A Book, a Box, & That Time I Cut My Own Hair

June 26, 2015 | Announcements, Asian Skincare, News, Skincare

You guys! Look at me! I’m blogging! Oh my God, this feels GREAT. I am so happy to be typing this sentence. And this one. AND THIS ONE.

I imagine that for those of you who don’t follow me on social media, it probably just looks like I was abducted, and for that, I apologize. But I was doing some really amazing things, which I’m going to tell you about in a minute, but first, I’m going to tell you a story about me that I think best represents what happened over the past 10 months.

There was an incident that occurred once when I was 15 years old. It was the 90s, and I was hanging out in my messy bedroom with a friend of mine. I suddenly had to pee, so I told my friend I’d “be right back” and left to use the bathroom. While I was washing my hands, I noticed a pair of haircutting scissors sitting on the counter. I looked at my hair in the mirror. I looked at the scissors. I looked in the mirror again. “I should cut my hair short,” I thought.

A normal person would have had this thought, and then immediately made a haircut appointment. And actually, I typically would have too, but I was feeling particularly impulsive that day. So I picked up the scissors and proceeded to give myself a haircut. A major haircut. I cut at least 6 inches off all the way around, giving myself a chin-length bob, which I then finished off with some “fringy” bangs. And without realizing it, nearly an hour had passed.

I casually walked back into my room and picked up the conversation with my now (justifiably) impatient friend. “I’m sorry I took so long! What were you saying earlier?” She looked positively shocked.

“Uh, what happened to your hair?”

“Oh, this? Yeah, I cut it.”

“Just now?”

“Yeah.”

“You went to pee…and then you just…you cut your hair?”

“Yeah, well, the scissors were out?”

I wasn’t normally so impulsive, but that day I couldn’t resist the opportunity presented to me by those scissors placed so conveniently in front of a mirror. And although it wasn’t the best haircut, it also wasn’t the worst.

That was a really long time ago. I would never leave a friend waiting in my bedroom for an hour now, nor would I dream of cutting my own hair. But I do feel like I metaphorically left my blog to go pee and then disappeared for a while.

I did not, however, cut my own hair while I was gone — but I did seize a lot of really amazing opportunities. Let me tell you what I’ve been up to!

1. Working. Lots of Working.

I have a regular full-time job working in a field I love (which is unrelated to both blogging and beauty). But I’ve also been working with a partner to lay the groundwork for a new business in that same field. So essentially, I’m working 1 2/3 jobs right now, and have been since October of last year. This hasn’t left me with a lot of free time, but once I’m able to completely transition into the new business, I’ll get some of that time back! And in the meantime, it’s been an incredibly rewarding experience.

2. I Wrote a Book.

Earlier this year Coco (The Beauty Wolf) and I were approached by a publishing company to write a book about Korean beauty. Obviously we jumped at the chance! We have been working insanely hard to write and design this book, and at the risk of sounding braggy, the end result is really, really good. It’s called Korean Beauty Secrets: A Practical Guide to Cutting-Edge Skincare & Makeup, and it will be released worldwide by Skyhorse Publishing this November.

The cover for our upcoming book!

We set out to create a book that would be useful, interesting, and fun for complete newcomers to K-beauty as well as the more experienced Korean beauty lovers, and I wholeheartedly believe we accomplished that task. Our book has everything you need to know in order to assemble a Korean style skincare routine, including :

• Detailed information about each skincare product category
• How to assess and address your skincare needs
• Tips for determining layering order
• Shopping and ingredient cheat sheets organized by skin concern
• Ingredient definitions
• Detailed example skincare routines by several of our favorite bloggers
• Nearly 250 English-Korean ingredient translations

It also features:

• An amazingly thorough makeup section that provides detailed descriptions of a huge variety of makeup categories
• Guides to achieving some truly beautiful Korean-inspired makeup looks.
• A lot of gorgeous photography

One area where Coco and I were particularly fortunate is that we were given full control over the book’s content and design. Being given design control is not typical in the traditional publishing industry, so this was a really big deal for us! Coco art directed the photoshoots, and I handled the layout and information design. We both developed the cover design. The finished product is a beautiful, glossy, full-color, hardcover. If you don’t want to wait for November to order it, you can pre-order it on Amazon and receive it the day it’s released (November 3, 2015).

  (Please note: the book description and cover thumbnail on Amazon are older, unedited, placeholders – apparently it takes a few days for updates to go live on Amazon once they’ve been submitted. Who knew?)

3. I Curated a Skincare Box for Club Clio.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working with Club Clio to curate a summer skincare box! The box theme is Summer Savior, and I am so incredibly pleased with the outcome. If you ever wondered if curating a beauty collection for a beauty brand you truly love would be exciting, allow me to let you in on a secret: IT IS. The whole process of putting this selection together has been a joy. I’d already become a huge fan of many products from Goodal lineup over the past several months, so being handed the creative reigns to assemble a summer-themed box of products to share was an amazing surprise.

I put a lot of thought into what I wanted for this collection. I also had a list of self-imposed standards that I wanted my Summer Savior box to meet:

• I wanted a collection that directly and effectively addressed the skincare problems that come with the relentless summer heat: sun damage, lost hydration, finding balance between feeling sweaty and oily while being outside — and then feeling tight or dry after being in the air-conditioned indoors.

• It was important to me that my selections be compatible with as many skin types as possible: dry, oily, combination, and everything in between.

• I wanted products that would enhance people’s current skincare routine rather than attempting to replace a wide variety of skincare regimens.

• I needed the box to be a good value. Skincare is an investment, and I wanted people to get a lot of bang for their buck.

I’m happy to report that I was easily able to meet all of the criteria in the process of putting together this collection!

Summer Savior by Skin & Tonics

The box is available on the Club Clio website starting today. Here’s what’s in it:

• Full Size – Goodal Waterest Fine Mist
• Full Size – Goodal Waterest Vital Sleeping Pack
• Full Size – Goodal Sunbelievable Perfect Sun Cream
• Full Size – Goodal Mild Protect Natural Sun Filter Cream
• Soo Ae Snail Brightening + Moisture Mask 1 pc
• Goodal Washup Clay Mask Mini
• Goodal Waterest Lasting Water Oil Packette Samples 4 pcs
• Goodal Waterest First Essence (new) Sample

There are lots of details on the Clio website about why I chose those specific items! The box is priced at $75, and contains $117 worth of products. I hope you genuinely love it!

Special note for customers outside of the U.S.: You can have Summer Savior shipped internationally – just email cs@clubcliousa.com and they’ll arrange it!

And if you need some makeup to go with that skincare, The Beauty Wolf also has a Clio box being released today! Her box’s theme is “Summerproof” and features a lineup of makeup products that will stay in place in the summer heat. I know she put a lot of thought into what went into the collection, and her selections are really fantastic.

The Beauty Wolf - Clio : Summerproof Box

Summerproof by The Beauty Wolf

Coco’s Summerproof Box contains:

The Summerproof box is priced at $60, and contains $94 worth of products.

• Full Size – Peripera Peri’s Tint Marker 003
• Full Size – Clio Gelpresso Stick Shadow 1+1 (001,003)
• Full Size – Clio Kill Brow Tinted Tattoo 001
• Clio Lumi Pang/Tint Water Mini
• Clio Peripera Eye + Lip Makeup Remover Tissue

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So that’s what I’ve been doing. As fun, intense, and productive as it’s been, I’ve missed blogging a lot. I’m really happy to be back! I’ll be resuming a regular-ish posting schedule next week — and I promise not to disappear or cut my own hair before then.

Where to Buy

Store	Price	Offers
Korean Beauty Secrets: A Practical Guide to Cutting-Edge Skincare and Makeup — Pre-order on Amazon.com	$20.69	Pre-order now and receive it the day it's released!	buy
Summer Savior - A Skin & Tonics Curated Skincare Box for Club Clio	$75	$75 for $117.20 worth of product	buy
Summerproof - A Beauty Wolf Curated Summer Makeup Box for Club Clio	$60	$60 for $94 worth of product	buy