Alchemy In Your Bathroom: Review of the Su:m37 White Award Enzyme Powder Wash

Isn't it amazing when a cleanser turns out to be good for your skin, the right pH, effective at its job, and fun to use?  That's right, fun to use.

I'm talking about the "you get to be a mad scientist in your bathroom, watching the power of chemical reactions right before your eyes" sort of fun, courtesy of the Su:m37 White Award Enzyme Powder Wash, which might just be my new favourite cleanser. 

Su:m37: Killing it on the packaging front, every time.

I actually purchased this in sample packets to put my curiosity to rest, assuming that it was gimmicky in addition to being expensive (it is Su:m37, after all) but to my chagrin, it ended up being amazing.  I pined for it for weeks after my samples were done, so finally I splurged on a full size from 11st (you can read my Guide to 11st here!)

The Su:m37 official site describes this powder wash as follows:

This powder-type cleansing form with its mild finishing texture contains acai berry, rice extracts, and enzymes, which removes skin wastes during the wash-off and makes your skin crystal clear and bright.

I suspect that's supposed to be 'foam', but hey, it is also a 'form' of cleansing, so let's roll with it!

In this post:

• What is a powder wash?
• A quick note on low pH cleanser hype
• The magic happens! A demo of of how it works 
• Ingredients translation & pH result
• Why it's worth the price (for me)

I tried not to love this product, honestly.  I try not to fall in love with expensive things, but Su:m37 undoes me every time.

Making the Most out of K-Beauty: 5 Simple Hacks

I'm gearing up for a major post that will take a few weeks of hard research, so here's a fun little list of things I do on the regular and thought I'd share while I work on some in-depth projects in the background!

The usual suspects

The best part is that everything is either readily available (including from Amazon), repurposing what you already have, or just using things differently.

In this post:

Tips for:

• Avoiding shipping 'sticker shock'
• Cushion problems solved
• DIY sheet masks are the new hotness
• Get a perfect sheet mask fit with little effort
• Mists are more useful than you'd think

Also includes two bonus tips for even more cushion enabling usefulness.

Level Up Your K-Beauty Obsession: a Guide to 11st + My 1st 'Real' Cushion!

Ever heard of 11st?  You may have seen it in the Guide to Shopping for Hard-to-Find Korean Products When You Don’t Know Korean, under the list of Korean sites where one can search and browse for goodies you'd like to buy directly from Korea using a buying service, like Avecko.

What you might not know, is that 11st also has an English version (link) where you can purchase Korean goods directly from the site and they'll ship internationally, no buying service required!  Here's the catch, though: they only offer EMS shipping, which costs an arm and a leg.

But wait!  There's COUPONS!  Specifically, a coupon to discount EMS shipping.  I'm going to show you how to use it!  #EnablerModeActivated!  Take this sheet mask and muffle the shrieks from your wallet, because this is happening.

Waheee, English everywhere, without the aid of Google Translate!

While not as complex as using Avecko or another buying service, it's still not entirely user-friendly unless you've used it before.  This is why I'm going to take you, start-to-finish, screencap-by-screencap, through the process including the final haul-erific result.**.  

In this post:

• Registering for the site and downloading the coupon
• Finding what you want and using the filter system
• Navigating the perplexing multiple options on each product page
• Estimating shipping costs and refunds
• Checking out, applying the coupon, and the confirmation process
• Domestic and International Tracking
• Photos of the gorgeous things I purchased!

Lots, and lots of photos.

** Er, mostly?  I already had an 11st account so I won't be able to show the full registration process and downloading of the coupon, but luckily those parts are fairly easy to follow.

Onward, and beware there are many, MANY screenshots ahead!

Japanese Goodies: first experience with Rakuten + a friend shops for me in Japan!

This week's post is also going to be about Hauls, but this time heavy on the photos and light on the philosophies!

Specifically, Japanese beauty product hauls; although I purchase and review a lot of Korean beauty products, I'm always interested in products of note from elsewhere in Asia.  It can be a little more tricky to find them, however, which is why I enlisted the aid of a friend travelling in Japan and then took my courage in hand to try shopping at a new-to-me Japanese shipping venue called Rakuten.

Is there anything quite like the thrill of getting an international box in the mail?

One of the two boxes of Japanese goodies I have received lately, to my grabby-hands delight

Korean beauty products are taking the world by storm, but there's one area of Asian beauty product fans' hearts that Japan has staked a (thus far) unshakeable claim to, and that's sunscreens.

Oh man, Japanese sunscreens.  For more on how Japanese sunscreens cured me of  a lifetime loathing of sunscreen, click here for my post on my sunscreen struggles and a comparison review of 3 physical-UV-filter-only sunscreens.

However, even though the sunscreen breakthrough allowed me to wear sunscreen without wanting to shred the skin off my face, I am still searching for that Sunscreen Of My Dreams: physical-only UV filters, gentle, non-drying, and with minimal white cast.  A tall order indeed!

In this post:

• Why RatzillaCosme is a sunscreen-hunter's best friend
• My search for a mythical sunscreen
• A friend's attempts to find it + what she got me instead
• I face down my fear of Rakuten & the sunscreen is mine!

Also, Korean beauty products are famous for their packaging, but the Damascus rose mist I purchased from Rakuten is no slouch in the eyecandy department!