Konad - Nail art system

Konad - Nail art system

I finally took the plunge and bought into the Konad system. I've been dying to get ever since I caught a glimpse of it on anonther blog. I've never been skilled at doing my nails. I've finally mastered painitng my nails smoothly, without a whole lot of mess. That's a real accomplishemnt in my books.
But the Konad results look SO amazing.
I bought my Konad items on G-market, for awesome prices. The stamper and scrapper were only 4000 won, the plates 3500won each, and the polishes 3000won.  I spent 34000 in total, and got extactly the plates I wanted to start out with an exactly the colors. Since the kits range from 16000 to 20000, for a basic one including the one sided stamper, scraper, two polishes, and two or 3 plates. My haul with 4 colors 4 or 5 plates, the double ended stamper, sponge, and scraper, along with two packs of free rhinestones and a bottle of nail polish remover, was an excellent deal.
Plus since I spent over 30000, shipping was free!

So here are the items

The scraper

The Double ended stamper. 
The long size makes it way better the regular. Plus the short side is perfect for touch ups, or multiple stamp patterns.

As you can see the stamper and the scraper have the Konad logo, and little butterfly. The finger indentations on the scraper are a ncie addition, though not entirely necessary.

The red side is significantly larger than the green. The red being bigger than the quarter, and the green smaller than a nickel. For some reason, the images don't stick to the green side as well, so I generally use the red side, unless I need to be extra exact.

The Plates

Plate #56 - celtic designs

                               

Plate #66 - Cherry Blossoms, Lotus flowers, and bamboo (My favorite!)

                              

Plate #S9 - Flowers, and Japanese designs

Plate #73 - Whole nail patterns (music, squares, etc.)

Plate #79 - Whole nail patterns (Super cute clouds, and others :) 

                               

The Nail Polish

I purchased four colors, Pink, Purple, Black and white. However the seller sent me black pearl, and white pearl! Not what I ordered or wanted at all....
I ordered regular white again from the same seller, but got pearl again. So i ended up ordering it from a different seller....

Also interestingly enough the polishes came in two different packages, even though they were from the same seller. Two came in packages with Korean, and two in English. Mind you the packaging does not make a difference, it's just curious.

I got a few free gifts also, A sponge, for doing shaded nails

Also two packs of rhinestones, in pink and white. The are sooooo tiny!

The Review
Though I've never been big on painting my nails, unwilling to do anything than slick a quick coat of paint on them. I think this is partly due to my lack of skills, and my desire for simplicty.
After living in Japan, with the ridiculous fake, over decorate nails, I tend to like simple designs.
The Konad system gives me really pretty nails, and it's only up to me whether I want something simple and classy, or wild and crazy.
Using the system is simple, a little frustrating, but simple. You paint you nails a solid color. Then you aply the special nail polish to the plate, you swipe of the excess polish with the scraper, and press down with the stamper.
You then press the stamper onto the nail, rolling from one side to the other (for small designs just pressing down is usually fine). Then cover it all with a quick coat of top coat.

The special nail polish is super tiny. They are only 5ml, Nail polishes are usually at least double that. Plus considering these tiny Nail polishes are ~3000won ($3) each. In Korea Full sized Nail polishes cost 1000 or 2000won($1-2). Thats really expensive for something so tiny.
I thought when I was buying the system, that the size wouldn't matter. I mean it only takes a tiny little bit of polish to do each design. But that's only half true. It does only take a tiny bit of polish to do the super thin layer needed for each layer. To make that thin layer requires a gob of polish. I've tried spreading only a thin layer, but sometimes parts will dry out before it can be stamped. The thiner I spread the polish on the plate, the worse the results.
That means a lot of wasted polish for each application. Then theres the fact that half of the time you stamp a design, something goes wrong. Sometimes it only picks up some, some stick to the plate (meaning you were to slow or the plate wasn't clean enough), or the design blurs (meaning there is too much polish on the plate, or you jiggled the stamper too much), or something else goes wrong....
*sigh* the result is you have to do at least twice as many stamps than you would think should be required. It's ridiculous.

Because of the cost, the size and the limited color selection available, I've done a few attempts with regular Nail polish. The Konad special polish is really different than regular polish. It's super thick and sticky. Its like liquid rubber.

Regular nail polish is a thin liquid. So the results with other polishes are a bit hit or miss. Nail art polishes work pretty well since they tend to be thicker. Just normal nail polish also works for big designs, without intricate detail.
The problem with using any other Nail polish is it makes the whole process even more frustrating. Instead of having some bad stamps, lots are bad, and they ten stamp tends to blur a lot easier. You end up using so much nail polish, that you're not saving anyone money.  It's really just a lot easier and quicker to use the Konad special polishes. Unless I'm looking for a particular color, I don't bother.

The images last as long as regular nail polish, but look soooo cool!
It's way easier than airbrushing (obviously) and even stickers.
Once I got the hang of it, I was doing all kinds of super cool things.
Plus, since you can get all the parts on G-Market for way cheaper than it is to buy a kit, you can get exactly what you want, without paying a ton :)

I recommend this system to everyone. It is just that cool, that easy, and that affordable :)

Etude House Styling Eyeliner -White

Etude House Styling Eyeliner -White
Price: 2500won ($2.50)

This liner is a white dial up liner, designed for the inner edges of your eye, your water line. Or at least I think so.

As you cans see from my swatch it applies beautifully to the skin, very white, very opague. However on the waterline, it's not so successful. It doesn't really show up at all. If I aply it on my eyelids or the inner corner of my eyes, no problem, a bright crisp white.
But on the water line... Useless.
It's a shame. As an eyeliner I can't fault it, but who uses a white eyeliner for the outer rims?

Etude House - Sweet Appleade Body lotion

Etude House - Sweet Appleade Body lotion
Price: 6000won ($6)
Size: 300ml


Torn between the peach body lotion and the apple(my favorite scent usually!) I picked up both, in different forms (sort of justifying the double purchase....).
And while body oils aren't really my thing, this sort of body lotion is!
I ADORE food scents. This one is yummy. It's not a realistic green apple smell, it definately smells like candy. But it's not overpowering, or sickly sweet. It's a really nice smell, well balanced.


The moisturizer is pretty basic, it's light, creamy and moistrizing. It's no better or worse than the average body lotion I find here in Korea. The only difference is the scent and packaging.
But since it's pretty inexpensive for a body lotion (for some reason here in Korea they are really expensive.... Like $10-12 just for a regular size of lotion that at home would be $4 or 5...), plus I love the scent, it's a great buy for me. I will be buying the body wash, foot spray, body oil.... etc....

Etude House Milk Screw - 04

Etude House Milk Screw - 04
Price: 3500won ($3.50)




I've become absolutely addicted to my cream canmake blush. It;s just the perfect peachy pink, that's so wearable for everyday.
I picked up the Etude house milk screw,a lipstick, to go with the blush. I really need a peachy pink gloss, on cream to naturally pair with the canmake blush. My lips are naturally quite pink, so it can look a bit off with a peach blush...

So I picked up the Milk screw. Why in the world is it called a milk screw? Really a terrible name for anything.
It's not quite a lipstick not quite a gloss. It applies beautifully sheerily.
And then turns pink....
It's a color change product!
Damn.
When I tried it in store I quickly swatched it, and it showed up peach. I didn't look back later and realize it turned pink.
The pink is very pink, It's not peachy at all!


And honestly, it's a bit too bright for me to wear.

Etude House -Creamy Peach Chou Body Oil

Etude House -Creamy Peach Chou Body Oil
Price: 7500won ($7.50)
Size: 150ml


I still haven't decided how I feel about body oils..... On the one hand, after a shower they help retain moisture, and make my skin beautiful and soft. On the other hand, they are messy, staining, dripping, oil slick creating disasters waiting to happen.
Plus, if I use one any time except after shower-time, I just end up with dry skin topped by a mess.


But.... I bought the Etude house Chou body oil anyways....
It comes in a nice convient pump bottle, and though it's small compared with my Nivea Avocado oil for a similar price, the convience definately is a benefit (My Nivea bottle always seems to be slippery and akward, and I keep waiting for it to shoot from my hands and create an oily avocado scented calamity)


Inside the oil is surprisingly light, and absorbs surprisngly well. I can actually use it at non shower times, with out too bad of results. 
Maybe I was wrong about body oils? I HATE the Nivea Avocado oil, but maybe it's just that paticular one? What do you think?


The Chou body oil is also deliciously scented. It's not the realistic peach of Tony Moly's Peach hand cream, It's a more sugary, candy peach smell. But I don't find it to be sickeningly sweet, and though it's strong, it dissapates quickly, leaving just a light scent of peach close to the skin.


In the end, I'm not sold on body oils. I like this one for after a shower, but otherwise I'd rather have a good cream(preferably a butter)

Etude house mini haul

Etude House mini splurge


I ran out of  mascara. So I HAD to go buy some more. I couldn't possibly live without Mascara!
.... Um.... I am only half serious.
Anyway, my lack of mascara sent me to Etude house to pick up a new one, and I ended up splurging on a few things....

Including:

Sweet Appleade Moisturizer

Creamy Peach Chou Body Oil

Lash Desiging Viteara (Vital or Vitamin Mascara)

Milk Screw in 04

The AC Clinic kit, Hello Kitty pouch and Wing pen were free gifts :)

Canmake Cream Cheek

Canmake Cream Cheek -
Price 600yen ($6+)Most people familar with Japanese cosmetics will be familar with the drugstore brand Canmake. I generally don't pick up their things, because they always look so tiny for the price. But after hearing that the cream blush is good, and being entranced by the pretty peach color, I picked it up last time I was in Japan. The packaging is really small, it's bigger than a dollar coin, but not by much....
Inside is a dense cream blush.
A dense, BEAUTIFUL blush.

This is my absolute Favorite blush ever! It is just gorgeous. Seriously gorgeous. It's super pigmented, but super blendable. I take the tinest bit on a finger tip, and rub it ontop my cheeks. I can totally build and adjust the amount of color to my liking. 
And oh the color, it's just gorgeous, it's bright, but not too bright, it's sweet but not childish. It's peach but not orange.
It's jsut too beautiful. I'm tempted tp buy 5 and hide them away, in case this color is ever discontinued. It is just that gorgeous. Everyone should have one.

Tony Moly- Backstage self smoky eye collection.

Tony Moly- Backstage self smoky eye collection.
Price: 14500won ($14.50)

Ah, I have a fetish for packaging. Mini things, or  travel sizes, or multiple items, or compartments. That's the sort of thing that makes me snatch up the most un-necessary things.

The Tony Moly Backstage self smokey eye collection is a black cream eyeliner, with two baked (i think) shadows, and a brush, all in one sleek compact.
And since I ADORE cream eyeliners, and smoky looks, I had to buy this!

Luckily for me, the eyeliner, while you basic black cream is lovely. It's NOT the perfect balance between wet and dry. More dry creams are longer lasting, whereas wetter/looser cream shadows are easier to apply(dry ones clump and flake sometimes.) it's not the Best cream eye liner I have, it's too creamy, too wet. It tends to smudge.      Of course all creams do when first applied... But this one never really dries down.  So I can smear my eyeliner half way through the day. That just sucks.
But tony Moly liner is smooth, deeply pigmented and lasts quite well. As long as I don't rub my eyes, or I set it with a bit of shadow, it's fine. And really, I'm picky about my creams, and it's not actually bad.

The shadows above, are in dark brown and taupe. The box didn't claim baked, but other than the name, there was no English on the box, so I can't be sure.
The colors are lovely, if on the cool side. The create a nice natural look. Both are pigmented, with a nice shimmer.
The eyeshadow's are really nice quality. They aren't flakey, or dry, they apply smoothly and last well. Generally to the end of the work day.
The price is a lot for an eyeliner and eyeshadow here in Korea.  Eyeliners are usually between 8and 10, and bake eyeshadow around 7-10, but considering the liner is half the size of my Etude house liner, and the eyeshadow is less than half the size of the baked trio from face shop....  It seems like a bit much.

All in all I really like this little set. It's a nice 'collection' great for a clean professional look.  But for the price, and the quality, it's more of a gimmick that a worthwhile buy.

BB cream comparison I

BB Cream comparisons 1!


I Love BB creams. They are light, blend easily, moisturizing, and contain sunscreen! Plus a lot of them have whitening, or clarifying, or other benefits! I've given up all other forms of foundation.
With that said, here is a selection of swatches, and a quick comparison of a few Korean BB creams.

Prices:                                      
Frigga: $5                                                  40g
Skin79 Super Blemish Balm: $30           40g
Elisha Coy Shiny Pearl: $27                   50ml
Elisha Coy Always Triple: $27                50ml
Elisha Coy Always Nuddy:$27                50ml
Skinfood Aloe: $9.90                               50g
Etude House Precious Mineral: $8        60g

From the picture you can see pretty well that EC Shiny Pearl and Etude's precious Mineral are the darkest.  

Color wise, Skin79 is the best, followed by Skinfood's Aloe, and Elisha Coy's triple.


Frigga-

I don't like at all :( See my review


Skin79 

I absolutely adore the Skin79 Super Blemish Balm, it was my absolute favorite until I discovered the skin79 Absolute total BB(which is of course more expensive!)It's just super smooth, blends well, stays on all day, and makes my skin look good even without makeup! I use the skin79 stuff all the time. Even though it's really expensive for a BB cream. Here in Korea they generally range from 8 to 20 dollars.
That's reasonable to me. I actually use less, and get better results with a BB than traditional foundation.


Elisha Coy

My second favorite out of this bunch is the Elisha coy Shiny pearl. Even though it's not a great color match. It blends really well, it's beautifully smooth, it has a subtle pearly sheen, and lasts beautifully.

I like it better than the Elisha coy Always Triple, even though it's closer to my skin tone. The always triple is, I think, meant for heavier coverage. It's thicker and more opaque. A bit closer to foundation


The Elisha Coy Always Nuddy I only received in tiny samplers. It's smooth and nice. The color is a bit on the yellow side.


Skinfood Aloe BB

I Adore skinfood, or their skin care, as for their makeup.... But in this case, the Aloe BB is a solid competitor. It's a really good color for Caucasian skin. It's pink toned, but not too pink, and it's quite light. It does come in too shades though for anyone darker. The BB is also light, but tends a bit to the runny side. It's fine for me, I do like sheer coverage.


Etude House Precious Minerals 

Out of all the BB creams I've swatched here, this is the most yellow.  It lightens up considerably when applied. However it is my third most used BB cream. It's cheap, super cheap really at only $8! It lightens up quite well when applied, and as long as I blend a bit around my jaw and neck, the color difference isn't at all noticeable. It has a very neutral very matte finish. Which I find most BB creams do not have. They tend to have a bit of a sheen. Which is fine sometimes, but I like to use this BB on hotter days, when you really don't want a sheen, or when applying a highlighter, so it looks more natural.

Frigga BB balm (cream)

Frigga BB balm
Price: 5000won ($5)
-Whitening
-Wrinkle (prevention or improving?)

This is another BB cream I picked up in Seoul. I bought this at an unnamed (at least in English) beauty store, a lot like a Beautyplex.
It's super cheap. It has to be the cheapest BB cream I've ever seen.
In the swatch, the color looks pretty close to my skin tone. But unlike a lot of other BB creams, it doesn't blend as seamlessly into the skin. So the color difference doesn't dissipate when applied. It's fairly yellow toned, and it's even more noticeable when all over my face.  It's not a terrible match but not a good one either.

Beyond that, the quality is cheap (as you might guess from the Price!), and it's a little bit oily.
Compared with my other BB creams, my stack of BB creams, this one is just bad.
Even at only $5 it was a waste of money!

Elisha Coy - Diamond Shiny Pearl BB

Elisha Coy - Diamond Shiny Pearl BB
Price 27000won ($27)
Size: 50ml


SPF 27 PA++
"phyto treatment" 6 fruit flower extracts to make the skin soft


I picked up the Elisha Coy Shiny Pearl BB when I was in Seoul. It came with a small Elisha Coy triple BB and 5 tiny samples of Always Nuddy BB.
At $27 for only 50ml it's one of the more expensive BB creams I own. With my Skin79 ones being a bit more expensive(and smaller in size!)
I totally picked this BB up because the cap contains a white highlighter and little mirror and it's just TOO cute!

The actual BB looks seriously dark on my skin when first applied. But I find that all BB creams look like the wrong color initially. Once it's smoothed out, the color lightens and blends to a really natural tone.
The cream itself is more on the pink toned side. So for a Non-Asian, this works a lot better!

Since I don't need heavy coverage, I generally apply a BB cream mixed with a bit of moisturizer of sunscreen. When I apply it thusly, it looks completely natural. I don't have to worry about blending into my neck.
The BB is also super nice, it smooth, and light, it last's all day. Plus, even though it's called Shiny Pearl, it's not overtly shiny. Just a little sheen, to make me look a little extra glowing. I think even ladies with oilier complexions could get away with this.

So even though I really like this BB cream, and wear it often, my absolute FAVORITE part of the product is the little highlighter!!! It's the best white highlighter EVER!
I always wear a little white in the inner corner of my eyes, and this is the longest lasting thing I've ever encountered. Even after a long day of work, chasing around kids, I still have bright looking eyes!
I seriously use this highlighter every single day. I'm even tempted to buy the BB cream, just for the highlighter!