My mom and I decided to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace the second day we were in Seoul, Korea. Again, this is another you must do if you're ever visiting Seoul.

Since we started our day off by visiting the palace, my mom and I needed to get something to eat. We ate at this little cafe, The Healing Place, which is across the street from the Gyeongbokgung Palace.  

I can't remember how much it cost to get into the gates but I don't think it's too expensive. Once you're inside, you can spend a couple hours checking out the whole area. There's a lot of land to cover so if you're really interested in looking at the entire area, I would definitely wear comfortable walking shoes! 

What's crazy about this palace for me is that this historical spot is located smack in the busy center of Seoul. Although, most of it was destroyed during the Japanese occupation in the early 20th century, several restoration efforts have been made to re-establish it's former glory.

On a side note, one really cool thing about the Gyeongbokgung Palace is that it has free tours is several different languages. Just head over to the information booth to see what time they are held and where to meet. This was the english-speaking one and as you can see, the tour guides wear traditional hanboks, so they're fairly easy to find. 

One of the first buildings you'll come across is the Geunjeongjeon. This the royal throne hall where the king was formally briefed by his officials. 

This is what the inside looked like. As you can see, this is the throne that the king would sit on. Isn't it so pretty?!

 One thing you'll notice on many of the buildings are gargoyles lining the roofs. Our tour guide pointed these out and told us it's supposed to ward off evil spirits and energies. Be sure to look out for these! I find them so interesting!

 I think at this point, my mom and I decided to wander off from the tour. We'd gotten a lot of interesting information from it, but wanted to walk around a little bit for ourselves. The actual area is so gorgeous and green! Here is the Gyeonghoeru. Look familiar?? That's because this is the same structure that is on the 10,000 won! The King also held formal banquets here.

 Another beautiful structure to check out is the Hyangwonjeong. This was the King's informal banquet hall. Although, I have to say, it still looks pretty dang nice to me for being "informal".

 We found these statues outside of the museum. I believe it represents the 12 Korean Zodiac Animals...

 Like I said earlier, what's really amazing to me is how all of this is located right in the center of Seoul. You almost forget you're in such a busy city! If there is ever a day you feel like you need to get away from the crowds and connect with nature, you should definitely visit here!

The last thing I wanted to mention was the changing of the guards! I would check before you go to see what time of the day they change, but every day, they have a traditional ceremony. It's pretty fun to watch and you can also take pictures with the guards, who of course, are emotionless and don't move. But hey, it's all still fun! 

Well I hope you enjoyed this post! I know some people enjoy seeing pictures and reading about traveling versus watching videos so I wanted to do both!

xoxo,

Morgan

Follow Morgan: Visiting Namsan Tower and Riding the Cable Car

Visiting Namsan Tower if you're ever in Seoul, Korea is, in my opinion, something that you should definitely do! Namsan Tower, which means "North Tower", is both a communication tower used for radio and television and also an observation point since it's the tallest point in Seoul. This is definitely a fun tourist destination because there is so much to do!

In my video, you can see that we took the cable car up to the base of Namsan Mountain. The tickets were pretty affordable and the view is for sure worth the ticket price. 

There are a lot of things to do at Namsan Tower. They have several restaurants at the base and even an Olive Young! 

This is also where the infamous lock trees and gates are located. Here, you can personalize a lock and attach it to one of these to ensure you and your love will be together forever (well let's hope so!).

You can buy locks here, but I hear they're pretty expensive and that you're almost better off buying a lock before you come. 

After you're done soaking up all the beautiful sights of Seoul, you can take an escalator into the actual tower itself. From there, you have an even better view and Seoul! There's also a fantastic gift shop that sells all kinds of cute things and activities for children. 

 This is one of the pictures I took from inside the tower. Pretty neat huh? :)

Hope that this Seoul travel series is interesting to you guys! Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for my next Seoul trip! :)

xoxo,
Morgan

Korean Beauty FAILS! Skincare and Makeup Products I Regret Buying

We've all been there. You get caught up in the hype surrounding a particular beauty product and know you must have it. You spend your hard-earned money and take the plunge! However, to your dismay, the product SUCKS.

Well, I'm no stranger to that feeling. Since I review and try a lot of different Korean beauty products, there are bound to be some I don't like or feel was over-hyped. Here are some of those products that I wish I could go back in time and persuade myself to not buy!

*Disclaimer: All of these are my own opinions. I understand there are people who might love these products, but they just didn't work for me... no hard feelings, yeah? ;)*

Let's get to the breakdown of products I regret buying...

I bought this when I was in Seoul, Korea. I was really into the whole "peeling gel" thing because I thought it was such a neat idea! Something that would exfoliate your skin and remove all the dead cells without being too abrasive? Sounds great! I saw this in Nature Republic and saw how cheap they were (around $4!) so I snatched them up without a second thought. Unfortunately, these Skin Smoothing Apple and Lemon Peeling Gels are not even worth the couple bucks I spent on them. They don't remove any dead cells, they smell AWFUL and they just don't work.

 I know, I know... I should've known these were too gimmicky to be true. Luckily, I received these in a Mask Maven Box, so I didn't actually buy them. But these Tony Moly Red Cheeks Girl's Patch are just silly, in my opinion. They are too slimy, slide right off your face, and don't have any lasting effects. Fun yes, effective no.

 You can pick up capsule packs like this at pretty much every road shop in Korea! I love the idea behind these because you can try different skincare masks without committing to buying a full size. Why don't we have this in the United States?! Anyways, these It's Skin Todak Todak Capsule Packs didn't do anything for my skin.

 Now I know some people like this Holika Holika Pro Beauty Bloody Oil Tint. Mine is in the shade "Vampire Kiss". The concept behind this is it's supposed to be a moisturizing lip tint that doesn't dry out your lips. At first, I liked this and the shade itself. But then....something weird happened. One day, I picked it up to use it and noticed it looked weird. I shook it and noticed it wasn't mixing together! I was so confused because before, it mixed together perfectly. I opened it and noticed it had a really ODD smell. Yuck. It smelled like a dirty mop. haha. I don't know if it's just mine but I couldn't even bring myself to use this. It looked gross and smelled gross. Sad thing is is that I've only had this for a couple months. It shouldn't be bad already! Let me know if you had this same issue :(

You can see the "chunks" in it...like it doesn't mix together anymore! 

 This is kind of silly. But the reason why I'm including these hair velcro things from SkinFood is because they don't hold my hair back when I'm doing my makeup! My hair is too thick and when I use these to pull my bangs back, they slowly migrate back towards my face. Not very helpful when I'm trying to apply my foundation without getting it in my hair.

 Another thing that is super hyped in the Korean Beauty World is the concept of cushion products. Cushion foundation, cushion blushers, cushion eyeshadows... you name it! There's a cushion version for everything. I saw this Lock N' Summer Cushion Eyeliner at Etude House and thought "Wow, how great! It's so portable!". Well, I used this thing maybe once and then the next time I went to use it, it was all dried up! So sad. And yes, I had the lid on tight! I think the actual eyeliner formula was just to dry and this was more of a gimmicky product than actually functional :(

 These Dr. Mascara Fixer Mascara Primers from Etude House are well-loved by many. But these just didn't work for my eyelashes. I don't have "Asian" eyelashes (meaning pretty straight, short eyelashes) but I don't have great eyelashes either. Either way, these mascara primers were hard to work with for me and almost made mascara application harder for me.

Finally, I did mention the Berrisom Tattoo Lip Tint Pack in my video! I know this one is SUPER controversial... so you'll have to watch the video to see why it didn't work for me and why I don't like it! :D

Well that's it! I'm sure I'll encounter more products I don't like as I try more, so don't forget to subscribe to my channel, The Beauty Breakdown, to get updates on when I add new videos, content, etc! Let me know what you think and products you didn't care for so I can avoid them at all costs! haha.

xoxo,
Morgan

PONY x Memebox Shine Easy Glam 3 Collection Haul and Review

I was so excited when I checked my mailbox and saw these little beauties! It's the PONY x Memebox Shine Easy Glam 3 Collection! I can't wait to share these products with you so you can get an idea of how the collection is and see if you'd be interested in picking them up for yourself!

*Disclaimer: I was sent these products to review, but all opinions are my own! I wouldn't recommend anything I didn't like :) *

Let's check out the breakdown of the collection! 

This collection comes packaged in these very "Spring-inspired" boxes. I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality of the packaging because these boxes are actually really nice! I almost want to keep them and not throw them away! haha. Right off the bat, I can tell that Memebox really made the effort to create a high-quality collection. Instead of just using Pony's name to create all the hype for this collection, they actually took the extra time to create products that are very nicely packaging and high-quality! So far so good! 

Now, let's take a look at the eyeshadow quad! I received the Eyeshadow Quad in #01 Brown Bloom.

These eyeshadows are awesome! They're nice and smooth and apply really nicely! Plus, they're super glittery! 

I like this eyeshadow quad in particular because I feel like it's an overall great palette for everyone! You can create a very natural look using these shadows, or create a more glamourous look because they're SO sparkly! Plus, don't you love this packaging?! Yes, the palette does get easily smudged with your fingertips, but I still love how pretty and classy the gold and white looks!

Let's move onto the Pony Blossom Lipsticks! I received all 4 lipsticks and again, the packaging is amazing.

Going from left to right, the lipstick names are #01 Rose Garden, #02 Spring Romance, #03 Orange Dahlia, and #04 Blooming Love. All of these lipsticks are very pigmented and apply super smoothly! Love that these lipsticks are vey comfortable to wear and somewhat moisturizing! They don't dry out my lips and again, I love the packaging! Plus, I love the colors because you don't normally see a lot of Asian brands making darker colors. I'm slightly obsessed with burgundy colors on my lips, so it's nice that there's actually a deep, dark red color!

Swatches coming soon :) 

Hope this review/haul was helpful for those of you who are looking for more information about the collection! Let me know if you end up buying any of these products and which ones you like! 

xoxo, 

Morgan 

Follow Morgan: My Experience at the Hello Kitty Café in Seoul, Korea! 헬로키티 카페 왔습니다

Helloooo there! So I’ve decided to make posts about my trip last summer to Seoul, Korea because I know there are some of you who enjoy reading about my experiences and looking at the pictures versus watching a video about it! Today’s post is going to be about my trip to the Hello Kitty Café! 

If you do want to check out the video though, here it is! I also have other videos on my channel, The Beauty Breakdown, that I haven't made posts on yet. So if you want to see more travel vlogs and Korean beauty and fashion videos, definitely subscribe! It would make me so happy :) 

The one we went to is located in Hongdae. Now let me tell you, it was quite the excursion trying to find this place! We ended up walking into a couple stores and asking for directions! Haha. It’s a little hidden, but not impossible to find, you just have to know where to look.

I was so excited we finally found it! This place is a great place to take a ton of pictures of course!

I took this map from the Official Website!

Anyways, you walk in and straight away, you see all the cute Hello Kitty themed desserts and drinks. They have a wide range of cakes, drinks, cookies and more! Seriously, this stuff is too cute to eat! Just see for yourself!

What you see when you walk in the front door.

Some of their drinks! You can see they had a 40th anniversary drink out when I was there. 

Look at those cakes! Aren't they so cool!? 

All kinds of goodies! 

I ended up ordering a peach tea drink though because I wasn't in the mood for dessert or something sweet. However, my drink ended up being SUPER sweet anyways so I guess this is not the best place to come if you're not craving sugar.

Seriously....diabetes in a cup. 

The sugar is getting to me...

If you're looking for souvenirs to take home with you, you've definitely come to the right place! They had a whole wall of Hello Kitty merchandise... everything from tea sets to trinkets to plushie toys!

Now get this, even the bathroom is Hello Kitty themed! I didn't take a picture of the bathroom but I took a picture of the sign pointing to the bathroom. I never knew a toilet could be so cute! 

 You'll also notice there is writing all over the walls. I assume it's ok to do this since there was literally writing everywhere! haha. I left my own little personal message... if you find it, please take a picture and send it to me! I want to see :D

I wish I'd brought a darker marker! All I had was a blue pen. haha. 

Should be easier to find since I wrote right next to that sticker! haha.

This is definitely a place I'd try to visit if you ever come to Seoul and love Hello Kitty like I do. I love that Seoul has all kinds of themed cafes and something for everyone! Hope you guys enjoy these travel posts! More to come :) 

My Mini Korean Beauty Haul From Memebox

Hey everyone! Today, I'm writing about a recent mini haul I received from Memebox. I can't wait to try these products out and review them for you guys! I tried to pick out products that I'd never tried before and that seemed unique to me.

But first....

I wanted to let you guys know my experience with Memebox. First of all, their customer service is FANTASTIC! They're very quick with their responses and truly seem to care about their customers. They're prices are fairly reasonable considering they have an office based out of the United States and right now, you can get free shipping for orders over $30! That's totally worth it in my opinion! On top of all that, they have a nice selection of products, as well as a lot of collaborations with fellow Korean Beauty Bloggers.

Ok now onto the breakdown of my haul :) 

I first picked out the Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion in Honey Beige W24. This is the first cushion foundation/bb cream I've ever used! When I went to Korea last summer, I didn't buy a cushion foundation because all of the sales associates said my skin was too dark :( haha. But now that I'm a little lighter and with a little bit of bronzer, I think I can pull this off. This one, in particular, is supposed to be really nice! I've heard tons of great comments about it. Plus, I've tried it a couple times and so far, I really like it and it matches my skin pretty nicely! Review anyone? ;)

I've also never tried a CC cream from Korea. So I decided to try the Etude House Moistfull Super Collagen CC Cream. I've tried this one out a couple times as well and LOVE this! It matches my skin nicely and really doesn't look like I'm wearing foundation. It just looks like my skin is really healthy and flawless, which is what I think everyone wants, right?!

Next onto some skincare items I picked out. I got the Too Cool For School Egg Mousse Pack. Eggs, in general, are supposed to improve the elasticity of your skin and make your skin look and feel radiant. I've yet to try a mousse pack like this (or something from Too Cool For School for that matter!) and am curious to see how this works...

Finally, I picked out the Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask! This is a brand I've never heard of so we'll see how this product is. I've also never tried a carbonated bubble clay mask. We'll see if this is actually different than using a normal clay mask, which I tend to like!

Wow, now that I'm writing this, I'm realizing there are a ton of firsts in this haul. Let me know if you've ever tried any of these products, what your experience was like, and if you want a review on any of them! Thanks for reading :) Don't forget to check out my channel, The Beauty Breakdown, where I talk about Korean beauty triends, products, etc!

xoxo,
Morgan

Miss A "Only You" Suzy M/V Kpop Makeup Tutorial

It's been a while since I've done a K-pop look! I fell in LOVE with Suzy's look from the miss A "Only You" music video and decided I had to make a tutorial because it was so simple but beautiful at the same time. Also, don't forget to subscribe to The Beauty Breakdown for more tutorails, reviews and everything Korean beauty! So let's get started!

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Now on to the products I used in the video. 

For the eyes: 

-Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer

-Etude House Dreaming Swan Eye and Cheek in Releve Purple

-MAC Eyeshadow in Blanc Type

-Etude House Drawing Show Creamy Eyeliner

-Holika Holika Jewel Light Waterproof Eyeliner in #11

-Benefit They're Real Mascara

 For the Face: 

-Etude House Beauty Shot Face Blur

-Holika Holika Aqua Petit Jelly BB Cream

-The Saem Cover Perfection Liquid Concealer

-Etude House Veiling Pact

-Tony Moly Luminous Aura Goddess Goddess Maker

-Aritaum Sugarball Cushion Blusher

For the Lips: 

-Etude House Etoinette Crystal Shine Lipstick in JPK004

-Peripera Peri's Ink #2

I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial! Let me know if you have any other requests for makeup look! Hope you're all well :) 

xoxo, 

Morgan