january favorites

Wow, okay. My last favorites list was for August, which is kind of unforgiveable.

But I am back! Granted, some of these are "old" favorites, but I'll still share them with you. January overall was a bit of a whirl, but I still made time to enjoy things, here and there.

>>>> Night Cream - Alba Botanica

I was cursed with skin that has its own (decidedly dry and twisted and evil) sentience, so puberty has been an uphill battle trying to get it to behave. Recently, someone recommended I use night cream to smooth out pores and help renew the skin overnight. At this point, I'm skeptical about most products and super cautious about introducing new things into my routine, but I decided to give this cream by Alba Botanica a try. And I am very, very grateful, because this has had a really noticeable difference. I'm breaking out less, my scars are fading a lot faster, and my skin just feels a lot more refreshed.

>>>> Oil Free Moisturizer - Alba Botanica

I've been on the hunt for a new moisturizer ever since I used up my old one, and this new oil-free lotion from Alba Botanica is absolutely beautiful. There's almost a watery consistency that makes this very easy to apply, and I only have to use a tiny amount at a time, which guarantees a long-lasting product. It smells very clean and isn't irritating at all, which is all I'm really looking for in a lotion.

>>>> Powder Facial Wash - Dermoessentials

To be honest, I have no idea where this is from. I received it as a gift from a Korean relative, and I thought it was an interesting product because it's a powder that dissolves into a foamy soap with water. I was pretty hesitant with this product as well, but so far, it works really well to wash away all of the dirt and the oil. Because it's a powder, the facial wash also works as a gentle exfoliater, which is especially great now that school has started and I'm outdoors for most of the day. There's not much of a scent, which I actually appreciate because there's less chance of irritation. I still don't know what it means by super-enzyme.

>>>> Spray Hand Sanitizer - Burt's Bees

I'm actually not one to use hand sanitizer - I would always rather go to the bathroom and make sure the germs are gone with water and soap. I also really dislike the gel-like consistency of most Bath and Body Works hand santizers, But this one from Burt's Bees works because 1.) it's a spray, so there is no gel-like consistency and there's none of the sticky residue that plagues most hand sanitizers and 2.) it smells really, really nice. I think I prefer minty/clean smells to fruity or floral, and this one delivers with aloe and witch hazel.

>>>> Honey Trap Lip Balm - Lush

Along with terrible skin, I'm plagued with dry lips that are constantly peeling and cracking. I splurged on a lip balm from Lush ($8!! For a tiny circle!!) because I'd heard very good things about it and I was running out of my usual Nivea lip balm. If there's one thing Lush always does right, it's the taste of its products. I normally dislike vanilla, but this balm does something to make me really enjoy having it on my lips.

>>>> Shoebox (신발장) - Epik High

My last favorite is an album called Shoebox. Epik High is a South Korean hip-hop group that's distinctive for their introspective lyrics and melodic sound that frequently collaborates with some of the top artists in the South Korean music industry. I'm normally not one for rap, but I've been a long-time listener to Epik High because of how distinctly they stand out in their lyrics and melodies. The key member of the group, Tablo, is a Stanford graduate who writes most of the lyrics, and because of his bilingual status, seamlessly blends English and Korean together. 

This album was actually a lot darker than its whimsical cover suggests, as it bitterly laments haters, lost relationships, and society's hypocrisy. One of my favorite tracks, "We Fight Ourselves," or "또 싸워," details the crumbling relationship between two lovers who lament how bitterly their fights end and how winning an argument is still losing within the confines of their relationship. The angry rapping is offset by the mournful vocals of Younha, who is one of my favorite collaborators for Epik High. 

Overall, a great album that highlighted some of the up-and-coming talents in the K-hip hop scene.