Balancing Ethics, Originality, and Sustainability: Thoughts for New K-Beauty Bloggers

So you think you might want to start a K-Beauty blog, because you're passionate about the products, you've learned so much during your personal journey, and you want to connect with others like you; and you should. Those are all great reasons to start a blog in our little Asian beauty product niche, and there are such a staggering number of products (even if you were to stick to just K-Beauty) that there's an endless supply of new products to review and discuss.

Maybe you imagine yourself drinking tea in a bright but cozy corner of your home, feverishly writing about how much you loved (or hated) a largely unknown product, so that other enthusiasts can benefit from your experience.

Laptop, tea, sheetmask, check. This is not what my workspace really looks like; it's missing me curled up in my chair, sans pants, balancing my laptop desk on my knees while I forget to drink my tea until it's cold. This is why I use tea cups with lids.

The truth is, writing posts claims only a small percentage of blogging time. The vast majority of the time required to run a blog is filled with behind-the-scenes tasks, and this has lead to the burn out of many a developing blogger.

Earlier this year, fellow The Snailcast podcaster Tracy of Fanserviced-b wrote a no-holds-barred daily breakdown of A Week in the Life of a Beauty Influencer, which made me exhausted in empathy just to read it. This post is about what pitfalls I've encountered in the last 5 years, and my advice to new bloggers on how to dodge them.

In this post:

• Originality: find your voice
• Sustainability: feast and famine
• Ethics: shops, brands, and monetization
• Upkeep: photography, webhosting, and social media

Why am I writing this post? Since we're talking about behind-the-scenes transparency here, it's because: 1. I've been tinkering with this post in my drafts for months, 2. I was inspired to write it by Tracy's post, 3. I am working on several product reviews that are still in the testing phase, 4. I have a product I want to drag back to hell but I don't want back-to-back negative reviews, and 5. because I see a lot of new bloggers falling into avoidable hazards out of inexperience.

I'm learning constantly thanks to the kindness of others, and I want to pay it forward.

Guest Post: Skincare Swap Experiment with Fifty Shades of Snail

You know what happens when skincare bloggers get together? Shenanigans. As some of you already guessed from our Instagram posts, I've dragged my fellow snail Fiddy of Fifty Shades of Snail into some skincare routine-swapping mischief.  You'll find a link to my companion post at the end of this guest post!

My Skin Is a Spoiled Princess: Fiddy's Skincare Routine Swap Story

By guest blogger Fiddy of Fifty Shades of Snail

One of the things that alarms me the most in my blogging life is a reader's declaration that they've decided to duplicate my routine all at once. To me, that's never a good idea. Everyone's skin is different, and no one person's routine should be a template for anyone else.

Which is why, when the lovely Cat asked me if I wanted to swap routines for a few days, I hesitated for a moment, pondered all the ways that things could go wrong, and enthusiastically agreed. What better way could there be to demonstrate the pitfalls of copying someone else's routine format, or to learn that maybe we're wrong and one way really is better than the other?

Who am I and why are we doing this?

This project was inspired by a Refinery29 piece in which two women swapped their makeup routines--and actual makeup products--for clicks and funsies. Cat and I, being sane and germ-averse, and also impatient to get started, decided that instead of swapping actual products, we'd adopt each others' routine steps. This is a record of what happened to me on Cat's routine.

Screencap  featuring swapping used makeup from Refinery29s makeup swap video

For those of you who don't know me, either for real or in the way that Mariah doesn't know people, I'm Fiddy, one of Cat's fellow Snailcasters. I usually confine my thoughts to Fifty Shades of Snail. I'm here today at Cat's invitation to share my experience using her routine format, while she's currently camped out on my blog.

You guys are probably already familiar with Cat's skin, which is dehydrated, oily-combo, and prone to acne and clogged pores. Mine, on the other hand, leans dry. I don't have many problems with clogs or breakouts; instead, I'm battling aging and hyperpigmentation.

As you can imagine, our routines look a little different.

What's In My Stash: Forgotten Finds & Organization Overhaul

This weekend I finally battled my stash, and I believe I've succeeded in wrestling it into submission.  I may have ragged fingernails, skinned knuckles, and more bruises than I want to contemplate, but after a weekend of hauling around boxes, sorting piles of products, and late-night furniture assembly, I've finally managed to properly set up my stash!

By that, I mean that I wanted a way for me to visually see my skincare stash at a glance instead of having to go digging through drawers and boxes, because I have a lot of interesting things that I just don't pull out and ogle nearly enough.  Like these:

IOPE, why did you have to change your refill inserts right after I bought this limited edition case for a giveaway?

I'm not usually too concerned with the state of my stash organization, because I have it organized in a spreadsheet that keeps track of it all for me, but my home office had become overrun with partially-unpacked orders, various photography trappings, and a thriving colony of packing materials that seemed to be breeding in every corner.

I'm good at keeping track of what I buy (that spreadsheet, yo) but I somehow manage to forget to enter the things I receive as gifts, either from friends or "gifts with purchase" which arrived in store orders.

In this post:

• The result: behind the scenes in my home office & tamed stash
• Interesting finds from the depths of my stash: "Oh hey, I should totally use this!"
• Adventures in stash wonderland: inside drawers, shelves, refrigerator, & my bathroom counter
• What's left on my to-do list

I was amazed at how little space it took up once I sorted through everything and pulled out all the empties, boxes, and discards-- I have no idea how large the average beauty blogger's stash is, but compared to the jaw-dropping stash videos I've seen, mine is downright tiny!  Bless you, spreadsheet, for keeping me in check, even if you can't display all the pretty packaging.  Time for lots of photos!

Is K-Beauty for Everyone? Perspectives on Appropriation and Marketing

I have a confession: I've been in a bit of a skincare funk.  For a long time, I've blamed it on overwork-- working 60 hours a week has left me little time for luxuries like brushing my hair showering daily sleeping more than a few hours a night an elaborate skincare routine, but I've come to realize that it's much more than that.  I'm in a K-Beauty funk, meaning that I've been feeling conflicted and troubled every time I go to wash my face.  It's time for some soul-searching.

As K-Beauty has become more and more mainstream in the west, it's gone from being an ignored niche interest to a widely-marketed source of $$$ from all levels of the beauty industry, shifting from hipster-y hobbyists to an oversaturation of US-based resellers cannibalizing ideas while mega retailers like Sephora and Target stock sheet masks and snail creams.

You might think this is another one of those tired tropes of aforementioned hipster grumpy over their obscure finds becoming mainstream, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Actually, I'm absolutely thrilled that K-Beauty is in such international demand that Sulwhasoo recently launched a whopping 7 shades ranging from #11 to #33, a move which completely shocked a Korean friend of mine as she pointed out that most Korean brands feature only two shades (#21 and #23) and don't address [in her opinion] the shade needs of Koreans in Korea, let alone anyone outside of Korea.

Image from Sulwhasoo's KR site

I'm quite happy that K-Beauty has grown so much in the 4 years that I've been blogging about it, because it's seen exponential growth and it's a totally different scene since the days where I had to use Google Translate to figure out what I was buying.

What troubles me is how it's being marketed, talked about, and presented.

In this post:

• The trouble with K-Beauty marketing
• Why I write about K-Beauty
• 5 Korean women share their thoughts about K-Beauty on the global stage

There's nothing wrong with a little soul-searching to examine one's own motives and reasons for doing, well, anything.   But more important than what I have to say about it, is what the Korean women I know have to say about it, and I'm fortunate enough to have several sources just an email away for me to ask!

How I Test and Review Products

While working on an upcoming project, I went looking for a post to link that detailed my testing and review process, and I realized I didn't really have one.  Whoops!  I do have a pretty in-depth post about my spreadsheet which focuses on how my stash is organized and how the testing schedule works, but I don't really have a stand-alone post about the testing process despite being pretty passionate about it ... so here we go!

An automated testing schedule is a lovely thing.

In this post:

• Why (isolation) testing is important
• How I test products for review
• My testing schedule because I'm nerdy and unrepentant about it

While this post is intended to offer people a behind-the-scenes look into my process because I'm really keen about transparency and sharing my nerdy testing schedule with people, it's also going to be beneficial to anyone who's keen on a multi-step Asian skincare routine.

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.

K-Beauty Belongs to Everyone: Reflections on a Lost Weekend

Today is going to be a very short post, because frankly, all I want to do is curl up in a blanket with some hot cocoa and a sheet mask, and watch snow falling for the first time in 8 years.

Yes, that's a backup supply of marshmallows in case they melt too fast. Don't judge me.

Instead I'm typing here with cold-stiffened fingers while I'm waiting for my new wireless handwarmers (they're little toasts!) to charge, and my heart is too heavy for reviews or tales of K-Beauty adventures today.

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you may be aware that it's been a really eventful week; if not, I recommend that you check out this follow-up piece on Fashionista or the one from The Frisky.  Two other members from The Snailcast who were also impacted have already shared their thoughts:  Tracy of Fanserviced-b here, and Fiddy of Fifty Shades of Snail here.

However, I'm not going to write about what happened, because for one it's already been well-covered at length in the links above, but for another, it's a sad truth that moments where someone attempts to hijack the influence or credibility of a blogger for their own gain are sadly not uncommon.  To be honest, I'm still troubled by the fact that people are trying to infer that the absence of one thing implies the presence of another, namely inferring that my objection to my work being appropriated to promote a political agenda (without my consent) is an indicator of my stance on said politics.

The thing is, I've never said what my politics are, and there's a very good reason for that: that's not what this blog is about.  Do I have opinions and beliefs outside of K-Beauty?  Well, I'm an adult human, so that goes without saying.  They have no place here, though; this blog is not a tool for politics, not even my own.  Therefore, my politics are, and will remain, private, and I don't appreciate people exploiting my silence on them as tacit permission to fill in their own narrative about what they might be (or not be.)

So in the light of all this, I'd like to make a statement about politics of ... K-Beauty, since that's, well y'know, what this blog is about.

K-Beauty is for everyone; it belongs to the people.

It does not belong to the shops, to the magazines, to the professional trend-watchers, to those seeking to capitalize on it.  It belongs to the fans, to those of us who connect with one another through social media, blogs, forums- striking up friendships and connections with people around the world as we engage through our mutual love of Asian beauty products.  K-Beauty did not become a "thing" through the machinations of business people, its evolution into the prominent force it is today is due to the international community that nurtured its growth.

K-Beauty is about sharing reviews and new discoveries with one another, developing communal knowledge, and silly Instagram hashtags that invite people to be part of the conversation, to be part of the narrative.  It's not about stealing people's ideas for profit, whether that profit is monetary gain, credibility, or exposure.

That community, that culture of connection, has been the light in the darkness this week; for all of you who have reached out to me for reassurance that things are ok, and to reassure me that things are ok, I am so grateful that we're all in this together.  Now let's go get #sheetfaced.

Have something you'd like to share with me?  Hit me up on Facebook or Twitter, or even better, snap a pic and tag me on Instagram at @snowwhiteandtheasianpear because I'd love to see it!

All the best,

-Cat

P.S. Someone asked me where the handwarmers were from, they're on Amazon for around $45 for the fancy wireless ones, the type I have is "Butta" but they have other faces as well.

**Disclaimer: All products reviewed/mentioned in my blog, unless expressly stated to be press samples which were provided for honest review, are 100% purchased with my own money; regardless of their origin, my opinions are entirely my own.  This blog contains  both affiliate and non-affiliate links, and clicking the former before you shop means that this blog will receive a small commission to assist in this blog supporting itself.  Please see my Contact Info & Disclaimer policy for more information.

One Shade to Flatter Them All: Clio Tension Lip #7 'Some' Review & Swatches on Fair, Medium, and Deep skin tones

Time for more fall-appropriate makeup adventures!  I'm quite excited about this post because not only do I absolutely freaking love this lipstick, thanks to the help of two lovely fellow K-Beauty bloggers, I'm going to be able to show how it looks on skin tones other than mine!

I not only love this lipstick, but it's been my go-to shade side I started using it in ... July?  (Seasonal appropriateness be damned, I love plum shades.)   I made a summer haul from Clio's official US site which included this lipstick, and was very excited about it as it was sold out on the site from which I'd been hauling, but to my sadness it didn't survive the trip.  When I opened it, the lipstick was nowhere to be found- it had melted and slid into the lid.  Nooooo!   I let Clio know about a (sunscreen) hiccup in my order which was my fault, I mentioned what happened to the lipstick, and to my delight, they offered to send me a replacement!

My pristine replacement tube, finally ready for photos.

When the weather cooled off, I contacted Clio to arrange to add my replacement lipstick to an order I was making- which is how got my hands on the new eyeshadow palette from Clio; you can check it out here: First Look & Swatches: Clio Pro Palette

In this post:

• Product Details
• Lip Swatches on NC10, NC35, and NC/NW45 skin tones
• Comparison swatches with other red/pink/purple lip products
• Final Thoughts

One of the drawbacks of looking for makeup swatches online is the swatcher may not have a similar skin tone as you- this is especially an issue with K-Beauty and deeper skin tones, which are distressingly underrepresented.  So for this post, I reached out to some friends who are both PoC K-Beauty bloggers on Instagram, and they agreed to test it out for me for comparison's sake!

Amazingly, all three of us absolutely love the lipstick despite having very different skin tones.  Swatches ahoy!

5 Thought-Provoking Korean Beauty Blog Posts That Changed Everything

As I run around this weekend trying to find things without half-unpacking every box underfoot, I've been reflecting on changes- I assume this is a typical mental state when one is undergoing mega life changes a decade in the making- including the evolution of this blog and the overall Asian/K-Beauty landscape.  The latter has definitely undergone huge changes in the years I've been observing (and blogging about) it!

With K-Beauty being everywhere in popular/mainstream media and hitting big bloggers and youtube gurus, it can be hard to imagine the days when snail filtrate was freakish and exotic, and BB creams were only available online from Asian companies.  Over the years, I've personally undergone profound development of my skincare philosophy, knowledge, awareness, and review style, but that "didn't happen in vacuum", as they say.

The western interest in beauty products from Asia has really been a grassroots movement made possible by the internet and social media; as a result, there is a strong community network of people who love the products and love to share and discuss them with one another.  As a result, now and then an earth-shattering post comes along that spreads like wildfire in the community, changing the communal landscape.

This is a short list of a few posts that, in my opinion, profoundly impacted the K-Beauty and Asian beauty landscape, reaching far beyond the tight-knit community to the larger public, influencing trends, curation, inventory, and even new product development.

Embracing Change; Ditching the Desert

Today’s post is going to be both a little more personal and also blog-centric, but rest assured next week we’ll be back with your regularly scheduled programming of reviews, nerdiness, and eye candy.  First, though, I have some updates to discuss.

This is a National Geographic image of the desert in which I live(d). Image credit National Geographic

This month will bring about some serious life changes and blog changes; a personal chapter in the life of my family is drawing to a close and a long-awaited new beginning is happening.  If you’ve ever checked out my Skin Type & History post, you will know that I moved from the temperate and verdant climate of Canada to the harsh and barren wilds of the US desert several years ago, and the resulting skin crisis was the catalyst for this blog.  

In the desert no more

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.

Weekday Randomness: Update on Haulzilla 2014; the line between high-maintenance and hoarder

Thank goodness for Weekday Randomness posts, because it gives me a loophole to post about other things without 'cheating' on my Feburary-exclusive 'Hanbang Set Project' schedule: Part I, Part II, and Part III are already live.

I had planned to do a Haulzilla/Empties post but there's no reason I can't do a wee update now, it's not like I am deliberately looking to change things up or anything, just because it's been All Hanbang All The Time! the whole month and I am feeling slightly ill at the prospect of more translations, nope not at all!  Haha. Ha. Ha. Ha. 

...

OH HEY, LOOK OVER THERE, A MONKEY! *runs away*

Anyway, you might be looking at this terrifying image of and thinking to yourself "Ok, how much of that could she have possibly gone through?!" 

Read the full post about the evolution of Haulzilla here!

Sure, it does look like a lot and you might be thinking it's impossible for me to have used almost all of it, but because I am a spreadsheet fanatic, you're going to see exactly how much I have left, how much I'm actively using, and how much is already empties, gifted, or discarded because my skin reacted poorly to it.

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

In my recent Avecko Haul - Products I purchased directly from Korea (Part I) I finished with a teaser image of the 한방 (aka Hanbang, traditional Korean herbal medicine) set of 6 products that I purchased with almost no knowledge of what was in it.

Considering that the product image looked like this, though, can you blame me?

What I did know what this: 1. it was a Hanbang set, 2. it was on a Holiday sale for $24 down from $120+, and 3. it was the most beautiful packaging I had ever seen.  I don't normally buy things that I haven't been able to exhaustively research, but when this gilded, mysterious beauty batted its ornate lids at me, I had to have it.

As you know, I have a rigorous testing schedule organized by my spreadsheet, but since this was going to be a one-time purchase and I bought this in the spirit of adventure, I'm going to do something a little different.  I am going to patch test this for allergies, but I am not going to introduce things 2 weeks apart.

For the month of February, I am going to use this entire line, all at once, as it was intended to be used.

In this post:

• 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

When I found this set, I was using Google Translate's plugin in Chrome, and was bemused to see it advise me that this set contained a "Sap, Latex, Eye cream, Native Beasts, Oh Unemployed cream, Pomegranate Pack."  Oh, Google. You tried.

Better Beauty Through Chemistry: Unboxing of my digital pH Meter supplies

Unboxing posts are popular in the blogging world, but today's contents are a little different than what normally gets delivered to my door.

Kimwipes and buffer solutions and nitrile gloves oh my!

On the 12th day of Christmas, my mailman gave to me: A gallon of distilled water, 280 Kimwipes, 100 nitrile glooooooooooooves, 4 buffering solutions, 100 pH strips, one digital pH meter, and a partridge in a pear tree.  (Technically, the water was courtesy of my long-suffering and non-judgemental spouse, but you get the idea.  Also, no bird in a fruit tree; I'd have nowhere to put it.)

In This Post:

• My pH kit haul
• Prepping my gadgets
• Test results
• Lots of science blather about Vitamin C, BHA, and AHA
• Whether it's worth going to all this effort
• What's worth buying & where to get it

Over the last year, my interest in beauty products has shifted; I am as enamoured of Asian beauty products as ever, but now I'm highly curious about the science of skincare.

If you've been following my blog, you may have noticed that I have started looking deeper into the ingredients of my products, especially those that are considered 'actives' and therefore expected to have reliable results, and doing a lot of research on the science of skin and skincare, such as my Skincare Discovery: Why the pH of Your Cleanser Matters post, where I get granular about why pH is so integral to the health of your skin.

Kahime and Snow’s Guide to Shopping for Hard-to-Find Korean Products When You Don’t Know Korean

This week’s post is is brought to you by the combined efforts of two Asian beauty bloggers, Lin Lin Hime and Snow White and the Asian Pear, who have joined forces to bring our readers this very special how-to guide on where and how to find Korean beauty products- when you don’t know a lick of Korean but you’re starry-eyed at the amazing selection and prices of products available within Korea, and gloomy over how expensive/limited the selection is from international vendors.

In this post:

• Details on the buying service that will send you your products 
• How to locate the products you want 
• Key search terms, ingredients, and brand names - in Korean 
• How to collect the data the buying service needs 
• A pre-made spreadsheet that does all the hard work for you 
• Bloggers cheerfully sassing one another

Weekday Randomness: Testing progress, and I love my spreadsheet

Seriously, without my spreadsheet I would be lost.  Lost! (Click here to view it in all it's glory, and read on for how to use the features to filter what you are looking at!)  Recently a friend let me know that my spreadsheet is apparently appreciated by others as well, so I thought I'd post a quick guide on how to navigate it for the curious.

As you can see in the screencap below, my current Routine tab is just the tip of the iceberg.  The spreadsheet rabbit hole goes far deeper, my friends.

Updated 2016 Spreadsheet image

2016 edit: My spreadsheet has updated quite a bit since writing this post, but the sections for my routine, stash, sheet masks, and testing schedule are all present and still applicable.

In this post:

• What I've been up to
• My testing schedule and how much I lurve formulas that do math for me
• How to navigate my Stash list using filters 
• Upcoming reviews

The Taming of Haulzilla; Counterspace Redemption

If you have been following my blog, you've seen the unstoppable force of wallet destruction that recently exploded all over our apartment; leaving us tripping over the cardboard and bubble wrap wreckage for months.

I am of course speaking of Haulzilla, which you can read about in its full terrifying glory here.

So many things, where am I going to put all of it?!

I cannot deny that Haulzilla definitely increased the amount of products underfoot, but even before then, my collection of skincare and makeup was already spilling over countertops, breeding in our medicine cabinet, piling up in random boxes around the living room, and skittering under my husband's hands when he sleepily tries to brush his teeth really early in the mornings.

I needed to get things under control before there was a causality of either a shattered bottle or possibly his sanity.  I wanted to avoid both.

Weekday Randomness: Spreadsheets, Testing Schedules, and Why pH Pre-Testing is a Good Idea

It's high time for some mid week updates: I have so many things going on that just don't warrant a weekend post but I'm still interested in talking about, so here we are!

In this post:

• Spreadsheet organization
• Automatically generated testing schedules
• Why you should pH test your pH-dependent products before you use them
• Base product emergency backups
• What's in progress?

Social Media and Sheet Masks; or: My Beauty Diary Natto Mask + Art frenzy at 5:30 am

It's a good thing that I don't particularly care about having dark circles, because I am rocking the Panda Chic today.

I'll get to what I thought of the MBD Natto Mask here in a moment, but first I wanted to talk about what I was doing all night and why I'm feeling flushed with accomplishment today.

After my fiasco with RoseRoseShop and paypal's refunding of my money, I was gloomily sifting through various vendors online trying to find the products that I will now not be receiving.  While searching for coupons/discounts, I noticed that one of them tends to post a lot of their flash sales and discounts on Twitter.

Now, I hate Twitter on principle.  It always seems infested with a lot of self-aggrandizing navel gazing and I detest that.  However, if getting on Twitter means that I can keep up with sales from various Asian vendors, I will happily jump on that bandwagon!

While pondering what to cover for a cover photo, suddenly I was struck by the urge to paint a image of my namesake, since "Snow White" is public domain but images are trademarked.  I should just make my own!  I used to be very involved with design as a career until I got married and was whisked away to a life of being the breadwinner, and it's been at least 7 years since I picked up a pencil or brush.

So, while the idea of whipping up my own image was exciting, I was also filled with trepidation because I'm so out of practice that it was unlikely to be any good and would probably be an exercise in frustration and a hit to my self esteem.  I had no idea if I could pull this off.

Like the barren desert landscape which has been leeched of all colours but browns and dead grays, living here has similarly leeched the creativity and passion from me as time has gone on. (Seriously, this is where I live.  This is not a filter, the air is orange from the dust in the air during a haboob, and yes, that's a tumbleweed zooming by.  And it's really that flat and devoid of greenery.) My blog has been a tiny lamp in the obscuring gloom of life here, and last night, it sent me deep into the darkened recesses of our storage closet to find my art supplies.

I was looking for my watercolour pencils, but like I said it's been seven years since I touched anything, and I could only find a motley of graphite and coloured pencils.  I am total crap at anything involving pencils, but it was already 10 pm and I wasn't going to dare watercolour pigments or gouache when I'm almost a decade out of the game.

I'm also not great at drawing, nor am I fast.  When I sat down to put pencil to paper, it was a disaster, and I had ruined some of the fancy sketch paper that was in my collection, so I decided that this was going to be unusable anyway, I might as well use printer paper.

I realized, in the hours that followed, that 1. I have totally forgotten everything I ever learned about drawing, not that there was much in the first place, and 2. I had forgotten what it was like to use my creativity for something other than solving problems at work.  Even if the work I was doing was total garbage, I felt ALIVE.  It was like a large part of what makes me who I am has just atrophied over the years, becoming gnarled and wizened like something left out in the desert for too long.

At 3 am, I was still going strong.  I normally stumble around in a haze of insomnia and perpetual chronic exhaustion, but I was wide awake and intent- even with poor tools and faded skills, I was excited and full of purpose.

After I finally took my photos of the finished piece, all half-assed and glaringly faulty, I stumbled into bed brimming with accomplishment like I haven't felt in years.

So this means that I now have a Twitter account (click here) and a Facebook Page (click here) to boot!

And lastly, here's a short review of the MBD Natto mask, which wasn't exciting enough for a full review:

Details:

Full product name: My Beauty Diary Natto Mask

Purpose: It's a sheet mask infused with Natto in some way, which, if you aren't familiar with Natto, is a fermented form of soybeans that is famous for being an 'acquired taste' and has a consistency that looks like congealed phlegm.  Mmm.

According to prettyandcute.com, which is where I bought it, this mask "contains Isoflavones to help postpone aging and restore skin’s firmness and resilience. Natto extract stimulates and activates cells for hydration and water retention. While seaweed extract offers the skin adequate moisture content. Highly effective in moisture retention and providing nourishment, which allows skin to radiate. Recommended for those with dull skin lacking elasticity and moisture."

Benefits:

• Postpones aging
• Firms
• Hydrates
• Retains Water
• Moisture
• Nourishes
• Radiates

I was expecting some sort of ~*~*super sexy hydration and firming action*~*~, but it was nothing unique, just a typical mask.  Fermented products are all the rage right now (SK II, Missha's First Time Essense, Su:m37 products, etc) so I was really looking forward to seeing what a fermented mask would do, but this was a dud.

Scent:  Your granny's perfume exploded alllllll up in here.  It was so bad I kept sneezing while I was wearing the mask, and that's not the time you want your sinuses getting frisky.  I can only imagine what sort of fetid fermented funk must have been going on for them to liberally douse the whole thing in Eau De Femme Très Âgée.  I will never buy this mask again just due to the scent alone.

Quantity: Single use sheet mask, and like all MBD masks, leaves behind enough essence for you to pat it on your face, in case you want to smell like a senior citizen before crawling into bed with your honey.  Thankfully my husband was fast asleep, so I didn't have to worry about inflicting the stench upon his innocent person.

Availability: MBD masks are all over the place, but please be careful to buy them only from authorized retailers, because resellers and buyers alike are being bamboozled by counterfeit syndicates who are cleverly mixing in genuine MBD masks with fakes to trick wholesalers into thinking the entire order is legit:   Customs officers bust syndicate supplying fake masks of popular Taiwanese brand

Price: Single mask $2, box of 10 $16

Rating: Sheet masks are scored out of a possible 3, and this one is a 1/3.  I didn't give it a zero because it didn't damage my skin, but it was nothing special in the effects department and it REEKED.

Repurchase: UH NO.  Nononononononono.

And with that, we're done!

-Cat

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