Thursday, September 1, 2011

Korean Haul: Ohui, The Face Shop, Hanyul by AmorePacific

Hi there beautiful ladies. I have a Korean skincare haul! I didn't get a chance to visit Seoul this year as I do almost every year but I received a couple of goodies from friends and family, plus I picked up a couple of things at The Face Shop in NJ on our way back to DC from Manhattan. All up and down the East Coast baby, that's how I roll. 

So the first things I got from The Face Shop are some of their sheet masks. I got Nutri-life E, walnut & pine nut, rice and aloe masks. They were priced at $1.50-2.00 each. I've used these before but it's been a while so I don't remember whether I liked them or not. But whatever the case may be at least I had fun picking them out ; )
I also picked up the Herb Day Lip & Eye Make-up Remover sheets. These were $5.00 for 30 sheets- pretty good deal in my humble opinion. I use Lancome Bi-facil to remove my waterproof eye makeup but sometimes I get lazy and want something super simple to remove my eye makeup so I thought I would give these a whirl. I've already tried a couple of sheets and although it isn't perfect- it still removes my waterproof eyeliner/mascara better than my regular makeup remover wipe (currently using the Biore one) so I definitely see myself repurchasing. I consider this a find!

The powder you see with ECHO's stamped on it is actually chestnut powder which you can mix with yogurt, egg yolk, or water to create your own at-home spa mask treatment. This is one of my absolute favorite products in the whole wide world but unfortunately I can't find it anywhere in the states. I used to buy a couple packets when in Korea and bring them back with me but I had run out of the last stash I had towed back with me. I let out a little yelp when I saw this at The Face Shop.

A little side note, The Face Shop is a drugstore-level Korean cosmetics brand. I know of only three locations currently in the US, one each in Manhattan, Flushing and NJ.

Next up, my mom sent me some stuff from a line called Hanyul (by AmorePacific) through my dad who was in town from Seoul last week. Apparently this is a line that is focused on using 100% Korean-grown traditional herbs (normally used in Eastern medicine) to create products that are less abrasive to the skin. My mom sent me two packs of sheet masks and a massaging pack, all of which are housed in some beautiful packaging.
Last but not least, a good friend was sweet enough to bring me a Ohui sunscreen compact (Sun Science Powder Sunblock Natural Skin SPF 50) from her visit to Seoul last month. I've been taking horse-riding lessons in the sun as of late and this was just the thing I needed- a compact that would allow me to reapply sunscreen without messing up my makeup.
I've already used it (hence the slightly faded sun print) and I like it a lot. It works not only as a sunscreen but a brightening and mattifying powder with a good amount of pigmentation. It doesn't make my skin look cakey but the powder is super fair so keep that in mind if you have a darker skintone. It works nicely on my average fair skin.

So that's everything! I understand that these are not readily available products for everyone but I've recently seen some sites that sell Ohui, The Face Shop and Hanyul so I thought I would introduce these haul items as a reference to those of you who are interested in trying out some new Asian cosmetics. I hope you enjoyed :)