routine update & product review roundup

[rhodochrosite]

SKINCARE

not a lot of change, vast majority of these are products I've already reviewed. holy grails marked with *:

AM routine

• wash face with water
• *ma:nyo galac niacin 2.0 essence – beloved holy grail which I have been religiously using for more than five years.
• dr satin caviar ghk-cu skin recovery essence gel – I ran out of moisturiser halfway through my taiwan trip and couldn't find either dr g clear soothing cream or clinique moisture surge anywhere so i went into watsons intending to get the naturie hatomugi on mich's rec and then got aggressively sold on this one by a staff member instead so I was like sure peggle i won't say no to a buy 1 get 1 deal. this is a VERY light and watery gel, so light that it's more of an essence than a moisturiser really and probably not moisturising enough on its own for the current state of my skin (quite dry) but it's fine for a summer day moisturiser under sunscreen. definitely won't be enough for winter but i'll switch back to clinique moisture surge by then.
• beauty of joseon relief sun rice probiotics sunscreen – gifted to me and it's fine, no white cast and light nongreasy finish and doesn't pill under makeup and feels hydrating. I do prefer the skin1004 hyalucica sunscreen though I have bought the round lab birch juice sunscreen to try next.
• if I'm not going to work I will use a tinted sunscreen instead:
  • skin1004 madagascar centella tone brightening tone-up sunscreen – this is genuinely awful like there is just no way to use this to make it not pill. I have tried waiting half an hour after moisturiser to let it dry down and that does not help at all. the formula is thick and unpleasant to apply. it always makes me so sad when skin1004 products don't work for me because I love so much of their work but this is definitely an anti-rec. but I refuse to waste product so I will finish the tube if it's the last thing I do.
  • aestura derma UV 365 red calming tone-up sunscreen – this is a much nicer formula than the skin1004 in the sense that it actually stays on the skin and the brightening/skintone evening effect is quite good.

PM routine

• *skin1004 madagascar centella cleansing oil – just the best oil cleanser ever.
• etude house soonjung whip cleanser – it's no peach & lily power cleansing gel but it's also not $70. does the job of second cleanser fine.
• institut esthederm osmoclean hydra-replenishing fresh lotion – rec from an olive young staff member who took one look at me and typed into papago Are you very red and sensitive? 😭 my skin was genuinely in the trenches when I was in korea, I had some kind of butterfly rash/uv allergic reaction and half convinced myself that I had lupus so I was desperately trying to find something super hydrating and gentle and soothing to fix my skin barrier. kind of dubious about whether this is actually doing anything because it's pretty much just water in its viscosity so i am unsure how effective the hydration really is but I have a massive bottle and it doesn't seem to be harming me.
• *dear klairs supple preparation unscented toner – I just keep coming back to her, every time I think I don't need her and I drop her from my routine my skin gets noticeably worse.
• differin – purchased otc when I was in la with mich since it's prescription-only here (although I think adalpalene has recently become otc here too) and it's extremely effective but I have to be soooo careful about applying only a tiny tiny amount especially in winter or it is like a hydrogen bomb on my skin barrier.
• *skin1004 madagascar centella ampoule – if I could only have one serum ever it would be this one I do intend to repurchase until the end of time.
• dr satin caviar ghk-cu skin recovery essence gel
• isntree hyaluronic acid water sleeping mask – I usually layer this over the dr satin at night because otherwise the dr satin is not moisturising enough.

MAKEUP

daily work makeup routine:

• kissme heroine make prime liquid eyeliner rich keep (mocha greige) – this was a rec from mich, it looked sooo good and precise on her I had to try it for myself and although I've only had it for a week or so I think I like it more than the regular heroine make eyeliner which has previously been my holy grail. i like using lighter shades for a more subtle look at work but a lot of grey/brown eyeliners are so unpigmented that they straight up disappear but this eyeliner hits the right balance of visible v understated. staying power is fine as well, she holds up through the work day and a 5k run (haven't tested it with a 10k yet), and the tip is very fine so good for drawing thin wings as I prefer.
• jung saem mool essential skin nuder cushion (light) - I thought I would never love a cushion more than I loved the clio mesh but she has been supplanted although I still think the mesh application is nicer than the jsm's traditional sponge cushion. basically since my skin has gotten a lot drier after I started using differin and I haven't fully figured out the right skincare to handle it yet, the clio mesh was starting to pill really badly on me, so I picked up the jsm at olive young in seoul on pea's rec. it applies so beautifully, very light and skinlike satiny finish, still looks fresh after a 10k run. love her very much, will repurchase.
• the saem cover perfection tip concealer (clear beige) – the formula is fine and doesn't lift my base but the shade I got is too light so it's really annoying to use for spot concealing. I have a tiny bit left of a maybelline concealer I've been using for like 5 years that I tend to reach for instead because the shade match is better.
• kissme heavy rotation colouring eyebrow (natural brown) – just picked up the first brow mascara I saw at donki i'm not really fussy about brows. I think the brush on the wand is too thick and gives too much pigment payoff for my liking but also I think it might be because I seriously need to thin my brows out. might go lighter or switch to clear gel when this one runs out.
• judydoll double under eyeliner (#N01) – recently started getting into aegyosal makeup and this definitely makes it a lot more convenient, the shadow end is a good greyish contouring shade but the highlight end is a little too bright for me, I swipe it very very lightly under my eyes and then blend it out with a small brush or a fingernail if I'm lazy. I still do undereye glitter at the centre of my eyes, usually the glitter from the espoir real eye palette or sometimes one of the silver glitters from my cheeryep palette.
• I have a bunch of blushes that I rotate through – the blush shade in my espoir palette, a light pink Innisfree blush which I think may be coming up on 7 or 8 years old, a dark pink shimmery judydoll blush which I think I have reviewed previously, and more recently acquired:
  • fwee pudding pot blush (like) – got this after pea pointed it out at tokyu hands and I fell prey to the hype. my first non-powder blush and I still don't know if I like it tbh. I find it kind of a hassle to apply compared to powder blushes which are quick and easy… I always end up using too little out of fear of pigment and then it doesn't even look like anything. but it is a really interesting texture and the colour is pretty, quite a vibrant cool toned pink. the blendability kinda mid, I have to work quickly to make sure it diffuses out properly and I feel like I shouldn't need to work this hard but im not sure if it's just a cream(? jelly? non-newtonian fluid?) blush thing. anyway I think it looks so luminous when blended out with very pale pink powder blush but I think it would look even better with lavender or blue blush so I might investigate that.
  • girlcult emotion blush (invisible rosy) – ok so I did buy this for the packaging because I think girlcult products are gorgeousss but I love how this looks on me, I've never tried a red/maroon blush before since I usually go for pink blushes but this looks like actual blood under the skin (like in the sense of a natural flush). the formula is like the fwee blush but I find it easier to work with maybe because it is a little bit more natural in finish so it looks less pigmented and also because it's in a compact rather than a pot so there's more surface area for the brush. really good for if I'm going for a less girly look.
• clio prism highlighter duo (lavender voyage) – nose bridge, nose tip, cupid's bow, under the tails of my eyebrows, and I would do inner eye corner if I hadn't developed eczema there after crying so much over fuckass abu dhabi 2025.
• canmake marshmallow finish powder (matte light ocher) – i don't love this tbh but I think it's because I started using it at a time where my skin was getting drier so I don't really need the coverage of a pressed powder anymore and it tends to separate a bit by the end of the day. I use this on my forehead and nose corners or just to set concealer. probably won't repurchase but the packaging is pretty if a bit flimsy.
• pramy setting spray (matte) – i've just finished a bottle and i really liked this. was doing like 3-4 layers when I was in seoul for tds4 in july and my makeup did not melt off my face even when it felt like my skin was melting off my face. but also I think the products I use are quite budgeproof generally. the mist was quite fine which I liked (urban decay setting spray pissed me off bc it would spray out huge droplets) and there was no offputting smell also unlike the ud setting spray.
• I also rotate through a bunch of lip products. recently acquired:
  • amuse jelly lip tint (seoul girl) – once again a tokyo 2024 purchase. basically I saw the Recommended By Wonyoung sticker, blacked out momentarily, and came to with another lip tint in my duty free package. i do regret not getting one of the Japan exclusive shades but I didn't realise they were Japan exclusive until we already left donki ): seoul girl looks a lot pinker than I usually go for lip tints (I had a similar shade of etude house dear darling water tint and I do not think it looked good on me) but the shade is actually so nice and not as scarily vibrant as it looks in the bottle. and the formula is really lovely! it has better lasting power / less patchiness than the romand dewy tint and etude house dear darling tint, and I like the viscosity better than the judydoll. the jellylike glossiness is also really nice and works as advertised. I think this is actually my favourite lip tint formula I've ever tried, thank you wonyo <3
  • girlcult unreal high shine lip glaze chameleon (dementor) – this is a very dark and gothic red, usually I will just apply a tiny bit to the centre of my lips and diffuse it out so it looks less scary to me. pretty much my only non-pink/mauve lip product. it has a very thin and watery consistency like the judydoll tint I had before but I find it a little bit drying. I will usually top it with a gloss because I don't use enough for it to have any kind of finish but I do really like it for occasions where pink does not feel like the move. beautiful packaging also, as with all girlcult products.
  • aou dewy bar (fig) – bought on a whim at hemeko and I don't love the formula, you have to have extremely moisturised and line-free lips for it to apply well and the colour is a bit too shiny and vibrant like they weren't kidding about the dewy but I think it makes me look a bit like a clown. the bullet itself is also very soft so it's easy to over-apply.
  • alternative stereo lip potion balmy rose (soft mauve) – I wanted a mlbb product and this is pretty much the exact same colour as my lips to the point where maybe it is a bit redundant but I like the cream-like formula a lot. it's not matte but it's not glossy either, like it really is giving Normal Lips. good for when I can't decide what colour I want to do.
  • flortte sea pearl lipstick (shell pink) – this is like the better version of the aou lip balm it does everything the aou does but better and the packaging is prettier too. hydrating on the lips, glossy finish without being too shiny, applies well over slightly drier lips, colour not too bright. I like to throw this one in my bag for touch-ups regardless of which lip product I started the day with because it does pigment + gloss at the same time in a bullet format which is easier to reapply than a tint.

other makeup I wanted to discuss:

• cheeryep 16 colour eyeshadow palette (fleeting life) – I bought this because I was struggling to do concert appropriate makeup with my neutral and pink/mauve palettes and wanted something more striking. I love the colour story on this even though it is intimidatingly intense. the shades are really pigmented and the formula is lovely but I will need to do more experimentation to figure out how to put together a look that is not decaying zombie adjacent.
• entropy tulle gloss (robe) – it's just sooooo pretty. I don't think the mauve colour really shows up on me but I love the sparkle, the formula is not annoyingly sticky and it has decent staying power like the glitter does last through a bit of eating and drinking.
• nuse reju lip gloss (dazzle grape) – the actual gloss is nice, though it's not pigmented enough to really add any colour to bare lips so I tend to use it on top of a lip tint or as a touch-up throughout the day. unfortunately the formula seems to both separate and dry out very quickly so you either get some kind of clear oily liquid or a dried lump when you first squeeze the tube which is very wasteful and annoying.
• unleashia healthy green cushion (#21) – almost forgot I tested this out. application was so annoying because the cushionless gimmick meant no palette space to tap off excess product and the foundation also dispensed really unevenly, and it would separate on my forehead by the end of the day. did not like it at all.

FRAGRANCE

some notable acquisitions:

• j-scent hojicha (coconut, peanut, laver / jasmine, mint, wintergreen / iris, cedarwood, vanilla, clover) – got this in tokyo as well but I had been looking for a tea scent for a while (have been dithering over acqua di parma osmanthus for 2 years) and the roasted note in hojicha is so interesting and unusual. the projection is super intimate and the longevity is low, but it's a rollerball application so that’s to be expected. I think this pulls slightly savoury on me which makes me kombucha girl a bit but I like to layer it with a vanilla gourmand to sweeten it back up. wish I'd gotten the ramune as well, such a fun scent!
• byredo rose of no man's land (turkish rose, pink pepper / turkish rose, raspberry blossom / papyrus, amber) – rollerball gifted to me, a very standard and unthreatening rose scent which is not something I would typically buy for myself but I like layering this under kenzo flower in the air so it doesn't disappear instantly.
• royal water angel wings (lemon, peach / orchid, freesia, lily, rose, violet, hyacinth / musk, sandalwood, amber) – I don't even know how to describe how this smells, it's clean and cool but in a sweet way that doesn't immediately pull floral or fruity or soapy, almost aquatic to me but not like an ocean or swimming pool it's like how fantasy books describe mountain spring water as fresh and sweet. if I concentrate I can identify the peach and white floral notes but it is really not like anything I've ever smelled before. longevity is great as well. really love this one.
• setsuna dancing in the moonlight (vanilla, caramel cake / marshmallow, ice cream / sugared musk, white chocolate) – this is an indie australian perfumery and I'm always happy to support local small businesses but I really wish I liked this more! on paper this looked exactly up my alley since I was looking for a new supersweet night occasion appropriate gourmand, so I blind bought the sample size. I've seen the scent described as sticky date pudding and I think that is fairly accurate in the bottle but on me it just smells like traditional chinese medicine. like it's not giving dessert, it's giving qi replenishment. really strong, projection and longevity is amazing from just one spray but I don't necessarily want to smell like herbal jujube soup yk.
• phlur heavy cream (lemon sugar, marshmallow, orange / jasmine blossom, coconut cream, ambrettolide / vanilla mousse, salted caramel, whipped cream) – birthday gift from pea and I loveeee it, perfect light vanilla caramel gourmand with a refreshing citrusy note that stops it from being too cloying for everyday use. i don't typically like lemon notes in vanilla gourmands because why is there sour in my dessert scent but I think it works well here because the scent is so airy and balanced and it interacts with my skin chemi really well. this is my Going For A Walk / grocery shopping scent, like it's just super easy to wear.
• p-seven honyun black tea (bergamot, mandarin, pepper, nutmeg / lavender, carnation, orange blossom, iris, black tea / cedarwood, guaiac wood, oakmoss, vetiver, musk, tonka bean) / ruby black tea (honey, cane sugar / cinnamon, jasmine, oolong tea / cedarwood) / vintage black tea (bergamot, sage, fir / brown sugar, vanilla, assam black tea / healingwood, amber, musk) – bought the discovery set at a niche perfume shop in taiwan recced to me by pea. all three of these are very lovely office safe tea scents, good blend of vivid black tea notes with an appropriate amount of sweetness. ruby black tea is probably my favourite out of the three I love that honey top note.
• voyager criollo (dark chocolate, coffee, plum / raspberry, jasmine / patchouli, tonka bean, honey) – also bought in taiwan. was not expecting to love it as much as I did especially because patchouli is usually a bit offputting to me, but it smells like a delicious cherry ripe on me in the best way possible. I had been wanting a night gourmand scent since the setsuna wasn't really working for me and this is giving sophisticated and mysterious and scorpio in a way that makes me feel a bit like I'm cosplaying a girl who is much cooler than me but I do believe in fake it till you make it. starting to think that honey is a note I need to be looking out for more. I had actually been intending to pick up d'annam mooncake from the delicious sounding notes but every sweet note disappeared on my skin and it just smelled like straight up salt and eggyolk which was very sad, and i didn't really love anything else i smelled from d'annam.
• janua mine wish (pear, freesia, bergamot / jasmine, grapefruit, pear blossom / cedar, amber, satin musk, cotton candy) – decant generously gifted to me by pea, the fairy floss pear i ate delicioussss this gets me so many compliments at work. perfect sweet fruity floral for summer, nothing groundbreaking but doesn't need to be because it's very good at being what it is.
• giorgio armani my way (orange blossom, bergamot / tuberose, jasmine / vanilla, white musk, cedar) – got a free sample of this last week when I was shopping for running gear and was shocked by how much I like it even though I should not be surprised since I generally love department store designer frags because they're always bubblegum candy sweet. I think the orange blossom note is what makes it more interesting to me than other similar generic designer perfumes?