K-Beauty Expo (Kintex 2017)

The weekend before last was finally time for the K-Beauty Expo Korea 2017. I have been looking forward to it all year and as you may be aware I was am a Beauty Editor for the Expo this year. This means that they have been sending me products to review from many of the brands that were participating in the expo this year.

I am very lucky because the convention center where this expo is held is Kintex. Kintex is located in Ilsan, Goyang-Si which is where I live. I actually just live down the road a bit  so it is very handy for me. This meant that I could go for more than one day and I ended up going 3 out of the 4 days. The expo started on Thursday October 12th and ran until Sunday October 15th.  The only day I did not attend was the first day Thursday .

Photo Credit http://www.k-beautyexpo.co.kr

I love going to expos as it’s a great environment. There is so much to see and many of the brands are selling products at discounted prices. You can get some great deals and find many interesting new brands and products. It’s also lovely to meet the people behind the brands face to face and a wonderful chance to learn about the companies and products. I always find it fascinating and I like to collect lots of brochures so I can read up about everything when I get home.

This year was a huge event with hundreds of brands and companies participating. I spent a lot of time taking photos and I still did not manage to get shots of all the ones that I wanted to talk about in this post. I am going to try and put a slide show together in the near future.

I’m pretty sure that I did not manage to get to every booth even with all the time I spent there. It’s like a maze so it’s easy to get off track. One time I was trying to find a booth I had seen earlier when taking photos. I wanted to go back to it but for the life of me I couldn’t find it. For the last day I got the guide and highlighted the booths that I wanted to visit so that I could be sure to get to most of the ones that I wanted to.

There were some special beauty areas sponsored by Glowpick and YouCam Makeuo. Both of these are beauty related apps. Glowpick a Korean app where you can rate, review and check out ingredients for products both Western and Korean. YouCam Makeup is an app where you can virtually try on makeup. It’s very fun to mess about with. The areas at the expo were some beauty stations with mirrors and lots of products that you could try. YouCam Makeup also had some devices set out so that you could trial the makeup app.

 

I left most of my shopping until the last day so that I could have time to go through and decide what I wanted. I didn’t want to buy too much because, to be honest, I still haven’t used most of what I got at the expo last year. I do feel very lucky because I did get gifted a lot of things. Many of the brands were very generous and I am just grateful that I get to be a part of this fantastic event.

This year there were many brands that I was already familiar with. Some of them I have had dealings with before both through he K-Beauty Expo and also through my own Instagram and blog. There were others that I had seen at last years expo so it was nice to visit them again and catch up on how they are getting along.

Some of these were:

Yadah – I have been working with Yadah for a few months now and reviewing their products. I met them at the Vietnam Expo and they were especially lovely. I really like their cushion.

Tan May – I met Tan May last year at the expo. I bought some of their sheet masks which I have reviewed here on my blog previously. They messaged me via Instagram and asked me to drop by the booth again this year. It was great to catch up and see what they have been up to. They have some new products out and have also expanded into fashion. I bought a jar of their Magic Jelly and they gifted me with some sheet masks and their ampoule too so I have lots of things to try from this brand.

Beuins – Another brand that I met at the expo last year and I also saw them in Vietnam. It’s great to see them doing well. I recently saw their products in the new Boots store so they are really getting their products out there. I wanted their BB Cream but unfortunately they were out of stock but they did gift me with their sunscreen which looks really nice.

Shangpree – Shangpree have been very good to me. I first visited their spa over a year ago now and then just recently they invited me back to try their new masks. I love their products; they are top quality.

11huesday – This was one of the brands that we were sent products as Beauty Editors. However, I also saw them in Vietnam. It was very nice to see them again and I have to say everyone who I have talked to is always very pleasant. They were generous and gifted me with their toner which I have been hearing such good things about.

TOV – This is another one I met last year and I’ve also seen them at other expos that I have attended. They are another brand that are nothing but pleasant. I’ve bought most of their products before but they gifted me with the Camellia Cooling CC this time. I am very much looking forward to trying it out.

Cosrx – It’s always great to see Cosrx at these things. Their products are consistently good. I was able to purchase their new concealer for a discounted price which was nice and I got a deluxe sample of the Gel Cleanser. I have been wanting to try for a while now.

Some By Mi – Formerly ifactory Some By Me were on my list of placrs to visit. They have previously sent me their cushion and lip tints but I knew they had some new products out with their new pink packaging. I bought one of their new eye shadow quads and a lipstick and they kindly gifted me with another lipstick too.

It was also nice to see some of the brands that we received products from as Beauty Editors. Some of them recognized me as I have reviewed and posted about their products.

Some of these were:

Cellvio – I haven’t had a chance to try their products yet but I am very interested in them. Cellvio make a roll mask. So instead of it coming in a flat packet it comes in a long stick shape. Then you roll it down your face. We received three of their deluxe roll masks from the Expo and then they were also very generous and gifted me with their 7 daily mask set.

Photo Credit @cellviocosmetic

Dewy Tree – Dewy Tree were super generous with their products. We received a full line up of their skincare and three boxes of some of their masks in our October box. I made to drop by and thanks them. They were so nice and gave me some more samples and masks to try out.

Chaeyun614 – This was another brand that we got in the October box so I had not had a chance to try anything yet. I had see their Milk Thistle masks on Instagram so I was very excited to get them in the October Box. They were very nice and gifted me with another box of their sheet masks. As I already had a box I gifted those to a fellow Instagrammer who will no doubt also review them.

Hello Skin – I had just posted one of my Hello Skin reviews and they had seen it so that was nice. I love the packaging of their masks so it was nice to stop by and see them. I still have a few to try from them but so far so good.

Kocostar – Kocostar were other generous donators to the Beauty Editor boxes. We got a lot of the masks and their new long boots as well. They always have a big beautiful booth and they always have something new to see. This time it was their lip masks. They come in cute little jars shaped like lips. Kocostar were very generous and gifted me with one of their new Lip Masks and a box of my favorite masks  – the Camellia Happy Mask.

Oka – I had just done my very long review on the Oka sheet masks so I knew I wanted to drop by and see Oka. I also knew that they had their new makeup line at the expo so I wanted to have a look at that. They have some lipsticks and lip tints out now. I was going to buy one of the tints but she actually gifted it to me so that was a wonderful surprise.

Thank You Farmer – I was happy to see them at the expo as they were very generous to us. We received four of their products to try and I liked all of them. While there I bought their BB Cream – I tested it out on my hand and it seemed really nice. They also gifted me with their new mist which smells amazing.

Despite having been sent many products from participating brands, and having seen many others at the expo last year or at the Vietnam expo, there were still some new ones that I was excited to see and some new ones that I had never heard of before.

Some of these were:

Saturday Skin – This one was in the international section so may have been missed by some. I have been seeing this brand on Instagram a lot so I was interested to have a look. They were selling their products at 1+1 so while pricey it was a good deal. I bought their cushion which comes with a refill so I got four in total and I also got some masks, I bought one box and got the other free.

The Lotus – Another brand that was on my list to make sure I visited. I have seen them in Instagram and love their packaging. I have to say they were some of the nicest people at the expo. All the girls were lovely and helpful and told me a lot about the brand and the products. They also gifted me with a few of their products to try so I am excited to get into those. Their mist smells divine.

Elo – This is a brand from Singapore that uses a special blend of oxygenated water in their products and they also sell the drinking water too. I spoke to them at the expo and it was very interesting to hear about their brand. Then as a Beauty Editor I was lucky enough to be sent three of their products and a bottle of drinking water.

Galantry – Galantry is probably my pick for having the prettiest packaging. It was one that just really jumped out at me. So much so that I saw them on the first day but had to go back on the last day to make sure I bought some of their masks. I knew I would regret it if I didn’t.

 

2017 Editors Choice – Best of K-Beauty Award

As Beauty Editor we were asked to choose one brand who we thought was the ‘Top Brand’ for the expo. It was really hard as there were so many to choose from. In the end it came down to three that I really enjoyed using the products from. My final winner pick was  – 11huesday.

I chose them because out of all the products that we were sent this was one that I really enjoyed using. It was a bit strange as I don’t usually use a serum so for me to come back to it again and again and actually use it for a consistent amount of time it was quite an accomplishment. So that is why they got my vote.

SAMSUNG CSC

Photo Credit @11huesday

Photo Credit @11huesday