Korea Japan Haul, Reviews, Shopping Tips

Korea Haul left Japan Haul right.

Unsurprisingly because most of my skincare routine is Jp I picked up more Jp items.

Highlights / Mini Reviews:

Korea

Shopping: Oliveyoung, All Mask Story, Baviphat Store, The Saem, Duty Free, Daiso

Duty Free shopping beats all in terms of breadth & prices.

Recommendation: Order duty free. I wouldn’t bother with Oliveyoung as much otherwise. Baviphat store gave me weird vibes and I didn’t like the sales people in most of the smaller stores in Myeongdong. Way too pushy. Honestly I was disappointed in the selection of brands at department stores, and if they did carry
certain brands their rep counters would be permanently closed. Almost feels like there is a huge OY monopoly on beauty so I am very keen on just sticking to duty free next time I come. I also was literally at Coex mall an hour after the beauty expo ended so I am very sore about that!

Stand Out Products:

Laka Tints – Incredible! From the finish to the unique colors to the longevity of the tint to the packaging. One of the more affordable and quality tint brands at OY.

Chahong Room is a hair salon and their brand happens to also carry products in Oliveyoung. I actually had my hair styled there and loved the hairspray they used. It wasn’t crunchy but helped hold my style! Was so pleased I found the exact one in store.

Wakemake Concealer – This is my HG. Sadly shade 23 was sold out in many OYs so if you find it, do stock up! I’ve used this for over a year and it has replaced my NARS concealer (don’t support the brand due to ethical reasons and this concealer does the job better).

Personal Color Tint – so the facility I got my personal color done also stocked a certain brand of lip tints for base shades and I got mine in a nice mauve color! I was gravitating towards mauve shades the entire time hence the selection of tints I bought but this one was a nice tone and texture.

Japan

Shopping: Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Tokyo Handz, Bic Camera, Don Quijote, Lotte Duty Free, Daiso, Celule

Recommendation: Wow! The selection in Japanese stores for skincare and makeup brands is insane. I was most impressed by Tokyo Hands and Bic Camera. They both carried a huge variety of Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean and of course Japanese brands. I enjoyed my time shopping there a lot more than Donki and Matsu actually! Felt like I discovered a new brand every aisle. Also Celule is great for more affordable products. Daiso is Daiso. ‘Nuff said. Combined with the yen being at an all time low compared to USD I definitely went a little ham on my shopping.

Stand Out Products:

Cream Eyeliner (Daiso) – the precision and creamy quality of this eyeliner made me regret not buying more especially given it’s literally less than $1! Highly recommend.

Fino Hair Mask – so I actually also bought this in Korea since I was there first and it is the best detangler I own for my 2B hair. The smell is divine. It is a hot seller for a very good reason.

Cezanne Lip Tints – these are replacing my Nyx butter glosses (don’t support the brand due to ethical reasons). The colors are very unique and thus my lippie addiction continued…

Canmake highlight shade 2 – the natural cool light pink highlight of my dreams! Cannot wait to test its longevity.

Mentholatum balms – my HG during dry winters in NY. Want to compare the DHC ones with this and see who stands as the winner.

Kiss Me Liners – HG. Had to stock up in all colors. Also looks like the one I got from Tokyo Hands may be a new packaging?

Muji Serum – have not tested yet but this seems like a new line from them and I was curious. Also I liked the packaging. Oops.

Regrets/Disappointments: Meishoku Ceracolla Gel. Where art thou? I wasn’t able to find it anywhere sadly. It is slightly higher in my ranking for moisturizers compared to Hada Labo’s gel moisturizer.

Also I only found hada labo’s oil cleanser (refill only too) at some random Celule in Shinjuku. None at the Donki or Matsu I went to, both which were flagship stores for each. Are they reformulating or something? I hope not. It is my HG oil cleanser.

I didn’t go into detail for some other products which are widely discussed on this sub. There are other niche products if you are curious about let me know! I forgot to add it to the photo but at Daiso I also snagged a semi decent $1 glitter dupe for the Holika Holika spanglitter in mirrorball parts (a HG of mine). I say somewhat decent because not all the particles didn’t stay on all day, but they worked pretty damn well for just $1! Especially because glue based eye glitters dry out so damn fast.