ALTHEA Korea: Malaysia

Caution: This post could result in damage to your bank account.

Anddddd yet another post. Teehee.

By now I guess you would realise I don’t intend to stick to only writing about Singapore. Or food. Or travel. Singapore was a one time thing that might appear again in the future, but enough of Singapore for now. AM I RITE??

Backtracking to a 17-year-old me, just fresh out of school and off to National Service camp. It was fun times with days on end training in water sports under the blazing afternoon sun. Blazing afternoon sun also means sun damage to my skin causing dark spots and pigmentation that will take a very long time to go away. I should have listened to my mum when she nagged me about sunscreen. (This part has no relevance at all to the rest of the post.)

It wasn’t till 2 years ago that I started to wander into the world of cosmetics. Particularly Korean skincare aka K-beauty. I sunk into that rabbit hole faster than you can pronounce Sulwhasoo. I have normal skin (which a lot of articles dub us the luckiest people on the planet…but I thought everyone had the same skin) with it occasionally being dry. I took it for granted since my skin hardly gave me any problems. Pimples and zits were special occasion troublemakers that only appear when I least want them. (This part neither.)

There are only certain Korean brands that are available as retail outlets in Malaysia. The more popular ones like The Face Shop (infamous for being incorrectly associated to The Body Shop…they fooled me for sure), Skinfood, Elianto and Innisfree who joined the market only a few years back eventhough it has been in existence since 2000 in Korea (that’s 17 years!). Don’t bash me for not including all of it. I’m not very up to trend on what’s new and about. Korea, being the Mecca of all new and innovative skincare certainly did not bring its share to the shores of Malaysia until maybe years later. So it was tough times for me.

Althea however offers the online alternative to obtaining some of the brands that you cannot find in retail outlets here. Prices are several Ringgit cheaper than existing stores. With the addition of occasional promotions like Brand Day where you get a 15% off plus free gifts, or during special holidays like Christmas, prices normally come down to way cheaper than retail stores. Their products are authentic and shipped from Korea itself, so you get the freshest batch of the bunch.

Their packaging is pretty amazing too. That fuchsia will have you running like a coyote to the front door before your postman can ring the bell. 

Housed in a soft pink box, opening it feels like a surprise present you already know you’re getting. The box is sturdy and can hold rough throws and handling because we all know what goes on even to fragile-labelled items…ehem. Do not expect it to block bullets or catch a grenade for you. Be assured though that through my experiences purchasing from Althea every item came pristine and well-packaged, including glass bottles. Only the pink outer box would suffer from dents and tears but usually nothing too major.

Althea has upgraded from a promise to a guarantee. Free shipping only applies to RM99 and above, and I told you it looks like a present to yourself.

There are downsides as well to shopping on Althea where availability of products aren’t sufficient to satisfy avid Korean skincare addicts. They do not offer full range of products and some brands featured on their site only has one best-selling item. The wait time is also hard to bear, considering that it was shipped from Korea instead of a warehouse in Malaysia. Took me 5 whole days of agitated over-clicking the tracking link before it arrives. All is well, all is well.

We all secretly love this part best. 

So, what did I buy from Althea this time?

Primera Miracle Seed Essence and Elizavecca Gold CF-Nest White Bomb Eye Cream.

I’ve used the Primera Essence before and I love it. I could only find it on Althea as of today except if I use sites like Gmarket or Koreamart which I absolutely have no confidence in, not because it’s shady but I just don’t know what goes on in these sites. People have used it successfully before so no shade. Plus once there’s shipping fees my face immediately goes meh.

Again, Althea does not carry the whole range from Primera but at least they have this one. That Elivdsbiheihfa fancylongname eye cream is a new product I’ve been meaning to try and need I say I’m quite a sucker for packaging. Pig bomb wearing a mask leh where else can you find designs like that except for Korea? I think Asia countries in general have mastered the art of packaging and the ability to constantly make people hand in their cash voluntarily for no apparent reason except for a cartoon of a pig bomb.

Althea Malaysia website: http://my.althea.kr/

Also available in Singapore and the Philippines (as far as Google search result shows).

I’ll post a separate review on both items once I have used them to sufficiently form an opinion so stay tuned! If you want to read la.

This post is not sponsored. I wish it was.

Alicia.