Nature Republic Haul!

Hi loves! It's been a while since I've made a blog post, sorry about that. Hopefully I'll post more this year. Anyways, I wanted to do a skincare post today because a Nature Republic opened up in my local mall! I'm really excited having a Korean skincare store so close to my house. I popped over and bought a couple of things and was even gifted some by friends. I plan on doing reviews on the full sized products soon. 

First item I got was an emulsion, which I've been needing in my skincare routine for a long time. Emulsions help supplement and provide moisture in the routine. Aside from an emulsion being great for helping make skin more supple, I chose the green tea product because green tea has a million fantastic benefits, and I'm just a huge green tea lover~. I'm hoping this will help keep my skin clear and depuff parts of my face as well add extra moisture. This cost a little less than $15. 

This product I've been looking at for a couple weeks now. It's their argan deep care hair mask. At first I was looking for the pack that came in a little tub, but they only had this version instead. This type is a one-time use and comes with a hair cap, which is really convenient! I'm hoping it'll make my hair shinier and more voluminous and if it works, I'll probably look for the full pack online. These cost about $4.50 each. 

Next is Nature Republic's Real Nature Aqua Gel mask. This mask was actually gifted to me by a friend who bought 10 masks to get another free 10 for only $30. I've used the green tea one and the difference between a gel mask and a sheet mask is definitely noticeable! It feels best if the mask is refrigerated for a couple of hours and then used. I'm excited to see how different this canola honey mask feels from the green tea one.  

Finally, I always appreciate these little samples that Korean skincare stores always give you. They gave me an emulsion from their AQUA line, a snail-based face cream (ooh!), and a green tea hand lotion from their line of many, many different hand lotions. 

I'm really excited to try these products and hopefully do reviews on a couple of them in the near future! 

Thanks for reading, be sure to follow my Twitter or Instagram to see what I'm up to!

The Face Shop + Kiko Milano Haul!

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've made a post because college has started and life has gotten busier. But I'm really excited to show you some purchases that I recently made! The Face Shop, a Korean skincare brand, opened up in the town neighboring mine so I made a visit yesterday and got quite a few nice things. The mall near my house also opened a new huge section filled with brand new skincare, make up, and clothing stores. So let's get this haul going~ 

These first couple of products were actually a complimentary gift from the store! My total for my purchase came out to be enough money to receive four free items and these face masks were a part of the options, so of course I chose them. I've heard many good reviews about The Face Shop's face masks, the main one being that they use natural ingredients that smell pleasant and act effectively. 

The first mask is a natural shea butter face mask that will firm and supplement your skin with the magical moisturizing and anti-aging properties of shea butter. 

The second mask I received is a real nature mask in blueberry. This mask will help moisturize skin as well, but it will also soften it! Both these masks help keep the skin nice, dewey, and taut.

 I actually bought another pair of masks that aren't pictured because I used them, but I also purchased a couple of dragon character masks! I mainly got them as a cute activity that my boyfriend and I could do, but the character masks also made my skin feel incredibly dewey and moisturized. So if you want to have add a little fun in your skin care routine, I definitely recommend purchasing some! Next time I'm getting the tiger masks~

The biggest purchase (imo lol) I made at The Face Shop was the Pomegranate and Collagen Volume Lifting Essence. I knew that I wanted to get something for my daily skincare routine that would help make my skin look poreless and tight. I wasn't sure what to buy though, but luckily the shop woman was very helpful in guiding me through the steps of Korean skincare. She told me that essence is an essential addition to the layering routine and I after I told her my skin type, she recommended me some products, and my favorite was this! The Pomegranate and Collagen essence has a light, but fruity smell to it and I'm currently applying it both day and night. It'll help with tightening my pores and face even more with that natural fruity collagen~ 

As you can see from the swatch, the product goes on really smoothly. It's not too creamy or heavy and the smell isn't strong either. It goes on the skin really easily and I'm really excited to see how my face looks after a few weeks of using it! 

At the end of the purchase, the shop woman gave me even MORE free items, these times little samples of their other products! The three on the top are a part of their White Seed line. She gave me a set of toner, essence, and lotion and should be applied in that order. The White Seed line adds an extra effect of whitening with each product. I've heard generally positive opinions, so we'll see how it goes when I use them! 

The second sample I was given is the Chia Seed sebum control moisture cream. It contains 0% oil, so the product should help minimize the level of oiliness on the face. In daily routine, this cream should be applied last, right after the lotion. I've heard super good reviews on this product as well and I'm hoping that it'll help decrease oil in my trouble areas! 

Lastly, my purchase from the new mall in my area. I visited a new store called Kiko Milano that has had positive reviews on their products. I was in the market for a long lasting lipstick that wouldn't come off from drinking water or kissing my boyfriend. One of the make-up concierges recommended me the Matte Muse Lipstick that I bought in # 02! 

The lipstick goes on pretty thick and after drying up leaves a matte look. 

I adore the color and after wearing it out for a couple days, I have to say, I'm really impressed! After the lipstick dried, it was hard to get off. It wouldn't rub off no matter how many times I kissed my hand and the swatch I made this morning still hasn't come off! The color is sweet and subtle, which is perfect and overall I'm pleased with this product. I'll definitely be visiting Kiko again. 

Thanks for reading!

Anime Expo 2015 Haul!

This year, after about five years of yearning, I finally, finally, FINALLY got the chance to be able to go to Anime Expo this year! I never got to go before because of money, rides, etc. I had a good time and picked up some very cute things while I was there.

My first, and probably favorite, item was a print of Kuranosuke from my favorite anime, Princess Jellyfish. Princess Jellyfish, or Kuragehime, has gotten me through many tough times in my life and is my go-to feel good anime. I knew that I wanted to get a print of something from the anime there, and this Kuranosuke print was perfect! I bought it almost immediately for $7. It's colors are so sweet and wonderful to look at. I'm very excited to put this up on my wall. I didn't get to pick up the artist's business card, so if someone knows who drew this, please let me know so I can thank/credit them!

My next item are these super cute stickers I bought from an artist whose tumblr user is ghostspaces! All of her products were so lovely to look at. She had shirts, a zine, and these stickers for sale. All of her items were in colors that match my style, so I HAD to buy something. Her stickers were 3 for $5 and I'm very happy with the ones I got! I especially love the Moomin one lol. I'm not sure where I'll put these yet, but I'm really happy I have them. 

And finally, I got this super adorable bow from a lil booth that sold bows and shoe pins! I bought it for $4, a pretty good price in my opinion. My favorite part about it is the fabric and the way the little star patterns shimmer when you wear it. I'm definitely going to be wearing this bow quite often! The shop owner was a super cute and sweet lady with the most adorable voice. She was cosplaying as Bee from Bee and Puppycat and was just a sweetheart to me. Her name is muffu and she's an aspiring voice actress! Check out her youtube and other links to her profiles should be in her youtube too! 

I didn't take that many pictures with cosplayers because I was too shy to go up to any of them unfortunately ;; but i did take a few pictures at some cute booths~ 

So happy I got to see the Rilakkuma room! 

Anime Expo was such a fun time and I hope I can go again next year!!! I saw so many awesome cosplays and different types of merchandise, everything about the expo was just so fun. I can't wait to go back with my friends and maybe even make new ones while I'm there! If you see me at AX 2016, be sure to say hi!