I don’t know if you have noticed but as soon as it goes dark and rainy in the winter it feels much colder than it actually is. The temperature hasn’t really dropped that far, but it feels so much colder than it did before the rains came yesterday. Perhaps it is the damp, perhaps it is just the lack of sun. Admittedly bright sun in the winter always makes things look a lot colder as well. Something about the quality of the winter sun makes the air feel brittle, like a thin sheet of ice ready to shatter.

Or maybe that is just me.

Today is rainy and not likely to get much brighter. I always feel vaguely out of sorts when I have to get up without the sun. I like seeing it peeping over the horizon as I get out of bed. I like the thought that if I am getting up at least the sun is having to get up too. It some how makes me feel better about mornings. Not fabulous about mornings as I will never be a morning person, but better. when I get up and the sun still stays nestled behind clouds I feel rather tricked.

Again, that is probably just me.

But with yesterday’s deluge inspiring thoughts of Ark building in the backyard and rain likely to continue throughout the day, the park is, as one would expect from a walking trail built in a flood plain, flooded. I love that they found a way to use very unusable land without doing much more than putting a path through it, but it does make my out door exercise weather dependent. However, as cold as it feels, the out door temps are not in the single digits, which means my sunroom does not feel like a frigid icebox. So I was able to get in my morning exercises without too much trouble. I really just don’t like sweating when it is cold. Unless I am walking through the world and there is a line of sweat under my knitted hat or around my writs where the gloved hold my hands tightly. My hands never get sweaty in the gloves, just the wrist area where the gloves are held tight and the coat is pulled over the end of the gloves so there is no gap of exposed skin.

Not that wrist sweat is something many people complain about. So perhaps that is just me too. I know, I am feeling just a bit out of sorts today, let’s just jump into the makeup.

Today’s Look

Primer: Stila One Step Color Correcting Primer

Foundation: Bite Beauty Changemaker (discontinued – from the Use Up Box)

Bronzer: Kim Chi Chic Beauty Thailor Bronzer

Blush: Benefit Cosmetics Georgia Golden Peach Blush

Highlight: Jazmine Beauty Coastin Highlighter

Setting Powder: Pink Haze by Becca Cosmetics (Discontinued and from the January Use up box)

Eyeshadow: Luvia Cosmetics Eyeshadow Palette

Mascara: Iconic London Triple Threat Mascara

Lipstick: Josephine Cosmetics Liquid lip In Tiphaine

I was feeling a little on the red side today. I’m also a little stuffy from the up and down weather patterns, but that is another tale. I figured that meant today was a good day for the color correcting primer. There is something appealing about the twisted ropes of color inside the tube. They look like marshmallow ropes and probably why Stila opted for a clear container to show them off. What comes out is a little grayish with green streaks. Less appealing, but it did even out my skin tone. If redness or uneven skin tone is your thing i think this could be good for you. It doesn’t do a lot to fill or blur pores (which is more my thing) but as I was red today it helped. It is a wet formula and needs a little time to dry down a bit and settle into place before you apply your other makeup. It is also a less is more product. start with a little on your reddest areas and blend out. Then apply more if you need it. It won’t blur pores no matter how much you use so just think of it in terms of color. But start with a small amount.

Bite Beauty is gone, but i love this foundation and will be using it up until it is gone. It is no longer being made so I won’t dwell on it, but it was fabulous.

The Kim Chi bronzer is a soft formula and highly pigmented so dip cautiously into that pan, especially if you are winter pale. It does blend well so it is pretty forgiving, just know it goes on highly pigmented-ly and you will do well. I like it, mostly because it does blend well and if I move cautiously I can use it for a more natural look (due to blending) but if I want something more dramatic then I can go a little deeper. The under tones in this shade really match well with my skin and for me that is what allows the shifting use. The collection has a wide enough range that I think a wide range of people can find their undertone pretty easily. I really like that I can use it light or heavy for a variety of looks. Clearly i went a bit light today, mostly due to winter.

This is actually the last Benefit blush I have in my collection It is showing signs of wear and I do want to reach for it more. Partially because I just love Benefit’s blushes, but also because I want to use it and then go with a Blush Palette from Benefit. while I adore their primers and mascaras, they do a really good blush formula. The problem though is that any blush I try tends to lean itself more to a season. I’ll use them out of season of course, but the Gold Rush Blush was amazing on my skin when I had a summer tan and just a good blush in other seasons. This Georgia tends to look amazing in the spring and just like a decent blush the rest of the year. Because of that i do want to keep multiple blushes from benefit around, I just don’t want the bixes taking up so much space, hence the blush palette. Although i do have to admit that as they released a new line of blushes I will probably end up picking up a few singles as well. What can i say, they just make a really good blush. I am just holding off until I get a bit more wear on this one.

This is my first use of anything from Jaszmine Cosmetics. It came in a Kinder Beauty Box and I just didn’t get around to trying it. Although I do know that it is a clean beauty product, which I love. The gold tones are a little on the pink toned side for this highlighter. It goes on brightly and it is buildable. It was a good first use, but i think I am going to have to try it some more to decide how I feel about it. At the moment though it is quite lovely.

I went with the Becca Setting powder because I am trying to use it up. slowly but surely it is emptying. It is good while it lasts though.

This Luvia Cosmetics Eyeshadow Palette is a Two pan palette i received in an advent calendar this year. It is a clean and vegan beauty product and as I love the highlighter they make I was excited to try out the eyeshadow. This has one brown matte and one gold shimmer in it. The shadows are billed as highly pigmented and boy are they not kidding. Exercise caution my darlings. One dip with each shade was enough for my eyes and I spent the rest of the time with a clean brush blending everything in. Interestingly Where the gold overlaps the brown it goes to my favorite bronzy gold. Where it isn’t over the brown it is a reddish rose gold color. There really are just two shades on my eyes but the shift makes it look a bit like three.

The matte and shimmer worked well together, but as there was only one matte and one shimmer I don’t know how well they play together in a full palette. These two layered well and blended decently but not fabulously well. The brown is just so highly pigmented that it just wants to be what it is. i will still play around with it, but I think this would be an interesting formula to try in a lighter shade.

the Iconic London triple threat mascara lengthens well. Everything else is just okay, which I guess makes it a single threat instead of a triple one. i will use it and enjoy it, but it wont be one I repurchase.

I put this in my use up box this month not because i wanted to use it up but because i couldn’t remember using it. I kept getting it out when i did my lipstick declutters, swatching it and loving the red but never remembering to use it. So I figured if it was in the box I would remember to use it. I am actually quite impressed with this. It is a bright red and I love the tones. Reds can also get messy in liquid form, but this is helped by the well defined point on the end of the wand. It allowed me to outline my lips and then fill them in. The lipstick doesn’t dry down all the way so there is a shadow of a lip print once it ‘dries’ but it is really just a shadow. There aren’t trails of red lipstick all over my coffee cup and water glass. The fact that it doesn’t dry down all the way makes it very comfortable to wear. I am actually really enjoying the formula if I am honest. I am very glad it is in my January Use box and i will be reaching for it often as I move forward.

And that my darlings is me today. I kind of like the way things turned out, even if my brain feels a little bent today. And i will admit, the bold red lip did make me feel just a little bit better. And so this is where I leave you. Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday and I hope you find all of the balance you need, red lip or not.