[Musings] A Dedication to CommercialPoem and Other Thoughts
r/AB used to do a gift exchange, which I was only aware of in the periphery. The sub's now grown to such a size that it's impossible for mods to feasibly put together, but CommercialPoem and I did one and omgg the JOY of receiving one! I was so thoroughly overwhelmed! I've recently moved, so my attention has only been about organizing stuff, buying things to organize said stuff and finding space for the stuff to organize stuff. But this wonderful being and her kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity gave me a much-needed burst of glee and distraction from all of that. And her partner too, I have to thank him for his part!
People on skincare communities often lament that they don't often have people IRL share in on their geekiness about skincare, and with AB being even more niche and it attracting and keeping certain people with a level of kindness...she's not just a great blogger! I have to say that the friendships I've made through the sub, on and off the mod team, are special. I get to nerd out with people over skincare, which is something most people probably wouldn't think is nerd-outable. It also leads to other discussions, of course, but whenever I have thought about my skin (eg: I literally moved a block away and my routine has had to change, WTF), I can vent a little and know that they completely understand what I mean.
It's just nice when people get you.
The Luxury of Not Thinking About It
Before her package came, I had been thinking about how CommercialPoem perfectly encapsulated how I felt about the LipCerin in her own Whoo Lips Products Review:
"...you know something is working because you haven't thought about it"
Which is exactly the joy I felt about my lips when I first came across the green UZU Lip Treatment and then made better by the Whoo LipCerin. It also made me think about the time I realized that the oils on my scalp was pooling/clogging around my nose. The moment I changed to a more stripping shampoo and that sensation was gone, it was a revelation: "oh is this what normal is supposed to feel like?" It feels like nothing. It was so freeing.
And it made me think about all the ways we tolerate small irritants in our body in our day to day, especially outside of the skincare realm.
Since I was a kid I've had a slight asymmetrical jawline and shoulder which I thought was just the norm for me. About 10 years ago, that "normal" grew to a constant dull jaw and shoulder discomfort. It's nothing that I would normally bring up to people, but I lived with it while trying various bodywork specialists to minimize the pain and asymmetry. When the pain got to the point where I was thinking about it constantly, I reluctantly went back to orthodontic work (which was my second go at it). This week has been the first time in a while that my jaw has felt closer to what is probably a true normal. And minimizing my attention on it is such a luxury.
I am irritable when I have a moisturizer or SPF that feels too suffocating or drying on me, so it made me think how I am/was likely more irritable with my jaw/shoulder pains. Of course, then I thought about my loved ones who tell me about whatever pain they have, but then I have the luxury of forgetting they have those constant aches. But they can't, and are living with this pain; thinking about it and its irritability.
Anyways, this is getting more philosophical than this blog is meant for, but I'd like to thank CommercialPoem for putting her thoughts together in way that made me think. Isn't it nice when people get you? Even without meaning to.
Quitting Reddit
I had told CommercialPoem and a few others, including the r/AB mods, that I was going to delete my Reddit account when Reddit went public. I hadn't realized CommercialPoem deleted some of her posts until her recent Best of Reddit Experiments post. I've touched on my musings about Reddit in other posts, so it seems fitting to finalize where I've landed on it.
The enshittification of everything is really depressing to me. Though that's likely because I've been reading too many "the internet as we know it is dead"-type articles.
The earlier stages of Reddit was wonderful. I came in after the Digg-migration, so I can't even say I was there that early. But while it was great that the founders of Reddit set up a novel message board, it was what the users did in that space that made it special. Users created the subs people were interested in, users created the content, users offered their expertise, users fostered the discussions, users modded it, users first started making modding easier (including creating the mod toolbox and automod), users made a workable search function when there was none, users started the apps to keep people of all kinds spending hours on Reddit. I could go on.
And to see it grow from that to the decision of a few to take advantage of all that goodwill of many to grossly benefit themselves monetarily is appalling.
A friend brought up a good point that Reddit had users that split themselves into different categories (subs) and moderated themselves for free (saving Reddit millions), a big thing Meta and Twitter struggled with. And yet Reddit still somehow couldn't figure out how to come close to their profitability. The person in charge getting nearly $200 million for.....? Destroying the trust of users on your site? Shitting on the good will of people? It's astoundingly disgusting to me.
I love r/AB and the mods. But I can't get past the fact that my time spent on bettering the sub is my time bettering Reddit and enriching people who...whatever.
The luxury of not thinking about it.
CommercialPoem Goods
The first picture in this post is only some of what she gifted me. And that postcard she sent me 😂 Casual sexism of the olden days...I can't change anything from the past, so I can only shake my head and laugh at how dumb some people were. We've both touched on some feminist topics in our respective blogs, so her sending that to me was just such a perfect gentle nod.
The exchange started with her offer to make me a custom shirt and I love my Totoro! (I sent her a picture of me in it, but there's also the general mess in the background of having moved).
- Waphyto: Regna Toner, Cream and Facial Oil. I've never tried Waphyto before but she reviewed it for her voucher blog and it sounds amazing so I'm so excited to try it. Complex fragrances: rose to woody to herbaceous to spice?😍. I keep returning to my beloved NACIFIC toner because my skin seems to love calendula despite trying other luxe products and I'm a bit afraid I might fall in love with Waphyto's toner because it does have calendula. But it is $$$$. Although she said it is a serum-type toner so maybe it's my Sansim that'll have to be worried about being dethroned.
- Plodica: RE:WAKE Moist Treatment. Never tried it or even heard about it until she mentioned it. She said it's hydrating so maybe, just maybe, NACIFIC does have something to worry about 😂
- Mary & May: Rose Hyaluronic Hydra Wash off Pack. This would be my first Mary & May product and it's been a while since I've used a wash off mask, so I am cautiously optimistic. Wash off masks always confused me because my skin feels too moisturizing to continue my steps afterward. And doing the backwards lotion before toner Albion-type style feels wrong. I'm hoping for days my skin feels more hydrated so I can more comfortably try this.
- The History of Whoo: various. She sent them with a note asking me if the toner smells "outrageously strong" to me. The answer to that question with Whoo products is always yes😂 Why do they always smell so sharply baby-powder-sweet?
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