Showing posts with label cupidrop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cupidrop. Show all posts

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Cupidrop, Tatcha-cha-cha, and Etsy extravaganza

I had three mini-hauls lately, one utilitarian, one frivolous indulgence, and one completely random. This is a quick overview of them all:

Cupidrop

 I placed this order with Cupidrop for three reasons:

  1. I was running desperately low on oil cleanser and wanted to try something new
  2. Fan-b's review of the Cosrx low pH cleanser wooed me 
  3. Samples. Because every time I start browsing Cupidrop's website I start thinking about all the sweet sweet samples that came in my last order and crave moarrrrr!

So I actually didn't want the Cosrx cleanser as a face wash- I wanted it for a body wash! I have my Minon foaming cleanser for my face, but it is too hard to come by to justify using it on my acne-prone body areas. the Cosrx is a pretty large tube and a little goes a long way. I have to be careful to cleanse my back properly or else I get some nasty backne from wearing a sports bra, sweat, and general barn crud. Since some areas of my skin are especially acne prone, I decided to go with a gentle low-pH cleanser instead of a traditional body wash to help protect that skin barrier as well.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Review of A.True Violet Petal Black Tea Hydrating Moisturizer

I've been a bad bad blogger and procrastinating on well...everything. But I have an excuse! or seven... First it was practically monsoon-ing here, and all that weather craziness made my narcolepsy act up. And then I was pony-sitting!

Who would want to stay inside and blog when you could hang out with a pony like this?!
Okay, now on to the actual review:

Please excuse the shoddy attempt at cleaning up the cellphone camera image. Also. I've used about twice this amount since I took this picture...
Product: Violet Petal Black Tea Hydrating Moisturizer
Brand: A.True
Purchased: Cupidrop.com for $26 (not an affiliate link)
CosDNA Link

Intro:
I bought this because I was going mad looking for a daytime moisturizer that was just enough but not too much. My skin is combination, leaning towards oily slightly, and kinda rides the edge of being "almost dehydrated" due to my weirdass medications. Previously I had been using Innisfree Green Tea Balancing Moisturizer, but since I started using more actives it slid over to being not hydrating enough for my poor skin. I needed a moisturizer that packed a stronger punch, but didn't leave me greasy or dewy. Sorry guys, I know the dewy look is hip in Korea, but in the American south people just think you're overly sweaty. What sold me on trying the Violet Petal was the description on Cupidrop's page of it being "velvety" and "fresh". Spoiler: I don't regret buying it.

Good sized bottle.

Packaging:
I love love love love deep breath love LOVE A.True packaging. It's just so clean and pretty. The bottle is a very solid frosted plastic that seems like it would hold up very well with use. I mean, I haven't chucked it around much to test, so don't go punting it against a brick wall to see and then go blaming me if it breaks. The pump seems like it is very good quality and dispenses a lot of product when pressed all the way down. Thankfully, it is very easy to just lightly depress it and get out small dollops of moisturizer.
It's a pump nozzle. It works. Quite well, actually.

Smell:
Kinda like violets with a hint of tea perfume? Floral and vaguely sweet? I'm pretty bad at describing scents. It smells nice, okay?! It is definitely fragrant, but not the type of smacks-you-in-the-face smell that Innisfree products have. It is a ladylike scent, which I think goes with their "A True Lady" marketing.

One pump. Kinda looks like an upside-down heart. Or a cock & balls. Depends on how you look at it, I guess.
  Performance:
A.True promises a fresh and velvety moisturizer, and they deliver. There's nothing super special in the Violet Petal moisturizer. It doesn't whiten. It doesn't exfoliate. No anti-aging miracles. It only claims to moisturize effectively without making your skin too oily, which is exactly what it does for me.



The A.true Violet Petal moisturizer is of medium to slightly thin consistency. It feels almost closer to a cream than a proper emulsion. It spreads easily and dries quite quickly. When it is dried, you can still feel it slightly on the surface of you skin, but it isn't a sticky gross feeling. It really does feel velvety soft and hydrated. I felt like my face maintained a good balance of hydration throughout the day, and I had no problems applying sunscreen/makeup over top of it. People with dry skin might like this in combination with another emulsion or stronger cream to add an extra bit of umph. I sometimes use it beneath my night cream when the air conditioner is running high and drying me out. Did I mention that it actually does make my face feel kinda velvety? Seriously, I'm really happy about this.

Rebuy? Yes. I will still keep looking and sampling other day moisturizers (it never ends...), but unless I find something even more awesome before I finish this bottle I will 100% rebuy the Violet Petal Black Tea moisturizer.

I bought this product with my own money, yo. Feel free to leave Questions, Comments, & Casual Insults below.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Shop Review: Cupidrop

This is going to be a very brief review of the US-based Korean Beauty online retailer Cupidrop since I have heard people recently ask about their reliability.

From my Instagram yo: UnlacedDreams

Shop Name: Cupidrop

Ordering & Shipping:
   The Cupidrop website is easy to use and the payment secure. I had previously received a code for 15% of my first order when I joined their mailing list, which is what finally made me pull the trigger and make an order with them. I placed my order late on a Friday night, received an email with a pre-shipping tracking number on Saturday, and my package finally shipped out with USPS Priority Mail on Monday from New York. Because my order was over $50, shipping was free! Priority mail took 3 days to get down the east coast, which I find pretty standard for where I live.

Packaging:
   This is what I really regret not taking pictures of: how amazingly well the Cupidrop box was secured. The box was damn near encased in custom-made tape with the word "Cupidrop" printed on it. Custom tape? Okay, color me impressed. Inside the box, each item was individually bubble-wrapped and secured with more custom tape. I could have thrown the box out of a moving vehicle and the products would have survived unscathed, they were that securely packaged.

Products Purchased:
   I intend to review these at a later date, so I won't dedicate time to discussing them here

  • A.True Real Black Tea True Active CC cushion in 01
  • A.True Violet Petal Black Tea Hydrating Moisturizer
  • A.True Real Black Tea True Active Mask (x3)
Free Samples:
  • Kicho Sheep Oil Cream
  • Kicho Phyto Natural Refreshing Toner
  • Kicho Phyto Natural Total Essence
  • Cosrx Advanced Snail all-in-one Cream
  • Cosrx Aloe Vera oil-free Moisture Cream
  • Cosrx Natural BHA Skin Returning Emulsion
  • A.True Violet Petal Black Tea Hydrating Toner
  • A.True Black Tea All Day Aqua Sun Gel
  • A.True White Snow Tea Brilliant Aurora Cream
  • A.True Darjeeling Black Tea First Anti-Wrinkle Cream
Overall:
   The prices were reasonable, the shipping was fast, the packaging perfect, and the samples plentiful. What more could you ask for from a K-Beauty retailer? Cupidrop doesn't have a huge selection at the moment, but what they have is good quality and hopefully they will expand their product offerings in the future. Would I buy from them again? Yes, yes, and YES! They have officially become my favorite US-based shop for skincare products, no doubts about that.


*I have no affiliation with Cupidrop and I paid for all this stuff myself*