Sephora versus H Mart pricing for Korean skincare products

Lately I've been on a bit of a face-mask purchasing binge and while I was surfing the Sephora website, came across the Korean brand - Tonymoly. 

I placed 2 items (a blackhead steam balm, and an eye mask that makes you look like a panda  (so cute!!)) in my basket, only to find that they were sold-out. As luck would have it, I had a meeting the next day and walked passed my local H Mart and came across the exact same items (I didn't even know that part of the store had opened), selling for less than what I found them for on both Sephora websites.

The Sephora US site priced them at $18.00 and $3.00 respectively, and to account for the exchange rate, the Sephora Canada site price is selling them at $23.00 and $4.50.

I purchased them for $12.99 and $1.99 respectively.

For any of you interested in Korean products from Sephora, check your local H Mart first.

I will do a follow-up review post when I have had a chance to try these out. 

Small regret purchase

I found these incredibly cute pouches at Winners and I couldn't resist - I bought them!

Considering I spent 20 minutes in the store pondering their pros and cons, I should have listened to my gut and walked away from them. 

While I love the pattern and material, I am not 100% behind the design - you will notice that the pouches have grommets near the top, and what makes for a cute design detail, is not practical in function. 

It cuts off the amount of space you have to open the pouch with and despite the actual size of the pouch, you can't fit anything that won't fit through the opening. To me, this is a major fail. 

So why did I buy them? The patterns, the care-free material and no-fuss lining, the sturdiness of each pouch - sadly, against my better judgement, I compromised on what a 'good purchase' meant to me and succumbed. After taking them home and trying to fit the things I want into them, I knew they had to go. I was thisclose to returning them, when I had a black-out moment and cut the tags off of them. WHY? I really cannot begin to explain .... I blame it on their cuteness and my natural love of pouches. 

So now, I'm stuck with 3 pouches that I didn't need to begin with, and find a bit annoying to use the way I want them to be used. I'm sure it's not that horribly bad, but this is definitely the first purchase in a while that I'm not 100% satisfied with. It cuts into my remaining wardrobe budget too, grrrr. 

Live and learn. 

One quarter left of the year - how are my budget and goals looking?

This year, I set aside $1,000 for my wardrobe budget, not including investment pieces. We're down to the last 3 months - how's it going? It's going pretty great!

With $1,000 it gives me $250 per quarter to spend on seasonal or staple items and so far I've purchased 31 items, with $168.44 left to spend.

Most of my purchases have been for work, 8 of them being shoes. Despite purchasing 8 pairs of shoes, I've also let go of about 10 pairs and my count is currently at 47, compared to the 50+ I started with at the beginning of the year (I wish I had written down my start numbers). Even though I purchased more shoes than I had wanted to, they are all staple pairs for work and some were to replace those that were on their way out.

Aside from shoes, I've been quite successful with almost all of my wardrobe goals that I set out to meet this year - briefly, I downsized the number of coats and jackets I have, have not purchased a single bag or wallet and have been regularly rotating throughout my collection, and continued to purge my wardrobe.

How are you doing with your wardrobe goals?

September comings and goings

Coming - 3 

Technically, NOTHING (at least nothing that I bought myself) - It is my second no-spend month of the year!!

• Gifted - Swarovski necklace
• Gifted - Banana Republic earrings
• Gifted - Jeweled firefly necklace

Goings - 3+

• Necklace
• Tahari sleeveless top - actually, it will be demoted to a sleep shirt (letting go of another one of my sleep shirts which I don't log in my Stylebook App)
• Banana Republic khaki colored trousers - don't like the way they fit anymore 
• not directly from my home closet, but from my closet at my parents' house; I donated a number of work appropriate pieces. I had been hoping I would fit into them later, but my friend is involved in a program to collect clothing for women who are looking to get back on their feet, so I let them go. And I'm very, very, very close to completely having no clothing at my parents' place.

Review: Rocky Mountain Soap Company's Lavendar and Oat Face Mask

Just sharing my thoughts on the face mask sample I received from the Rocky Mountain Soap Company - I typically am very lazy when it comes to using face masks, but since I'm fast becoming a life-long fan of this company and its products, I couldn't wait to test it out.

 

I tried the Lavender and Oak Calming Face Mask -

 

The lavender smell is SO amazing and it was instantly cooling. When I was sitting there waiting for it to dry, I felt so calm and just couldn't help but relax. I added a few drops of water to get the consistency I wanted in the paste and it gave me ample time to apply before beginning to dry. I love the feeling of a mask hardening and waited 15 minutes before removing it with a face sponge. I was left with a clean tingling feeling and didn't feel I needed to apply face moisturizer immediately (like I normally do any time after washing my face due to my really dry skin). The second time I used it was because I felt my face starting to itch and wanted to cool it down - worked like a charm. For reference, I have extremely sensitive skin - one year I had a year-long reaction for no reason and my body would not heal itself properly (luckily not on my face)... just for reference.

 

I can't wait to try all of them - the next one on my list is the Tea Tree Deep-Cleansing mask and would definitely love to spread the joy of this Lavender one. Such amazingness!

I really like the cute little packets it comes in!

They're so pleasing to look at, all lined up like that!

$12 per one 28 gram pack, up to 3 servings
(I was surprised that my sample was a full sized sample)

 

I've used it twice already and can probably get another 3 uses, easily;
the sales associate said she got 6

 

That's how much I used -
I'd say about the amount that would tightly fill a bottle cap



Just add a little water to turn it into a paste; when freshly applied

 

When dried after 15 minutes