Holika Holika Honey Essence Mask Sheet Review

I bought this mask at the Holika Holika store in Markham, Canada. I chose the cheapest mask sheet in the store, which was $2 Canadian, yet this is more pricy than other Korean brands' mask sheets.

Holika Holika, as well as many other Korean beauty brands, tend to have adorable packaging.  But when it comes to face mask sheets, packaging always lacks.  This Honey Essence Mask Sheet illustrates a low definition honeycomb against a plain white background.  But of course I didn't buy this product for the packaging, I bought it for what's inside!

The backside has lots of information, including step-by-step illustrations, instructions in Korean, information in English and I believe the expiration date at the bottom (September 2014).

Here is a close up of the English description at the bottom of the backside.  It says that this mask is made up of honey essence, which consists of sugar, minerals and vitamins for a moisturized and healthy face.  The directions say to wash your face, then apply the mask sheet for 15 to 20 minutes and lastly pat the excess essence for your skin to fully absorb it.

This mask fits very well! Unlike other mask sheets, the holes line up fairly well on my features and the placement is perfect.  The only parts of my face that is exposed are my eyelids (but my eyebrows get covered).  The mask fits just at the perimeter of my face, so none gets in my hair.  The nose flap also fits ergonomically.  Also there is barely any overlap of the mask, showing that Holika really knows how to make a 2D sheet fit a 3D face.  I think it's because of that extra flap section at the sides/cheek area.

Pros

• The honey scent is so fragrant!  I usually don't like putting products with fragrance associated with stickiness on my face, such as honey scented goods, but this mask is an exception.  Throughout the 20 minutes of using this mask, I had the occasional and pleasant waft of honey.
• The mask is cool, moist and slick to the touch, which is very refreshing.
• The mask sheet fits perfectly on my face!  This is definitely my most favorite mask sheet shape out of the three I've tried.
• The mask stays on my face very well; it doesn't budge even when I walk around or face downward.
• Afterwards my face was very moist and slightly sticky, but after patting the excess liquid in my face felt clean and refreshed.
  

Cons

• Honestly I have no complaints about this mask sheet!  I would have looked down on the price, but because I love this mask so much, mostly because of its perfect fit, I'd be willing to pay the extra few cents.
  

Despite having disappointing results of reusing a mask sheet last time, I decided to reuse this mask sheet and came out with mixed results.  The next day, the mask was still just as moist.  The mask stayed on my face well at first, but later the mouth hole stretched, exposing most of my chin.  From my nose downward, the mask was a mess!  And plenty of essence remained to wipe my limbs, but this time the essence left my skin feeling very sticky in a gross way.  Bottom line, I think I should just stop reusing my face mask sheets.

Overall, this Holika mask sheet is my favorite compared to the Tony Moly and The Face Shop mask sheets I had tried because of the perfect fit. My face also feels moisturized and healthy directly afterwards, showing positive results. Despite the slightly higher cost, I'd definitely purchase more Holika mask sheets!

Holika Holika Real Lip Butter Review

Holika Holika is a Korean beauty brand that has an enchantingly magical theme.  I decided to purchase one of their lip products that doesn't fall into its main concept but is still fun and refreshing.  I bought Holika's Real Butter Lip Balm for $11.50 (Canadian currency) at Pacific Mall in Markham, Canada.

Holika's lip butter comes in three flavors: milk, strawberry and butter. I'm also drawn to the unique flavors, but butter was a bit too extreme as a beauty product.  I had originally purchased the milk flavor to give to my friend, but loved the scent so much that I decided to keep that and buy the strawberry flavor for her.  This 6 gram lip balm comes in a flat tin with a perforated plastic wrap.  The bottom of the packaging doesn't offer much.

With this image, you can see just how big this balm is relative to my fingers.  You can also see the opening/closing mechanism, which I explain below in the 'Pros' section.  The texture is smooth and the consistency is very thick and hard.  I had to put a lot of pressure while swiping my finger tip on the product to get a thin layer.  Because with several swipes I barely got any product on my finger, and because the color is transparent, it wasn't worth a swatch photo.

Pros

•  I absolutely love the milk flavor!  The scent reminds me of sweet Asian milk candy, which is so unique and definitely not a flavor found in western products.
• It is very easy to open this tin with just one hand: simply put pressure on the lid and slide it open.  Despite opening it with such ease, it still has a very sturdy closure so you can't easily slide the entire lid off (though you can if you want to turn the lid 180 degrees).  You can see this with the third image.
• This tin is very small and flat, so it can easily fit anywhere, including tight jean pockets, without looking bulky. 
• My lips are left feeling smoother and healthier than before.
• Because this is the type of balm where you scoop the product yourself, you can choose the amount to put on.

Cons

•  The balm is very hard to pick up out of the tin.  It's like using the heat from your finger to melt a frozen chocolate bar.

Overall, my favorite part about this product is the scent.  I love just flicking the lid open and smelling it.  This balm is meant for already healthy, unchapped lips so I wouldn't suggest this product to severally chapped lips.  Because it is kind of hard to scoop out the product, I wouldn't purchase this product again, but I'm not disregarding this product either! 

Korean Beauty Brand: Holika Holika

Holika Holika is a newer Korean cosmetic brand, launching in early 2010.  In early 2013, Holika launched its American website, along with a Facebook page and twitter account.  Holika has stores throughout Asia and only one location outside of Asia, in Markham, just outside of Toronto, Canada.

This brand has a magical, witchcraft-like concept.  To me, their American counterpart seems like Urban Decay due to similar themes.  Holika's logo is a deep purple silhouette of a witch flying on a broom with stars twinkling in the background.  Holika Holika comes from the English suffix -holic, meaning addiction, and the Korean word holida, meaning temptation.  The brand's motto is "Holika Holika, cast a spell on your wishes. Holika Holika, magic cosmetics for your wishes to come true." This is a bit arbitrary, but fits with the overall magical theme.

Currently the endorsers for Holika are actor Jung Il Woo, actress Park Shin Hye and girl group Sistar. Previously CNBlue were the endorsers, which was what originally drew my attention to this brand.  Throughout the store I visited in Markham, Il Woo's face is smiling all over the place :)

Holika's prices are a bit higher than that of other Korean cosmetic brands of the same customer target, including The Face Shop and SkinFood.  In my opinion, many of the products are overpriced, but there are some reasonable items.  The nail polish, pictured below, was $8, mask sheets started at $2 and a 6 gram tin of lip butter was $11.50, all in Canadian currency.

Products range from skincare (including the adorable egg soaps packaged in egg cartons, like in the second photo) to cosmetics to BB creams (for males and females) to beauty tools.  The packaging is very charming, matching the magical fantasy theme.  You can see how this nail polish has a pretty look to it, with the glass bottle almost looking like a crystal ball.  The hue is also very unique and looks like a witch's potion, also having a similar color to Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck perfume.

To get information on my experience in Holika Holika's only store outside of Asia, check out my post on Pacific Mall.

Markham: Pacific Mall

Pacific Mall is a three story Chinese mall located in Markham, a suburb of Toronto. Majority of the retail is on the ground floor, with miscellaneous tenants selling electronic accessories, Asian (mainly Korean and Japanese) beauty products and Asian CDs and DVDs (both legit and counterfeit). Many of these stalls are random, unheard-of shops, but the chain brands include The Face Shop, Holika Holika, and to my surprise, soon Tony Moly! Here I'll highlight the shops I went to and what I bought.

Broadcast
This store occupies a corner spot, so despite there being hundreds of repetitive shops throughout the mall, it isn't too hard to find Broadcast if you just circle the perimeter. To further stand out, there are kpop posters against the exterior, but I'm not sure if they're for sale.

Out of all the shops at this mall selling Asian CDs and DVDs, I think Broadcast has the best (and is probably the only shop with a) reputation of selling only authentic discs. There are rows of fully packed shelves containing kpop and kpop CDs and concert DVDs, as well as Asian dramas and other genres. They carry newly released media, as well as older ones like Ss501. The latest kpop CDs and DVDs are at the front counter. There are two older Cantonese ladies running the shop, who were very helpful. Though they were out of the Infinite CDs I was looking for, she directed me to other popular and highly demanded CDs. She was more knowledgeable than I thought, but I did have to correct her about a few things.

There are also not authentic Kpop merchandise, such as scrolls, mouse pads (roughly $10), playing cards (Infinite's for $15.99), notepads, keychains, pens, and more.  Just a side note, no photos allowed inside the store. Whoops, I only saw the sign after I had started taking photos.

The Face Shop

The store is very simplistic and pristine with its glossy white panels.

Sadly a Kim Hyun Joong cutout doesn't greet customers at this location, but his face is still plastered throughout the store. The Face Shop is really using Hyun Joong as the face of the brand, even placing his face on the mirrors and business card. The workers are also friendly and helpful, so don't be afraid to approach them. Sometimes there's no worker at the register, however, so just seek one of the workers.

I wanted to buy something from The Face Shop despite not actually wanting any of their products, so I just bought their cheapest products. I chose three face mask sheets, costing $1.70 and $2 each. Sadly my purchase didn't come with any samples.

Holika Holika

This Holika Holika location is the only one outside of Asia, so I was thrilled to visit this one. The layout is simplistic like The Face Shop, but the storefront has two gorgeous Jung Il Woo cutouts greeting customers.

I had to take photos with them, as they'll be the closest I'll get to the real thing! Around the store are little advertisements of Jung Il Woo holding various Holika products and labels of his recommended products. Sistar also endorses the brand, but there was only a poster of the group on the side of the store. Prices are fairly expensive compared to other brands. The workers are friendly and helpful when I asked her to show me their lip balms; she ended up walking me to all of their lip products and describing each to me.

My first purchase (top) was the milk lip butter and nail polish, which came with a free sample. My second purchase (bottom right) was the strawberry lip butter and face mask sheet, and sadly that didn't come with a free sample. It may just be the worker, because during my first purchase the first worker sent me off without giving me a sample but then a second worker peered over and got one for me before I left. I think it just depends on the worker.

Debbie
This shop carries various Korean cosmetics. There are workers of different Asian nationalities, so if you're not confident with English, you might be able to communicate in Cantonese or Korean. They are all friendly and helped me test out products by getting the product and placing of on my hand themselves. One customer was even getting a makeover done. The prices seem a bit more expensive, but they can give you more samples as a compromise.

I ended up buying Tony Moly's Tomatox and Silky Smooth Balm and received samples for a full skincare routine that included four different products, which she determined by touching my cheek for my skin type, and she let me choose from a whitening and natural BB cream. All of my samples and the bag were from Missha, despite not buying any from that brand.

Tony Moly
I was so ecstatic to see my most favorite skincare brand about to open a store in North America! Though the glass walls are boarded with construction paper, it appears that construction is almost finished. According to the work permit posted on the front door, construction period is supposed to end on April 2nd, which is coming up!

I also took a sneak peek inside and can already see JYJ endorsing!

I got so excited about this Tony Moly location that these photos ended up extra blurry :/

Also outside of Pacific Mall is a sports shop that has large a 2NE1 for Adidas advertisement on the storefront. Unfortunately inside the store is only posters of soccer players.

If you're ever in need of cosmetics, there is an abundance of them throughout the entire Pacific Mall.  For the best selection of CDs and DVDs, your best bet is probably online.

The Great Wall Mall: Various Korean Stores

Just the other day I traveled to The Great Wall Mall, a small Asian mall with several clothing boutiques, antique shops, 99 Ranch Market and restaurants of different Asian cuisines.  Here is the address: 18230 East Valley Highway  Kent, WA 98032.

Joo Joo Cosmetics
This little kiosk is a gem of a find, because there is no indication that such a places exists via the Internet. The store hours are very limited, only opening a few hours from Thursday to Saturday.

Joo Joo offers a limited selection of Korean beauty products, but many of these items are unreachable in the greater Seattle area. This kiosk has one Holika Holika mask, Etude House masks, several SkinFood products and Holika Holika's Pig-Nose product. The masks are $3 each, which includes tax. I came here only to by one product:

Holika Holika Cherry Blossom Essence Mask.  This is my first Holika Holika product, and I was entranced by this mask because of the brand's endorsers, CNBlue. When I use this mask, I'll be sure to write a review.

Morning Glory

This shop is part of the global Morning Glory chain that sells Asian trinkets and stationary.

This particular store also carries a few Kpop items.  There are PSY tee shirts out front. Covering the exterior are posters of beauty advertisements, including Han Ga In for Isa Knox. This store also offers large and small calendars, as well as posters, of kpop bands 2NE1, 2PM, Beast, Big Bang, Infinite, MBLAQ, SNSD and Super Junior.

Jang Soo Tofu Korean Tofu and B.B.Q. Restaurant
This restaurant is amazing in every way. The warm Korean food smell, along with tasty food and a TV is an excellent combination.

I sat at a table that faced the TV, which was showing the currently airing drama The King of Dramas on SBS with English subtitles. Seeing Choi Si Won while enjoying my delicious meal made me so happy.

Every meal comes with side dishes, and this restaurant offers high quality, unique ones. There are the usual brussel sprouts, but every other dish was much more fascinating. The kimchi had lots of flavor and was chopped up perfectly, so there were no chewy, tough pieces. The zucchini was slightly crunchy and had a mild spice.  The small red ball in the top right is a slightly chewy squid/fish/radish (I'm not sure)...all I know is that this side dish is my favorite. The mashed potatoes were sweet and consistently soft and pureed.  Each meal also comes with a small fried fish that you debone yourself. The fish is so soft and tender and flavorful; definitely a side dish that Korean restaurants don't often offer. Best of all, the friendly waitresses kept asking if we wanted more of each side dish (except for the fish).

If you're looking for a few hours of Asian shopping, come by The Great Wall Mall to do your grocery, cosmetic and merchandise shopping, as well as tasty dining.