K-Cosmetic group order has arrived! Koreadepart Review

Nothing wakes me up better than the delivery man knocking on my door! After scaring the poor guy with my morning breath (and the fact that it I was still asleep at 11am…), I am happy to announce that the package has arrived safe and sound!

Initially, I was a little worried that we wouldn’t have enough people for the group order. There was little interest to begin with—very surprising, considering the content of my blog—and those that did say yes all ended up not responding or withdrawing...But that’s okay; it turns out that three people is plenty for a successful group order!

What follows now is a review of Koreadepart, plus plenty of pictures! This group order was not instigated by Koreadepart in any way, and I write this from my perspective as a customer. ^^

At first sight, the box is sturdy and neat:

 (Hover for dimensions.)

Now, the box was much smaller than I imagined...But turns out, everything is just packed very very neatly and efficiently! It’s a little easier to tell after I remove the samples:

As you can see, not an inch of space is wasted! They definitely took into account all the different types and shapes of packaging. Boxes were placed next to boxes, stick-shaped things were bundled together, and everything fragile was wrapped in 2-3 extra layers of bubblewrap:

(You can hover over this image as well.)

Despite how compact it is, nothing got crushed. There was just enough wiggle room in between, just not enough that they toss around during shipping:

I will say that one of my eyeshadows came ever so slightly “disturbed”. It wasn’t broken, but there were a few loose specks on the inside. It’s extreeemely negligible though.

Here are our samples. Again, you can hover over to see what everything is~

Admittedly, there were less samples than I expected. But I’m guessing it’s because of the fancy gift set we got as well! It happens to be the same brand as the Mochi cream I wrote about~

And this is everything unpacked! 

(Click on it for a larger view!)

Just to clarify, not all of those are mine! That is the entire group order! Here are some of my buys:

Holika Holika Black Cavier Skin & Emulsion:

Skinfood Egg White Pore Foam: I liked the mask, so I thought I'd try the cleanser!

Holika Holika Wrinkle Focus Syn-Ake Spot Effector: I thought it might be more economical to buy a cream instead of Syn-ake masks! It also came with another free cream inside, woohoo!!

Etude House Wonder Pore Brush: Can't wait to try this!

And some stuff for my giveaway:

Etude House Dear My Crystal Gloss (CPK002 & CPP501)

Etude House Tear Drop Liner (No. 2 & No. 4)

Etude House Silk Scarf Damage Hair Care Ampule: 

Also for the giveaway.

That's not everything I bought, but you'll see the rest sooner or later!

Now onto the store review!

The ordering process is a little different from your usual. But if you’re familiar with buying from taobao through an agent, it’s basically like that! You pay for your items first and then international shipping later. Also like buying from taobao, you have to send money manually if you choose to pay with Paypal; there’s no Paypal checkout.

Here’s a calendar of the process:

(Click to make bigger!) 

All in all, it took a little over a week! I imagine it would have been faster had I not placed the order on a Saturday (Sunday in Korea), thereby causing extra delay from the weekend. >.<" There's also the time zone difference, which would cause a day lag in between me paying and them confirming.

Here’s the breakdown:

Total quantity: 41 items + 14 samples + heavy gift set

Total weight: 5kg (4.94kg when I weighed it)

Shipping Cost: $56.49 (orig. was $66.46 before 15% discount)

Shipping per item: $1.38 

While $56.49 shipping might sound a bit off-putting at first, I think of it as buying all my items for a mere $1.38 more than the retail price in Korea—which is very cheap to begin with—and basically getting free EMS shipping! :D

Plus, with the big selection to choose from, it sure beats purchasing bits of lip glosses here and there and paying $5-15 above the base price...It might seem expensive now, but it saves a lot in the long run. I probably couldn't afford buying 10 Etude or Holika Holika products if it meant paying $50-100 extra because of the overpricing (and that's accounting for EMS shipping). 

That being said, it’s no secret that EMS can be quite expensive. If you look at the shipping costs to the US, it's very expensive up until 2kg, after which it increases steadily at $3 increments. In other words, you really need to order over 2kg for it to even out like ours did. Now, cosmetics are light. Skincare is a big heavier, but still. So in order to make the most of this store, you either need to group up or buy a lot!

For your reference, I've weighed out each of the items in this haul and tabulated them here. I will be updating this list with every new item I receive from them. ^^ 

☆ * :;;;: * * :;;;: * ☆ * :;;;: * * :;;;: * ☆ * :;;;: * * :;;;: * ☆ * :;;;: * * :;;;: * ☆

I hope this review helped anyone who is interested in ordering from them! Let me know if you have any questions~

Anyone else have experience with group orders? I’m tempted to join a group order for Taobao now! Don't tell the bf~ (He doesn't like taobao.)

I want to make one of those...

Last year we went to Twinwood Festival in Bedfordshire. It is a few days of pure nostelga. Twinwood is the airfield Glen Miller took off from on his last fight.

Anyway we could only go for one day however we had a most fantasic time. They have a great website www.twinwoodevents.com/  and are on facebook, if you wish to take a look.

While there we window shopped though the most fabulous vinatage stalls, for us seamstresses a lot of the stalls had boxes and boxes of vintage patterns however I can not say how complete the patterns were. I had to stay away unless I came away with a box load myself. And then it called to me a most beautiful and fantasic piece of work. In the most wonderful condiction was a black wool coat very similar to the Dior New Look style.

(source) 
 I tried it on and it fit purfectly, even on my tiny, short body. I enquired about the coats price and prompty wandered off saying "I will think about", which we all know is a polite way of saying "HOW MUCH?"  The above picture is the closest image I can find to show how beatuiful this coat was. So we wandered and I kept dreaming, S.H. and the girls all bought coats and in the end I decided this is why we have the invention of the credit card and it truely would be a shame not to put this great piece of plastic to work. Headed back to the stall wishing the coat would still be there and it was. I was about to purchase the coat when, oh no, they did not accept credit cards.

Still fate was to show me how good this was, as I am now still short but not as tiny. So all in all I am really glad I missed out on such an expensive item. For the past few weeks I have been thinking about that coat and could I find a pattern to make one. After all I did well on S.H. victorian/steampunk coat, which was made from a lovely soft wool fabric.

S.H. acting up for the camera.

And then I find it. I have found the pattern I have been looking for. Strangely enough my daugther had showed me these coats a few weeks ago, saying they made her think of me and I think that is what reminded of the large wrap around Dior style coat in the first place.

A few days ago In my emails I opened The Sew Weekly and saw this

And In reading the artical I saw Katwise had made a tutorial on how to make your own verson which can be found in her Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/katwise 

I have purchased the tutorial and search though a fantasic amount of colour and these are my two favourites

(both images curisty of Katwise )



How does this conect to the classic coat, I am not sure. But I love the swirl they both have, I for me I think this is the over all winner, fun, fun, fun. Do you adore the extra long hood as much as I do?

Love to all Vala x


Since writing this post I have finally seen a pattern for the coat I was orignally after designed by Gertie for Butterick, I am sure lots of you have as well. So now I want both coats.

My very first Lolita purchases!

Even before gyaru, I always took a special liking for Lolita. The clothes are really expensive though, so I never really jumped on it. But now that I’m obsessed with ball-jointed dolls, my dormant interest for Lolita has suddenly exploded like crazy! I've finally summoned the courage to buy my first few Lolita pieces. Even though I’ll likely just be "Lolita-inspired", I’m still as excited as ever!

Anna House Dress:

I reaaaally like Classical Lolita dresses! I actually didn’t know these style dresses were Lolita until recently. They’re just nothing like the childish, overly-sweet dresses that I’m used to seeing!  

Anna House Pannier:

Is pannier the right term? 

Bodyline Dress:

This dress is a bit sweet and unwearable outside, but I still really wanted it! I’m getting it in pink: (Thank you to everyone who helped me decide on FB!)

I originally wanted to get purple at first, but I had no idea how to pair it...Next time!

Bodyline Shoes:

I opted for the shiny ones since I hear they show scuffs much less!

Did I mention that I had the hardest time placing my Bodyline order?! There was only one pair left in stock, and it kept going “out-of-stock” after each of my failed order attempts. Oh, it was so nerve-wracking! 

And last but not least, Freebra from Bodyline:

Oh my goodness, I love using these silicon bras!

It's not even about the cleavage! I have a small band, so it’s really hard to find bras that are tight enough around my ribs. Even a 28” bra gets too loose for me. You probably know that once your band is loose, all your boobage starts leaking everywhere and it's just plain uncomfortable! But with these silicone bras, the adhesive really keeps everything in place, even with a slightly loose band. Such a lifesaver!

(Now that I think about it, I suppose I could have gotten this off Amazon...Oh wells~! I'm just happy that my order finally went through.)

I must say, I’ve come to envy girls that do their shopping in real life. Frolicking around from store to store, touching all the sweet-smelling new clothing, and stopping by to get food after with friends…Ah, it’s all so fun and invigorating!

...And then there’s me:

Soo pathetic!

But that’s okay! My packages are on their way, and nothing beats getting packages! (Or so I tell myself...) 

How bout you, done any guilty online shopping lately? :D

Rip it up and start again!

Hello everyone,

In my last post I mentioned I had been knitting again. well I did but it was months ago.

I started on this pattern. An absolutely lovely twin set with delightful ribbing pattern around the neck with matching ribbing at the lower part of the cardigan.

Taken from this book. Which is filled with fantasic period inspired designs. Mine was such a bargain. The book can be found on Amazon here although it does have a different cover it is the same book.

Well I got so far on the back of the jumper before putting the knitting down, when I eventually came back to it, two things had happened.

Happy the puppy had made a tasty treat of my needle and chewed off the end. Luckly all the knitting was still on the needle. As for the other well I am now a bit bigger than I was when I had started this jumper and there is now no way it is going to fit me.
So decission time, do I pull it all off and start again. Nope, because by now I was a little bored with this pattern and the idea of making two items, I also know being the very slow knitter I am it would not be ready until next summer (hence my love of chunky knits).
I had bought lots of wool enought to make both parts of the twin set. Off I went on a pattern hunt and have decided life should be brought to this little beauty instead.

Sirdar 9522. What is really cute about this pattern, is that the flower is part of the button hole, How sweet is that.

I checked the wool amounts and I have plenty to make the long sleave version in the pink colour shown above. And enough to make the short sleave in the contrast colour I had chosen and can you believe I can not remember what colour that was. I think it was a paler pink to tone with the dark pink rather than contrast against it, but there is a 50/50 chance that I am very wrong.



I am not going to give myself a time limit on this. Because I have a waiting list of items to be made up for other people. Some are presents and two are comissions, (yeah me. two people have asked me to make for them, how cool is that!)  As long as I do not put more weight on, it should fit. It will be less forgiving the the tight fitted twinset.

It will be a very long time before there is an update on this piece but I wanted to share with you what has kept me away from my little blog for so long.

Has anyone else had a change of heart during a project, or even come to the conclusion that they are growing faster than the project they are working on (pregancy excluded, of course) ?

Love to you all Vala x

By the way I love my new size, I now actually have a figure known as curvy and it is great.

A story of two waistcoats and a little bit of Morris dancing.

Hello dear friends,

Sorry I have been away for so long. It feels as though in our little part of the world we have had every season during what usually is known as summer here in Wiltshire.

The holidays have been spent travelling back and forth to Bedfordshire, where my lovely S.H. resides.
We have been to another wedding, and on the creative front I have been sewing, knitting, then giving up on the knitting and starting again.

Meanwhile I am slowly begining to change the face of my little blog. My daughter has offered help to bring more life and colour into it too.

 Now for the first of the makes. These were for two very special little girls. My neices daugthers.

The girls dance in a Morris dance troup,

Now I am a Northerner living 'down South' and when I told people I was going to make my great-neices wasitcoats to hold their Morris dancing medals, everyone thought I meant this

(source)

Now what I did not realise was, the kind of Morris dancing I used to do and the girls do is actually very regional to Lanashire/Yorkshire and North Wales. I only found this out while looking for these pictures.

What the girls do is more like this

(source)
It can be seen as a cross between cheerleading and Irish dancing. Although I had never heard of cheerleading all those years ago but when I tried to descibe it that is the only way I could think of.
If you wish to learn more about Morris dancing it can be found here.

And so to the waistcoats. Using this pattern

I used McCall's M6229. For the fabric I used black cordroy for the outer layer (to support all those medals they are going to win.) and for the lining I dyed a lovely firm white cotton sheet black. I would guess it was egyptian cotton by the feel of it but as it came from a charity shop, I will never know.

( my son this evening walked up to me asked if I knew what the word cordroy meant, then proceeded to inform me it is because it is the fabric of kings, and then walked off. He does that sometimes. I do not know if it is true, I would have said that was velvet but hey I am not going to go searching it out. )

The cutting in progess.

And then along came sleepy Javaise, or as he is known Java baby bear (I have no idea why we call him that)

My wonky hand sewn lining edge, really not good. Out came the unpicker, time to redo

Wow, much better. And finally...

The only extra tweak I did was to top stitch all edges. The pattern did not ask for it but I think it gives a much better finish. (Yes the bottom edging is level, it is my model betsy who has developed a wonky side to her personality)

And the back view.

The only tricky bit was the top stitching I used a jeans needle but even so it did not like all those bumps. Even though I cut the seams down to minium so they were inside the top stitch seam.

Now my machine is truely in need of a service and has been for a while. The machine I use is one of those computertized sewing/embroiadary all signing all dancing ones. For some time I have been thinking about getting a more solid and dedicated sewing machine and leaving the other just for machine embroidary and now I am glad I have. The nearest service to me is over an hours drive away, so until I have a day when I can spare the time to take it, leave it and then go back to pick it up. It will be cool to have another machine to use and not lose sewing time while one is away being serviced.

How about you do you have certain machines for certain jobs?
Have you sewn with cordroy, how did you manage the bumps, any tips would be great.

 Love to all Vala x

P.S. I really must remember to do those little tags at the end of each post. Oh dear.

Redness be gone! Skin&Lab Dr. Vita Clinic C Plus Brightening Cream

I’m always fussing about covering up my red acne scars, but somehow it never occurred to me to fix them instead! That is...until I tried this product. ;)

Brand: Skin&Lab
Name: Dr. Vita Clinic C plus Brightening
Amount: 30mL
Expiry: 1 year
Price in Korea: 18,000KRW
Price on Wishtrend: 15.99 (click here)

Skinlab is a dermatological brand from Korea. Long story short, vitamins = good for you, good for your skin. Vitamin C = good for brightening! There are lots of other vitamins in this line to choose from, each with their own specialized benefits.





[ Base Diameter: 2.3cm | Height: 11.5cm ]
The tube might look small at first, but it’s actually plenty enough! With its texture, a little goes a long way.

It’s got a noticeable citrus scent. Not gonna lie, it reminds me of dishwashing soap. T'was kinda off-putting at first!



The texture is in between that of a gel and a light cream. It’s very lightweight, and has a thin consistency such that you can spread it thinly. It’s not sticky at all. It’s actually a bit watery?



Spreading it out:





It doesn't sting, but it's also not very moisturizing. It basically feels like nothing. :)

Absorption: This is hit or miss depending on how dry my skin is, but most times it doesn’t seem to absorb thaaat fast. Even after I apply it, I can still spread it thinner and thinner, whereas some products absorb too quickly for that. On the flip side, a little goes a really long way!





I’ve been using this for two months now and I do think it has helped!

The lighting may vary a bit, but it still shows the relative difference.
I tried my best! ><
Redness: So! You can see that before, not only did I have obvious red spots from acne, but each spot was also surrounded by a circle of redness. T^T But now, the spots have subdued into little red-brown dots--although they look pink in the picture--as well as the surrounding redness~!

You can hover over the image to see specific areas of improvement!

Now before you jump to conclude that this product has *completely* cured my skin, realize that it didn’t erase everything! I still have redness, my spots are still visible irl, and I still have trouble concealing them. It’s basically as if I had let them fade on their own, except that the cream made it occur much, much  faster. (Those spots you see in the Before picture are actually several months old!) Also, results seemed to have plateaued after the first month.

Overall brightening: Naah...I’m really not any paler than before. The picture may be a bit misleading, sorry!



To be honest, $15.99 for a tiny tube seemed a bit much for me at first, but after seeing the results, I think it’s worth it! A little goes a long way, and the results are undeniable. I just really want to caution you not to get your hopes up toooo high: I think it will improve your redness, but definitely not remove it completely! And it takes time too! All in all, a good product! It has given me hope, haha! :)


Many thanks to Wishtrend for sending me this product and being ever so patient with me!


Do you have a go-to cream for blemishes/acne scars?