End of Summer Edit: The Beauty Roundup

Wow. Just wow, have I been busy. This month I moved back to the US, which entailed the menial bureaucratic nonsense that any cross-country move requires. Word to the wise though, I strongly recommend against using a Korean bank as your main account. In short, Korean banks are unnecessarily complicated. – End rant-

Now that I’m back in the states I have this unique opportunity. I’m getting paid to be on vacation for a month, meaning I have plenty of time to explore all of the beauty products that I missed out on this last year. The Korean government heavily taxes imported goods from outside the Asian continent, causing some products to be ridiculously expensive. I’m talking about you L’Occitane Immortelle Precious Cream ($64 in the US but 100,000 won in Seoul). 😦

Now is the perfect time to research and invest in a few of the most unanimously recommended products from this summer.

Read on to see a few pieces I bought during the Labor Day sales! If you’re looking for fashion finds, you can check out here and here.

The Ordinary

When a brand is this cheap but such high quality, why not buy a few products and test things out?

*Natural Moisturising Factors + HA – I am on the lookout for an inexpensive alternative to the L’Occitane cream and hopefully this is it!

*Colours (Coverage Foundation) – With 21 shades and great reviews, I’m sure to find a shade to match my fair skin tone without having to shell out the big bucks like I would for the Armani foundations. Asos sold out of this faster than I could order it, so I will purchase this at a later date (Fingers crossed that I have enough foundation until then!)

Zoella

Over the past year or so, I’ve become addicted to watching Zoe Sugg’s vlogs. She’s a breath of fresh air and is a wonderful role model, career and life-wise. When she came out with her “Jelly & Gelato” range recently and it was finally available in the US, I knew I had to try her products out.

*Beauty Cream Scrub – I have very dry skin, so I need an exfoliator and a moisturizer and this combines the two!

*Body Pudding – Why not complement the Cream Scrub with an even deeper moisturizer that smells amazing?

Clinique

Clinique is a classic: My mum has used their skincare line for decades and I’ve tried their a few of their products before and loved them (Chubby Sticks ♥ ). In Korea I became addicted to using a balm to oil cleanser but the specific one I used is unavailable in the US. Thankfully, everyone seemed to become addicted to the Clinique version in my absence. I’m not finished with my current balm, so I will buy this at a later date.

*Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm

Estée Lauder

*Bronzed Goddess Illuminating Powder Gelée

 – This was sent to multiple blogger and YouTubers at the beginning of summer and once they started using it they never stopped, a true testament to the quality of the product. As a fair skinned person, going into autumn I need all the warmth I can get!

Honorable Mentions

*IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream – This is my next step into the foundation world if the Ordinary foundation doesn’t work out. It simply made sense to check out the cheaper option first. *shrugs*

*Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream (Fragrance Free)  – Again, if the Ordinary lotion isn’t a good fit this will be my next choice.

–

–

Thanks for checking out my picks. I can’t wait to receive them in the mail! Do you have any recommendations that you think I should try?

Leave a comment below!

–

♦♦  Don’t stay away too long!

My next blog post will be up next week and you’ll get to see inside of what was my world in Korea for the last year, like that time I accidentally ended up in a protest against the President, who was later impeached!  ♦♦