Sunday, March 24, 2013

Beauty Review: Shu Uemura "Whitefficient" Cleansing Oil


Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil - THE Cleansing Oil

Let's talk Japanese skincare today! Shu Uemura's cleansing oils are really a cult product - recommended by beauty experts and bloggers. Several of my friends and extended family members swear by it.

Generally, I'm a pretty sceptical person; I often get too suspicious if something is "so AH-MAY-SING" or an "immediate HG" - if it's too good to be true, it often is, girlfriend #lifelessons. (...)

But as usual, curiosity killed the cat, or the Steph, in this case. Not the first (and probably not the last) time either... Sigh...

Worth the risk? Jump!

101: GMarket Tips and Tricks

Credit: ftoday.co.kr

Ah, GMarket.

GMarket is one of those things I happen to have a love/hate relationship with. I love it, my bank account hates it...

If you're new to GMarket, it's a large online shopping mall with virtually everything and anything you could ever want. Korea's version of Ebay, GMarket has everything, from Korean roadshop beauty products, to clothes, to stationery and even food. Yep, I meant it when I said everything and anything. This is awesome for those of us Aussies - most of this stuff isn't available locally or, if it is, at an extortionate prices...

Some products work on a bidding system, but most are just purchase on hand. Most of the website is in English, so it really shouldn't be a problem. GMarket deals with most of the sellers, so you don't have to worry about miscommunication and with any refund/cancellation issues, everything will be handled by GMarket themselves.

Just a heads up, GMarket works best on Internet Explorer (IE), because everyone in Korea uses that. I find that it doesn't really matter, I use Chrome and it works just fine :)

Alright, let's start!

101: Introduction to Korean online shopping malls

Ah Korea, how I miss thee...
Myeong-dong Shopping District, Jung-gu, Seoul - 11.01.24
So if you clicked on this post in desperation because you've just seen a pretty blouse on GMarket, or a cute skirt on CherryKoko or the latest shiny Super Junior CD and it's just one of those things you have to have, you know? Well, you've come to the right place, hopefully I can help you with that.

Shopping on some of Korea's many online shopping malls can be daunting and confusing. Yep, I would know. I'm not Korean, I don't speak nor read Korean and we all know online translators are ... Questionable ... (Haha, if you've got the time, google "Translate fails" xp)

So, let my failures and experiences help you!
I've compiled a list of some tips and tricks I've learnt while shopping on some of the more popular Korean sites.