Unboxing: Hong Kong 2024 Travel Haul

I finally got around to opening all the stuff I bought in Asia. And I think I exercised quite a bit of self-control in Hong Kong.

Innisfree x Steven Harrington: The Isle Adventure Collagen Green Tea Ceramide Bounce Cream Set and Vitamin C Green Tea Enzyme Brightening Serum Set
Innisfree x Steven Harrington: The Isle Adventure Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic Serum Set x 2
Innisfree Green Tea Amino Hydrating Cleansing Foam, Green Tea Hyaluronic Skin Toner, and Black Tea Youth Enhancing Ampoule
Innisfree Hyaluron Moist Sunscreen SPF50+ x 2 and Perfect 9 Intensive Eye Cream
Casetify x Sanrio: My Melody "Fruit Sando" and Hello Kitty "Marketplace" iPhone 15 Pro Max MagSafe Clear Phone Cases
Casetify x Sanrio: My Melody "Fruit Sando" and Hello Kitty "Marketplace" iPhone 15 Pro Max MagSafe Clear Phone Cases
Sttoke Hong Kong x Mickco Limited Edition 12oz. Ceramic Cup in Pink
Topologie A-Frame Bag Small in Black
Topologie 10mm Rope Strap in Neon Yellow and Utility Sling Wide Strap in Black
Uniqlo Hong Kong UT "Dim Sum" Graphic T-Shirt
Uniqlo Hong Kong UT "Bubble Waffle Blanket" Graphic T-Shirt
Uniqlo Hong Kong UT "Bubble Waffle Cat" Graphic T-Shirt

I actually somewhat regret not buying more stuff now because there's no sales tax over there...

Innisfree

52 Yun Ping Rd., Shop A

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

(852) 3428-5640

Casetify Studio

K11 Musea, B1/F, Shop B122

18 Salisbury Rd.

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Sttoke 

K11 Art Ball, 2/F, Kiosk 41

18 Hanoi Rd.

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Topologie 

K11 Art Ball, G/F, Unit G05A

18 Hanoi Rd.

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

(852) 3709-7027

Uniqlo

Harbour City, 3/F, Unit 3231-2

3 - 27 Canton Rd.

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

(852) 2175-0810

Unboxing: Seoul 2023 Travel Haul

So, over the course of 5 days in Seoul, I bought at least a year's worth of skincare:

Epictetos Beomcheol Heo (허범철) Soothing Serum and Soothing Skin
Epictetos Beomcheol Heo (허범철) High Density Soothing Cream and Soothing Suncream SPF50 PA++++
Innisfree Green Tea Balancing Skin, Balancing Lotion, and Balancing Cream
Innisfree "Green Holidays" Special Edition Black Tea Youth Enhancing Ampoule and Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic Serum
Innisfree Apple Seed Cleansing Cream, Apple Seed Lip & Eye Makeup Remover, and Perfect 9 Intensive Eye Cream
Innisfree Squeeze Energy Masks in Hydrating Green Tea
Nature Republic Super Aqua Max Watery Toner, Watery Essence, and Combination Watery Cream
Nature Republic Jeju Sparkling Foam Cleanser, Essential Lip Balm in Grapefruit and Peppermint, and Good Skin Ampoule in Madecassoside (Soothing) and Noni (Healthy Skin)
COSRX Propolis Synergy Toner and Propolis Light Ampoule, and Scinic Enjoy Super Mild Sun Essence Special Set
Rom&nd Bare Water Cushion in 05 Sanad
Korean cartoon socks
J-Hope — Jack in the Box LP (Vinyl)

Korean skincare is literally half the price of what it is in Canada, so I had to stock up. (Plus, a lot of stores were having 30 - 50% off sales, too. It would've been foolish to resist.) I also got some cute Korean socks at 3 for ₩5,000 from a random vendor in Namdaemun Market, a black sweatshirt, a black cropped jacket, and best of all, J-Hope's Jack in the Box on vinyl! It was sold out on Weverse Shop in about 5 seconds, and I somehow found one lone copy available at retail price at the A-KPOP pop-up store in Insadong so I didn't have to pay the most ridiculous shipping fees.

On another note, can you believe I didn't buy any BT21 stuff in Korea?! (To be fair, it's because I bought all the stuff I wanted online in January and February, so there wasn't anything new that I thought was worth lugging back. But still.)

Epictetos Pop-Up Store

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)

281 Eulji-ro

Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

+82-2-2153-0000

Innisfree

164-1 Donggyo-dong

Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea

+82-2-322-1817

Nature Republic 

27 Myeongdong-gil

Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

+82-2-3789-5636

Olive Young

53 Myeongdong-gil

Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

+82-2-736-5290

Namdaemun Market

21 Namdaemunsijang 4-gil

Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

+82-02-753-2805

A-KPOP Pop-Up Store

Annyeong Insadong

49 Insadong-gil

Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

+82-2-6954-2910

Photolog 2020: Day 74 of 366

Innisfree Brightening & Pore-Caring Facial Cleanser and Sleeping Mask
Innisfree Soft Lip Balm with Green Tea and "Most Wanted Kit"
Been super happy with the result of using Innisfree's Brightening & Pore-Caring Serum — visibly smoother, more even skin and less redness in a month! — so I went back to the Innisfree store and picked up the Brightening & Pore-Caring Facial Cleanser and the Sleeping Mask as well, and got gifted a tube of their Soft Lip Balm with Green Tea and a "Most Wanted Kit," which includes deluxe samples of their Intensive Hydrating Serum with Green Tea Seed, Youth-Enriched Cream with Orchid, and Pore Clearing Clay Mask 2X with Super Volcanic Clusters. You know, I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on skincare over the past 15 years, and Innisfree has somehow become my go-to brand for incredibly effective but reasonably-priced products. Cannot stress enough how glad I am that Innisfree decided to open up stores in Canada. And unlike Sephora, I don't have to spend $100 to be able to redeem for a single fucking deluxe sample.

Photolog 2020: Day 38 of 366

Innisfree Refining Toner with Green Barley, Firming Energy Essence with Fermented Soybean, Brightening & Pore-Caring Serum, Youth-Enriched Serum with Orchid, and Youth-Enriched Gel Cream with Orchid
Innisfree Refining Toner with Green Barley, Firming Energy Essence with Fermented Soybean, Brightening & Pore-Caring Serum, Youth-Enriched Serum with Orchid, and Youth-Enriched Gel Cream with Orchid
New skincare haul! Since Innisfree opened up three physical store locations across Toronto a few months ago, I thought I would go check one out since I'm running out of serums. After a good 30 minutes and some help from the refreshingly honest sales associate, I came out with five products:

• Refining Toner with Green Barley to help smooth and clarify skin
• Firming Energy Essence with Fermented Soybean to help visibly improve skin's firmness, brightness, tone, texture, dewiness, and moisture barrier
• Brightening & Pore-Caring Serum to help brighten the skin while improving the look of tone, texture, and pores
• Youth-Enriched Serum with Orchid to help strengthen, firm, smooth, nourish, and brighten skin  
• Youth-Enriched Gel Cream with Orchid to hydrate while addressing soothing, firmness, elasticity, and tone

Innisfree is a brand that has always worked well with my skin, and their prices are reasonable — somewhere in between luxury and drugstore — so I always return to their products. The best part about their actual stores is that all the pricing is streamlined and their entire product range is available there. No more going to T&T Supermarket, Pacific Mall, or Walmart, where all the pricing is different (I've literally seen the same moisturizer at T&T for $10 more than a store at Pacific Mall) and only about 10% of their skincare range is available. Not to mention the layer of dust that's always sitting on top of the boxes.