You guys, the holiday season is here! I am so thrilled to share with you my first holiday gift guide! As you all know, I am a Korean beauty lover. It was fair to have a gift guide that consists only of K-Beauty (some Japanese products too, you’ll see 😉 ). This gift guide is unique and perfect for both K-Beauty obsessed people (like me). It’s also great for those interested in trying out new and interesting products. I remember being with a friend while opening up the package with the products. She was pleasantly surprised by how unique and amazing each of them were! I guarantee that offering a K-Beauty gift to your health and beauty conscious friends will be more interesting (and cheaper) than tech gifts like fitness trackers or instant pots. Plus, I don’t find myself adult enough to do such gifts.
For this K-Beauty holiday gift guide, I partnered with Little Wonderland, a Dutch website that sells – obviously – Korean beauty products. I am so glad that I found an Europe-based online shop with reasonable prices. Plus, this way I don’t have to pay for customs fees and VAT, and wait 2 weeks to get my stuff. Honestly, I think this is pretty great and if you are a K-Beauty lover, I recommend them with all my heart!
As you will see, I chose products meant to offer extra hydration during the cold winter days – you will definitely see some amazing face creams and masks! As always, I recommend here products that I tested myself and you will see my honest opinion. Now, enough chit-chat and let’s get gift shopping!
Holiday Gift Guide for K-Beauty lovers
Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Ampoule
This right here is the product that gets me the most excited! Many people are considering the Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Ampoule to be an amazing dupe for the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum. This is enough to get me interested in it and trying it out.
Holika Holika Wine Therapy Sleeping Mask
I tried the Red wine sleeping mask several times this week and I felt that it was making my skin too dry (I have combination skin with oily T-Zone and rather dry cheeks). I believe that this is more suitable for an oilier skin, while the White Wine one is better for drier skin. Both of them are infused with wine extracts that have anti-aging properties and increase the skin’s elasticity. Because it’s a sleeping mask, apply on your face generously (using the little spatula provided) and massage it into the skin, but not completely. It will be completely absorbed over night, and in the morning, you just rinse it with water. I have to mention that I was intrigued by its jelly-like consistency and the amazing smell! My friend said it does smell like wine, while for me it smelled like the Fanta with Grapes!
COSRX AHA Whitehead Power Liquid
The COSRX AHA Whitehead Power Liquid is a gentle chemical exfoliant with Glycolic acid (AHA) that removes debris from the pores and dead skin cells. I first found out about it here. I apply it on my clean skin with a cotton pad, let it for 30 minutes and then rinse with water. Then I continue with my skincare routine as usual. I previously tried products from COSRX ( pimple patches, morning gel cleanser) and I was very pleased. But this whitehead power liquid intrigued me. I am definitely having those on my forehead and my chin and I am currently testing it by applying several times per week.
Oh this one is a cool one! It’s the first peel-off product I heard of, before seeing it everywhere on ebay as cheap dupes or as eyebrow peel-off tints (basically everywhere now). This lip tint is perfect if you are looking for something waterproof, and it also lasts for up to 12 hours! IT’s the best selling lip product in South Korea and for good reason! After you apply lip balm on your lips, apply the gel tint on your lips directly from the tube and let it dry for 10-15 minutes. As soon as it’s dry, you can peel it off and ta da! Flawless lips!
Missha Herb In Nude Sheet Mask
Of course, no K-Beauty package is complete without some sheet masks, amirite ladies?? Honestly, sheet masks should be part of any holiday gift guide. The first sheet mask I picked is this moisturizing Missha Herb In Nude Sheet Mask. It is part of Missha’s Herb In Nude Sheet Masks collection that has 5 difference varieties (soothing, hydrating, brightening, firming, moisturizing) . Each of them is infused with a herbal tea that addresses a specific skin issue. In my case, I opted for a rose flower tea moisturizing mask, because it’s winter and we need the extra hydration!
Can we talk a minute about how we forget to include our necks in our skincare routine? We should take extra care of our necks if we don’t want to have wrinkles prematurely. I love neck masks and if it was for me, I would have one every single day. Sometimes you could even let them over night if you’re not sleeping on your stomach. This neck patch from It’s Skin deeply hydrates the skin and slows down premature aging!
Sally’s Box Friendly Cherry Blossom Hand Mask
And let’s not forget about our hands! I would usually put hand cream only when I felt my hands extremely dry from the cold, almost looking flaky! This is not the way to go and I am now trying to apply hand cream a couple of times per day. I recommend using a hand mask once per week or so. If you’ve never tried a hand mask before, you will see it’s rather difficult to have it on. I felt fidgety and for once I had to not be on my phone or check out my Instagram.
Unicharm Silcot Sponge Touch Moisturizing Cotton Pads
Honestly, I don’t know where those cotton pads have been before. I wish I had them in my life earlier! There were reviews about these Japanese cotton pads everywhere! Silly me thought they were just average ones. The cheapest cotton pads from my local supermarket would be just fine. Oh how wrong I was! Just a few days before testing these super soft cotton pads I realized my usual ones were very harsh on my skin, leaving me red after removing makeup.
Upon using one of the Unicharm Silcot Sponge Touch Moisturizing Cotton Pads, I felt in heaven with angels singing. These pads are extremely soft and gentle on your skin. They don’t get fuzzy the more you scrub your skin, and they don’t absorb the entire liquid. I used only one of those cotton pads to remove my entire makeup compared to the usual ones, where I easily use 3 or 4.
This exact type is used to apply lotion on the skin. It makes the skin hydrated with almost 50% less lotion! You can also use them as face masks. I like to spray one with my green tea toner, split it in two and then place one on each cheek, under the eyes. The curved design makes it easy to fit in the contour area of the eyes.
Phew, that was a LOT of cool stuff! I could’ve written way more about each of them, that’s how stoked I get about Korean beauty products! I believe that all of these can make great gifts for the coming holiday season. And there are definitely some that are perfect stocking stuffers (peel-off lip tint, I am looking at you!).
What do you think of the Korean Beauty holiday gift guide? Would you consider purchasing them for your loved ones this holiday season?