Take My Money: Swatches, Sulwhasoo Balancing Water First Impressions, & Beautytap Review

You know those shops that you always have on your radar, yet somehow never purchase from? That was me with Beautytap (née W2Beauty); it's been around for years, quietly part of the Korean-based shop landscape, a site I'd often check for new releases but ultimately bail on my cart, usually due to the high price tags and lack of distinction from the many other options I had for buying K-Beauty.

That changed when W2Beauty changed; all of a sudden they started doing smart things like bringing on top K-Beauty bloggers (like Coco Park of The Beauty Wolf and Sheryll of The Wanderlust Project) for their new Editorial section. Instead of the usual thinly veiled "advertorial" in-house blogs run by shops to shill their wares, they started publishing original content that was good, written by people who knew what they were talking about.

W2Beauty was always legit, but once it turned into Beautytap it seriously upped its game, and I started plotting out my second order before I even received the first.

Once this SWS water went on sale, it was tiiiiiiime

They also hired people who knew K-Beauty; they brought on Fiddy Snails (of Fifty Shades of Snail and The Snailcast podcast) who unleashed terrible things upon the unsuspecting K-Beauty community, like daily flash sales of fancy products that gave me flares of grabby-handitis and made my wallet weep.

All sorts of products that I'd regulated to the "if I ever won the lottery" wishlist are now regularly appearing in their daily deals, and I need Snesus because they're trying to kill me.

This was some friendly fire, y'all.

In this post:

• Am I affiliated with Beautytap?
• Shopping experience: pros, cons, & why I'll continue to shop there
• Swatch & first impressions: Peripera Ink Airy Velvet #10 Dry Rose Brown
• Swatch & first impressions: Sulwhasoo Essential Balancing Water EX

You might wonder why I'd bother doing something as old-hat as a haul post/shop review, but 1. the world always needs more swatches, and 2. there's a lot more to say about a haul from Beautytap that I definitely want to cover. Plus, hanbang. Haaaannnbaaaangggg.

Winter is Coming: Plotting My K-Beauty Skincare Routine for Colder Weather

It's hot right now.  Humid.  Muggy.  Sticky.  Sweaty.  My current routine has 2.5 steps, because I can't stand moving around a lot while I cleanse, and forget product multi layering.  I haven't posted a summer routine this year, because there's been very little routine to post.  I've been using a cleanser, a BHA exfoliant, and sometimes when I'm extra motivated, a chilled sheet mask.

Essences, serums, hydrating toners, rich sheet masks, creams, oils?  Urgh, I'm feeling slimy just thinking about them, yet that's exactly what I'm doing - thinking ahead.  Even though it's still 80+ degrees with ultra-high humidity that leaves me waking in a puddle of my own sweat, I've been plotting and planning my autumn season skincare routine.

The only sign of the coming colder weather is shorter days and rapidly fading light.

Planning ahead allows me to leisurely research and contemplate what products I might like to try, figure out where they would go in my testing schedule, comparison shop, and mull over the contents of my cart.  I'm big on mindfulness when it comes to beauty, and this is the equivalent of shopping while you're full, instead of waiting until you're hungry and just want all the things.

In this post:

• The seasonal skincare approach
• New products I'm adding into my routine
• Cleansers, actives, hydrators, creams, sleeping packs
• What I'm looking to add to my routine
• Sheet masks, mists, and sunscreens

I have no idea how many of these are going to work out, but it feels good to have some new product testing on the horizon, instead of endless repeats of the same minimalist routine.  Bring on the cold weather, I am beyond ready!

K-Beauty on Amazon: Rebuilding a 15+ Step Routine if My Stash Caught on Fire

Phew, I did it!  As I mentioned in Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kits for 4 Skin Types, that if I managed to not throw myself  off a cliff after finishing all 4 skin types, I might do a bonus "My personal kit if my house burned down and I had to start over with nothing but Amazon gift cards" version.  *knocks on wood that will never happen.*

I also warned that unlike the original starter kits, my lineup would not have just 5 items or less, because that's not how I roll.  Here's yesterday's products, for example:

Instead of "drive it like you stole it", it's "layer it like you bought it & it has a limited shelf life"?

I'm coming back to this series as it's something that people seem really interested in, but I'm going to have to break it up a bit because I want these posts to be heavy on visuals and light on wordswordswords.  This is also going to help answer those questions like "why does toner go after a first essence?" and "where do I sheet mask?" which despite all the numerous guides I've made over the years, still remain a frequent visitor to my inbox.  Visuals for the win!

What I'm going to do once this post is done, is create visual examples of how these products can be combined into different routines.  That will be coming up next, woo!

In this post: 

• My K-Beauty picks on Amazon (if my house burned down)

• Cleansers: 1st & 2nd Cleansers + Toners

• Actives: Anti-Aging & Anti-Acne

• Hydrators: Essences, Toners, & Sheet Masks

• Occlusives: Creams, Oils, & Sleeping Packs

• Sun Protection, Spot Treatments, & Mists

Let me just say before we start that 1. you do not need all this stuff.  Really.  2. this is not a recommendation of skin treatment; that is a discussion between you and your doctor.  This is just a curated (eurgh that word) round-up of Korean beauty products I throw my money at that are readily available on Amazon, in case you are the "two day shipping or bust" vs the "80% off retail and wait 3 weeks" type.  If you're the latter, this post is for you: From Beginner to Expert Mode: Where I Buy K-Beauty & Asian Cosmetics

Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kit #4 - Normal, Hyperpigmented, & Aging Kit

The last post of the Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kits for 4 Skin Types series is here!

This week's kit is in honour of my mother-in-law (and aunt-in-law) who I've been slowly luring into K-Beauty over the years-- she had a nonexistent routine and a very unfussy approach to self-care, so it's been all about baby steps.  That is, until she realized the products I've been gifting her have been fading the sun/dark/age spots she's started to develop in the last few years, and now she's on board.  I'm now working on my aunt-in-law; soon she too will be serum-ing and sheet masking with abandon! *shakes determined fist at the sky*

Left: simple. Right: eeeeek!  Both are examples of the daily routines I post on Instagram.

As a reminder, the products and routines in this series are actual routines and care packages that I've put together for actual real people (not usually all at once) as gifts or recommendations if they've expressed interest in my hobby.  I am not a medical professional and I am not 'recommending' things as a treatment for others; this is me letting you all behind the scenes into what I personally gave as gifts, etc, for personal friends and family.

In this series:

All starter kits will feature 5 items or less, what they're for, and how to use them.  All lovingly selected with thought and care, because when I make kits for my friends and family, it's a box o' love.  Obviously not everything works for everyone, patch testing is necessary, etc etc.  (Two weeks between new products!)  These are just my personal picks.

• Starter Kit # 1: My college-age friend with oily, acne-prone skin (link here)
• Starter Kit # 2: My college-age friend with dry, stressed skin (link here)
• Starter Kit # 3: My mother's sensitive, dehydrated, aging skin kit (link here)
• Starter Kit # 4: My mother-in-law's normal, hyperpigmented, aging kit (you are here!)

• Bonus Kit if I haven't thrown myself off a cliff from creating all these visual (yes, visual) kits:  My personal kit if my house burned down and I had to start over with nothing but Amazon gift cards, which won't be simple, less than 5 items, or anything else straightforward.  No promises. Done! K-Beauty on Amazon: Rebuilding a 15+ Step Routine if My Stash Caught on Fire

Once these posts are live, I will link them above.  Done! As I mentioned in the original post, these items will be from Amazon for accessibility reasons as a counterpoint to the more internationally-focused From Beginner to Expert Mode: Where I Buy K-Beauty & Asian Cosmetics post.  K-Beauty should be accessible and affordable for everyone; it might have a steeper learning curve at first but it's not a pretentious, elitist thing and there's options for everyone no matter your taste or budget.

Accessibility is an ongoing theme in discussions with the podcasters of The Snailcast and my decision to create this series inspired by the amazing K-Beauty routine that Tracy of Fanserviced-b posted for normal skin types, which you can check out here: Easy Starter K-Beauty Skincare Routine for $100 on Amazon.

My mother-in-law has normal, non-reactive skin that does not require any products to stay balanced; she has been doing a simple soap-wash-in-the-shower for years and only started exploring skincare when I explained it could help fade the hyperpigmentation spots she was getting from a lifetime of not using sunscreen.

Boyah Shop Korean Buying Service Review + Haul of Hanbang & Sheet Masks

I use Korean buying services a lot, probably more than your average K-Beauty fan, for reasons ranging from "I'm a spreadsheet nerd who likes to min/max my costs for the best deal" to "I'm dangerously close to being a K-Beauty hipster looking for the next obscure thing" to "I like putting weird things on my face."  I've used 3 Korean buying services to date, and liked all of them, and today I'm going to review Boyah Shop.  I'm also going to post some haul photos, as peeps requested on my Instagram.

My buying service order has arrived! My heart sank when I saw a giant leak or possible rain damage on the box, worrying that my preciouses might be damaged. But thanks to the stellar packing skills of @boyahshopkr, my products were safely sealed away from what turned out to be massive rain damage.😱☔💧💧💧 I also received a sweet note and I'm a little 😭❤😭 over how amazing this service is. I'm not even sure if I want to write about it on my blog, because I don't want her to be buried in an avalanche of thirsty #kbeauty fans looking for their buying service fix (RIP @Dowaja, you were not long in this world), but spoilers: this buying service is amazing. AH-MAZ-ING. I just ... I can't even. The responsiveness, the customer service, the cute ... so cute. A++++ 😍😍😍 I need to find something I want just so I can use her service again and bask in the cute. 😍😍😍 (in addition to great service, obvs) Working with her is like hugging a pile of kittens, but without allergies involved. #koreanbeauty #koreanbuyingservice #hanbang #haul #cremorlab #jungsaemmool #sheetmasks #snailunit #rasianbeauty

A photo posted by Snow White and the Asian Pear (@snowwhiteandtheasianpear) on Mar 14, 2016 at 3:44pm PDT

I suppose the caption of this is a bit of a spoiler, heh.

In this post:

• How a buying service works
• What Boyah Shop offers
• My experience with the ordering process
• What I bought
• Would I recommend their service

Also featuring some gratuitous unboxing photos of my goodies, because that's how I roll.

Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kit #1 - Oily & Acne-Prone Skin Type

Earlier this week I mentioned that I was going to be doing a series of K-Beauty Starter Kits, which sounds all fancy and deliberate, when in fact it's a matter of me telling you all about actual starter routines that I have given (or recommended) to real, live people.  Although I still can't recommend a product for you, nor can I give you specific advice as I would need a license for either, I can, and I am, going to share with you the care packages I have made for family and friends to introduce them to K-Beauty.

I want to get them hooked on my skincare obsession, but beginners want a routine that looks like the leftmost routine in the background of this image, not the rightmost:

Left: simple. Right: eeeeek!  Both are examples of the daily routines I post on Instagram.

As I mentioned in the last post, this idea was inspired by the discussions The Snailcast has been mulling over on how difficult it is to simplify something that is endlessly customizable.  Tracy of Fanserviced-b posted a fantastic Easy Starter K-Beauty Skincare Routine for $100 on Amazon, and I hope to build on that by giving examples of starter routines I have given actual people.

Let me recap last week's post explaining how came to a place where I'm comfortable with talking specifics, since that's a thin line:

I still can't make recommendations for you.  (No, seriously, I can't.  No blogger can.)  But, if you'd like to see what I would personally select and put into a "routine in a box" for my personal friends and family members who are interested in this skincare obsession of mine but can't be bothered with all the research and customization and ordering things from Korea.  I can hear my mother now: "This is too fussy, I'd rather just mix up simple things in my kitchen." NO, mom!  Not unless you actually have a background in science when you're DIYing skincare like Chel of Holysnails, please just ... let me send you some stuff.  In a box.  You don't even have to do any work, just use them in the order I put on the letter, ok? 

Then I realized ... if I can pick things to put in a box for my mother and others, and in fact have already done so, why can't I share them with my readers?  After all, I am not recommending that people buy these products to treat a skin condition, I'm just sharing what would go in my care package for that person, based on their general skin type, needs, and most importantly, are simple.  All of the kits will have 5 items or less!

Lemme tell you right now, the 5 item limit is tough when a routine can easily have 15-20 steps in it.  I am determined to stick to it, though, because although are limitless places that you can take your customization, it's good to start simple first.

In this series:

All starter kits will feature 5 items or less, what they're for, and how to use them.  All lovingly selected with thought and care, because when I make kits for my friends and family, it's a box o' love.  Obviously not everything works for everyone, patch testing is necessary, etc etc.  These are just my personal picks.

• Starter Kit # 1: My college-age friend with oily, acne-prone skin (you are here!)
• Starter Kit # 2: My college-age friend with dry, stressed skin (link here)
• Starter Kit # 3: My mother's sensitive, dehydrated, aging skin kit (link here)
• Starter Kit # 4: My mother-in-law's normal, hyperpigmented, aging kit (link here)

• Bonus Kit if I haven't thrown myself off a cliff from creating all these visual (yes, visual) kits:  My personal kit if my house burned down and I had to start over with nothing but Amazon gift cards, which won't be simple, less than 5 items, or anything else straightforward.  No promises. Done! K-Beauty on Amazon: Rebuilding a 15+ Step Routine if My Stash Caught on Fire

Once these posts are live, I will link them here.  Done!  As I mentioned in the original post, these items will be from Amazon for accessibility reasons as a counterpoint to the more internationally-focused From Beginner to Expert Mode: Where I Buy K-Beauty & Asian Cosmetics post.

Let's get going with the first one, for my college-age friend with oily, acne-prone skin!

From Beginner to Expert Mode: Where I Buy K-Beauty & Asian Cosmetics

One of the most common requests I receive (blog comments, Instagram, Facebook, email, you name it) is where I buy my beauty products.  I do have several guides which I will link in this post, but it seems that a lot of people just want a straightforward list of shops that they can start with.  So, that's what we're going to do today!

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

I will be loosely categorizing the shops, but please keep in mind that anyone can buy from anywhere for any reason, these are just how I'd quantify the different shops that I have purchased from, or have plans to purchase from, or would happily recommend to someone looking for something they carry.

In this post:

• Domestic Retailers

Good for: Beginners, Lazy and/or efficient people, Instant gratification seekers, People concerned about counterfeits, Patrons of small business owners

• Domestic e-Markets

Good for: Small haulers, Pinpoint purchases, Deal-seekers with finite patience, People who are annoyed by shifting shipping costs.

• International Retailers

Good for: Deal-seekers, Moderate yolo-ists, People who don't know Korean, Large haulers, Comparison shoppers, Devotees of spreadsheets & min/maxing items vs shipping costs

• Buying Services & Korean Sites

Good for: Advanced users, Thrill-seekers, Hardcore yolo-ists, Spreadsheet nerds, Self-aware K-Beauty hipsters, People who know Korean, Masters of Google Translate,  Deal-seekers with infinite patience

All of the sites listed are places which I have either purchased, or would happily purchase from based off feedback from people I trust.

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.

Sometimes I Never Learn: 3 Things I Always Regret Purchasing

A while back I wrote a post about The Painful Path to K-Beauty Wisdom: 7 Mistakes Beginners Make, which covered some of the most common beginner mistakes that I see people make over and over.  Some of them were mistakes I made myself, some ones I've observed are common in general.

What about mistakes that I keep making, even though I'm dangerously close to being a K-Beauty hipster who keenly remembers the days when BB creams could only be bought directly from Asia,  Korean skincare hadn't yet caught on, and snail filtrate was still unthinkable?  (Ooo, I can feel myself growing a curled-stache & glitterbeard at the very thought.  Quick, get me a Portland craft beer and a pair of suspenders!)   Surely I should know better by now, right?

Sigh.  Somehow, there are a few mistakes that I keep making, despite really knowing better by now, and I'm going to 'fess up.  For someone who is as seriously interested in mindfulness in purchasing and self-care, it's awkward to to talk about the things that I still struggle with but, I'm going to do it anyway!