Making the Most of Taobao: A Crude Analysis

Taobao is awesome; it’s the place to get cheap stuff for cheap prices—or in the case of Lolita, good stuff for medium prices. That is…until you factor in shipping. International shipping is the killer, and that’s the problem.

Picture this:

You buy a bunch of adorablestuff found only in Asia, and the prices are great! But eventually, the weight adds up and your Taobao agent slaps on a huuge shipping cost. Factor that in, you’ve ended up paying an average of 20USD per item. That might seem fine at first (compared to prices in America), until you realize that it’s 20USD for Taobao quality. Basically, you’ve paid Western prices for bad quality! Kinda beats the whole point of buying from Taobao in the first place, right?

So what to do? Well in any other case of high shipping prices, you’d probably want to increase your item subtotal to offset it. (I mean, you wouldn’t buy a $7 item just to pay $5 shipping on Amazon, would you?) 

So Taobao shouldn’t be much different--except that because shipping goes by weight, merely adding more items won't help. The other option is to buy more expensive/high quality items, such that the shipping is well worth it. (You’d much rather scarf up $20 shipping for a high-quality, expensive purse than you would a cheap purse, correct?)

But by how much would we raise the item value? Well, let’s take a look at the math:  

First, let’s examine the average weight per piece of clothing:

(I’ve averaged the values from this site.)

Now let’s look at how much it costs to ship one kilogram internationally. (I took my rates from Taobaospree, and I’m shipping to the US.)

By EMS, the first 0.5kg is 144元, and any additional 0.5kg is 45元. Let’s say you buy 5kg worth of stuff--that’s a good handful items! The average cost per kg is then:

[144 + (45)(4.5)]/5 = 69.3元 = 11USD

So it takes 11USD to ship 1kg worth of stuff. If we use the averaged weights above, we can conclude the following international shipping fees per item:

With that in mind, you can estimate what quality/types of items you’d be willing to pay that much shipping for. If you ask me me, with that shipping, I wouldn’t buy anything valued lower than $20 (126元). Paying $7.15 for even a $15 sweater would suck! (Keep in mind that I’m cheap, hehe.)

But don’t lose faith! Chinese prices are still cheaper, which means that anything above 100元 is probably going to be pretty good quality. In other words, even though we can’t use Taobao to buy cheap stuff for cheap prices, we can still use it to buy good stuff for medium prices! Again, this is only because we live outside of China and international shipping is ridiculous. 

Sorry it was a bit long; I do hope it was helpful though! And of course, these are just my conclusions and thoughts are welcome. ^.^ Otherwise, what are your experiences with Taobao or Taobao agents? 

Bra Woes: I Need Advice!

Hellos! I know this is possibly an awkward question, but I need to ask you where you buy your bras!

You see, I'm in dire need of a new bra, but I can never find one that fits well. Like most girls, I’ve been sporting the band-too-big/cup-too-small ordeal. That's because around here, I can never find anything smaller than a 32--but that's way too loose for me! On the rare occasion where I do find a 28 or 30 band, they don’t have it in my cup size...

What confuses me is that I *know* there are girls that are more petite/skinny than I am--how the heck do they find proper-fitting bands?! But yet, every girl I know seems to waltz into Victoria’s Secret and come out a happy camper!

So if I may be so bold to ask, where do you buy your bras? Any suggestions for small-band bras (that don't necessarily compensate cup)?

Mucho thankies! 

Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream Review

The last time I did a BB Cream review, I left off saying that I found a BB Cream that I liked much better. Well, here it is! Such an unsuspecting little steal, IMO!

Name: Peach Girl BB Cream [피치걸 비비크림]
Brand: Holika Holika [홀리카홀리카]
Shade: 01호, Light Beige [라이트 베이지]
SPF: 37 PA++
Amount, Height: 50mL, 12.5cm
Expiry: 14 months*
Price in Korea: 13,000KRW

 *I inferred this from the code ontop of the tube which read "MF6110812제조"!

Packaging is but a round tube wrapped with a sticker. Tucked inside the screw cap are a blush (which also functions a lip color) and mirror. ►

I'm not going to talk about the blush, since I'm assuming most people would buy this mainly for the BB Cream, not the blush...But feel free to ask!

It smells like regular BB Cream, except a tad more floral? (Where's the peach?!) Color-wise, it's a shade or two lighter than most Korean BB Creams, and much cooler-toned too! It’s still nowhere near as pale as Missha’s #13 Milky Beige though:

When applied and blended, it's basically a very light brown with a hint of greyness. Over time, the grey tint fades, and the color itself gets sliiiightly darker:

It's quite thick and heavy, but still very spreadable. In other words, it does streak very easily!

Coverage:

Uneven Skintone: Since it's thick, it does a good job covering *general* unevenness (like pink flushing or uneven tanning). Notice how the 2nd layer really covered all my underlying pinkness and made my skin look opaque.
Spot discolorations (moles, brown spots, red spots): I find that 2 layers covers most but not all of it. 

Pores/Uneven Surfaces: Given that this BB Cream has the texture to streak, it also settles into my pores and pock marks, making them look like little white dots on my face. Similar case for my undereye lines. It fades eventually, but ultimately, this BB Cream doesn't help smooth my complexion. And lastly, it's not flattering on dry or bumpy patches. (You can refer to my forehead picture.)

It's not 100% matte; there's a *slight* dewy shine to it. In fact, it makes my skin feel a bit sticky at first, much like the feeling you get after applying moisturizer! After wearing it for 8 hours, the coverage stays mostly intact. It fades a little, but mostly just becomes more natural-looking and less makeup-y. Please note that I don't have oily skin!

Nope! But my skin isn't sensitive.

I like this BB Cream a lot! It’s one of the few that matches my skin tone pretty well and doesn't make me look brownish. The dewiness is just right to give a powdered-doll look without looking like a cakey old lady. Above all, the coverage for my red spots is by far the best I've tried yet, albeit not perfect. (Many of you know by now that I have a hard time covering those!) I would totally buy it again!

Whew, done! Sorry it was kind of lengthy...I guess I was very excited about this BB Cream! Hopefully it was informative ^^;;

Oh! One last note, I promiseeeeee(x10000) to get the giveaway post out this weekend, I swearrr!!! There's just been a lot of uncertainty in my life lately, so the giveaway was far from my priority. >o<

Anywhos! Would you try this BB Cream?

Tempus Fugit... and Batman.

And it really does.

I had not realized I had been away for so long. Excuses aplenty but I will not bore you with them.

What I will do is share what I have been up to and here is Loud Shirt number 5.

Yeah, this is the loudest one yet.

I have still not mastered the art of pattern matching but I am rather pleased with how the pattern is symmetrical on the front.

 
A slight blurry back view, and again I was able to centre the design so Batman is central.

A close up of Batman.

A close up of the Joker. I had to import this fabric from America, from fabric.com. It seems it is impossible to buy Batman fabric in the UK. This fabric is called The Joker's Back and Joker is S.H.'s favourite character. He has seen this shirt in preparation stages but as not he has not seen the finished item. I hope he likes it.

A short post for now but over the next couple of days I would like to share with you our outfits for the comic con expo this weekend so next week I will be sharing with you our time there.

In the while happy sewing everyone.

Sew Vala. x

Etude House Silk Scarf Treatment Review

By now, my hair has endured 5 rounds of bleaching and dyeing, and alas, with no special treatment in between! I had tried a sample of this product before and liked it, so I went for the full size. Let's just say now I know why some consumers think the quality of samples is better...

Brand: Etude House [에뛰드하우스]

Name: Silk Scarf Hair Treatment [실크스카프 헤어 트리트먼트]
Size: 200mL, 9cm high
Expiry: 12months
Price in Korea: 7,000KRW

Paraphrased translation: Containing several different seed oils (sunflower, macadamia nut, camellia), this hair treatment repairs dry and brittle hair into strong, silky soft hair—as if you had wrapped a silk scarf around your hair! Leave it in for 5 minutes and use once or twice a week.

▲ The tube is soft (i.e. bendable),
light pink in color, and wrapped
with a sticker. The cap is golden
and dented all around. ►

It’s veeery thin and runny, even more so than Suave conditioners! You don't even need to squeeze, it drips out on its own! In short, it's *very* easy to spill, and it doesn’t help that the opening is a bit wide (1cm). ►

The texture is so light that once applied, it feels as though I've applied nothing at all! That's why I end up using a lot each time.

It's only *slightly* moisturizing for me, no more than what a very average conditioner would do. (I used a lot too!) Basically, it makes my tangled straw feel like smooth straw, woohoo! The effect fades almost completely within a day or two. Regular Pantene does way more for me.

I regret buying this. Come to think of it, 7 bucks for a wee little tube is already bad enough, let alone a  very unimpressive conditioner. With all their advertisement about the fancy oil ingredients, it’s funny to note that they’re listed last on the list--preceded even by perfume! Above all, I was disappointed/shocked because the sample was way better (creamy, moisturizing, fragrant, the whole shebang!). Maybe mine was a dud? 

Back in Business!

You’ll notice that I have finally changed my layout! I know it’s nothing special nor very different, so I should tell you that it’s not exactly finished yet…I have yet to add the two most exciting components!

The original original plan was to have a super awesome layout. Then I realized that I possess neither the designing nor coding skills to make that happen.   So I settled for a less awesome DIY.

The second original plan was to focus 100% on finishing the layout before doing anything else (hence the lack of posts). But by putting everything else off, I started to lose motivation and slow down. As time went on, I began changing my mind about the theme! I went from patterns to flowers to strawberries, and now back to flowers. In the end, I finally decided that a dramatic entrance was unpractical for me. So here I am, finishing it gradually.

And that’s why it’s taken so long. My apologies!  But now that I’ve changed most of it and no longer feel pressured to finish it at once, I feel at ease to get back into business! Yay!

Here are some of the pictures from latest selca for the banner. It's mostly me fooling around~  Some made the cut, some didn’t! 

This one you should recognize:

↑ Hate how the wig looks so puffy at the top! :(

↑ Posture much?

↑ Thanks to the puffy sleeves and my small head, my shoulders look very manly here ㅠ.ㅠ

↑  In this picture I’m parodying the face that a lot of ulzzang—namely, Lee Geum Hee—seem to make. If you don’t know who she is, here is an example of what I think is her signature-mouth-agape look! 

Sigh, I probably shouldn't post a picture of an ulzzang next to mine...especially with this next one:

↑  Haha! Anyways, this photo ended up as my FB cover page!

I opted for a more expressive photo, to compensate for the fact that I’m more reserved in writing (i.e. on this blog). If you chat with me on FB, Twitter, or even through comments, you will find I am more lax about overusing  “~~~~~~” and “!!!!”, heehee~  

Well that's it for now! It's nice to get back in the routine of things. So I shall see y'all soon!  

Btw, does the font on the sidebar show up? The titles are supposed to be curly and cursivey.

My Latest Dilemna: Dramatic vs. Natural Lashes

Quick post!
Up until recently, I thought I was doing myself a favor by wearing false lashes. In fact, I thought super fake lashes were superior to natural ones in terms of enlargement. That is, until I snapped this picture:

▼On the left I am wearing my usual makeup, and minimal makeup on the right.

Woe is me, there's hardly any size difference! (Even Oppa agreed!) Sure, the left eye looks brighter and more energized, but it's not massively bigger or anything. WHY isn't it?! I've seen so many other girls with dramatic differences after putting on lashes. What's wrong with me?

Well, this must mean one of two things:

(1) My makeup skills suck and are in dire need of an upgrade. (Please don't agree, I know...)

(2) I should follow in Tsubasa's footsteps and just wear natural lashes from now on! (This would make my boyfriend happy.)

Or how about I do both? Challenges both accepted! Train harder I shall!! 

On another note, I never imagined selca's to be so informative and helpful, especially when it comes to improving makeup skills! I've decided to tone down on the nose contour. Though in my defense, it's just hard to predict how much makeup the camera is going to wash out. Surely you know what I mean!

Now...I'm scared to ask, but what do you think suits my face better: dramatic or natural makeup? Okay I know it's not super dramatic, but you get the point!Haha, alrightey, toodle-doos!