The Gmarket Haul Part 1

I come in a package of being fidgety and lazy rolled into one (but I am mainly lazy), so I've split my haul in two parts for the Gmarket haul and some more parts for my other hauls. Gmarket Haul Part 1 focuses on non-fashion related items.

This is my passport holder! I find that whenever I travel I shove my passport in my purse causing it to be in the most disgusting condition ever. This passport holder will protect it now! It's made of pleather and the seller 하이델 has it in many colors. Each color corresponds to a different country - the one I have is copper brown and represents Seoul. The freebies that came with the purchase were a lipstick pen and a single mask... which appears to be for men....so likely Mr.W will use this! I would purchase from this seller again because they have many other really adorable items great for travelling!

My new GD580 cellphone case! It's made of pleather coated with water resistant material (so it's very shiny). Unfortunately, it doesn't fit properly because the design is flawed. The camera hole opening is not placed properly!! But for $6 I can't complain much.... The seller is ♡미소피아♡ and sells other casings for cellphones for approximately the same price. The one I purchased may actually be slightly more expensive because of the material used (pleather vs. plastic). The designs are all very cute and the seller also gives two free screen covers with the purchase.

My favorite purchase of the bunch (excluding fashion related purchases). This camera casing was so cheap but is so durable and so chic!! Initially, I could not decide if I wanted white or pink more, but in the end picked the pink/blue combination because white gets dirty too easily! The case is VERY well made given that it's produced in China and for the price. It fits my Sony W55 perfectly, but if the camera is any bulkier, this case would not be appropriate. I purchased it from 스타기프트.

My last non-fashion related item from my Gmarket haul is this Castledew eyeshadow palette. It's BE905 Blackish Smokey. I'm not sure if it's a new palette but on the seller (스킨밀크에센스샵)'s site, it says these are new colors. The casing is a magnet for fingerprints! I haven't had the chance to use it yet, but on the back it says it's baked, so I'm assuming it's not very pigmented and will require some foiling....

Shipping: None of the prices listed include shipping. Overall, shipping would add about $3 to each of the lighter items and more to the heavier items, considering I got shoes!

Issues: I actually had some issues making this order. I wanted to use the the balance in my gaccount so I checked out my items using the gaccount balance option. However I was not aware that you cannot make partial payments with your gaccount and have the remaining balance paid by credit card/paypal. I had no issues with paying the full balance using with my paypal account, however, once you've select the gaccount option, you either have to pay the balance in full with the gaccount or deposit money into your account - except I did not live in Korea nor did I have a korean bank account.

The money in your Gaccount is money that you've either accumulate from a) overpayment in shipping charges; b) deposits (only from a korean bank account); c) you were selected as blogger of the month and they deposit a gmarket certificate voucher into your account.

Long story short, from the bantering emails between Gmarket and I, representatives there told me that I had to cancel my order and then make another order and pay with paypal. ～～～ヽ(#ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ!!!!! What they didn't realize was that it took me hours to select all the items I wanted and did not exactly save all the urls/product codes of the items I selected. On top of that, they were going to deduct 3 points for cancelling the order. (Note: you earn points for each successful item transaction but if you lose these points and go into the negatives, Gmarket will ban you from buying from them again - similar to Ebay ratings). In the end, I cancelled my first order, and made an identical second order but did not get my points deducted. Moral of the story: make sure you have sufficient funds in your gaccount before using it to pay for your order!!

I leave you with my Lunasol, Sofina Aube and Bourjois haul! (I will have to review all this later!). You've made it through the first part of my Gmarket haul/rant! Hurrah! ｱﾋｬﾋｬﾍ(ﾟ∀ﾟ*)ﾉヽ(*ﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾉｱﾋｬﾋｬ.

Happy Hump Day! ♥

Photo Bloggn' Mondays

Awww you girls are too sweet! I loved all your comments! It actually requires a lot of effort on my part to look decently dressed (I'm too used to wearing sweat pants/hoodies from my days in university!). I'm motivated to start posting more OOTD photos ^___^

This will be a short post because I am still working on my gmarket/other haul item reviews! I just wanted to share some of my photo adventures. I've started the project 365 where I take a photo a day for 365 days. Let me just say, IT'S A LOT OF WORK. I'm not the most creative person (I'm probably the least creative person there is), so for me to take a photo a day without repeating ideas is practically almost as difficult as my shopping ban (*tear*tear*).

I'm waiting impatiently for the weather get warmer and flowers to bloom so I can play with my camera. If there are any beginner photographers out there like me, I would like to see some of your works!

Happy photo bloggn' Monday! ♥

P.S. Is anyone else digging this new blogspot layout for drafting posts? I know I am! I can see the increase in user friendliness (:

frills frills frills

OOTD: tiered frill dress - ebay; skirt - jacob

That's my outfit of the day. The shirt is actually a short dress but I decided to be "creative" and have two uses for it! I'm very impressed with the girls out there who can take OOTD photos without disclosing your face.... your arms must be super long!!

 (photo credits: etude house, gmarket)

I think some bloggers have already mentioned/purchased this because I've seen versions of this photo circulate around. Is it effective?? I think it's absolutely adorable but I'm not entirely convinced that it is actually moisturizing.

Happy hump day! ♥

Massive Haul and Spring Fashion

I was at H&M with Mr.W and he kindly reminded me to pick up the spring catalog. Way to encourage my shoppaholic...ism! -__-;;.

Anyway, did any of the items in the spring collection catch your eye?

I really like this dress! It looks like it's made of chiffon material (my fav ^__^). It reminds me very much of the Mori Style (very loose and ethnic). I want to get...! but I have not seen it in the stores yet.

I don't get this... her top half of the outfit looks like it's made of stocking material... so shouldn't she be wearing that on the bottom?! I like the blazer though.

And finally....

This is some of the stuff I've hauled at the end of February and beginning of March.... Most of it is my gmarket haul. Oh boy, I don't even know where to begin with the reviews.... also, instead of putting up a tutorial for purchasing from Gmarket (because Kathi of Lotus Palace has done an awesome job), please ask me any questions and I will write a detail response! I will also be going through some of the nuances/trial & errors I went through with Gmarket for this haul. Stay tuned!

Happy Friday ♥

The Cupcake Shoppe

This Saturday I ventured to The Cupcake Shoppe (yes with two P's and an E!), even though it was raining cats and dogs, to purchase a cupcake for my friend's birthday. The cupcakes sold by The Cupcake Shoppe is considered somewhat of a novelty in Toronto because of their variety and delicious flavors. They make nut-free cupcakes and are popular for their butter cream toppings. 

 

(credits: thecupcakeshoppe.ca)

These are 16 of their different flavored cupcakes available. I've never been to the Cupcake Shoppe, so I was very intrigued by all these flavors, as well as the additional personalized cupcakes on their website gallary. However when I went on Saturday, there were probably only 5 flavors available - that didn't put me off one bit because I was curious about the cupcakes and would have purchased any one. 

 I purchased Curious George and Pretty n' Pink. Curious George was the birthday cupcake and I believe it is chocolate cake with banana butter cream. I treated myself to the Pretty n' Pink, a chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream.

 

However, what was disappointing was the service and the actual cupcake. The fact that I broke TWO umbrellas and spent $2.50/cupcake plus tax, my expectations were much higher. Reviews online were correct that service is medicore because the girls working behind the counters were unfriendly. Also, even though the butter cream topping has a very buttery texture (and not put on sloppily like some other places), the cupcake itself was not moist. I thought by going earlier in the morning I could score myself some moist cupcakes, but they were slightly disappointing. Even my sister could make more moist cupcakes!

To be honest, I think sometimes cupcakes can be a hit-or-miss, given the time of the day or on a certain batch made. So I think I will give The Cupcake Shoppe another go, on a.... sunnier day.

Overall verdict:

Product: ♥♥♥♥♥
Price: ♥♥♥♥♥

Packaging: ♥♥♥♥♥
Service:♥♥♥♥♥

If you are interested, The Cupcake Shoppe is located at: 2417 Yonge Street, two blocks north of Eglinton Ave, or check out the website for custom orders.

Fashion in the 90s

I just want to say thanks to all you gals who've left me comments on my last post! I'm definitely going to try Nic Nic and LOLanne's suggestion on Revlon and L'oreal liquid eyeliners! Only when I know I'm not going to sweat profusely I use my MUFE aqua eyeliner in 0L. Even though a lot of reviews claim that it does not smudge, it does on me :( I don't even line my waterline!! Anyway I digress...

Onto today's topic! I recently found this reallyyyyyy old asian magazine in my stash of unnecessary goods. It dates back to April 1999 and is still in REALLY good condition! It's really funny to see how fashion progressed over the decade.

I still remember when bandanas were a fashion trend, and now we just associate it with Tupac O__O Or remember those tinted sunglasses that were usually tinted in the shade of orange or yellow?! I remember taking my dad's yellow tinted sunglasses even though they squished my head tremendously because I thought it was super cool back then... (I am aware that some of you may not be aware of these fashion trends, and these past trends are obviously going to date me pretty far back....)

Last weekend I visited The Bay with Mr. W in hopes of picking up something Olympic. There was absolutely NOTHING left. The whole Olympic section was like the result of a drought triggered famine and the remains were what was what the rats didn't want. Yes, the state of the section was THAT terrible. The only sizes left were 7/8 in GIRLS. I wouldn't even be able to get my head through the opening! Then I saw this....

Red's not my favorite color, but because I wanted something Olympic so badly, I got it!! During Xmas, there was still an abundance supply of tshirts (no sweaters though D: ) but I thought I could still grab something after the Olympics. Who knew that the final hockey game would be so intense and gratifying?! Did you know that an Olympic hoodie on ebay was selling as much as $1000? That's ridiculous.

I like my tshirt. The material is cotton and spandex so it's really comfy. However, look at the size...

Size 14 girls!!! Needless to say, I'm terribly relieved that the last piece of Olympic clothing at my local Bay fits me, albeit the size....

Question of the day: What is one fashion piece you regret buying/wearing in public? (it doesn't count when your mother was still picking out your clothes for you. It has to be based on your own decision!)

Oh Anna...Annabelle♡

I purchased my very first Annabelle product... I bought the Annabelle liquid eyeliner in Titanium because my Rimmel professional liquid eyeliner in ebony black was drying up.

Description from Annabelle website: A liner that is precise, smudge-free and easy to use - our liquid eyeliner is exactly that, with its fine felt-like tip and its long-lasting formula that dries quickly and stays put. The small tapered tube gives up as much as 830 applications! It is an eye makeup 'must' to properly define and contour your eyes.

There's 0.08 FL oz / 2.5 mL of product in the bottle for $8CAD, which is comparable to my Rimmel at 3.1mL at $8 or $9 (I cannot remember). As described on Annabelle's website, the eyeliner does sport a felt-like tip.I find that a felt-like tip gives more support than my Rimmel one which is a very thin brush. So the Annabelle brush definite gives more support, but draws equally as precise lines even though it may look thick in the photo!

Titanium has a purple/grey metallic sheen to it and is decorated with specks of white/blue/red fine glitter. Even though it's metallic it looks dark gray on my eyes because I draw a really thin line.

The product claims to be long-lasting and smudge-proof.... but....

It's not very smudge-proof!!!!! I lightly rubbed the area of my hand where I swatched and the glitter started to come off.... My Rimmel was more tolerant to the smudging and did not budge as much.

It's also not very long lasting!!!! I put my had under water and rubbed it lightly and BOTH the Annabelle and Rimmel came off (ﾟдﾟ;)...... I did not even bother testing it with my makeup remover because we all know what the verdict will be....

Despite all the fall backs of this product I really like the color! I don't find the price overly bearing, so I just have to make sure if I'm wearing it, I prime my eyes really well... (with the sketchy eyeliner primer I got from Taiwan and which I can no longer read the name of because it has fully rubbed off....). I don't recommend this to anyone with lots of eyelid oil (like me) since this will definitely give you panda eyes after 2-3 hours, maybe less if you end up rubbing your eyes.

Overall verdict:
Product: ♥♥♥♥♥
Price: ♥♥♥♥♥

Packaging: ♥♥♥♥♥
Repurchase: Sitting on the fence, we'll see if any other products catch my eyes

10 Honest Things About Me

I rarely do tags because a) I forget; b) it's time consuming; c) I don't think people want to know about me?!?

Anyway I got tagged by Steph and I have some time to kill on the Wednesday night *twiddle thumbs*.... plus it's only 10 things!

1. Insert any photo -- since I have incredibly low self esteem only my feet will grace this post.... =D

These are my bunny slippers! Unfortunately they are breaking near the toes.... Oh, also the photo came out like that! (no editing what so ever.... it was taken with my SE G900 phone... don't know how it happened but quite neat!)

2. I didn't start wearing makeup until university (and even then... actually even now I rarely do!!). I think I bought my first eyeliner after my sister purchased hers! I didn't think makeup was important, plus, my mommy always says that I am naturally beautiful.... =P Kidding aside, I didn't take into consideration of my appearance until university.

3. I love rockband. But I also suck at rockband.

4. I love grapes more than any other fruit (well...maybe watermelons). Someone once told me that grapes are the best because if you pick a bad one, you can throw it away and choose another. However, if you cut a bad orange (i.e. it's dry or sour), you're stuck with that orange.

5. I want to try circle lens, but is afraid of going blind. Health of eyes > curiousity

6. I play the piano, but I am not musically talented. I was just fortunate enough to be able to pick up an instrument.

7. I'm the shortest in my family, standing at approximately 5'2'', but I love flats too much to give them up for heels and be a few inches taller. Sometimes I do wish I was more lanky and tall!

8. I hate spicy food.

9. I have over 40 pairs of earrings (I didn't even count the ones I cannot find in my room yet....). I love collecting earrings, but I only wear a few pairs consistently.

10. I wish I could spend half the year in Asia and half the year in Canada! It's too cold in the winter so I want to be somewhere warm!

11. I guess the photo did not count as a fact....! I've been blogging for 8 years and have had three decent blogs before blogger. I don't know why I stopped writing in each of them - probably because the host got too ambitious and tried too many new things turning me off from using their platform. I like blogger! Sometimes I wish uploading photos and the html were not so confusing but overall it's pleasant enough for me to ignore these little nuances. Thank you to my fellow bloggers and followers for making blogging so much more fun!

I tag all of my... 19 followers (heheh) to do this! Except for Steph...Unless you want to share another 10 new facts.

Happy hump day!

Open Thread: A Memory Keeper's Daughter & Oscars

Thanks guys for your comments on my dress! I really do love it because it's really cute in RL; now I just have to find another occassion to wear it!

This post is open thread (aka, I will be discussing my thoughts on more serious topics!). Has anyone read the book A Memory Keeper's Daughter? I found this book in my stash of untouched novels/non-fiction books two days ago. It's basically about a doctor (a selfish man IMO), who gave away his daughter with Down Sydrome (DS) away at birth. This act was all done without his wife's acknowledgement because he thought it would relieve her of any grief when their daughter died from complicated heart conditions.

Apparently in the 60s, because medical science was not advanced enough to keep children with Down Syndrome alive for more than a decade, parents often gave their mentally retarded, to be politically correct, children away to institutions. These children would eventually grow up without the privilege of attending a public school and basically get turned away from society because of their increased needs as they have lower than average cognitive abilities. You would think that the government would provide more fundings to aid parents to help their children adapt into society, but instead, these children get treated unfairly causing them to be eventually get deserted by their own parents. I think A Memory Keeper's Daughter main focus is not on the scientific problems of DS, but the emotional/psychological and physical behaviours of parents of children with DS. Because of the father's one act of stupidity, the series of events that came after had a snowball of negative effects. Because of his one decision, it lead to a lifetime of unhappiness for everyone around him. So, in the end, is it worth it?

To be honest, I don't know what I would do if my child had DS. It would be very unfortunate, but I don't think I would give my child away... that would be very inhumane! Regardless of any disabilities your child may have, I think we should still love them nonetheless. What would you do?

Anyway, did anyone catch the Oscars last night? I'm surprised Avatar left with almost nothing!! And Best Actress was definitely a surprise. People's Magazine was right on when they predicted that Sandra Bullock would win (props to her!), but I thought Meryl Streep would get it.... Did you guys like what was worn on the red carpet?

I am currently waiting on so many packages this month, which include two pending orders from Gmarket, but due to some glitches I have to wait a bit longer. I'll be posting when I receive the purchases (: