Hey, everybody! Now that 6* months have gone by, it's time to do my midpoint check-in for my 2023 low buy.
Back in February, I posted my plans for my 2nd annual makeup, nail polish, and clothing low buy to help myself engage in more conscious consumption. Just as I did halfway through 2022, I'll be updating you all today on how my low buy is going, what I've purchased so far, and any miscellaneous thoughts I've had. *Note: this blog post is late -- I meant to get it out at the beginning of July to truly be a midpoint check-in, but life just happened to be lifeing harder than expected. However, I'll still only be talking about any purchases from up until the end of June.
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5/29/2023 0 Comments 8 Makeup & Fashion Creators to Follow this Asian & Pacific American Heritage Month (and Also Every Month Ever because They’re Cool)
As the best month of the year (Asian & Pacific American Heritage Month, of course) comes to a close, I want to highlight some awesome Asian creators in the makeup + fashion spaces that I personally follow and enjoy. Most grew up and live in the United States, but they come from and live in a variety of countries across the world.
Of course, this is absolutely a non-exhaustive list, and there are SO many other people I could feature. It was really tough to narrow it down! I ended up settling on 8 because 8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture, so I guess it's fitting haha? The first 4 are beauty accounts, and the latter 4 are fashion accounts. Otherwise, this list is ordered arbitrarily because all these people are equally fabulous. For each creator, I give:
Look out for the accompanying Instagram Reel! 3/31/2023 0 Comments Mutually Creative: Kelly, AKA @ratboar -- Indie Eyeshadow, #HueFixation, and More
It's a rat! It's a boar! It's @ratboar!
Similarly to @watermelonflesh, Kelly of @ratboar is someone I've known through a makeup Discord for about 4 years now. She's a real quirky person with a great love for dimensional, shifty indie eyeshadows -- which I can wholeheartedly relate to. She hates getting pinged on Discord and people who are overly judgmental about makeup, but she sure loves blursed memes and scrumptious macro shots that show off every delicious bit of sparkle. While I've followed her Instagram account for even longer than I've had my own beauty account, in just the past couple of months, she's really elevated her content so much, and that has been so incredible to witness. Out of my mutuals, I often find her makeup looks to be the most "relatably"/realistically aspirational for me, especially as my collection and interest in makeup are heading more and more into those sporkly indie multichromes. We both have a tendency to do that same ol' reliable eyeshadow shape -- a gradient of mattes in the crease with a tasty shimmer all over the lid -- just in different color combos. Over Zoom, we talked about her experience getting into indie eyeshadows, the state of the indie makeup industry, reactions she's gotten as a Korean American, and her newly-created #HueFixation open makeup collab on Instagram. In this new series, I interview one of my internet mutuals about their makeup, fashion, or whatever cool, creative thing it is that they do. While some of them may consider themselves to be "influencers," many of them are everyday people who happen to have a skill and a hobby with a platform. However they self-identify, let's dig a little deeper into their creativity and style in "Mutually Creative."
The ultimate follower of fruit, the connoisseur of crimson, the obsessor of the orb with a passion for the produce: Madame @watermelonflesh herself.
We first "met" through a makeup Discord server about 4 years ago, close to when I had just gotten into makeup as a hobby. She was one of the people who inspired me to create the @glowymino account in the first place at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; just like @tastefulcringe, she's one of the few makeup people I also follow on my personal Instagram. She's seen me through my makeup growing pains, developing my Instagram/blog, and even multiple boyfriends. At the beginning of my account, we actually did a watermelon-themed makeup collab together. While people often describe makeup as a creative medium, her makeup looks are LITERALLY art. She legit draws/paints on her face using makeup, and she can get inspired by pretty much anything and everything and turn it into a museum-worthy masterpiece on her eyeballs. Her cut creases are impeccable; the precise liner work in her graphic looks could make a grown man weep. She also doesn't limit herself to just her eyes, often extending her canvas across her forehead, nose, cheeks, and lips. Via Discord DMs, I asked about her artistic journey, painting your flesh (AKA doing creative, unconventional makeup), and the climate of the beauty community across international social media platforms. Can you believe we're already in 2023? Well, call me Ripley because it's here whether you believe it or not!
With the end of 2022 also comes the end of my first-ever beauty and clothing low buy. I started this in February as a way to intentionally curb my spending and be more intentional about what I buy. I posted my plans/intro post in February, and my midpoint check-in came in July. As of July, I was doing really well within my criteria, and I was actually way below my set purchasing limits. Now that we're here at the year-end (actually 11-month) finale, let's see how my makeup, skincare, nail polish, and clothing low buy actually went!
Another year has passed, and it's time for a yearly favorites post! Both in my general life and my beauty consumption, 2022 brought some old, some new. Read on to see what stood out for me in the worlds of makeup, skincare, and nail polish this past year.
As many of you know, I am currently a college student. I've spent multiple semesters living in on-campus housing -- including in a dorm room with a roommate. The summer before I started university, I watched so many YouTube videos and literally spent weeks trying to figure out how best to store my makeup collection in my college dorm room, but there honestly aren't a whole lot of resources out there created by actual college students. Especially as a huge makeup hobbyist, I wanted to provide this guide drawing from my personal experiences.
1/29/2022 0 Comments 2021 Best in Beauty: My Favorite Makeup, Skincare, and Nail Products from the Past Year
Hey, it's been a while, beauty people! Turns out I do indeed have a life outside of my small corner of the internet. Nonetheless, let's go on to my 2021 best in beauty: my makeup, skincare, and nail favorites from the last year!
Just as I did with last year's favorites, I won't be listing a product for every single category, and this won't be a "most used" list. Instead, I'll only be including the products that truly ~sparked joy~. As such, I'll be omitting many categories from this compilation, and some categories will have multiple products. For each product, I will be indicating what year I bought it and if it was a repeat favorite from 2020. I think this is always interesting to see when I read/watch other people's yearly favorites. The online beauty space -- consumers, brands, and our consumerist culture as a whole -- has a tendency to latch onto new releases and immediately discard older products: with what's considered "old" becoming younger and younger with each no release. I'm no minimalist by any stretch of the imagination, but I hope to combat that crow brain, "ooh new shiny thing" mentality just a little bit. Click here for my 2020 favorites All prices listed are in USD at the time of writing. They are not affiliate links, only for your own convenience, because I am but a common man. 1/12/2021 0 Comments 2020 Best in Beauty: My Favorite Makeup, Skincare, and Nail Products from the Year
Hello, everyone, and welcome to 2021!
As we enter this brand new year, I wanted to reflect on the previous one and all of the makeup, skincare, and nail Stuff that I used -- specifically my favorites of this Stuff. You may notice that several categories are missing, and some categories have multiple products. To choose these products, I didn't go category to category -- primer to foundation to concealer, etc. -- but rather chose the products from my collection that truly sparked joy for me in 2020. As such, I didn't select from categories where I didn't have a product that truly wowed me like the rest of the things on this list do, even for categories that I use almost every single day like brow gel. Consequently, this is a "beauty favorites of 2020" and not a "most used products of 2020." I also included what year I first got the product. A majority of these 2020 favorites weren't purchased in 2020; 2020 purchases make up 30% (7/23) of this list, 2019 makes up 43% (10/23), and 2018 -- the first year I got into makeup -- makes up 26% (6/23)*. One could argue that this means the 2020 additions to my collection were not wise investments, but I like to see it as my past purchases standing up to the test of time -- and not treating my beauty products as disposables, only fun while they're still shiny and new. Unless otherwise specified, all of these products are cruelty free! *These percentages are all rounded to the nearest whole number, which is why they don't add up to 100%, haha. |
about @glowyminoI have dry skin and very dry and textured lips. I also have a medium-light skintone (somewhere in the realm of NC25-30) with strong warm yellow/olive undertones. I have a tendency to prefer a glowy, lightweight base and color cosmetics in shades of a warm undertone. Read more about me in the about page! Archives
July 2023
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