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Asian Beauty Blog Party: Sheetmask Favorites

29. May 2016

For our last winter season Asian Beauty Blog Party we thought about sharing our favourite sheetmasks with you and explain why we like them so much. If you are wondering, there will be a traditional summer time Asian Bleauty Blog Party where everybody can share their links to a certain topic in June, July, August, and  September. It will be hosted by Sophie. The winter Asian Beauty Blog Party will continue in October probably, so keep your ears and eyes open :D

Asian Beauty Blog Party: Sheetmask Favorites

I will start off with my favorite sheetmask and then I will comment on the selected sheetmasks of my fellow bloggers:

For me, my favorite sheetmask has no specific name but it is rather a favorite ingredient, which is Aloe Vera.  I chose a Missha Pure Source cell sheet mask with Aloe below because of the key ingredient Aloe Vera. Aloe Vera is one of my favourite ingredients for not only moisturizing but also calming and soothing the skin. In summer my favorite is a cooled aloe sheetmask which I placed in the fridge before using it.

Asian Beauty Blog Party: Sheetmask Favorites

Sophie from MapleTreeBlog chose a  My Scheming brand. She says “This brand was a new discover for me this year and I’m loving what I’ve learnt so far. They’re not overly expensive and can be bought in boxes which makes daily masking less guilt inducing. I also love the packaging. In the herbal anti acne mask which I’m wearing the girl is hitting the acne with a mallet. Which is something I wish I could do! They come with a plastic backing which makes using them easier and are absolutely dripping in essence. There’s enough for me to slather my face, neck and décolletage in it. This particular type is moisturising and does help with my redness. It contains green tea, witch hazel, chamomile, aloe and Orris among other ingredients. Definitely a repurchase for me.”

My Scheming was actually the first brand for sheetmasks that I tried. I bought a pack containing 10 different types for testing and they were so adorable in their packaging and I liked them a lot back then. I can imagine that I would still like using them, especially now that Sophie reminded me of this wonderful brand.

Asian Beauty Blog Party: Sheetmask Favorites

Michele from Beautyfindsforme says: Benton Snail ? Bee ? High Content Mask Pack (Korea) is one of my favorite masks for when my face feels really oily or has blemishes. I find it to be very soothing and helps reduce redness, while controlling oil and hydrating my skin. This mask is on the drier side as far as essence goes, but I find that the mask benefits outweigh that this is a bit drier. My face feels refreshed and if I have blemishes, they are less red and sore after I use this. Snail mucin will help moisturize and heal your skin and bee venom helps prevent blemishes. This mask is also good for sensitive skin as well. I really love this mask and I try to keep 5 to 10 on hand, as I am known just to slap this on in the morning as a quick pick-my-skin-up!”

I love snail mucus and products containing snail mucus… and usually I’m into bees and products from bees for skincare too. Unfortunately, my skin didn’t like the Benton snail bee line, so I avoided using the sheetmasks too. I reviewed the cream previously aswell (here). But you will also find many positive reviews for this specific skincare range from Benton.

Asian Beauty Blog Party: Sheetmask Favorites

Julie from PDXBeautiful says:Here is my pick. The Innisfree It’s Real Squeeze Mask in Shea Butter. This mask hydrates my skin like nobody’s business. The thick, milky essence not only hydrates but plumps and soothes. This does leave a slightly oily finish behind but that is one thing I love about this mask because it helps eliminate dehydration. I find I don’t need to apply a ton of moisturizer after using this mask. No matter what stress I put my skin through (yes, actives I’m looking at you) this always puts my skin back into proper balance. It also has a light but yummy creamy, nutty and buttery scent that I just adore. This mask is inexpensive and widely available as Innisfree is a very popular Korean cosmetic brand. The fit is great, lasts for about 30 minutes and as a bit of left over essence for extra hydration. I have not had any reaction, no sensitivity or irritation and no breakouts from this mask. Main ingredients include shea butter, hyaluronate and green tea.”

Honestly, I really want to try exactly this mask right now! Thanks Julie for introducing it. I love Innisfree masks and I have a bunch of them at home at hands. I also tried the Innisfree It’s Real Squeeze Masks previously, but not the one with shea butter. And since I love shea butter as rehydrating ingredient I’m slightly angry I didn’t get this mask any earlier.

Asian Beauty Blog Party: Sheetmask Favorites

Amy from PeepingPomeranian chose a hydrogel sheetmask from Banila. It looks so pretty with the laces, doesn’t it?She says: “As a person who hates spending more an a dollar on a sheetmask, I found it funny that I prefer hydrogels #expensivetastes. For myself, its mostly a time and texture issue. I don’t like spending more than 30mins masking. I always have stuff to do and having to lay down with a mask is almost never something I do. Which means I need a mask that will stick to my face well. I find more often than not hydrogels, due to the way they conform to the face, will stay put allowing me to continue on with my business. I suspect that my dry skin is probably better suited to sticking to the gels as well. Additionally, I also don’t really like sheetmasks that are sopping wet with essence. These are usually fiber masks, cotton, silk etc. Some do conform better than others, but I don’t like spending so much down time and I find that my skin doesn’t absorb all the extra essence. This leaves my skin tacky, even when I apply the essence elsewhere. This is probably why I tend to be quite picky about which non-gel masks I use since I like a thinner less gel like essence.”

I’m really starting to like hydrogel masks but there are some which seem to be drying out quickly. One of my favorite sheet masks is the Moonlab Real Cooling Thermometer Mask, which is made of coconut fiber, very similar to hydrogel. I can really recommend yu to try this mask if you can get your hands on it!

Asian Beauty Blog Party: Sheetmask Favorites

If you are curious about the other bloggers opinions on the diffrent sheetmasks head over to their blogs and check out their latest post:
Sophie from MapleTreeBlog
Michele from Beautyfindsforme
Julie from PDXBeautiful
Deborah from Adoredee
 
And if you want to know more about us check out my introduction post >>here<<!
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Asian Beauty Blog Party: Travel Essentials

9. May 2016

Today’s post for the Asian Beauty Blog Party will be about our Travel Essentials. Since summer is approaching and many people will be on vacation within the next months this is the best time to share the content of my travel bag and which items I’m always carrying with. Asian Beauty Blog Party: Travel Essentials
The key items I’m talking about is not what kind of clothes I will take with me, but rather what is inside my cosmetics pouch,..everything besides swimsuits, sunglasses, and towels. I have quite many cosmetics pouches in different sizes, so I can choose which one to take with me according to the amount of skincare products and days I’m spending away from home.

Asian Beauty Blog Party: Travel Essentials
For cleansing I love cleansing tissues for short trips and solid or balmtype cleaners for longer stays. Another great thing for travelling are powder type cleansers. I only did a short instagram impression capture of the Skinmiso Handy Travel Kit, but I really do love this one, because it is a bit more than only a regular cleansing tissue. It comes with 2 soaked cleansing pads and some cotton swabs including eye make-up remover. These are perfect for festivals or a one or two-day short trip. With solid cleansing sticks like the Sum 37 Miracle Rose Cleansing Stick or my new 23yearsold Yellow Rubber Cleansing Stick (review upcoming soon) you don’t risk leaking of your cleanser and they are usually working as first and second cleansers together, so they are great for travelling, too. Powder type cleansers also keep the leakage at bay, but keep in mind to protect them from humidity!

Asian Beauty Blog Party: Travel Essentials
For my skincare I usually take either sample sachet for short trips, or the deluxe travel size kits which accumulated over the time in my stash.

Asian Beauty Blog Party: Travel Essentials
Most important and always my companion is sunscreen! I have multiple sunscreens with me, reaching from waterproof, to face or body suited sunscreens (here are two reviews >>click<< and >>click<<). Occasionally, especially in hot days a mist is also nice to have for refreshening. I keep my makeup simply, consisting of a cushion foundation, a cream blush, eyeliner pen, mascara and a lipstick or tint.

That’s it! I’m ready for the next trip!
What are your travel essentials?

If you are curious about the other bloggers Travel Essentials check out their posts here:
Sophie from MapleTreeBlog
Michele from Beautyfindsforme
Julie from PDXBeautiful
Deborah from Adoredee
 
And if you want to know more about us check out my introduction post >>here<<!
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Asian Beauty Blog Party: The Non-Vanity Vanity Table

4. May 2016

…a confusing title, isn’t it?! Back when we discussed the posts for the Asian Beauty Blog Party we had the idea of making a vanity table post. Actually, after we started working on the posts, we discovered that most of us do not have or use a vanity table, but it is mostly about makeup storage and bathroom stuff…finally we changed the topic to Non-Vanity Vanity Table :D So, in this post I will share with you where I do my makeup and skincare…sorry, in advance for the dark pictures, but I couldn’t make it to take pictures during daytime…(maybe I’ll retake some of the pics later…)

Asian Beauty Blog Party

Actually, I have something like a vanity table, but it has been a mess for most of the past years. Just recently I started to remove all my makeup from the bathroom and leave only skincare and body care there. I also tossed some of my old makeup, but still there is too much of it to be honest. My vanity table mainly holds my accessories and some perfumes…
Asian Beauty Blog Party
Below the table I’made storing my makeup products which I opened and I am using in some boxes.
Asian Beauty Blog Party
I try too keeplease a certain division but usually after a couple of days or weeks everything is a mess again. Haha…
Asian Beauty Blog Party
The skincare I’m using is placed on a shelf in my bathroom. I removed all the unopened products from there and places them into labelled containerso so I can systematically go through them as soon as the previous ones are empties. So below is a last image showing my skincare products in use…to be honest, it is only half of the products because the other half is at my bf’s place :D
So, how is your non-vanity or vanity table organized?
If you are curious about the other bloggers Non-Vanity Vanity Tables check out their posts here:
Sophie from MapleTreeBlog
Michele from Beautyfindsforme
Julie from PDXBeautiful
Deborah from Adoredee
 
And if you want to know more about us check out my introduction post >>here<<!
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Asian Beauty Blogparty: Skincare concerns & how to tackle them

17. April 2016
For our first content post for the Asian Beauty Blogparty we decided to talk about our skincare problems and how we try to tackle them. If you already did take a closer look at our ID cards we already mentioned our concerns but today I’m going more into details on how I try to beat…
Asian Beauty Blogparty
Compared to many other people I might be more or less lucky with my skin, since I do not have many skin troubles and I also do not have very sensitive skin either. MY main concern is that my skin is dry, especially on my cheeks and it gets worse in winter when the climate gets cold and I can only bare to take hot showers. I know that super hot showers make my skin even worse, but it is something I cannot change :’D
I can however change my skincare routine that it fits to my dry skin. This is the first of my methods in order to tackle my skincare concerns! Apart from the regular moisturizers I love to use sleeping packs and sheet masks. Also, a drop or more of a ampoule mixed with the moisturizer is great. Same goes for facial oils.  On very dessery-dry skindays I love using pure argan oil on my face.
For my age I also look quite young, which is because I do not use heavy makeup a lot and I do not have many wrinkles yet, BUT: as a matter of fact wrinkles are only a matter of time. I have few fine lines under my eyes, some smilelines, too, and one short line on my forehead. My first and utmost important step for preventing aging is using sunscreen! I use sunscreen for my face EVERY day since I started to try the first asian sunscreens. I never really was much into western sunscreens because they tend to be heavy and greasy and just make you feel like you have some thick layer on your face. I used to use daily moisturizers with some sunprotection though. But since I’m so fond of japanese sunscreens at the moment I do not mind to do this additional step of slathering on a sunscreen before applying my bbcream.
Another important thing to keep the skin healthy and young is cleansing it properly in the evening…sometimes I’m too lazy, just like anybody else, but I regret it the next morning already. Another ingredient which is important when trying to prevent aging is retinol or skincare products containing retinol derivates. I just got into this recently, so this is still my way to go…
So, these are my skincare concerns and the ways I’m trying to tackle them. What are your concerns and your skincare remedies?
If you are curious about the other bloggers skincare concerns and their way to handle it click on the links below! You will probably find something which matches your skintype, too.
Sophie from MapleTreeBlog
Michele from Beautyfindsforme
Julie from PDXBeautiful
Deborah from Adoredee
 
And if you want to know more about us check out my introduction post >>here<<!
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Asian Beauty Blogparty: Interview with Michele from “beautyfindsforme”

27. March 2016

As announced im my Asian Beauty Blogparty post I had the honour of interviewing one of our collaborating fellow beauty bloggers. I’m presenting you my interview with Michele from the blog Beautyfindsforme, formally known as Unboxing Beauty. I hope you enjoy reading it! By the way, if you click on her ID card below you will be able to read her interview with Deborah from Adoredee :)

Asian Beauty Blogparty Interview

1. Hello Michele! Please give a short introduction about you and your blog.

Hi, I am Michele and I live in the greater Boston area in the great state of Massachusetts, USA. I grew up outside of Detroit, Michigan and lived for years in the Los Angeles area, California. I work full-time outside of my home, as computer programmer/analyst and have a cat obsession. I have two old kitties and if you follow me on IG, I do post pics of them there!
I love sci-fi, horror and murder mysteries, huge fan of House of Cards, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead,  Doctor Who and Star Wars. I am also a political junkie.  None of these things you will find on my blog, other than a passing reference to pop culture!  My blog is primarily a beauty blog ~ with more of a focus on skincare than makeup. I do unboxings (hence the name of my blog (Unboxing Beauty Finds for Me) of subscription boxes, but I have been doing in-depth product reviews now for over a year.

Asian Beauty Blogparty Interview
2. When did you try your first asian beauty product and what made you curious to try more?

The one that I remember leaving a huge impact on me and I took notice of it was Amore Pacific Treatment Enzyme Peel. It is still my bae and I always try and promote it. None of the other powder cleansers come close to it.  I received a small sample of it through Sephora several years ago and when I tried it the first time, I then placed an order right away for the full sized item.  I resisted the call of Asian skin care for a while after that and it wasn’t until Memebox Global (now defunct) that I really started to have fun with Asian beauty products.

3. Since you do unboxings: Do you think that asian beauty boxes have a main role in the rising popularity of asian beauty products?

Memebox certainly had  a huge hand in that, I believe.  Before they shut down their global operations and shifted their Korean operations to USA (BAD BAD MOVE, MEMEBOX!!), it was very popular ~ I am a member on  makeuptalk.com and our Memebox threads were huge and diverse in population. Now, I see other shops doing boxes, but I don’t think any of them will match the intensity and popularity that Memebox enjoyed its hey day.

4. Do you have a favorite subscription box and why?

Hmmm.  No, not really.  I try to be a bit diverse in my sub boxes, so there isn’t a lot of overlap for the most part.  I will say I love getting items that are eco-friendly, organic and ones made from etsy vendors!  I love handcrafted, artisan products

5. What are your favorite asian beauty brands and why?

I don’t have one favorite Asian beauty brand.  I love the Amore Pacific family (Innisfree, Primera), as I have had a lot of luck with their items, CosRX and Goodal are also brands that I have had success with as well.  I do love Melano (Japan) for their CC products.

6. If you could choose one skincare and one makeup product, what would these be and why?

For skincare, Goodal Waterest Lasting Oil (original formula).  It is moisturizing enough to use all over my face, day and night, but without leaving my skin feeling greasy.  Makeup ~ only ONE???  I will have to go with Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara. I really need more than one (such as a powder for my oily skin), but I feel that a great mascara helps define my eyes, which are my best feature.

7. Do you love to keep your skincare routine simple or elaborate? How many steps do you incorporate in your routine?

It depends on how lazy I am or if I am in a hurry!!  Cleansing is a no brainer, so I don’t really “include” that in my routine, as it is like breathing.    After cleansing, I usually use a toner, serum(s), moisturizer, spot treatments, eye cream.   Depending on what I am testing that month, I may have more steps.  I usually have 2 or 3 products that fit in the serum, ampoule, essence category as I am a big fan of spot skin care routine, due to my oily skin and blemish hot spots.  My day time vs night-time routine may or may not be the same ~ sometimes, it is very similar, with just a couple of extra products in the night-time routine, other times it is completely different! 

Asian Beauty Blogparty Interview Asian Beauty Blogparty Interview
8. What is your favorite part about blogging?

I love it when readers comment!  Seriously, it means that someone took the time to read my post and appreciated it.  I love comments and don’t get enough of them :)

9. How much time do you spend on a blog post?

TOO MUCH TIME.  I spend hours on reviews, due taking photos, any skincare analysis (pH testing, skin digital analysis), writing down notes on  texture, absorption, scent, color, etc.  Then finding the ingredient list ~ it is getting easier, but with Asian beauty products, many ingredient lists I put together is either hand translated or I had to  type them in manually.  Picking out some interesting ingredients, researching it and then also making sure I put the ingredient list in cosDNA.com for public reference.
Even my unboxings are time-consuming, because I don’t just take a photo and put a one liner around it. So, for unboxings, which might include swatches, texture/scent impressions, ingredient list ~ about 3 hours.  For reviews ~ depending on the type of review ~ which can be up to 30 hours.

10. Why did you start blogging at first place?

This is an easy one!  Because I started purchasing subscription boxes, I wanted to keep track of  products that worked for me and what didn’t ~ with the reasons why.  I have a bad habit of not remembering what I have tried in the past, especially if it is a product that I didn’t have a strong feelings about, so I wanted to prevent purchasing something that I tried and didn’t like.  At the same time, sometimes I would be thinking  “oh what WAS the name of that product that I liked so much?” and would spend hours googling based on some obscure/vague  term.   I then realized that my friends might like reading my thoughts, as I was  always sharing them (haha) and also, just because an item was not suitable for me, didn’t mean it wasn’t a good product for them.  So, I decided to put together a blog quickly and the rest is history!

Asian Beauty Blogparty Interview

 

Thanks Michele, for answering my questions!

Also see the other interviews here:

Amy’s interview of Julie

Michele’s interview of Deborah (next weekend)

Deborah’s interview of Amy

Julie’s interview of Sophie (next weekend)

Sophie’s interview of me

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Announcement: Asian Beauty Blogparty

13. March 2016

It’s been long time since my last announcement on this blog :D This time I wanted to tell you about a project that has been planned for a while now: the Asian Beauty Blogparty! This blog hop was created together with 5 other awesome bloggers, and was initiated by Sophie from MapleTreeBlog. I’m super excited about this new project and I cannot wait to share with you the participants of this project.

Asian Beauty Blogparty

Probably you will know some of these bloggers already, but if not I can recommend you to take a look at their blogs!

And here are the participants of the Asian Beauty Blogparty:

Sophie from MapleTreeBlog

Asian Beauty Blogparty

Michele from Beautyfindsforme

Asian Beauty Blogparty

Julie from PDXBeautiful

Asian Beauty Blogparty

Amy from PeepingPomeranian

Asian Beauty Blogparty

Deborah from Adoredee

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and me :)

Asian Beauty Blogparty I linked all the ID cards above to the blogs of each person, so you can check them out.

Are you curious what to expect in future? Our first release from this collaboration will be interviews of each of us. There will be two interviews a week appearing on the blogs and hopefully you will follow us through this project. Afterwards we will be collabing on content posts on various topics and you will be able to get 6 opinions from all over the world with different skin types. 

If you have any ideas or wishes for content posts that you’d love to read leave a comment. Until then, we will see you soon with the first interviews! ♥