Review: Korean Cosmetics haul - Etude House and Tony Moly for medium dark skin

This shall be my first and hopefully not last make up review. I shall try to keep this short and simple (for once). I have been reading other reviews on Korean make up brands but found it quite difficult to find any relating to dark/medium skin tone so I decided to purchase a few items and do my own little review.

I have a medium/dark South Asian skin tone, my skin is also quite dry (understatement!), sensitive and prone to eczema so I was a bit apprehensive about trying new products with dubious ingredients. I bought all my purchases from f2plus1 ebay store after I read Beckii's review. They offer free registered shipping for any item and it took less than 2 weeks for me to receive my purchases.

The items arrived well package in a sturdy small box and individually wrapped in bubble wrap. It's also worth noting that f21plus1 marked the item value as $10 so no hefty customs charges are incurred.

As well as my items, f2plus1 included some samples, including BB cream and various other creams. I shall not try them for fear of upsetting my skin.

Etude House 'Drawing Eye Brow' - Price: $4.34 (£2.61)

The first item I wanted to try was Etude House Drawing Eye Brow, mainly because it was very cheap. I chose the black-brown shade No. 1.

The angled applicator really helps when drawing the shape of the eye brow. I really like the consistency of the formula, it's not too soft or to hard so it doesn't wear off or smudge easily. The colour is not too heavy to be obvious when worn and nicely blends in with the hair. Using the brush on the bottom end of the applicator helps to blend in the product to the rest of the brow. I have been using this product for two days and it has not caused any irritation that I'm aware of. I think this product would be best suited to someone who already has fullish brows and just wants a touch of colour or to fill in any small gaps, if your eyebrows are a bit sparse this probably won't give the desired coverage but it is definitely worth the price.

Etude House 'Play Color Eyes' - Price: $20.59 (£12.39)

When I saw this palette, I knew I had to get it. I chose palette No.2 'So Chic Play' as I felt the colours were more wearable and versatile.

I really love the packaging of this palette, it's reminiscent of a chocolate bar. The long length mirror seems quite handy and it also includes two applicators. I was most worried about these eye shadows not showing up on my skin tone but they turned out to be quite a surprise.

Without Primer

Apologies for the swatches being in the wrong order. I did not use a primer for these swatches just bare skin. As expected the lightest colours do not show up well at all. The darker matte colours show up well and the glitters are not that bad either. I really love the colours 'Clutch Brown', 'Pop Champagne', 'Sparkling Wine' and 'Coco Brown'. They seem to compliment my skin tone well.

With Primer

For this swatch (the correct way this time) I used a simple eye primer underneath. The colours show up much clearer although the lightest pink shade 'French Kiss' still does not show up that well. The blue colour 'Midnight Star' is a strong midnight blue glitter which I quite like. I really quite like this palette and the price is really good considering how much other eye shadow palettes such as Urban Decay retail for. This ones not bad, not bad at all.

Tony Moly 'Crystal Light Highlighter' - Price: $7.99 (£4.81)

I really wanted to try a highlighter so I chose this one is shade No.2 'Gold Beam'

This highlighter comes in two shades, a pink and gold. I chose the gold as my skin is sensitive and prone to redness so the last thing I want to do is highlight it even further. As you can see it doesn't really show up on my skin at all. The first swatch is how the product comes out of the pot and the second swatch (underneath) is it blended in. What I really don't like about this product is the very pinkish undertone which comes out prominently after it is blended in. This product doesn't work for me at all unfortunately but it does produce a nice shimmer. It hasn't caused me any irritation which is a plus and the price is not to bad. Definitely better for fair skin tones.

Etude House 'Princess Etoinette Crystal Shine Lips' - Price: $12.49 (£7.52)

I purchased this product for a friends birthday present so I will not be reviewing it. It is quite expensive considering the price of the other items I bought so I hope she likes it. I will say the packaging is really cute though!

Shipping: Free

Total: $45.41 (£27.53)

Overall: 5/5 Their service was top notch and efficient

So that concludes my first make up review sans any pictures of my actual face wearing the make up, maybe one day! I hope someone finds this moderately useful.