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 it on cave walls with primitive artistry. We do it on the Internet, with watermarked photos. The primal scribbles here depict the struggles I’ve been facing as I grab my trusty spear and venture forth from my face cave to hunt down my latest obsession: ginseng!
Fifty Shades of Snail
Finding the best skin care products since 2014. Started with a focus on Korean skincare and grew from there. Skincare tips and beauty tips that work, maybe some hamster butts too
recent posts
- Protected: Fluorescent bulbs and SPF
- How I Grew My Thinning Hair Back Thicker and Stronger Than Ever Before (with no drugs or medical treatments)
- Sponsored: The Best of Skin1004
- How to Ask for Skincare Advice Online, Part Two: What Questions to Ask to Get Helpful Answers
- How to Ask for Skincare Advice Online, Part 1: What Not to Ask
about
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It was something like $10 at Target. This is my skincare basket. It’s the sturdy workhorse that carries everyday essentials chosen out of my much more extensive skincare wardrobe. The contents of my basket change on a fairly regular basis. But I recently realized that some things never get banished from the basket, even for a night. That got me thinking about the ways my skincare routine has stabilized and what products are responsible, which then got me thinking about some of my new favorites as well as the forgettable flops I want to drop. (Sorry.) Let’s see what’s up with my spring/summer 2016 skincare routine!
In Part 1: A look back at last year’s routine vs. today’s, the classics I don’t think I’ll ever be without, and some sad letdowns and surprise new faves. (more…)
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I’m not normally a fan of single-line skincare routines, since they tend to be redundant and reduce opportunities for your skin to benefit from a wide variety of actives and beneficial supporting ingredients, but when I have a good experience with one item in a line, like, say, Innisfree Jeju Lava Seawater Essence, it makes me curious about that item’s sister products. And that is how I ended up with yet another cream in my skincare wardrobe: Innisfree Jeju Lava Seawater Cream, the subject of today’s review! (more…)
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Happy weekend, everybody! I have a nice SNS Saturday giveaway for you this week, featuring the biggest SNS Saturday prize yet, and, for the first time since SNS Saturdays began, open to international entries! Are you ready to win? (more…)
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If there is an afterlife and it has Internet access, then my mom is about to be either really amused or really annoyed when she finds out it’s her fault I’m a skincare fanatic who can’t sleep if I don’t at least remove my makeup and moisturize every night and cleanse and wear sunscreen in the morning. I still remember exactly what products she used in her evening skincare routine from when I was a little kid of five or six or seven, all the way back in the Stone Age: Pond’s cold cream, Clinique yellow bar soap in the green plastic case (double cleansing in the mid-80s!), and either Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion or the classic pink Olay moisturizer to finish.
Over the years, other products from the likes of Estee Lauder and Merle Norman spent time in her massive, room-spanning vanity, but the foundational elements of her routine never changed. Now, over twenty years after she passed away, I still think of her every time I pick up my lotions and potions. So when Jen at Beautibi sent me a few of her newly curated boxes to consider for a big Mother’s Day SNS Saturday giveaway, I chose to give away the box I would have picked for my mom (and that I do pick for me, because I am a mom, too, apparently). Check out the Miracles in May Box with me! (more…)
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In my last post, I talked about how serums are among the few skincare product types that can be expected to deliver real skin improvements, since serums can be formulated to target a single, specific problem, without the limitations that primary functions like cleansing or moisturization would impose. I’m nothing if not good at pretending like I have some kind of plan, so today I’m comparing two anti-aging serums I’ve been testing for the past few months: Primera Super Sprout Serum and Mamonde First Energy Serum. Neither of these were holy grail for me, but as I put them through their paces, I thought a lot about the concept of anti-aging and for whom these products might be better suited. (more…)
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There’s a predatory side to the beauty industry, a shadowy underbelly where cosmetics marketers reinforce societal pressures and exploit consumers’ personal insecurities to sell product. One way to deal with this ugly reality is to trust no one and side-eye everything…but I don’t have it in me to pickle myself in the salty brine of cynicism, and I don’t see the need. Marketing is marketing; formulation is formulation. The two departments impact each other, but shady marketing doesn’t always preclude good formulation. There are some truly amazing skincare products out there. Some even do what they claim to! But discovering those unicorns in the dark forest of lies requires us consumers to carefully manage our expectations.
We’ve talked before about the importance of ingredient awareness and how helpful keeping track of our skincare progress can be. Now let’s talk about defending our wallets and complexions from some of the worst offenders of inflated expectations. (more…)
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If mermaids were real (but not fish-faced Lovecraftian monstrosities), would they have nice skin? They’re always luminous beauties in the stories and legends, of course, and would benefit from the skin benefits of seaweed and possibly other marine substances too, but at the same time, you’d think they probably get a fair amount of sun exposure out there in the ocean, and all those crashing waves probably make quick work of even the most water-resistant sunscreen. I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter, since mermaids aren’t real. But if mermaids were real and had access to online ordering of Korean beauty products, I bet some of them would have a few bottles of Innisfree Jeju Lava Seawater Essence tucked away in their skincare wardrobes. (more…)
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Don’t miss “Condoms, Dead Things, and Shade (as Usual),” a listener Q&A session!
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I’m not a beauty box person. I’ll read unboxings and reviews on the blogs I follow, but no box has tempted me since the great Oh Sheet Mask! debacle of 2014. Most of the beauty boxes I’ve seen are nothing but a bunch of samples (which I already have about 5,000 too many of), products destined to gather dust in my linen closet until I put them in someone’s care package, and, at best, one or two items I might actually be willing to try. A box is a big commitment and an even bigger risk. That’s why the Beautibi Spring Fling Beauty Box, which Jen from Beautibi sent for me to check out, is the first box I’ve reviewed here, in over a year of AB blogging! (more…)
Fifty Shades of Snail 