Brand: The Face Shop

I discovered that our local Shiseido store (at the Naperville H-Mart) also features Korean skin care and cosmetics products now. The Face Shop products were pretty much everywhere in the store, so I stopped and took a closer look.

I first learned about Korean beauty sheet masks from online beauty gurus on YouTube and blogs. I then happenstance received one (MyFaceworks) from my Birchbox subscription and I was hooked! It was a godsend for wintry, flakey, dry skin that needed a moisture surge.

These one use sheet masks have holes for your eyes, nostrils, and mouth and you apply them and pat them on. Once they dry out, after about 10-15 minutes, you peel them off gently and throw away. They vary in strength and purpose. For example, you might have one to rehabilitate aging skin cells, one that helps in figthing acne, or one that supplies much-needed moisture and antioxidants.

The masks I recently bought from The Face Shop, include the following: the fresh fruit lemon mask sheet to help with large pores and oily skin, one with kelp to help oily skin and acne, a special zone care sheet mask for my heels to heal dry skin, and a CO-Q10 sheet mask to help rejuvenate skin. I can't wait to try them!

When it comes to the cosmetics I purchased, I stuck to basics that can indicate product quality without causing too much mayhem on the skin: the all about power volume mascara, auto eyeliner in black brown, the HD-perfect BB cream, and light yellow eye shadow. These products come at a great price point and have amazing varieties and colors.

I was a little surprised at how excellent all these products were for such a good price point. I would definitely buy these instead of NYX or Rimmel cosmetics. The eyeliner was precise and gave good pigmentation when applied, plus the foam tip on the other end was perfect for smudging a day-time line. The mascara's wand was just as good as Lancome's new Dolls Lashes product (which I bought recently!), if not better! It colored all the lashes and deposited enough without being too wet. The BB cream can be a little pasty of over-applied, but was and felt silky upon application and helps hide imperfections perfectly. The light yellow eyeshadow was exactly what I was looking for. It can be used as an inner eye and brow bone highlight, or layered for a gorgeous silky finish on the lid. Excellent quality that may rival MAC's to be honest. I would love to go back and try more colors which I don't have already in my collection.

I'm incredibly pleased with all these purchases and am enjoying using them a little at a time as the days go by. I would urge you to at least check these out if they are available at a store near you. Cheers!