(N)artsy continued...

I got more active in being (Nail)artsy and found a new blog and excellent tutorial recreating a probably most definitely expensive dress of style-Guru Miroslava Duma on nails...

So, with the help of missladyfinger's tutorial and some sponges I actually got this result: Sunset nails!

mobile cam blurry Artsy app

MissLadyfinger has some really fun and fashion-collection inspired tutorials. Because we all like to afford the dress but something it's not that reasonable, so the nails can be lots of fun too.

New addiction: T-shirt shopping on gmarket

Lately I have found a new addiction that can keeps me glued to the gmarket site. And no, it is not makeup this time, although I still enjoy it. I am completely fascinated with the t-shirt collections available on gmarket.

What attracts me to these tshirts is that they look really quirky and modern. Somewhat I was so ignorant to think of Asian fashion as always cute and kawaii, which is really nice, but not for every single day. The tshirts I spotted on gmarket, often from Korean brands such as TheDada, are trendy and fun without being sugary sweet.

Another thing that I find interesting is that they are relatively cheap, compared when you buy these on the Dutch highstreet or online at topshop.com or another British online store (who charge you between 25 euros ($30) or more for a trendy tshirt). Moreover, I have seen some designs I have not seen at the topshop site or at the highstreet...

On gmarket they are priced between $4.50 and $8.

How is their quality?
Well, until now I think they are of a adequate quality. Perhaps it depends on the brand of tshirt, but the one I bought has been thin enough for being a tshirt (LOL, if that makes sense) but thick enough for sturdiness. I washed it twice already, and it is still looking quite new.

I am a bit weird, because I bought a tshirt with a Dutch text on it...Why would I buy a tshirt from a Korean seller with a Dutch text on it? Honestly, Dutch language is not so hot in the country where they speak it. And assumingly, people from other countries will find it sounding 'exotic' or something...I do not know.

So, this tshirt says that it is a particular kind of paint for painting walls...

Size:

I think it is ok to say that I am bigger than the average Korean girl. Most of the shirts are sold in one size. On the Korean models the tshirts always look roomy, which translate on my body as a fit that is still loose, but fitted enough to see the shape of my curves. Again, look how the tshirts is draped around the model: if it is skintight, it will probably be a European size S. If they are draped loosely, they will be suitable for a L size.

Example of loosely fitted tshirt (which looks semi fitted on a British size 12/14, American size 10, Northern European size 40/42)

This one is not roomy at all...I do not think I would fit a tshirt like this:


How to order if you do not speak/write Korean:

I have to admit that ordering tshirts from gmarket are really complicated. The list of tshirt in one listing can be as long as 200 different kinds, in 5 different colours each!!! And now, how to pick the one you want?

One of my first techniques has been writing down the Korean characters corresponding with the Tshirt. I compare these with the long long list from choices you can make, and often I get a corresponding word.

It is an excellent way to learn a new language too, I noticed. I am already starting to recognize some Korean characters!!!

Only, the colours are often not written down. I have already accumulated a list of colours in Korean:

그레이 - grey

회색 - grey

오트밀 - oatmeal
핑크 pink
검정 - black
인디 - indigo
민트 - mint
연보라 - mauve
크림 - cream

The second thing, more easily, is to befriend gmarket on facebook (here)! You can post on their wall placing a link of the seller and the item you would like to have, and they respond quickly. For example, this was my post...

And yes, I added the tshirt to my cart for a future purchase. I am still waiting for the gmarket order I ordered a couple of days ago.

Shopping tshirts can keep you busy for quite a long time, so beware if you are addiction-prone and do not want to spend too much time staying glued behind the computer.... ;P

happy mail day...gmarket again

The day is always a little bit better when I go to the post office and receive a big box with Korean letters on it...it is gmarket time...

I bought two sets from Lotree, my current favourite of Korean Cosmetics, the K-palette 1-day tattoo eyeliner that is on lovely Kimberly Tia's HG lists (my Kanebo Kate eyeliner always smudges so I hope this will work) and the Etude House Magic BB cream. The Kiss me blotting sheet were a freebie with the K-palette eyeliner...nice...

So what is in the two Lotree packages? First I wanted to buy the Point touch special set I have been eyeing up for a couple of months...he he, let's give myself a jolly Xmas gift...

I was sucked in by the sample blusher...how good would it be? So I got a reasonable sized Lotree powder blusher in Colour no 1...a lovely muted rosy pink that looks adorable...

The second set really tickled my fancy. I spotted it when checking out the Lotree shop oneline. It seems to be a Xmas set or a Winter set. The Lotree site calls it the 2008 Winter Beauty Dream collection....Ohhh, look at the gorgeous red lips on the model....

And these are the 'Winter Special Limited Edition' items: A charcoal silver eyeshadow powder (so lovely, I will swatch it soon), the red lipgloss, and a liquid Cheek Makeup that looks like the new Benefit Posietint...

I made a picture of the Cheek tint and the lipgloss...They look really happy together...

I already swatched the red lipgloss...I am glad that it has some blue tones in it...on the model it seemed to look a bit more orangy.

Oh, and I received this as well. It is called 'Lotree Reah Lip Trick'. It looks like a lipbalm...but I am not sure if it has some magic powers...or so...It is clear and a bit of gel-like...

I am really happy the set came in before Christmas. I might have a whole lot of red lipsticks, but maybe I stick with the new Lotree gloss this time...he he..

edited, how to look for things on gmarket:

I've got the Lotree sets from seller kp7793. The item no. are 153271207 for the Point touch special set (mascara, blush, lipgloss, eyepowder) which retails for 30,000 won or $ 23.36, and the Winter Set is item no 120869017 and retails for 29,000 won or $22.58.
The winter set is also for sale at seller beautyjoa under item no 156768651 .

For more Lotree, type in lotree in the search column at gmarket (click on the images for a visual description)

click on BEAUTY CARE; you will see a variety of subcategories

Click on FUNDAMENTAL MAKEUP for makeup and sets that include foundation, powders, etc and/or click on COLOR MAKEUP for sets or items that focus on eye/lip/other decorative makeup.


Unfortunately, not every search is as easy on gmarket. Not every English word is listed in a product description, so it might be difficult to search for the product you want.
Also, gmarket does not allow you to copy Korean words from its site...which makes it a bit iffy when you finally found something you want (let's say a Laneige product) but you want to look for other Laneige items. I always try to find the brand site by google, try to find the Korean word for the item/brand that I want, copy and paste this in the search column.
However, it is not always that succesful, as I sometimes pick the wrong word and my search results are not precise enough or do not show anything at all...

embryolisse: tutorial for buying at easypharmacie.com

A few weeks ago I posted something about Embryolisse Lait concentré cream...(click for the post). One of my commenters, Engmin, asked if I wanted to do a tutorial about how to order at the webshop I bought the Embryolisse from.

I bought the Embryolisse cult cream for 10 euros on easypharmacie.com. Shipping was a 13 euros flat rate, so you can pile op the products in your cart for the same 13 euro. That is a good price if you consider that other websites I have encountered had prices from $25 (beautyhabit.com) or about 20 euro on screenface.com.

The only downsite is that the site is in french, that explains the tutorial.

Click on the pictures (screenshots of websites below) for visual information.

1. I have linked the page that shows all Embryolisse products over here... so you can scroll down a bit, and you find the product that has become such a cult product. However, it is a French drugstore/pharmacie with some fantastic other products, so if you like you can find some other rare and wonderful cosmetic items. I have come across to brands such like Marvis toothpaste, Trind nailcare (love this brand), la roche posay or Kneipp body and bathing care...

So click on the picture below to see how to do a search... 2. So you have found the product you like. How to add it to your cart? Click on the green sentence of the product you want to have, so it will bring you to the product page itself. You can find some extra information on that page. Check the pictures below...

3. You will see this sign when you added the product in the cart. Click on 'OK' if you want to continue.

4. The next page is the cart. You can get there by clicking on the red block that says 'mon panier' (right site of the webpage). To continue shopping, click on the green button that says 'continuer vos achats'. When you want to go to the checkout, click on the green button with the words '

5. So you were able to thow in all the goodies in your cart and you want to check out. The next page will ask for the country you would like to ship your goodies to. French is not the easiest language, and some countries do not even sound remotely similar to the english words. I mean, the Netherlands means Pays Bas in french....

I will translate the most difficult country words from french into english, so you know what to choose

Allemagne - Germany

Autriche - Austria

Espagne - Spain

Japon - Japan

Pologne - Poland

Roumanie - Romania

Royaume Unie - United Kingdom

Suede - Sweden

USA - (ok, an easy one)

The red button is to go to checkout...I wanted to mention this again :D
6. The next page is for registrating yourself, or if you already done this in the past, log in and continue.

7. These two pages will guide you through the registration process...I have cut them in half, so it will be easier to read them.

8. This page is will let you review your data, so you can change anything. If anything is fine and dandy, continue by pressing confirmer and régler votre commande on the bottom of the page.

9. On this page you can choose the credit card you would like to pay with. They do not have a lot of options yet. Maybe they will change this in the future when they notice lots of internationals buying at their site :P

10. This page is for filling in your credit card details. They claim to be secure, and I think it is quite a secure page, as you can see on the picture below.

I filled in a ghost card with ghost details, so I do not have a complete checkout picture of the website. If you reached the last page and clicked on 'VALIDER', and your credit card has enough funds, you will receive your package within two week or so (not familiar with other countries yet, but please let me known if you have ordered and tell me how long it took).

I wil not do a review today, because I have already made a pretty long (and tedious?) post. I will do a small review this week.