Category: Samples

  • Spring 2017 Empties Report

    Today I opened my skincare closet and a massive pile of empties fell out, so I decided to divert some time and energy from the reviews I’m working on and write (some of) those empties up.

  • January 2017 Empties Report

    It’s a new year, but I still got the same old face, and that face still needs to have things put on it and cleansed off of it on a regular basis, so I’ve got another batch of empties to show off! There are some classics in here, some new (to me) items, and one…

  • August 2016 Empties Report

    There’s a bin on a shelf in my beauty closet where I hoard my empties until the bin is full. Then I take a picture of the containers before I recycle them. Usually that picture goes on my Instagram, but this time around, I felt I had more to say about the products I’ve used…

  • Fermentation, First Essences, and that FTE Glow: Secret Key vs. Naruko Facial Essence Review

    Years ago in a meeting room in faraway Asia, hardworking cosmetics marketers discovered that the story they’d spun, of peasant sake brewers with mind-blowingly soft and youthful hands, could sell bottle upon bottle of the novel new skincare product they were tasked with promoting. And thus, the first essence (or fermentation essence, or facial treatment essence or first…

  • Spring/Summer 2016 Flops and Faves, Part 2: The Best and Worst Ginseng Skincare I’ve Tried So Far

    Part 1 | Part 3 It’s a hard life, beauty blogging. Much like the hunter-gatherers of prehistoric times, we bloggers enjoy periods of plentyof awesome new beauty finds but also suffer through long spells of hungerfor great skincare. And much like those Paleo nomads of ancient days, we record our victories and defeats for posterity. They did…

  • The Lord of the Herbs: The Fellowship of the Root (Ginseng Megapost)

    You’ve heard me talk about it on Twitter. You’ve seen it creeping inexorably, product by product, into my skincare wardrobe. You got a taste of it when I reviewed the L’Herboflore Ginseng Anti-Aging Mask. And if you follow my Instagram, you’ve watched it work its way into my nightly skincare routine until it seems like there’s no way…

  • Sample Sampler Vol. 1, feat. A.True and Dear by Enprani

    One of my favorite Korean beauty bloggers, Steph over at Misc. Bliss, does two things I really admire. Number one, she actually uses the samples she gets. And number two, she blogs about them, in a series called Sample Sundays, a concept that I am about to shamelessly steal, because I have a little problem.…