Wednesday, May 30, 2012

South Korea Trip - Great Tips on Shopping


This post took me a long time to finish.....
Stupid me.. I just shop shop and shop and forgot to take some of the pics...
I found some online.... =)

Lotte Mart


Since we can't check in yet, we left our luggage in the hotel then went to Lotte Mart
There's one Lotte Mart located at Seoul Station
They have everything from food, grocery, electronics to cosmetics!!
It's like... Superstore, Shoppers Drug Mart and London Drugs all combined!
Lotte Mart is 3-5 floors and each store is different....
Lotte is a big company and they have department stores, duty free, wedding companies, supermarket and etc.... 
I heard that the Skinfood in Lotte Mart gives a lot of samples if you shop there, but I didn't bring enough money..... 

Etude House  

pretty pink princess shop!!
the whole shop is based on the color pink, with princess designs and furnitures!!
My boyfriend always laughs at me.. 
Koyuki is having princess syndrome again.. have to go to the princess hospital... 
membership card is what he called the patient ID card... 
when he sees lots of girls shopping like crazy and trying out nail polish, he said "many princess are healing their princess syndrome..."

This is the best place you will shop for make up

They have tonnes of selection and colors for eyeshadow, nail polish, lip stick, mascara, lip gloss and etc..... anything you can think of to make you pretty!!
They even have BB cream and mascara for MEN!!!
These are for my customers and myself. 

Skinfood
I am sure many people know this brand
Their products are based on natural food, such as rice, black sesame, black sugar, tomato, lettuce and cucumber, black raspberry and etc... 
Their products absorb very easily into the skin!!
I think they can give me more free samples..... 
After I bought from this shop.. I saw a Skinfood in Dongdaemun (Doota?), there's 10% discount + tax free!!! I regret so much!!!

Missha


Missha has tonnes of make up as well!! 

Same as Etude House!!
Most famous product is BB cream, mascara
There's a shop in Hong Kong, but the price is 3x Korea price


They have 20% on the 10th of every month, so I made my purchase on that day...
Most of them is for my friend
I bought a whole bunch of eyeshadows there were like ~2000 won each!! 
I was stupid... I should have picked a shop that is tax free... 
Spent like 220,000 and I could have received 10,000 won in tax return
I bought at a shop inside a subway station... 
There shouldn't be any samples when they give you 20%, but I managed to get some....

Innisfree

My favourite brand!!!
My famous products: Green Tea Line, Olive Line
Their sheet mask is thinnest!! super good!! 


I spent a lot in Innisfree!!

I was so glad I picked a big shop in Myeongdong, they displayed soooo many free samples and free gift sets!! Shop is also tax free =)
I spent like 700,000 won...? I had coupon for 10% discount~
I kept asking the salesperson for more and more samples
at the end I bought 1 big bag and received 1 big bag of samples
Most of them I gave to my customers 
hand cream is buy 1 get 1 ~~ 

Holika Holika

 
Holika Holika is one of the new brands by Enprani
uses the color purple for their theme, gives a very magic kind of feeling!!
prices aren't cheap....


I bought only a this much and already 100,000 won

Baviphat

another new brand that came out these 2-3 years
packaging is fun and cute!!
they packaged toner, lotion, cream, hand cream and etc using fruits... 

 

I was shopping in Myeongdong and saw a shop having great sale 30-50% discount!!
same street as Myeongdong Gyoza
But after I went in, many things aren't on sale....
The salesperson keep selling me items... at the end I bought ~100,000 won
When I pay, I discovered at least half of the items weren't on sale... 
so I was like.. whatever.. maybe they'll give me more samples
at the end.. yeah they did gave me samples.. but don't know what kind of brands they are... they aren't Baviphat... what a rip off... 
so the next day I plan to refund then go to Meyongdong Store #4 to buy
I heard this shop gives many samples and you can use coupon for 10% discount
When I refund, they offered me 20% discount and ask me not to return....
ok... fine then....
very happy I can get more discount ha ha

Tony Moly

I bought some items at Lotte Duty Free
prices are all in USD
if you use Platinum Visa or Infinite Card, you get an extra 15% discount
there's quite a lot of free stuff and samples from duty free too!!!

Tony Moly has some really interesting products!!

such as Latte Morning Pack, Latte Scrub, Tomato Brightening Mask, soap egg, black head egg, hand cream in a peach and etc.....

While I was shopping for a Tony Moly shop in Myeongdong, I came across a shop and they told me they gave the most samples......
I checked their cashier and they really do have a whole bunch of samples there....
so I bought like 150,000 won... but they don't give you much samples at all!!!
just like 2 of everything... 
I suggest going to big shops... little shops really don't have a lot of variety of samples 

The Face Shop


This shop is on the same street as Myeongdong Gyoza
They gave me so so so many samples!!!
When you go in, they give you 4 toner/lotion samples
the items below (3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th row) are all free!!!
The shop in Dongdaemun almost won't give you any free samples
I bought 23100 won and they only gave me 1 mask sheet!!!
I really don't wanna buy at that shop but only that store had the product I was looking for!!!

Skin79
Just came in time for their event!!
Bought the pink set for 69,000 won, total 9 pc!!
Bought the gold set for 69,000 won, total 8 pc!!
The rest are all free!!
I bought it from the shop inside Doota (a big building) located in Dongdaemun
There's a few buildings in Dongdaemun that are 24/7
there's also a place for resting, you'll see many guys hanging around!!

Nature Republic

this brand is ~3 years old?? 
I wasn't sure if Nature Republic and The Face Shop are sisters....
their website and interface looks almost the same!!
big stores will give out more samples!!
I bought an eye liner 7700 won and they gave me mask sheet x 1, toner + lotion (3 sets) 


Some of these were 50% off, I ask my supplier to get them for me then ship to hotel.

Laneige

retail stores are so expensive!!! 
I bought most of the items at Watson's!!!
Laneige BB Cream 50mL, buy 1, you get 10 mL x 5 for FREE
Laneige Sleeping Mask 80mL, buy 1, you get 20mL x 4 for FREE
retail stores give some samples... but not so many....

coupon is for 10% off
I suggest buying in the airport duty free, cause airport has tonnes of coupons!!!
Eg. $10 USD off when you spent 50,000 won


Hanskin

Hanskin has 10 year anniversary!!
tonnes of discounts!! some products are 90% off!!!
cleansers, toners, serum, eye cream, face cream, mask are all 5 for 20000 won!!!
if you spent 80,000 won, they give you 4 full size products!!
so... as expected... I bought 24 products for 80,000 won!!
Most popular is BB cream~~ 
the Japanese just loves it!!

 

At first I didn't know the 2nd floor has 5 pc for 20,000 won

I spent 40,000 won + 40,000 won on the 1st floor...
They gave me Magic BB Night Cream 10mL x 4 for FREE + a whole bunch of BB cream samples!!
Magic BB Night cream is so good!! 
It's not overly rich! absorbs fast, moisturising but not greasy and feels just right!!

It's Skin

Some of the items I bought at Lotte Duty Free

I used my Infinite Visa to get 15% discount 
Most popular is the It's Skin Power serums
this line has 11 products which gives the following effects...
ffeeeening, moisturising, oil control, relieve redness, reduce wrinkles, deep moisturising, brightening using vitamin C, cell rejuvenation, collagen, Q10, reduce pores

Snail Repairing Line is the most popular lately!! known as PRESTIGE
it can reduce fine lines and wrinkles
the gold packaging looks so elegant!!!


The Saem

Another new store which opened these 2 years
lots of entrance gifts!! 
they gave me 1 sheet mask, gloves, toner/lotion/serum set
next time I passed by, they gave me a mirror, make up cotton, rabbit pen
I didn't buy much, only bought a few sheet masks!
products are quite pricey!
Beauty Credit

A lot of Beauty Credit stores have already closed down....
There's only one in Myeongdong and  江南店
江南店 gives sooo many samples!!
Tahe the subway line 2 to 江南站 Exit 6, go out, walk straight and you will see the store 

 

Milk and Q10 series are buy 2 get 1 free

body products are buy 2, get a free hair treatment (product)
The Korean salesgirl is sooo nice!!
She can speak Mandarin and told me all the products that were on sale
There's was one on sale for 50% off, but she told me it's expiring in a few months
so.. of course I didn't buy it!!!
Spend 30,000 won get a free hand cream
Spend 100,000 won get a free aloe vera face gel
I ask her to give me more samples, she has absolutely no problems!!!
she kept stuffing and stuffing into the bag
at the end I bought 1 bag and got 1 full bag of samples!!!
Basically everything on the bottom of the picture (most left hand side, bottom and most right hand side) are all samples!!!!
I was gonna record how she stuff samples in the bag ha ha!!!

TEARS

I didn't buy anything from TEARS 
I walk pass their store in Myeongdong and they were having 50% off sale
However... I just had 90% discount on Hanskin products, so I was already satisfied =) 
In addition, their salesperson doesn't seem to care....
they didn't try to sell me any products... 
there are no entrance gifts either...
I kind of regret not buying anything... I should have buy something to try out this brand!!!

Olive Young

This shop sells many brands, some of everything....
just like SaSa in Hong Kong
they have Hanskin, Skin79, Dr. Jart, Enprani, Avene, Dermal and etc... 


Others:
I love these "brand name" socks!!!
They are super comfortable!!
There's LV, Chanel, Gucci, Hermes haha!!
1000 won for a pair, I bought 10 pairs!!
You can find them in Myeongdong on the streets after 5pm
yes after 5pm!! that's when Myeongdong becomes a lively town!!
Men's socks are 2500 won a pair
you can also buy them in Itaewon
I tried asking the guy if he can do buy 10 get 1 free, cause I can do that in Itaewon
then he pushed me away.. what an idiot!!
if you don't wanna give discount, just say no, no need to touch me!!
lots of Japanese were buying these too!!

2 comments:

  1. so useful information, wish I could visit Korea soon. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great idea for a post! Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed it.

    Shopping in Bryce Canyon

    ReplyDelete

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