Friday, January 28, 2011

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary 24/7 Glide-on Eyeliner Set ♥

Tada~!! Guess who's the newest member of my UD family...

It's the Urban Decay 15th Anniversary 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencils Set! You've probably already seen them but they were just released 10am yesterday at Sephora ION Orchard (Once I found out I made myself brave a 39C fever to get them. But I ended up missing the station by one stop and having to get off and take the train in the other direction, so I got mine at 10:15am haha)

They're USD$92 (~SGD120 at the current exchange rate), but at the Sephora stores in Singapore they retail for SGD160. Individually each pencil retails for SGD30 here, so that's like getting 15 liners for the price of 5.3! Or ~SGD10 per liner!

To commemorate their 15th anniversary (they started out in 1996), Urban Decay released a set of 15 eyeliners. Comes with a sharpener (retails here for SGD15) in a pretty ~20cm x 25cm x 4cm box. Each liner has its own "bed" in the black tray inside the box, meaning that they stay put in place even when you hold the box upside down, not like a tray of pencils where the pencils will roll if there's empty space.

So the 15 full-sized 24/7 Glide-on eye pencils come in (left to right): Stray Dog, Corrupt, Bourbon, Midnight Cowboy, Baked, Stash, Mildew, Perversion, Electric, Binge, Ransom, Asphyxia, Rockstar, Zero and Uzi.

For the anniversary set, the pencils have UD15 in Gothic font printed on the side, pretty~

The caps are also have a shiny finish, compared with a normal edition cap that doesn't.

So here's the set opened, and the little tin at the top is my current bunch of UD liners.

I have used up two Bourbons, I used them for my everyday liner the past 2 years because I preferred brown over black liner. I've sharpened them till they can't be sharpened any more :( Now with this set I have a new full-sized Bourbon to start with again! But I like black liners now so there's also the ultra-gorgeous, ultra-black Perversion~

Comparing the length of my greatly used up Bourbons with the untouched one from the set (:

I swatched the colors I already had plus the colors in the set for a gradient of all the colors I now have ^^ Above: swatches of all the colors without flash.

Swatches of all with flash. My room's lighting is really bad, so everything looks blahhnd without flash. They show up better with flash.

    Whiskey: Came as one end of the double-ended liner included in the UD Naked Palette. It's a matte brown with no shimmers. Like Bourbon without the shimmer, or a brown version of Perversion. (Not part of set)
    Perversion: Matte carbon black. A very black black. Love it! It's quite a bit blacker/darker than Zero. (New shade)
    Zero: Black liner. This color is featured in almost every set, it's like your basic black liner, I have 4 of these ^^
    Uzi: Dark metallic grey. (New shade)
    Yeyo: Metallic white. I used to use this mainly for inner corners of the eyes and for highlighting the nose/cheeks. Just draw on a bit and smudge/blend with fingers. (Not part of set)
    Stray Dog: Taupey gray. (New shade)
    Corrupt: A dark chocolate brown with gold flecks. (New shade)
    Bourbon: A warm reddish brown with gold flecks. Love it so much I've used up 2, well 1.5 since 1 was full-sized and the other was half sized


    Midnight Cowboy: Pearly beige/light gold, good for inner corners of eyes. Love this! Because it's subtler, so it has a nicer effect than using a white shimmer shade like Yeyo (: (New shade)
    Baked: Bright metallic gold.
    Lucky: Bright metallic copper. (Not part of set)
    Stash: Dark greenish gold, really pretty.
    Mildew: Metallic forest green.
    Covet: Bright peacock green. (Not part of set)


    Electric: Bright cyan blue, kinda makes me think of Alice in Wonderland's frock.
    Binge: Navy blue with silver flecks.
    Ransom: Bright iridescent purple with tiny blue flecks.
    Lust: Dark blueish violet with silver flecks. (Not part of set)
    Asphyxia: Bright pink/purple, with iridescent flecks, pretty! (New shade)
    1999: Reddish purple with gold sheen, pretty! I love this! But err I couldn't get much out on my hand cos it was already really short, like the 2 Bourbons! (Not part of set)
    Rockstar: Metallic dark maroon.

All in all, I LOVEEE this set! I love UD liners, they have a really nice finish and they don't smudge. They're long-lasting and they go on like a dream - smooth and creamy application each and every time. They're not chalky and they don't irritate the eyes. If only they'd release pink shades or different lighter shades like Midnight Cowboy...

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Gmarket FAQ - a compilation of questions

Here's a compilation of questions I've received regarding ordering/processes of Gmarket which I thought would be useful to everyone, so I'm compiling and posting them here!

GACCOUNT

Hi Kris, If possible, could you please explain what the purpose of the mileages are?
    Mileage is like bonus points you can collect, and once you reach 10,000 mileage, you can exchange them for Gcash, which you can exchange for cash balance. So 10,000 mileage points can be converted to 10,000won of cash balance (:

    [Under Gaccount, click the Mileage>>Gcash button, followed by Gcash>>Cash Balance]

    However you can only do the exchanging of mileage in exact denominations of 10,000.

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How do you get to Gmarket VIP status?\
    You can get VIP status by accumulating 50 credit points~

    When you first sign up you get 5 credit points, and you'll get 1 for every item you purchase from Gmarket. When you become a VIP customer you'll see a crown logo and "VIP Customer" beside your username on the My Gmarket page.

    Gmarket is planning to update their VIP program in late Jan 2011, shall update more at (Gmarket Tips #1 - GAccount) when that happens.

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Hey Kris (: I've notice this new label under the GAccount called "bookcash". What is it? Is it like Cash Balance?
    Yepp, bookcash is like Cash Balance, but it can only be used to purchase items in the Books/CDs/DVDs category. And like Cash Balance, it can only be used if the amount of Bookcash you have is greater than the full sum of what you are purchasing (ie overseas shipping cost included).

    Hence for now it is probably more useful/applicable to people residing in Korea as they do not need to pay overseas shipping cost ^^

    Like mileage and Gstamps, the amount of Bookcash to be given with an item is dependent on the seller. Some offer 10% bookcash of cost of item, others 5%, others a flat amount of 2,000won etc. And sometimes there are bonus bookcash like purchase above 40,000won worth of items from the Books/CDs/DVDs category and get extra 2,000won bookcash etc.

    Bookcash is valid for 3 years from date of receipt unless otherwise stated. (Some say valid for 1 month or other durations, you can check your bookcash record on Gmarket.)

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I've spent over 50,000won the last month, how come I can't get the Shopping Support rewards?
    The condition for "this month" refers to the current month, not the duration of the month that just passed. Say you want to draw the Shopping Support rewards for March. You have to have spent over 50,000won in the current month of March. It doesn't matter if you've spent 700,000won on February 28, the 50,000won has to be spent in MARCH (:

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PAYMENT/CREDIT CARD ISSUES

I can't seem to pay the additional shipping cost :( I don't have enough cash balance, so I tried buying Gcash, but I get a message saying Gcash is no longer available to be purchased. So I tried using VISA. But I keep getting a pop-up saying "The corresponding card number is not verified. Please apply for foreign credit card verification." I didn't even key in any card number, and according to Gmarket VISA and MASTER cards don't require registration. This is frustrating and I want my order to be shipped out soon...
    What browser are you using? Gmarket is optimized for IE, anything up to IE8 should work. But I think there might be problems with IE9. This happened to me before too, I was using IE9 and got the same message. But it worked fine with Firefox, when I clicked the same button, instead of that annoying message I went to the page to enter CC details. This is even though I've never been able to pay with Firefox before. I think it's a result of Gmarket's recent system updates, so just try your luck on different browsers!

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I have a certain amount in my Cash Balance, but the cost of my order is just a few cents above. I know it's due to the estimated shipping! :( Is there anyway to change the estimated weight or transfer Cash Balance to my CC?

    You could try inquiring to the seller or Gmarket Customer service, to ask them whether they can adjust the weight for you. They usually will if it's within reason.

    Alternatively, you could purchase a few dollars worth of Gcash to convert to Cash Balance so that you'll have enough to pay (: However you will be charged a 5% processing fee to convert purchased Gcash to Cash Balance so do take note.

    There is a service available to withdraw your Cash Balance to a bank account, but you will be charged USD35 to transfer to a non-Korean bank account, and it'll take 15~20 working days to process, so I guess it's not that worth it...? There's no option to transfer to CC.

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Did you use credit card to pay for it? For a credit card payment, I’ll need to select the option to pay by foreign credit card right? Is it safe and cheaper than Paypal, cos when I Googled, most of the people use Paypal. Since I’ve not made any online purchase using Paypal or credit card before, I just want to be sure of the procedure. ^^

Is the exchange rate cheaper by using credit card as compared to Paypal? Hmm.. for the excess shipping fee, will they credit back to my Gaccount, or will they put into my credit card bank account or Paypal?

    I've never used Paypal so can't comment on that, but I would think credit card is pretty safe, at least for my bank there's extra security stuff, after keying in credit card details they'll text you a password to your phone, and you have to key it in to complete the purchase ^^ Gmarket is a legitimate site so you don't have to worry about getting scammed or charged extra ^^

    As for cheaper, there are no extra fees or extra charges other than what you check out from Gmarket. (Does Paypal have fees? Cos I always hear of people having to pay Paypal fees when they use it, not sure for Gmarket ^^) Exchange rate depends on your bank, but most banks have better exchange rates than Paypal (:

    As for excess shipping fees, they'll credit it back to your Gaccount in the form of Cash Balance, regardless of how you paid for your order. However you can only use your Cash Balance to pay for stuff if the amount in your Cash Balance is greater than the full sum of you're buying (ie no partial payments). But refunds for when your items goes OOS/cancellations by seller will go back to your credit card (if you used credit card to pay) (:

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Every time I try to pay I keep getting an error -344 message saying my order's been cancelled. Why can't I pay?

    Most of the time this error is gotten by people who use Firefox, Opera, Chrome as their browsers, and can be easily solved by using IE. Gmarket, like many other Korean websites, are best used with Internet Explorer, so try paying with Internet Explorer. You probably will be able to get your order through (:

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CANCEL/REFUND/RETURN


Hi, I've ordered an item that I no longer want anymore. The status of that item is currently "Domestic on Delivery". Can I cancel it? If yes, does the amount paid get refunded?
    Yes you still can, but you should do it asap. It will not be a considered cancel, but a return, which cannot be done anymore once the status reaches "Domestic Delivered". Go to My Gmarket>>Cancel/Exchange>>Apply>>Select your order and item and click "Return".

    You will be refunded the cost of the item (to cash balance), but you have to bear the cost of the return/domestic delivery to seller. And you will lose credit points.

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How do I cancel an item? It's been 2 weeks and the seller hasn't shipped it out, I don't want to keep waiting for it anymore, it's holding up my shipment! Do I have to pay extra costs for cancelling? Will they refund it to my CC or GAccount? Thanks!
    You can only cancel an item if it has not been shipped out by the seller (ie "On Request"). There is no extra cost for this, you just lose credit points (amount varies with price of item). Go to My Gmarket>>Cancel/Refund>>Apply and select the order/item you want to cancel.

    However, once the seller has shipped it out ("Domestic on Delivery") you can only do a return, for which you must bear the return cost to the seller. You will also lose credit points for this.

    You will be refunded the item amount to your GAccount in the form of Cash Balance. (: Refunds to Credit Card are only done if it's the seller who cancels the item. (From what I've experienced!) If you yourself cancel the item, the amount will be refunded to Cash Balance.

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My item's GMarket status has been "On Request" for so long, I'm sick of waiting! :[ What do I do to expedite the process or is there any way to find out when the seller will ship it out?
    You could try inquiring to the seller (click the "Inquiry" button on the item page, it's below the options, in the minishop/about seller box!). Ask them when they'll ship or if they can send it by some date or whatever you want to ask? A lot of sellers might not understand English so you could either A) write in proper English so that they'll get an accurate translation when they use a translator or B) use a translator yourself and paste the translated chunk there along with the English in case they do understand English.

    Since your item's still "On Request" after a long time, probably the seller still has intentions to send it, cos otherwise the Gmarket overseas system automatically cancels for you if they do not hear from the seller for a long time.

    If you do not want to wait anymore, you could apply to cancel the item, and the amount will be refunded to cash balance/credit card without extra charges. (I don't know about PayPal, I've only ever used VISA or cash balance to pay for Gmarket ^^)

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OVERSEAS SHIPPING

Hi, I was wondering, does Gmarket help to declare goods at a lesser value? Do we need to "instruct" them them to do so? Cos my country would normally tax for items above a certain value.
    From what I've noticed Gmarket would usually list 3~4 items on the declaration sheet, but I never really noticed whether they declared lesser/higher/equal value... They declare in USD.

    However if you're worried you could try contacting Gmarket directly via Help>>Contact Us>>Shipping>>Contact Us, they usually reply inquiries really quickly (:

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What's the difference between DPD shipping and EMS shipping? Is it safe?
    DPD is usually just a dollar or so cheaper than EMS (to Singapore), so since it's just one buck I'd suggest you just choose EMS because A) EMS is faster, and B) EMS has updated real-time tracking so you'll always know it's whereabouts, ie it can't be "lost". DPD is slower, and takes usually around 5 working days. EMS packages reach my doorstep on average 2 days after Gmarket sends it out. Although DPD has tracking as well, it's not updated very quickly. So if you're like me who need to plan to have someone in the house for when the delivery man comes, only EMS can provide up-to-date timings. (See Gmarket Tips #3 on Tracking). However, if you live in a house where someone's always at home to receive the parcel (maid, parents, siblings etc), then this would not be of concern to you ^^

    Also, if it's been a while and you're wondering where your parcel is, for EMS the status is updated quickly so it's easy to track. For DPD, people have complained that even though they've been told by Gmarket/delivery company that the parcel has reached their country, the tracking system has not been updated. So you really won't know where your package is until it reaches your doorstep.

    I would say that DPD is quite safe, because delivery in/to Singapore generally can be trusted. Everything will be packed well, no mishandling either. But it all depends on your personal preference (: If you don't mind waiting a few more days and/or if there's always someone at home to receive the parcel, then DPD should be fine.

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MISCELLANEOUS

I've never ordered from Gmarket before, so I wanna know, is Gmarket legit?
    Well, Gmarket is a registered company, and it is the leading e-commerce business in South Korea, with over 10million registered users. It was recently acquired by Ebay.
    However, unlike Ebay, you do not pay the seller directly, rather you pay to Gmarket, and Gmarket pays the seller. So you most likely will not encounter a scenario of a seller running away with your money as if the seller takes to long to ship the item, Gmarket will cancel the order for you and refund you the money.

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This list will be updated as more questions come in (: I'll try to help if I can, but I have no experience using Paypal so I probably can't help you with questions about that!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Gmarket Tips 3 - Tracking your items ♥

For people who are hoping to receive their items by a certain date, or for people who wonder where their items are after they've placed their order, or for people who are just anxious and can't wait for their items to arrive, you can track (or stalk) your items online! There are tracking services available for almost all stages of shipping and delivery, from once the item is about to leave the seller till the item reaches your doorstep!

There are three main tracking systems,
Domestic Tracking (Korea) - to track from seller to Gmarket HQ,
EMS Tracking (Korea) - to track from Gmarket to your country, and
EMS Tracking (in your country) - to track from processing center in your country to YOU!
In this post, the example for last part is specific to Singapore, but your country should have it too, you could try to find out the website (:


DOMESTIC TRACKING
To check to status of your items in Korea, go to My Gmarket>>Shopping List>>Recent Order. You should be able to see your order and each item in the order, with one of 4 statuses beside it: On Request, Expected Delivery Date, Domestic On Delivery or Domestic Delivered.



What the statuses mean...
On Request :
As the title implies, your item is on request. The seller has not shipped it out yet, and there's no indication when your item will be shipped out. At this status, all you can do is wait ^^ The seller with then either 1) "acknowledge" and make preparations to ship it out, thereby changing the status to "Expected Delivery Date :2011-xx-xx", or 2) the seller will just ship it out, where the status will change to "Domestic On Delivery". This status is the most vexing because you really can only/just have to wait, and have no way of knowing if the seller will ship today, tomorrow or one week later! :(

Expected Delivery Date : 2011-xx-xx :
This is sort of an indication given by the seller that he/she will send out the item by the given date. Not all sellers will put this status, some skip directly from "On Request" to "Domestic on Delivery". With this status you''ll be a bit more assured as at least you know your item will be sent out (usually/most of the time) by the given date

Domestic On Delivery :
Item has been shipped out by seller, and is on its way to the Gmarket HQ/warehouse. Once item reaches this status, a little green button with the word "Tracking" will appear. You can click this, and a popup will appear. This tracking is provided by the courier/delivery company that the seller used.

On the popup detailed statuses will be listed, and depending on which courier company, they can even list the exact time of activity, where the item is, which office/terminal it is currently passing through. It's all in Korean though! But if you see 배송완료/배달완료 on the list of statuses on the popup, it means that your item has reached Gmarket HQ. This tracking is a more "real-time" tracking than the one provided on the Gmarket page, and is usually a few hours more updated. You can track your items in detail with it if you really wanna know where your item is hehe ^^

Domestic Delivered :
Item has reached Gmarket HQ. Gmarket will then wait for all the items in the order to be delivered, then they'll consolidate it and ship it overseas. Upon shipping it overseas, Gmarket will provide you with an EMS tracking number.


EMS TRACKING (KOREA)
To check the EMS tracking number, go to My Gmarket>>Shopping List>>Overseas Order. At the right-most column there'll be a green "Tracking" button. Click it and a popup will appear. The popup shows the status of your EMS package after Gmarket has shipped it out.

For EMS, the order of statuses (for packages to Singapore) is:
>> Posting/Collection
>> Arrival at outward office of exchange
>> Departure from outward office of exchange
>> Handed over to air carrier
>> Received by air carrier
>> Departure from airport
>> Arrival at destination airport
>> Delivered to destination airport
>> Arrival at inward office of exchange
>> Final delivery

Actually, once the pacakge has reached "Arrival at destination airport" you could track the item at the website of your country's EMS handler, if they have one. It's usually more up to date/real-time than the Korea one, because the EMS handler has been changed to the one in your country, and it's the handler in your country who's updating. For Singapore, the handler is Speedpost. Their updates are pretty much in real-time. However their processing is quite slow. I don't know if all countries have a website or whether they update quickly and in real-time.

For Japan, it's Japanpost.
For the Philippines, it's Philpost.
For Thailand, it's Thailandpost.
For USA, it's USPS.
For Vietnam, it's VNpost.
For Russia, it's Russianpost.
For Australia, it's Austaliapost.
For UK, it's Parcel Force.
You can use Google to check for your country's EMS handler

TRACKING IN SINGAPORE(or your country)
Once the item has landed in Singapore (or your country, I think the process should be similar?), you can go to Speedpost (or your local EMS handler) to check the status of the item. You can do this if you want to estimate when the package will reach you. Speedpost is updated first before the EMS page is updated. This is because once the package has landed in Singapore, the courier switches hands to Speedpost, so their systems are updated before the Korea side. Copy and paste/type your EMS number into the box and click track. You will be led to the following page:

There are 5 possible statuses on the Speedpost track and trace page: Processing at Sorting Center, With Delivery Courier, Missed Delivery, Unsuccessful Delivery or Delivered.

Processing at Sorting Center :
Package is at Speedpost sorting center, will be assigned to a delivery courier. For Gmarket orders, this status is usually updated between 2am~5am that day for packages that come in by the 900am (reach SG 1430pm)flight. For the packages that come in by the 2310pm (reach SG 430am) flight, status is usually updated by 12am later that day. Usually if the time is before 430am, the item will be delivered to you later that day (if it's Mon~Fri, sometimes Sat). If not the item will be delivered the next working day.

With Delivery Courier :
Package is on its way to you. Wait happily at home if you are, or make sure someone's at home to receive it!

Missed Delivery :
Either 1) you weren't at home or 2) delivery man had too many packages to deliver. For the first case you'll receive a slip of paper informing you of missed delivery; you can choose to ask the delivery man to come the following day or go to the nearest post office to collect yourself two days later. For the second case the delivery man will come again the following working day.

Unsuccessful Delivery :
Something like "Missed Delivery", I notice they use this status more and more. Some reasons I have encountered so far include: "Delivery attempted but no response", "Wrong sort/rcpt", "Heavy Delivery". The first case would be your fault for not being at home, and you'll get a delivery slip, but the latter 2 would be due to Speedpost's inefficiency/lack of manpower.
- "Wrong sort/rcpt" is basically saying they sorted the items wrongly and gave your package to the wrong delivery man. So the person delivering it doesn't cover your area, and at the end of the day they bring it back to the sorting center and they'll give it to another delivery guy (hopefully the correct one) the following day.
- "Heavy Delivery" is saying they had too much packages to deliver, and insufficient manpower so though the package was meant to be sent to you they couldn't deliver it, so they will delivery it to you at the next available delivery slot.

***I see no reason why we should have to encounter unsuccessful deliveries due to inefficiencies of the postal company. Doesn't EMS stand for EXPRESS MAIL SERVICE? Isn't the company's name SPEEDpost? At the end of the day, seeing the unsuccessful delivery status makes you wonder, where's the speed, where's the mail, and where's the service!***

Delivered :
Package has been received by you/someone in your house!

So that's it for tracking to your doorstep! Hope this'll help you quell any worries of where your packages/items are. Now you know how to track them each and every step of the way~ :D
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start rant// And while on the topic of delivery, for Singpost's Registered Mail tracking there's this annoying status "Held on hand". Basically it's the same as "Heavy Delivery", the delivery person didn't have time to deliver it and so held it on hand.

Someone explain to me how this can happen two working days in a row? And I think it would have happened for a third day if I hadn't been able to catch a delivery woman that evening and ask her how Registered Mail is handled. She said she didn't handle Registered Mail, didn't answer my questions and gave me a number to call.

I called the number the following day, and they said they'd call me back in 10min after checking the status...but they called 1.5hours later. Then they said that my package would be delivered between 130~2pm. I waited till 230+pm before it finally came. And when I finally did get my package item, it was delivered by the very woman who said she didn't handle Registered Mail?

I conclude that their staff have been well-trained to play the roundabout game and make you believe there's nothing you can do but wait :/ I now have very little faith in Singpost. //end rant

Monday, January 17, 2011

Nails of the past ♥

I love painting my nails but lately I've been too lazy to come up with new ideas to paint them with ^^ I always only use my real nails, never fakes or acrylics, this is the length I keep them when I don't have uni. Otherwise the white part will be half as long. I mostly photograph my left hand because A) I'm right handed, therefore B) the design on the left hand comes out better, and C) I use my right hand to use the camera too. So just thought I'd do a post on some of the things I've done to my nails over the past few months. Most are rather messy because I usually take the picture right after painting, so all the excess polish at the edges hasn't been wiped off yet^^

So here are my bare nails. They're rather stained cos I hardly keep them bare; they're always coated with something ehehe. But I suppose from all the milk I drank when I was a child, they've turned out to be quite strong, so they don't break very easily and they're a bit thicker than average. But...when they do break it's usually the right index or left index nails. Or middle nails.

Just having a single color makes them look freakishly long, and a tad scary haha. So I added a layer of glitter to these pearly turquoise nails! Visee Juicy Doll Up Nails in BL962 and GR720 (glitter).

Tricolor pink with floral stickers! Now that I think about it the stickers are not very matching, but I though that just the tricolor would be boring ^^

Jill Stuart Nail Color N in #27 pink with 3d flowers As you can see my middle nail broke T_T hence it's sooo much shorter than the rest of my nails! Thumb nail also broke a little, so it's a tad shorter too. Ring finger nail is super long! I think it's the longest I've grown them ever! Though it's a tad too long I reckon.

White+purple with crystals in the middle. Ooh the thumb has started chipping :( White from Etude House, purple from The Face Shop in PP405. Swarovski crystals in Jet, size 6?

Gold + stripey pink and white french! Drew the hearts on and added crystals. The pink and white reminds me of candy :D I liked these a lot. And I like the length of my nails here.

This is actually a black with dark green shimmer/glitter (Etude House Dear Darling Nails Bling Bling WH004), but you can't really see it cos of the lighting. The white bits are a mixture of stickers and Konad stamping. And green heart-shaped stones on the thumb.

My Minnie Mouse-inspired nails! Bright red (Etude House Petit Darling Nails RD103) + white dots, drew on black bows and white hearts

Pink leopard prints. This is my uni length nails, freshly cut so they're rather short (for me)!

Another time when my nails were longer I did the pink leopard, then added flower flakes and flower stickers and drew on white/red bows and added a heart stone in the middle of the bow...so these nails look kinda thick and messy haha!

I used a sponge for this, mixed a bunch of blues/turquoises/greens, so the texture's a bit splotchy/dotty :D Then drew bows at the top and put crystals in the middle

Happy nails! The mix of bright colors makes me feel happy :D Light pink base then I just randomly dotted the top with different colors from my mini H&M Summer Nails

Black/pink/white nails. Quite messy, picture was taken right after I finished painting so all the edges hadn't been smoothed off nicely ^^

Oooh these were long! Pink base + chocolate swipes and Konad stamped ribbons and snowflakes. These were to test out the Konads, I wasn't feeling inspired for the base :(

Shorter nails T_T Plain multi-colored french. For lazy times when I'm not inspired and don't want to sport a plain single color hand.

Boring pink/red french with black line. All Etude House polishes, the pink (Petit Darling Nails PK006 Satin Pink) has a smooth pearly finish.

JYJ! The triangle thing's their logo ^^ First attempt and yeah my nails were short here. Etude House Lucid Darling Fantastic Nails (long name!) in Shimmering 05 Garnet Red, perfect TVXQ red

Polishes! Err I don't really have a fixed storage for them, at first it was the pink basket, which soon got filled up, then I just started piling more on top ehehehe. I even used an old cotton box to store more polishes ^^ Or the ones that come in boxes I leave them in their boxes and pile it on top ^^

The original pink basket. First compartment: The Face Shop polishes. Well, they're cheap and have many colors. Good if you wanna use for short term. But...not so good for using as an all over single color nail color. Most of them bubble like mad after application or over 1 layer :( Second compartment: Etude House polishes! I love the Dear Darling series, they're so bling. But, the price is super jacked up in Singapore compared to Korea. But still not as expensive as half an OPI. Third compartment's miscellaneous: Visee, Jill Stuart, Anna Sui, Paul & Joe, newer Etude House Lucid Darling buys.

Make-shift storage made from an old box of facial cotton. OPI, Color Club and Nature Republic.

The Face Shop stash. They were on sale for S$2.20 each so I spammed...bad decision :/

Etude House stash. Bottom row is my bunch of Dear Darling Nails polishes.

H&M Summer Nails sets! 2.95euros each! They're mini and such a bright cheery bunch. Used these for dotting my happy nails above

OPI Shrek Minis.

My 6 bottles of Nature Republic polishes. They were S$1.90 each, they're metallic and have a good finish. I actually use these for single color nails. Yes there are fuzzy gray bits around the bottles. They have actually collected dust as I don't do single color nails very often.

So that's it for my bunch of nails! I'm just lacking a bunch of pastel colors which I will soon order a bunch of from Gmarket mwahahaha! Hopefully they'll turn out well. I've been searching high and low for decent pastel shades that aren't too costly because I know I'll need to grab a whole bunch of colors ehehehe And ones that don't come in too huge of a bottle because I won't use much of every color anyway! Mmm Dollywink polishes are super duper cute! but they're so tiny and the price mark up in Singapore is a tad expensive. They're not of the lighter pastel shades I'm looking for, but they have the darker pastel shades! Texture/finish isn't bad either!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Pretty Pre-Christmas Gmarket Love ♥♥

Merry belated Christmas and a Happy New Year~ I actually ordered this awhile back, but due to exams and the gatherings of the holiday season I haven't been able to post ^^ Anyways! This time I got a pretty pink bag from Suanna, a new diary, sunglasses, a Korean language book, some necklaces, the new JYJ CD, a cat doll and a blusher.

Tada~ ny new "Angel Wings Big Bag". First off I wanna say that this bag is gorgeous! It's really well made, and well-lined. And it's so sweet and feminine (: The bag was from Suanna, and it comes in other colors like white, dark purple, black, cocoa brown and milk tea brown. And the frills are on both the front and the back of the bag, not just the front (: It was 34,800won without discount. I used the 15%off overseas shipping and a 2,000won off GLotto coupon, so it ended up 27,580won.

The interior of the bag. The lining is of a soft pink shiny satiny material, which looks and feels luxurious~ I really love it! The bag has 3 main large compartments, with the middle one being a zipped compartment. There's also a zip pocket at the back, and two non-zipped pockets in the front for mobiles phones. Fits A4 perfectly and comes with a detachable shoulder strap.

Also came with a white dusting bag with the words Suanna Black Label.

I got this diary for the new year~ Actually I'm pretty much a hoarder, I still have a few diaries I haven't used ^^ But I couldn't resist because this one was so pretty, and came with a lot of stuff! Plus it comes in a box, perfect for gifts (: It's a photodiary, so the images inside are snapshots of Paris I got this from the seller 디자인팬시마켓11.

The lovely Paris, Je t'aime diary, which came awesomely packed with 50 mini postcards, 36 mini envelopes, a pen, and 5 sheets of stickers! All packed prettily in a clear plastic box. And it was only 16,800won, 13,950won after using the 10% off overseas shipping coupon and 7% off stationery coupon~

The seller gave this set of earphones as a freebie, just what I needed! Mine actually kinda broke a few days ago, this comes right on time, plus it's in one of my favorite colors! :D

And of course, when I heard that JYJ would be releasing a new "New Limited Edited" version of their album "The Beginning", I just had to get it, even though I have all the other versions already ^^ The seller I got it from actually gave 2 posters, instead of just 1 which most other sellers did, so hurray! One was the new huuuuge 110cmx60cm poster, and the other was the old poster which came with the previous versions. Ehehe now I have 3 copies of that old poster :D This version comes with a photobook, and the case is 20cmx20cm. (The luxury edition came in a 25cmx25cmx4cm box).

And speaking of JYJ, since Jaejoong tweets about his cat (Jiji) a lot and posted some pictures of this cat doll (called GG) (and another which he called ZZ) that his cat plays with, I managed to find it on Gmarket! I don't know if it's the same brand/model but looks close enough! I couldn't find the ZZ doll though :( This was 9,900won from the seller 모아사810.


I painted my nails red&black with JYJ on them Haha but faaailll, I can't seem to get the shape right :( Anyway, just wanted to show a photo comparing the sizes off the 3 different versions. Content-wise the Luxury version is the best as it come with 11 tracks, 8+3 remixes, 16 beautiful photo cards, a Tshirt and a poster. The New Limited Edition comes with 10 tracks, 8+2 remixes, a mini photobook and a poster. The Normal Edition comes with 8 tracks (no remixes) and a poster (same as luxury version).

Remember a while back I bought some Korean books, but was sad that Beginner's II didn't ship overseas when all the other books in the series did? So I sent an enquiry to the seller, who very promptly replied and made it available for international shipping! A big two thumbs up for their customer service! (I enquired in grammatically incorrect Korean and just put an English version hoping they read English, they replied within a few hours in Korean haha) So I ordered it plus the Intermediate II, and now I have the textbooks for Beginner's I, Beginner's II, Intermediate I and Intermediate II, all from the same seller.
Here are the links for all textbooks in the series:
Beginner's I (한국어 초급I)
Beginner's II (한국어 초급II)
Intermediate I (한국어 중급I)
Intermediate II (한국어 중급II)
Advanced I (한국어 고급I)
Advanced II
(한국어 고급II)

My new Beginner's II book! I've just about finished reading Beginner's I so this came just in time~


A note about this series of books: They are published by Kyung Hee University, and are good for self-studying Korean, provided you you have some basic/prior knowledge of Korean or you learn fast. (ie at least know the alphabet/pronunciation and recognizing stems of verbs). Because only Beginner's I & II have English glossaries and grammar notes (which are detailed and easy to understand. And there're also passages on culture and customs with English translation) However, from Intermediate onwards the book is purely in Korean. So you'll have to diligently check/look up a dictionary for new vocabulary and stuff.

Also got a blusher from Banila Co, as I had a 10% off coupon and it was Beauty Super Week (meaning extra coupons) and wanted to use it, and once I saw this blusher I knew I had to get it. I LOVEEE the lace design on the cover, it looks so pretty and intricate! The seller threw in 2 sachets each of the Let Me Start Make Up Essence in Muse (Pink) and Photogenic (Blue).

Sadly, (I don't know why though), whenever the EMS guy delivers me a package from Gmarket, I notice that the box is ALWAYS rather warm. Maybe the weather or near the engine or what? Butttt, the heat probably caused the glue holding the blusher pan and the case to melt. Hence it always comes off when I open it! But the blusher itself it reallly pretty! See the design? It's a pretty coral blusher with a pearly finish~

This is how it looks like from the bottom. The pattern on the top will get wiped off after a few uses I guess. But the blusher itself is still really pearly/shimmery (:

Got these sunnies from Pink Gongzang (핑크공장), it was 1+1! So for every pair you buy, they'll randomly throw in another pair for free~ And luckily for me the free pair was a pretty one! Each pair you buy comes with a free cleaning cloth and soft pouch. Only one cos they don't give it for the free pair.

The upper one's the free pair, the bottom one's the one I bought. All sunnies are certified 100% UV proof.


Got two lovely necklaces from 제나샵. I think the owl is really cute in that the feathers are like leaves and each one can move/swivel, so the owl looks more alive when you wear it^^. The hear-shaped mirror really is a mini-mirror, perfect for checking your lips or hair while on the go hehe! The teddy bear earrings were a freebie~

Overall a very satisfying haul~ I love you Gmarket! Haha can't wait for the JYJ music essay to be released to get it and the recently released GD&TOP album!