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!

Foodaholic + VOV ♥

Got more stuffs from Gmarket, this time it was skin pampering goodies from Foodaholic and lashes and a palette from VOV~♥ I chanced upon Foodaholic while browsing sheet masks, and the packaging of their items looked sooo yummy; made from fruits/organic stuff and the visuals looked very bright and appealing~ All the Foodaholic stuff were from the seller 향수마트, you can search 푸드어홀릭 (foodaholic) and seller's name together for a listing of all the Foodaholic stuff ♥

VOV false lashes, Diacut Eyes palette in BE906 Airy Bloom, Foodaholic haul! ♥ Pomegranate, black soybean and greentea face foams, grain hand cream, grape massage cream, masks


First off, the VOV lashes~ ♥ These came in a big red box of 10 pairs mwahahaha. Got it here from the seller 피부스캔들♣. There are many pretty designs available, however the box of 10 is all of the same type, you can't mix :( However if you're like me and wear false lashes almost everyday then this probably won't bother you ^^ It's w24,900 for 10 pairs.

This is pricey when you compare to the Taiwanese and Model21 ones which sell 10pairs in one box for like <S$15? But considering that the VOV ones are actually meant for individual sale (1pair/box), w2,490 (~S$3) is actually quite affordable since even the shops in Bugis Village sells individual pairs of the plastic-y random brand lashes for like S$3.90, and the quality of VOV far beats those!

I chose #48, it's thin, long and natural-looking~ Shorter on the inner corners and longers at the outer corner ♥ I like this kind of lashes. The lash band is thin too so it's easy to apply. Ehehe I've been spoilt by Dolly Wink and the Taiwanese lashes which have transparent/reallly thin lash bands ^^ However the lashes themselves are a tad too thin! I'd like them to be a bit more voluminous ^^

Each pair comes in its own individual box (pretty, red, rosy, kinda Anna Sui-ish), it's own plastic casing (white base, clear cover), its own tube of glue and its own set of instructions.

Also from the same seller I got the VOV Castledew Diacut Eyes in Be906 Airy Bloom Dia. It's a baked shadow palette~ The casing is made of white plastic. There's a sturdy plastic insert (not some thin flimsy sheet of plastic) covering the shadows which you can rest the 2 sponge tip applicators on. I think that's a great thing cos it prevents powder fallout and dirtying the mirror~ However if you don't like it you can just remove it.

The colors in the palette (left to right, top to bottom): pearly baby pink, pearly mint-gray, pearly champagne; pearly sky blue, pearly lime green, pearly salmon; pearly medium purple, pearl metal gray, pearly chocolate brown. Hehe they're all pearly. The pigmentation is pretty good and I really love the colors~ They're all light and so floral spring-ish!♥

Foodaholic masks! Don't they just look sooooo yummy! The bright colors of the food~ ♥

The six types I got (clockwise from top left): Wormwood, Green Gram, Aloe, Orange, Pomegranate, Red Ginseng. Got it here at w10,500 for 50, inclusive of domestic shipping. There are options to add another 10 (for additional w1,700). There are also options to add face foam, body lotion, hand cream, cleansing cream, massage cream. In total there are 15 types of masks. The ones I didn't get were Collagen, Royal Jelly, Coenzyme Q10, Green Tea, Potato, Cucumber, Grain, Olive and Tomato.

The special thing about Foodaholic masks is that they're 3D! Like you know most sheet masks are exactly what their name implies - sheets. Flat sheets. However the Foodaholic ones aren't flat sheets, they're rounded, with curves for your chin, nose and forehead! (Hence the 3D labelling^^)

This is Orange; it's for "clear skin and cleaning the skin pores". This smells like sweet oranges, not the sour sharp citrusy scent, but the sweeter kind^^ Skin did appear brighter after usage (:

This is Red Ginseng; it's for "nutrition and revitalization". It works decently (makes my skin feel moisturized and look glowy after), but ohemgee the smell! If you know what ginseng smells like then be warned that this masks really has a strong ginseng smell! Red ginseng's supposed to be good for health when consumed as food but I have no idea on its effects when absorbed ^^

This is Pomegranate, it's "for clear and lively skin". Smells good! Fruity but not the overwhelmingly sweet kind. It did make my skin brighter (: And I love the color of the packaging ^^ I'm shallow like that hehe.

This is Green Gram (beans?); it's for "nutrition and elasticity". Smells a bit like powder, not Johnson's baby powder but the older granny kind, and kind of like salad? Something like the VOV Volcanic Powder Washoff mask smell ^^ Which I wouldn't mind if it's a washoff mask, but having this smell for 20min or even till I fall asleep is a bit much ^^

This is Aloe, it's for "soft skin and soothing the skin". I like to have a stash of Aloe masks, I just use them whenever my skin feels horrible cos aloe does me wonders in calming redness ^^ This one smells good, pleasant and soothing!

And my favorite~♥♥♥♥ This is Wormwood; it "calms and tights skin". I love love loveee the smell of this, it's really soothing! Like the lavender kind of soothing, however the scent itself it kinda masculine, like men's cologne. But sleeping with this on just really makes me feel relaxed! And it really did calm my skin :D

I also got 3 face foams in Green Tea, Pomegranate and Black Soybean. The Green Tea is supposed to be "fresh and soothing", the Pomegranate's for "fresh complexion" and the Black Soybean's for "beauty firming". I had originally wanted to try Green Gram but it was sold out T_T Anyway, these come in a huuuge 180ml tube each! Will take some time to finish using them definitely! And they're only w1,900 each! They smell great too~

Got it here as a set of 3 for w7,800 including domestic shipping. There are add-on options for massage cream, hand cream, masks, another face foam, body lotion. The other 12 types were acerola, olive, orange, cucumber, grape, aloe, green gram, red ginseng, charcoal, loess, mushroom and brown rice.

All the Foodaholic stuff I got (minus the 50 other masks ehehehe!). The left most box is a hand cream, grain! It was only w800 (yes 800, not 8,000!) and it's quite a huge tube at 100ml! The texture is a bit runny but totally not sticky, and my hands feel soft and sooo smooth after ♥ The only thing is that the scent (wheat/rice) might not be appealing to some people^^ The 5 other types of hand cream available are acerola, aloe, green tea, orange and olive.

In total I got 70 masks (20 wormwood, 10 each orange, red ginseng, aloe, green tea, green gram), 3 face foams (pomegranate, black soybean, green tea), 1 hand cream (grain) and 1 massage cream (grape).

This is the Keratin Scaling Grape Massage Cream. The scent is sooo grapey! I ♥. It smells so yummy hehe. And the tub is really huge, it's 300ml! There's a plastic cap with the word 'Foodaholic' covering the cream, which I think is a great hygienic idea!

The 7 other types were fresh soothing green tea, fresh water cucumber, sensitive calming potato. daily purifying charcoal, beyond natural brown rice, gentle refresh green gram, skin relief olive. All are available as either a massage cream type or cleansing cream type.

Service~! (freebie) VOV seller was super nice and included this IPKN blossom extra moisture trial kit consisting of samples of the foam, cream, emulsion and toner~

All in all, I'm glad to have discovered Foodaholic, their products are interesting, come in huge varieties of flavors and they're easy on the pocket~ ♥

*****edit******
HELP FOR ORDERING

Fill in the flavors you want in the blank box. You have to go by multiples of 10 though. If there's not enough space to type in the box, type as much as you can there, and copy/add the rest into the "notes to seller" portion when you check out. Just remember to add the note to the correct item/seller!

Here's the list of flavors in Korean:
Cucumber - 오이
Green tea - 녹차
Aloe - 알로에
Orange - 오렌지
Potato - 감자
Green gram - 녹두
Grain - 곡물
Olive - 올리브
Pomegranate - 석류
Red Ginseng - 홍삼
Collagen - 콜라겐
Coenzyme Q10 - 코엔자임 Q10
Royal Jelly - 로얄제리
Tomato - 토마토
Wormwood - 약쑥

Following their example of 30 wormwood and 20 cucumber, you just put 약쑥30/오이20 into the box. If you're getting five types (10 each) then you can just put the names without the quantity, so that it can fit in the box ^^ eg. 오이/녹차/알로에/오렌지/감자

The 5 options above the box are for adding on (top to bottom) cleansing/massage cream, another 10 masks, body foam, foam cleanser, hand cream.

Gmarket Tips 2 - Events/Coupons

Gmarket always has lots of fun and interesting events going on (: However most of these are in Korean, but you can still have a look and enjoy them even if you may not understand them~♥And recently GDragon from Big Bang has been appearing in a lot of ads/campaigns for Gmarket too~

There are lots of events/special deals/category offers which are all listed on the Gmarket's front page. You can browse through them, not just for coupons, but also for special price items, daily/weekly deals, bestsellers, popular mini-shops, hot items in various categories etc. It's in Korean but even if you can't read Korean you can read numbers and see pictures right? Just click on whatever looks interesting~♥ ^^

***Note: events change every few weeks or so, so by the time you read this there might be different ongoing event. Go to Gmarket to check them out (: ***

On the left are a bunch of words, as you hover the cursor over them the picture on the right will change. Clicking on the picture will open a new tab/window leading you to that particular event. The list is updated frequently so there's always new stuff popping up~


Also, many discount coupons are available in Gmarket, but you can only see most of them when you shop in Korean. Like if you go to the Korean version of the shop, often there'll be links to applicable coupons. However if you view the same shop in English you won't be able to see the coupons. So, if you want to view the item on its Korean page, change the word everything before the goodscode number in the URL to "http://item.gmarket.co.kr/detailview/Item.asp?goodscode=". The page should change to the Korean version and you'll be able to see the coupons if any (: Eg: http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=198545045 becomes: http://http://item.gmarket.co.kr/detailview/Item.asp?goodscode=198545045


Here are examples of coupons available now for some for more popular categories, (on the Korean page) Books/CDs/DVDs, Beauty and Stationery. Currently there are no coupons for Fashion/Clothes/Accessories/Shoes/Bags. (And because I assume not very many overseas buyers shop for Snowboards/Automobile parts so...didn't include them ^^)

♥ BOOKS/CDs/DVDs
So say for example you want to buy a JYJ CD. Going to the page of the item there'll be click-able things which when you click, 'draws' the coupon. The Books/DVD ones are the 'sure win' type, when you draw, you'll definitely get them. However you can only draw one each per day, and they expire within a certain number of days. **the event is not on every month, I think they either alternate or have it randomly. The icon and amount of coupon may change too**
There are 3 which you can get daily:
- w1,000 off w5,000 and above
- w2,000 off w10,000 and above
- w3,000 off w15,000 and above
Usable for all items within the Books/CDs/DVDs category.

***Now it seems that you don't get these anymore, and there are now only 2 coupons which you can get daily: - w1,000 off w5,000 and above, and w2,000 off w15,000 and above***

Click ♥here♥ for the book coupon page.


♥ STATIONERY
There are also free coupons for stationery, however these are of the 'lucky draw' type, you may or may not get them ^^ Going to the page of the stationery item you want to buy, you'll see a round icon near the price and 3 rectangular icons scrolling further down. Clicking either the top or bottom icons will lead you to the same coupon page, where you can draw. Only the left-most 7% one is for stationery. The other 2 I don't know, but they're not applicable for stationery so even if you get them, you can't use them for stationery.

Click ♥here♥ for the stationery coupon page.

Click the one on the LEFT.

Coupon valid for 2weeks after receiving.

You can only draw one once every 2 weeks.


♥ BEAUTY
For Beauty coupons there's the Beauty VIP page, and a Beauty 'club' of sorts whereby you can get free coupons every month. For beauty VIP you can draw:
- w1,000 off w10,000,
- w2,000 off w20,000,
- w3,000 off w30,000.
Again these are the 'lucky draw' type. You may or may not get them. You can draw one of each daily.

Also, if you've purchased any beauty items recently you can draw for:
- Gstamps (if you've purchased at least 1 item from the beauty category, can draw once/day)
- w2,500 off w10,000 (if you've purchased at least 3 items from the beauty category, can draw once/day)
- Gmarket w10,000 coupon (if you've purchased at least 5 items from the beauty category, can draw once/month)
Again, these are also of the 'lucky draw' type.


For the beauty club, Beautifuler, you can get special coupons monthly from many brands while have an 'Official' online shop on Gmarket, eg Etude House, Banila Co, Dr Jart, Enprani, Nature Republic, Clio, Peripera, Skin79 etc. These coupons range from 10%~20% off.


♥ ENGLISH SHOP
For the English page there's also a list of events. Hover over the numbers and the picture will change. Click the picture and it will lead you to the page of that event (: There are hot items for this season, popular mini-shops, featured items for certain categories etc.
For the English version there're coupons too, for the past month it's been 'Overseas Shipping' coupons, there were 3 types:
- 15% off above w20,000
- 10% off above w15,000
- w2,000 off above w7,000.
However this event ended 5th December 2010. Starting 6th Dec there's a new event, you can check it out here. It's in English. Vote for your favorite outfit to enter, and you could win prizes.

Click ♥here♥ and ♥here♥ to draw overseas shipping coupons.
There are a variety available and these are only applicable for overseas shipping orders.
You can draw once per day and they expire 3 days after.
This is the lucky draw type, you may or may not get them.
These are updated/changed every month or so.

Most coupons are only applicable for certain categories. So to see if a coupons can be used for an item, just click the 'My Coupons' box next to the price of the item, and the ones which can be used for that particular item will be shown/be click-able. (See Gmarket Tips 1)

When you draw the coupons, as you're drawing there'll be a gif/flash image playing, then after that you'll see either a successful or unsuccessful notice. The flash picture is of the following spinning round and round.


When you successfully 'win' a coupon, you'll see the following picture of a picture of a megaphone, confetti and a wrapped gift~


When you're unsuccessful there'll be no balloons/confetti, just a pair of floating hot air balloons ^^


♥ GMARKET + G-DRAGON
As you know, G-Dragon recently released a song for Gmarket, called Gmarket Party. It's really really really super addictive! And you may notice him appearing in various corners of the Gmarket site, example, while browsing leg warmers:

I don't think you find it if you start from the English site, but this is the main promotional page for the G-Dragon tie-up special events. So this is what you see when you first reach the page:

Every week/2weeks? There's a new fun event ^^ You can watch the Gmarket Party MV at the side. This week's event it: Fill in the missing lyrics to enter the contest, and you could win Gstamps or w50,000 Gmarket gift coupons~
For the previous event there was a different lyrics quiz and a mini 'treasure hunt mission' ^^ You had to find nine different G-Dragon icons around the Gmarket site to enter a contest to win headphones that G-Dragon wore in the Heartbreaker MV. And the event before there was another lyrics contest and a DDR-like mini-game, where the Gmarket Party song plays while objects come raining down in different columns, you have to press the right keys according to the tempo. You could play for fun (and the song is really catchy) and if you got above a certain score you could enter a contest to win Big Bang CDs (if I recall correctly haha) (:


Scrolling further down the page, you can download free wallpapers and screensavers (: There are other stuff too but I can't read Korean well, so I'm not sure what they're for. You can check it out if you'd like (: **This event is over**

So yeah, there are lots of events going on at Gmarket all the time, some are quite fun and useful (: Games, contests, special deals, recommendations, bestseller lists etc. So if you have time you can go check them out~ ♥ ♥ Do note that events change every few weeks or so (: Links may change over the months too. For the most up to date events, go to the Gmarket main page~