One Shade to Flatter Them All: Clio Tension Lip #7 'Some' Review & Swatches on Fair, Medium, and Deep skin tones

Time for more fall-appropriate makeup adventures!  I'm quite excited about this post because not only do I absolutely freaking love this lipstick, thanks to the help of two lovely fellow K-Beauty bloggers, I'm going to be able to show how it looks on skin tones other than mine!

I not only love this lipstick, but it's been my go-to shade side I started using it in ... July?  (Seasonal appropriateness be damned, I love plum shades.)   I made a summer haul from Clio's official US site which included this lipstick, and was very excited about it as it was sold out on the site from which I'd been hauling, but to my sadness it didn't survive the trip.  When I opened it, the lipstick was nowhere to be found- it had melted and slid into the lid.  Nooooo!   I let Clio know about a (sunscreen) hiccup in my order which was my fault, I mentioned what happened to the lipstick, and to my delight, they offered to send me a replacement!

My pristine replacement tube, finally ready for photos.
When the weather cooled off, I contacted Clio to arrange to add my replacement lipstick to an order I was making- which is how got my hands on the new eyeshadow palette from Clio; you can check it out here: First Look & Swatches: Clio Pro Palette

In this post:
  • Product Details
  • Lip Swatches on NC10, NC35, and NC/NW45 skin tones
  • Comparison swatches with other red/pink/purple lip products
  • Final Thoughts
One of the drawbacks of looking for makeup swatches online is the swatcher may not have a similar skin tone as you- this is especially an issue with K-Beauty and deeper skin tones, which are distressingly underrepresented.  So for this post, I reached out to some friends who are both PoC K-Beauty bloggers on Instagram, and they agreed to test it out for me for comparison's sake!

Amazingly, all three of us absolutely love the lipstick despite having very different skin tones.  Swatches ahoy!

First Look & Swatches: Clio Pro Palette

This week I'm venturing out of my skincare comfort zone and into unfamiliar territory and doing a first look and swatch breakdown of the just-barely-released Clio Pro Palette, which I purchased from Clio's official US shop, Club Clio USA. In fact, I don't think this palette is available online yet, just in their NYC store, but I figured it would be helpful to have some real-life swatches available for reference for those eyeing it.

Clio, Peripera, and Goodal sample swag.
So how did I get it when it's not released online yet?  Happy accident- I didn't even realize it was not generally available yet; I was emailing back and forth with Clio to arrange for delivery of my replacement Tension Lip in 'Some' from this summer haul.  My original tube melted in summer heat, and they offered to replace it immediately, but I asked them to wait until the weather cooled and then just toss it in with the next order I made.

It's now autumn, I was prepping for an upcoming Instagram giveaway, and I wanted to purchase a few things to test while they were having their 10 Days of K-Beauty discount.  (Enabling mode: engaged and ready for action.)  I asked what sort of fall-themed makeup they recommended, since I was getting some autumnal lip shades.  They mentioned that they had the new Pro Palette and sent me a product/swatch photo, and I caved like wet cardboard.  Fall-themed colours are my weakness, and my point makeup wardrobe is scant.

It's the most wonderful time of the year (for me.)  Leaves courtesy of my non-judgemental in-laws' backyard.
Before we get into the swatches and my impressions, I need to set some expectations here: I suck at point makeup.  Put me at a table with 30+ products and ask me to put them in order of application, and like a film assassin dissembling a gun, I will have that lineup arranged before you finish wiping off your makeup.  Judging the powers of pigmentation payoff?  Snesus take the wheel.

However, what I can do is provide my thoughts on how a makeup derp like myself would fare with this palette, and frankly most Korean makeup is skewed towards minimalism, natural looks, or subtle accents.  Naturally flawless skin is a feature as important as your eyes.  This means that a lot of people (like me) have gotten into makeup due to the lessened pressure of the Korean style- I feel a lot more comfortable rocking a vivid plum in a gradient lip than the western trend of a full coverage, bold, defined lip.

In this post:

  • The Packaging
  • The Applicator
  • The Shadows in Action (sorta)
  • Pigmentation & Ease of Use
  • The Swatches
  • My Top Picks
  • Initial Thoughts

Just a quick reminder that this is not a full review; I will need to fully test this palette so I can comment on wear time, lasting power, fallout, etc, the purpose of this "first look" is just that- first impressions and swatches of everything.  I've done them with and without primer, and tested what they look like blended together, but I'm still new to this whole ... makeup business.  Ah well, practice makes perfect.  Onward!

Mating Habits of Molecules: the Secret Life of pH

One of the things that excites me the most about skincare is its capacity to interest me in other things, such as learning Hangul to shop for products directly from Korea, how ingredients like ceramides are really cool but that ingredients lists aren't predictors of success, and most famously, why the pH of your cleanser matters.  The science of skincare is so vast and ever-evolving that it's constantly supplying me with fascinating new things to learn.

Since writing the above pH post a year ago, I've had the chance to discuss it with many interesting people, from nerdy skincare bloggers like me, to new users who are trying to make sense of their skin, to chemists and scientists from various fields who have a concurrent interest in skincare.

I have two goals in this post: to clarify my personal thoughts on pH and its role in skincare, because I have noticed a trend of it being taken out of context, and also to help others who are grappling with trying to understand a complex system without a chemistry background.  I don't have a background in chemistry nor do I have a scientific or medical degree, but one of the many blessings my blogging journey has brought me is friendships with those who do possess them and are wiling to answer my endless stream of questions.

pH strips: familiar friends, but what are they actually measuring?
This has lead to a lot of late night conversations involving things such as the periodic table, chemical compounds, and how O- molecules are really randy.  Science can be dense and difficult absorb, so I'm going to be using my powers of perversity and explaining things using NSFW analogies which are both entertaining and, as my chemist friends assure me, accurate.

In this post:
  • pH is Just the Beginning, Not the End
  • What role does pH have in my personal skincare approach?
  • Water is pH 7, pH 7 is not water
  • Everybody Wants Some H+ to Love
  • The basics of pH
  • What is an acid?  What is a base?
  • What does a pH test measure?

Warning: this post will contain some R-rated analogies in order to explain some very challenging concepts, so if you aren't comfortable with that, I'd recommend stopping before we get to the section on Everybody Wants Some H+ to Love.

The Bottle That Stole My Heart: Sooryehan Hyo Biyeon Concentrated Brightening Essence Review

Sometimes we use skincare because it's an excellent product that gives good results, sometimes we use it because it's got an entertaining gimmick, and sometimes it's both.  Sometimes, we just like the pretty packaging, and today's review is firmly in the latter category, but I have no regrets.

Why?  Because it looks like this:

Prepare yourselves for a lot of senseless glamour shots 
I suppose I should feel some modicum of shame as a blogger that the primary impression I have of this product is of the packaging, but when the packaging looks like this, can you blame me?

In this post:
  • Gratuitous photos
  • Product details
  • Ingredients
  • Full review
This bottle was so pretty that I actually managed to completely empty it, to the point where I was caught unawares by it's abrupt end, unable to eke out enough of the serum to show the colour or consistency, whoops!  I think I have some ill-fated serum blend attempt photos somewhere, come to think of it.  Anyway, let's begin with the eyecandy and ... stuff.  Review stuff?  Mmm, shiny pretty things.  What were we talking about?

Beginner Friendly Korean Buying Service: A Dowaja Review

Today's post is going to feature some of my favourite things: snails, hanbang, pH testing, sheet masks, nerdiness, spreadsheets, and buying services.  Also lots of haul eyecandy of all of the above.

The haul in all it's "please don't start raining until after I finish this photo" glory.
There's no haul quite as special as a buying service haul; when your grabby hands get a hold of goodies that would otherwise never be within your reach.  The thrill of trying new, strange things is something I'm absolutely addicted to, and buying services help me supply that habit.

In this post:
  • Korean buying service 101
  • A sad update
  • My experience with Dowaja vs other buying services
  • The goods: what I bought, where I bought it, and what it cost
  • Final thoughts

I had to call in a complaint on my new USPS delivery person to get it, but this haul is finally here and there's snails, hanbang, pH strips, and sample swag waiting.  Let's do this!