Weekday Randomness: 11st Mini Haul ft. Books, Sheetmasks, & Massive Savings

Earlier this week I posted one of the items that I had recently gotten from 11st onto my Instagram; I don't normally post hauls on my blog these days (I prefer to post about philosophies on mindful purchasing, rather than, y'know, stuff) but since the coupon I had used was so dang good, I was down for a mini-post about it if people were interested.   They were, because 11st can be very very tempting.

Listening to the final cut of tonight's @thesnailcast podcast episode 🎧 while indulging in some #adultcoloringbook stress relief. I love this Korean trend, even if it's not a #kbeauty trend. I'm considering doing a mini post on the small haul I just received from @11st.official, of which this is a part, if people are interested? 🐌🐌Also the topic of this week's podcast, along with direct-from-KR buying sites, buying services, and resources on how to use all of the above🐌🐌 11st is one of the sites we discuss, and also where I got this; @fanserviced PSA'd a great 20,000 krw off EMS shipping with a 50,000 krw purchase ($40 USD) that works for existing users so I took advantage and picked up a few unusual things. If you'd like to see a quick post about it, please shoot me a comment below! #koreanfolkart #11st #11street #haul #hanbang #sheetmasks #koreanskincare #kbeauty #koreanbeauty #coloringbook #watercolorpencils #thesnailcast #snailunit #🐌🐌🐌🐌 #rasianbeauty

A photo posted by Snow White and the Asian Pear (@snowwhiteandtheasianpear) on Feb 24, 2016 at 8:11pm PST

As it turns out, people were quite interested, so here's a quick (as in, I've only worked on it for a few hours) mini-post, as requested!

Fellow Snailcaster Tracy of Fanserviced-b posted the current 11st shipping coupon on her Instagram last week, and since the minimum purchase (around $41 USD) was so low, I snagged a few unusual items that I'd been eyeing for a while.  The coupon is for 20,000 krw off EMS shipping (expensive but fast) with minimum purchase of 50,000 krw, which is super low for 11st, so I hightailed it to their English site version to take advantage of this deal.

11st does have a bit of a learning curve to it, but it can be so worth it if you are willing to put in the effort to score good deals.  In fact, the most recent Snailcast episode is on this very topic, namely "Hardcore K-Beauty Shopping" including sites like 11st, and alternatives such as buying services; you can listen to the podcast here if you are interested in levelling up your shopping game, or just hear our take on it.

In this post:

• What I purchased
• How much I saved (it was a lot)
• How to use 11st & the coupon

There's going to be a lot of photos in this post, as well, it's a haul post.  It's all about the eyecandy ... and spreadsheets.  And sheetmasks.  And Hanbang.  Well, at least I'm consistent?

Just as a quick reminder: this blog uses both affiliate and non-affiliate links, and if you choose to click the fomer before you shop, your purchase may contribute a tiny amount to the maintenance of this blog.  See full details at the end of this post! #receipts

What I purchased

Go Hyun Jung Texture [of Skin]

I've mentioned a few times that Go Hyun Jung is a bit of a skincare idol for me; so when this coupon came around, I used it to snag a copy of her skincare book.  One day, I will have learned enough Korean to read this cover to cover; it's a future carrot I'm looking forward to.

The paper jacket was slightly scuffed in shipping, but it protected the inner cover

One of the things that we talked about on the "Hardcore K-Beauty Shopping" podcast episode was how the reward of finding interesting beauty products was a great motivator to learn the basics of the Korean alphabet; being able to read this book is definitely a motivator for me!

Of course my hand slipped while taking this photo and thus I got fingerprints all over it. Murphy's law.

While skimming through the book, I did come across this hilarious and very relatable photo of her bathroom sink:

I relate to this a lot.

Although I am sure that my items are a lot less expensive, there's no denying that my sink looks a lot like this if I'm not careful.  Then my husband gets annoyed and puts everything back into the drawer that I keep things in ... until they sneak back out and our shared sink becomes overpopulated again.  Go Hyun Jung, I feel you girl!

If you are super keen to get your hands on this and don't want to fuss about with 11st or a buying service to get it, I did find it on eBay for $30.

Minhwa (Korean Folk Art) Adult Colouring Book

Adult colouring books have been a huge trend in Korea and elsewhere, and I have been curious but they're fairly expensive to purchase.  (Around $20-$30 on eBay) I did a lot of hunting for them months ago, and found one that killed two birds with one stone- my desire to have a floral art print and my desire for an adult colouring book.

I had to unearth my old watercolours from their decade of exile in the bottom of a box.

I had been interested in these as supposedly it's very calming and meditative, and I figured it would feel good to get back into the groove of something artistic.

Although I could not find my old coloured pencils of unknown vintage, I was able to find my old watercolour pencils and decided to give them a spin.

So many beautiful prints!

However, I would not recommend doing watercolour pencils as the paper isn't designed for that and you could quickly ruin the pages; water bleeding through would destroy the print on the underside.

Starting to lay down a base of colour and build onto them, but my watercolour brushes are years old and not cooperating. I also have to be ultra careful as the paper is not designed for watercolours and I don't want to ruin it! I might just get some nice coloured pencils and use those instead. Time to slide 🐌 onto Amazon, I think. #enabledmodeactivated Still, it was a really pleasant experience even if the pencils I was using are not the right kind. I'll be posting a mini post about this later tonight and how I used the @11st.official international shipping coupon to snag this tiny haul. #koreanfolkart #11st #11street #haul #hanbang #sheetmasks #koreanskincare #kbeauty #koreanbeauty #coloringbook #watercolorpencils #thesnailcast #snailunit #🐌🐌🐌🐌 #rasianbeauty

A photo posted by Snow White and the Asian Pear (@snowwhiteandtheasianpear) on Feb 25, 2016 at 12:35pm PST

Still it's been fun and I'll be picking up some coloured pencils and some new watercolour paintbrushes this weekend so I can finish this one before using the coloured pencils on the rest.  I just want to avoid damaging the prints.

So pretty

There are lots of different kinds of colouring books, with different themes, but I really wanted art prints and this gave me both.

Inserts detailing more about the origin of the designs

I'm such a sucker for large, intricate, stylized flowers.

I think this will have to wait until I am a little more in the groove with it, so I don't ruin it

Some of the prints are more stylized than others, but they're all beautiful.  Some of the images are a bit more rustic and feature animals, which is not as interesting to me in terms of being eager to colour them, but the florals are breathtaking.

I could flip through this book for hours to admire the art.

Of course, no haul of mine could be complete without sheetmasks, right?  I snagged a pack of Illi hanbang hydrogels (I know, I hate hydrogels, but hanbang + someone is splitting them with me.)

Hanbang Sheet Masks

The art of an 11st international coupon haul is to try to hit the minimum without hiking the shipping costs too much; your savings will do you no good if you're hit with a massive shipping cost, even after the coupon.

So, in addition to the pack of Illi hanbang hydrogels (some of which are off to their new owner) I also picked up just a few Evercos masks to hit my 50,000 krw shipping minimum.

Sheet masks.  There's always sheet masks.

So all in all, a very tiny little haul, but with some inexpensive cost (yet very expensive to ship) items that are a little more unusual than straight cosmetics.

 How much I saved (it was a lot)

EMS is expensive, so keep that in mind.  I always expect EMS to be a good $40-$60 on top of my items, which is why I never use it unless there is an amazing coupon like this one.  The great thing is, if you have a coupon for shipping, the end result is usually a lot cheaper than what you would pay for the same items through regular channels (shops in your country, Amazon, eBay, etc) even with the shipping factored in.

Here's how my order broke down in terms of cost:

Do I use spreadsheets as a form of meditation: yes.

Even when I had to pay an additional shipping cost (you pay an estimate at checkout, then they weigh the items when they arrive and either refund you or request the additional cost) it still ended up very, very worth it.  When I compared the cost of these items to getting them through "regular channels", I saved approximately 59% off retail, even with the shipping charge.  I also got the bonus perk of lightning fast EMS delivery!

Obviously, this is going to be highly dependent on what items you get and how much you are willing to dig around on 11st to find what you are looking for.  That brings us to our final category:

How to use 11st & the coupon

You're in luck; I have an entire picture guide to using 11st and their coupons right here.  Pictures.  They'll help a lot, trust me.  (You can do it, I have faith in you!)  Happy shopping & saving!

Have you hauled anything from 11st using this coupon? Hit me up on Facebook or Twitter and let me know!

Have something you'd like to share with me?  Snap a pic and tag me on Instagram at @snowwhiteandtheasianpear because I'd love to see it!

All the best,

-Cat

**Disclaimer: All products reviewed/mentioned in my blog, are 100% purchased with my own money, with a single exception of a press sample I reviewed in 2015 which swore me off of them forever.  This blog contains  both affiliate and non-affiliate links, and clicking the former before you shop means that this blog will receive a small commission to assist in this blog supporting itself.  Please see my Contact Info & Disclaimer policy for more information.