November is ending and tomorrow is already December! I have lots of posts planned, but it's finals season and school is getting very busy. I will try my best to post more often.
My Black Friday purchases are slowly coming in, so keep an eye out for them. Make sure you follow me on instagram (@theseoulmatecafe) for pictures and first impressions.
Speaking of Black Friday.... I've recently started a YouTube channel! My first vlog is up! Please give it lots of love!
Friendsgiving and Black Friday | Vlog
Also, I will attempt to do vlogmas, so make sure you subscribe to keep updated!
It's been a while since I've done a drama review so I thought I would just share one of While You Were Sleeping.
While You Were Sleeping당신이 잠든 사이에
Summary:
Hong Joo lives with her mother and helps her run a pork restaurant. Hong Joo is haunted by seeing the future deaths of others in her dreams. What's worse is that she does not know when the deaths will happen, but she tries to stop her dream from becoming reality. One night, Hong Joo dreams about the death of her own mother.
Meanwhile, Jae Chan is a rookies prosecutor. He meets Yoo Beom at the prosecutors' office. Yoo Beom was Jae Chan's private tutor when Jae Chan was a student, but an incident caused Jae Chan to dislike him. Yoo Beom was a prosecutor, but now works as a lawyer. He takes on any case that brings him money.
Jae Chan and his younger brother move to a new house and they become neighbors with Hong Joo. One night, Jae Chan dreams that Yoo Beom drives Hong Joo's car and this leads to a chain of events, including the death of Hong Joo's mother, and then Hong Joo. When Jae Chan senses that his dream is about to become real, he takes extreme action to stop it. Yoo Beom becomes furious at Jae Chan, but Hong Joo hugs him and thanks him. Jae Chan and Hong Joo later work together to solve other cases.
Hong Joo is a journalist who is able to foresee people's deaths in her dreams and tries her best to prevent them. From the start, you can see that she really wants to save others, but loses confidence in herself when her dreams come true despite all her efforts. When she dreams about her mother's death, she does everything she can to prevent it, including cutting her hair (because in the dream she had long hair). All of her attempts to change her dreams are futile until Jae Chan appears. With Jae Chan's help, she becomes more confident in herself and eventually returns to her job as a journalist (she took a break and worked at her mom's restaurant for a bit in the beginning of the drama). She becomes an optimistic character and a huge encouragement to Jae Chan.
Jung Jae Chan (Lee Jong Suk)
Jae Chan is a rookie prosecutor who just started his job at the Division Three office after Lawyer Lee Yoo Beom leaves his prosecutor position and becomes a lawyer. He starts having dreams about the death of a girl (Hong Joo). He doubts if his dreams are real but still attempts to save Hong Joo's life, which he does. Hong Joo persuades him that his dreams (and her dreams) are real and that they should work together to stop them from coming true. As a prosecutor, Jae Chan goes through hundreds of cases and determines if they go through to the court or not. Some of his cases require further investigation and with Hong Joo's help, he manages to catch the right culprit and make the right decision. Jae Chan becomes quite discouraged working at the prosecutor's office as he does not go through his cases the same way other prosecutors in the office go through theirs and gets yelled at quite often. Most of the time, his ideas are shot down and people complain about how much extra work they have to do because of him. Occasionally he wonders if he should really seek justice or take the easy way out. By the end of the drama, he learns that he will be forced to make difficult decisions in his life but he should not regret his decisions or get hung up by them as he will laugh about them in the future.
Han Woo Tak (Jung Hae In)
Han Woo Tak is a policeman who acquires the same abilities as Hong Joo and Jae Chan after Jae Chan saves his life. He becomes their friend and assists them in solving cases. He is usually there to save the day or provide the last piece to the puzzle, so no case can really be solved without all three of them (the three musketeers!). He has a major crush on Hong Joo (of course, what's a k-drama without a love triangle?) but respects Jae Chan enough not to pursue her. He's very morally upstanding, but hides a secret that could cost him his job. He also has an adorable little corgi named Robin.
Lee Yoo Beom (Lee Sang Yeob)
Lee Yoo Beom is a lawyer who used to be a prosecutor at Division Three. He is the main antagonist of this drama since he happens to always be the lawyer of the defendant Jae Chan is charging. For enough money, Yoo Beom is willing to do anything to set his client free, including tampering evidence and manipulating testimonies. He is Jae Chan's old tutor and Hong Joo's ex-boyfriend. All of his dirty tricks, inside and outside the courtroom, cause Jae Chan and Hong Joo to dislike him. Even at the end of the drama, he believes in what he did and is unremorseful of all the damage he has done.
Review:
I was seriously hooked on to this drama and watched it faithfully every week (except the two weeks I had midterms). Each episode leaves you wanting for more. What I really liked about this drama was the chemistry between the characters. The three musketeers (Hong Joo, Jae Chan, and Woo Tak) are so adorable together. Hong Joo and Woo Tak have a very friendly relationship and always poke fun at Jae Chan's jealousy of it. They also provide a lot of emotional support for each other as each of them go through hard times in the drama.
At first, the drama seems a bit random, mostly just Jae Chan and Hong Joo saving people from dying. But through these seemingly random cases, you can really see Yoo Beom's unmoral practices and the development of Hong Joo and Jae Chan's relationship. There are little hints throughout the drama that all tie together at the end. I didn't notice most of them until the end when there was an "ah ha" moment and everything clicked. You really have to pay attention to how certain characters act and it all makes sense at the end.
I just wanted to briefly mention Kim Won Hae's character, Choi Dam Dong. His character really touched me and my roommate and I bawled our eyes out at the end because of him.
Also, shout out to Jae Chan's little brother and Hong Joo's mom for their random comic reliefs.
Rating:
Rating: 9.5/10
Plot: 3.5/4
Characters: 2/2
Intensity: 2/2
Cuteness: 2/2
Recommend? Yes!!
Halfway through the drama, I realized that Woo Tak is Hyun Woo from Blood! Anyone remember my Blood review? I loved his character in Blood and fell even more in love with him in While You Were Sleeping. Seriously considering rewatching Blood now while I wait for Meloholic to be over so I can binge watch it later.
Also, I'm seriously in love with Henry's OST for this drama.
Let me know if your thoughts on this drama if you've watched it or if you want to watch it. As always, leave any recommendations you have down below and I'll check them out!
October has been such a hectic month with so many tests and assignments. School is a bit less busy... for now, so I thought I would update you guys on my October favorites.
First of all, how cute is the packaging? That attracted me most to this tint at first. I love the color and how natural it looks. It's so easy to apply that whenever I'm in a rush for my morning classes, I just quickly put this on. It adds some color to the lips but you don't need to spend time making sure it's staying within the lines.
I bough this in September during Innisfree's Grand Opening in New York and I'm almost done with it. This was recommended to me by one of the people at Innisfree for oily skin. I absolutely love the smell of this cream! It has a slightly floral scent that isn't too strong. It's moisturizing enough for me during the day, but at night, I like to put a sleeping mask over it for extra moisturization.
Missha All Around Safe Block Waterproof Sun Milk SPF 50/PA+++ x
I bought this sun milk after KCON NY in June after heyitsfeiii and Charlotte Cho from Sokoglam recommended it for oily skin. I used to use sunscreen from Neutrogena and I noticed that it would kind of come off as I was applying my makeup. It would look like I hadn't exfoliated my skin for a while and my skin was flaking off, but it was the sunscreen flaking off. Since I started using this sun milk, my makeup has gone on so much smoother. Also, it doesn't leave an oily feeling on the skin like most sunscreens do, even the Neutrogena ones that day "dry touch."
I am totally in love with the Belif eye cream that I'm willing to drop $50 to buy the full size. Right now, I'm using the sample size I received during Gen Beauty and I still have half the container left. It's so moisturizing that you don't need a lot.
I've been using the Etude House Bling Bling Eye Stick under my eyes on my aegyo sal (the puffy part under the eyes). The eye stick gives a subtle glittery effect that highlights the aegyo sal.
Swatches for the Etude House Bling Bling Eye Stick and the Etude House Dear Darling Tint
So those were my favorites for the month of October. Let me know what your favorites were and if you have any recommendations for me!
Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to volunteer at Generation Beauty, created by Ipsy. As a volunteer, I helped out at two booths (Artis and Briogeo). It was an interesting experience watching so many people attend this convention. I was able to see some creators, such as Charlotte Cho from Soko Galm and Wengie. As a volunteer, I also received a gift bag from Ipsy, fully of wonderful goodies. The PR people at Artis and Briogeo were very nice and even gifted me a brush and hair mask at the end of my shift.
Being at this convention made me really want to attend it and get all the goodies available. I was able to talk to a couple of people who were attending the event and their shared their crazy waiting in line stories and all the products they were able to get.
Gen Beauty tickets are about $99 and early access tickets are about $40 more (based on what people have told me). I think the early access tickets are worth it since you are able to enter the convention an hour earlier than regular tickets, which can really make a difference. The lines for larger brands, such as Makeup Forever, Tarte, and Ciate, are very long. One of the girls I talked to was in Mac's virtual line, but was unable to get in even at the end of the day and had to reline up the next day. From what I saw during early access, there are significantly less people walking around and you don't even need to wait at the smaller booths. When the entire convention was open, some smaller booths had 15-30 minute waiting lines.
I am currently preparing for my first organic chemistry test of the semester, so I don't have time to take pictures of everything in my gift bag. So stay tuned to see what I got!
It's been a while, hasn't it? I apologize for not posting in a very long time, but I want to start posting more often now.
First, I have changed my URL and blog name from cloudyethereal to theseoulmatecafe. I also have a new instagram: @theseoulmatecafe. I will update my contact info, so stay tuned for that!
The content of my blog will be similar in that I will be posting about beauty and dramas. As you may have noticed, I started posting more Korean brands and Korean dramas, which is why I wanted to change my URL to something that reflects that more.
Now, onto the post!
Innisfree's Grand Opening in NYC!
Innisfree is one of my favorite Korean skincare brands…
actually, it’s my absolute favorite. But the struggle of living in the US is
that there isn’t an Innisfree store. There are stores that sell some of their
products, but not all of them…. Until now!
I first heard of Innisfree’s first store in America during
KCON NY in June, and boy was I excited. The store had its grand opening last
Friday and it was filled with many freebies. The first 100 guests in line received
a free deluxe gift box, worth over $300, with a purchase of at least $20. The
first 3,000 guests received a free eco-tote (with three different designs) with
a purchase of at least $20. Additionally, a free face mask was given for
showing your student id or the wristband from their KCON booth. Posting a
picture from inside the store or the gif made from their gif maker on the
second floor with the hashtag #innisfreeusa was another free face mask. With
the purchase of $30, you were given a free deluxe sample, 2 for $50, and 3 for
$70 or more.
Free face masks and deluxe samples
Of course I tried to be the first 100 in line, but that was
extremely difficult…. I was number 105 in line… Very salty about it (many
people got there early but some people came later and joined their friends in
line, who were holding their place). I arrived there at 6:30 am and there were
about 80 people in line in front of me. Within about 2 hours, before the
Innisfree staff came to regulate the line, I was pushed back to 105. The
Innisfree staff didn’t arrive until 7:30am and didn’t start regulating the line
until about 8 or 8:30. They tried their best to stop people from cutting the
line, but it was very difficult for them as those cutters would say they “went
to the bathroom” or “went to get coffee.” The Innifsfree staff were very
friendly and tried to comfort me and my friends who were very salty about it.
The store officially opened at 10, but I wasn’t able to get
inside until 11. I had seen the store from outside the night before when I
tried to meet Jenn Im (She had a meet and greet in the store the night before.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to meet her and was compensated with 2 free sheet masks.
Nothing seems to be working out for me, huh.), but actually going inside was
amazing. There were real plants on the wall, giving it a very natural and Jeju
Island vibe (which I think was what they were going for). On one side of the
wall, they displayed all their cushion compacts and eye shadows. On the other
side, they all their different skincare lines, such as green tea and orchid.
The middle of the store had all their other products such as lip products,
mascaras, eyeliners, and sunscreen.
Image taken from Innisfree USA instagram
Image taken from Innisfree USA instagram
I got color matched for their cushions and got their matte
cushion with their Air Magic puff (cover). I’ve worn this cushion twice and it
seems okay to me. So far, I’ve only used it with the puff I bought in the
store, but it makes my makeup look slightly cakey. I have their Air Magic puff (glow),
which I will try with the cushion, so hopefully it’ll fix the cakey look. I
have to dip into the cushion a couple of times for a medium coverage and still
use concealer for my darker spots.
Moisturizer
Pore care kit
Welcome Kit
Overall I had a fun experience, minus the cutting in line. I
made two new friends waiting in line and found out we had so much in common. I
was also able to chat with two of the staff members, which was very pleasant.
Outside the doors of the store, two very good looking employees stood there regulating
the line, gotta love some eye candy lol.
Will I be back? OF COURSE! How could I not? I’m so excited
about this new access to Innisfree products and plan to make good use of it.
Let me know what Innisfree products you love or would like to try!
Thank so much for reading. I'll see you next time!
