Skin & Tonics : Skincare Guides & Product Reviews

I live down the street from a major mall, so believe me when I tell you it’s holiday shopping madhouse out there. I’ve been avoiding it like the plague, preferring to do all my shopping online instead. There are a couple of people on my list that I think will love some Korean beauty treats, so I thought this would be the perfect time to catch up with Alice, owner of my favorite online Korean beauty shop, W2Beauty.com (W2Beauty= Welcome to Beauty). I’ve been curious about what the shipping deadlines from Korea will be if I want my gifts in time for Christmas, and I also wanted to know what kind of gift sets are available from Seoul these days!

Alice is holding the limited edition Laneige Winterland Magic Makeup Collection. Also, can we just take a moment to admire how flawless she looks? I’m loving the eye makeup and the Christmas mani.

Here’s what Alice had to share:

Kerry: Gift sets and limited-edition holiday makeup releases are a big deal around Christmas time in the US. Are they a big deal in Seoul as well?

Alice: It wasn’t that much just few years ago.. but nowadays, it is! Almost all the Korean cosmetic brands will try to make something special for Christmas, either some special sets such as Laneige and Innisfree, or just some special packaging such as Tony Moly 😀

We also receive gifts from the Cosmetic brands for Christmas hehe 😀 (to thank us for shopping with them – I believe they offer the gifts to some faithful customers and well… since I’m shopping with almost all of them, that also means lots of gifts for me! Yaaaaaaaayyy :p haha).

I am so happy to see all the pretty and adorable limited editions!! That really makes me want to get all of them since they are special and limited ! but also because they really look so cute ! I just want to get everything! haha

Kerry: What are some of the must-have sets for the holiday?

Alice: Laneige Winterland Magic Makeup Collection ($52) is really…really cute and pretty and it has all the useful colors, that’s definitely THE set I would recommend you to get ;p It could really be an excellent gift as well, actually!

Laneige Winterland Magic Makeup Collection

Also I fell in love with Innisfree’s Sweet Vanilla Diffuser ($26). I put one on the bed. Before I sleep, I use that as aromatherapy.

Innisfree Sweet Vanilla Perfumed Diffuser – Limited Edition

Kerry: Are any of the sets or limited-edition items selling out? Which ones are the most popular right now?

Alice: The Laneige Winterland Set is a good seller and since Laneige anticipated enough stock, you can still get it ;p

Laneige Winterland Magic Makeup Collection (and a glimpse of Alice’s adorable Christmas nails)

However, Innisfree Eco Nail Color Collection and Innisfree Mini gel liner Best Collection are already sold out. Really cannot get them… I couldn’t even get one for myself, so sad ☹ I wanted the Eco nail color collection so bad … Honestly, I have been to over 30 Innisfree shops and bought all the limited set I could find haha …

Kerry: What kind of Korean cosmetic gifts would you suggest for someone buying for a friend who’s never tried Korean skincare or makeup before?

Alice: For Skincare, I would most definitely look at the Missha Time Revolution Best Seller Set ($106) ! It is a safe and great gift ;p – 100% sure to make the lucky loved one happy!

Missha Time Revolution Best Seller Set

If you are on a tight budget but still wish to make a good gift of skincare, you can think of Benton’s products; Kerry has made great reviews on them and it is actually among my best sellers in my shop!

Since it’s winter, you can even get some hand creams as well! We all need some. For the special occasion, the Limited Edition Innisfree Hand Cream Set ($19)  would be an excellent choice 😀 ! And the packaging for it is really cute, so that is a natural gift choice.

Limited Edition Innisfree Hand Cream Set

Concerning the makeup, you can be sure that the one receiving Laneige Winterland Set will be speechless and really, really, happy ;p .

If you are on a tight budget, you can get some lip tints! Tins are usually better than lipstick or lip gloss because it doesn’t wear off that easily.

I’m thinking of either the A’pieu kissable liptint or Etude House Dear Darling Tint AD. Recently, Peri’s Tint ( from Clio-Peripera) are also selling remarkably well, hehe.

Etude House Dear Darling Lip Tint AD

Clio – Peripera – Peri’s Tint Gloss

Kerry: What about someone buying a skincare gift for their mother or grandmother?

Alice: That would be a great idea and that will definitely make you mum or grandma happy ! (But for Grandma, the choice of the skincare set would be harder :p)

Once again, Missha has some “ready” gift sets that makes them really good as gifts! I can even help you pack them nicely so that you can offer them directly! :p If you wish to do this, you definitely need to take EMS while ordering with me, otherwise the package may not arrive on time for Christmas.

Kerry: If I live in the US, what is the latest I can place my order and still have it arrive in time for Christmas? What about Europe and Australia?

Alice: With normal shipping (Korea Post Air Mail), it takes about 10 to 14 WORKING days for the package to arrive … so I’m afraid that’s already a bit late. 🙁

However, with EMS, you can still pass your order this weekend (through Sunday, December 15th)and receive the package before Christmas : ) I will do my very best to work the extra time to get all the shopping done !

Kerry: Will you be picking up any gift sets for yourself?

Alice: I actually got quite a few already haha 😀 I got one Innisfree Sweet Vanilla diffuser for myself. I already put that in my room and I love it. Before sleep, it makes me feel so comfortable and relaxed. How I can say.. It makes me feel special. Also the fragrance just comes to whole my body so I don’t need to wear perfume nowadays, haha. Even my boyfriend loves it, too.

I also got the Laneige Winterland set, I’m not really using it yet but well … I really couldn’t resist .. .haha.

I also received lots of gifts from the cosmetic brands so I actually didn’t really need to buy some of them ;p

Kerry: What are you Christmas plans this year?

Alice: I wanted to go somewhere like mountain for skiing or to Lotte World’s Christmas party. But…I already know that it will be crazily crowded and I don’t really like being pushed all night long :p, so I might have a quiet Christmas this year … Just a relaxed one with my loved ones, that’s all I need for Christmas. 😉

The Lotte World Christmas Party (from the official Lotte World Website). I looked it up when Alice mentioned it, and now I feel like my life will be worthless until I see this party in person!

I plan to open a small Christmas party at a café with my friends on Christmas Eve. Funny Rudolph and lovely Santa are ready, haha.

And I will bake a Christmas cake for my boyfriend on Christmas. Sorry but the other plans are secret. He will most likely see and read this interview after all … ☺

Ohhh And I plan to work on Christmas as well haha :p so don’t worry … you can still pass your order on Christmas and I will even make it a SPECIAL DAY ☺ I reveal my plans for the shop to you here as an exclusive news but I will be offering you a special gift for your orders on Christmas ☺ I‘m still making the preparations and seeing what’s possible, but count on me 😀 At the very least, you would get more than usual ,hihi!

Thank you so much my dear Kerry! Merry Christmas to you all – I wish you all the best! ☺

PS: For the special occasion of this interview with Kerry, I even made a video haha. This is my first time doing so, and I hope you will like it. I do plan to make a lot more in the near future! Hope you will guys will subscribe to my channel. Thank you so much for your support everybody !

Love you all ! ☺

Editors note: First time W2Beauty customers get a $5 voucher by entering my sponsor code at sign-up: 025605. If there’s something you want but don’t see, be sure to drop Alice an email and let her know. She’ll be happy to get it for you!

Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe to Alice’s YouTube channel. You’ll stay up to date on all her future videos, and she also features a lot of Korean commercials for popular beauty products!

Which of these gift sets are you most excited about?