I’ve always wanted to order from Gmarket, and this month I finally bit the bullet. And no, I’m not referring to the Singaporean Gmarket which got rebranded to Qoo10 (even though it’s been like 3-4 years since the rebranding happened, my mother still refers to Qoo10 as Gmarket) – I’m talking about the one that ships directly from Korea! This is where I can find tons of products and brands I wouldn’t typically be able to find in Singapore – Espoir, Verite, and whatnot at amazing prices.

Let’s start with Gmarket itself – can I just rave about how amazing their service is?? Seriously – I don’t even get my packages from Qoo10 (domestic delivery) this quickly. Let me just show you my timeline:

Sunday Afternoon, 5th April: Sent in order (auto EMS shipping)

Sunday Evening, 5th April: Request received for 50% of sellers

Monday Afternoon, 6th April: All packages on the way to Gmarket Korea’s warehouse

Tuesday Morning, 7th April: All packages received at Gmarket Korea; preparing for international shipment

Wednesday Evening, 8th April: International package posted

Thursday Afternoon, 9th April: Package on SQ609

Friday Midnight, 10th April: Package received by Singpost

Friday Noon, 10th April: Received package at doorstep

HAS ANYONE RECEIVED PACKAGES THIS QUICKLY BEFORE??? IN 5 DAYS??? NO!!!! Ok maybe I’m exaggerating, but seriously. I’ve never received service /this/ fast from Qoo10, TK or RRS before – as much as I still love them, Gmarket wins, hands down, in terms of delivery time. Judging from my previous experiences from Korean international shipping, I honestly expected this package to be delivered in May. Instead, I’m sitting here writing this post in May (terribly late, but I wanted to get a good sense of all my products before I included first impressions for all the products).

Moving on… This is the giant box my haul came in! It really surprised me – that’s my phone, a Note 3 mind you, sitting on top of the box. I had no idea why the box was so huge – did I really order so many things?? The memo noted that it was only 3.3kg!

…And I figured out why once I tore open opened up the box. HAHAHAHA it turns out the Gmarket warehouse had literally just dumped in all the boxes they’d received – I guess the guy sorting my packages just decided to throw everything into the biggest (???) box he could find??? It was a hilarious sight opening this up though! However, one negative point here: AK-Plaza didn’t exactly package my VDL Eyeshadow palette very well in the small box, so it could have been flung around in the small box in the big box. Shame on you tsk if it’s an eyeshadow palette IT NEEDS BUBBLE WRAP! (this is extremely reminiscent of the Lorac Mega Pro Amazon shipping issue.)

One, two, three…. Six boxes! 6 boxes inside a giant box. Funny ah? Let’s start with the small samples!

I ordered my products from individual sellers, which meant that I was unlikely to get any samples at all – ordering 1 item from a seller will sadly not warrant samples. I may attempt to include ‘please include samples!’ in English and Korean the next time I order! I received a sheet mask + OHUI foil sample from one seller (can’t quite remember which), and a small set of samples from VDL…. And if you scroll to the top and bottom, a giant pink Pantone VDL shopping bag!!!!!!! 😀 I guess the general lack of samples was wholly made up by the Pantone x VDL bag ❤ ❤ ❤

Okay, let’s start!

Note: my pricing brackets are formatted like this, if you’re curious: xxxKRW in Korean retail pricing / xxx SGD in Singapore retail pricing, or KRW to SGD if it’s unavailable in Singapore.

Hera CC Cream City Defense (SPF35 / PA++)

Retail: 45,000KRW / ~SGD$50

Gmarket: SGD$40

While watching Meejmuse’s channel, she mentioned that her one CC Cream favourite was the Hera CC Cream! The original price was preeeetty high, so I didn’t manage to get one from TesterKorea the previous round – instead I got a small 10ml sample tube off Carousell. I would liken this CC Cream to the IOPE one, as it’s not a whitening base like the Laneige and Banila Co.

As I was scouring Gmarket, I noticed that Hera came up with a new and improved! version of the cc cream in 2015, with ‘City Defense‘ properties. One of the biggest trends I’ve noticed recently is ‘city defense’ products, with brands like Clarins coming up with Sunscreen products, and Etude House with Dust Cut products. These protecting properties typically leave a film on your face to protect against dust and pollutants we face every day in cities, and considering I live in Singapore… yes. Either way, the packaging is gooooorgeous! Maybe not as sleek as the original Black/Silver packaging, but this silvery packaging represents City Defense so well.

First impression: ★★★★☆

Luna Water Essence Founpact (SPF35 / PA++)

Retail: ~SGD$40

Gmarket: SGD$27

I was actually most excited to try this product out of aaaallll the products I ordered. This was featured on Get It Beauty a while back, and supposedly it has a mega high water content! However… The first time I used this wasn’t very successful or anything 😦 It kind of sat on top of my skin like a film, and was pilling up on the surface. I will try this again with another foundation brush… Hopefully it’ll produce better results 😦

Edit: So I tried it with my beloved Shiseido 131, and while it did give me a very airbrushed, perfect finish, it’s really not the look that I’m going for. It still clung like a thick layer on my skin, unlike the CC Creams I’m so very used to – I just don’t think heavy coverage foundations are suitable for me 😦

First impression: ★★★☆☆

eSpoir Face Slip Nude Cushion (SPF 50+ / PA+++)

Retail: 35,000KRW / ~SGD$44

Gmarket: ~SGD$26

I have too many cushions!! I first saw this cushion on a Singaporean YouTube channel, which is linked here – Shu An mentioned in the video that when they asked the air stewardesses how their skin looked so glowy and dewy, they pointed it out in the in-flight shopping magazine and were like, ‘eSpoir!’ I like how it supposedly gives a really light, natural finish, which is what I typically go for. Slowly, slowly – I’ll open this soon!

Note: This is also made by Amore Pacific.

First impression: ★★★★☆

Verite UV Multi Cushion DX (SPF 50 / PA+++)

Retail: ~SGD$55

Gmarket: ~SGD$34.50

Actually… This cushion just represents me being greedy :p Once the rose gold/copper sides caught my eye, I was like YES. I NEED THIS. Same as the eSpoir – I’ll review this in due time.

Note: This is aaaaalso made by Amore Pacific. In fact, this technically even has Amore Pacific prepended to its name!

First impression: ★★★★☆

VDL Expert Colour Lip Cube (Guylian)

Retail: SGD38

Gmarket: SGD$20

:’) This marbled chocolate (Guylian!) design was calling out to me, telling me ‘pick me! pick me!’ …so I did. I picked 3 of this (for me, my mum, and my aunt!). This is a great choice for me, as it’s really moisturizing, with a sheer pop of colour. The special cube shape of the lipstick allows for better application around cupid’s bow 🙂

First impression:

VDL Beauty Metal Cushion Foundation EX (Candy Bar) (SPF 50 / PA+++)

Retail: 32,000KRW / SGD$40

Gmarket: 21,000KRW / SGD $26

You may have already seen this in my April Favourites post, but to be honest, I was a bit irked by the metal design initially – however, after seeing how versatile the metal surface is on Get It Beauty, it’s been my favourite foundation since I started using it (with my Shiseido 131 Foundation brush)! It wears decently in humid weather (can’t help it…), with minimal touchup required – I’m pretty darn satisfied with that 🙂

First impression:

VDL Expert Colour Eye Book 6.4 (Pink)

Retail: 48,000KRW / SGD$60

Gmarket: ~31,000KRW / SGD$40

This needs no words. Pantone x VDL = life

aghhhh that pastel pink

First impression:

Mise en Scene Hello Bubble Foam Hair Color

7N Mocha Latte Brown, 7P Vintage Rose Pink

Retail: ~15,000KRW / ~SGD$20

Gmarket: 2 f0r 12,900KRW / 1 for SGD$8

I’ve been looking to dye my hair for a while now, but I decided against it (last minute :() at the salon, as I wasn’t sure if my internship would allow my dyed hair. My friends have been recommending bubble foam hair dyes, so when I came across this on GMarket I was like yup this is it – Mise en Scene is one of the top haircare brands in Korea at the moment, and no surprise here – it’s owned by Amore Pacific as well. If I’m not wrong, scouring the shelves of Watsons only yielded pretty basic hair dyes like from Revlon and whatnot, which cost around $20 per pack – so I’m hoping that this is much better!

First impression: ★★★★☆

Son & Park Skin Fit Foundation (SPF45 / PA++)

Retail: 35,000KRW / SGD$45

Qoo10: SGD$20

Son & Park are the two makeup artists who frequently appear on Get It Beauty, so in my eyes they’re fairly famous and trustworthy makeup artists. They are well-known for being the makeup artists who create the hottest trends in Korea – one of them was Cheon Song-Yi’s makeup artist on My Love From The Star! When they came up with their own makeup brand and I spotted it on Qoo10, I was all up for trying it out.

What’s so special about this foundation stick is that: 1. Green primer base in the middle of the stick, which helps to neutralize redness, and 2. The micro-brush on the other end of the stick to help blend out the foundation! Typically, I don’t go for heavy coverage, but I think this stick is a great option for me to venture into that world 🙂

First impression: ★★★★☆

Mise en Scene Perfect Repair Hair Serum

Retail: ~SGD$13

Qoo10: 2 for $12.90 = SGD$6.50

Mise en Scene yet again 😀 Actually, I purchased this serum (set of 2!) off Qoo10 before I made my GMarket haul. I do suffer from extremely wiry hair – it’s just poofy and messy, and gets oily easily in this humid weather. A while back, my hairstylist suggested I start using hair serums and oils more frequently. I don’t like handling oils – no matter how much I wash my hands, there’s still an icky sensation left, but when I tried this oil-based serum for the first time… whoa. My hair was glossy, and my hands were happy! (Sometimes, when I really don’t feel like dirtying my hands, I drip the serum on a wide-toothed comb and run it through my hair. Works just fine for me!)

First impression: ★★★★☆

GMarket has quite a bunch of coupons available, including Paypal, Visa, and new member coupons – they can all be found on the homepage of GMarket Global. These will definitely help to offset the expensive fees for EMS – my shipping actually came close to $20-25 :O

I know that quite a number of these products can’t really be found on RoseRoseShop, or TesterKorea, the typical shopping sites… Given the low-low-low Korean prices, easy-to-use platform, and lightning-fast service, I’d definitely recommend anyone to try out GMarket. Lots of Singaporeans have reviewed GMarket online, and the typically haul breakdown includes cosmetics and clothing!

On a similar note, maybe I’ll try out KoreaDepart in a few months – it has a base rate of USD$5 for shipping to Singapore! I hope this post helps enlighten anyone who wants to order from Gmarket 🙂