The Daily: February 13th, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings. Today has been a frosty one. Over the weekend we got rain that was just one degree warmer than ice. While it was not pleasant to go out in, the going out was minimal actually. After last weekend, my babydoll and I needed just a quiet relaxing weekend at home. So the rain helped justify that. Last week I added on all of the house chores during the week so that nothing would actually have to be done. So it was actually a full weekend with nothing that had to be done.

It may make me sound like a boring lazy bones, but i have to say it was really nice to have nothing that needed to be done and to simply rest on the weekend. I think that we don’t actually do that enough. There always seems to be a list of things to do over the weekend. And while some are necessary chores (like laundry) and some are fun things, little adventurous rewards for being adult during the week, a lot of the last year was dealing with everything that went down over the year whenever we weren’t working. I know it is February and the time for any form of resolutions is past, but I think it might be a good idea to add at least one weekend a month where all the chores are done early and nothing is planned. I think as a mental break, that is just a good idea.

I certainly feel a lot better for having that quiet weekend.

I also feel far more refreshed than I have in a while. The start of the work week feels a lot less draggy, if that makes sense. Usually Monday i am dragging my feet getting started, but today, I woke up thinking, ‘okay, let’s get this work week going.’ I think it really is because I actually rested over the weekend.

I know, not rocket science, but sometimes I get so caught up in all the things that have to get done or that I want to get done that i forget to stop and just allow myself the recuperation time. For me this is a good reminder. I don’t know if you need that reminder too, but there it is. I have already been more productive today than i usually am on Mondays. so it is helpful in many ways other than just mind set. Just something to remember, for all of us.

Today’s Look:

Primer: The Butter Primer from Beauty Bakerie

Foundation: Yensa BC Full Coverage Foundation

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation Vibes Bronzer

Blush: Axiology Color Cream in True

Setting Powder: By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra Powder (the Use up Box)

Eyeshadow: Ciate Royal Edit Palette

Mascara: Uoma Beauty Salute to the sun

Lips: Ace Beaute Pout Perfect in Manifest

This is the first Primer I have had that is in a stick form and I have to say I really like it. It is super easy to apply and blend out. It goes on a little white but then just blends out to no color very easily. And it feels fantastic on the skin. It doesn’t need any dry time because it isn’t a liquid. It settles in fast so it seems like a good product to use in the morning rush. I kind of want to try it with my favorite stick foundation to see how quick my morning application can be. This primer also really seems to hold product in place as well so smoothing and long lasting is it’s category. there is no tint to it so dims down slight redness but not by much. At the moment I am having a good skin moment so this works.

I went for one of my favorite foundations today. It is the Yensa BC Foundation. i like their other foundations, but this is hands down my favorite. And I have to admit, I finished the tube i was using and today was the first use of the new tube. It is one of the few foundations that I have a back up of in the makeup drawer. I tend to pick up the back up when I am down to a third of a tube so i don’t keep the back up around a long time, but I do repurchase when I get low. I like the glow I get from this foundation. It is enough of a glow for me without being too dewy. Which is why it is my favorite.

Today I realized I was going hard on the Milk Makeup bronzer in my Use up box so I decided to switch it up and reach into the drawer and use whichever product I picked up first. I came out with the Buxom Staycation. I like this bronzer, but this is usually my summer time bronzer. It is darker than I usually go for in the winter. I used a light hand and it worked well. it is a really good bronzer, just more my summer shade. I did realize that I have been reaching more for contour palettes lately than I have been reaching for individual bronzers. I think that might be because i received one in my advent calendar this year and I have one from January’s IPSY. I also just got one from the February IPSY. That came in yesterday. I will be testing it out soon. But for today I just wanted a single bronzer and this worked.

I am still testing out the Axiology Color Cream. And to be honest I don’t want this trial to end. I am really loving this formula and this shade. it just works well for me. It is a buildable formula so even though it looks good now, I think it will be usable all through the summer as well. I really like that it is a year round use shade for me. I also like that it is a fully recyclable paper packaging. Kind of in love with the brand at the moment actually.

Today i was a bit more restrained with the Ciate Palette. I know,. so many exciting shades. Today I started with the most neutral browns to avoid the multitude of fab shades and go “conservative office standard” Yup I went for the browns. And then I topped it with tiara. It was a bit crumbly but when i tapped off the brush it was fine during application. The shades blended well and I really like them. And now that I’ve tried the neutral zone, I will start playing with the other shades.

Okay we need to talk about this UOMA Mascara. First of all it looks amazing on the lashes. I love the look. I also love that it actually does make my lashes feel softer. It has been open a month at best, maybe three weeks. And it is starting to come out of the tube a little clumpy. It still applies well, but it is getting messy in the tube and a lot of excess product comes out. As it is a good formula I would like it to stay in the tube so i can use it. It is the one drawback of the mascara. I I like it, but I don’t think it will last long. I think it might be a mascara to pick up just before an event though because it just looks fantastic.

And then we go with the lips. I went Ace Beaute again today. it is a gorgeous packaging and a really creamy formula. It i slightly sticky and it doesn’t really dry all the way down so there are lip prints. But they aren’t major and the lipstick does last a long time on the lips even without drying all the way down.

The only item from my Use up box that I used today was the By Terry powder. And this is the last use of it. This was a sample size and it is now empty. This is a powder that you need to apply with a brush. If you apply it with a makeup sponge it will take forever to blend out the marks from the sponge circles. It was nice to use, but not my favorite. For me I will let it go. I love the pressed version of this powder, but i don’t think I would purchase a full size of the loose powder. I am thrilled that i did use up something in the Use up box. I don’t know why that feels like an achievement, but it does.

And that my darlings is me today. It is a pretty low key look and I am happy with how it turned out. And now, it is back to work to see if i can keep up this Monday productive streak. Have a great one my darlings.

The Daily: October 26th, 2022

Good afternoon my darlings. It has been raining like crazy since I woke up this morning. There must have been wind in the night because there are loads of trees down and a bunch of road closings because of it. I always get a little nervous when I see that and hear the emergency vehicles rolling around. Usually it leads to at least a short power outage for us. We live in a heavily tree filled area and that is just sort of what happens. Usually at this time of year.

Thus far we are fine with no outages so as long as no one cuts something unexpectedly, all will be well. Not t disparage the precision of our work crews but there is always about a 30% chance that something will be cut unexpectedly in our area. At least judging from past years’ outages. But perhaps this year’s crew is more adept. We shall see.

I hear the vehicles but given the rain there is limited power cutting. Which actually might be a good thing.

The rain has brought the temperatures down a little, which is also nice. Yesterday we hit 79 degrees. which is unseasonably warm. The rain at least knocked us back into the low sixties. I think the temps are why my brain keeps telling me it is September. However we have our jack o’ lanterns out and a large bowl of candy is sitting by the door in anticipation of Halloween. It will be interesting to see how many trick or treaters we get this year. Some years are good, other years are bad. I’m just hoping we get enough that we give out all of our candy. It is way too easy to just pick up a piece every time I pass the bowl. which is why I shifted the bowl off of the kitchen table and too the door even though it is only the 26th. I don’t pass it nearly as much and am thus less tempted. Sometimes out of sight really is out of mind.

Today’s look:

Primer: Tatcha The Silk Canvas Protective Primer Balm

Foundation: Beauty Blender Bounce Liquid Whip Long Wear Foundation

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation Vibes Bronzer

Blush: Illamasqua Colour Veil Gel Blusher

Eyeshadow: Coraline Palette from Revolution Beauty

Mascara: Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Mascara

Lips: Colourpop Lipstick in Band T

Today I went for the Tatcha because it is not only my favorite primer but it tends to be porefilling and this foundation seems to need that. I am testing a sample of the Bounce Foundation from Beauty Blender and I have to say i really do like it. It is light weight and blends beautifully. It is not so great with the fine lines, so use a pore filling primer underneath. Otherwise it looks beautiful on the skin. I think they are in the process of changing the packaging though. The foundation in the square packaging is now half off on the brand website (which is where the above link will take you – plus they have $5 if it is your first purchase so you can get this $40 foundation for $15). The same foundation is now in new packaging on the Sephora site if you are looking for the most up to date format. It looks like they are going with a tube rather than the square.

The Buxom bronzer is light enough that it will stay with me through the winter but the Illamasqua, no matter how much i love it is very much a summer shade. I need to pick it up for the winter in a lighter shade but as my blush drawer is a bit packed at the moment I have not done so. In December I do my makeup declutters to set myself up for the next year and to clear out products I no longer use so i can try new things in the next year, So that will be ordered post declutter.

I used the Coraline palette again today and have actually tried all of the shades. The silver is harder to work with than the others and the shadows are a little patchy, but they can be blended to be less so with a clean blending brush, the patchiness fading. The Silver was just not as silver as I hoped, especially after using the pinkish shimmer. It popped a lot more.

The Fenty mascara is one I have used before. I used it and then got a second one in a subscription box so it has been hanging around and now I am finally opening it. It is okay. It is a very good curling mascara. Curling isn’t really what I look for, but that is it’s strong suit. Otherwise it is okay on length and volume but nothing to write home about. It is a mascara I will use if it is around as an everyday product, but I won’t repurchase. If curling is your thing, you might like this better. For me it is just okay.

And then we have the lips. I am using a colourpop lipstick and I really like it. I wish it was just a shade darker, but I seem to get that with a lot of colourpop lips. They always seem to come just a fraction ligher than I think they are going to be. It is definitely something to remember. But it is a pretty good neutral. And it is currently on sale. Usually it is $10 but colourpop is having a sale so it is now $4.50. I might actually go back and look at other lipsticks for one a shade darker actually.

And that is me today my darlings. It isn’t very out there but it works for me on a Wednesday in the office. I hope that whatever you are doing you are having a fantastic day.

The Daily: October 19th, 2022

Today is just a day made to be outside. I’ll admit, I am behind on my task list for the day because i started my morning off with a longer than usual walk. It was so nice not to melt into a puddle of sweat after five paces. In fact I even had to add a sweatshirt in to keep me warm. By the end of the walk I had pushed the sleeves up some because I was warm.

At that point there was even a delicate line of perspirations along my hair line. After the sweat fest this summer, today’s sweat felt like a lady delicately perspiring. Most of the summer I felt like the sweat monster set loose to unleash workout stink upon the neighborhood.

And yes, I am planning on a late afternoon walk even though I did go on a longer walk this morning. It is just that sort of day. The leaves are orange and yellow and spiraling down from the trees and rusting in piles as the wind dances through them. The air smells clean and crisp. the breeze on my face feels brisk and chilly but not skin numbingly cold. There will only be a few days like this. I know with our next rain the leaves will be a soggy sodden mass and given the lateness of it’s arrival, I suspect winter is only allowing Autumn it’s moment on stage before pouncing.

So I feel no guilt about playing truant for a bit today. I’m sure there will be plenty of days inside to come. And after not walking for two weeks it just plain feels good to stretch my legs a bit.

Tomorrow I may moan about the extra work load I have to finish, but for the moment, I regret nothing.

Oh my bangs desperately need a trim. That might be on this weekend’s to do list

Today’s look:

Primer: Figs and Rouge Satin Soft Blurring Primer

Foundation: Yensa Super Serum Silk Foundation

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation Vibes Bronzer

Blush: Illamasqua Colour Veil Gel Blusher

Highlight: Milk and Honey palette from Beauty Bakerie

Eyeshadow: AOA Saturn Palette in the Orbit collection

Mascara: Patrick Ta Major Volume Mascara

Lips: Anastasia Beverly Hills Dead Roses Matte Lipstick

Necklace: AOA Jewelry from their new arrivals collection

I haven’t used this primer in a while and I thought I’d bring it to light to decide if I want to keep it. I remember testing it out and finding it decent but strong scented. I still find it decent at blurring pores and it is still strongly scented. It goes on very wet but dries fairly quickly. The thing I don’t remember from before is how it dried. When it dries it feels oddly like a a crackly layer on the skin. Almost like when I was a kid and would have Elmer’s Glue dry on my fingers. You know that crackly feeling when you bend the finger with the dried glue on it. This primer has that feel on the skin but when you touch it with your fingers it feels soft and smooth. Once the foundation goes on top of the primer that feeling disappears. But it is slightly odd. I don’t mind it, and I like the blurring effects, but I just find that feeling a little strange. I like the serums I’ve tried from Figs&Rouge, but I am not sure I am really thrilled with this primer.

necklace, you know, without my hair covering it

I am really liking this Yensa foundation. It is definitely staying in my collection. Don’t worry, I will start trading it out as I go through the foundations for the December Declutter, but I just had to use it one more time this week. This is a good foundation, but it does need a pore filling primer underneath it to prevent it sinking into fine lines towards the end of the day. And really, with no primer under it, I only had a problem with fine lines after about 10 hours. For me this is a good work day primer. It Does fade a bit towards the end of the day so I wouldn’t expect the longevity of a long wear foundation, but it is a great one to wear all day long.

This Buxom Bronzer is an old favorite and one I reach for quite often. It is buildable and blendable and the shade is one that I can wear all year long. It actually works better in the cooler months when I am pale, but I still like it for a more natural look in summer. While I also love my Illamasqua gel blusher it is more of a summer shade. It blended well for me but I can tell it is already starting to be too deep a tone for winter wear. I may have to put this into the drawer until the summer sun comes out to darken my skin again.

Today I again reached for the pink highlighter in the palette. I planned to try another shade but just didn’t. I like the pink. All summer I reached for golden shades but right now the pink works for me. I also like that it is one of the pink shades that doesn’t have a lot of glitter. Actually it has none. or some reason pink toned highlighters seem to come with more glittery bits than I want.

Today was the fourth of the four AOA Orbit Collection Quads. Thee was a lot of variation in the palettes actually. I liked how this look turned out, but it did require some time to build up. It was not as easy as some of the other palettes in the collection. it was still nice and worked well. I do find it interesting that there was so much variation in the palettes.

the Patrick Ta mascara is, as before, a decent everyday mascara. I had to do several passes to get my lashes where I liked and I think that is why this mascara went fast. I am going to try to use the last of it tomorrow but I suspect that it will be the last day of use as the tube felt very hollow today. The multiple coats cause it to be rapidly used up. it is a mascara that I don;t mind using but that I would not go out of my way to pick up.

Finally the lipstick I would go out of my way to pick up but can never find. The ABH Matte Lipstick in Dead Roses. I’m pretty sure the shade was discontinued, which is a shame as it is one of my favorites. I will keep wearing the lippie I have until it is all gone. It is a good formula though. It is creamy and comfortable as well as long lasting. I just wish this shade hadn’t been let go. I know, I should try outer colors, and I will because it is a good formula. I just have a tendency to always pick the wrong shade of lipstick when i purchase them. Every lipstick I have purchased has been slightly off. At least my first time with the brand. If I like the formula I’ll go back for additional tries until i get the one I actually want. So I get a little salty when my favorites are discontinued. But I’ll get over it, (sob) some day.

I am really enjoying the jewelry I picked up on the Shop Miss A haul as well. This necklace may be one of my favorites. It is a little silver tree with rhinestones. the charm is better quality than the chain, but the chain is still decent. And it hasn’t made my neck break out. So there is no nickel in it. which is always good to see.

And that my darlings is me today. it is a quiet day with walks punctuated by work. I think for me this is a good day because I feel like I am finally getting back to normal. that feels really good.

The Daily: June 27th, 2022

Good afternoon my darlings. Today has been a day of waiting. Or at least it feels like it has been. It is my birthday today so I deliberately adjusted my workload so today would be a light one. Tonight will be a fabulous dinner from one of our favorite local restaurants (i.e. not one I have to cook) and there is an ice cream cake waiting in the freezer for after dinner.

we get it from the local ice cream place. It is a once a year thing and each year they always looked stunned that we don’t want a message written in caramel for the small child it is no doubt for. They always look shocked that it is a birthday cake for a grown woman.

Personally I think my babydoll likes going in there and watching their surprise. I told him the cake wasn’t necessary this year and he looked so crestfallen that I recanted and planned to just do a little extra working out this week to make up for the extra calories.

So now it is waiting for after dinner.

The truth is though, despite the birthday treats waiting for the end of the work day, it feels like a waiting day because of the weather. It is looming. The air is heavy, the wind is low and feels like something big is holding it’s breath. There are clouds massing, but still holding back. We are supposed to get rain, there is an 80% chance of it, but the rain is biding it’s own time.

I always find it vaguely amusing at this time of year. In Spring it always feels like I should be building an ark and I generally find myself wondering how many cubits my back yard can hold. Then the spring rains trickle off and all the moisture hangs in the air with rain a distant memory and the world withering to a crisp around me. So I am waiting for the rain to actually break, if it will, and I am waiting for my birthday celebration.

I went on a walk because the temps have dropped a smidge. I came back drenched from the 90% humidity though and ended up taking a cold shower. My hair always looks a little crazy after that and my bangs are just misbehaving. Nonetheless, I am relatively happy with the way I look today, and that is not a bad thing on a birthday.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Yensa Tone Up Primer

Foundation: Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Foundation

Bronzer: Buxom Cosmetics Staycation Vibes Bronzer

Blush: Dominique Cosmetics Cream Blush

Powder: Laura Mercier Translucent powder

Eyeshadow: Urban Decay Naked Honey Palette

Mascara: Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir (discontinued, just using the last one up)

Lips: bareMinerals Mineralist Lip gloss

Today’s makeup was chose for a variety of reasons. I chose the primer because I love it, and know how it works with my skin. I’ve used this Yensa Primer for years (off and on) and will continue to repurchase it. I am going through my foundations one by one to see which i like, which shades work now and which I just need to use up and let go. I haven’t used the Charlotte Tilbury in a while so I figured I’d give it a go. It is a foundation that requires a bit of time. It isn’t a simple blend in and go operation. This takes a foundation brush to spread evenly, followed by a makeup sponge to get rid of the lines. I always have to take extra time around my nose as it tends to go streaky there. As much time as it takes though, it ends up looking really good when i am done. I like it and I think I will use this bottle up completely, mostly for days when i have the time to play with it, but takes time to play with so it isn’t an every morning kind of product.

By contrast, I raced through the rest of my makeup. With the nice looking foundation, it looked fine and actually I am really falling in love with this cream blush. It really blends beautifully and I am happy to use it. This shade works for me, but looking at the range I am not sure any of the other shades would work for me. I do like this one though. It is darker in the pan then on the cheeks so that is something to be aware of when shopping.

the Urban Decay I really like. I went super easy today. Mostly because I took so long with the foundation. One dip into the mattes and a tap off is all it takes then blend out and top with a shimmer. That’s what I went for today and then I called it good. The bare minerals lip gloss seemed like a good accompaniment. It is a light wash of color and a formula that not only looks good on but leaves my lips feeling nourished well after it has disappeared.

So that is me today. The shirt I am wearing actually came from my drape fit box. This has been a fantastic shirt for meetings. The material doesn’t wrinkle and it looks dressy but is super light weight and feels soft. it looks good on camera and in meetings. It may be the only thing I kept from my Drape Fit Box, but it has proven to be utterly fantastic. And now it is back to work for me. Have a great Monday everyone.

And if you are interested in Urban Decay, set your calendars as there is a sale coming up It starts on Thursday

Flash Sale! Enjoy 50% Off Heat / Reloaded palette + Lash Freak + Holiday Sets at Urban Decay Canada! No code needed. Valid 6/30 – 7/3

The Daily: May 17th, 2022

I know I missed yesterday’s daily post and I apologize. I was just exhausted. This weekend was as horrible as expected. On May 6th, my younger brother died unexpectedly. He sat down, leaned back closed his eyes and was gone. While we will need to wait fifteen weeks to hear back for a final diagnosis, preliminary thoughts lean towards either aneurism or stroke. Regardless it was quick and hopefully painless.

While the shock threw me (and everyone else into a tailspin, the world is on a little more stable footing now. This past weekend was the memorial service which made everything real. As horrid as it was, it did provide a bit of closure which was especially important as the death came out of the blue. While grief will clearly take a long time to settle, A return to a more normal course is helping me to regain my footing. I planned to start back to normal yesterday and I made a good start.

But then I decided a destressing face mask would be a perfect break as my walk was overly sweaty due to high humidity and then I closed my eyes and was out. Luckily it was a gel like hydrating mask that could be worn overnight if you wanted and not a clay based one. I was out for several hours. While most of the mask ended up on the pillow, I did get quite the hydration out of it, as well as a much needed nap.

So today we slide back into our regularly scheduled routine. There was a walk today. It is always interesting in the spring. The humidity rises even though it isn’t all that hot and I feel like my pores have opened up and are having a good clear out. I have to splash water to rinse off the salty sweat, but at this time of year the walking always makes my skin feel really good once the sweat is rinsed away. It is as though it has purged toxins that I didn’t know it was holding on to. Of course that also results in a spate of clogged pores. It is as seasonal as my allergies. I’ll need to put some pore clearing masks on my to do list to keep things clear, but otherwise it is a good feeling.

Food has been hit or miss. Last week I nibbled but didn’t eat much, then I went home and ate a lot, more because people seemed to feel the need to feed me more than because I was hungry. It was actually a relief to have one of my Smoothie Box Shakes for lunch today. (I went with the orange one). There were a lot of heavy sauces over the weekend. They were delicious, but very heavy. More than anything it is a relief to get back to my own food.

I think I am going to try to sneak in a second walk this evening after the heat of the day breaks. I’m pretty sure half of the calories I am burning off right now are Cream of Mushroom Soup based.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Lorac Light Source 3-in-1 Illuminating Primer

Foundation: Bite Beauty Changemaker Foundation

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation Vibes Bronzer

Blush: Benefit Gold Rush Blush

Powder: Kim Chi Beauty Puff Puff Pass Set and Bake powder

Eyeshadow: Tresluce La Flor De Mexico Shadow Palette

Mascara: Stila Huge Extreme Lash Mascara

Lips: Elf Sheer Slick in Black Cherry

When I was packing my travel bag this past week I realized there are several primers I haven’t full tested. I think several came in at the same time and I got distracted. Today I skipped the pre makeup base of Embryolisse because I wanted to treat this as a first use primer and this primer has some skin care benefits I believe. I’ll have to double check that as I dive deeper into it. I love Lorac lipsticks and eyeshadow formulas but I don’t think I’ve ever tried any of their face products so this was fun. I know I tried this when it first came in, but I don’t remember it. There is very much a skincare like scent to the primer. It glides on well and this far it is working well. I chose not to add a highlighter because of this primer. It is a bit on the glow-y side, but it isn’t overly wet looking. The wet look just makes me feel like I look greasy. I liked the way this primer turned out today.

Today I reached for the Bite Beauty foundation because I just heard the news that the brand is going under. For years they were my go to for lip products. Their agave lip mask was hands down my favorite for years. Then in 2019 they decided to reformulate everything so the brand was vegan. They released their new formula in early 2020 and as we all know 2020 didn’t go as anyone planned so it was poor timing for a release. The thing is that their new formula wasn’t that great, at least with the lip products. I’ve had excellent vegan lip products but this just wasn’t an excellent formula. So they are closing and pretty much everything on their site is 50% off. Including this foundation. this is the formula still on sale and now that I have the hang of the formula I really like it. It is one of those foundations you need to use a makeup sponge for and go lightly with instead of applying with a brush. Once I figured out how to apply it correctly I fell in love with the formula. It is very lightweight and feels and looks natural. I was really looking forward to summer wear actually. while I usually use BB creams and tinted moisturizers in the summer this was light enough I thought it would work for summer wear and I was thrilled for a summer foundation. I’ll still use it, but apparently this will be it’s one summer of use.

The Buxom Bronzer and Benefit Blush are also summer faves and it feels like i am starting to naturally shift to my summer wear makeup. I will be shifting things around in the makeup drawers this weekend so the summer wear products are nearer to hand. This bronzer and blush will make steady appearances all summer.

The Kim Chi powder is one I am really liking. Part of it is the powder puff. I think that I am going to try the puff with other powders to see if the puff application is the main reason I like it so much or if it is the powder formula. So that will be fun to play around with for a bit.

This was the first use of the Tresluce palette and the colors are really nice. They are a bit more pigmented than I expected and they didn’t blend as well as I would like today. I used all matte shades today. I’m going to see if I can get the blending to work a little bit better, but the shadow formula was nice to apply. I did have to tap off the brush as it was a bit on the powdery side, but there wasn’t any fall out during application. Over all it was a good first use.

I then finished up with two of my favorites, The Stila mascara and the elf sheer slick. I am almost out of the Elf sheer slick actually. It is a nice light formula that is a summer staple. When I replace the Black Cherry i am going to look for one that is more neutral for a natural look day.

So that was me today. I’m getting back to normal. I’m sure there will be a bit of rockiness ahead, but today was pretty stable sailing. I am sliding back into my routine and tonight, there will be a second walk, followed by bean burgers. (I make my own patties rather than purchasing them). There will be no cream of mushroom soup in sight.

The Daily: May 4th, 2022

Good afternoon my darlings. I hope all is going well with you today. As for me, my hair is a bit poofy again and there were some makeup issues, but we’ll get to that.

The park was still flooded and the fitness was all indoors. I sweated it out to YouTube videos. As it was more yoga than cardio there was sweating but I felt more stretched out and limber rather than completely sweated out. I know it is good for me and keeping everything limber is a good thing for life both now and in the future but I really do prefer the long walks. It takes up a lot of time, but I can use the time to sort out issues in my head or plan things. When I do yoga the only thing I tend to think is ‘I don’t think my body moves quite like that.’

well maybe that isn’t the only thing. I’m afraid I often think very mean thoughts about the instructors. They are all just a little too perky. It makes me think they are hiding something. Like a love of torturing overweight women and not telling them that they are double jointed and are missing a few vital organs and bones us normal people need to survive. I know it is just my fat getting in the way of certain movements but sometimes the things they do …

But I got through it. I’m still hoping that this week will miraculously erase the damage a month of issues added to my weight, but I am trying to maintain the workout without going crazily overboard in compensation. And yes I am a bit worried about stepping back onto the scale to confront the damage. I’ll be less focused on it once I see the numbers and then I’ll just let it go and deal with the damage. sorry to fixate, but at least it is a temporary fixation.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Ciate Dewy Skin Vitamin C Glass Glow Primer

Foundation: Yensa Super Serum Silk Foundation

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation Vibes in roof top tan

Blush: Illamasqua gel Blusher in Frission

Highlighter: Saint Luxe Liquid Glow

Powder: Kim Chi Puff Puff Pass Set and Bake Setting Powder

Eyeshadow: The Balm and the Beautiful from The Balm

Mascara: Blinc Ultra Volume Tubing Mascara

Lips: Huda Beauty Lip liner in Trophy Wife

Okay this turned out to be mostly about the primer so we will just blaze through the other products. Yensa,. Illamasqua and buxom preformed beautifully. The Illamasqua gel blusher is rapidly rising to the top of my list of fave products and I am thinking about getting additional colors so I can play with it year round. The Yensa foundation I’ve been testing and my full review will be up in the morning.

Loved the eyes, had issues with the primer

I really like the Blinc mascara although today I sneezed when it was still wet and had to deal with the fall out. But a sneeze at the wrong time can mess up any mascara. It still turned out well. It does more or less require a waterprroof eye makeup remover to remove completely, even if it isn’t the waterproof version, so be aware of that when you use it.

The Huda Beauty lip liner was a bit sticky but I ended up putting chapstick over it and that took the stickiness out. And I am now getting the hang of how much of the Kim Chi setting powder to apply to prevent a powdery look and now I love it.

I love the way The Balm shadows worked today and I like the eye look I cam e up with.

The Saint Luxe Highlighter is subtle and disappeared in the face of the primer. I think it needs to be an all over glow or paired with a natural look and a tinted moisturizer.

And so to the primer. Even though I recieved this a while back I never got around to trying it out. For a while it was primer- palooza with subscription boxes and I ended up with a lot of new ones to try, I have several actually that I still need to try out. I decided that since I knew how this foundation worked I’d try a new primer.

This primer is the Dewy Skin Primer from Ciate. First I should have tried it with an all matte foundation. Second, I think I might have applied too much, not only is it dewy to the point of greasy looking it feels heavy on the skin. One of the reasons I like serum foundations is that they feel feather light The Yensa is easy to forget that I am wearing. I felt this primer. Now it is a first use so that could be user error. I also need to check the base of the foundation and primer because they didn’t really want to work together at all. I haven’t had problems with this foundation, but today there were problems.

There was a little separation so I think the formulas might not be compatible. I am going to have to do some label reading. This looked very patchy and uneven up close. I’m not sure f that translates in the photos or if it is just an in person thing. Regardless, I did not like the result and after about an hour of wear I washed my face and spent the rest of the day au natural.

In general I like Ciate products so I don’t mind giving this one another chance. This is also why I tend to test products for at least a week before I decide if I like them or not. sometimes things don’t go so well with the first trial run. Today was not a good first use. However there is always tomorrow.. I’ll just need to spend a little time with the ingredients list before my next use of this primer.

And that was it for me today. Luckily the rest of the day is just me working alone at my desk while the rain pelts down outside. I’m thinking of using this as a face mask opportunity.

The Daily: May 2nd, 2022

Good afternoon my darlings and welcome to May. With as much trouble as the April showers caused, the May flowers are beautiful. And of course more showers are on the way. we had on and off rain here this weekend so I did the last of my spring garden planting between rain storms. The bonus was that I didn’t have to water. We have a garden bed I am keeping my fingers cross for this year actually. It has been a battle to reclaim it from the weeds since we moved in. Last fall we stripped it out completely digging down about a foot to get rid of all the little weed rootlets. we then laid down a garden fabric to suppress weed growth and layered card board over that (a fantastic use of old subscription box packaging in case you were wondering) and then buried the lot of it in rich dirt, fertilizer and mulch. It sat all winter and this weekend I went and scattered bread seed poppy seeds. They are the poppy seeds you see in lemon poppy seed bread in case you are wondering. When the flowers are ready to seed they throw the seeds out in heaps and self seed themselves once they get started so I am hoping that the seeds will not only take, but take over. I would much prefer a bed of purple-y blue poppies to snarled masses of bindweed.

That has been one of the major house projects for a while so reaching the stage where i could just scatter seed was a major accomplishment. And now all I can do is wait and hope nature gets on board.

But with May also comes the need for the changing out of the bed linens. once we get a stretch of good weather all of the winter blankets will get washed one last time for the season, strung up in the sunshine to dry and then packed away while the spring/summer covers come out of storage. I don’t know if you have issues with blanket storage but as both my babydoll and I come from families who believe you can never have too many blankets, storage is always an issue. Until we picked up these vacuum storage bags. I picked mine up from Amazon (it is a general link, no affiliation) and they have been a life saver. Not only do they save space by compressing the blankets but my babydoll has major allergies and soring out blankets in the vacuum sealed bags has really helped. The UV of the sun kills any potential dust mites and then the vacuum seal protects them when not in use.

The park is once again flooded so I am back to Yoga today instead. May tends to be an indoor work out and then things dry out a little and I end up on the summer schedule, walking as soon as I wake up so i don’t give myself heat stroke. Even so with my muscles sore from the garden work, I feel okay with the stretching of yoga. I also feel rather virtuous for completing so many of my spring chores this weekend. Now if only my afternoon paperwork goes as smoothly, I will be all smiles at dinnertime.

Today’s look:

Pre Makeup Base: Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentre

Primer: Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer

Foundation: Yensa Super Serum Silk Foundation

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation Vibes in Rooftop Tan

Blush: bareMinerals Bounce and Blur Blush

Highlighter: Iconic Illuminator in Original

Powder: Kim Chi Beauty Puff Puff Pass Set and Bake Powder

Eyeshadow: The Balm and the Beautiful from The Balm Cosmetics

Mascara: Stila Huge Extreme Lash Mascara

Lips: Persona Cosmetics lip liner in 90210

Today was interesting as far as testing and favorites go. As for favorites I went for the tatcha silk canvas. I have the balm formula. I haven’t tried the liquid version and I am curious to see how it performs but I absolutely adore the creme formula of this one. It is pore filling and helps lock makeup into place. It also has that lovely Tatcha skincare scent to it. I generally find my skin reacts well to this primer as well. I did want a matte primer today because of the highligher, but I’ll get to that in a moment. The long and short of it is that I adore this primer.

One of my other favorites is the Bare Minerals blush. I am always happy to reach for this one. It can be a little too intense in color in the winter (I have the shade Mauve Sunrise) but as my skin gets summer tan it just looks better and better so I will be using this a lot in the coming months. Which is no hardship. I do need to look into a lighter winter shade though, but I have a little bit of time now before that is needed.

The Buxom Bronzer is also more of a spring summer product. It is of a tone that takes me into spring and early summer but generally isn’t worn after July when I am full on summer tanned. Or at least that was last year’s scale. I ended up spending more time outside last summer than I planned. I also wanted to try a powder product today with the Kim Chi powder. On my first use of the powder I overdid it and everything looked powdery. I was just so enthused but the actually useful powderpuff in the container that I couldn’t hep myself. And over use made things look powdery.

Then I tried a lot of cream face products and it worked fantastically well with them. So I wanted to see if it was me over doing it or if it was just layering with other powder products that caused the issue. I think it might be a bit of both. With one powder product and the rest cream the setting powder didn’t look powdery when used with a light touch. I think however it is the sort of powder I will prefer with cream face products. I also think I am going to use that puff with several other powders. I do like this powder though, it just needs to be used sparingly to avoid a powdery look.

I have been trying out the Saint Luxe liquid highlight and wanted to try it against another liquid highlighter. So today I picked out the Iconic Original Illuminator which is an old stand by. It was far more glowy a product than the Saint Luxe. The Saint Luxe is far more subtle of a glow. Which I don’t mind actually. I know that using the Iconic with Natural look makeup (which is sort of my go to in the summer) is too heavy a highlighter. I don’t think the Saint Luxe will be. While I am finishing up my Yensa trial this week, I think that after the trial is complete I will be trying out the highlighter with a tinted moisturizer instead of a regular foundation to see how it performs. I have high hopes. The Iconic was nice today and I like being able to make the comparison.

The stila mascara I love. It needs one coat and I am done. The fact that I reach for it a lot means the tube is almost empty and will soon need to be replaced. But it is now one of my favorite mascaras.

The persona lip liner worked well all over my lips. It is a creamy formula that can be used as a lipstick. After a few hours though my lips do start to feel a bit dry so I add a lip balm over them. That is enough to keep the lips moist. So I am good with this lip liner.

Today was the first use of the Balm’s The Balm and The Beautiful Palette. As a first use I did the one matte all over the lids with a lighter matt in the corners look. I love the Balm formula. The brush didn’t need tapping off and the matte blended beautifully without a powdery mess. I am looking forward to playing around with this palette.

And that my darlings was today’s look. I feel like I went a little long today but I have several products I am testing out. Hopefully you found it interesting. But now my beauty break is over and I must leave you and heed the call of my inbox. It is the first of the month and and it seems everyone has a new project to start. So off we go. Have a great rest of Monday.

The Daily: August 9th, 2021

Good afternoon my darlings. I hope that you are having a wonderful Monday thus far. Today I managed to get my gym workout done, with a little extra. which was nice as I over indulged a little too much over the weekend. My babydoll heard a rumor that our favorite Mexican restaurant in town was struggling so he decided that a healthy salmon Friday and skipped happy hour treat meant a Mexican Feast on Saturday.

You know, for the economic support of the community.

It was actually an interesting eye opener. He ordered one of our favorite meals in it’s entirety to go, but forgot that we hadn’t ordered from their full menu in over a year. During lockdown they had a limited taco menu so we would occasionally pick that up. But this was the first full menu order in a while. The food was, as always a delicious treat. It was also far more food than we were used to seeing at the same time. He picked up the take out for an early lunch on Saturday.

we ate it for Saturday Lunch and then ate left overs for Saturday dinner, Sunday lunch and Sunday dinner. I think he might have actually finished the refried beans side with eggs this morning for breakfast. It was a lot of food. It was an interesting reminder of how my (and his) eating habits have changed. Prior I am pretty sure that we would have just gotten two meals out of what he picked up and then probably eaten salad of something light on Sunday. It was always more than either of us could eat in one sitting.

I knew we were eating less than we used to because I had to adjust grocery shopping somewhat. But a lot of the time I will still make the large meal and just freeze left overs for a second meal a little while later. So it doesn’t feel like we are eating a lot less. It is only by actually seeing what we used to order that it actually brought the changes home to me.

I’m really glad he did pick up the order. First of all because it was really good food. Second because I like supporting my favorite local restaurants. But third, because sometimes I actually need the reminder that there have been significant changes. Sometimes you need to step back and away from the day to day and look at the bigger picture to see the progress you are making. At least it helped me.

I still feel like I over indulged, but it was nice to see the changes.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Optical Illusion by Urban Decay

Foundation: Wet ‘n Wild Tinted Hydrator

Bronzer: Nars in Laguna

Blush: bareMinerals Bounce and Blur Blush

Highlighter: Illamasqua cream highlight in OMG

Powder: Becca Pink Haze

Eyes: Elf Bite sized palette in Cream and Sugar

Mascara: Pat McGrath Labs in Fetish eyes

Lips: Buxom Full Force in Fly Girl with Huda Beauty lip Pencil in Trophy wife

Setting Spray: Farsali Rose Gold Facial Mist

Today was an interesting mix of my mood and things I am wanting to use up. First up is the Primer. I really love this primer from Urban Decay. It was, for a long time, my go to primer. I picked up this last one up a while ago and then started trying other primers. Then Urban Decay discontinued this primer. I’m trying to put it in the category of ‘needs to be used up’ but there is a part of my that wants to hold onto it for as long as I can. I know that is silly because it will eventually expire if I hold on to it, so I am having to force myself to put it into the must use up category. It is hard just because I know that when it it gone, it will just be gone.

The wet ‘n wild tinted hydrator I used because it is quick and easy and I really like the way it performs. I like the formula and I really like the weightless factor. It is a good product that I will repeatedly use and repurchase. The same goes for the elf bite sized palette. I really enjoy the formula and like the way it blends. It is simple and quick to use and consistently good. So I went for it today.

The NARS Bronzer in Laguna is one that I have been working on using up this year. Pan is now showing and the showing of the pan is steadily increasing. I want to use this up before the end of the year (or more accurately before the holiday sales go live) so I will be rotating it in often in order to do so. I find it surprising how excited I am to see the pan grow in this product. I think because for so long I would use it but only see a slight dent in the product, not any sign of pan. Now each use shows more pan. Somedays it is the small excitements that make you happy.

The Bare Minerals Bounce and Blur blush. What can I say that I haven’t already said? I love this blush. It is one of my favorite formulas and one that I will consistently use. It is quite fantastic. The color suits me. The formula is both blend-able and buildable and it lasts all day. What more can you really ask for in a blush?

Today I chose the Becca Pink Haze Setting powder and I have to say I am in a mixed state about this powder. I like it, but I know Becca is ceasing production. I’ve made my peace with other Becca products. even the Aqua foundation that I really like. I will use and let them go. This powder I keep going back and forth on. it is a really good setting powder and on days when I look a little wan from spending far too much time at the computer it gives a nice pink tone to my skin. It is especially fantastic in the winter time when I spend so much less time outside. Then it provides a healthy tint to the skin so I don’t look sickly with my winter pale. I keep looking for another pink powder to replace it. Specifically from a company that isn’t about to cease production, but I thus far haven’t found one that works quite as well as this. I have maybe a third of the container left of this powder and I am contemplating picking up another one just to extend the time I have to look for a replacement product. Part of me thinks I should just let it go. It is the last Becca product I won where this decision has to be made. Everything else I’ve just decided to let go. This I still need to think about for a while.

The lips were fun today. I have this Buxom lipstick that I love. And I do actually use it more often than I report. It is a plumping lipstick and I really love the way it works, but the shade tends to wash out my lips. So what i usually do is apply it before i start the rest of my makeup, let it do it’s plumping thing an then wipe it off after it stops tingling and use another lip product. I know, I should really just pick up another shade because in addition to plumping it is a really nice lipstick. And I will be picking up other shades. A friend of mine suggested using a creamy lip liner in a warmer shade around the edges and then using a brush to blend it inwards to make the lipstick keep from washing me out. I tried it with the Huda Beauty lip liner, but I think I waited a bit too long before blending so I got more of a line than I intended. I think I am going to try to play around with this trick because I think it could work. And I really like the lipstick and would like to wear it more often. So I may be playing around with that for a while.

I am sure I missed a few products but those are the makeup highlights for today. I hope everyone is having a fantastic Monday and is gearing up for a fabulous week.