A mini haul of (mostly) minis + my experience with ordering from Skin Cupid

 

Top Row (L-R) Numbuzin No.3 Super Glowing Essence Toner, Some By Mi AHA-BHA-PHA 30 Days Miracle Toner, Dr. Ceuracle Vegan Kombucha Tea Essence, Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel SPF50+, Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Prebiotics SPF50+.

Bottom Row (L-R) Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture Airyfit Daily Sunscreen SPF50+ (sample freebie), Purito Centella Unscented Serum (sample freebie), Peripera Ink Moody Glowy Tint in #11 Brown Heaven, milk chocolate foil wrapped heart x2 (valentines promo freebie).

 

**N.B. For clarity this is a review of my experience purchasing from Skin Cupid for the first time and NOT of the items purchased.**

 

If this looks familiar to you it’s because I tried to post it last week & unknowingly included a product from a brand that is banned on the sub so I had to wait to retake the picture.

Anyway, I decided to make a post to share my experience with ordering from Skin Cupid & to include any other info that I think could be relevant/useful as I couldn’t find too much information on them myself when I was searching the sub prior to placing my order.

 

**General Info:**

 

Skin Cupid is a UK based small business online retailer for k-beauty products who ship worldwide. They carry a small range of popular mostly k-beauty skincare & makeup products from brands like Romand, Unleashia, Etude House, Pyunkang Yul, Cosrx etc.

The site is relatively user friendly & easy to navigate. They very helpfully and clearly include a product description, the full ingredients list and how to use guidelines for every product.

I appreciate that they have a dedicated section for mini sized products *and* list how much product they contain (it’s a pet peeve of mine when online beauty retailers don’t include this basic information).

I also liked that they have an option to sign up to be notified via e-mail for when a product comes back in stock.

If you sign up for the newsletter you get a one off 10% off discount code for your first order.

Free samples are included with every order.

They have a sort of rewards points system but from a quick glance it only seemed worthwhile to me if you plan to regularly purchase from them. It seems like you can earn points from placing orders, following them on instagram, referring a friend etc.

The checkout process was quick & simple. I felt reassured that I could pay through PayPal especially as it’s a smaller more unknown retailer.

 

**Placing My Order Info:**

 

I placed my order on Wednesday the 14th of February which amounted to £37.29 therefore automatically qualified me for their free standard shipping. I received a confirmation e-mail almost immediately. On Friday the 16th February I received a shipping notification through e-mail from Skin Cupid with a tracking number. Then on Tuesday the 20th of February I received an email from Royal Mail informing me of 4hr time slot that my order is due to arrive by on the following day Wednesday 15th February.

My order arrived within the specified date and time and everything was securely packaged with no issues – no leakage, no scuffing on boxes, everything was well within the expiry date etc. It was packed with those pink little foam things that look like kind of like Wotsits. They included a card that had their info for their socials on one side & a cute illustrated guide on how to layer skincare on the other side. My name & a thank you message was handwritten on it too.

I will also quickly note that from the few and admittedly mostly older mentions I had seen of Skin Cupid on reddit it seems that orders were typically processed & dispatched within a day. I’m not sure if mine took slightly longer because I placed my order during their Valentine’s day promotion where I imagine they would naturally have a larger influx of orders or if it’s just something that has changed throughout the years. I still think it’s a v. reasonably TAT but I thought I’d mention it if you like me were expecting a faster turn around time due to reading those older reviews.

 

**Shipping Options Info:**

 

For the UK they ship via Royal Mail Tracked Standard Delivery (2-3 working days from dispatch) which costs £3.99 or is free for all orders over £35. They also have the option for Royal Mail Tracked First Class Delivery (1 working day from dispatch) for £5.50 For all orders regardless of price.

For the EU they offer free Standard Tracked Delivery (5 – 10 working days from dispatch) for all orders *over* £80.00 with no customs charges on orders under €150 (prior to applying any discount codes). For orders between £40 – £80 it costs £6.99 and £9.99 for orders below £40.

For the rest of the world they offer free Standard Delivery (without tracking) for orders over £150 (5 – 6 working day or 10 – 15 working days from dispatch depending on your region).

 

**My General Experience + Miscellaneous Info:**

 

The prices of the items are of course higher than the significantly larger Asia based retailers like Yesstyle or Stylevanna but I was trying to hunt down the elusive Peripera Ink Moody Glowy Tint in #11 Brown Heaven which is technically now discontinued & quite difficult to find and this was one of the only legitimate retailers who had it in stock so it was personally worth it for me. Plus of course the TAT is super fast in comparison to ordering from international retailers which is super helpful if you’re UK based & in need of something in a pinch.

Instead of trying FS products I opted to try a bunch of minis (mainly because I didn’t strictly need anything else urgently enough to pay the markup). I know the minis particularly the two sunscreens are overpriced cost per ml & it would have been more bang for my buck to purchase the full sizes tubes from Yesstyle/Stylevanna for a couple of quid more. However, my skin is picky af especially when it comes to sunscreen & I’d rather test a small amount of product – just enough so that I can get a sense of how it feels on my face, test to see if it it stings or irritated my eyes & whether I can tolerate the scent (I have sensory issues & suffer from scent triggered migraines) & otherwise not waste an entire tube of product if it doesn’t work out for me.

I coincidentally placed my order on Valentines day & they were having 24hr promotion where you get a free mini (40ml) of the soothing toner (who’s name I won’t mention as it turns out the brand is banned in the sun as I mentioned at the start) and two small foil wrapped heart shaped chocolates with every order. Both items arrived in small pink organza bag & included a little slip with the ingredients + allergen information (e.g. gluten free + suitable for vegetarians) for the chocolates which I thought was really nice touch. It also had a cute label with a little cherub with a bow & arrow and a “Will you be our Valentine?” message on it which compliments their branding nicely & I thought was a extra cute touch.

If you were wondering the Numbuzin essence, the Some By Mi toner and the Peripera tint did all arrive in their respective boxes but I took them out for the picture.

Also if like me you’re worried about the Dr. Ceuracle toner looking completely milky and not having the two distinct layers as you expected, don’t be. It just gets mixed up in transit and once you let it still upright for a while it settles back to normal.

I will also mention that since I placed my order on the (14th Feb) to now (1st March) I believe I’ve only received one promotional e-mail from Skin Cupid which I’m glad about as I hate my inbox getting spammed from non-stop promotional stuff.

 

**Product Info:**

 

Here’s all the info for products that I purchased (+ the free samples) including the sizes & prices. However, the prices listed here are *after* I applied the 10% off code.

 

* Peripera Ink Mood Glowy Tint in #11 Brown Heaven 4g (£10.20)

* Numbuzin No.3 Super Glowing Essence Toner 100ml (£7.21)

* Some By Mi AHA-BHA-PHA 30 Days Mircale Toner 30ml (£5.85)

* Dr. Ceuracle Vegan Kombucha Tea Essence Mini 18ml (£5.39)

* Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Prebiotics SPF50+ 10ml (£4.45)

* Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel SPF50+ 10ml (£3.59)

* [redacted toner] 40ml (promotional Valentines freebie)

* Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture Airyfit Daily Sunscreen SPF50+ 2ml (sample freebie)

* Purito Centella Unscented Serum (sample freebie)

 

I haven’t included any reviews of the products themselves because I’ve yet to test the skincare items thoroughly & I personally do not find first impressions to be particularly useful. However, I may do a mini review post in the future of all the minis once I’ve used them over a decent period of time.

I’m considering whether to make a separate post reviewing the Peripera Ink Mood Glowy Tint but unsure if I should as the shade I have is technically discontinued & don’t know if people would just want to hear my thoughts on the formula.