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

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  • Propolis Ampoule Mega Battle: Tosowoong Propolis Sparkle Ampoule vs. Graymelin Propolis 80 Energy Ampoule

    Propolis Ampoule Mega Battle: Tosowoong Propolis Sparkle Ampoule vs. Graymelin Propolis 80 Energy Ampoule

    October 24, 2015

    A product featured in this post was provided for review by W2Beauty. All opinions and recommendations in this post are my own unless otherwise noted. Learn more about my rules for store partnerships by checking out my sponsorship policy and sponsor list.

    Fiddy editorial note: An earlier version of this review incorrectly stated that Graymelin Propolis 80 Energy Ampoule does not have an adequate preservative system. I’ve updated the review and my rating of the ampoule to reflect that it does. My bad, guys.

    Bees are such amazing little creatures. These fuzzy little guys spend their days buzzing around from flower to flower without a thought in their head except what’s best for their hive, and they make so many things that benefit us big bumbling humans (who so rarely think anything of the makers except to scream and run away when one of them flies too close to our faces). Honey is delicious, of course, and it can even be fermented into a mild alcoholic drink for your next Ren Faire excursion, not to mention how nice it is for the face. Royal jelly is also lovely for skin, and the nutritious substance is commonly sold for consumption as traditional Chinese medicine. Even propolis, the resin that our little honeybee friends make to seal up their hives, is wonderful! That’s why, when I see a propolis ampoule in a K-beauty shop, my first impulse is always to put it in my cart and check out before I can stop myself. Which, in turn, is why I ended up with two different propolis ampoules in my skincare wardrobe.

    At first glance, the Graymelin Propolis 80 Energy Ampoule and the Tosowoong Propolis Sparkle Ampoule seem so alike that you’d think it doesn’t matter which one you use. As it turns out, that’s not true. Here’s my comparison of these two products and my conclusions about which one is better, and why!

    (more…)

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  • Shopping with Fiddy! Jolse Surprise Sale, COSRX Low pH Cleanser Coupon, and Open Post

    Shopping with Fiddy! Jolse Surprise Sale, COSRX Low pH Cleanser Coupon, and Open Post

    October 23, 2015

    The shop featured in this post is a Fifty Shades of Snail sponsor and, along with other Fifty Shades of Snail sponsors, provided some of the products mentioned below for review. Press samples are marked with an asterisk. This post does not contain affiliate links.

    Hey, guys! Who loves sales? I love sales!

    I love sales, but unfortunately I’m not really the quickest to the draw when it comes to announcing them, which is why I don’t do it that often. But I’m making an exception here for the surprise weekend sale going on at Jolse, because I happen to have a Fifty Shades of Snail-only extra coupon code that I was planning to share with you all today anyway! (more…)

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  • Review: Haishen 80 Sea Cucumber Nutritive Fresh Cream

    Review: Haishen 80 Sea Cucumber Nutritive Fresh Cream

    October 23, 2015

    The product featured in this post was provided for review by BeautyKorea Mall. All opinions and recommendations in this post are my own unless otherwise noted. Learn more about my rules for store partnerships by checking out my sponsorship policy and sponsor list.

    Being of Taiwanese descent, I will eat just about anything as long as it’s supposed to taste good, and I will enjoy just about any food, as long as it actually does taste good. There are only two traditional foods that I actively dislike. The first is stinky tofu (EW, GROSS). The second is sea cucumber. This ultra-pricey “delicacy” grosses me out. I don’t like the texture and I don’t like the taste and I don’t like how their appearance, when they’re being themselves, ranges from condomlike to freaky to really really freaky to comically Lovecraftian.

    Haishen 80 Sea Cucumber Nutritive Fresh Cream
    By the way, I literally only just noticed the sea cucumber graphic on the jar. I’ve had this product for two months.

    With that being said, sea cucumbers do come from the ocean, and I do love putting things from the ocean on my face, so when the lovely Janet at BeautyKorea Mall offered to send over a few items of my choice for review, of course I asked for a jar of Haishen 80 Sea Cucumber Nutritive Fresh Cream. Produced by the manufacturers of the (in)famous Guerisson 9 Complex horse oil cream and the significantly less troubling Mari Huana Real Nature Hemp Seed Oil Cream, Haishen 80 boasts 80% sea cucumber extract. I had no idea what benefits sea cucumbers might bring for my skin, but that didn’t stop me from diving right in.

    (more…)

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  • Review: Goodal Nature’s Solution Firming Sleeping Pack + GIVEAWAY TIME!!

    Review: Goodal Nature’s Solution Firming Sleeping Pack + GIVEAWAY TIME!!

    October 22, 2015

    My days of wildly hauling huge quantities of unfamiliar products are mostly behind me, but every once in a while, the urge strikes and then things like this happen:

    Memebox shopping cart
    Whoops

    I’m set for months for new products to test and have already tried a few of the many things I hauled. Some have been winners that I’ve already reviewed; some were duds that I’ll be dragging for your enjoyment soon enough. And then there’s Goodal’s Nature’s Solution Firming Sleeping Pack, a product which sounded like absolute heaven.

    (more…)

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  • Review: Primera Smooth Cleansing Cream

    Review: Primera Smooth Cleansing Cream

    October 21, 2015

    The product featured in this post was provided for review by W2Beauty. All opinions and recommendations in this post are my own unless otherwise noted. Learn more about my rules for store partnerships by checking out my sponsorship policy and sponsor list.

    Like many other kids, little-girl me was fascinated with my mom’s beauty rituals. My mom was a Total Badass™ who, unlike me, had no qualms about not fitting in. In our homogeneous and conservative Midwestern town, she stood out: She got her fashion ideas from Vogue and her hair and makeup inspiration from Sheena Easton. And every night, all that vibrant and perfectly applied makeup had to come off. She took her makeup off with the Pond’s Cold Cream. I remember watching her massage it into her face, the fragrant white cream darkening and turning muddy with makeup before she tissued it off.

    Cold cream worked great for my mom, but even after I got seriously into skincare, I avoided it. Nostalgia worked against me here, since I associated it with older women. But when Alice from W2Beauty contacted me to offer my choice of a few products for review and I noticed Primera’s cleansing cream on the site, I figured it was time to give this classic cleanser format a chance. If nothing else, I figured, taking my makeup off with cold cream at the end of the day would be a nice way of reconnecting with my memories of my badass mom.

    (more…)

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  • Debut Review: COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser

    Debut Review: COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser

    October 13, 2015

    The product featured in this post was provided for review by COSRX. Affiliate links are marked with an asterisk(*).

    Finally!

    Some of us have been waiting since all the way back in May for the COSRX low-pH facial cleanser. For me, dreams came true on September 14, when I got a package in the mail from COSRX containing a little pre-launch sample bottle of the Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser. I’ve been using it almost every day since then, taking breaks only to evaluate its performance against other comparable cleansers. I was able to give some initial thoughts last month. Now launch day is here, and I can take you guys on a deep dive through all this new product is capable of–and give you a way to save a little money on your first tube, if you decide you want to try it!

    (more…)

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  • Curology (formerly PocketDerm) Month 1 Update and Mini-Review

    Curology (formerly PocketDerm) Month 1 Update and Mini-Review

    October 8, 2015

    Holy crap. I can’t believe more than a month has already passed since I received my first shipment of PocketDerm Anti-Aging prescription tretinoin. During that month, I finished off my first prescription, and PocketDerm became Curology, merging the anti-aging and acne offerings into one seamless prescription skincare service.

    I don’t have progress pictures to share just yet (I’ll be doing those in two-month intervals so that the improvements are more obvious) but I wanted to provide an update and mini-review of my experience with Curology/PocketDerm so far.

    (more…)

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  • Casual Wednesday: Science’s Place in Skincare, Ask Fiddy, Links & Open Post

    Casual Wednesday: Science’s Place in Skincare, Ask Fiddy, Links & Open Post

    October 7, 2015

    Hi, guys! I want to do something a little less structured today. A big part of the reason I love keeping this blog is seeing and participating in the discussions that it can spark, so I thought I’d make an open post and invite you all to talk about whatever you want or ask me whatever you want, whether it’s about skincare or something else entirely! I’m a pretty open person, and I’ll be happy to answer questions about pretty much anything I can speak on.

    I have only one rule. 99% of you don’t even need to hear it because you are already awesome people that I’m privileged to have as readers. In case any of the other 1% are reading this, though: You may have noticed that any hostile, derogatory, or harassing comments you attempt to post here don’t show up. That’s because I refuse to host hateful speech on Fifty Shades of Snail. Play nice or get out of my house.

    (Respectful, civil disagreement and debate is of course totally fine and welcomed. Those are things that the 99% of you who are grown-ups know how to do without losing your shit.)

    Anyway! I’ll start things off with what I want to talk about, which is the intersection between cosmetic skincare and ¡¡SCIENCE!!, and how far I think we should go in using ¡¡SCIENCE!! to make our purchasing decisions.

    (more…)

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  • Quickie Body Review: Tony Moly Pure Eco Snail Moisture Gel, Plus a Discount Code for You

    Quickie Body Review: Tony Moly Pure Eco Snail Moisture Gel, Plus a Discount Code for You

    October 6, 2015

    I really, really, really don’t like putting body lotion on. Almost all of my motivational vanity is reserved for my face, and so are almost all of my fun and exciting products. I know I’m not the only one, either. I’ve talked about this more than once with my fellow skincare enthusiasts and beauty blogger homegirls, and the consensus is always that no one enjoys the body moisturizer chore. In fact, I had to make a new post category just for this review. I never expected to feel strongly enough about any body product to want to write about it.

    Unsurprisingly, what changed all that was snails.

    (more…)

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  • Review: Etude House Real Art Moisture Cleansing Oil

    Review: Etude House Real Art Moisture Cleansing Oil

    October 5, 2015

    Of all the different product types assembled in my extensive skincare wardrobe, cleansing oil is the one I think about the least. I mean, there’s just not that much to think about. You’ve got your oils to break down and loosen up makeup and sunscreen, your emulsifier(s) to enable easy rinsing with water, maybe a few nice-sounding bonus ingredients, some fragrance, and some preservatives, and that’s pretty much it. I don’t research cleansing oils before I purchase them as I do with everything else I put on my face, and I’ve never really felt I should. After all, I’ve gone through a handful of different cleansing oils and balms all chosen more or less at random, and they’ve pretty much all worked fine.

    Yeah, well. My winning streak was bound to end sometime.

    (more…)

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