Nature Republic & The Saem Haul

I haven't actually tried a lot of products from Nature Republic before but I know there do have quite a few products which are pretty popular. I really should start giving this brand a proper shot soon but I'm so hung up with my stuff from Innisfree that I haven't had the chance to try much from this brand but I will definitely make a point to start using this brand more often, especially now that I've gotten more stuff.

The first and most obvious item I got were face masks. They were having a 10+10 for the sheet masks so of course I got myself some sheet masks. I believe they have a few pieces from all their flavours which is great because I get to try all of them, even ones I wouldn't normally have picked up for myself. As mentioned in a previous post, I have been suffering from break outs because of all the travelling (and the resulting jet lag) so I picked up the Bee Venom Emulsion to help with that. I really wish I was one of them girls with perfect skin no matter what I did but sadly, even at the ripe old age of 24, I still suffer from spots so I have to deal with them. I've heard good things about the Argan 20 Real Cream and I really can't wait to give it a proper shot. The last item was purely an impulse buy. I saw the ampoules that Nature Republic had on display and I just tried the Rose Real Nature Ampoule on my hand on a whim and fell in love with it. It smells wonderful, doesn't feel greasy, and just generally felt incredible on my hand so I tossed it into my basket on the way to the cashier. I really am horrible but I will bring this with me on holiday just to use it and hopefully, I'll have a review on this when I'm back.

Got myself some items from The Saem as well. I haven't tried much from this brand before because it is a somewhat new brand to me even though I know it isn't new in the beauty industry. And because I haven't tried much from the brand, I picked some out to try, the first being items from the Iceland range and I got the Hydrating Toner and Hydrating Emulsion because they were having a 1+1. What better way to try 2 different products than when they are on offer? I also got myself an incredible deal when I got the Brown Rice Cleansing Tissue because I think I paid less than $8 for 100 pieces of cleansing tissues? That's insane.

They were also having sales for their hand creams and you know I love me some hand creams. Got 4 in the scents Oriental Mandarin, Sugar Peach, Magnolia and Cherry Blossom. I seem to be doing a lot of hauls recently, haven't I? But that's just because I've been travelling so much and every thing is hella cheaper overseas than back in Singapore but I just have 2 more haul posts coming up then I'm done!

Thank you so much for reading!

Review | The Saem Eco Earth Power Light Sun Cream

I have never tried products from the brand The Saem before, besides their Tea Tree Sheet Mask and since I've heard good things about their concealer, I popped into one of their many outlets to have a nosing around. They were having a 1+1 for their Eco Earth Power Light Sun Cream and 10,000 KRW for 2 sunblocks is just insanely affordable so I found myself picking this up and paying for it.

I have never tried sunblocks from Korean brands before so let's see how they fare in comparison to my Neutrogena sunblock.

It says that it is "a moisture cream daily sun cream spreads smoothly on the skin without leaving shine behind on the face."

[How to use] At the last step of skin care, apply on the skin area exposed to UV rays the most.

It is SPF 50+ and PA +++. It also contains 50g.

First off, if we're talking about price, this sunblock is insanely affordable, especially if it's on discount. We're talking about $6.50 for a 50g tube. Do you know how crazy that sounds? Even my Neutrogena cannot beat this and it is already very reasonably priced.

The sunblock comes in a matte white tube with a bright yellow cover, basically your typical packaging for sunblocks. Everything on the tube except for the name is in Korean which I cannot read so I'm no help if you want to know what the words say.

The product is a white liquid which is really lightweight and watery in texture. It blends like a dream. On my hand, it gave off a matte finish but when I applied it on my face after all my skin care products, the finish wasn't fully matte or dewy but somewhere in between, like a satin finish. 

My skin felt very smooth after application but it was slightly tacky to the touch. I'm not particular about tackiness so this didn't bother me. 

The scent was amazing though. It didn't smell anything like a sunblock and if I were to be honest, the first thought that came to my head when I smelt it was mango yoghurt. I really like the scent and it pretty much disappeared after application. 

Overall:

PROS:

• Insanely affordable
• Lightweight, watery texture
• Doesn't smell like a sunblock
• Semi-matte, satin finish
• Smoothens skin texture
• Blends like a dream
• Doesn't feel heavy on the skin

CONS:

• None

I am really liking this sunblock so far and I'm bringing this one overseas with me. It is a lot more travel friendly than the Neutrogena one because it is a lot smaller and lighter. I can't wait to try more sunblocks from Korean brands because this sunblock is really promising. 

The Saem Haul

Now, I have never used products from The Saem before, besides my disastrous experience with their tea tree sheet mask. To be fair though, my skin doesn't react well to tea tree sheet masks. I tried the one from Etude House and my face peeled like crazy the very next day. But! I have heard good things about their urban eco harakeke range so when I ventured into the store, a few other bits and bobs attracted my attention so I went on a mini haul.

One of the first items that drew my attention were these Light Sun Cream SPF50+ PA+++. The main reason why they attracted my attention was the fact that they were going at 2 for 10,000KRW. It's insanely cheap for sun blocks? That's like $6.50/tube. I really hope they do not disappoint though!

I've heard so many good things about the Urban Eco Harakeke range so I picked up the Toner and Essence to try. Once again, I'm not one to open multiple products of the same type so I'm waiting till I'm done with my Mamonde Rose Water Toner and Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner to finish before I give this one a shot. Pretty excited once again! (I think I'm just excited to try new products but I am genuinely excited to try all these products. I need to maintain.)

The Cover Perfection Stick Concealer is also another concealer which I've heard good things about so I snagged myself one to try. I believe this was pretty inexpensive as most Korean products are.

I have really dry hands, especially since I wash them so often at work, so hand creams are definitely a must for me. Hand creams in Korea are in general pretty affordable so I grabbed these 2 to try. I got one in the scent Magnolia and the other in Apricot. I've never tried these 2 scents before so I honestly don't know how they're going to smell like.

Didn't do much of a damage in The Saem because it isn't one of the brands which I am more familiar with. I hope you enjoyed this post nonetheless. Thank you for reading~

Review | The Saem Natural Tea Tree Mask Sheet

Prior to my trip to Korea, The Saem is one of those brands which I have never heard of before. As such, I didn't exactly do any research on the brand at all. However, while exploring Myeongdong with my sister, we decided to head into one of the stores. They were having a 5+5 sale for their masks so I decided to give their Natural Tea Tree Mask Sheet a try. 

I have actually never tried tea tree products on my face before and I heard that they are really good for acne prone skin so I was really excited to finally try this. Before I get into the review, I thought I would just briefly state what my skin type is. My skin type is usually combination, with a semi oily T-Zone and normal cheek area. Some times, my skin does go through a really dry phase where my skin literally starts peeling for no reason.

#1149: Massive Mask Haul

I have a confession to make. I am a mask hoarder, as you will soon see from the pictures below. But how can I not be one when the sheet masks in Korea are so inexpensive?!

Let me explain.

In Korea, most sheet masks cost about 950KRW to 1,000 KRW which is typically slightly more than S$1. That makes the prices of masks insanely affordable, especially when you compare it with the prices of mask in Singapore. 

Let me quote you an example. Sheet masks from The Face Shop's Real Nature Mask range in Korea retail for 1,000 KRW (or S$1.25). In Singapore, the same mask from the same range, retails at 4 for S$10. Wtf?!?!?! 

SG Y U SO EXPENSIVE?!

So when faced with this situation, I reacted like any girl would… 

There are, of course, more expensive options to face masks that can cost like 5,000 KRW and above per piece but I am very happy with the more affordable options that are available.

Also, if you're really really lucky, Korean brands typically have buy 10 get 10 free sales for masks and that's when you REALLY go cray cray buying up EVERYTHING.

And so, I present to you, my crazy mask collection.

These masks, were mostly what's left from my first haul in Korea. I've used up most of them because I typically do masks 3 times a week (on alternate days) and that means I've used up a huge chunk of my collection and I'm really really loving this indulgence.

Nothing feels better than to come home after a tiring 11 hour work day to a good pampering session with a sheet mask on the face. I love pampering myself because I work really hard and sheet masks help me wind down after a long day.

As you will soon see, my holy grail brands for masks are both Innisfree and The Face Shop.

Here's a close up of what's left from my first haul.

Originally, I was a bit hesitant with buying too many sheet masks the first time I went to Korea because I didn't have the habit of putting on sheet masks. Sleeping packs are fine because you literally just apply it on your face and go about doing your stuff as per normal but sheet masks require a bit more effort - putting it on your face for 10-20 minutes and patting the serum into your face after you remove it. And I didn't know if I would have the patience or the discipline to constantly find time to do sheet masks.

But after 4 months of religiously using sheet masks, 3 times a week, I can safely say that yes, I do have the discipline and that I will use up the masks I bought. So, I went even more crazy with my buying of masks when I went to Korea last month.

After all, they're not going to waste and my skin embraces all the greatness of these masks so why not?

The following pictures are sneak peeks to my new haul.

Went back to my beloved Face Shop to get these babies and since Nature Republic and the Saem were having mask sales, I decided to pick some up to try!

Etude house was having their buy 10 get 10 free mask sales and I went absolutely cray buying these babies up. My sis thought I was crazy…. But I love masks…. >.> <.<

These are the loose pieces of masks I picked up.

And here's a giant buy 20 get 20 free pack which I have yet to opened up yet. Got this huge baby at Lotte Mart and I can't wait to try them!

My sister says she loves Etude House masks because they don't tear as easily as other brands (Innisfree tears up quite easily if you're not careful with it) so heh, can't wait to try them!

And also, since we had extra cash from doing tax refunds at Incheon Airport, I decided to grab this bad boy as well. 70 pieces of mask from Innisfree!!! Mad happy I can't wait to open this up and start using all of them.

And and since I've been back from Korea, my sister bought me more masks hehehehehe 'cuz The Face Shop was having a 10+10 for face masks. BUY BUY BUY :>

But sadly though, they didn't have some of the ones I really wanted but my sis just got me other ones heh.

I think I sound mostly crazy in this post about how I love this and how I love that but honestly, would I blog and rave about something I don't like? (Unless it's a rant post, then that's a different story altogether.)

But I'm just so excited to share my mask collection because I really love sheet masks and how my skin is improving so much partly due to my skin care routine which includes doing these masks.

These masks have been a life saver, especially when I put make up for long hours a day, everyday which really dries out my skin and they provide a much needed boost of moisture. Also, every girl needs her pamper night (or nights in my case).

Let me know if I should do a more in depth review on the masks. But till then, go and be beautiful! x