Kpop Hot 2016: September 2015

Laniege granted one of my wishes when they sent over their Limited Edition Laneige X Playnomore Shy Darling VIP kit which I've been drooling over for awhile now.

First up on a series of product demos and reviews is the BB Cushion.

Laneige BB Cushion gets an upgrade in this cute packaging!

The packaging is awesome with Playnomore's signature stickers and a metallic red highlight.

I got Natural Beige which I thought at first will be very light on my skin.

Turned out it's a bit darker than I thought!

Love that it blends well with my skin.

But! I still haven't forgotten that unfortunate case of flashback. If you backtrack on my previous posts, you'll see a blog on that topic. It's that sad light face, dark neck dilemma we usually get when our foundation doesn't blend well with our necks then get photographed with flash.

There's still that unfortunate gradient but the white's not as visible compared to other BB or Cushion Foundation with high SPF (usually around 30 to 50).

After showing you the packaging and swatch of this BB Cushion, it's time to share with you a demo of this baby. WARNING: I'll be posting my bare face photo (no make-up, no primer, no filter and no edits) to give you an idea of the coverage of the product.

Ahh... I'm baring my naked face for y'all to see. Notice the big pimple on my forehead, large pores and a lot of scattered dark spots? Yeah, I wasn't born with a flaw-free skin but babies like BB Cushion help me cover them up pretty good! So now, it's my turn to help you beauties out there who have the same issues as I. Here's a demo I did of applying Laneige X Playnomore Shy Darling BB Cushion. It's up to 720dp for maximum viewing pleasure. ;)

How was the video? I know I'm still an amateur at these home videos but I think I'm improving a bit. Haha Anyway, let's take a look again at my before and after beauty shot.

BEFORE: Lots of skin problems and discoloration

AFTER: No filter, HD quality

And here are more AFTER shots!

AFTER: My pimples on the forehead has been covered pretty good and my skin tone's now even.

AFTER: Auto quality photo

So here come's the verdict. Laneige BB Cushion scores fairly high on coverage and feel. It covers better than Sulwhasoo and Missha and almost on the same field with Iope. It also feels light on the skin, almost as lightweight as Sulwhasoo. The downside of it though is its longevity. It lasted up to 5 hours without re-touch which is same with Missha but not as long as Iope and Sulwhasoo. I recommend this though to beauties who have skin discoloration or acne issues since its coverage is great!

FINAL VERDICT: 4.6

Day two came and I was a woman on a mission. I promised myself during my first visit to Seoul back in 2011 that I will bring my future hubby to Namsan Tower to exchange locks of love but before that, we went to Insadong first for some Korean Culture 101.

We rode the subway which had an intricate, interconnecting stations that impressed my hubby.

What's more impressive was that an elderly woman noticed us looking lost (we were having a hard time figuring out which way to go) and asked us if we needed any help. What a heartwarming gesture to anxious tourists like us! This was the exact spot where the elder approached us.

To that old lady, bless your heart!

After a few minutes of train ride, we finally reached Insadong. I was so confident that we wouldn't be lost since I already went there years ago but surprise, surprise! I completely forgot. I remember telling hubby that there's a Starbucks somewhere (which I referred to as my landmark) because I remember taking a picture there (which later on became a favorite profile photo of mine haha) but was miraculously out of sight which ended up in us asking for directions from these fine gentlemen.

No, I was not in trouble even though it looked like it.

I love that these men walked with us instead of just giving us directions. So considerate!

Anyway, as we were walking towards Insadong, we found this unusual tea spot.

In my country, "Tae" means poop and I sure don't want my tea to taste like one. haha

After being side-tracked a bit by Taetae, we arrived at our first stop. It's a Buddhist Temple named Jogyesa Temple (조계사), the center of Zen Buddhism in Korea.

A few more walks led us to Insadong-gil, the place where past meets present. There were a lot of exquisite-looking shops that displayed Korea's rich tradition as well as its modern culture.

I adore the products sold here. They may not be branded but the quality and craftsmanship are impeccable.

Oh hello there, Byun Baekhyun.

Probably the highlight of our Insadong stop was this fella.

What an amusing guy to watch! He really knows how to pump up the crowd and gather around him.

My brother-in-law thought he looked a lot like hubby. hahaha

We also went to this place called "Ssamziegil (쌈지길)" which is a shopping center that has an open ceiling and a spiral staircase that connects the four floors of fashion, arts, crafts, food and gallery shops.

They have this cute store filled with stuff toys which we couldn't resist. We ended up buying gifts for our niece and nephew, Miguel and Laine!

Ahh... tons of colorful things. My eyes were dancing!

We eventually went back to our hotel when our calves started betraying us. It was time to fulfill one of our goals which is to have Patbingsu which is the Korean counterpart of the Philippines' famous "Halo-Halo". We called the lobby to ask for the nearest Bingsu place and the lady at the Concierge was nice enough to recommend Caffe Bene which was a couple of steps from our hotel. She said that her favorite there is Strawberry Bingsu which we tried.

Excuse my attempt at endorsement haha

After our satisfying Bingsu experience, we strolled a little more in Myeongdong and grabbed a quick snack. We passed by this stall with an old lady busy serving different street food so the curious us took a peek and bought this sweet-spicy sausage stick.

It was weird at first but gets addicting after.

While walking around, this Teddy Bear shop, Teteru, caught my eye because of the two newly-wed bears.

A few more walks and our stomachs began a riot. We stumbled into this small eatery that's packed and had a hard time ordering. I threw in the towel and ordered my safe meal, Cutlet, while hubby got adventurous and went with Cold Noodles with Vegies.

Let me just say he missed Han's Deli a lot after taking a bite. haha

After a sorta disappointing lunch (for him), we went up to Namsam Tower and when I say "up", I meant via a cable car! Kudos to hubby for overcoming his fear of heights!

Ahh but the ride was worth it. Seeing and being at Namsan Tower again this time with my lifetime love, is just in-explainable. Everything just looks and feels beautiful and romantic.

Ahh... I still remember years ago, I wasn't able to bring a lock so I just brought out hubby's picture (he was my boyfie then), made a wish of forever and took a photo here at N Seoul Tower. Couldn't believe that four years after, my wish of marrying this man came true.