Hey there! Remember me? Somehow it's been 10 months since my last post.... I didn't plan on abandoning this space but at some point the joy that I got from blogging just disappeared. A few days ago I got an email saying my domain was expiring in a month and I had to think about whether my days of rambling on this corner of the internet was over. In the end, I figured this page was worth the $13 and change.
My intention is to revive this blog but it's going to be quite different content-wise. In the past few months I've significantly cut back on my beauty purchases because I was so overwhelmed by how much stuff I had. I moved in January and in the months leading up to the move I did a series of mini stash purges and it was mind boggling the number of things I had hoarded and the amount of money I spent on things I used once or twice. In some cases, stuff was brand new. I gave away most of it so it wasn't all wasted but I still felt bad.
A few years ago, I had a daily ritual of catching up on Temptalia's blog and religiously stalking upcoming beauty releases. Nowadays, my favorite blogs don't have much to do with product reviews and swatches at all. I much prefer blogs that mash up lifestyle topics with a smattering of fashion and beauty a la Cup of Jo and Feather Factor. YouTube-wise, my subscription list has changed pretty dramatically compared to who I watched a few years ago. I love the vlog style of 子时当归 (Instagram: congcongh) who I found out about from lilladylife. Her videos are extremely calming and refreshing to watch.
On the topic of YouTube, I deleted the content from my existing channel recently (including my Laneige BB cushion review video that had nearly 300,000 views - still mind boggling and something I'm pretty proud of, hah). I sold my Canon T3i DSLR because it hadn't seen the light of day in many months and I no longer wanted to bring it with me on travels because it's too darn heavy. I've been toying with the idea of getting the Canon G7x that every YouTuber seems to have and starting a new channel with content that won't be chiefly beauty related. The environment on YouTube has changed a lot over the years and I obviously have as well. I takes some guts to put yourself online when there's already so much content out there that's incredibly produced and high quality, not to mention the feedback you'd get from people IRL who you work with and have professional relationships with. It's something I'm still thinking about - I'll update this space if and when I create that channel.
To conclude my mini catch-up ramble, I'll leave you with a few links to people/things that I've been thankful for (in the spirit of the aforementioned blogs that lead me to explore so many other great things both on- and offline):
- YoungestOldCatLady has quickly become my favorite Instagrammer hands down. In addition to doing incredible work taking care of cats and kittens in need and educating the online community about cat care and the importance of spay and neuter, Ashley has a wicked sense of humor and is just a generally lovely person. Her page brings me so much joy that I constantly feel compelled to share her content with my anti-social media boyfriend. I donate $5 a month to Ashley's patreon and she's probably one of the only people on social media that I would pay for content.
- I've come around to the fact that professional facials are beneficial for my acne-prone, troubled skin and there are techniques and tools that I would rather leave to a professional. I know it's probably better to find a great facialist and stick to that person but I'm a sucker for Gilt deals and thus I always end up trying somewhere new. This past Friday I went to Groom Laser and Skin Center for the first time and had a great deep cleanse facial with the owner Galina. Extractions are one of the primary reasons I get facials and Galina was extremely thorough but impressively I left with minimal redness and bumps on my skin. I've been to other places where I've left looking like a pepperoni pizza (but the swelling always goes down by the next day). Another huge plus about Galina is that she didn't try to sell me anything which I really appreciate. It's always uncomfortable when I have to politely decline a follow up facial package that costs hundreds if not thousands of dollars after a treatment.
- After that disappointing Game of Thrones finale, I've been trying to find other uses for my HBO subscription. I've watched four out of the five episodes of Chernobyl and it is riveting TV. I love that it's only five, hour-long episodes because it really distills a massive disaster down to key moments that tell the broader story of the how and why. I've recently begun listening to podcasts and the accompanying Chernobyl podcast is brilliant. In the podcast they talk about what's real and fabricated in the show, giving us more background into both the history of the incident and decisions the scriptwriter had to make.