Haul: Etude House July 2016

Oh, girl. Have I got a basket of complaints for you! Not about these products. Just about life and hot-as-balls-temperatures and photography woes. How am I supposed to take pictures when it is constantly overcast/raining? How am I supposed to write out a blog post when just thinking about sitting in the office makes me sweat in all the wrong places? My temporary solution has turned into bringing out the laptop. Which involved stealing it from M's work bag LOL. He is not a happy camper today. Anyways, that rant is for another post and another time.

Today I'm going to talk to you guys about my lovely haul from Etude House! This was the same store I had the lovely experience I talked about in this Stop & Chat post. Just thinking about it gives me (and my face) a warm glow.

Anyways, let's move on to what I got!

One cannot delve into makeup without picking up a few brushes. These were all by Etude House in their My Beauty Tool section

Up top is a Face Powder brush in number 140. I wanted something fluffier for applying my face powder. Also this one is soft and doesn't irritate my skin like other brushes I've tried. I paid ₩10,000/$9 for this brush.

In the middle is a smaller Eye-Blending brush in number 311. It's smaller than I would normally go for in my blending brushes, but it was the best option I saw and at the time I had absolutely no brushes. You have to start from somewhere! I paid ₩5,000/$4.52.

On the bottom is an Eye Base brush in number 310. Your typical main eye shadow brush. I paid ₩5,000/$4.52 for this brush as well.

It may just be me but these brushes are soft! I know a lot of lower end brands have gotten higher in quality since my last true excursion into makeup in late 2011, but to find something that soft and as far as I can tell good quality for this price point? Am I just spoiled with my options here in Korea or is this the new norm for brushes found at this price? I feel so out of the loop. LOL

I also got some mascara and liner(?)!

Above is the Lash Perm Curl Fix Mascara in option #2: Brown. It has a half curved wand, half straight wand. I haven't broken it out of the case yet because I need to get a lash curler. My lashes just aren't curled enough to wear mascara! This ran me ₩12,000/$10.85 for 0.28 oz/8g

The Play 101 Pencil is an eyeliner pencil marketed as having a formula that lets you use it on whatever part of your face you desire. I got a dark, slightly shimmery brown in number 48. I probably should have swatched this. I should have swatched everything. I am not good at hauls. LOL . This cost ₩6,000/$5.43 for .02 oz/0.5g

Don't mind the flash. The sun disappeared while I was taking this picture.

I picked up a Curl Fix mascara remover since the employee told me the mascara I picked up was waterproof and needed a special cleanser to get off. It's a typical oil-based cleanser that has to be shaken before each use. I got this 2.7 fl. oz/80ml bottle for ₩5,000/$4.52

On to the eye shadows. L-R: BR408(₩3,500/$3.17), BR402 (₩3,500/$3.17), PP510(₩5,500/$4.98)

L-R: BR403(₩3,500/$3.17),  OR203(₩5,500/$4.98), BE102(₩3,500/$3.17).

Each of these eye shadow pots are 2g and looking at the labels I believe I've pulled from 3 different collections: Look at My Eyes, Look at My Eyes Café, and Look at My Eyes Jewel. 

Are you ready for some Swatches? Can you even discern one color from the next from its name alone? No? Oh, okay. 
I kind of messed up my order for my swatches. I went BE102, BR402, BR403, BR408, OR203, then PP510. You'll understand when you see the pics. I took a lot, too, so you could see some of the shimmer effects.

All swatches were on bare skin.

Indoor fluorescent lighting.

Indirect sunlght.

Direct sunlight.

Another angle of direct sunlight.

In the shade.

BE102 (leftmost) was the absolute hardest to capture. Initially I had swatched my underarm, only to find out that BE102 was an absolute match for my underarm. It was virtually invisible! The pigmentation is the same as the others, the color is just really hard to see on my skintone - which is exactly what I wanted for my eyes when I bought it. I wanted something as a base color to help other colors blend.

Pigmentation was great on all of them. The two glitters on the right took a little extra work to get the initial pigment out of the pot, but once it was 'broken in' I no longer had any issues. They feel buttery and don't weigh down the skin, which is another bonus. I like them!

Anyway, there is more to talk about so I must move on!

Nail polishes! Each bottle is 8ml/.27 fl oz, so about half the size of a 'regular' bottle of nail polish, and cost ₩2,000/$1.81. I got #25, #83, #50, and #21. Expect nail of the day posts soon, as I've been wearing these a fair amount.

Last but not least, my freebies!! I got a rubbery beach bag, a mirror in the shape of a lipstick, and a sample of the Toning White C Bright Kit, which has their toner, moisturizer, tone up cream, and double effects sleeping pack.

I'm mentally preparing myself to blow $90+ on the full sized products of the Toning White C kit. I've used it every day and night and have noticed incredible differences in my skin already.

For a background: I have combination skin. My T-zone is usually dry and flaky, while the rest of my face is incredibly oily throughout the day. Even my T-zone ends up oily and flaky by the end of the day. I have redness and large pores/acne scarring.

In a video call with my family I finally noticed how smooth and even my skin looked. My sister and mom even commented on it! I had noticed a difference in the texture of my skin and the amount of flakiness and dryness had evened out, but for someone else to notice a difference in my skin from across the world was a big deal! Not to mention M has commented that my skin feels incredibly smooth and had joked that if it gets any smoother it's going to slice open the moment he touches me with his rough hands. So this stuff really works for me, to say the least.

Okay, that concludes this rather long and rambly haul post! I have a couple more things coming in the mail soon so this blog should be active with quite a few haul posts.

Have you ever tried Etude House? What do you think of their skincare lines?