Fifty Shades of Snail

Moisturefest Part 2: Mari Huana Real Nature Hemp Seed Oil Cream Review

September 7, 2015
This product was sent to me for unbiased review by Beauty Korea. For more information, check out my sponsorship policy and list of current sponsors. xoxo, Fiddy Snails

Have you ever watched a news story about the movement to legalize marijuana in the U.S. and thought to yourself, “That’s nice, but what I’d really like to do is smear the green stuff all over my face”?

No? Really? Never?

That’s okay. The thought never crossed my mind either. Then the super-sweet Janet of Beauty Korea got in touch with me and offered to send over a jar of the recently released Mari Huana cream for review. I lol’ed so hard at the concept and presentation (almost as hard as if…well, you know) that I just had to say yes. I’m glad I did. I’ve discovered a dependable new cream for my dry tret nights and a new source for major hauls. That’s pretty win/win, if you ask me.

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Adventures in Prescription Medication

September 1, 2015
No, not that kind.

PocketDerm!

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Scinic Aqua All In One Ampoule Review + All In One Ampoule 101

August 31, 2015
The product featured in this post was provided for review at my request by Jolse. To learn more about my rules for accepting and reviewing press samples, please check out my sponsorship policy. A list of this blog’s current sponsors is here.

Water! Often it seems like the most basic, boring, bland and banal resource, but we sure do need it. When we don’t have enough, we suffer. And when our skin lacks water, it suffers, too.

That’s why I’m attracted to products that actually feature water as their star ingredient. Just about any skincare product will provide some hydration, so when a product’s claim to fame is hydration, that suggests that its powers of hydration are out of the ordinary. One such product is the Scinic Aqua All In One Ampoule. It promises to drench your skin in not just regular old water water, but also sea water and glacier water. By the way, yes, I’ve gotten over my snotty old aversion to “magic special water” and am now willing to admit that mayyyyyybe waters from different sources may provide different mineral and micronutrient contents and benefits, okay? Maybe.

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Where the Hell is Fiddy?

August 30, 2015
Whoops! I didn’t mean to let an entire week go by without any new blog posts! But I haven’t been idle. I’ve just been diversifying.

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Double Mask Review: SNP Bird’s Nest Aqua and Diamond Brightening Ampoule Masks

August 23, 2015
This weekend’s Reviewpocalypse continues with two masks that I purchased on a whim, from a brand I’ve never tried before.

SNP stands for Shining Nature Purity, and I first became aware of the brand when the always lovely Fraulein Schnee reviewed the SNP Bird’s Nest Eye Patch on Berries in the Snow. I kept her review and my positive impression of the brand at the back of my mind. Then, during one of my “bored of my stash and need new things to try” Memebox sprees, I came across a la carte singles of their Bird’s Nest Aqua and Diamond Brightening Ampoule sheet masks and jumped at the opportunity to try them.

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Review: Tosowoong Enzyme Powder Wash

August 23, 2015
It always cracks me up when people describe me as someone who’s tried just about everything in Korean skincare, because that’s far from the truth. There are so many product categories I’ve barely touched. One of those categories is the powdered foaming cleanser, which only came to my attention when my friend Cat at Snow White and the Pear reviewed the Su:m37 White Award Enzyme Powder Wash back in June. That was around the same time that I was beginning to discover Tosowoong, so when I spotted a powder cleanser among their products and read its claims to pH 5.5 status, I snatched it up. Thank the snail gods I did. My skin adores this stuff so much that I’ll find it difficult to switch to any other cleanser.
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Review: Mizon Original Skin Energy Placenta 45 Ampoule

August 22, 2015
The thing about skincare, which I’ve said before and will say again, is that there’s nothing universal about it and there’s nothing truly objective about it, either. A product that works amazingly well for 90% of people may work really poorly or not at all for the other 10% (and that’s not the product’s fault, nor the fault of either the people who love it or the people who don’t). YMMV!

With that being said, how are we supposed to identify products that we might like, if not by looking at the recommendations of others? That’s, like, the whole point of this blog. The thing is that even when someone else’s recommendations get us excited, we’ve got to remember that there are no guarantees. Even I sometimes get a product because of someone else’s recommendation and end up disappointed. It’s inevitable, especially given the number of new products I try. This review is about one of those disappointing times.

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Fiddy’s Skincare Reviews Just Got a Lot More Objective

August 19, 2015
As both a skincare blogger and a skincare fan (hobbyist? fanatic?), I’ve always been mildly bothered by the unavoidable subjectivity of the typical skincare product review. There are a lot of “feel” statements–“My skin feels more hydrated”–without many objective data points. I do it a lot myself, and I hate it. I’ve been longing to find a better way of evaluating products for some time now.

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The Long and the Short of My Skincare Routines, and a Sneak Peek at Some Impending Fun

August 18, 2015
So here’s the thing. I love it that K-beauty is getting so much attention. K-beauty seems like it’s still on the rise, with the potential to really break through and permanently expand the horizons of the beauty industry worldwide. The problem is that a stereotype has developed–both because of journalists looking for a catchy title and memorable hook, and because of K-beauty representatives angling for attention–that really limits K-beauty’s reach.

The stereotype is this: that K-beauty is all about the OMG 200-STEP ROUTINE! Because it absolutely doesn’t have to be. But I feel almost hypocritical saying that, because I’m aware that one of the first things my blog was known for was my own epic routine.

To redeem myself, I want to show you what my routine is like now–and talk a little about why the length of one’s routine is beside the point.

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Review: The Face Shop SMIM Fermentation Hydro Gel Mask – Ceramide

August 13, 2015
Fiddy’s Disclosure Corner: The product featured in this blog post was provided by Jolse in exchange for my honest review. If you have any questions about how I handle press samples, please take a minute to read my sponsorship policy and list of sponsors.

Everyone has a bad habit or three, right? One of mine is overexfoliation. Bad for me, but good for this blog. My latest overuse of a facial scrub (I KNOW. I AM SO BAD!) gave me the perfect opportunity to test The Face Shop’s SMIM Fermentation Hydro Gel Mask in Ceramide.

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