A New Leaf

Hey look, leaves! We don't get this in Texas. This is from Vermont.

So, I don't know exactly how to begin this post, but I figured... Hey, it's September! The very beginning of autumn! Turning over a new leaf! That all works together in a clever way, right? Right. Sure.

As you may have noticed, the last time I posted in this blog was June 2014. I don't know that there was really one particular event that made me stop blogging about green beauty, it just sort of... happened. Life got busy. Then life got busier. I still have a huge stack of drafts that I started, but never finished. In fact, I still have product samples that I intended to review, but never did. (Note to self: I should throw those away.) Long story short, life got in the way, and then I started transitioning away from green beauty. There are a number of reasons for that, and it's a trend I've seen in many other blogs, so I figured I might as well address it here.

The good news: I hope to pick up blogging again soon, though with a slightly different focus!



First things first, my real life got pretty busy. I love my home life. I love cooking, I love cleaning, I love being domestic and caring for the people I love. For those not in the know, I am polyamorous (just Google it). It's something that I will probably talk about in future blog posts, but for now, just accept it and move on. I am married to a wonderful woman and we also have an amazing boyfriend. We recently moved into a new apartment together that is a fantastic space for the three of us, as well as our cats. My home life brings me more joy than anything else in my life, but it does take time and energy to nurture two relationships and keep a happy home, which is something I'm passionate about. But not in a weird... religious cult kind of way. Just in a folding the laundry, cooking delicious meals, and watching Netflix kind of way.

I also have a full-time job working for the government. I typically enjoy what I do and I love my office, but work is certainly not the number one priority in my life, although it does take up 8+ hours a day. I got different, and much busier, job since I stopped blogging. Working for the government is odd because there's a lot of job security, but you never know how the legislature and other governing entities might decide to "restructure" or otherwise f*ck up your day-to-day work. My particular department is currently going through a ~transition~ and I'm not sure where that will leave me. I'm not afraid of losing my job, but I am uncertain about how my job might change, including transferring to a different office.

All of the question I have about my department's "transition."

I'm also a great big nerd, which you really should know by now. I've been a tabletop gamer and a board game enthusiast for more years than it is socially acceptable to say, and in the past couple of years, I've also gotten into larping. I'm on staff for one larp, I used to be on staff for a different (worse) larp, I've written, organized, and directed my own small larp, and I am currently writing and otherwise crafting several other larps. I love larping and I love larp writing, but again, it takes a lot of time and energy. What I'm saying is never get into larp because it will take over your life and your blog will suffer.

I wish I could tell you that this is not what my larp looks like.

I laugh about larp, but really, it's become one of my passions. The image above, by the way, is from a game called "Terra Wars" out in California. It may look a bit cheesy -- but check out those happy faces! Ah, larp. What a card. 

I also made some major changes to my lifestyle as far as health goes, including completely changing the way that I eat. Like I mentioned before, I love cooking, and I now cook more than I ever have before. Way back in November 2014, I started eating low carb and did a thorough overhaul of my diet. I also started drinking way more water and have 99% eliminated any other kinds of drinks from my life. I've started working out at various intervals between then and now, though I have yet to find an exercise routine that I can really stick to and enjoy. Since starting these changes, I've lost over 40 pounds and I'm happier with my body than I've ever been. A healthy diet, drinking plenty of water, and getting a decent night's sleep are really the building blocks of beautiful skin and a wonderful life, if you ask me. But don't ask me. I'll just blather on forever about how much I love being low carb and how I'm way cooler now and I can wear more clothes and stuff. I guess maybe that's what a blog is for?

Finally, we come to the skin care and beauty part of this equation. Now, don't get me wrong. I still love green beauty. I still love many of these brands and continue to use their products, or plan to use their products in the future. Even more than that, the green beauty community has completely changed the way that I think about health and how critically I examine the products I use and consume. I will forever be grateful to green beauty for improving my health, my skin, and my outlook. However, like other bloggers I've seen, several things have caused me to transition (there's that stupid word again) away from a purely green beauty routine to something different: Asian beauty. You've probably heard of Asian beauty (or AB, for short, like we're friends or something!) before, and that's because there's a lot to love about it. 

I intended to put this all in one big post, but I realize now that I can't talk about all of the reasons I completely and fundamentally changed my beauty routine -- the foundation of this blog -- in one post. I mean, I guess I could, but your eyes would start bleeding from all the text and stupid gifs. Instead, I'm going to break it up into a series, because if I'm going to be self-indulgent and talk about all of the changes in my life, I might as well drag it out. If you don't care about why I left green beauty for AB (well, I didn't leave so much as... added a new partner) and just want to skip to my new reviews, be my guest! If you're interested in the reasoning behind this major change, here's my series:

Why I Broke Up With Green Beauty - Part One: Effectiveness

Why I Broke Up With Green Beauty - Part Two: Budget

Why I Broke Up With Green Beauty - Part Three: Variety & Attitude

If you're in a hurry to learn more about AB from people who know way more than I do, check out these websites and blogs!

Soko Glam
Glow Recipe
Peach & Lily
Fifty Shades of Snail
Snow White and the Asian Pear
Holy Snails!
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