It is the most exciting time of the year! Everything is so fresh, we have new resolutions, there are sales going on and the weather is ideal for consuming insane amount of hot chocolate/tea/coffee and ogling over awesome shopping deals online! I have promised to try out more new products in 2014 and yet keep a check on my spending. It is a very difficult task considering I only splurge for makeup, beauty and accessories but I am still going to try. My first and the biggest hurdle is the first month when new year sales are rampant in Korea. The Korean new Year (lunar new year) falls on 30th January this year and the sale that started on 3rd January are going to last until the mid of February! So here is what is happening this week:
1. It’s Skin
It’s Skin is running a sale on a few of their beauty products: Sunscreen, Skin Serum, Face mists, body scrubs, shower gels and colognes. They also have selected makeup items at crazy cheap prices – single eyeshadows, lipsticks, eyeshadow base.
2. Missha
After a grueling December sale, Missha is only running a 30% sale on their mascaras and a few skin care items. They are also offering 50% off on their Love Secret hand creams.
3. Etude House
Etude House ran a sale for a very short period of time in December, and till now they are only offering some offers for their newly launched Face Conditioner cream and some discount on their A-Z face mask sheets.
4. The Body Shop
While the US and UK stores are running 50% off on The Body Shop Christmas range – Spiced Vanilla, Ginger Sparkle, Cranberry Joy – there are no sales in Korea. I have not seen any product on discount in The Body Shop stores in Korea. Disappointing.
The worst part is that they do not even keep too many makeup products here, and the ones that are on the shelves are in a bad condition 🙁
5. The Sa’em
I came across this brand recently at Yanjae and I was surprised to see many things which had the same packaging as many other Korean brands. The hand creams were packaged like the peach, apple hand creams by Tony Moly, the eyeshadow duo sticks were packaged llike those by It’s Skin, the chubby sticks well everyone has basically the same packaging, the baked eyeshadow duos and trios like Etude House. I have no idea what this means  but it was a big turn off. They are running discounts on their fragrances and lipsticks.
6. The Face Shop
After a huge in the first fortnight of December, The Face Shop is not running any discounts. They do have a few 1+1 or 50% offers but I have seen this offer run throughout the year on different products.
7. Innisfree
Innisfree is also running a 1+1 offer on their hand creams and nail paints. There is nothing new in Innisfree as of now. Their Christmas gift sets have also vanished from the shelves!
8. Watsons (Beauty Store)
Watsons store have a 30% off on Cetaphil products and they have newly launched Elizabeth Arden products at a very good price. They are also offering 30% off on Maybelline mascaras, Maybelline Baby Skin, Maybelline pore Erasers.
These are just some of the sales going on at the stores I frequent! It is the most exciting time for shopping in Seoul right now 🙂