☕️ Good morning my very own, in-single-digits subscribers. How was your May, and spring, I guess?

First of all, thank you for reading and subscribing to The Most Sisters Newsletter. I genuinely appreciate the fact that you trusted me enough to leave your email address and sign up for this still-not-fully-formed creative experiment. Calling it a newsletter feels generous at this stage. "Creative vomit with a mailing list" might be more accurate.

The feedback on Issue #1 (A Love Letter to Stuff) was mostly positive, although several people politely informed me that it’s length could compete with many Victorian novels.

So from this issue onward, I'm making things a little more scan-friendly. Shorter sections, fewer accidental dissertations, and any possible Deep Dives will get spun off into separate articles.

I'm writing this at the beginning of June and finishing it before June 20, which means I am currently existing in a strange limbo where I have absolutely no idea where did the spring go?

My life remains committed to its "we'll see" strategy.

Oddly enough, one of the brightest spots lately has been content creation. Thanks to my roughly 500 Instagram followers, a number that still surprises me every time I look at it, I suddenly have more skincare and haircare products to test than I know what to do with.

We're constantly hearing that influencer marketing is dead, content creation is oversaturated, and social media growth is impossible unless you're simultaneously a celebrity, a billionaire, and a golden retriever. And yet, somehow, here we are with my 4 hair serums and 20 PDRN toners.

Lately I've been wondering how to build a system that allows me to create more things offline and spend less of my life staring into the digital void.

We'll see how that goes.

For now, I've started updating my professional skills again and recently completed a few new advertising certifications. The last time I did this was in 2021, which honestly feels like a completely different internet era. Back then Meta was still Facebook in spirit, Google Search looked healthier, and AI wasn't busy rearranging entire industries every six months.

A lot has changed since then.
Including me, hopefully.

Let's get into this week's issue.

The SPF discourse, to put it mildly, is all over my social channels. After using up two not-so-cheap K-beauty sunscreens, I started searching for larger tubes of something more budget friendly, so I could cover my body as well. It triggered content I didn't want to see.

As a social media creator, I am still very basic - I am learning to film and edit.

I can share my favorite products and perhaps reshare content that is educational but also entertaining enough with my friends and family to expand their knowledge and perhaps help you escape the black holes of misinformation. But it has proven difficult. So I will focus on myself and try to stay informed and take care of my body to the best of my ability.

For this purpose, I am watching Mr. James Welsh, who knows a bit more about the topic of skincare and ingredients than I do, and he's actually funnier. So if this subject is something you'd like to learn more about, please start with this video.

Please stay safe, my dudes.

My favorite mineral option is the Benton Skin Fit Mineral Sun Cream SPF50+ PA++++. For those who prefer zero-white-cast solutions, my recent favorite comes from Mixsoon: the Bean Sun Serum SPF50+ PA++++. (This is the European name, so you'll need to check their official website for the U.S. version, as I know they differ.)

I shook on it with myself that if I were to be part of the Mixsoon’s May campaign, I would do my reviews and speak on camera. The deal was made. And then I spent hours on scripting and attempting to speak while splashing lovely serums and cream on the ground. I gave up after two hours and decided to compromise - record in my old-fashioned way and later do voiceover for part of the videos at least.

It sounds okay. But I feel I do not sound like this at all. But I do like the videos I made, so if you want to hear it and you need some gentle PHA to manage your zits, check out the Mixsoon Bean Essence video on my Instagram.

I was a bit disappointed with myself, but I do understand it was a big leap - and now I know how to do voiceovers, and I will attempt to talk on camera in my upcoming hair serum videos. I have three different brush serums, which I think are great, and I have no idea how to film reviews without sounding repetitive. I do not want to pick one… stay tuned on the socials, my hair growth journey is on!

My first scoop video of the Arencia Mochi Cleanser unexpectedly got nearly 15,000 views and almost 100 likes out of nowhere. I also gained 10 subscribers, which, in the context of my extremely non-existent YouTube strategy, feels like a very pleasant surprise.

I don’t have any viral videos, and I’m not actively trying to create “viral moments.” In fact, I tend to avoid them quite efficiently, through a combination of conscious and unconscious self-sabotage techniques and general creative hesitation. My fear of success is doing just fine, thanks for asking.

Still, this small spike got me curious enough to dig into YouTube’s AI analytics assistant.

And I have to admit, the suggestions it’s been giving me include decent content direction and relatively good recommendations on how I could improve copy and visuals to encourage engagement in future videos.

I’ve never had the chance to work on YouTube strategy for clients, so I am pleasantly surprised by their AI assistant as a brainstorming partner. If you want to elevate your video content, I recommend you check it out!