2015 in Review, Part II: My Favourite K-Beauty Tips, Concepts, & Trends of 2015

In Part I: My Favourite K-Beauty Products of 2015, I listed what I consider to be the best products I've used in 2015, but the products are only part of the story.  As a counterpart to the simple shout out to the tangible products that caught my eye in 2015, this post is about the trends, habits, concepts, and thoughts I have on K-Beauty in 2015.

It's a different beast than it was in the early days of this blog; K-Beauty is now available in Sephora, Target, Amazon Prime, even outlets like TJ Maxx and Marshall's, making it readily available in mainstream shopping venues.  K-Beauty has also evolved and shaped itself to meet the needs of international customers, and the international Asian beauty product fan community has produced some fascinating discussions in the last year.  So this post will be the intangible best of 2015, to balance the light-hearted and unashamed consumerism of the 'best of' product list.

In this post: My Favourite Tips, Concepts, & Trends of 2015

• 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

If you don't care for long swaths of rumination, I'd recommend bailing out now for 2015 in Review, Part I: My Favourite K-Beauty Products of 2015, and here's a Chinchilla sipping tea for some cuteness as you escape.  If you're down for some heavy discussion of some serious topics mixed in with the fun bits, let's do this!

Enjoying my Afternoon Tea🐭😘

A video posted by BuBu The Chinchilla (@cute_bubu) on Jan 30, 2015 at 7:42am PST

This tea-sipping Chinchilla speaks to me on a philosophical level, at least the part of me that loves tea and small furry cute things.  Let's roll!

The Bottle That Stole My Heart: Sooryehan Hyo Biyeon Concentrated Brightening Essence Review

Sometimes we use skincare because it's an excellent product that gives good results, sometimes we use it because it's got an entertaining gimmick, and sometimes it's both.  Sometimes, we just like the pretty packaging, and today's review is firmly in the latter category, but I have no regrets.

Why?  Because it looks like this:

Prepare yourselves for a lot of senseless glamour shots 

I suppose I should feel some modicum of shame as a blogger that the primary impression I have of this product is of the packaging, but when the packaging looks like this, can you blame me?

In this post:

• Gratuitous photos
• Product details
• Ingredients
• Full review

This bottle was so pretty that I actually managed to completely empty it, to the point where I was caught unawares by it's abrupt end, unable to eke out enough of the serum to show the colour or consistency, whoops!  I think I have some ill-fated serum blend attempt photos somewhere, come to think of it.  Anyway, let's begin with the eyecandy and ... stuff.  Review stuff?  Mmm, shiny pretty things.  What were we talking about?

The Hanbang Set Project: Part IV; Damning Children, Liquid Pearls, & a Happy Discovery

With one last week to go, here is fourth installment of My Adventures with the Mysterious Hanbang (한방) set, preceded by:

Upper left: Sap, Lower left: Cynanchum wilfordii Vitality Cream
Upper Centre: Eye Cream, Lower Centre: Wild Herb Cream
Upper Right: Lotion, Lower right: Pomegranate Pack

The Hanbang Set Project Part I: Translations, Patch Testing, & Pictures

Includes:

• Outline of my plan for the month
• Gratuitous photos of this gorgeous set
• What I've learned about the set so far
• More gratuitous photos of this gorgeous set
• My translation progress

The Hanbang Set Project: Part II; The Brand, Initial Thoughts, & 백수오 Vitality Cream Ingredients

Includes:

• What I've learned about the brand
• What I've learned about the set so far
• My initial thoughts of the products
• My translation progress
• Details of the “Oh Unemployed Vitality Cream” - ingredients analysis and research

The Hanbang Set Project: Part III; 15 Flavours of Fermentation, Sketchy Science, & Mold that will Melt Your Face

Includes:

• What the 15 fermented Hanbang ingredients are
• Totally unsubstantiated claims about ingredient benefits
• A breakdown of the 백수오 Vitality Cream ingredients, both Good & Bad

This week I was determined to translate the entirety of the info card that came with the set, as I'm nearly at the end of the month and thus this project!

In this post:

• What I learned about the brand
• Translations of the entire infocard

• Sap/Toner description and directions

• Lotion description and directions

• Eye Cream description and directions

• Wild Herb Cream description and directions

• Cynanchum wilfordii Vitality Cream description and directions

• Pomegranate Pack description and directions

• What I learned about the Pomegranate pack (that made me wish I had done this sooner)

All I'll say for now is that I have been missing out.  I thought that the Cynanchum wilfordii and the Pomegranate products were the same function, so either/or, but I was so, so wrong.

The Hanbang Set Project: Part III; 15 Flavours of Fermentation, Sketchy Science, & Mold that will Melt Your Face

Here is the third installment of My Adventures with the Mysterious Hanbang (한방) set, preceded by The Hanbang Set Project: Translations, Patch Testing, & Pictures, and The Hanbang Set Project: Part II; The Brand, Initial Thoughts, & 백수오 Vitality Cream Ingredients.


This week, I'll be exploring the plant extracts and the ingredients breakdown of the 백수오 Vitality Cream from last week, because after I had laboriously translated and posted all the ingredients, I realized it was just too much info for one post alone!

Image source from ww.w.wemakeprice.com, where I purchased the set

In this post:

• What the 15 fermented Hanbang ingredients are
• Totally unsubstantiated claims about ingredient benefits
• A breakdown of the 백수오 Vitality Cream ingredients, both Good & Bad