Beauty haul- mainly Asian

sian makeup is not the most accessible where I live so when I get a chance I try to pick up a few products. I currently have a few days off from work so I decided to check out a few places where I can easily get Asian makeup. I was using a sample of the Missha M Signature Real Complete BB Cream in shade 23 that I got a while ago, but I was starting to run out. The Dr. Jart BB Cream that I was using in the winter time was too light for summer so I started using the Missha one. Let me just say that I'm really loving it. It covers really well and it gives my face a flawless finish. I have oily skin and this one gave my face a satin finish.

This is the bag that my Korean makeup came in.

I picked up the Missha BB Cream, but I also got the Missha M BB Boomer. The sales lady told me that the BB Boomer was 50% because I bought BB cream. I tried it on the back of my hand and I was curious to try it. I got the BB cream for $28.99 and the BB Boomer was $9.50 (original price was $19).

Here is the BB Boomer (left) and the BB cream (right) swatched on my hand.

The BB Boomer is supposed to go on your skin before the BB cream and it's supposed to make the BB cream last longer and also give your skin look brighter. You know how Korean actress' skin looks so luminous in the ad campaigns? Well, this is supposed to do exactly that. Here it is blended out a bit. It has a pearlescent finish to it.

Here is the BB cream blended out. I know it looks really light on my hand, but when it oxidizes it's not as white. Plus, I use a bronzer on my face after applying this and it matches pretty well.

Here it is blended out completely. See how it blends in?

Here's another look.

What I love most about Korean beauty counters is all the freebies they give you. They are all Missha samples. I got a Super Aqua Oxygen Micro Essence Peeling- this is a peel that you leave on your face after washing your face and after a few minutes it's supposed to form bubbles. After the bubbles pop (I know it sounds gross!) you're supposed to rub it gently off your face. It is a peel that is supposed to create cell turn-over by getting rid of dead skin cells. Next I got 2 Misssha BB Boomers. I'm going to give one to my co-worker who is wanting to try BB creams. She is Greek, but she started hearing all about BB creams and is curious to try it. I also got a sample of the BB cream to give to her as well. Lastly, I got a sheet mask in lemon.

Next I went to an Asian mall, which isn't that close to where I live, but they have all the hard-to-find makeup brands.

I got more cotton pads. The Asian ones are far superior than the Western cotton pads. They are oh-so-soft and some of them are bound at the edges so they don't come apart. I bought this one because it was bound at the edges and it has 2 sides- a textured side (shown here) and a plain side. The textured side might be good for taking off harder-to-remove makeup. I'm not sure how many comes in this box because all the writing is in Japanese, but it was $4.

I also got a cleansing lotion. This one is by Mandom Beauty. I was using the Shiseido Perfect Cleansing Oil, but I didn't love it. I didn't feel that it removed my waterproof makeup completely. I think the Laneige one I bought did a better job, but that one was heavier. The Shiseido one was much more water-y.

So when I was talking to the sales associate she recommended this one. It's a little more costly than the Shiseido one, but she said this one was way more potent. She said you don't even need to wash your face with water after using this. You can wipe your face with a cotton pad and you're good to go. I think I would still wash my face with water afterwards though. I got the Mandom Cleansing Express Brightup Cleansing Lotion. This is the lavender coloured bottle. This one is supposed to brighten your face afterwards. There were other ones, but this one was the one I wanted to try.

Here's a non-beauty item. I got a portable fan. It's been super hot where I live and I just wanted a portable fan that I can have in my purse to cool me off during the day. Isn't this cute? I think this was $4 or something like that.

Next, I got some NYX products. NYX is not available at drugstores here. Well, they sell it at Rexall Pharma Plus, but they don't have the whole range. Plus, it's REALLY expensive there. The Asian mall I went to had way more NYX products and they were better priced. I got the Jumbo Eyeliner in Milk (white). I already have Black Bean (black), Dark Brown, and Oyster (light pearlescent purple). This was $4.99.

I got a whole bunch of NYX Round Lip Glosses. They were $2.99 each.

This one is in 22 Natural. It's a nude-y pink with no shimmer. It's a cream finish. They are more water-y than MAC Cremesheen Glasses, but I still love it. It is quite pigmented and is not sticky at all. I would say they don't last as long, but I still love how it looks on my lips. I'm very happy with these.

This one is in 20 Kiss (2nd swatch). It is a nude-y pink, but is a tad more pink and bluer toned than Natural. It has a pearlesent finish to it. This reminds me a lot of MAC's Love Nectar Lustre Glass, but Love Nectar has very find gold glitter and is a tad more peach.

This one is in 06 Mauve (3rd swatch). This is a pink-y nude and it's in a cream finish. This one is really pretty on.

This one is in 34 Real Nude (4th swatch). This is an in-between colour of Natural and Mauve. It is a cream finish. There were other colours in the range, but I only chose the colours that had more pigmentation. There were pink one, but they were more of a clear gloss.

Lastly, I got 24 Café Latte (5th swatch). It is a peach-y nude gloss with a pearlescent finish. This one is probably the most sheer out of all the glosses that I got, but this one makes my lips look delicious! I think this would look great over lipstick.

Here's another view of all the colours. I'm sorry I couldn't zoom in. My camera lens won't let me go closer than this.

Dr. Jart BB Cream and my foundation journey

nd this is what my face looks like with Dr. Jart's Silver Label BB Cream. All I did was dot a tiny amount of BB cream all over my face and blended it out with my hands. I dotted more in areas where I needed more coverage. Lately I'm suffering from major acne (I don't know why!) so you can see how well this BB Cream does in covering imperfections. I thought it was going to be too light on my face, but it wasn't that bad. Plus, I set the BB Cream with MAC's Mineralize Skin Finish in Natural Plus. All in all, I'm really liking this. I have combination skin and my T-Zone gets really oily, but it's doing pretty well so far!

My holy grail foundation is Revlon's ColorStay Foundation in Fresh Beige (for winter) and Medium Beige (for summer). The colour Fresh Beige is supposed to be darker than Medium Beige, but for some reason it looks lighter on my skin. Weird. I use the Combination/Oily Skin formula. I have tried many foundations and none can compare to the staying power of this foundation. I work really long hours and this foundation stays put without feeling oily. Well, it does get a little oily when I work 12 hour days... I was recently given Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua to try from my co-worker because she's a Chanel addict, but I found that it's just okay. It feels really nice on my skin after applying it, but I find that it doesn't 'stick' to my face. It feels like it's just sitting on top of my skin. That's why I feel very oily when wearing this foundation. It's weird because it's supposed to do the complete opposite. It's a water-based foundation so it's supposed to feel really light and non-greasy on your face. Oh well. Plus, the coverage is very sheer and I tend to like foundations with a better coverage. Then, I tried Guerlain's Parure Gold foundation (I also have the Lingerie de Peau one). The coverage is good, but I think the colour I got is too dark on my winter skin. Plus, it looks REALLY dewy. I tend to like more matte foundations. I have so much more in my makeup collection (the new Lancome foundation- Teint Miracle, DiorSkin Nude cream foundation, Dior Capture Totale Foundation, another DiorSkin Nude Natural Glow Hydrating Makeup liquid foundation, but I don't want to try it until I've gone through the ones I've opened so far. I have tried samples of NARS Sheer Glow foundation, but I'm having a hard time finding my shade. I've tried Ceylan (too light and yellow) and Barcelona (too dark). I can't remember if I tried Punjab...

I liked Makeup Forever's HD foundation, but again, I'm not sure if I should be changing foundations if I already like the Revlon one... Can somebody explain that to me? Why am I always on the search for a better foundation when the one I use works??? And it's cheap?!

Asian makeup haul

Creams have fascinated me ever since I first heard about them last year, but I had yet to purchase one... until now. I stopped by my local Korean supermarket and there happened to be a beauty store inside. I couldn't help, but look at BB Creams. I saw the Missha brand that's been talked about all over YouTube, so I swatched both colours on my hand- the #21 (lighter shade) and the #23 (darker shade). I thought for sure that I was a #23, but the lady said that I was most likely a #21. Then she asked me what skin type I had and I told her I was on the oilier side. She said that I should try the Dr. Jart line of BB Creams. I haven't heard of Dr. Jart yet, but the colour (it only came in one shade) seemed like it was a better match than both of the Missha ones. It was also a tad more expensive. Dr. Jart was $32.99 and the Missha one was $23.99. They also had a newer Missha line called 'M Signature Real Complete BB Cream' and that was $28.99. I know you can get BB Creams online for much cheaper, but I feel better buying makeup when I've seen it in person. Once I know what works for me then I will probably buy it online.

I decided to buy the Dr. Jart one. Hopefully I made the right decision!

Here's my little shopping bag.

I got the Dr. Jart Silver Label BB Cream. The sales woman said that this one was her best seller for her "older" clients. Keke. I guess I'm that target market now since I'm 30...

The package says "This unique professional formula containing innovative active ingredients aims at perfectly expressing flawless look, concealing blemishes, and activating skin rejuvenation. It soothes red, irritated skin while providing moisture to skin and controlling excess sebum." It came in 50 mL. It looks a lot smaller than the 50 mL Missha (with the pump), but it's actually both the same mL.

Here's a tiny swatch of the Dr. Jart BB Cream on my hand. It's a tad thicker than the Missha BB Cream.

It has a grayish cast when I first rubbed it around...

...but it looked ok when it was all blended in. It does look a tad light on me, but my hands are slightly darker than my face. The smell was quite subtle and pleasant too. It dried quickly and looked very matte. Let's see how it does on my face.

The sales lady gave me lots of samples. That's what I love about Korean beauty stores! She gave me a sample of the new Missha BB Cream. This one is in 10 g.

The colour I got in the sample was a #23. This one is a little darker than the Dr. Jart one and a little bit more runny.

I blended it out a little bit.

I feel like it doesn't cover as well as the Dr. Jart one, but we'll see. This one smells more perfume-y than the Dr. Jart one, but I don't mind the smell. Mind you, I don't really have a sensitive olfactory...

There was a whole shelf of Darkness lashes and I couldn't resist grabbing a couple.

I bought the ones that came in 2 pairs. It was $5.60 each. This one is the K.ma3 style and it looks very similar to my beloved Revlon Beyond Naturals false eyelashes. I think I use the natural style. I love this one because it looks so natural. At my age I can't go for the crazy dramatic lashes...

After saying I can't wear dramatic lashes, I bought a dramatic set of lashes! I couldn't resist. It's criss-cross, spikey lashes and I was curious to see how they would look on my eyes. I placed it on my eyes when I came home and it looks AMAZING! It's not as crazy as I thought it would look and it makes my eyes look sooooo pretty. I can't wait to try this. I wish I had a special event coming up!

The sales lady also gave me a sample of the Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #21. If the Dr. Jart one doesn't work out I can always try this one.

The sales lady gave me a mini pack of BB Cream cleansing wipes. I'm sure they work like regular makeup wipes, but I'll try anything that's free!

She also gave me a whitening sheet mask. They were on sale for $3.80 each, but she said she would give me one for free because I was pretty. Haha, she probably says that to all of her paying customers.

I also got a couple of these TINY (size of the length of my thumb) moisturizers. She was explaining what they are in Korean, but I couldn't understand most of it. I think it comes with lots of great ingredients.

BTW, I want to wish all of you guys a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!