Screen capture from skinandtonics.com

Screen capture: "The Importance of Fatty Acids, pH & the Moisture Barrier:

How I Eliminated my Acne & Decreased my Skin Sensitivity" skinandtonics.com

Screen capture from fanserviced-b.com

Screen capture: "Korean vs. U.S. Cosmetic Ingredient List Order Differences" fanserviced-b.com

Screen capture from adoredee.com

Screen capture: "How to Beauty Haul responsibly" adoredee.com

50 Shades of Snail: How My Elaborate Korean Skincare Routine Helps Me Fight Depression

Screen capture: "How My Elaborate Korean Skincare Routine Helps Me Fight Depression"

by Jude of 50 Shades of Snail for Fashionista

Screen capture: "A Rant on OST's C20 and C21.5 Serums, and Some Thinky Thoughts on Vitamin C" holysnails.com

Final Thoughts

(unlike the task of unpacking this house, huehuehu- sorry, I'm tired and possibly high on cleaning fluid fumes)

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 Kerry's post onset off a revolution in the English-speaking Asian beauty product market, and her blog's blend ofandset a new standard in the K-Beauty blogging world that continues to influence the community to this day.One of the frequent criticisms of the beauty blogging scene, and especially in the early days of the K-Beauty scene, is the tendency towards 'reviews' of products that have been used once or twice before proclamations of "it smelled pretty and the package was cute! 5 stars! You should buy it!" are made.Some products- such as makeup or fragrances- don'tin-depth scientific research, long-term testing, or careful analysis, but as Kerry mentions in her blog, skin renews itself every 28 days and thus tends to require a bit more of an investment. Kerry brought a more serious, educational tone and legitimacy to the world of K-Beauty, and in my opinion, we're all the better for it.In fact, this post sparked; after I read this world-rearranging post, I set out to dive even deeper into the science behind low pH, hoping that there would be a loophole. There wasn't, and I detailed my in-depth findings inIf Kerry's post catapulted me into the science of skincare, this game-changing post by fanserviced-b pulled me out of the morass of ingredient list obsessing and formulation over-analyzing.As Tracy suspected, hypothesized, tested, corroborated, and finally confirmed, Korean ingredient lists are a different animal and can't be viewed the same way as we're used to in the west. This was incredibly liberating; ingredients and formulations are still important, but they're not the be-all and end-all of skincare;The product she used as an example (one of her favourites) did not becomeof a favourite just because she was looking at it with new eyes. Sometimes an ingredients list that seems ideal "on paper" will be a total failure for your skin, and something that seems chock-full of triggers and flags can be the best thing you've ever used.Do I still pay attention to ingredients? Of course. Do I still consider potential triggers, and investigate any that have a high rating? Absolutely. Do I reject products with triggers that I, personally, do not react to? Nope, although that's not new. Ingredient triggers deserve consideration, but unless there is something that you, personally, have confirmed is a trigger for you, it's best to take the often-outdated flags from sites like Cosdna with a grain of salt.My own triggers are chemical sunscreen filters, but they work just fine for most of the population; Cosdna (unfortunately) can't figure that out for me- learning your own skincare triggers is part of your skincare journey. In fact, knowing your personal triggers is something that adoredee urges in the this next post:It's so easy to get caught up in the next trend, new product releases, new favourites of people you respect, and end up overextending yourself. It might be more than you are comfortable with spending, more than you have room for, or more than you can use.Adoredee is a Consumer Psychologist, and herbased off whatever factors that you decide matter foris a must-read.Not only was the post itself insightful and thought-provoking, many Asian beauty product bloggers were inspired to add their own thoughts to the discussion over the weeks that followed, bringing new perspectives and ideas to the table.One of them is the post that adoredee and I wrote together about blogger boundaries + the psychology (and the dangers) of viewing bloggers as dermatologists , Tracy at fanserviced-b wrote a post on the concept of Skincaretainment: Connection and the Culture of Korean Beauty , and Jude from 50 Shades of Snail wrote an eloquent counterpoint that emphasized adoredee's point that it's not about denying yourself, it's about being aware and invested in what's right for you:Some people mistakenly see adoredee's post as an argument for frugalism, for moderation, for controlling your spending in order to avoid guilt and shame, but it's really about; knowing yourself, what's best for you, and being true to that. That's the same theme as Jude's incredibly touching, honest, and relatable post on, and the effect it has had for her.Jude's post struck a chord with me not because I intimately know the painful struggles of the disease, because I don't, and I can't (I have what my doctor wryly calls "Depression- there's nothing chemically wrong with [me] it's just that [my] life sucks" and thank snail for things changing now) but because I know that there is a culture of shaming any acts of self-care in our society, particularly for women.On the one hand, women are scorned as being shallow, vain, and self-indulgent for buying beauty-related purchases, but on the other hand they're also judged forwearing makeup/having a groomed, attractive appearance. We often hear comments like "So-and-so would be so pretty if she just took better care of herself." The irony is intense. Women are also expected to take care of their families, but aren't necessarily encouraged to take care of themselves; leaving women ping-ponging between being 'virtuously' frugal and binging on retail therapy. To me, Jude and adoredee's two sides to the same coin are like guideposts to how to invest in yourself and your well-being while still feeling in control of your purchases and happy with your choices.Aside from what I, personally, gleaned from Jude's post, I admire her courage for honestly and openly discussing something that frequently gets glossed over in a sea of bubbly beauty frenzy that wants to focus on cute packaging and glittery new trends and captivating ingredients.And speaking of captivating ingredients, this brings me to the last post, which I suspect might become thenarrative to catch fire in the community: a new way of looking at ingredients, formulations, and the cost of cosmetics from Chel at Holy Snails I struggled a little to choose between this post and the follow-up post, because Chel's narrative is evolving, from what I can tell, more or less through her own exploration and thus it develops naturally and organically as she writes. Possibly also as she has very late night conversations with some of her fellow skincare nerds- some of whom have benefitted by getting to test her prototypes.But that's not why I'm including her post here, although I'm of course super grateful to be able to beta some of them.There have been rumblings for some time about the formulations of certain popular products, but without supplyingexplanations (with citations) as tothe formulations aren't good. Plus, there's no mistaking that something twice the price and only slightly better in terms of visual results just isn't going to convince legions of fans (including me) to turn away from a product that works for them.What's unique about Holy Snails is that while the DIY game has been around for a very, very long time, she's the only onee. She's combining the ultra-customized, flexible, multi-step approach with science so potent that I have rearrange the amount of room in the crotch of my pants (metaphorically speaking) every time she posts about it or sends me messages like "what do you think of a fermented Hanbang essence with proven scientific ingredients in it?" and I have to take a cold shower before I can manage to reply.DIY is one of those things that sounds simple until you start looking into what it would really take to do it effectively; she often posts snapchats of her alchemical processes and posts regular updates with her latest thoughts and discoveries, and it looks ... intense. She makes it look easy, and she keeps it real, but she also can saythree times fast without stuttering; I leave the chemistry to her and simply enjoy the view (and gifs) from the passenger's side.This list is in no way exhaustivebut they're all posts that I find myself coming back to and reading over and over. They influence how I perceive skincare, and K-Beauty especially, and they do so on an ongoing basis.I love reading and writing reviews, but it's the posts that spark conversations and additions to the communal narrative that excite me the most, have the most long-term relevance, and are the ones that make us all grow- bloggers and readers alike.Now having spent time contemplating the meaning of K-Beauty blogging and its evolution in the west, I have to tackle the practical task of shopping for a storage unit to fit all my stash in. Snesus take the wheel.All the best,-Cat