Blog Update - www.kinseng.org

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking long and hard about how difficult my blog name is to read, recognize, and remember.

So today I've decided to go ahead with re-launching the blog under the name "kinseng".

Kinseng stands for "K-beauty" "inseng". "Inseng" in Korean means life. So it just reflects the main focus of this blog, the k-beauty life. :)

What this means...

1. (1) The blog has permanently moved to www.kinseng.org
2. 
   
3. (2) I will be updating the blog name to kinseng. All social media accounts will follow suit.
4. 
   
5. (3) My former url will redirect automatically to the new address.
6. 
   
7. (4) If you have ever linked to me before, all of those links are dead. I'm sorry!

That is all! I hope the move doesn't affect anyone negatively. 

Thanks for your understanding!

Have a great Saturday/Sunday - whichever day it is in your part of the world.

Best,

Joan

Kinseng rhymes with ginseng, a fave!

P.S. Follow my NEW blog with Bloglovin'
P.P.S. If you would like to follow via Feedly, you can search on www.kinseng.org as the feed is now ready.

October Final Week K-beauty News & Launches

Happy Halloween y'all!

I wanted to take the day off and gobble up the Kit Kats we have around the house (it's raining so we have way too many for 3pm on Halloween), but apparently this weekly news update is everyone's favorite. Not sure if I should take that as a compliment or a subtle way of saying I should stop writing reviews. Lol, I won't... =0) 

There is one thing I wanted to mention before getting into all that's new in the K-beauty world this week... I usually provide a link to the Korean store from which you can buy everything featured, but to buy from a Korean-Korean store (one where everything is written in Korean, sold in Korean won, etc. etc.) means you have to go through the additional hassle and pay the extra costs of using a shipping service like Avecko.com. It was brought to my attention last week that the first store with international shipping to carry the new releases is usually TesterKorea.com. So while I don't link to Tester Korea outright in the weekly, it's very possible that many of these items will show up there within a few days.

Alright, so this month we saw a lot of awesome new releases. Let's see if we end the month on a high note!

New Egg Mellow products at Too Cool For School

You may have already seen and tried the Too Cool For School egg sheet masks, cleansers, and pore packs that are widely available. Even Sephora and Birchbox carry them! Too Cool For School added to this line this week with the new Egg Mellow Body Butter and the Egg Mellow Cream. These two products feature egg of course, in addition to collagen, and what's most interesting to me, "Inca Omega Oil" or Plukenetia Volubilis Seed oil. The cream is 23000 KRW here and the body butter is 22000 KRW here. Accessible via shipping service like Avecko.com. Actually Too Cool For School had many new releases


Read on for more...

October Final Week K-Beauty & Skincare Sales

Hey BOOs, I hope you had a great week, and Happy Halloween (Eve)! The sales announcements for the week are below. There are some new additions like Kooding.com which carries Mamonde and Beyond products and some amazing stationary and Korean fashion items, plus some great deals at the regulars like 30% off Mizon at SkinMilkBar and 20% off at imomoko for their friends and family sale.

11st - (1) Check their sale section here for deals like PONY Glam eyeshadow palettes for $18.65. (2) $30 off $100 in shipping coupon here. (3) Visa card discount of $30 off $50 in shipping here

Amazon - New Beauty Coupons

ANFCosmetics - $15 off $150+ Canadian dollars event with code ANFCOSMO

Beauteque.com -  (1) 25% off Cow Brand products (2) BOGO free off some Missha bb creams and more! (3) 20% off "bewitching" beauty products, see their homepage for details (4) Scary good subscription sale at beautequemonthly - 15% off month-to-month code PUMPKIN15, 20% off 3 month subscription with code PUMPKIN20, 25% off 6 month sub. with code PUMPKIN25, and 30% off a year's sub. with code PUMPKIN30. (5) Get either an "angel" or "devil" set of products for $20. (6) Take 10% off your next Beauteque Monthly bag by referring a friend, simply email admin@beauteque.com to collect.

Beautibi.com - (1) $5 off any Beautibi box until 10/31 with code FALLIN2BEAUTI! (2) Sale section here including some fun finds like the Kanebo enzyme powder cleanser (3) 10% off your first order if you sign up for the newsletter. (4) Save 15% on $50+ with code FALLIN2HAPPINESS until Oct 31

27 Asian Beauty Gifts For Everyone On Your List: From Cute Collectors to Grandma

You may be thinking it's a little early for holiday gift guides, but this list today is intended for anyone wanting to snag the best deals from overseas. In order to sneak your presents in the door and into the closet with time to spare, you'll need to start shopping around ASAP as it takes a little while longer to ship from Asia. Besides, the early bird gets all the Asian beauty (and associated) deals...




FOR CUTE COLLECTORS

1 | A Sailor Moon eyeliner that they'll ACTUALLY use.

yesstyle.com

Help your friend add some magic to his or her fierce flick. Available for $26.90.

Latest Cleansing Lineup BRTC Jasmine, My Beauty Diary Water, Cerave Hydrating, Hada Labo Gokujyun

I've reviewed 6 cleansers on this blog prior to today, which you can check out right over here.

But like I described in a prior post, cleansers are my kryptonite, so I tend to rack up quite a few.

October 2015 Week 4 K-beauty News & Launches

Hi everyone, here are the latest Korean beauty launches from this week. There are so many launches each week, that I've started selecting just the ones that are on the larger side, for example, an entire holiday collection or skincare line, or are just really cool and interesting.

NEW SKINCARE

New to Enprani Daysys Royal Honey line - Essence Capsules!

The latest addition to the Enprani Royal Honey line (which consists of a cream, a peeling gel, and a pack) are these essence capsules (60 per pack 0.23ml per capsule). The capsules contain nourishing essence with aged honey, macadamia oil, and olive oil. They retail for 20000 KRW here. Accessible via shipping service like Avecko.com.


Read on for more...

October 2015 Week 4 K-Beauty Sales & Early Warning

Happy Friday all! As per usual, I'm putting out the week's sales announcements today.

In addition to the sales, I just want to remind everyone that if you do want to purchase some Asian beauty or specifically Korean beauty gifts for your loved ones this holiday season withOUT paying the premium charged by North America-based retailers, this would be about the right time to start shopping around at the Asia-based stores. Why now? Because the cheapest shipping option can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks to arrive at your door.

Now, ready to test your will power?

KBEAUTY & SKINCARE SALES

11st - Check their sale section here for deals like 60 cent Ariul sheet masks. $30 off $100 in shipping coupon here. Visa card discount of $30 off $50 in shipping here

Amazon - New Beauty Coupons

Beauteque.com -  (1) 30% off Banila co (2) 30% off CosRX (3) 25% off Cow Brand products (4) Purchase $10+ of "kawaii food" products and receive nail balls or purchase $15+ for a free macaron mask (5) Take 10% off your next Beauteque Monthly bag by referring a friend, simply email admin@beauteque.com to collect.

Beautibi.com - (1) Sale section here including some fun finds like the Kanebo enzyme powder cleanser (2) 10% off your first order if you sign up for the newsletter. (3) Save 15% on $50+ with code FALLIN2HAPPINESS until Oct 31

Petitfee At Last, Free At Last From Under Eye Bags

If you have a dream, or many dreams, one of which includes being free from puffy under eyes, you're gonna wanna read this...

Fall Eyeshadows and Pencils + PONY XO MEMEBOX 1st Impressions

oh hello! did NOT know I was in the shot until editing time.

Ah memories....

Not only is this time of year just a HUGE breath of fresh air after a hot and muggy Midwest summer... Fall to me is always accompanied by great memories... whether of lounging on a college quadrangle, or getting lost in a corn maze #justmidwestthings, or even more relevant to today's post... watching my first YouTube video about makeup just a little over a year ago. Shout out to Essiebutton! 

Discovering Beauty Youtube (Byou-tube?) is what led me to stumble upon Refinery29, who pointed the way to R/MakeupAddiction, on whose sidebar lived a little community called R/AsianBeauty. There's my genesis story right there. Wait - I guess I should have a super power to go with that... ::shifty eyes:: Hmm, let's say that it's my killer savasana (corpse pose) in yoga. Should come in handy some day right?

Read on for more...

The Sun[screen]Day Post - Affordable Asian Sunscreens by Skin Type & Concern

Want skin that gets you carded? Keep on your sunscreen game, even in Fall and Winter.

When Asian skincare-curious people ask me which products are must-tries, I always reply sunscreens. Asian sunscreens offer more protection due to advanced technology in UV filters, while remaining pleasant to wear.

That's not even touching upon the fact that the UVA protection rating system used in Asia (called the PA system) offers the aging-averse (ME!!!) peace of mind by spelling out the level of protection you're getting. Important, as the sun seems to be responsible for 80% of visible facial aging signs.

Sunscreens are still important to wear for Fall and Winter, and I know that some of you guys visit me from the Southern Hemisphere where summer is fast approaching, so today is a roundup of 7 sunscreens I've tried in 2015. They are all very affordable, and offer high levels of protection. They are the...

• Biore UV Perfect Milk SPF 50 PA++++
• Missha All-Around Safe Block Waterproof Sun Milk SPF 50 PA+++
• Mentholatum Sunplay Super Block PA++++ SPF 130
• Nivea Sun Protect Water Gel Super SPF 50 PA+++
• Atopita Moisture UV Cream 50 PA++++
• Scinic Enjoy Perfect Sun Cream SPF50 PA+++
• Innisfree Eco Safety Perfect Waterproof Sunblock SPF 50 PA+++

October 2015 Week 3 K-beauty News & Launches

NEW SKINCARE
New Atopalm Real Barrier Line (as featured on Get It Beauty)

The new Real Barrier line from Atopalm features a proprietary Ceramide complex with allantoin. There are 2 cleansers, 2 creams, an eye cream, a mist, an essence, and serum here.

Read on for more...

October 2015 Week 3 K-Beauty & Skincare Sales

Hi everyone! It's the time of the week for sales announcements.

KBEAUTY & SKINCARE SALES

11st - $30 off $100 coupon and shop with a Visa card and save $30 off $50 here

Amazon - New Beauty Coupons

Beauteque.com -  (1) create your own sheet mask box for $10, (2) 25% off Mizon (3) Purchase $20+ get a Tonymoly panda hand cream for free (4) Take 10% off your next Beauteque Monthly bag by referring a friend, simply email admin@beauteque.com to collect. (5) Scavenge for 20% 30% 40% discounts on products on the website by looking for leaves. If you find a brown leaf, use code LEAF10, red leaf is code LEAF20, orange is LEAF30, yellow is LEAF40.

Beautibi.com - (1) Sale section here (2) Lights Camera Starlet box on sale here (3) 10% off your first order if you sign up for the newsletter. (4) Save 15% on $50+ with code FALLIN2HAPPINESS until Oct 31

Beauty.com - $15 off $75+ order with free shipping with code BEAUTY15. Does not expire.

Birchbox - $35 for $79 worth of Korean beauty items including Clio, IPKN, Tony Moly, and Too Cool For School items. 10% off first purchase with sign up for newsletter.

Club Clio USA - (1) Buy 2 Get 1 Goodal mask free (2) Goodal Moisture Barrier Cream 25% off (3) Having a 10 day giveaway even on their Instagram.

Cosme-De - (1) October mega sales on luxury skincare and makeup. Check out their weekly sale, and their clearance section for brands like Sisley, SK-II. (2) Sign up for newsletter and receive $5 off $50+ purchase (3) Loyalty program where if you purchase $80+, save 2% next month and so on.

Cult Beauty - 20 pounds off 100 pound purchase with code AUTUMN20

Cupidrop.com - (1) 10% off $25+ with code FALLSALE (2) EXTRA 10% OFF on orders over $25 with code: STEP6. Free shipping over $50 and always free samples. (3) 15% off first purchase with sign up for newsletter. (4) Free blusher brush with any $15+ Kicho purchase (5) Free fuzzy headband with any $100+ purchase. (6) Use code FANB15 to get 15% off a $30+ purchase!

Read on for more...

Kosmeshop Haul + Mini-Reviews

We're now back to our regularly scheduled Korean beauty programming. Today's post is a haul from Kosmeshop, a lesser known Asia-based Korean beauty retailer. That sample service though. O.o Also, have I ever mentioned to you how awesome Korean socks are? They're the real MVP of Korean exports.

SOURCE | Kosmeshop.com

ORDERED ON | 9/12/2015

SHIPPED | 9/16/2015

RECEIVED | 10/07/2015

Just a little background information for you - I purchased some of these items, and other items were sent to me for (honest) review. Back in August, Kosmeshop reached out to me to see if we might partner on a post or two in the future. Long story short, we hit it off, and we entered into a partnership where I may select a few products to review periodically. So if, we entered into the agreement back in August? Why have I not posted a haul or review until now? Basically, I'd never purchased from Kosmeshop before, and I wanted to get a good feel for the customer experience before talking them up to y'all. (It's part of my sponsorship policy which you can read about here). I don't want to be getting STANK EYE from anyone who ends up having a poor experience with them. >.<

So let's break it doooown now. Links to products included in line with the reviews this time around.

New Ole Henriksen at Sephora!

This may seem like it's coming out of left field but before getting caught up in the whirlwind of skincare innovation that is Korean beauty, I was a complete and utter Ole Henriksen fangirl. (Ole Henriksen and Fresh were my baes). And today in my inbox I received this announcement...

It's a CLOUDBERRY based line by Ole Henriksen!

You may recall from this article I featured a few weeks back that cloudberries are Nordic berries that are super antioxidant-rich and have created a craze over in Asia. This cleanser (for Fall/Winter) and and the moisturizer (for Spring/Summer) have definitely made it to the top of my wishlist. 

You can find these products at Ole Henriksen here or at Sephora here.

BREAKING NEWS: As of 10/26 Ole Henriksen is having their Friends and Family sale where you can save 20% with code OHFRIEND. Shop Ole Henriksen here.

I'm curious, are you interested in putting cloudberries on your skin? And, have you tasted cloudberries before? What did you think?

P.S. There's also a whole lot of new Chosungah 22 here and Too Cool For School here.

P.P.S. Stay tuned for the contents of my Fall K-beauty haul from Kosmeshop later today!

Disclosure: Some affiliate links. If you are curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, please see my disclaimer and policies.

TG2KB Part 10 - Guide to the HwaHae App: Korean Cosmetics Ingredient Lists and Reviews

Get ready for some K-beauty empowerment today!

Logging onto this app (HwaHae) is EVERY BIT as empowering as learning about a new [skincare] ingredient or experiencing a new product formulation. And I believe that everyone who is Asian beauty obsessed or even curious will benefit from having this app on their phone.

On the Menu: Hydrating Eye Candies

These eye creams have been my jam lately. I got on the eye cream bandwagon after learning that many "ancient Asian beauties" (by this I mean older men and women on skincare forums, and not say, a geisha) swear by eye creams to hydrate and protect the delicate under eye area. 

Pictured above are my three delicious eye candies: 

• derma e Firming DMAE Eye Lift*
• derma e Hydrating Eye Creme*
• Mizon Multi Function Formula Snail Repair Eye Cream

I'm no Caroline Hirons with drawers full of gratis goodies, but I do receive the occasional press sample. This is actually really exciting for me, because when asked which products I'd like to try, I get to put on my Dora the Explorer hat and be a bit more adventurous than I usually am with my picks. You'll see what I mean in a bit.

October 2015 Week 2 Sales and Skincare Launches

KBEAUTY & SKINCARE SALES

Amazon - New Beauty Coupons

Beauteque.com -  (1) 25% off lip products (2)  create your own sheet mask box for $10, (3) 25% off Mizon (4) Thru Oct 15 get $34 gift set with Beauteque Monthly subscription. (5) Thru Oct 12, each purchase snags you a mystery coupon code, worth up to 25% off a subscription bag. (6) Take 10% off your next Beauteque Monthly bag by referring a friend, simply email admin@beauteque.com to collect.

Beautibi.com - (1) Annie's Way jelly masks on sale (2) 10% off your first order if you sign up for the newsletter.

Beauty.com - $15 off $75+ order with free shipping with code BEAUTY15. Does not expire.

Birchbox - $35 for $79 worth of Korean beauty items including Clio, IPKN, Tony Moly, and Too Cool For School items. 10% off first purchase with sign up for newsletter.

Cosme-De - October mega sales on luxury skincare and makeup.

Cupidrop.com - (1) Still 10% off $30+ with code CHACHACHA. (2) EXTRA 10% OFF on orders over $25 with code: STEP5. Free shipping over $50 and always free samples. (3) 15% off first purchase with sign up for newsletter. (4) Code DOYOU for 15% off new Doyou (soy milk) products.

Read on for more...

October 2015 Week 2 News & Makeup Launches

It's time for the weekly update on everything K-beauty. This post contains the beauty news and the new makeup launches. Watch out for the upcoming sales and skincare launch post.

KBEAUTY NEWS

The Golden Age of Korean Beauty Shopping is over: Shipping Service and Buying Concierge Dowaja.com Closes Up Shop
Click-through for the official announcement. It was great while it lasted. Haha, I can almost hear the U.S. based K-beauty retailers breathe audible sighs of relief. Dowaja proved that there is space for a service like the one they were offering, and I think we K-beauty addicts would welcome anyone's attempt at replicating its services. But for now, the long-established Avecko.com will be the place to turn to to access deals on the Korean internet, and hard-to-find Korean goods.

Read on for more...

GET IT BEAUTY 2015 10/7/2015 'Protect Your Skin' Show Notes (Fall & Dry Skincare Tips) + Deal for Readers in Singapore

Happy Thursday!

If you've been wondering where the Get It Beauty translations and show notes have been over the past couple of weeks, I've been taking some time to research Fair Use of their content. One of my earlier episode translations (the "Twenty Again" special) was mistakenly flagged and taken down (by a bot that flags content with certain key words) for violating the copyright claim of a completely unrelated Korean drama called "Twenty Again", which is what led to the break, but I think I have an idea of how to relay Get It Beauty content without stepping on any toes, so here we go again. :)

If you're joining me for the first time on a Thursday, Get It Beauty is a popular Korean beauty show that brings experts and celebrities before a studio audience to discuss beauty tips and secrets. They used to subtitle their shows in English, but they completely stopped doing that around late spring/early summer. I started translating episodes a few months back, in case any one was interested in the content.

In this post...

• Part I: A Korean celebrity makeup artist's 5 Fall skincare must-haves
• Part II: Her tips on long-lasting Fall makeup & mid-day touch-ups
• Part III: My 1 must-have for dry skin
• Part IV: A special deal for my readers in Singapore from Skin Aesthetics Singapore

L'Herboflore Mon Amour

Ahhhhhh I finally ripped myself away from watching Kpop group, GOT7's fancy footwork (and fancy faces) today to write up some thoughts about these very fancy sheet masks.

Okay, one last peek for the road.

Cent-sible Investments: Coni Sheet Masks

This is just a quick PSA.

There are only a few brands of masks I have accessible to me from physical stores for when I am in between hauls: PureDerm, MJ Care, Face Story, Coni, and My Scheming.

My Scheming is hands down the best of these brands. Talked about here and here.

But if you have seen these Coni masks around, they're worthy "in between hauls" investments.

Astaxanthin! "...What'd You Just Call Me?"

I was having a really hard time getting started writing this Sidmool The Secret of Red Astaxanthin Concentrate review and Astaxanthin ingredient spotlight. I seriously thought I had blogger's block or was burnt out or something... Is it just me, or is it really difficult to write about something that you don't have any feelings for? But let's grind this one out, because the queue is long and full of fairer [products]. (Ok, that was supposed to be a Melisandre impression.)

Mashup Part II: Oct 2015 Week 1 Kbeauty Makeup Launches & News

Just the makeup, and news bytes below...

NEW MAKEUP

3 Concept Eyes Fitting Cushion Foundation, Coming Soon

많이 기다리셨죠!! 언냐들의 인생쿠션 예약할께요!! #3ce #comingsoon#cushionfoundation

A photo posted by Official STYLENANDA (@stylenanda_korea) on Sep 23, 2015 at 2:40am PDT

I'm waiting for more details, as of today, the cushion is not available for sale. Stylenanda does ship internationally though and orders of $200 or more ship free. $100+ gets you $10 shipping! :O

It's the Monster Mash Up: Oct 2015 Week 1 Kbeauty Sales & New Skincare

Why is K-beauty news so juicy every week? I don't know.. why is Gretchen's hair so big? And why do we old folks still make Mean Girls (2000's movie) references every day? Life's big mysteries.

Anyways, Happy October! In Korea, October is the beginning of a huge sales month, with October 1st drawing comparisons to Black Friday in the U.S. Because of this, I'll start with the sales news this week. Also, because last weekend was a national holiday, there are fewer news bytes than normal so everything is in two posts today... the skincare and the sales in this post, and the makeup and news in the next.

Ice, Ice Baby: More Shara Shara... Water Girl's Ice Cream Review

Two Shara Shara reviews in less than 24 hours! I know, I know... but they're shorties. Like me, whee. I'm also really behind on reviews, this has been in the queue for over a month.

Berry Happy That Shara Shara's Cleansing Balm Rivals Banila Co Clean It Zero

If you've fallen in love with the makeup removal wizardry of the Banila Co Clean It Zero but want to find something that 'dupes' its cleansing powers for less, this Shara Shara Berry Berry Cleansing Sherbert is it!