The scary world of beauty vlogging

PS. I wanted to add cute gifs to this post, but as I'm technologically challenged, it didn't work. Sorry.You'll have to look at random photos from my Instagram instead.

I'm always conflicted whether I should post so-called opinion pieces from time to time, or just stick to product reviews. I'm not going to post skincare advice, ever, because I am not a cosmetologist, or a skincare professional. And besides, only a total idiot would take skincare advice from an unqualified blogger. Sadly, judging by the stuff seen in the beauty blogging world, there are idiots aplenty out there.

I was asked today why I don't do vlogs.
There's a short answer - I don't do vlogs, because I'm lazy, and a long answer - because the beauty vlogging world reminds me too much of high school, and I'm way too old for that shite.

High school was quite traumatic for me. It's not the time of my life I want to remember, or revisit, in whatever shape or form. No, thank you.

Kumamon agrees

There are some beauty YouTubers (of various levels of popularity) that I watch from time to time, mainly to keep up with new product releases. But as they are paid for their opinions, I tend to turn down the volume and just watch the images. Convenient and stealthy, if the only time you can watch YouTube is at work.

Being a small time "beauty" blogger (in quotation marks, because I don't do winged eyeliners and lipsticks) with only a handful of followers means that I'm pretty much an outsider to the beauty blogging community. And as such, few people, if any, pay attention to what I have to say.

Surprisingly, that has its good points. Because peeps like me fly under the radar of popularity, I can be as obnoxious and controversial as I want to be, and nobody's none the wiser.

We have a string of public holidays right now here in Japan and that means that I have some time to burn on Instagram and YouTube. And that's exactly what I was doing this morning.

There was this event called Beauty Week 2015 in Seoul, where the movers and shakers of the beauty vlogging world got together to eat, drink, look pretty and be merry.

And looking at the coverage of the event on Instagram and YouTube, it became painfully obvious that the beauty vlogging world is even more like high school than I thought.
You have the popular chicks, the prom queens, the homecoming queens, the upper echelons of high school life, err, pardon me, of beauty vlogging "community".

My cat doesn't give a fark. She's smart.

For them, this is business as usual. It's a job. They do their job. And they are damn good at it.
They worked hard for their success and hats off to them. They deserve to be admired for what they've accomplished.

Then you have the hangers-on. The adoring fans, who think that because their social media following might be in the low 5 figures, they are hot shots, too. Newsflash lovelies, you're not. Not even close. While appearing friendly and open on the surface, their mutual adoration societies are basically the extension of high school cliques. And can be just as brutal.

And then we have the masses, the misfits, the wannabes, the outcasts, the outsiders, and whoever else is left in the graduating class.

The top level vloggers understand that their job is to mingle with the masses and look happy doing so. After all, they get paid for their presence. The second tier, with its inflated sense of self importance, is a lot less accommodating.

While looking at the instagram photos from the event, it became painfully obvious that for the hangers-on image is everything. And that's no surprise, they are clawing their way up the vlogging food chain, so for them image equals credibility.

It got to the point that it was painful to look at.

Photos with the itsbubzes and xsparkages of the world were carefully tagged and marked with everyone's instagram handles, so they would be easy to find by the important people. Unlike photos featuring the happy-to-be-there-rubbing-shoulders-with-the-gurus members of the masses. And if said member happened not to have the physical appearance of a high-powered beauty vlogger? Hahaha! You can't be serious!
You can't expect the pretty people to remember the handles of the not so pretty people. An honest oversight? Who are you kidding!

All those deep thoughts made me hungry.

So there you have it.

My long answer as to why I am not interested in beauty vlogging. I want no part of that world.
I am happy being a small time blogger doing the stuff that small time bloggers do.
Small time beauty bloggers can be as controversial as they want. They do not answer to corporate sponsors and have no ambitions of turning pro. (At least I'm speaking for myself here).

Basically, being on the fringes of the beauty blogging community, we can say whatever we want to whoever we want however we want.

For me, to be a beauty vlogger and be taken seriously based on my appearance, first I'd have to go on GoFundMe, or whatever it is, and beg for money for dental and jaw realignment surgery. Preferably by some miracle-performing Seoul plastic surgeon.

Hey, at least I have cute arm covers!

So that's the end of that story.

What I can do instead is a podcast.
But what the hell would I talk about?
Any ideas?


PS. I am very aware that a similar pecking order exists in the "traditional" beauty blogging community as well, it's not exclusive to vloggers.

The scary world of beauty blogging

First up, I am spewing more of the same more regularly now. Which can mean only one thing.
We're on Twitter now. Yay for me!

I need to get them small, fancy icons ready for easy following and such. But at my advanced age all new technologies can be a bit intimidating.

My week on Twitter was spent diving head first into the beauty twittersphere, or whatever that place is called, where prominent bloggers feel the need to retwit over and over links to their old blog posts. It's boring, it's tiring and frankly, it reeks of desperation. But I guess the struggle to stay relevant and stay on top is real out there. There are only so many press samples and PR events to go around, right?

I am no stranger to beauty blogs, featuring both Asian and western perspective. Though in all fairness and honesty, I've always tried to avoid the heavily sponsored, "I'm a full time blogger" sites, as I feel their opinions are heavily compromised by the fact they make money touting new products and companies.

Of course, there are exceptions, but they are far and few between.
Add to that the fact that many top tier bloggers (or those who delude themselves into believing they are top tier) don't provide clear disclaimers that what they are posting are paid advertorials (yes, most reasonably intelligent readers know it already, but it's the principle and basic honesty that matter) and the waters get even more murky.

The Asian beauty blogosphere is starting to swim in the same murky waters, and as Asian cosmetic companies and retailers are waking up to the PR potential of English language bloggers, the waters are bound to get even muddier. Watch this space.


What caught my attention was a blogger (British mid-tier by the looks of it), who had the balls to actually speak up about the situation. But whether it is a genuine concern and effort to make the British blogosphere a better place, or just an attempt to stay relevant, well, that's anyone's guess.

Though since I'm linking to the post here, clearly, the ploy is working.

I actually found that blog to be quite pleasant. Yes, the products are sponsored, but the content is fun and fluffy, and if I weren't driving to work, it would be something I'd like to read during my morning commute. You know, just to see what's happening on the other side of the world.

Tonight I ended up reading it in the bath instead of my usual materials:

(Yes, I know, I know... smartphones in the bathtub are a really dumb idea.)

It's also interesting to me as a non-Asian beauty blog. And the author did say that:

"Technically speaking tanning is a bad thing and a sign of damage, even though we associated a sunkissed glow with health and radiance."

Love at first read!

Anyway, where was I?

Ah yes, the popularity contest of pro beauty bloggers...

On that blog, I also noticed this:
Blogger Ads and Promotional Packages

Holy mother of Batman! Bloggers actually advertise on popular blogs? And popular bloggers charge money for this service?
Sorry, but to me, this is just against the spirit of blogging (though if I were blogging for a living, I'm sure my opinion would be very different). And it made me appreciate those heavy hitters, who very kindly linked to me without financial strings attached.

On the other hand, I am really curious if such paid services really deliver.
And on the other (third?) hand, if I had 25 or 50 pounds lying around in my paypal account, I'd rather order me some more Whamisa or Cremorlab. Or books.

So yes, my week on Twitter turned into a crash course into the ugly reality of trying to stay on top in a very competitive blogging marketplace.

It also made me glad that I am just a small time blogger blogging about small time things with no real aspirations of becoming an Asian beauty powerhouse.

Have a great week everybody!

Ignorant consumers are... well... ignorant

As a teen I suffered from a very common affliction. My mouth just wouldn't shut up. And since as most teens, I was an all-knowing expert with opinions on nearly everything from child rearing to brain surgery, spending longer than a few minutes in my company was simply unbearable.
Fortunately, my father, a very wise man who had my best interest at heart, one day simply had enough and told me to STFU. He didn't say it like that of course. He used a lot gentler and a lot more fatherly words. But the core message was the same - if you don't know what you're talking about, it might be a lot smarter to just shut up and watch others make fools of themselves.
Before I had time to take his advice to heart, I stopped being a teen and, along with that, grew out of the habit of spewing nonsense.

Not everyone was as fortunate as me.

Then, there's this uniquely Polish genetic trait of compulsively correcting everything and everybody and thus, by pointing out the mistakes of others, proving one's own self worth.

I suffer from it as well. However, with age came the realization that 99% of the time I'd rather be drinking Starbucks, or watching my cat chase a newspaper ball than point out the minutiae mistakes of others. I mean, who cares? Right? Right.

However, every now and then, that remaining 1% kicks in.

One of my commenters, Alicja, a Polish woman writing her comments in English, does not share my love of Starbucks and cats. She'd rather be scouring the internet in search of errors in blog posts to point out. And as she's an expert on nearly everything, from economy to skincare, there are plenty of errors out there for her to correct.

Under the Dear Amore Pacific post she was an economy expert. What she said actually made sense. The only problem was that despite her English fluency she was unable to detect my sarcasm and irony and took the entire rant seriously. I didn't even think it was at all possible. I was so clearly over the top in that post... Oh well...

Under the most recent A-True review we see Alicja as a skin care expert, medical expert, cosmetics industry expert, beauty historian expert, Asian culture expert and a few others.

It started innocently enough. In a true Polish fashion, she pointed out my "misspelling" of a certain word. Somehow, it never crossed her mind that the word was misspelled on purpose - to avoid using a registered trademark.

In her comment Alicja attacked the quality of Asian skin care.
I could almost agree with her. Half the time I attack it myself. There are some brands that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole (or a hungarian, whatever...)

But then she took it a step further.

She said:

These Korean skincare products seem like a scam. Looking at the ingredients, there is nothing unusual or special in them...

I suppose she was referring to the A-True items I was reviewing. But then again I'm not sure. She didn't make it all that clear. And if that's the case, then what is she doing reading a blog devoted to Asian skincare?

Then she said:

Want tea in your skincare? You can actually apply cold tea directly to your skin and you will get the same benefits.

Really? The day they start making tea with sodium hyaluronate, then yeah, maybe.

She repeatedly referred to Asian skincare as "gimmicky".

Usually, when I see someone so misinformed that it hurts, I let them be. After all, ignorance is bliss. Let her be happy.

But Alicja didn't stop at that, oh no...
What piqued my interest was this part of her comment:

I do believe in sun filters and even though I am probably older than you, my neck looks younger for sure. It is maybe because I use no pillows (my doctor told me long ago that no pillows is better for your complexion, face and neck) or maybe because I use old fashioned European and American creams that are specially formulated for the neck. Thicker than for the face and very effective indeed. Examples: 3Lab SuperCream and 111Skin.

She says she's older than me but her neck looks younger. Whether she meant her neck looks younger than the rest of her, or her neck looks younger than my neck, that's debatable.
But that got my attention.

Why?

I like my neck and want to keep it looking young. Younger than the rest of me.

Just like Alicja, I also believe in sun filters. And I also sleep without a pillow.

Her doctor told her to sleep without a pillow. How interesting. If she only knew that sleeping without a pillow is one of these ancient "gimmicky" Asian skin care tricks to keep one's neck wrinkle-free.
In a later comment it did turn out her doctor was of Asian origin.

So... on one hand it's all "gimmicks", and on the other - it works? So finally, which is it?

Her mention of "old fashioned European and American creams" also got me very interested.
I love trying new things, and I don't discriminate. Asian, American, European, as long as it works, I'm willing to try it.

So I hopped over to the 3Lab website, started looking around and got a strange feeling of deja vu.

Take a look for yourself:

image source


Ginseng skincare? Eastern therapies?
And those packaging designs... They looked vaguely familiar, don't they?

I started reading the ingredient lists. Here's the one for the neck cream recommended by Alicja:

image source


It looked suspiciously Asian influenced.

I poked around the site some more.
And may the wonders never cease!
Marine infused skincare, fermented ingredients, ginseng.

And get that - even a cushion product. For all of US$100.00.

image source


Yes. A cushion for one hundred bucks.
I admit, I am very curious. I'd like to try it.

Hmmm... This is what an "old fashioned" American company looks like?

I went to the "About Us" page.

And yes, you guessed it. The company is run by an Asian-American couple.
And yes, you guessed it again. Of Korean origin.

Which brings us to this point - just how much of a wanna-be nouveau riche (or utterly lacking in common sense) our dear Alicja must be? I mean, to shell out all that money and not even look at the ingredient list, or check out the company's webpage?

The other company - 111Skin also sells ridiculously overpriced skincare with such breakthrough ingredients as hyaluronic acid and arbutin. And oh yes, lots of centella asiatica. And ferments.

image source


There are two possibilities:

• 1. All that matters to Alicja is the price tag - the bigger the better.
• 2. She just randomly picked those two companies as examples of what she thinks a fancy older woman would buy and never actually tried their products. Because I just can't believe she was never curious about the companies and what they stand for.

3Lab is Korea-lite for affluent American women, who like Alicja, shun Asian skincare. Their products copy Sulwhasoo, su:m37, Lirikos, Amore Pacific and just about every other high end Korean skincare company out there.

111Skin is for affluent women who like to brag just how much they spend on their cosmetics. I'll pass. Any company that charges almost 600 pounds for a jar of cream, yet can't properly spell "glycerin" on their website is not worth my time.

image source


Alice didn't have an answer why, if she thinks Korean skincare is a scam, the products she recommended came from Asian-inspired companies?
She skillfully deflected this uncomfortable fact and started to talk about placenta.

Now, placenta is a common cosmetic ingredient, not only in Asia. These days most companies use sheep placenta. And it's no coincidence that the majority of new western arrivals on the cosmetic placenta scene hail from Australia and New Zealand.

image source


Alicja was quick to inform me how her placenta was taken away from her, allegedly to be sold to Korean companies for skincare purposes.
Which lead me to believe that Alicja gave birth a long while ago. Or her placenta was taken for a more shady reason.
Very conveniently for her story, Alicja, though perturbed by what happened, chose not to pursue it further. Strange indeed.

Human placenta is expensive to procure and many companies prefer less risky and more easily obtainable animals product.

While placenta has been used as a folk remedy in many cultures for thousands of years, skincare benefits of placenta haven't been conclusively researched. Alicja likened this placenta craze to a cream containing fat-free milk and marketed to naive women, who are afraid of getting fat.

The main difference that fat-free milk is fat-free milk, and placenta is a nutrient rich substance was lost on Alicja. She claimed to have an embryologist in her family who "looked into it for her."

I was duly impressed. As no substantial research on placenta skincare benefits has yet been published, it was truly impressive to have someone do all that research just for her. Because how otherwise could she have arrive at the conclusion that the placenta hype is "BS".

Hmmm...
So is collagen in skincare, as the molecule is too large to penetrate the empidermal layer.
And so is Human Oligopeptide-9, one of the key ingredients in Alicja's favorite neck cream, as again, hard science has proven that the molecule is too big to penetrate the skin.

I asked Alicja about her double standard regarding ingredients, but sadly, instead of answering, as most people when they ran out of credible arguments, she deflected and changed the subject.

She changed the subject several times.

One of the topics she gave us her expert opinion on was this:

When I see Asian skincare and makeup companies imitating, yes, imitating American products and ideals, I just feel bad for them. There is no need to get lighter skin at all. I will never understand why Asian women should desire to have lighter skin. The horrible bleaching products are really a cultural misunderstanding.

The incredible thing is that it was written by a person who claims to have lived in Asia in her younger days. Indonesia, to be exact. Wow! Alicja is just like Barack Obama! Incredible.

Ah... Where should we begin...

I thought that anyone who is familiar with Asia, and a person who used to live here certainly should be,  is aware of that fact that Asian preference for lighter skin has nothing to do with imitating American beauty ideals.
Unless, of course, Americans invented time machines and visited, oh, let's say 8th century Japan, and even earlier - Korea and China.

Or maybe it was the other way round? Maybe it was the Heian era courtiers who time traveled to the "west" circa 19th century and were so taken with the glorification of pale skin by the upper classes that they decided to bring that idea back to their own timeline?

Only Alicja knows that...

The rest of us, backed up by historical research, cosmetic history research and cultural anthropology, knows that in early Asia pale skin was a hallmark of high breeding. Of women who didn't have to slog in the rice fields. Of women who had the time and resources to spend on cosmetic pursuits.

In other words, pale skin in Asia was desirable for the very same reasons it was desirable in 19th century Europe - it was a status symbol.

Imitating Americans? Don't think there were any light skinned Americans prancing around in 8th century Japan. Maybe imitating Europeans then? Very unlikely.

Here is a very good summary of the evolution of Japanese beauty ideals - The Fair Face of Japanese Beauty - Cosmetics for Japanese Women from the Heian Period to Today.
I didn't even know it was available in English.
Incidentally, it was referenced, just a day before Alicja left her comment, by one of my favorite bloggers in this post.

And as to "Asian skincare and makeup companies imitating American products"?
Surely, Alicja meant it as a joke.

And if not, then unfortunately for her, industry analysts disagree:

The influence of Asia in skin care is expected to remain a strong highlight in 2015 including novel concepts, products, formats and benefits. To exemplify, Neutrogena’s latest offering – one of the last innovations to hit the shelves in the US in 2014 – claims to bring Asian technology to the West. Neutrogena’s Hydro Boost range consists of three key products; a Gel-Cream, a Water Gel and an Eye Gel Cream which aim to lock in moisture and draw water into the skin. Hydration is considered to be a key benefit in Asia, from cleansers to toners to face masks and moisturisers.  

Skin care is expected to continue to have an Asian trend focus with Chanel’s newest product to hit the shelves in the US called Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro-Serum, indicating that the quest of hydration is set to be strong across both side of the price spectrum. Asia is also influencing skin care as the region is well-known for multi-step routines involving an array of products, with many Western brands adding product offerings like essence and emulsion to their portfolio. Examples include Philosophy’s Brighten My Day All-Over Skin Perfecting Brightening Essence and Embryolisse Emulsion Hydra Mat Freshness Care, among others. The trend has also transpired in colour cosmetics where after the explosion of BB creams across all markets, air cushions a new make-up format from South Korea has started moving west too. L’Oréal’s Lancôme is the first Western brand to adopt this trend, with its Miracle Cushion foundation.
Source

Though again, there's this possibility of time travel - from the late 20th century in Asia to the US in 2017, where Asian cosmetic undercover agents saw all these amazing western products packed with ingredients of Asian origin. They brought them back to their time, reverse engineered and voila! Asian skincare explosion.

Of course there is this inconvenient fact that two of the worlds oldest cosmetic companies are Japanese - Shiseido (founded in 1872) and Kanebo (1887).

For those who still don't believe where the current skincare inspirations come from, here is another entry from Euromonitor - Asian Shades of Skincare.

Alicja claims to work providing solutions for her clients.
Let's hope her solutions are in a field that she is more familiar with than cosmetic and skincare industry.

But personally?

I don't think Alicja exists.
Nobody is that ignorant. Nobody can function with such a myopic view of the world (as evidenced by other thoughts in her comments). What a sad existence that would be.

I think Alicja is a persona created by someone to get a reaction out of me.
In that case - congratulations.

Success!!


PS. First rainbow powder ever? Formulated by Shiseido in 1917.
But I'm sure those f*ckers just time traveled again, and stole the idea from Guerlain Meteorites, those Japanese bastards!

On bloggers and ingredients

Today let's talk about ingredients.
In cosmetics. In makeup and skincare products.

What inspired this post was a comment exchange I had earlier this week with a certain beauty blogger. She happened to like the Lancome Miracle Cushion (my review - here), and that's fine. I'm sure many people love it and for them it's the best thing since pushup bras.

What was surprising was her explanation why. She had tried Korean cushions before - from Etude House and Laneige. And claimed that both of them broke her out. I'm not surprised by that. Every skin is different and we all have different breakout triggers.
But the blogger claimed that Korean cushions (as well as BB creams and foundations) are loaded with parabens, and she specifically singled out parabens as the reason for her breakouts.
According to her, the Lancome cushion is compatible to her skin, because what's inside it is better than what's inside Korean cushions.
When I pointed out how ill-informed and on how many levels that comment was, she deleted my replies. Oh well...

But that just goes to prove yet again that ingredient listings are a dangerous thing, especially in the hands of people who can't read.
Because if you blame your skin troubles on parabens in certain products, it might be a good idea to first check if there are parabens in said products. If there aren't any, you will end up looking less than credible, no matter how many comments you delete.

Dzis porozmawiajmy o skladach kosmetykow.
Czas najwyzszy.

Inspiracja do dzisiejszego wpisu byla wymiana komentarzy z pewna blogerka kosmetyczna (niepolska). Bardzo polubila sie z Lancome Miracle Cushion (moja recenzja tej poduszki - tutaj). I w porzadku. Wiele osob uwaza ta poduszke za cud, miod i orzeszki.

Co bylo dziwne w tym przypadku, to jej wyjasnienie dlaczego.
Otoz, probowala ona poprzednio koreanskich poduszek - Etude House i Laneige. I twierdzi, ze po obu z nich bardzo ja wysypalo. To samo w sobie nie jest dziwne. Kazda cera jest inna i reaguje inaczej.
Ale ta blogerka nie zatrzymala sie w tym miejscu i pedzila dalej.
Twierdzi ona, ze koreanskie poduszki (jak i BB kremy i podklady) sa naladowane parabenami i specjalnie podkreslila, ze to wlasnie parabeny ja wysypuja.
Wedlug niej, Lancome Miracle Cushion ma o wiele lepszy sklad niz koreanskie produkty.
Kiedy usilowalam jej wyjasnic, ze jest zle poinformowana na temat skladow koreanskich kosmetykow, usunela moje komentarze, zostawiajac tylko te, ktore "potwierdzaja" jej punkt widzenia.

To tylko dowodzi, ze sklady INCI to bardzo niebezpieczna rzecz, szczegolnie w rekach ludzi, ktorzy nie potrafia czytac.
Bo jesli winisz parabeny za swoje problemy skorne, to moze dobrze byloby zaczac od sprawdzenia czy dany produkt w ogole ma je w skladzie. Bo jesli nie, ale nadal upierasz sie przy swoim, to wyjdziesz na malo wiarygodna blogerke, bez wzgledu na to ile komentarzy skasujesz.

Like most of us, I use a lot of skincare products. I slather chemical compounds on my face, and other body parts, several times a day. All in the name of health and beauty.

Whether a cosmetic is natural, organic, or straight from the lab, does not matter to me.
What matters to me is whether its price tag reflects the contents.
Sadly, more often than not, this is not the case. We end up paying for pretty packaging and a luxury-evoking legacy name (yes, Global Shiseido, I'm looking at you!)
I don't mind bare bones ingredients, as long as the price of the product is also bare bones. By the same token, I'm willing to pay, even pay a lot, for ingredients and formulas that will never be found in cheap drugstore cosmetics. Whether those ingredients and formulas are proven to work, that's a whole different story. But hey, it doesn't hurt to try, right? Right.

Jak wiekszosc z nas, uzywam wielu kosmetykow. Klade na twarz i na cialo chemiczne czasteczki kilka razy dziennie. Wszystko dla zdrowia i urody.

Czy kosmetyk jest naturalny, organiczny, czy laboratoryjny, nie ma dla mnie najmniejszego znaczenia.
Co ma znaczenie to fakt, czy cena kosmetyku odzwierciedla jego sklad.
Niestety, bardzo czesto, nie. Placimy za piekne opakowania i mit markowej nazwy przywolujacej na mysl luksus (tak, globalne Shiseido, do ciebie pije).
Nie mam nic przeciwko ubogim skladom w kosmetykach, o ile ich cena tez jest dla ubogich.
I tak samo, jestem w stanie zaplacic duzo za skladniki i formuly, ktorych nie znajde w osiedlowej drogerii. Czy te skladniki i formuly dzialaja, to juz zupelnie inna bajka i temat na inny wpis. Ale przeciez nie szkodzi sprobowac, nieprawdaz?

~~~

Personally, I don't believe that the fountain of youth and smooth skin will come to us purely from nature. If it existed in nature, we'd have it by now, I'm pretty sure. Nature can offer us a lot of help, but the key to stopping cell death will be developed in a cutting edge research lab using bioengineering and genetic science.
What it means to me is that I am equally willing to try cosmetics full of natural plant extracts, as well as exclusively lab born and bred chemical wonders.
I don't discriminate. Or maybe I discriminate equally. What an ox and moron.
I believe in better living through chemistry. And the more varied products I try, the better I know my skin.

Usually I try to stay away from deep and pseudo-scienfitic ingredient analyses, because simply, I'm not a scientist. But I know what cosDNA is for and, usually, before I start spewing nonsense, I try to check what the system has to say. It's there for a reason, you know. Because maybe it's not the parabens that are breaking you out (especially if there aren't any in a product you are talking about), but other acne triggers and skin irritants.


Osobiscie nie wierze, ze zrodlo wiecznej mlodosci i gladkiej skory trafi do nas z natury. Gdyby istnialo w naturze, juz bysmy byli na jego tropie. Natura ma wiele co zaoferowania i wspomaga nasze wysilki ku wiecznie gladkiej cerze, ale klucz do zatrzymania zmian starzenia na poziomie komorkowym zostanie odkryty w laboratorium naukowym, przy uzyciu najnowszych osiagniec w dziedzinie biotechnologii i inzynierii genetycznej.

Dla mnie znaczy to tyle, ze jestem tak samo sklonna uzywac kosmetykow pelnych naturalnych skladnikow i ekstraktow, jak i tych "pelnych chemii".
Nie dyskryminuje. A raczej - dyskryminuje wszystko na rownym poziomie.
Moje motto to "lepsze zycie dzieki chemii". I im wiecej roznych kosmetykow probuje, tym lepiej poznaje swoja cere.

Zazwyczaj staram sie trzymac z daleka od pseudo-naukowych analiz skladnikowych, bo po prostu nie jestem naukowcem w tej dziedzinie. Ale wiem czym jest cosDNA i zazwyczaj, zanim zaczne bredzic od rzeczy, sprawdzam co ten system ma do powiedzenia o skladzie danego kosmetyku. Bo to moze nie parabeny cie wysypuja (szczegolnie jesli produkt o ktorym mowisz ich nie ma!), a inne substancje oznaczone jako potencjalne przyczyny problemow skornych.

~~~


For what it's worth, according to cosDNA Etude House Any Cushion is relatively free off acne triggers and major irritants.
Laneige cushion has a couple of 4-point acne triggers (Ethylhexyl Palmitate, and Isopropyl Palmitate).

Wedlug cosDNA poduszka Etude House nie zawiera zadnych silnych wysypywaczy.
Poduszka Laneige ma dwa skladniki oznaczone jako silne (4 punkty) potencjalne przyczyny wypryskow - Ethylhexyl Palmitate, and Isopropyl Palmitate.

But surprise, surprise, so does Lancome Miracle Cushion - Isopropyl Myristate (which according to cosDNA is a major acne trigger) and Ethylhexyl Palmitate. 

Ale niespodzianka, rowniez Lancome Miracle Cushion - Isopropyl Myristate (wedlug cosDNA stoi wysoko w kategorii "wysypywaczy") i Ethylhexyl Pamitate.

Link to the Lancome Miracle Cushion cosDNA analysis - here.
Link do analizy na stronie cosDNA - w zdaniu powyzej.


And as for parabens... well...
Apart from first checking if a given product has any, it might be a good idea to actually find out what parabens are what they do. But that would take some effort. And who has time for that?
Nonsensical pseudo-science is so much easier, right?

Even if you are allergic to science, Of Faces And Fingers (Beauty with an analytical perspective) has a very good write-up on parabens, in English, using simple words that even the dumbest blond (like me!) should be able to grasp. Enjoy!

A w temacie parabenow... hmmm...
Oprocz sprawdzenia skladu, czy dany kosmetyk rzeczywiscie je zawiera, dobrze byloby dowiedziec sie czym te parabeny sa i jakie maja zadanie. Ale to wymagaloby wysilku. A kto ma czas i ochote na wysilek?
Pseudo-naukowe bzdury sa przeciez duzo latwiejsze.

Nawet jesli masz alergiczna reakcje na nauki scisle, ten blog - Of Faces And Fingers (Beauty with an analytical perspective) ma bardzo dobry, rzetelny i szczegolowy wpis na ten temat. Nawet najglupsza blondynka (taka jak ja!) powinna zrozumiec o co chodzi. Wpis jest po angielsku, niestety.