Horrible products

🤨😕😳 that's insane!

@Mariacasino At least their punishment will be relatively swift. A shot of olive oil first thing in the morning will make you late for work. 😅

@hazelmoss ,🫒🫒🪔🚽🚻

@Mariacasino This makes me laugh even more because people in my country — especially older generations — have been doing the straight-shot-of-olive-oil thing FOREVER. 😂🫒 Olive oil is basically a holy grail here. We produce some amazing olive oil, it’s a huge part of the food culture, and some older people have been taking a spoonful or a little shot of it in the morning long before wellness influencers discovered it. So apparently our grandparents were wellness influencers before wellness influencers existed. 🤣 They just forgot to film it, put it in an aesthetic glass and call it a “morning glow ritual.” 😂 But sometimes I genuinely wonder where the line is between skincare/wellness and when it all just becomes TOO MUCH. 😭 I obviously love skincare and I’m willing to try plenty of things, but at some point I have to ask myself: Are we still taking care of ourselves, or have we accidentally turned being healthy and having good skin into a full-time job? 😂 Eat the olive oil, wear the sunscreen, use the skincare… but I refuse to reach the point where my entire morning requires twelve supplements, three powders, an olive-oil shot and a 17-step routine before I’m allowed to have breakfast. 🤣😭

@Veky I'm not surprised that it's a routine in the elder generations... Especially where the olive oil is great! And there is nothing wrong in doing that, what it's upsetting me is the commercialization of this as a beauty supplement sold in small packages... Olive oil is great in so many ways, grab a bottle and enjoy in your salad or over some bread with a pinch of salt! 😋 🫒

@Mariacasino Exactly!! 😂 That’s the part that gets me too. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with olive oil — it’s been part of our food culture forever. But somehow we’ve reached the point where you can take something people have been eating for generations, divide it into tiny aesthetic “daily beauty shots,” put the words glow or longevity on the box, and suddenly charge a premium for it. 🤣😭 Meanwhile my grandparents would probably look at it and be like… “You paid HOW MUCH for a tiny portion of olive oil?? There’s a whole bottle in the kitchen.” 😂🫒 And yes, good bread + good olive oil + a little salt is honestly one of the best ways to enjoy it. Or if someone really wants to take it as a shot, fine — pour some olive oil into a glass, add a little lemon if you like, and there you go. 😂 We really don’t need individually packaged single-use pouches of what they’re now calling “olive oil shots.” 😭🫒 The funny thing is, I actually don’t even like olive oil that much. 😂 I don’t really like oils in general, and good olive oil has quite a strong taste for me. So every now and then I’ll literally take a spoonful with some lemon and swallow it quickly just because I know olive oil can be a healthy part of the diet. That’s basically the only reason I consume it that way — otherwise I wouldn’t be voluntarily taking shots of oil. 🤣 So apparently I’ve been doing the “olive oil wellness shot” too… I just forgot to put it in a tiny designer pouch and charge myself $5 for it. 😂😭🫒

@Veky can I ask which country you live in? I’m just curious haha I haven’t heard of the olive shot but I’m not sure I could stomach that 😭 I’d have to chase it down with vodka lmao jk jk

@Sora Hahaha, the funny thing is that where I’m from, if you don’t want the olive oil shot, the traditional alternative is basically a shot of rakija. 😂😭 Olive oil or alcohol — apparently those are our two paths to health and longevity. I’m from Croatia! 🇭🇷 We take olive oil VERY seriously here, especially in Istria and along the coast. Croatian olive oils have won a lot of international awards and we literally have olive oil competitions, fairs and tastings. We even put it in chocolate, cookies and all kinds of other things. 😂 My boyfriend’s parents actually have their own family olive farm in Istria and produce olive oil themselves. Their oil has won quite a few awards too, including best olive oil of the year in Croatia and awards at other competitions, so I’m basically surrounded by olive oil whether I like it or not. 😂 So if anyone ever needs some genuinely good Croatian/Istrian olive oil, apparently I’m your girl — just let me know. 🤣 But now I’m curious, where are you from? You immediately went for vodka as the chaser, so now I need to know. 😂😂

@Veky rakija for breakfast? You unlocked too many memories 😊 the balkans are my second home! And I would like to know if you export olive oil because we need it here in the north! 🫒

@Mariacasino Hahaha YES, and it gets even better when the rakija is stored in a water bottle so you think you’re about to drink water. 😭😂 I learned that lesson the hard way once. I came home after running absolutely DYING of thirst, opened the fridge, saw what looked like a bottle of water and thought ahhh, perfect. I grabbed it and basically took a huge gulp without even thinking. It was not water. It was rakija. 💀😂 Nothing quite prepares you for expecting cold refreshing water after a run and instead getting a mouthful of Balkan rocket fuel. 😭 Ever since then I CHECK before drinking anything suspiciously clear from a random bottle. Is it water? Rakija? Something else entirely? We investigate first now. 😂 And if the Balkans are your second home, then I’m sure you understand exactly how realistic the “why is there rakija in a water bottle?” situation is. 😂❤️ As for the olive oil — yes, potentially! 🫒 It mostly depends on where you live. I don’t actually handle the sales/distribution side myself, so whenever someone asks me about ordering it, I have to check with them whether they can ship to that particular country. But from what I know, shipping is possible to quite a few places. So tell me where in the north you are 👀 and I can ask whether they can send it there! 🫒😂

@Veky OMG thats awesome that you have the olive oil hookups haha! Okay so you're the AESTURA and olive oil expert then! (I will reply to your super thorough comment about the aestura product recommendations tomorrow, it's been a long day for me). I live in America but I am Mexican. I should have said "Tequila" for a chaser as its my preferred alcohol but I'm so used to everyone around me drinking vodka over most other alcohols. Since it's October I plan on buying a nice bottle of Tequila for Dia de muertos (day of the dead) and I am very excited for it haha

@Veky “why is there rakija in a water bottle?”. Yes. I know what you mean 😅 they would even tell me "that is what radenska bottles are for". I'm located in Sweden! Is there a website for the logistics? I don't know if this is too much off-topic 🥷

@hazelmoss I swear, if a product isn’t gimmicky enough now, apparently it isn’t social-media-friendly enough. 😂 At this point I sometimes feel like brands are selling the experience and aesthetic of using the product almost as much as the actual formula. It doesn’t even matter whether something is particularly useful — it just needs to make you go, “WAIT, what even IS that?!” while scrolling. 🤣 And to be fair, I understand why. The genuinely important skincare basics are… kind of boring. 😭 Gentle cleansing, moisturizing, protecting your barrier and wearing sunscreen aren’t exactly going to produce a viral 15-second TikTok. A gigantic syringe that looks like you’re about to inject yourself with PDRN, though? Now THAT gets attention. 😂💉 And PDRN is becoming the perfect example. I actually LIKE PDRN products and some of the formulas are genuinely lovely and hydrating, so I’m not anti-PDRN at all. But suddenly EVERYTHING IS PDRN. 😭 Salmon PDRN, plant PDRN, red bean PDRN, microalgae PDRN… and then I see BANANA PDRN and I’m like, okay, what are we doing now?! 🍌🤣 At this rate I’m waiting for potato PDRN, cucumber PDRN and “artisanal locally sourced avocado PDRN.” 😂 Sometimes I look at new releases and genuinely have to stop and figure out what the product even IS underneath all the buzzwords and packaging. Give me innovation, absolutely — I love trying interesting skincare — but not every ingredient needs its own viral era and a syringe-shaped bottle. 😭😂

@Veky OMG I just watched an episode of CHEMIST CONFESSIONS all about this very thing. Like, what is the PDRN even doing and throwing in all of the different types is just muddying the waters. You'll be happy to hear, however, that IOPE was the winning product and their research highly praised. As someone of Polish descent, I would like to advocate for potato PDRN. the packaging can be pierogi-shaped. HazelMoss Pierogi PDRN -- potato cheeks in 2 weeks.

@hazelmoss @Veky 'HazelMoss Pierogi PDRN — potato cheeks in 2 weeks' is honestly the best marketing concept I’ve heard all year. Sign me up! 🥟🥔😂 ​You both hit the nail on the head. The syringe packaging is peak 'cosmeceutical theater'... trying to borrow the aesthetic of clinical medical procedures for what is ultimately a topical humectant serum. ​What drives me crazy is that because cosmetics aren't regulated like pharmaceuticals, brands can run an in-house 'study' on 10 people without a vehicle control or blinding, and slap 'CLINICALLY PROVEN' across the packaging. ​The best formulas usually come in the most boring, unglamorous pumps with zero TikTok appeal. Give me a simple, functional bottle over a giant clumsy syringe any day!

@Mariacasino All right! I just need to learn chemistry first. 🤓

@hazelmoss watched that episode too and I was sitting there like YESSS 😂😭 So apparently out of the whole PDRN jungle, IOPE is one of the few where there’s actually some convincing research behind what they’re doing. I felt ridiculously validated after all my IOPE preaching. 🤣 And listen, I fully support potato PDRN. Potato in my food, potato on my face — potato is good. 😂🥔 But if you’re launching HazelMoss Pierogi PDRN — Potato Cheeks in 2 Weeks™, I have one request: can we PLEASE get a sweet potato line too?? 🤣🍠 I love sweet potatoes so much that I would absolutely volunteer as your first test subject. Sweet Potato PDRN Clinical Recovery Ampoule incoming. 😂 Also, speaking of potatoes on your face, I don’t know if you’ve seen this one, but HesuL actually makes an Ugly Potato Sunscreen SPF50+. 😂 I haven’t tried the sunscreen yet, but I’ve tried a few of their other products and genuinely liked them — their formulas tend to be quite simple/minimal, which I appreciate. And from what I’ve seen, the sunscreen seems to get really good reviews too. I actually thought of you because I think that one might be worth looking into for your skin. 👀🥔 So basically… we’re already halfway to the HazelMoss potato skincare empire. We just need the pierogi-shaped packaging now. 🤣😭🥔🍠

@Mariacasino I completely agree with you on all of this. 😂 The syringe packaging especially drives me crazy sometimes because it immediately makes a product look more medical and effective before you’ve even looked at what’s actually inside it. “Cosmeceutical theater” is honestly the perfect way to describe it. 😭 And YES to the “clinically proven” part. I always want to know what the clinical study actually was — how many people, how long, what was it compared against, was there a control, who conducted it, and what exactly improved? Because “clinically tested” can sound incredibly impressive while telling you almost nothing about the quality of the evidence. 😂 That’s actually one of the reasons I was so happy watching the Chemist Confessions episode and seeing them praise IOPE. It wasn’t just “ooooh PDRN!” — they actually looked at what the brand had done with the ingredient and the research behind it. I was sitting there feeling extremely validated after all my IOPE evangelizing. 🤣😭 And I’m 100% with you on packaging too. Give me the boring airtight pump with a genuinely good formula. I don’t need my serum to look like I’m about to perform a minor medical procedure in my bathroom. 😂💉 HazelMoss Pierogi PDRN™, however, is exempt from all of these rules. That one absolutely needs ridiculous pierogi-shaped packaging. 🥟🥔🤣

@Veky I've never heard of this brand or the sunscreen. Too funny! I need to check them out. And those poor potatoes in their branding are super cute. They shouldn't call them ugly, lol. I will consider your feature request for further product development. What about Sweet Potato Pie -- PDRN Under Your Eye (cream)? Any other root vegetables? I feel like I'm going to get a cease and desist letter from SKINFOOD.

@Veky It goes without saying -- what is a pierogi but half a cosmetic compact with crimped edges? We can turn that into a squeeze tube -- that's usually how my pierogis turn out anyway. 😅

@hazelmoss omg I’m so sorry to just jump in but I live in a community with a lot of polish people and a lot of my friends are polish and I’ve had Pancki flavored vodka! (Not my style haha)

@Sora 🤣

@hazelmoss Hahaha leave the poor potatoes alone!! 😭😂 They’re so cute, why are we calling them ugly?! Although I guess potatoes are the ultimate “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” vegetable — maybe not the prettiest on the outside, but beautiful on the inside. 😂🥔 Also, since I accidentally introduced you to HESUL through their sunscreen, I have to mention some of their other products too because I actually really like the brand. I HIGHLY recommend their Rice Protein Gel Cleanser. I literally just ran out of mine and realized I need to repurchase it because I miss it already. 😭 It’s really gentle but still cleans my skin so nicely and never leaves it feeling stripped. The bottle I had was 400 ml and lasted FOREVER, especially considering how affordable it was. They recently changed the packaging though, so I need to check whether the 400 ml size still exists or if they changed the size too. I’d also look at their Rice Protein Lotion and Rice Protein Serum Mist. I really like how relatively minimalist and sensitive-skin-friendly these formulas are, and there’s no niacinamide or added fragrance, which is becoming ridiculously difficult to find. 😂 And this is where our potato friends make another appearance — the Rice Protein Lotion actually contains hydrolyzed potato protein along with rice, pea, corn, oat, wheat, barley, lupine, soy and several other plant proteins. 😂🥔 So apparently HESUL was already halfway into our vegetable skincare concept before we even started. And YES, Sweet Potato Pie — PDRN Under Your Eye absolutely gets approved for further product development. 😂🍠 Koreans are obsessed with sweet potato and honestly so am I, so I genuinely think we have a market for this one. Then obviously we need an Ube/Purple Sweet Potato PDRN Sleeping Mask. 💜🍠 Maybe “Sweet dreams for sweet skin” or “Wake up with skin as soft as sweet potato pie.” 😂 But wait… how have I never heard of Kimchi PDRN?! 😭😂 With how huge kimchi and fermented skincare ingredients are in Korea, I feel like we’re missing an opportunity here. Fermented Kimchi Barrier Essence — tell me that doesn’t sound like something you could actually find on a K-beauty website. 😂 And there are SO many possibilities left. Carrot PDRN, Beetroot PDRN, Radish Exosomes, Turnip Ceramides… and why are we limiting ourselves to root vegetables? Broccoli Peptide Serum. Celery Barrier Juice Essence. 😭😂 At this point we’re either about to revolutionize K-beauty or accidentally create a skincare salad. SKINFOOD’s cease and desist letter is probably already in the mail. 😂🥔🥕🥦💜

@hazelmoss STOP 😭😂 A pierogi really IS just a cosmetic compact waiting for its K-beauty rebrand. And if yours already turn into squeeze tubes, then apparently you’ve been doing product development this whole time without realizing it. 😂 Pierogi Barrier Cream — rich, comforting and stuffed with ceramides. 🥟✨ And obviously the packaging has to look like a little crimped pierogi compact. Although now I’m concerned because if we keep going through national cuisines, we’re going to have an entire international skincare line by tomorrow. 😭😂

@Annie Hahaha okay, that explains EVERYTHING. 😂 Olive oil needs absolutely no introduction in your household then. 🫒 Between your Orthodox household and me being Croatian with an Istrian olive-oil-producing family basically next door, I think we were destined to end up discussing olive oil shots somehow. 😭😂 Now I’m even more curious where you’re from though! 👀

@Veky Croatian?? You're what I've always considered a neighbor! I've been living far north for 10 year now, but I was born and raised in Trieste (Italy). Slovenia and Croatia are my second home 😊

@Mariacasino OHHH then we’re definitely neighbors!! 😂❤️ Trieste especially — you were basically right next door to us! And we even have a little more in common because my grandfather was Italian, so I have some Italian roots in the family too. 🇮🇹🇭🇷 And growing up in Trieste with Slovenia and Croatia as your second home explains SO much. 😂 The rakija memories suddenly make perfect sense! If you ever come back to Croatia, definitely let me know! 🥰 It would be so funny after all these conversations to actually meet in person — and apparently I’ll have to arrange some proper Croatian olive oil for you too.

@Annie OMGGG, Slovenia!! 😂❤️ We’re literally neighbors! I feel like Croatians basically look at Slovenians as our people anyway. 😂 And Ljubljana too!! That’s amazing. Now I’m curious — where are YOU originally from, and where do you two live now?

@Veky We live in the US ;) He and I met at an international high school in Venezuela,where I was born. A lot of my family live in Seoul, Korea (Hanguk). Where am I from? I'm global!

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@Annie Hahaha okay, “I’m global” is actually the perfect answer. 😂❤️ Born in Venezuela, family in Seoul, met your Slovenian husband at an international high school, and now living in the US — you really ARE global. 😂🌎 That’s such an interesting mix though! And having family in Seoul must be amazing, especially with how much we all talk about Korean skincare here. 😂 I feel like I’d be constantly sending them skincare shopping lists. 😭

@Veky Mwahahahaha... They live in Gangnam District, too!!