Korean Beauty Brand: The Face Shop and My TFS Haul

The Face Shop is a popular Korean beauty brand that has stores around the world (more so than any other Korean beauty brand, I think). This brand's motto is "natural story" and it primarily focuses on the necessity of using products from nature to better your health and beauty, hence the green leaf logo.  There is also a controversy that this brand is a copycat of The Body Shop, but I can overlook this detail since Kim Hyun Joong endorses this brand.

This blog goes more in depth on my experience at The Face Shop in San Jose and the merchandise I bought there. This store is adorned with posters and low quality prints (it seems like the workers googled images of Kim Hyun Joong and printed them out in low resolution) of Kim Hyun Joong's smiling face welcoming The Face Shop's customers.  The best part is the almost life size cardboard cutout of Kim Hyung Joong standing out front, with which I got my picture taken (more about this on my other post).  I'm not a huge fan on The Face Shop's products, so I only bought a nail clipper and some paper products with Kim Hyun Joong :)  I was surprised to see that this store would offer non-beauty products such as Kim Hyun Joong posters for his solo album.

Nail Clipper
This nail clipper is in the shape of The Face Shop leaf logo, giving a simplistic tool a cute design. There is also a little nail filing section that unfortunately doesn't work well. The actual clip part does its job efficiently, though it is not the best quality.  I bought this for $5.

Kim Hyun Joong Merchandise
I didn't even see these hidden gems until I paid for my nail clipper.  The first photo is a journal and sleeve with Kim Hyun Joong looking cute and cozy.  Inside are lined pages occasionally covered with him doing other adorable poses, including one of Hyun Joong holding a large Pucca doll!  I believe this journal was $3.

The second item is a set of five postcards of Hyun Joong that comes in a neat folded envelope (one of the envelope's flaps is of the first picture in this post).  He is smiling gorgeously in every card, with some advertising a The Face Shop product.  I think this set was $1.

These products were too adorable not to buy.  The only other Kim Hyun Joong product left was his Break Down poster, which portrayed a more masculine side of him that I felt was just too much.  Kim Hyun Joong does an amazing job as an global endorser for The Face Shop (I've seen his face in a The Face Shop in Sydney too!) and is the only reason for me to buy The Face Shop products.

This purchase also came with a free skincare routine sample from the E'thym line that lasts one week and is fit for my skin type (the sales representative asked for my skin type). I have yet to try out this series, which includes a toner, serum and lotion/cream.  This sample comes in a generic cardboard box with no cute, or even simplistically decent packaging, which is a negative for me.  Overall, if you're a fan of Kim Hyun Joong, check out The Face Shop!

Korean Beauty Brand: SkinFood and Product Reviews

SkinFood is a popular Korean beauty brand that offers nutritious, high quality skincare and makeup products. SkinFood's motto is "Food that is good for your health, is also good for your skin." This concept is vividly seen in some of the brand's repeated ingredients: fresh sparkling apple, gold kiwi, grape seed oil, lettuce cucumber, peach sake, even gold caviar! Below is a close up of the logo on the shopping bag I received from my SkinFood purchase in San Francisco.

Here's a brief review of my current SkinFood products:

Peach Sake Pore BB Cream SPF20 PA+ in Shade No. 1
This BB cream comes in a dispenser that squirts out small amounts at a time, which is very convenient because a little goes a long way!  I usually gently push down on the dispenser to release one drop about three millimeters in diameter onto my finger.  I place one drop on the top of my cheek, one on the bottom of my cheek and one on my chin (my skin is most uneven in these places) and I quickly rub the cream in circular motions to eradicate smear marks.  The cream dries really quickly for a matte finish, so be fast!

The Pros

• Though my skin is darker than the lightest shade, this cream gives light coverage that blends well with my skin.
• The peach scent is refreshing and delightful when putting on the cream and it wears off afterwards
• This cream offers light and smooth coverage that still reveals my freckles, but creates a more even skintone
• The peachy tone blends well with my yellow skintone

The Cons

• After putting this on my nose, I notice that it emphasizes the blackheads and flaky skin on my nose.  
• Though peach is supposed to control oil, it seemed to emphasize it instead.
• To avoid both of these concerns, I just use the cream on my cheeks and chin instead.

Foodtherapy Facial Water Vita-C (Mist)

I bought this mist for $18.70 at the San Francisco SkinFood store, which is splurging for such a small bottle of mist (145ml).  This facial mist contains berries rich in vitamin C, along with fresh Alaska glacier water.  The smell is a mild, refreshing berry fragrant.  I can't stop sniffing it, it's so addicting.

The back label is all written in English. I haven't actually tried this product yet, so I don't have the pros/cons yet.  Overall, I do love the light, refreshing berry smell of this mist and will definitely use it as a fragrant mist for summer!

Foodtherapy Stick Perfume No. 3 Happy Vanilla

Retail at the San Francisco store, this perfume is $19.80.  This is a solid perfume that twists upward like chapstick and comes with a protective plastic cap inside.  The smell is a soothing vanilla scent that smells sophisticated, too sophisticated (like what much older women would wear), once I rub it on my wrists.

You can see how small this solid perfume is compared to my hand; it's about 2 inches high, perfect for on-the-go! Both the packaging of the actual perfume stick and the box are so pretty and the box is very creatively and intricately folded.

This is the bottom of the box. All the info is written in English because I bought this in the San Francisco store, but there is Korean information on the side of the box. The box says that it is supposed to "create a sense of relaxation." It definitely has a calming, soothing scent to it that can put you into a relaxation mood if you believe, I guess.

The Pros

• The packaging is elegant and pretty
• It is easy to apply
• It is small enough to fit in a purse or pocket, yet there is so much perfume to last a long time
• The first whiff is delightful
• The smell lasts a few hours

The Cons

• The next few whiffs aren't as delightful, but still offers a classy feeling

Tweezers

I bought this for $2.20.  The design is simplistic and cute, but honestly it does not work well in tweezing little unwanted hair.  This pair of tweezers is definitely not recommended to use as your everyday tweezer.

I do also have several face mask samples that came with my purchase (my purchase included the facial mist, perfume stick, tweezers and nail polish), which I will review in the future. These samples include a Black Sugar Mask, Rice Mask, Ginseng Mask, Black Sesame Hot Mask and Gold Kiwi Hydrating Mask (the sales rep highly recommends this one).  I will also definitely use more of this brand's products, and when I do, I'll be sure to post more reviews. That's it for all my SkinFood products so far!