Blogger Boundaries: Why I Can't Recommend A Product For You, ft. Blogger adoredee

There have been some really thought-provoking discussions flying around the Asian beautyblog community, sparked by posts like How to Beauty Haul Responsibly by adoredee, How My Elaborate Korean Skincare Routine Helps Me Fight Depression by 50 Shades of Snail,  Skincaretainment: Connection & the culture of Korean Beauty by fanserviced-b, and last week’s post on Thoughts on Hauling Responsibly, & Skincare as a Hobby.

It's not always science and snails, sometimes it's science, snails, and serious topics.

[image source]

These discussions have been happening alongside an increasing number of requests I have received to assist with recommending products to resolve specific skin conditions and concerns, and the combination of factors spurred me to reach out to adoredee (who is a Consumer Psychologist as well as a Asian beautyblogger) to tackle another tough topic:  Why bloggers can't definitively recommend products for you, no matter how much we want to help you out.  And we do; most bloggers do it out of love and an interest in sharing with and helping others, but just because we want to, doesn't mean we should.

She agreed, as she too has seen that the temptation to rely on the advice of your kindly bloggers is strong, and many people request assistance that bloggers may not qualified to give.   I suspect that many bloggers, and readers, find themselves in this conundrum and I think it's worth talking about.

In this post:

• The Decision Making Process
• Bloggers are enthusiasts, not Dermatologists
• We can give you starting points, but not instructions
• Recommending products for other skin types
• Skincare is a personal journey; there are no shortcuts

'Jolse Is My Bae' Haul, Thoughts on Hauling Responsibly, & Skincare as a Hobby

Recently, the lovely and insightful blogger adordee wrote a post on How to Beauty Haul Responsibly, which was an excellent and thought-provoking read.

This is a topic near and dear to my heart, because while I am a rapid and joyful consumer of skincare, I'm also fanatical about organization and planning, comparing costs, and hunting down deals.  I've developed a system and approach that lets me balance how much product my skin can realistically use vs my thirst for new products, and all without negatively impacting our finances.  However, I think sometimes this cognizant and deliberate approach is easily overlooked when people are eyeballing sparkling hoards of hauls and sprawling towers of product.

As adordee points out:

I know this is a party pooper topic that no-one really wants to talk about, but it really is important.  I know from experience how easy it is to get yourself swept away. It’s so easy to reach for your wallet to spend spend spend when you see rave reviews, first looks, unboxings and the like from bloggers or users just gushing about their new Holy Grails.

I agree with her, and I also agree that this topic needs to be discussed more in the blogging community, even if only to give context to our individual decision making process that we use to avoid a tailspin of overspending and impulse buying.

Speaking of deliberate buying, I'll also be unboxing my recent Jolse haul as an example of my decision making process in action.

In this post:

• Skincare as a Hobby
• Thoughts on Hauling Responsibly
• Details of my Jolse Haul & why 'Bae'?

I've just finished a week (and weekend) long project, so this post was completed in sections.  If you spy something that you could swear wasn't there before, it's not you, I promise.

Interview: A Korean Prodigal Daughter returns to her K-Beauty Roots

I have been very excited about this week's post for some time; I have been dying to interview H, the lovely Korean woman who has been helping me in my pursuit of lesser-known Korean products- the fabulous Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream, for example.

In 2010, at the age of 21, H moved from Korea to the US and is only now developing an interest in the beauty products of her native country.  Like many Korean women, she used imported beauty products (American and European are the most popular) and Korean-made products were not even on her radar.

However, while helping me with many a late-night Korean shopping site marathon, translating product listings and images that defied Google Translate, my Korean-product-evangelism was so fierce that eventually I was able to convert H to the ~Way of the Snail~.   

This image from her phone spans the breadth of a Great Skincare Journey. Image credit: H

Like the return of the Prodigal Son Daughter, H has rediscovered Korean products and she has agreed to answer all my burning questions about her triumphant return to her beauty roots.

In this post:

• How and why she switched from western products to Korean ones
• Her thoughts on the Hallyu Wave and how it's reverse-impacting Korea
• Her routine and the American products she won't give up

Let's get this party started!

Sheet Mask Roundup and Holy Grail: Spring 2015

As I mentioned in my prior weekday post Sheet Mask Shortage, Frantic Hauls, & Introducing Sheet Mask Reviews, I would be doing mini-reviews of any new sheet masks I've tried on my Instagram.  I don't post mini reviews daily, as I don't use new masks daily, only when I am not patch testing a new product.

However, since not everyone uses Instagram, someone suggested I periodically do a masterpost of the mini-reviews here, and I'm happy to oblige!  Besides, I do have a lot of masks:

What 153 sheet masks + DIY dry mask patches looks like.

I'm definitely a member of Team 1일1팩 (1 day, 1 pack) which is a Korean trend of using a mask every day, whether it is a sheet mask or wash-off mask pack.  Also, some Asian celebrities like Fan BingBing use sheet masks twice a day (link to CNN interview) and she is famous for her skin.

View from our car during
a Haboob (dust storm)

As a desert-dweller, my skin needs lots of uninterrupted daily ~alone time~ with topical hydration; the jealous arid air is usually trying to steal away any moisture that dares to flirt with my skin.  (Photo evidence at right!)

Applying essence/serum/ampoule type products usually results in evaporation before my skin has had a chance to benefit.  I also dislike wash-off masks; the water here is also, well, gross.  It's highly chemically treated and is a bit high on the pH scale, so by the time I rinse off the mask, my skin feels stripped and dry.  I'm not that fancy as to break out the bottled water to rinse my face, so sheet masks are my best friend, and I use them up to 2x  daily.

Uh isn't using masks daily way overkill?  As with everything in skincare, YMMV; if you skin doesn't like masks/doesn't like frequent usage, listen to it!

In this Post:

• Mini-reviews for: the Bad, the Good, and the Holy Grail
• Ranting about hydrogels and bio masks
• Liberal use of stickers as a form of expression
• Ingredients translation for the HG mask

 That may seem brief, but there are 27 mask reviews in this post, so that's plenty of reading!

April Favourites & Upcoming Sheet Mask Roundup

This week I'll be doing something a little more casual and conversational, so if you're not into that or are more interested in seeing reams of sheet mask recaps, stay tuned for next week!

As I mentioned at the end of last week's giant two-part megapost which was a breakdown of the basic steps in a multi-step Asian skincare routine in Part I, and a detailed explanation of the products I use and what order they go in in Part II, I'd be skipping anything too strenuous this weekend.  I needed to recover from the 18-hour writing marathon (not including an entire prior weekend of photo taking) and I decided to do something fluffy and fun this weekend!

Oh Evercos Hanbang Masks, I love you so.  May you always have a place in my sheet mask stash.

I'm not normally one to do 'monthly favourites' because for one, I test things really slowly so I rarely have a lot of products to talk about at once, for another I dislike casual reviews, and lastly I just never gravitate towards those kinds of posts myself so it never occurs to me to do them.

In this post:

• My favourites for April
• Upcoming reviews and testing schedule
• Upcoming recap of my Sheet Mask mini-reviews (normally found on Instagram)