The Great Christmas SAMPLE HAUL !!!

I did not even know you could purchase samples, silly me. After discovering there were Korean skincare samples for sale I had to try some!

One of the places to get samples is Ebay. Ebay has a large range of samples for all brands, especially Korean brands. This one is only $10 free shipping and comes from Korea.

LUCKY BOX SECRET SAMPLES

It offers 30 samples for $10 which comes to around .33 cents a sample. Now as much as I would have like the samples to come in a pretty box like the picture above, it comes in a hot pink pouch (thumbs up for the nice color) as seen below:

Now I am really super excited at what was inside!

Yup, mostly ALL skincare, only make up item in there was 2 pouches of HERA CC cream. The whole order was full of mid-high end Korean brands; HERA; Lirikos; Donginbi; Sulwhasoo; The history of Who; O HUI; and some of the cheaper brands, Holika Holika. 

The Holika Holika Good Cera sample you see in the picture above counted as 2 samples. The O HUI Miracle Aqua gel cream came with two, but I already used one. I got 3 uses out of it and absolutely loved it. Remember my constant struggle to find a good moisturizer that is not too light or heavy? I think I just found it. I love, love this box and would definitely repurchase. If you were to buy samples of the higher end stuff in this pack on ebay the prices are around 50 cents for one sample. I was just shocked almost all the samples were high end! The only cons I have is that most of these samples are written in Korean and there are no instructions on how to use them, so if you want ingredients or instructions you need to look them up online. The only other con is I am going to try all these lovely high end samples and might fall in love with them. My wallet is going to cry.

It is July 3, 2016 as I write this and as an after though, this was not a good idea. Trying really expensive products that may be wonderful and then knowing it is out of your price range. I really love the O Hui cream but there is no way I am paying the price tag that comes with it.

Lee Ji Ham Vital CC Cream Review

I love this brand, Lee Ji Ham (LJH) was apparently formulated by dermatologist and sensitive on the skin. I had nothing but positive experiences with the Tea Tree Essence and Tea Tree Cream.

Being as their CC cream was on sale, I had to give it a try. Note to my readers, I do not usually use CC or BB creams. My makeup is mostly American and I have been so scared to try anything new because 90% of new foundations give my skin issues. I have been using Estee Lauder Double Wear and Elizabeth Arden Pure Finish Mineral Powder for the last 8-10 years with no issues.

The packaging is nice, clean, and sanitary. I really love the pump system, it delivers good portion control and is very sanitary to use.

 

This CC cream is thick and white and has sun screen.

 The CC Cream magically turns the shade of your skin tone.

I thought of it as tinted sunscreen, and it made me look slightly paler and natural. The coverage was not bad and at first I loved this product. However, after going out for an 8-10 hour day. I came back and washed off the CC Cream to find hundreds of tiny white bumps on my skin. 

The ingredients as found on The Happy Prodigy's blog.

water, cyclopentasiloxane, titanium dioxide, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate,caprylic/capric triglyceride, glycerin, butylene glycol, PEG-10 dimethicone,ethylhexyl salicylate, niacinamide, phenyl trimethicone, zinc oxide, talc,disteardimonium hectorite, magnesium sulfate, iron oxides(CI 77492),dimethicone/vinyl dimethicone crosspolymer, dimethicone, C12-14 pareth-3,portulaca oleracea extract, vinyl dimethicone/methicone silsesquioxane crosspolymer,mica, iron oxides(CI 77491), phenoxyethanol, sorbitan olivate, trihydroxystearin,silica dimethyl silylate, aluminum hydroxide, aluminum stearate, methicone,polyester-1, iron oxides(CI 77499), ethylhexylglycerin, tocopheryl acetate,propylene glycol, acacia senegal flower/stem extract, adenosine, citrus limon (lemon) peel oil,citrus aurantium bergamia (bergamot) fruit oil, citrus grandis (grapefruit) peel oil,citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) peel oil, amorphophallus konjac root extract,centella asiatica extract, pelargonium graveolens flower oil, aminopropyl dimethicone,polymethylsilsesquioxane, cedrus atlantica bark oil, spirodela polyrrhiza extract,hippophae rhamnoides extract, juglans regia (walnut) seed extract,persea gratissima (avocado) fruit extract, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed extract,aloe barbadensis leaf extract, angelica dahurica root extract, asarum sieboldi root extract,chamomilla recutita (matricaria) flower/leaf extract,chrysanthemum morifolium flower extract, cnidium officinale root extract,eclipta prostrata extract, morus alba root extract, sambucus nigra fruit extract,thuja occidentalis leaf extract, urtica dioica (nettle) extract, vitex trifolia fruit extract,cananga odorata flower oil, cymbopogon nardus (citronella) oil,illicium verum (anise) fruit/seed oil, eugenia caryophyllus (clove) leaf oil,anthemis nobilis flower oil, jasminum officinale (jasmine) oil,santalum album (sandalwood) oil, ferula galbaniflua (galbanum) resin oil,rose flower oil

When I ran the ingredient list through Acne Mantra, these were the results:

Butylene Glycol is mildly comedogenic
Dimethicone is mildly comedogenic
Talc is mildly comedogenic
Zinc Oxide is mildly comedogenic

I guess one of those above ingredients are clogging more pores or I am allergic to one of their many other ingredients.

Conclusion 

 

The CC cream clogged my skin really bad and I personally do not recommend this product. However, I will say overall this product has positive reviews online so maybe it is just my sensitive skin type. I really wanted this product to work for me because the finish was so light, luminous, and natural.

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