Cheongdam K-beauty Starter Pack 2024

Hey Subbies,

Here is what I've been compiling over months of watching the top makeup artist in Korea. From the women who kept my interest JUNG SAEM MOOL to ones that keep popping up on my radar like I AM MAENG, HAEMIN SUNSAENG, and ISEUL. I think K-beauty has been trying to expand its shades like Missha, Heimish, Purito, and Tir Tir however, they'll need time to perfect some of their shades. I do think they need to have a bigger social media presence if they want their foundation lines to go more global because I've noticed that's what is key in keeping it in the public domain. I've seen bad formulations and outdated technology used for some of these brands so if they want to win the hearts of everyone I think Tir Tir is probably who they should be looking towards marketing-wise and Kendo or Estee Lauder for their completion lines on the right track plus we have the internet full data sets. 

If you're in the design world you maybe familiar with Pantone which comes preinstalled in Adobe Creative Suites, and the 2025 Pantone Color of the year is Mocha Mouse which basically be the it Color of the year. I wonder if it's because of all the Latte Coffee makeup trend that was happening so get ready to see a whole lot of brown in the lifestyle sector. And what's up the villainization of "Competitive data-driven analysis," it is standard practice across the business world big and small. I just feel like we all need a refresher course in basic business economics if we are going to continue talking part in Capitalism and share our two cents. Anyways, let me know if you tried any of these brands.

 SKIN PREP

• Benton
• Honest Eyelash Serum
• Guava 70 Skin Toner Face Mask Pad 70 Sheets 
• Numbuzin
• Numbuzin No.5 Vitamin Concentrated Serum
• Numbuzin No.3 Skin Softening Serum
• Yunjac
• Skin Perfecting Protective Base Prep
• Calming And Comforting Cream
• D'alba
• White Truffle First Spray Serum
• Waterfull Tone-Up Sun Cream
•  White Truffle Double Serum & Cream
• Narka
• Narka Core Rebuild Hype Fit Hair Mascara
• Laneige
• Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask Ex [Berry]

 

EYES

Eyeshadows

• Wakemake Soft Blurring Eye Palette
• Dasique Eyeshadow Palette Smoothies
• Peripera All Take Mood Palette 

Eyeliners

• Clio Professional Waterproof Pen Liner
• Clio Kill Brow Dual Tattoo Pen
• Clio Sharp So Simple Waterproof Pencil Liner
• Clio Extreme Gelpresso Pencil Liner

Mascaras

• Clio Kill Lash Superproof Mascara
• Peripera Ink All Black Cara
• Mude Inspire Longlash Curling Mascara
• Peripera Ink Setting Mascara Fixer 
• Holika Holika Lash Correcting Mascara
• Etude Curl Fix Mascara

Brows 

• Etude Drawing Eyes Coloring Browcara
• Skinfood Choco Eyebrow Powder Cake
•  rom&nd Han All Brow Cara

LIPS

Oils

• A’pieu Honey & Milk Lip Oil

Sticks

•  Matte: Rom&Nd Zero Matte 

Pencils 

• Heartpercent Dote On Mood Lip Pencil
• Clio Velvet Lip Pencil 
• Dasique Mood Blur Lip Pencil

Balms

• UIQ Biome Barrier™ Melting Moisture Lip Balm
• Romand Glasting Melting Balm
• AOU Glowy Tint Bal. 

Glosses/Glazes

• Hera Sensual Nude Gloss
• Holika Holika Two Slash Four Glaze Lip Changer

Tints/ Stains 

• Dewy: Rom&nd Juicy Lasting Bare Tint
• Glossy: Peripera Ink Mood Glowy Tint
• Matte: Peripera Ink The Velvet Tint
• Water-Based: Etude Dear Darling Water Tint

FACE

Bases 

• Fondations 
• Giverny Milchak Cover Foundation
• Hera Silky Stay 24h Longwear Foundation
• Vdl Perfect-Lasting Foundation
• Etude Double Lasting Foundation 

• Global: 
• Missha M Perfect Cover Serum Bb Cream 
• MISSHA - M Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF42 PA+++
• Glow Breathable Blemish Balm
• Purito Cica Clearing BB Cream
• heimish Moringa Ceramide BB Cream PA++

• Cushions
• Hera New Black Cushion SPF34/Pa++
• Jungsaemmool Essential Skin Nuder Cushion 

• Global: 
• Tir Tir Red Cushion 
• Parnell Cicamanu Serum Cushion
• Missha Glow Cushion
• Ongredients - Skin Barrier Glow Cover
• Milk Touch All-day Skin Fit Milky Glow Cushion
• Kaja Soft Blur Cushion
• Unleashia Satin Wear Healthy-Green Cushion

• Concealers: 
• The Saem Cover Perfect Tip Liquid Concealer 
•  Mustaev Spot Eraser Concealer Pencil

Primers

• Banila Co Prime Primer Classic

 Color Correctors 

• The Saem Cover Perfection Triple Pot Concealer

Blurring Powders 

• About_Tone. Blur Powder Pact

Bronzers (Warmth) / Contours (Shading)

• Too Cool For School Artclass By Rodin Shading 
• Peripera Ink V Shading
• Colorgram Re-Forming Contour Stick

Blushes

• Romand Better Than Cheek
• Dasique Blending Layer Cheek 
• Dasique Blending Mood Cheek 
• Wakemake Mix Blurring Volume Blush 
• Cream:
• Global: Fwee Pudding Pots 
• Lilybyred Luv Beam Cheek Balm

• Liquid: Nuse Liquid Care Cheek

Highlights 

• Powder: Too Cool For School Artclass By. Rodin Highlighter 
• Cream: Hince True Dimension Radiance Balm 

Finishing/ Setting Sprays

• Banila Co Prime Primer Finish Powder 
• TIRTIR Mask Fit Make-up Fixer, 24H Long Lasting Makeup Finishing Setting Spray
• So.Natural All Day Tight Make Up Setting Spray 
• So.Natural Make-Up Setting Multi Magic Sealer 

Tools 

Sponges:

• Fillimilli
• Picasso 

Brushes: 

• okhee
• BY MAENG 

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Let's Dissect Cobra

 Hey Subbies,

From Sweetie Pie to Her to Plan B to Cobra, this is the song that I have been waiting for since the prelude. People kept saying Meg was falling off but she has remained consistent throughout this last couple of years on this roller coaster ride. Unlike Sweetie Pie this song holds a lot more symbolism and reserves all the metaphors in her lyrics. This song is not for the religiously Herpetophobia types so keep your personals to yourself thank you. Megan funded this project herself after leaving her label thankfully the quality didn't drop or disappoint and to think people wanted her to do an up-tempo track when she had just done a Summery up-tempo collab with Cardi B. I love the fact that's a rock that fits in the rhythm and Blues genre that goes with the storyline.

Megan here is sharing mental struggles and her personal views which is really relatable to us as women who are realizing the trauma and reflecting on it by shading our skin so that it becomes our past. And you know Megan is big on advocating for Mental Health since she lost her Mom, Dad as well, and Grandmother while going through legal battles. Anyway, I still have to work with her framework along with the cinematography of the music video so be patient with me y'all because it's in a more similar vein to Gaga's 911 than Sweetie Pie symbolically. Thankfully, I have experienced recently covered K-pop groups like Blackpink, aespa, LE SSERAFIM, and even Hwasa which there seems to be a theme going on these couple of years so it won't be sparse.

A little recap from my Dissect of Sweetie Pie so if you haven't read that post you might want to before going to read this dissect. "Cobra [Naga / Nagi (f)] here to be exact. In Hindu (and Buddhist) iconography,  snakes are divine gods that live in bodies of water and underground in an underworld called "Patala." The Nagas are guardians of treasure and keepers of magic. They live in an enchanted underworld filled with jewels, gold, and other treasures. They can sometimes appear in (a) humans with snakes on the head and neck; (b) Fully serpent; and (c) Half-human, half-snake. Megan is an Aquarius "The water bearer." Aquarius (the old ruling planet is Saturn) the modern ruling planet is Uranus which is King Vasuki/ Naga in the Hindu epics the "divine being great king snake" (cobra) with a gem (Nagamani) on his head."

Lastly, I noticed how they filmed Megan here. They start with close Intimate head shoots to slowly revealing the rest of her body. It's kind of like when we hear a snake we usually see their face before we see the rest of the body. 

What does the Cobra mean to Megan?

Courage

Cobras exemplify courage and self-reliance. They stand tall and

fierce in the face of challenges, teaching one to tap into their inner strength and rely on oneself to conquer their threats. Emulating the cobra helps one be more confident in the person they are within.

Fun Fact: "There are 21 species of cobras, but the king cobra is the sole member of the genus Ophiophagus. It is distinguishable from other cobras by its large size and neck patterns. The name “king cobra” stems from its ability to kill and eat cobras."

Etymology of Cobra

Cobra (n.) Venomous hooded snake found in India and neighboring regions, 1802, short for cobra capello (1670s), from Portuguese cobra de capello, literally "serpent of the hood," from Latin colubra "a snake, female serpent" (source of French couleuvre "adder"), which is of uncertain origin. So-called for the expandable loose skin about its neck. The word came to English via Portuguese colonies in India, where the native name is nag (see naga)."The Uraeus was was the Ancient Egyptian cobra symbol of the Goddess as Creator. The symbol was worn on the foreheads of deities and rulers in the position of the "third eye" of the insight. It stood for royal spirit, healing, and wisdom. The Uraeus was a hieroglyphic sign for "Goddess," derived from one of Egyp's oldest deities, the Serpent Mother variously called Uatchet, Utahit, or Ua Zit. To the Greeks, she was Buto, after her sacred city Per Uto. Together with the Vulture Goddess Nekhbet, she represented cycles of birth and death, beginning and ending. These archaic goddesses were known as the Two Mistresses, by whose authority all pharaohs ruled and the cycles of nature were constantly renewed. The Cobra Goddess eventually merged with Maat as the All-Seeing Eye and with Isis as the mother of the Sun."

The Serpent Ouroboros

Several Traditions indicate that the original serpent protecting the World Egg was female, a mother-serpent, like Ananta the Infinite in India, or Mehen the Enveloper (Ua Zit, Buto Uraeus) in Egypt. The male serpent became the guardian of the Egg only after patriarchy was well established. 

Mouth

We open with an intimate close-up shoot of Megan's mouth and her opening monologue. 

Just as a snake shed it's skin we must shed out past over and over again."

 This statement is really about American culture and intersectionality that fragility isn't really afforded to black women. But Megan is ready to rise again although she suffered and made some mistakes which has been really transparent about in her music which is her current confrontable to open up about her struggles in the industry. A lot of people see women talking candidly or not at all as a threat or risk out of fear. 

Tongue

Also, I want to talk about the tongue or power of the tongue which is really on brand for Megan because she usually ends her sentences or phrases with "Aah" and tongue out which has very negative conations in the West due to medieval depictions of devils and it's linked with untruthfulness'. In Asia, an extended tongue is a sign of potency and life force because the tongue between the lips imitates the sacred lingam-yoni. 

Biblically the tongue was synonymous with language such as the well-known term and Acts parable "Speaking of the tongues" which direct copy from Buddhist text that mentions the Ushnisha, symbolizing knowledge of all languages. 

Eyes

"The God of the Circle, the one" in Hinduism and the idea that the cosmos is an unbroken circle repeated by Gnostics with the image of a Serpent eating his tail also known as Ouroboros. By the 1st century B.C., it became synonymous with the Full Moon and the pupil of the All-seeing Eye. Snake Eyes hold a lot of spiritual symbolism and as the saying goes "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" snakes are feared for the most part.

Genesis of the Desolate Garden

[Verse 1]

Breakin' down and I had the whole world watchin'

But the worst part is really who watched me

Every night I cried, I almost died

And nobody close tried to stop it

Long as everybody gettin' paid, right?

Everything'll be okay, right?

I'm winnin', so nobody trippin'

Bet if I ever fall off, everybody go missin'

 After leaving the confines of the snake she enters a setting of tall grass and dead and barren trees. Megan is now seen as Eve or Lilith's archetype character based on her public persona also known as the Madonna Whore Complex is so prevalent in American Religious Zeitgeist. Women are often not given a chance to choose and shamed for failing Relationships. The lack of community that Megan lost over time from her intimated family members passing at a very important transition time for young adults, my generation calls it "adulting" which isn't taught in school. 

The Garden usually associated with Biblical and Near Epics is actually sexual in nature where seeds are fertilized to grow bare fruits and vegetables. But they weren't associated with common folk they were associated with the Kings and Queens and those who could afford it like merchants. The Fruits of labor are a metaphor for the Queen because she produces the next heir(s). Coming back to the Madonna whore complex the Virgin Mary is usually depicted in Vulgate Hortus conclusus so Gardens with the Tree of Life in the center and a fountain which is associated with the cycle of the moon and life.

Black & White (Past) 

[Verse 1]

Shit, I'd probably bleed out some Pinot

When they find me, I'm in Valentino, ayy

He pourin' me shots, thinkin' it's lit

Hah, little did he know

[Chorus]

This pussy deprеssed, hmm, I'm about to stress him, yeah

Pink nails 'round his nеck, huh, but this ain't domestic, ayy

Think it's goin' down, hah, now he stand corrected, ayy

This pussy depressed, hmm, I'm about to stress him, ah

 "Black is the strongest of the neutral colors. On the positive side, it's commonly associated with power, elegance, and formality. On the negative side, it can be associated with evil, death, and mystery."

"The color white has several meanings and associations purity, innocence, cleanliness, blankness, coldness, emptiness, simplicity, and minimalism."

When a person chooses to film something in BW it is usually for aesthetics purposes it brings out things that color can't do and it is very editorial. But in Film it can usually represent a time in the past similar to the classics from Pre-code Hollywood like Film Noir. Megan looks elegant yet cold due to the atmosphere which is great for expressing her lyrics.

Megan here is talking about some type of self-censoring herself and the people around her were essentially enablers in all her relationships. The snake on the ground symbolically feels like she was exposed and this is backed up by the fact that we are in a bedroom and she is on a bed. A bedroom is a very intimate setting for usually one or two people that definitely turned toxic. Also, white and black snakes like California King Snake, Black Mamba, or Southern Black Racer are usually in flight or fight or flight mode when put in a defense position.

Green With Envy

"It can represent new beginnings and growth. It also signifies renewal and abundance. Alternatively, green can also represent envy or jealousy, and a lack of experience."

Why Women Are Stripey?

The Battle between Mom and Dad gene activation at the 4th-day mark of 100 cell embryo with X-chromosomes (female) to full maturity of the offspring these 100 cells will manifest a stripy partner on the skin of the women. Sadly it's a visible gene expression but is common on other mammals like female calico cats. That's the beauty of Epigenetics

Veritasium - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD6h-wDj7bw

Into the Wilderness

[Outro]  

I ain't goin', yeah, no emotion, ayy  

Back outside, yeah, back in motion, ayy  

He keep callin', hmm, I ignore it (Ayy)  

He say I'm crazy, hmm, don't I know it, ah

 Spiral

Both single and double were among the most sacred signs of Neolithic Europe. They appear on megalithic monuments and temples all over the continent and the British Isles. Spiral represented the Serpent guardians of Sumerian Temples.  The spiral was connected with death and rebirth; Megan's story represents the process of entering the earthly womb represented by a snake at the being of the Music Video and ends with a Sacred Dance imitating this movement of which many pagan European folk dances use spiral lines of dancers circling into a center and out.

All I have to say is Megan is embodying Mami Wata here. And who is Mami Wata you ask...well

"Mama Wata (also Mamba Muntu, Water Mother, La Sirene) is a water spirit venerated in West, Central, and Southern Africa and in the Afro-American diaspora. The appearance of her hair ranges from straight, curly to wooly black and combed straight back. Sacred Fertility dances performed by the African women during ritual possession by their Devine African mothers, and deities, and the European’s Ignorance and fear of them earned her, and the African Goddess, reputation as the “harlot, whore, prostitute, etc..."

I hope you guys enjoyed the read I was actually working on something else before I got a notification from my socials that she dropped this so I'm trying to post this since there has been a lot of discussion recently since it dropped. I may add more as get art history and ancient history books in the future.

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My 2021 Skincare Empties

 Hey Subbies,

Okay, I just want to put it out there that I bought Tone up cream ( I bought a similar product from TheFaceshop). When this new type of skincare came out I was confused. I was looking for information on how to use it at the time but now there are multiple videos on it. But what I logically put together about is that is a Toner and Cream moisturizer. Now I have seen YouTubers use it as a base to even out their skin tone for makeup or if they don't have time to do all of their skincare they will throw it on to save time. It is also great for the Glass Skin application since some of them contain specific physical filters of that of Sunblock/ SPF (Sun Protection Factor).

Anyways, here is my empties. I decided to divide it up into sections this time so please let me know if you have tried any of these products.

Will Buy Again/ Re-bought

This is a Black-owned brand that I have mentioned before and I to take a minute to remember they had rebranded. It's a great nighttime moisturizer since it contains lavender. I usually don't like lavender in skincare but I don't mind it on the body since it also contains shea butter.

I wish had the money for that three-pack when I was in Japan. Hopefully, I'll be able to travel soon so I can stock up the black version which I heard is more moisturizing.

I feel like people are sleeping on ELF cosmetics. I just have really been enjoying their skincare and there has been a lot of South Korean influence on the brand over the years. I'm currently using some of the Super-line with the Cica (Centella) mask, a Squalane moisturizer, and I even bought the Holy Hydration plus the Night cream for my mom that have been favorites.

I really like the texture of the serum. I actually bought a Missha set that includes this serum and the Time Revolution. I'm kind of on a Probiotics kick.  

I actually mention this in my last post. If I had picked between the very popular Aqua Cure based on price and usability I would pick this. Also, it took me forever to get thru lol. 

I really like this cleanser, would recommend it to sensitive skin types.

This was great as a base for makeup.

Really love this product and it is great if you want to achieve the Glass Skin look. Pair this with a highlighting cream /serum. 

This does have a Tea tree scent and skin may purge because of the tea tree but after your skin gets accumulated it will help to keep acne at bay.

I'm so happy you can get this over the counter for everyone. You all know that I had retinol prescribed to me as a teenager and it has wonderful benefits so if you're struggling with ance I would try this or get a doctor to prescribe you a higher dose plus a routine to follow. The derm prescribed me retinol, sulfur face wash or you can get ointment to spot treat, and moisture plus SPF.

I watched a Dr. Dray video and I think it was about body odor and now I'm on my second bottle. If you can't afford it there are a lot of benzoyl peroxide wash-offs on the market at different price points. However, I would like to try the Lume brand that does about the same thing.

I bought this because I thought I would be traveling last year. I also bought Nivea body cream which I'm also working through during this winter. My skin is usually really dry so having this really helped and it has mild scent.

This is another black-owned brand. They have a line of hair care and I really love the smell of this product. Castor Oil is very moisturizing and is similar in consistency of Coconut oil so it would be great for hair and body.

Love this in my baths and very moisturizing.

This mask is great but my first mask of the year was a banana mask. However, when I finished it I was really sad lol.

I have bought this shampoo time and time again. It is great for pH balancing the scalp and all their products smell like Citrus. I currently trying to use up the deep conditioner.

Ichikami I think was alluded to in the video I linked to in my Rice Water post. So if you want to add this to hair treatment day you can. It's very softening and even used on my wigs because of the floral scent (plus my eyes are very sensitive to certain scents I used it so often but the brand has options now.

I looked for a cheaper SheaMoisture brand and bought this purely because it had similar scents as the very Defunct Wen Haircare. I also had the leave-in condition but was not my favorite due to the heavy artificial coconut scent.

Neutral

Love the hydrogel eye patches and the amount you get just not the serum.

Every time I see a snail product I have to think about their just like 1% of snail filtrate in this product. I feel like I'm being scammed but at the same time it does moisturize so I'm conflicted.

I bought this to see what all the hype was about this product. My only gripe with this product was the top and dipping my hand into the product was very tedious. 

The was a really interesting serum and it also smelled like Tamanu oil but I didn't mind it. Also, it contained olive oil and I'm surprised now that I didn't breakout. I'm wondering now if fermenting Olive oil possibly won't cause me to break out in hives.  I will say I would not recommend buying this if you have sensitivity to yeast.

I almost forgot to post this Cleansing Oil by Goodal. I actually wasn't a big fan because they used mineral oil but I became conflicted. Why you ask? Well because I bought Sioris Cleansing Oil which I'm still currently using but actually not a fan of for a few reasons but ended up mixing what I had left of this with the Sioris to make a more pleasant experience. 

No Buy

I paid a pretty penny for TheFacehop's Yehwadam Snow Lotus Brightening Pearl Capsule Cream product. It's literally a precursor for the Tone-up cream. I used it as a base for Diba Cushion to help it match better with match my skin tone. And it does have a fragrance so I had some skin sensitivity.

I'm currently using the Dr. Gio Cushion which I love btw. This cushion like I stated above, it did not match me and I went through the color match system they had on the website a couple of times to make sure I was picking the correct shade. And the cushion came to me near its expiration date and my skin broke out every time I wore it. My other problem with actually both websites is that their promo codes did not work or the website had the promo codes disabled.

I actually got this in a skincare giveaway from Beauty Cookie and as you see I did not finish it. The smell of the product was not pleasant and it actually reminded me of my Tamanu Oil with its earthiness and Playdough. I don't know if I got a bad batch since the minority of people online love the scent and the moisturizing effect it has on the skin. Also, this product has been sitting in a dark and cool place since my bathroom area does not have a window.

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