November Empties

I've fallen a little behind on posting due to the holidays - they were great for me, and I hope yours were wonderful as well! I'm ready to start the new year with more posts - I've already gotten back into a routine over on Instagram. Thankfully, I had already taken photos of November's empties, and just need to share my thoughts!

Empties - Sheet Masks

More empties from January-April - sheet masks! It looks like a lot, but I still have a ton more hanging around in my drawers...sometimes after work and the gym, I'm too tired to deal with a mask. Which doesn't make too much sense, I know, but if I sit down with the mask on, I'm not likely to get back up to finish the rest of my skincare! But here is a quick review of all of the masks I used in the beginning of the year.

Recent Repurchases

As much as I love buying a ton of NEW stuff, I get a lot of satisfaction from repurchasing items. It means I've finished something, and I don't have to think about finding a new product to fill a hole in my stash. A lot of my staples are skincare, as I go through that much more than I do any makeup products. Here's a few of my recent repurchases!

November 2015 Favorites

As promised, my favorites for November are on time! I'm excited to share the products I was most fond of over the month. I have some new items, and some tried and true staples from my arsenal of products. I don't like using new items every month for my favorites, because I find a lot of times an item will be mentioned as a "favorite" and then will never be mentioned again...was it really your favorite? But I digress. Here are my choices!

1. Lorac Unzipped palette - I am way late to the game on this palette. Tons of people rave about it, and I just didn't feel I needed it. To be fair, I just didn't want to spend money on another palette. I picked this up with Ulta points to circumvent feeling guilty. I am so, so glad I got my hands on this palette. The formula for these shadows is the same as the Lorac Pro palettes. The shadows are a little soft, but blend beautifully. If you're a fan of neutrals, rose golds, and rusts, this is the palette for you. It's a really great autumn palette, and I can see myself using it year round.
2. Givenchy Mister Mat primer - I picked this up in my modest VIB Rouge sale haul in the beginning of November. This is hands down the best mattifying primer I've used, and I have tried many. This tops the list mainly due to how smooth the application is. A lot of others I've used need a bit of work to get them smooth on the face, and too much touching or product causes it to ball up or be patchy. This one glides on beautifully. It is pricy, however, so I'm not sure how often I'll be replacing it.
3. YSL Black Opium perfume - I have been hoarding samples of this scent(I have three now, I think?) and using it nonstop. I've even added a mini spray vial to my Christmas list as well. (If you follow this blog at all, you'll realize more perfume is the last thing I really need...) This scent is light, slightly floral, slightly sweet, and feminine. I was shocked checking out the notes, as one is patchouli, but it doesn't smell like patchouli at all...and that's one of the notes I actively try to avoid. It's a sweet, strong scent, but doesn't lean towards that sickly sweet like Aquolina Pink Sugar. It's quite sophisticated, and I know a lot of people have started wearing it lately. Definitely check it out if you come across it!
4. Benton Snail Bee High Content Mask Pack  - I picked up even more of these masks in my recent skincare haul. I turn to these masks when I have something brewing under the skin, or redness I can't handle any more. This mask helps take care of those right away, while leaving my skin lightly moisturized. The mask has a fresh scent, and even has little eye flaps in case you want to get you eyelids in on the sheet mask action. The best part is these are alcohol free, so if your skin is sensitive, you don't have to miss out. I also have the Snail Bee High Content Essence, which I apply right after! (After I drain the packet of serum and smear that all on my face, as well!)
5. Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence - This is my HG sunscreen. I was recently on a trip to the Caribbean and I came back the same shade that I left thanks to this. I even used it on the rest of my body after a breakout from another sunscreen. I still want to try other sunscreens, but I am glad I can fall back on this one should I need to. It's light, absorbs quickly, does not leave a white cast, and leaves a slightly matte finish to boot. If you're in the market for a chemical sunscreen, I highly recommend checking this one out!

Let me know what you were loving in November! Maybe I'll end up loving it, too.

Even MORE Korean Skincare from Jolse and RoseRoseShop

My new obsession is skincare, if you couldn't tell. This past year I have really fallen down the Korean beauty rabbit hole! I recently placed an order from Jolse, as well as got in on a group RoseRoseShop order.

Sheet masks! These are all from RoseRoseShop. Also pictured is a sample of the Benton Steam Cream, I got a pack of 10 sample foils.

• Tosowoong Deep Sea Water mask - I fell in love with the Tosowoong masks I picked up in my last huge haul and saw that a lot of people liked the Deep Sea Water as well. These masks are supposed to add moisture and soothe the skin. I've used one already, and had no bad reaction, so good stuff so far! These came in a ten pack.
• Tonymoly I'm Real masks in Rice and Seaweed - Ten packs of each of these as well! Rice is for clear skin, and seaweed is for skin purifying. I've tried one of each (Seaweed is being worn as type this) and they're not bad. I also have and love the Red Wine ones. These have a stronger than might be liked alcohol scent...may not be the best for someone whose skin isn't alcohol friendly. The fit of the masks is a little wide, but the eye openings actually are pretty good for me.
• Etude House I Need You Pomegranate mask - I really love the Pomegranate ones of this line, they make my skin bright and quell any redness, and make my face feel fresh. Only three of these in my order.
• Innisfee Green Tea hydrogel mask - I love green tea masks, I'm getting into hydrogels, and Innisfree is usually pretty good to my skin. Can't wait to try these! I got two of these masks (who gets one?!)
• Benton Snail Bee High Content masks - I got a few of these from a friend and was HOOKED! I'm a little sad that these come in packs of eight and not ten, but I have so many masks I'm sure I won't notice. I use these when my face feels like it's going to act up, or after it has acted up, and it really helps get rid of redness. These masks have bee venom and snail secretion, two ingredients that my face seems to like. These are also alcohol free! I'm sure my skin appreciates the break.

Now onto the bigger items! The Cosrx items and sponge are from Jolse, while the Mizon cream was from RoseRoseShop. The Banila Clean It Zero was from Amazon, picked up a replacement when I got some sunscreen!

• Etude House Konjac Sponge - My old konjac was old and tired, so I got a new replacement!
• Cosrx Ultimate Moisturizing Honey Overnight Mask - I'm really getting into propolis products, and this sleeping mask has 85% propolis! I haven't opened it yet, but I'm really excited to try it. I had to decide between the Rice mask or the Honey mask, but I heard this one works better for oily skin.
• Cosrx Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser - This is the entire reason I ordered from Jolse. Cosrx released this cleanser last month, and I ordered it after reading this awesome review on Fifty Shades of Snail. I was out of cleanser too, so thankfully it wasn't just an excess product I didn't need! (Unlike 99% of the things here.)  I'm liking it so far, and I think the low pH combined with my pH adjusting toner are really letting my actives get their jobs done.
• Mizon Black Snail All In One Cream - My ride or die moisturizer is the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. I love it. HOWEVER - now that I'm using actives more often, I want something to really seal in the moisture I get from all my other products. I had samples of the regular Snail All In One and it wasn't heavy enough. I heard this one was more moisturizing, so I decided to try it out. So far so good - no breakouts while patch testing and my face does feel more moisturized after using actives. 
• Banila Clean It Zero - Just a replacement! This does a nice job of getting my makeup off. The one I got was not as solid of a balm as my first one, this one was a little melty. No matter, as it still works!

So there you have it, my new obsession. At least it's focused on helping my skin! Have you purchased any skincare recently? Any Asian skincare? I'd love to hear about it!

Rose Rose Shop Skincare Haul!

Remember when I posted my last big Rose Rose Shop haul and said that was the only large skincare haul I'd need this year? Well, I lied. I recently have gotten super into my new multi-step skincare routine, and wanted to add to it. I hopped on to Asian Beauty subreddit and scoured their Holy Grail thread for the summer and picked out what I thought sounded like a good fit for me. I'm hoping to incorporate these new items with the products I've always used (Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel, I love you so!) along with the newer products I mentioned last month.

I ordered the Too Cool For School Pumpkin Sleeping Pack samples, which includes a set of ten. I heard this product mentioned all the time, so I wanted to give it a shot in sample form. Rose Rose Shop also included some other foil samples - I got two of each of these pictured.

I'm almost out of the Vitamin C serum I'm using (Ole Henriksen Truth Serum) so I decided to pick up the OST C20 Vitamin C Serum. It's gotten plenty of good reviews, although there are concerns about it being unstable. I figured I'd give it a shot to see if i like it. 

The Skinfood Strawberry Black Sugar Wash Off Mask supposedly smells amazing and is a great exfoliating mask. I also picked up the Skinfood Peach Sake Pore Serum as it's been described as good for oily skin.

I wanted to try a new BB cream, so I selected the Mizon Snail Recovery BB Cream based off of favorable reviews. I'm currently using a Skin79 BB cream, and I hope I like this just as much!

The Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence is something I hope to use to reduce redness in my face. There are concerns about preservatives, but I'll be storing this one in the fridge once I open it. I also hope to use the Tosowoong Propolis Sparkle Ampoule to calm my skin when it needs it. 

The COSRX AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid was bought because I'm really loving the COSRX BHA that I have right now. Hopefully, it'll help me get a jump start on any fine lines, as well as keep my skin in check come hormonal acne time. 

I got the Innisfree Green Tea Mineral Mist because why not, maybe I just want to spray my face with stuff and feel fresh.

Now on to the super fun portion of the haul - sheet masks! Each of the pictures will show one, but I bought these in multiples. Etude House sheet masks were the first ones I ever tried, and I really like them. I picked up Tea Tree, Snail, Pomegranate, and Vita Complex. The only one I haven't tried is the Vita Complex, and I'm excited to see if my face likes it!

Innisfree It's Real Squeeze Mask Sheets in both Tea Tree and Pomegranate. I really like the Etude House masks in Tea Tree and Pomegranate, so I wanted to try these. I also picked up Nature Republic Real Nature Mask Sheets in Green Tea and Royal Jelly. I read about these on an AsianBeauty thread about favorite sheet masks, and wanted to give them a try.

I struggle with large pores, so the TonyMoly I'm Real Red Wine sheet mask sounded like a perfect fit! I also got a TonyMoly Intense Care Snail Hydrogel Mask since i have yet to dive into hydrogel masks, and who doesn't love snail? Last but not least, I picked up Tosowoong Pure Sheet Masks in Propolis and Green Tea, off another suggestion thread in AsianBeauty.

I am SO excited to open all these and use them! Unfortunately it'll be a slow process, testing each one and seeing how my skin reacts. But just receiving the box and opening it was fantastic! I chose the cheaper shipping option that Rose Rose Shop offered and it was overnighted via DHL to me - the long wait for Korean orders is so agonizing, I'm glad I got to skip it! Let me know what you think, which products you want to hear more about, and if you have any suggestions for next time!