Weekend Travel Essentials For Lazy Summer Skincare

I don't travel well. Or rather, I don't prepare for travel well. I always feel stressed out of proportion about the packing stage, and having a multi-step skincare routine complicates even a simple weekend trip by car. Rather than fuss with what skincare to bring, I just grabbed necessities off my sink.

Does anyone else have issues with the sudden appearance of skin troubles during travel? It's like one's cycle; always picks the worst possible time to visit. With that in mind, I prepared for a skin rebellion just in case. They say that what you prepare for doesn't happen, after all.

I managed to snap these in between intermittent summer showers.

It fit in a ziploc, at least. A large one.

In this post:

• Sunscreen
• Double Cleansers
• Clear Pores & Soothe Skin
• Brighten & Moisturize
• Nullify Blemishes
• Cushion and Concealer
• Mist because it's @#^$# hot out and heat makes me crabby

Also, these photos will not only feature "Skincare I Brought With Me to My In-Laws' House" but also "Random Items I Pilfered From My Bemused Mother-In-Law's Decor For Photo Props" and "Gifts Of Quirky Things She Correctly Thought I'd Like, Such As Old Books And Shiny Things" because hey, you work with what you have on hand when you're travelling. It's ... a metaphor. Something about necessity, or something.

Anyway, here's what I brought to keep me safe, sane, and with as few surprise pimples as possible.

Feelin' Fancy: Sulwhasoo Hydro-aid Mist Review

Summer skincare usually consists of cleanser, chilled sheet masks, maybe a BHA chemical exfoliant to battle my oily and sweaty pores, and mists. Lots of mists. 'Tis the season for mists, because it's hot and humid and everyone is miserable, and mists are light and most importantly, refreshing.

Benefit of photographing a mist: you can use it in between shots to cool off. Which I dd. A lot.

Although this is a fancy full size bottle, I've actually used (and emptied) a travel size of this mist before. You might recognize the travel size from posts such as K-Beauty & Portion Control: Why Sometimes Good Value Can Be a Bad Idea, and Winter is Coming: Plotting My K-Beauty Skincare Routine for Colder Weather.

In this post

• Product details
• Ingredients
• 4 ways I use mists
• Where to get full and travel-sizes
• Final thoughts

Unfortunately, I have no idea where my travel size bottle has gotten to; it's probably sill buried in an unpacked box somewhere, like 99% of my post-move beauty stash. However, during the recent snail rout in NYC, I received a gift bag of goodies from Amore Pacific and conveniently a full size of this mist was in it.

So while bottle in these photos is from Sulwhasoo, it's a product I've already purchased and used on my own. It's no longer sold on their US site regardless. I haven't opened this one yet, but I'll happily commandeer it for photos.

K-Beauty & Portion Control: Why Sometimes Good Value Can Be a Bad Idea

I know, it sounds a bit crazy.  Good value is good value, right?  Who doesn't love value?  As it turns out, me-- at least some of the time.  This is an idea that has been floating around in my head for a few months, peeking out in posts here and there, and finally I decided I was going to push aside a lackluster review that was too boring to write and explore this idea in earnest.

Many tiny things; full-size sheet mask, cushion, toner, and lip balm for scale.

This is not a traditional or "authentic" Korean beauty concept (after all, I'm not Korean; I do believe that K-Beauty is accessible to everyone), it's just something that's been percolating around my head for a while, with roots in both Korean beauty and the international K-Beauty community.  The evolution of ideas that take root and then flourish into countless branches of inspiration and personal discovery is pretty fascinating, after all!

I've been really captivated by the concepts that have evolved naturally from the international K-Beauty community in the last year.  For better or ill, the international K-Beauty scene is as much of a force as the trends that are coming out of Korea itself, in no small part due to deliberate and official incentive from the Korean government for brands and shops to market only overseas instead of within Korea.  But back to the point, which is that the international K-Beauty community generates some very interesting ideas and concepts, as well as endless variations in approach and personal skincare philosophy.

I think it's important to give oneself room to evolve; ideas can stagnate and then become be perceived as the only "right" way to do something; skincare is so complex and there's just so many factors involved that there's no truism more apt than YMMV aka "your mileage my vary" and there's so much room for figuring out what works for your unique skin.

A lot of these concepts also work synergistically; for example, one can be a proponent of both the Skincare Wardrobe concept and also the Hauling Responsibly concept, by practicing mindfulness when making purchases.  The one I'm going to talk about today works well with both, even if it's going to sound a little crazy at first.

In this post:

• The seed: Go Hyun Jung's skincare tips
• Seasonal Skincare: not just capitalism at work
• Portion control: in your hauls and on your face
• Putting it together: Good value is not necessarily a good thing

So what's today's concept?  The idea that getting a great value on your purchases may not actually be a good idea, or sustainable.  I know, nuts, but hear me out.

Speak Your Truth: On Receipts, Podcasts, & How Lifting Up One Another Benefits Everyone

I'm not sure if today's post is going to be short or long, because I'm currently curled up in my chair covered in a blanket, with only my hands peeking out as I slowly type between sips of tea and fits of coughing.  I'm not even sure when this post will go up, because I have to take frequent nap breaks as my nurse friends yell at me that I need to be resting, not blogging, before I end up with pneumonia or in the hospital.

I usually push through being sick and continue blogging into the wee hours of the morning, but seeing as my husband has to escort me to and from the washroom because attempts to walk on my own have me weaving back and forth like I'm failing a sobriety test, even I have to admit that I'm pretty sick and probably shouldn't be straining myself.  Husband is nagging me while still bringing me a constant supply of tea and soup broth; I've been living off a diet of hot liquids, the occasional poached egg, and saltine crackers.  Actually, this is pretty much me over the weekend, just with a saltine instead of a carrot:

Gif made from video here: Dito Lobito on youtube

Thankfully, not only does my husband support me by being my tea-and-soup dealer, he also doesn't complain when he trips over yet another unpacked box of Korean cosmetics, nor does he ask me judgey questions about how much I spend on my hobby (i.e. blogging) because he knows I respect my budget, nor does he side-eye me when he stumbles out for a washroom trip at 4 am on a Sunday morning and I'm still up blogging.  OK, maybe he glares at me forgoing sleep yet again, but at least he doesn't say anything?

He also made an effort to help me place and take a photo of my 'sick day routine' because I can't really stand up, let alone lean over, right now.  So this photo is courtesy of Mr. Snow, given with full credits:

Photo credit: Mr. Snow, who also patiently endured me "steadying myself" by holding his butt while he bent over to arrange these on the table and then snapped the photo.  I'm sick, not dead.

Thank goodness for cleansing water and decanting things into mist bottles, because this is as close to a 'routine' as this flu-riddled version of myself is going to get this weekend.  Did you know that sheet masks can be a way to pleasantly cool a fevered face?  Just saying.

I'm also exhausted from unnecessary drama that has been popping up lately over the last few months, but hit particularly hard this weekend- terrible timing, but is there ever good timing for people to make wild blanket accusations about the ethics of bloggers?  I'm going with no, but seeing as I was already in a haze of dizziness and flu symptoms, I was out of the resources needed to calmly ignore it and keep on living right.  Instead, I just decided to throw out some #receipts on the table so that people could stop speculating and realize that they're actively sabotaging the people who are living right, driving away people who are in it for love, not for money.

It's times like these that make me question blogging, because when the currency in which you pay yourself for your time, effort, and personal $$, is not money but love, how do you keep going when you get a facefull of misplaced anger and hate?

There's so much negativity in the beauty blogging world; so much jealousy and suspicion and shade even from within the blogging community itself.  So how do you offset that?  In my experience, it's by reaching out to one's peers as a hand in the darkness, and looking for ways to lift one another up instead of tearing one another down.

I don't think this gets talked about nearly enough, so I'm going to talk about it today.

In this post:

• Blogging #receipts: what my blog pays me
• The Snailcast podcast, Episode 6: The Truth about Asian Beauty Blogs and $$$
• Countering the beauty blogging culture of jealousy, speculation, and suspicion
• An open letter of appreciation to my readers

There's probably going to be a lot of rambling in my post.  Oh wait, there's also this:

• What's in my "sick day" routine

Ok, grab a lysol wipe and let's do this.  I have a fresh mug of tea in which to dip gingersnap cookies, so I'm going to give it my best shot.

2015 in Review, Part I: My Favourite K-Beauty Products of 2015

This year has been definitely been an exciting time for K-Beauty and Asian beauty product fans; long-time fans have seen what was originally a grassroots niche become mainstream.  We've seen the advent of products carried in Sephora, Amazon, and other major retailers, regularly featured in major magazines like Vogue and Allure, and even book releases on the subject- K-Beauty and AB (Asian beauty products) has really come into its own this year, and it's the time of year for 'best of' posts, so here's mine!

The amazing scent of this wreath makes up for the needles everywhere.  Mostly.

There will be two parts to this post, the first a light-hearted rundown of products, and the second a more reflective discussion of the themes, concepts, tips, trends, etc, of 2015.

In this post: Favourite Products of 2015

• Favourite Cleansers of 2015

• Favourite First cleanser

• Favourite Foaming Cleanser

• Favourite Travel Cleanser

• Favourite Cleansing Tool & Honourable Mention

• Favourite Acne & Anti-Aging Products of 2015

• Favourite Skincare of 2015

• Favourite Toner

• Favourite Essences

• Favourite Serum

• Favourite Cream (and overall top pick for 2015!)

• Favourite Sheet Masks

• Favourite Sunscreen

• Favourite Makeup of 2015

• Favourite Base Makeup

• Favourite Lip Product

The more serious-toned Part II is here: 2015 in Review, Part II: My Favourite K-Beauty Tips, Concepts, & Trends of 2015, and includes:

• K-Beauty goes mainstream: does it have to be Korean to be K-Beauty?
• The most influential concepts of 2015
• Healthy habits: things I adopted and let go of in 2015, for the better
• Top tips from 2015: things that made my life easier
• Trends I loved in 2015 and will continue to love in 2016

It should go without saying that this is just my personal list of top picks; please don't be offended if your favourite isn't here!  This year has seen a lot of interesting developments beyond just the products, so rather than just focus on the tangible products, I'll also be giving a shout-out to the intangible developments that excited me the most in Part II- now finished and linked above.

A Haul Before the Storm: Eye candy, Details, First Impressions, & some Mini Reviews

Something is coming, which I will be posting about in the future, but today is not that day.  Today is a day for happy things like hauls, and even better, hauls with friends.

Today's post will include not one, but two hauls, including one that was a joint haul with a friend with impeccable taste; seeing other people's goodies is sometimes even more delicious than getting your own.

Here's the one from Club Clio:

Awww yeah, so much Goodal goodness!

And here is my half of the KoreaDepart group order:

All the colours!

I'll be posting her half of the KoreaDepart order when we can snag some photos, so keep an eye out for updates.

In this post:

Club Clio:

• What I purchased
• Why I bought it
• First impressions & mini reviews

KoreaDepart:

• What I purchased
• Why I bought it
• First impressions & mini reviews

I won't be doing impressions/mini reviews of everything, as I have a methodical testing schedule that you can read more about here, but many of these are repurchases that won't get a full review.

Updated Multi-Step Korean Skincare Routine Summer 2015: Sheet Masks Galore

Today I'm finally posting the Summer version of my routine, as a follow-up to my in-depth discussion of the Korean multi-step skincare approach post which includes all my Winter/Spring 2015 products ... all 30 of them.

Even though scorching, sticky summer has arrived, the guidelines of thinking in steps, not products, how to add in or remove additional products, and their order of use have not changed, but as always my skincare has shifted to match the season.

Even though there are quite a few products here, this is a far cry from the 30+ in my Winter/Spring routine here.

However, just as I mentioned in the Winter/Spring routine, I use only a few products per day, and tailor my selections to how my skin is feeling ... but let's be blunt here.  I barely use anything these days, because it's TOO DAMN HOT.

As I mentioned in the post: Science Meets K-Beauty Wisdom: How Keeping Cool May Be Good for Your Skin, temperatures here are climbing rapidly and when it gets hot enough that I'm peeling off my office chair with the sound of duct tape being ripped off the roll, I don't want to do a full routine.

In this post:

• It's too hot for layers
• My AM & PM routines
• Cleansers
• Actives 
• Hydrators
• Top 3 Summer Sheet Masks
• Occlusives
• Treatments/Sunscreen

So, here's the updated version of what my Summer 2015 routine is looking like these days!

Science Meets K-Beauty Wisdom: How Keeping Cool May Be Good for Your Skin

I started this post planning to do a Summer update to the in-depth discussion of the Korean multi-step skincare approach I posted in the spring.  In that post, I used my Winter and Spring routines to demonstrate how I choose from the as many as 30 products available for me to select a bespoke lineup for that morning's (or evening's) routine.

I had planned to do a Summer Routine post this week, now that the weather and my routine has changed.

Skincare on ice: does cooling your face help your skin?

But we're not going to talk about that today, because while researching one of the elements of my summer routine, my mind has been blown and we're going to talk about that instead.

In this post:

• A Korean beauty show's warning: keep your skin cool
• Keeping cool in the desert; my summer survival kit
• Keep your skin cooled: heat isn't just hype?
• Brace yourself, science ahead
• My final grain-of-salt personal conclusion

Ready?  Let's get down with science and sheet masks.

Japanese Goodies: first experience with Rakuten + a friend shops for me in Japan!

This week's post is also going to be about Hauls, but this time heavy on the photos and light on the philosophies!

Specifically, Japanese beauty product hauls; although I purchase and review a lot of Korean beauty products, I'm always interested in products of note from elsewhere in Asia.  It can be a little more tricky to find them, however, which is why I enlisted the aid of a friend travelling in Japan and then took my courage in hand to try shopping at a new-to-me Japanese shipping venue called Rakuten.

Is there anything quite like the thrill of getting an international box in the mail?

One of the two boxes of Japanese goodies I have received lately, to my grabby-hands delight

Korean beauty products are taking the world by storm, but there's one area of Asian beauty product fans' hearts that Japan has staked a (thus far) unshakeable claim to, and that's sunscreens.

Oh man, Japanese sunscreens.  For more on how Japanese sunscreens cured me of  a lifetime loathing of sunscreen, click here for my post on my sunscreen struggles and a comparison review of 3 physical-UV-filter-only sunscreens.

However, even though the sunscreen breakthrough allowed me to wear sunscreen without wanting to shred the skin off my face, I am still searching for that Sunscreen Of My Dreams: physical-only UV filters, gentle, non-drying, and with minimal white cast.  A tall order indeed!

In this post:

• Why RatzillaCosme is a sunscreen-hunter's best friend
• My search for a mythical sunscreen
• A friend's attempts to find it + what she got me instead
• I face down my fear of Rakuten & the sunscreen is mine!

Also, Korean beauty products are famous for their packaging, but the Damascus rose mist I purchased from Rakuten is no slouch in the eyecandy department!