Friday, November 8, 2013 :: innisfree In Korea Day 1 & 2
I’m back with a long post from my trip to Korea with innisfree! It has been a great opportunity to go on a trip to Korea with strangers (who eventually became my new friends!), experience the culture in Korea, learn the story behind AmorePacific (brands under them are Laneige, Sulwahsoo, innisfree to name a few!), and fully experience for myself the culture of innisfree. I have taken home so much; in terms of knowledge and experience. I have to say it was such a valuable opportunity and perhaps amongst the best times I have in year 2013.
Prior to the trip, being someone who loves her clothes alot haha, I spent some time coordinating my outfits from both VainGloriousYou and Topshop. This built up some excitement before the day of flight. Also spent a fair bit of time reading up on the brand innisfree to prep myself for the trip ;)
Upon arrival at Incheon International airport, we were welcomed by a good looking boyish dude who somehow resembled one of the F4 guys, you think so? ;)
Why a “Green Tour”? Initially, I was as clueless about the meaning behind it until I got to experience the trip for myself. From this media tour, I was promised a chance to relax and rejuvenate my mind and body while I enjoy the beauty of pristine Jeju island – and I did so :) Through this trip, I got to learn about the diverse products innisfree offers, and the deeply rooted connection between Jeju and innisfree that dates back all the way to 1979 when innisfree first began to transform a rocky wasteland in Jeju into the flourishing, chemical-free green tea fields that exist today (like the one seen in my instagram video)! I even bought back tea leaves fresh from the fields! More on this on Day 3!
Our first stop at the innisfree HQ! Love the concept of this place especially the spaciousness, woods and greens in it.
We were brought through a brand presentation and a tour around the HQ!
“THIS IS A DREAM!” - The first thought that came into my mind when I stepped into innisfree’s pantry. And I believe this candid photo-of-the-moment caught that thought! It is filled with books, comfy wooden chairs, shelves with decorations, just like a huge cottage home kitchen with Scandinavian influences. This is like how Google incorporates the brand culture into the Google building through the architecture and design.
We were whisked away to this restaurant for dinner and I was blown away by the grilled meat! This goes into my must-go places on my next trip to Seoul! It is a popular Korean fusion restaurant located in Garosu-gil.
Wore a VainGloriousYou maxi sample and I am honestly surprised and flattered by the amount of interest it garnered on my instagram! I was initially struggling with making this maxi because of the raw hems. To get the flow and lightness of the maxi slits, I have to do away with hemming each slit otherwise, the nicely done hems will weigh down the maxi. And this maxi is already extremely heavy! I had this vision of a extremely flowy maxi that moves with the wind and with each step – SO SO HAPPY this maxi is a success! I took another step further and chose a bold color palette for this design so other than white, it also comes in royal purple and engine red ;) I want my customers to feel like a royalty and step out with confidence with this bold color palette that is never before seen on VGY! So please give me your utmost support! :)
Shoes also from VainGloriousYou
First dinner with my companions on the trip!
This soup which was served towards the end of the dinner with plain white rice looked pretty simple and bland but it turned out to be my favourite dish on the entire trip. It was so savoury and was packed with dimensional flavours which left a lingering spicy aftertaste even after the meal. Dayum~
After dinner, we made our way to innisfree store for a store visit where we went crazy with shopping!
I must have been smiling at all the products around me haha. This photographer really have a knack for capturing those in-the-moment snapshots :p
Brought back alot of innisfree products for my beloved friends! Some of my favourites include their cosmetic line products! Can’t wait for the highly raved Green Tea Seed Serum to land in the first innisfree store in Singapore! It is one of their best seller items! What a pity it was sold out when we got there :(
The Green Tea Line is established in 2008 where all products are subjected to the “Fresh Cosmetic System”. This system sells all products within three months of manufacture. It is also innisfree’s major antioxidant moisturizing product line where it uses seeds from ONLY green tea leaves grown in the clean soil of Jeju for more than seven years. It also combines innisfree’s special Seed Bio Technology to pack the product with powerful antioxidants and deliver ample moisture to the skin. Knowing it was sold out everywhere makes me even more eager to try it for myself!
Another one of their best selling products is the Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask which was also fully sold out!
DAY 2We had the privilege of staying in the luxurious 5-star Lotte Hotel and had a room to ourselves. So I went out shopping on my own at midnight and was pretty dazed when I woke up :p
We started the day with a tour at the new Amore Pacific Beauty Campus where we learnt about the company history via the well-designed Story Garden. I was unable to take photos of the tour as this place is not opened to the public yet until next year but I highly recommend this place as one of your must-visit destination in Korea if you are interested in skincare and makeup developed by Asians (koreans in that sense). If I could put my thoughts and fondness about this place into words, I would but try as I might, I am unable to express the soothing experience I had and the fascination I felt about how one mother’s love for her son led to the founding of Amore Pacific and all its brands nestled under it today.
Having taken the road less travelled myself, I actually can connect to the founder’s journey from the 1930s where it was conveyed via themes in the art collection like “take the road not taken”, “find future from past”, “turn a crisis into a chance” and “beautiful dream”.
Everything from the architecture to artworks featured monthly reflects AmorePacific’s mission of presenting themselves as the Asian Beauty Creator.
The door gift comes in a form of a personalized lipstick with your name engraved on it.
Chose mine in one of my favourite shades in orange with a red undertone and engraved “vaingloriousyou” on it ;)
At the Amore Pacific Botanical garden where it is specially designed with various plants used as materials for their cosmetic products. I found it really fascinating to be seeing the plants in their original state for myself before they are harvested for use in the makeup I use. I must have touched and felt all of the 200 plants and herbs grown there haha.
For an entire minute, I stood there and ran my thumb along the leaves of this plant. It actually felt like a dog’s ear that I blurted out nonsensically “oh my god this is Tintin’s ear" haha. Can you see how furry the leaf is from the photo?
Out in the open garden, my friend, Alice from Korea innisfree shocked us when she did a quick scissors action with her fingers in mid-air and caught a dragonfly by its wings! It was even more surprising and at the same time revolting when she said it is a childhood game in Korea! You kids play this in Korea!? We only have loads of cockroaches in Singapore!
Outfit courtesy of Topshop. Shoes from PVS.
By noon after lunch, we moved to Gimpo Airport to head off to Jeju Island. On a side note, John bought me the cute pink luggage from American Tourister specially for this trip teehee.
On the 45 minutes plane ride, I said a little prayer; thanking the Lord for blessing me with this incredible experience and to all the good things that He had given me in my blogging career. It was truly by God’s grace that have brought me here today and between a rolling tear shed, I looked out of the window and I caught something that took my breath away.
Heaven must be real.
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Upon arrival, we rode a 45 minutes ride up the mountains to the famous natural waterfall in Jeju also known as Cheonjiyeon Waterfall. Man, it was my first time seeing a real waterfall haha.
It was yet another sumptuous and joyous time where we went for traditional Jeju Island-style dinner before retreating back to Lotte Hotel for the night :)
More on Day 3 and 4 soon! Most excited about Day 3 because we visited so many beautiful places! On top of that, I rode on a galloping horse high up in the mountain, made my own soap, learnt the art of drinking tea from a tea master and had a luxurious BBQ cookout out in the cold at night!
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Have been extremely up to my neck with work these past 2 weeks (and the next and counting) that I woke up with a panic attack, hyperventilation and my limbs and neck were immovable. John almost had me rushed to ER :/ Still learning to manage my work and stress better! Looking forward to December because it is a month of celebration with John, my Dad and my birthday all in this month of magic! ;)
Till then! Have a happy weekend folks! <3
Labels: innisfree, innisfree jeju island, innisfree korea, innisfree tricia ong, vaingloriousyou
With Love,Tricia
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