moly Pocket Bunny Sleek Mist Review

I'm a sucker when it comes to cute things. I mean, look at it! Who wouldn't want it?!

How darn cute is this?!

Asian Beauty Haul!

Finally! Look what came in the mail! Took a little over 2 weeks, which isn't too bad, since it is shipped out from Asia. 

My friend and I were browsing yesstyle.ca and we found a few beauty products we wanted. Yesstyle currently has a free shipping promotion going on. I recommend checking them out. They also have tony moly makeup, all of it 20% off. They have a large selection, but I found the items I purchased from ebay, are cheaper than on this site. Only certain products though. The reason we ordered the products we did, was because they are more expensive on ebay. 

The two things I bought:
1. My Beauty Diary facial masks (we are actually sharing. So we get 5 of each mask. One box: $15 CAD for 10 pcs
2. Kao essentials hair masks - I cannot WAIT to try this! I tried the other one many years ago, shea honey mask I believe and I loved it! This one is supposed to give me more volume. $12 CAD. Ebay sells for $20 or so

My friends purchases:
1. Another beauty mask
2. Missha bb cream. No. 23. She's tried samples in stores and she really likes it. She had been waiting for it to go on sale, but then saw that yesstyle was selling it for a really good price! I would like to try missha bb creams also, but No. 23 is a little too light for me. Not to mention, I get lazy with applying bb creams or liquid foundations.

Future reviews to come!

Have you tried any of these products before? Thoughts?

The Body Shop - Drops of Youth Review

I have been pretty busy these past couple of weeks. I have a list of products I have been meaning to write reviews for. Or even some of my hauls. School will be starting in a few days for me again, and I will try my best to post as often.

Anyway, I have been meaning to review this product, and you may know from the post below, I purchased a few body shop products a couple weeks back. 

Since I've been using drops of youth serum for a while now, I can finally write a proper review for it. 

The Body Shop Haul

The thing I love about The Body Shop, is that every couple of weeks, they'll have a 50% off sale on either their bath items or their skincare. this time around, they had a 50% off on skincare. 

I was lucky enough to receive a $20 gift card from a friend for my birthday, and I had been dying to use it. 

So when the sale came around, I pounced at the opportunity. 

L'occitane Bonne Mere Honey Soap review

Back in June, I made a huge L'Occitane purchase. I have only just begun to use the products, as I have other things to use up first. 

I have been using this Honey soap for the past few days, and I think I have used it enough to reap the benefits, and review the product. 

July Empties

Vietnamese Tacos - Banh Mi Boys

While I was in Toronto a couple weeks ago, J and I were wondering around the city, and we came upon this fast food joint called: Banh Mi Boys. J had tried their Vietnamese buns before and found they were quite good. I refuse to pay more than $2 for a Viet Bun, because that is what I'm used to paying. What sort of meat are they serving in the buns for $1.50? Who knows! But it tastes damn good! 

Anyway, we were interested in a little snack, so we decided to give the tacos a try. 

We ended up ordering: 

Kalbi Beef

Pulled Pork

Squid

As said on their menu, their tacos are served with cabbage slaw, kimchi, pickled carrots and cilantro. It sounds like an odd combination, but it works! We order them without cilantro, because I hate it. Just can't stand the stuff. 

My favourite was easily the squid. It was sort of like fried calamari. What was also good about the tacos, was that the pitas were homemade. 

If you're ever in Toronto, and you're walking around Queen street west, stop by their place and check them out! It's more of a fast food joint, so don't expect anything too fancy with their sitting area. 

The tacos were $3.99 each. 

Yves Rocher Nail Lacquer

When I went back to Toronto a couple weeks ago, I stopped by Yves Rocher for the first time. I've walked by their store a number of times, but I never ended up looking their products. They seem to have some really good sales, and since I was on the lookout for some nice wearable polishes, I decided to stop by. 

 I picked up two polishes from their Venis Brilliance line. R206 (left) and R201 (right). 

Above is a swatch of R206. It's a nice summery colour, a peachy tone. I applied two coats, and as you can tell, the polish is quite sheer. But since I don't wear much polish that stand out, so I quite like it. 

I have yet to try R201, because I have been obsessed with this peachy polish. 

I purchased this on sale for $4.50

The Body Shop - Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream

This is the first night cream I have purchased. I didn't really know what to look for, and my friend suggested this for me. When I received my sample and tried it for the first time, I was in love.

Tony Moly Cat Chu Wink Lipstick

I have been waiting for this lipstick to come in the mail since I ordered it in the beginning of July! I have a cat and I of course love them, so when I saw this lipstick, I knew I had to get it!

For those of you unfamiliar with Tony Moly, it is a Korean cosmetics brand. This is only one of their lines, so not all of their products are cat themed. They do have a few lip stain sticks that are bunny themed. I may buy one of those in the future.

I chose #4 in Coral Pop and I purchased this through ebay for less than $9, free shipping included.

Pros:
Great colour pay off
Can build up colour intensity
Smooth application
Moisturizing
Glossy finish
Affordable
Incredibly cute packaging
Nice fruity scent

Cons:
If you have dry lips, will emphasize them more
Package can bee a little tricky to use. It can lock when you turn the product back into the tube. Have to keep turning to get lipstick to come out

Have you ever made purchases purely based on packaging?

Cookie Monster Tank

My most recent trip to Toronto, I stopped by Forever21. There wasn't much that sparked my interest, but I do like graphic shirts. 

It's a little too loose for me, but nothing a bit of layering can't fix. I have found that Forever21 tends to run a little big, and their graphic shirts never come in extra small. But it's cookie monster, how can I resist? 'Me want cookie!' (He said something like that, right?)

Besides, Cookie Monster and I have something in common. An undying love/addiction to cookies. I especially love Oatmeal.

The shirt itself is extremely light, and has a washed out sort of style. Makes it seem rather vintage, which is pretty neat. I would love this shirt so much more though if it were a size smaller. Such is life. 

I purchased this shirt for $17.80 CAD.

What was your latest purchase?

L'occitane haul

As I've recently got into skincare, I splurged on L'Occitane items, which I have been excited to try. Detailed descriptions and reviews will follow. Back in June, I used a coupon from a previous haul. Free cleanser or toner with the purchase of a moisturizer.

Of course free shipping was only included for $60 or more, so I bought a few more things.

I purchased:

Angelic Hydration Cream

Immortelle Precious Cleansing Foam

Almond Delicious Soap

Bonne Mere Honey Soap

Magic Key - Press Tub

Have you used L'Occitane products before? Any favourites? Or products you want to try?

Instagram: joannm27

Twitter: joann_m

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog. As my blog title says, I post about serendipities.
I've recently got into skincare, thanks to my friend Sylvia.
This summer in particular I started somewhat of a skin routine. Specifically for the night. My morning routine is still a work in progress. But baby steps, right?

Follow me on instagram and twitter. I will likely post on those two a little more frequently.
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