I haven't hauled anything in so long... Concert tickets are expensive and I've been trying to use up what skincare I already have. But with the free time at work, I've lurking the Asian Beauty sub-reddit and reading a lot. After seeing so many opinions and general liking of "BAE" I decided to do an order with them. I can say I wasn't disappointed.

I picked up a few items for an impression haul, chose some well raved products and some that I was just curious about. I received this package in June but never got the chance to finish writing a post, it's late and I already got another Jolse haul but better late than never, right?

You get free standard shipping and tracking for orders over $40USD, which is pretty nice. If you wanted tracking without being on the price tier, it's only $2.50 for tracking itself. My order took about 2 days to be processed and shipped, and another 2 weeks to arrive. In terms of speed, it was right on time, 10 business days.

I got a haul in between the $75 and $100 mark to try out their samples variety since you get to choose a free full sized gift at the $100 tier. They gave a pretty decent variety of samples from make-up to skincare and included a sheet mask ($50 tier) and a scrub glove (not shown; $70 tier). Since it was my first time hauling from them, I expected to be impressed this much; second haul, that's another post. Didn't know TonyMoly had packets for hand cream samples though, interesting.

There were some leakage horror stories I've read about certain products but all my products came in perfect condition and beautifully bubble wrapped. They also markdown the customs sheet by a lot, I mean, quite a lot and checks them off as gifts. My order was over $70, but they marked it down to $7. The package passed customs safely and freely into my hands.

In terms of variety in brands that Jolse offers, you'll definitely be able to find the usual suspects like Skin Food, Etude House, Innisfree, Nature Republic, Missha, and all that other jazz. Products are updated pretty frequently so you won't miss out on trying the newest products hot of the press from Korea. There's also always something in the 1+1 section and often there are sales and discounts. The pricing for the products aren't too bad either, if not for the conversion rates.

If you like samples and free shipping, I recommend giving Jolse a try.

Here's the lineup of this time's haul:

• OST C20 Serum
• the SAEM Ubran Eco Harakeke Essence
• the SAEM Cover Perfect Tip Concealer
• CosRX Natural BHA Skin Returning Emulsion
• CosRX AHA Whitehead Power Liquid

Initially, I was looking for an emulsion for my acne-prone sister and heard good things about actives. I have never had an actual active step in my skincare before so I thought it'd be good to try and compare.

Picked up two CosRX products, both with or is an active itself. I chose to go with the BHA Emulsion first to ease my skin into using an active, I'm not ready for the purging to happen with the full BHA Blackhead Liquid. I still purged a bit, not a bit, but not a lot. It might've happened slower since it supposedly has a lower concentrate of BHA than the Blackhead Liquid. At first I started at night only, then I switched to morning only, I've also tried both day and night. I tried this in a span of a month, but I found it to be best used in the morning, since I did AHA every three days in the evening. Using the BHA emulsion day and night started to over-exfoliate me so I slowed down the routine again recently.

I'll probably hand over the emulsion to my sister now that's I've got my skin used to everything and I'll purchase the BHA Blackhead Liquid in a new haul sometime later.

My the SAEM Harakeke Essence was to mainly to replace my TFS Smim Dew Fermentation Moisturizing Essence which I reluctantly finished. It was a really nice serum but it didn't do enough for me to justify buying it in full price (I got it on discount). I'm liking the Harakeke Essence right now, although I think my skin was a bit sensitive to something when I first tried it.

I got the Cover Perfect Tip Concealer as well since it was quite popular among certain beauty bloggers. It's not bad but it definitely oxidizes and does become dry through the day. I got it in shade 1.5, which works well for my dark circles but not that well for the rest of my face. It's just a slight shade darker so I might look at buying shade 1 in the future. This concealer also has SPF 28, PA++ for those interested.

I haven't used my C20 yet since I just started on the acids, I've been meaning to try it sometime, so maybe this week. It's just been fitting comfy in my fridge for the past while, I think my skin's calmed enough to finally start.

Finding time to write these days isn't hard but the motivation to write is floating around somewhere. I guess I also haven't been buying much either in the past couple of months, so there's that. Most of my money these days have been going to upcoming concerts and events. I, for some reason or other, splurged to see Bangtan in September... and of course, that BIGBANG concert this coming October wasn't cheap.

Summer is a blackhole for money.

Since Innisfree just recently launched their new lucky bag events (details at their site or at the bottom of this post), I thought it'd be the perfect time to finally write my review for their famous Green Tea Seed Serum set. However, because it's been reviewed by basically every blogger in existence, I'll just do a brief overview of my thoughts on it.

I actually got this set when Innisfree first opened their online shopping site; Innisfree World. It was very widely raved about in the k-beauty world so I wanted to try it out. I used this almost every day since October, but I have changed to only using it in the mornings from about December and onwards. The Balancing Skin and Lotion, however, I have only used  for a month when I got it.

When I first started using the serum, I was finishing up another essence from thefaceshop which I believe was the Calming Seed SOS Care Essence (a repurchase). My skin is slightly sensitive so I try to choose lines that are more calming and not too heavy in texture or scent. While the Green Tea Seed Serum does seem to have a pretty strong scent, it smelled very subtle. It has a sweet leafy scent to it. I used this on top of my regular skincare routine at first to allow my skin to familiarize with it and see if I'd have any reaction to it. Happily, it seems that my skin was fine with it. I phased out my other essence and only used the serum after about a week, my skin continued to feel very hydrated and calm. 

The serum pumps out not really the translucent white colour but rather a translucent yellow-brown colour. I've read some other post that said their bottle was more white but there are also those whose serum comes out the same colour as I've encountered. I'm sure both are fine and it depends on the batch that you get your bottle from. In the bottle, it looks pretty white but the colour is definitely different pumped out.

5-Free System: Free of paraben, artificial colour, mineral oil, animal by-products, and imidazolidinyl urea.

In terms of overall results of using this serum, I'd say my face feels generally more hydrated and it did quickly reduce my problematic dry areas. I can't say that my face is noticeably more clear or anything like that but it does feel more balanced in terms of hydration. Hydration is the first step to clear skin so I do really like the serum itself. At the moment, even though I've almost used it up, I'm still deciding on whether I want to repurchase it. I might actually go and try Soy Essence [light] instead since they are both something you use before a toner. I will miss the pump bottle of this GTS Serum though.

As for the Skin and Lotion that the set came with, I would say it's more recommended for summer use rather than autumn/winter. They definitely do some sebum and oil control thus being not enough for me to use during the colder more dry season that I bought them in. 

Pros:

- Light texture absorbs quickly

- Hydrating for Combo/Dry skin

- Packaging makes it easy to hold and pump out

Cons:

- Might be more suitable for Summer or more humid climates

- Slightly too light for Dry skin

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If you are interested in Innisfree's Green Tea line, they are currently having an event for their 15th Anniversary with lucky bags! There's one for the Green Tea line and also one for the Volcanic Scoria line. Both of them seem to be more for Combo/Oily skin especially in this season, but if you are interested, now's a good time to check out a good amount of their bestselling items!

Happy new year, I'm glad that 2014 is finally over. It's been a very busy holiday season at work, thus anything outside of work was almost impossible to do unless I forgo sleep. But, work has slowed down now so I can finally write this post that's been sitting in the drafts for who knows how long... Long enough that I've used both the products up already, let's just say. Saying such, I don't remember when exactly I purchased or got either of these items.

Please ignore what's in the background, I'm still in the middle of reorganizing my desk. 

Starting with the Chia Seed Boosting Essence (80ml), according to the description on the international TFS site;

"First-step boosting essence for use when the skin is thirsty after washing face."

• A boosting essence used during the first step of skincare
• Provides active ingredients to tired and puffy skin and fundamentally moisturizes the skin.
• A natural jelly moisture film absorbing moisture 10 times its own weight
• Chia seeds that are filled with moisture deliver moisture deep between dead skin cells to keep the inner parts of the skin clear and moisturized.
• Contains 100% chia seeds water instead of water
• Chia seeds water is extracted within 24 hours via the Fresh method, instead of water delivers the vitality of the highly pure chia seeds.

So many words. In short, the boosting essence activates your skin cells to absorb better, therefore, boosting the effects of the rest of your skincare products. What is supposedly so special about this particular one is that the chia seed water also gives your skin a good amount of hydration as well.

Most of the chia seed line is also known to be free of any parabens, benzophenone, artificial colouring, alchohol, mineral oil, animal sourced ingredients, and triethanolamine. So it should be okay for those with sensitive skin as well.

The essence is a clear watery gel type texture and applies very coolly. The scent is light and fresh, similar to the rest of the chia seed line at THEFACESHOP. It absorbs rather quickly and leaves a pretty smooth feeling.

Onto whether it does what it says. To be honest, I didn't notice too big of a difference whether I used it or not. My skin did feel slightly more hydrated and smooth when I added it to my skincare routine. My friend who gifted it to me raved about loving it a lot but I didn't love it as much as she did. It isn't a bad product, it does what it says to an extent. The rest of my skincare products do absorb a lot quicker into my skin when I added the boosting essence, but the effort of adding an extra product doesn't make my routine any more quick.

I would only recommend the boosting essence to those who aren't satisfied with their current skincare or feel like nothing they are using is being absorbed as well as they should. I don't think my skin is at the stage where I really need an absorption boost but there are others out there that this product might be great for.

Pros:

- Light in texture and scent
- Quickly absorbed
- Increases skin's absorption level slightly

Cons:

- Seems like an extra step for lazy people like me
- Gets used up really quickly (1~3 months)

And finally, to the Soothing Mist Toner (170ml), which was an item I got probably, sometime in summer. It was something I saw a lot of my friends used as a regular face mist. I got really interested and started trying it out since my face was getting irritated during that point in time by something in the air or the heat. 

"A mist-type toner for quick soothing and moisture-recharging with fine moisture drops"

• A mist-type moisturizing toner to soothe dry and sensitive skin
• Fine moisture drops impart quick soothing effects the moment they touch the sensitive and reddened skin.
• Full hydration by organically germinated chia seeds

This product has been empty for a while now, I absolutely loved it. This mist toner can be used as a regular toner or as a face mist. At first, I mainly used it as a face mist for extra hydration throughout the day since I had a toner already but this worked really well as a toner as well.

The spray head on this product creates a really fresh and fine mist that feels super nice on the skin. I usually had to spray 3~4 times to feel completely covered though. I tried refilling this product with my sample of the Chia Seed Watery Toner, but the texture of the toner when sprayed out is not as fine and a lot more watery. It felt like... spraying water on your face and not misty at all. So the mist toner's toner is definitely somewhat different from the original watery toner. The price of the Mist Toner and the Watery Toner are the same so you really shouldn't need to refill it with the watery toner anyway I suppose.

The Mist Toner has the same fresh scent as the rest of the chia seed line, not too overpowering. I stopped using it only because I found it not as effective as a regular toner in autumn and winter. It's hydrating but it doesn't feel moisturizing enough for the colder seasons. It's not bad as a refreshing face mist over my make-up either as there isn't too much oil and isn't heavy at all. It doesn't melt my make-up off and refreshes the skin through the make-up. For winter, the Watery Toner might be a better choice, but I decided to try the Etude House one instead.

I will probably repurchase this later on, unless I find a nicer face mist. I don't use face mists very often since I don't have the luxury to spray my face anytime during work. But I really recommend this for those who like mist toners or need a refreshing mist for setting make-up or daily use. The bottle might be a tad too big to take out with you but you could probably transfer it into a smaller spray bottle.

Pros:
- Easy to use
- Refreshing and Hydrating
- Can use over make-up without fear of smudging it

Cons:
- Needs to spray a couple of times
- You need good aim to spray your face
- Half of what you spray disintegrates into the air
- Too large to be portable