Ridiculous things I've been told in South Korea beauty shops.

Just a small update, it has been months since I have updated this blog.
I am currently traveling around South Korea for 3 weeks, I'm a week in so I only have 2 weeks left!

Being a makeup lover, I absolutely adore looking through all the cute shops selling makeup and beauty products in Korea, however the things that salespeople have said to me just... baffles me.

I was looking at cheap nail polish, and ended up choosing only two colours because I didn't want to spend that much. I was led into the store where the girl kept trying to persuade me to buy some face masks. This is how our conversation went:
Her: But face mask cheap, very good present. Only 30,000won for a pack of 20! Very cheap.
Me: That is cheap, but I don't need face masks...
Her: You don't need for you? OK, that's OK. Buy as present for friend.
Me: It's ok, I already have lots of face masks from other countries.
Her: But... you need to buy face mask.
Me: No... no I don't.
Her: Yes, present for friend. You need! Good price!

The conversation kept going in a circle because I was telling her that I don't need it, and she kept telling me that I do need it. So I eventually gave up and bought something else just so she would let me leave the store.


The other thing was I stepped into another makeup store and was looking at BB creams. The salesperson kindly applied some on the back of both of my hands. The first thing I noticed, SUPER light. One was extremely light, and I was really hesitant. I told her it's too light, even on my face. I looked in the mirror and realized the store had extremely bright lighting, bringing up my natural face colour. She kept saying it's light on the back of my hand, because my hand is darker (true), but then kept telling me: "BB cream colour is made to fit your face. It'll fit your face."
...... Just because a BB cream is designed to fit your face colour, does not necessarily mean that it will fit your face colour. She just kept repeating that and I was constantly disagreeing.
Of course there might of been a translation error or something, as the sales girl did not speak good English (lots of uhh, sorry. I'm sorry!).

I also find it hard to trust someone's makeup advice (especially when it comes to face products) when they have such a thick layer of makeup on! It's quite off putting and honestly, I am all for looking flawless, but I don't want to look like I'm wearing a ton of makeup!

Julep August Mystery Box

In my previous Julep post, I mentioned that the only reason I would order from Julep again would be for the mystery boxes. Now I'm not too sure, but I think that Julep has mystery box sales every month. In the middle of August, they sent an email saying there was a mystery box sale. Seeing that I received a free polish coupon, and the fact that the box is a 'mystery', I decided to order the it girl box (because really, I want more polish than other items)!

The only gripes I had was that I was not given the "free shipping" option that is offered to Julep mavens, and the receipt I received in my email did not show details of what I ordered, and instead it showed the total amount that I paid (which included the price for the free polish I had a coupon for).

Slightly annoyed that I ended up paying for my free polish, I called customer service and asked whether or not I was charged. Fortunately, Julep customer service was surprisingly good, as she answered my question, she then proceeded to tell me that I could get free shipping and she was able to refund the charge on my credit card. 

Great! It was going ok, and then two weeks later my package came.... and I was disappointed. After looking up mystery boxes on the internet, I saw that I received the EXACT same box as other bloggers who ordered the same box. Not much of a surprise, and I was slightly disappointed in the fact that I received the minimum $60 box. 

From top to bottom: Sandra, Rachel, Megan, Jessica, Base coat

My general opinions on the polish, I'll use the base coat because of the convenience factor (it's so small, I can carry it anywhere), but other than that I have a bunch of base coats that I still need to use up, and would have preferred a top coat.

The only other polish that I tried so far was Jessica, sadly it was rather 'gloopy' and hard to apply. The brush was also odd, and overall the polish just... didn't wow me. I added some nail polish thinner, but I haven't tried it since.

Colour above: Taylor

For my add-on free polish, I chose Taylor. In my small collection, I don't own many blue polishes. Once I saw a periwinkle blue, I fell in love! Although for some reason, I pictured it to be a lighter shade of blue, but this one is quite pretty and I do enjoy it. 

Formula wise it applies nicely, the brush is decent, and I do like the colour! 

Overall, I think this will be my last julep purchase for a while. I'm done with the colours, as well as the odd bottles and I've noticed that the consistency of the polish gets thicker after each usage. 

I don't even find the mystery boxes to be worth your money. Unless you're lucky and get a better box, the chances you're taking with the small amount of polish contained in each bottle is not worth the $3 - $4 I spend with the box. 

Did anybody else get a mystery julep box before? Let me know your thoughts on the polish!

Preparation: Japan

That's right!

In October of this year, I will be on a semester exchange to Sapporo, Japan. The last time I went to Japan was in the summer of 2008, and I knew I wanted to come back after the short visit I had.

I've always had an interest in Japanese culture since junior high, so this opportunity is amazing and I am both extremely excited, and nervous at the same time.

Personally, this is a huge step for me. I've always lived a rather simple life, always being sheltered in my home city and living the typical school, work, and hang out with friends life.

Not to mention my first solo travel! I'm the type of person who is extremely shy when put into new situations, I'm taking this opportunity to come out of my comfort zone!

I still have a number of things to do (including figuring out what to pack), and working as much as possible before jetting off to the land of the rising sun.

Nervous? Heck yes. But at the same time I am looking forward to this!