The Daily: May 25th, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings and welcome to Thursday. This has been a bit of a bumpy week. There have been deadlines, but also some family drama. Last year my mother had a strange sort of cancer in the wrist. It was one of those one in a million type cancers that is resistant to chemotherapy and there were three surgeries and much radiation and in the end they had to amputate her hand. She now has breast cancer.

It was caught very early (this is why those self exams are very important, and yes I am giving all of you stern eyes at the moment). It is also a type of cancer millions of people get so there are loads of treatments. Which quite frankly after the last round is somewhat of a relief. It does require chemo. Her first treatment is June 1st and I will be going down to stay with her periodically throughout the process. More in the later summer as chemo has a cumulative effect and it will wipe her out more, this needing more assistance.

Not the summer travels we planned this year, but it is family and you do what needs to be done when it comes to family. So last night schedules were rearranged and everyone’s plans changed accordingly. I am actually fine with it. She has a treatment plan, everything was caught early (stage 1). Everything is treatable. It wasn’t something anyone wanted, but it is the best case scenario all around. I am also one of those people who does better with a schedule. I panic less once I have it and know my role in it. And now I have the schedule.

I just mostly wanted to let you know what was going on so if my summer travel seems strange and things shift a little out of normal, you understand why. My mother lives about three and a half hours drive from me so there will be a lot more weekend travel and thus a lot more travel related posts this summer because I am doing a lot of weekend driving.

I know not exactly the happiest of posts, but I figured letting you know why shake ups might occur, in advance was probably better then having you wonder why I might have gone a little off the rails. And so, on with the day.

I did realize today that I am coming to the end of my wearing my hair down season. Soon there will be many hairstyles where everything is piled on top of my head and I start extoling the fantastic-ness of decorative bobby pins. My hair is long and thick and has been known to swallow up small children when I turn too fast. In the summertime it is quite the liability. So it is time to start breaking out the summertime hair care. It also means that my hair gets sort of a summer long treatment time, like a spa for hair. Since it is mostly bundled up instead of styled over the summer, I tend to focus on restorative treatments so this is your pre summer hair mask warning. My hair has seasons. All summer long i will work on improving it and making it as healthy as possible and then in the fall I get it ready for styling season. Also I have several in progress hair products I want to use up this summer so I can clear them out. So if you are looking for hair masks, stay tuned.

Today’s Look

Primer: Stila All about the Blur

Foundation: One Size Turn up the Base Powder Foundation

Bronzer: Scott Barnes Contour Palette

Blush: Yensa Silk Serum Cream Blush

Eyeshadow: Huda Beauty Mercury Retrograde

Mascara: MAC Magic Extension

Lips: Nyx Suede lipstick in Brunch Me topped with OFRA lip gloss in Myth

Still testing out this Stila primer, but I really do like it. It is a lightweight formula that really helps blur out (or fill) some of my deeper lines. It also keeps foundation from settling. It does need a moment to dry before applying a powder foundation over it, but once it dries it has worked well with the powder.

HThis One Size foundation is a big summertime favorite for me as it is light, lightweight and more natural looking than many of my liquid foundations. As far as powder foundations go, I think this one may be my favorite. It is the one I reach for throughout the summer.

I will probably not be reaching for the Scott Barnes palette this summer. It seems to be okay with cream foundations although it hasn’t been my favorite the few times I have dipped into it. Which is also why I haven’t done a full test with it. But over powder foundation it has a really hard time blending. It just doesn’t want to blend. I have the side view to show you what I mean. I know my ear isn’t what most people want to focus on, but it did give you a better view of the product. I really don’t like being able to see a see a stripe of product like that. I went in light, but today was not it’s day. I will play around with this palette more, but I don’t think it wants to play with a powder foundation.

The Yensa blush however, was fine with the change. It blended out just as beautifully as before and didn’t pull up the powder. That is always my concern with the cream blushes But this one is playing nice. And honestly this Yensa brush is working marvelously with the product. I will start trying out different application possibilities, but it is so hard when this brush really is the perfect applicator. But the trial must go on. I do love this blush though. When Yensa gets a product right, they really get it right.

To be honest i had so much issue with the bronzer today that I just dipped into one of the pink shades and then topped it with a pink shimmer. it was quick and easy and i didn’t get tempted by the magnificent shimmers. Well I was tempted but my will was strong. And my time short after the bronzer. I will say that the lighter toned shadow did make the MAC mascara pop a bit more. I think this is the best it has looked since I opened it. The scent is still quite strong, but it worked well today.

with the lips, I found that the NYX color didn’t quite feel right on it’s own today. I think it might be the foundation shade. I do love the feel of it on though. So I topped it with the OFRA lip gloss. It worked really well. This OFRA gloss is really nice on its own but it is excellent for topping a matte lipstick, especially for the summer.

And so my darling that is me for the day. A little mentally bent but chugging along nicely, even if I di have a new schedule in the works. Sometimes life throws you curve balls and your upcoming road trips end up in a different place than you planned. And so we adapt. Such is life. But now it is back to work for me. And for all you ladies out there, keep up your self exams. they are important.

The Daily: May 15th, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings. we have managed to make it to the middle of May. I don’t know why that surprised me so much to see the date on the calendar this morning. I think because the first week of may seemed to just last forever and drag out so that I didn’t expect the Poof! its the 15th.

I can sort of understand why that happened this month, but I can’t be the only one who is sometimes surprised by time.

Admittedly that is a much nicer surprise than Friday’s surprise bonanza. I got an alert from my bank regarding fraudulent charges. The big one was for around nine hundred dollars and that triggered the alarm, but once I started dealing with that, I found there were fifteen other charges made on Friday that some how didn’t trigger the alert. They were all between $16-$25. The bank has been really good about it, but I ended up spending a large portion of Friday going through my bank records line by line and I am going to have to get a new debit card and switch out a whole bunch of things when it comes it. Plus I have to put off several planned purchases.

While it was taken care of and in the grand scheme of things isn’t that horrific, it was just a load of annoyances. I don’t know about you but I have found i can deal well with emergencies and full on traumas better than I can with loads of little annoyances. I think because of the emergencies you just sort of buckle down and deal with it, without stopping to think too much about how you feel about it until it is done. With these little things you deal with it, and then react, and then deal with it some more. And everything gets just ratcheted up a notch, especially when you know the parts you are dealing with are separated while someone else deals with the center. I called the bank and went through my records. Now the bank is dealing with it and then later i will have to deal with it again as I get a new card.

Maybe it is anticipation of future annoyance.

I don’t know,. I do know that to make myself feel better I did a Nightmare on Elm Street Movie Marathon over the weekend. There is nothing like old school slasher films to make you feel just a little bit better about things. I think it is because they can be so over the top. Like the death of Johnny Depp and the fountain of blood shooting up from his bed. Very over the top. But it did make me feel better. even if it wasn’t what I planned this weekend.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Yves Saint Laurent Touch Eclat Primer

Foundation: Revolution IRL Filter Foundation

Bronzer: Trestique Bronzing stick

Blush: Depology Multi use tinted Balm

Setting Powder: Ciate London Everyday Vacaay Setting Powder

Highlighter: Wander Beauty Wanderess Glow

Eyeshadow: Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance

Under brow Highlight: Eyeko Spotlight Highlighting stick

Mascara: MAC Magic Extension Mascara

Lips: Seraphine Botanicals topped with OFRA liquid lip

I am testing out the Revolution foundation so I am rotating through different primers to see how they play with the foundation. Today I used the YSL. I tired a sample of this primer and I used up every drop of the primer in the sample. It was so good and I did end up buying the full sized one when Sephora had their annual sale. It works so much better in the full size with the pump instead of the stick in the sample. I love it.

I don’t think it was the right primer with this foundation though. The primer smooths and adds a bit of a glow to the skin, which works well, but I think this foundation needs a bit more pore filling than the primer provides. I like how my skin looks, but I think I need a bit more pore filling.

The foundation does work well with the cream bronzer and blush. It stayed on my cheeks as I applied the products instead of peeling up, which can occasionally happen. This didn’t so I was very pleased. Also I think I managed to get the blush even on both cheeks so that is a plus.

I love the wander Beauty Highlight. It is just a lovely glow to the cheeks. I could go brighter if I wanted, but i do love how it just blends in. I have a sample and when I finish the sample I will be purchasing the full size. I am a bit concerned that it keeps going out of stock. I am hoping that it is because other people like it as much as I do and not because they are thinking of discontinuing it. It just has a great soft glow that I really like.

I have to admit I went a little bonkers with the shadow. Normally I use two the three shadows at the most. I think because this is a palette that i used to use and loved, I went over board. I kept dipping into the shadow and thinking, Oh I used to really love this one… And then I just kept going. I like ABH Shadows. They are always powdery in the pan and my new palette no longer looks so new after one use. You have to tap off the brush before you apply or you will get powder everywhere. Today’s look was a bit all over the place because I just got excited. So I’ll calm down and not try to use all of the shadows at once next time I reach for it.

I am glad that i reached for the Eyeko stick to use under my brows though. And use i should have reached for a brow product as well (I do have several I want to try out actually) I have just gotten out of the habit with my brows. Love the Eyeko though.

This was the first use of the MAC mascara. It was good, but not as spectacular as I hoped. It lengthened well, I just expected a little more. Perhaps as I use it I will begin to like it more. It did well lengthening though.

And finally for the lips I layered two products. The Seraphine is a little too brown for me and makes my lips disappear into my face and the OFRA is too light and frosted for me. I put the two together and it worked out well. Not my favorite lips look, but it worked well. And I do like the OFRA formula. it is just a little too pink and frosty. I need to find a different shade. Great formula though.

And that my darlings is me today. A bit crazy with the eyeshadow, but otherwise not so bad. I will try and restrain myself in the future. And off we go for the rest of Monday. I hope you have a fabulous one.

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The Daily: May 2nd, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings. Today is May 2nd and if you have IPSY/Boxycharm, you know that today is the day of choice. May is the ICON box if you upgraded (I did) and I was very impressed with my selection. There is a part of me that is very tickled that one of the items they chose for me (for the Icon box, they choose 5 items, you choose 3) Was a full sized version of the Beautystat cream that I sampled a few months back. I adored the sample and put it on my purchase in the full size list.

I know it is chance given the vast world of skin care but it always makes me happy when subscription boxes send me items from my list. I know they aren’t reading my list, which would be weird, like the universe agrees with me. Yes, Mimsy, you should try this moisturizer in the full size since you liked the sample so much.

Actually my box is going to be a heavy moisturizer box this month. They chose the Beautystat Moisturizer. I chose to add the JLO moisturizer, mostly because I started trying out the eye cream a few days ago and really liked it. Then in my Beauty Boost they had an Ole Henriksen Moisturizer. It is the Peptide Boost Moisturizer which I have been wanting to try out for a while now. I think it is safe to say that i am well stocked on moisturizers for a while. But they are all ones I want to try (and two I chose when I could have chosen other products. There was a lot of choice this month which I liked.) I don’t feel bad about adding the moisturizers because they are ones I want to try and because my other main beauty box for the month, Cohorted is all about Hair in May. It is a Living Proof themed box so all hair, no skincare.

Admittedly in June I may lean into the makeup a bit more. But there is the ABH Modern Renaissance Palette in my Icon Box as well this month so it isn’t all skincare. I know, long winded way to say I was happy with my IPSY selections. Plus I am sort of pairing down my beauty based subscriptions at the moment and leaning into others as well. Books, tea, spices, that sort of thing. But that is a thought for another day. end result, I am pretty happy with IPSY right now.

Other than that it has been a really quiet day today. just me, daily work and trying to mentally untangle a plot dilemma on one of my manuscripts. It is the first writing I have done that actually includes the pandemic (it generally takes about two years before real life gets processed into my fiction). The problem is where in the story line to introduce it as it is a massive game changer. And it is a series book. Once you plonk a pandemic into things you have to work with it and the ramifications for a while. Just like real life i suppose. I keep shifting it to different sections of the story line and then poking at the plot to see if it is the right fit. I think I might have found it, but i want to do a little more mental poking before I declare it the official plot point. At least for this draft.

But that is on going for the day and something I will probably fall asleep thinking about, so on with the day…

Today’s Look:

didn’t see the powder on my shoulder as I changed shirts after doing makeup now I can’t stop looking at it.

Primer: Pinklipps Soft Matte Primer

Foundation: Yensa Super serum Silk Foundation

Concealer: Dior Backstage Concealer

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation Vibes Bronzer

Blush: Depology Tinted Multi stick

Highlight: OFRA All of the Lights Highlighter

Setting Powder: Tatcha The Silk Powder

Eyeshadow: Fenty Beauty Snap Shadows Smoky

Mascara: Anastasia Beverly Hills Lash Brag Mascara

Lips: UOMA Beauty Lip Liner in Angelou

This is an interesting primer. It works really well under all of my foundation. It blends out my skin tone to make it look good and it really does smooth out some of the wrinkles (a bit like spackle smooths out a nail hole). But it is not a weightless kind of product. I feel it on my skin. It isn’t super heavy, but the foundation I put over it is weightless so it feels a bit strange. I like the look, but not the feel so much. It looks good though.

I really do enjoy this foundation. It looks good, feels weightless and has skin loving things like Bakuchiol and Vitamin C mixed in. I’m not sure i put on enough foundation to get massive benefits of the skincare elements because I do go light on the foundation, but I have no problem with the addition to the makeup. After all it is sitting on my face for the length of the day, if there is the possibility it might do something good for my skin as well as perform like a good foundation should, then I am all for it. The only problem I have with this is that the other Yensa BC foundation is my absolute favorite foundation so I have to stop thinking of this as second best.

My under eyes were looking a little dark today so i went with the concealer. this Dior concealer is hands down my favorite concealer. It takes only a dot and then I blend it out. I don’t need much and it blends really well.

This Buxom Bronzer is a summer staple for me. With the Spring gardening and my walks I am starting to spend more time outside so i am transitioning. this is a summer bronzer shade but the tone is good. And I often use it with the tinted moisturizers and BB creams of summer because it can go light as well as dramatic so it is a good seasonal transition product for me.

This is a new blush for me. It is a multi stick so I will try it on my lips as well, but for now I love it on my cheeks. I know Depology is a skincare brand and I currently have one of their balms in my skincare line up. I did not know they made makeup items. This is a first use for me and I was a little scared when I saw how deeply pigmented the stick was, but one rot to each cheek and it blended like a dream. I am going to be playing with this as I test it out, but this was a fantastic first use. The shade really suits my skin tone even if it looked surprisingly deep at first.

As a highlighter I blended a couple of the shades together for my highlight. It was a stunning line of light. But for me I like a softer glow so after a few WOWs I applies setting powder to blend it in and got a really nice soft glow. I did also use the pink section of the highlighter with my eyeshadow today as well.

My setting powder was from Tatcha and it is a setting powder that I really enjoy. It is weightless and never looks powdery.

Today was a first use for Fenty. I like the colors and the rosy shimmer of Patti Cakes is one I want to reach for often, The shadow was a little powdery but with a brush tap it was fine. However they weren’t the easiest to blend. I got there in the end, but it took a bit. It is a smoky palette which I like. the trick is that I think I am going to reach for this and do the same look each time I reach for it. I’ll be playing with it all week, so we will see. I think I feel that way because one of the shadows I already love. But we will see how the week progresses.

I really love this ABH mascara but it is definitely on it’s last legs. I think I have a week or two before I have to let it go. I’ll have to check my open mascara list but I opened it around the same time as the Benefit so I think it has an end of May deadline as well. I do love it and would (and have a couple of times) repurchase.

And finally we reach the lips. I meant to grab a gloss to go over this but i didn’t. I applied the lip liner and just liked the way it looked so I left it. It is a nice creamy formula. It is a lip liner though so it doesn’t leave lip prints which is nice, but sometimes wears unevenly, which is less nice. It is a good formula though that I can wear without needing anything over. Which I can’t say for many lip liners.

And so my darlings, that is me.

The Daily: March 30th, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings. Today has been one of those days that keeps you on your toes. It started this morning with my morning workout which as the sun started to rise enough to shed light in the garden tempted the neighborhood cats to the yard. A yowling signaled a dispute for territorial dominance over my newly seeded planter box which I settled by stepping outside and kicking them both out of the planting bed.

I have no illusions about my dominance being permanent and I suspect there will need to be some plant protecting measures as the seeds start to rise. Surprisingly it is only the one planter box that they all seem to want to control. I don’t know why. All the boxes got a topping of the same fresh soil as they were running low and the seeds are still below ground (edamame and carrots in case you were wondering). I suspect it is some feline version of capture the flag and this is just the box they chose.

Either way it was an interesting start to the day.

The rest of the morning was hopping. I had reached the conclusion that today might be a skin care day because I just didn’t have time for makeup, and then i found out that one of my meetings was not on the phone as I thought but included a video component. So in an attempt to not look like death warmed over thanks to the sinus reaction of constantly shifting temperatures, I did what I like to think of the as the two minute makeup look. This look was built for speed.

Today’s Look:

Primer: YSL Touche Eclat Primer

Foundation: Revolution Fast Base Foundation Stick

Bronzer/Blush: OFRA Cosmetics Blush/Bronzer duo

Eyeshadow: the bronzer from the OFRA Duo

Mascara: Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real Magnet Mascara

Lips: RMS Beauty Lip gloss in Darling Lane

This is going to be quick. Not as quick as application, but not lengthy. Today I used the last of the YSL Primer. It is now officially empty. I am sad but I will at some point when i clear out a few other primers from the drawer, purchase this one in a full size.

The Revolution Fast base is my favorite quick foundation. A couple of stripes across the face and then a quick blend with a brush and you are done. I am using F11 which to be honest is more of a summer shade for me. But it worked. Even if it is slightly on the darker side. Incidentally Revolution is having a 70% off sale right now. So If you are looking to stock up, now might be the time.

Today the OFRA duo was not only blush and bronzer but eyeshadow as well. I went in light with the bronzer and it blended well. The blush needs a fluffy brush because it is so pigmented. I ended up using a brush I would normally use for highlighting instead of my normal blush brush because it was a duo and my brush was too big. I kept getting too much bronzer on it. Other than the brush selection it went well. The bronzer I used for eyeshadow. A quick dip in with a shadow brush, a tap to get off the excess and a swipe across the lids. Simple and fast.

Because the shadow was so simple the mascara really popped and my lashes look quite nice. The mascara always looks nice, but with fewer distractions it really gets to show off.

And finally i topped off the look with the RMS lip gloss. The shade is a my lips but better one and it is a really nourishing formula.

I know, quick and easy today. It may not be glamorous but it did keep me from looking like death warmed over at my meeting. A meeting where the video aspect was completely pointless I might add. A regular phone call would have worked. But I am not in charge of such things. So video it was. And now I am going to get back to work. I hope everyone has a fantastic rest of the day.

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The Daily: February 22nd, 2023

I have no idea when I am going to get to post this because the internet has gone down. I am hoping it is only a minor glitch, but for now I am working off line. I am also fielding emergency calls from people who are freaked out by a non-immediate e-mail reply.

It is amazing how used to nearly instant communication we are.

At the moment I am more freaked out by the large vehicles rolling past my house. It makes me think this isn’t a minor outage but something that may take a little time to deal with. But as there is literally nothing I can do about it, I am going to continue on my merry way and work offline until I can work back on line. Somedays is simply is what it is. And so…

Today’s Look:

Primer: The Butter Hydrosilk Primer from Beauty Bakerie

Foundation: Beauty Blender Bounce Foundation

Concealer: Dior Backstage Flash Perfector Concealer

Bronzer: Milk Makeup Bronzing stick

Blush: NARS Blush in Orgasm

Powder: NARS Powder in Eden

Highlight: OFRA All the Lights

Eyes: Tinted Dew in Humble from Axiology and ELF No Budge Shadow Stick in Rose Gold

Mascara: Uoma Salute to the Sun Mascara

Lips: Ace Beaute Pout Perfect Liquid Lip

Setting Spray: Ciate London Watermelon Burst Setting Spray

I have to say I am starting to fall in love with this stick application. A few quick swipes over the face and then a blending in with the fingertips and done. I can see why it is named hydro silk as it is both moisturizing and makes my skin feel silky smooth. As I am having a good skin moment right now I don’t really need it to cover much and so this is perfect. It takes out a bit of the redness from my skin but it is a minor color correction. I do notice that everything else applies easier once this primer is used, which is always a good thing.

I have been trying this Bounce Foundation off and on for a while now. I like the formula. I have noticed that if I apply the foundation and let it sit for a moment and kind of settle in then I have less problems with it settling into fine lines later. The trick, for me is to not move my mouth too much while it is settling in. If I do then those lines tend to stay all day. If I keep still as it settles and then continue on with my makeup it is fine. I enjoy the foundation but I can see why they have gone with a new packaging. I have the older packaging and I find it a little irritating. But the product is nice and in the new packaging it will be better.

Still have the dark circles so still reaching for Dior. I really like this concealer. It works for me both in color and formula and very little is actually needed. I am also still trying to use up the Milk Makeup Sample. I love it and want to buy the full size so I am happy to reach for this anytime I don’t specifically have another product I want to use.

I went for the NARS for both blush and powder today. The blush I love. The shade orgasm is just a pretty shade. It is a soft blush to the cheeks that works really well. I know most people say that which is why it is a very popular shade. As for powder I am rotating through powders and found this NARS powder. I forgot all about it. I think it is because the packaging blends into the shadows. It is a really good light weight powder that blots oil and never looks too powdery. I am really happy I found it again.

I went with the new OFRA that came in my recent Cohorted box. I couldn’t help it. It was there all shiny and new and I just had to use it. I went for the bronzy shade and it gave me a nice glow. OFRA does make some really nice highlighters.

This Tinted Dew makes just such a fabulous simple eye look. I applied it with a finger tip. I know it is a multi stick (and when I used it on my lips I used a brush because I didn’t want to put something on my lips and eyes). This is more sheer than the Color Cream. For my skin tone and the shade I have, it sort of washed out as a cheek product. I think if my skin was a lighter tone then it would have been good for a no makeup look, but on me this shade didn’t work as a blush. I think this one for me is more for my eyes. I did pair it with the elf shadow stick today because I wanted to see how it worked with other products and I though the tones would blend. Because the shades blend so well I was able to get a light shimmer with the soft flushed shade. I think that might be the key to pairing this, find a shimmer that has the same tones so they blend well. You aren’t going to get overly dramatic with this shade, but it is a great everyday sort of look.

This Uoma mascara is dramatic. The more I use it though the clumpier it gets in the tube. I can keep the clumps off the lashes but I don’t think this is a long lasting mascara. It feels fab to wear and looks great, but this tube won’t be sticking around. It is a mascara I would consider buying just for an event though, I just wouldn’t open it until the event.

The Ace Beaute lip is really nice to wear. Creamy and comfortable. The packaging of course looks stunning. This is a good neutral shade for me but I am not entirely certain how I would like this in a darker shade. The want is long and longer wands are harder to control. With this shade it is fine, but I think I am going to have to try a deeper shade before I know how I feel about this product. I do like the formula though.

And then I finished with the Ciate setting spray. It is a good setting spray and I am happy to use it.

And so my darlings, that is me today. As soon as the internet returns I will be posting this. With luck the time difference will not be too bad. Fingers crossed.

The Daily: October 17th, 2022

Good afternoon my darlings. I have to say it is kind of a relief to be back to work this Monday. Because of everything going on, the house chores were sort of postponed. This weekend they all came crashing down. The last of the gardening for the fall was done and the last of the green tomatoes collected. That sounds very strange to actually say. But our first frost is coming either tonight or tomorrow night and so we stripped the remaining fruit from the plants. we also brought in the last of the paprika peppers. More than anything else we had a bumper crop of these this year. And somehow because of the heat and periods of drought even our sweet paprika has a bit more of a kick than usual.

And it is really very different than the store bought stuff. there is almost a fruity vegetal hint underneath the earthy spice. After growing it, I don’t think I could go back to the slightly spiced red dust that comes in the jar. And this year I certainly won’t have to.

But in addition to getting all of the remaining produce in from the garden I repotted a bunch of indoor plants that needed repotting and I hauled all of the pots outside and gave them all of the plants a good healthy watering before bringing them back indoors for the winter. we have a bay laurel that migrates with the seasons. Out doors in summer indoor in winter. This year the succulents stayed outside for much of the summer as well. They only really had to come in when we had that brief rainy spell mid summer.

But basically the entire weekend was spent moving. In addition to the garden chores there was the resetting of the house for winter. the changing of the blankets and airing out of the ones taken from summer storage. I don’t think I slowed down all weekend. It was necessary but far from restful. On Sunday I relaxed by trying to reorganize my foundation and primer drawer. The problem is the drawer is deep so when I open it, i only see the tops and so just grab the same products. I shifted them to a more shallow drawer and was surprised by how many products there were. Some are close to being empty and others are never been tried. I need to have a good think about what I am using and a possible declutter to follow. But it did lead me to my foundation today. I’ll get into that below. You may notice that this is a brand heavy makeup look today. I couldn’t resist using the Tarte products from the boxycharm today. But we’ll get into that below.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Tatcha The Silk Canvas Primer

Foundation: Yensa Super Serum Silk Foundation

Bronzer: Tarte’s Park Avenue Princess Chisel Palette

Blush: Tarte Breezy Cream Blush in Pink Sky

Highlight: OFRA Highlighter in Blissful

Setting Powder: Anastasia Beverly Hills Loose setting powder

Eyeshadow: Tarte Sunrise Eyeshadow Palette

Eyeliner/brightener: Tarte Double Take Awake

Mascara: Tarte Lights Camera Lashes Mascara

Hair Pins: Dragonflies from the Coraline Collection by Revolution Beauty

I do love this primer. It may be my all time favorite to be honest. There are others I like a lot, but this Tatcha Balm style Primer always tops my best of list. At this point I know how it works as well so it was perfect to use with the foundation today as well.

Today i chose the Yensa Silk Foundation. I’ll be honest, I thought I didn’t like it. To be honest I don’t think I gave it much of a chance. I think I used it once or twice and decided it wasn’t as fabulous as the BC foundation and set it aside. Today I really liked it. I think part of it may be the weather. I think this is just not a hot weather foundation. Most actual foundations don’t seem to be hot weather foundations, at least where i am concerned. Now that the weather has cooled, I am finding I really like this. I went in light with the foundation which seems to be the trick. It now feels weightless. I did notice that with the brush there were some streaks left in the product so I just went back in with a makeup sponge and it blended out beautifully. I think I may have to play around more with this foundation.

The Tarte Park Ave Princess Palette is discontinued sadly. It is a lovely palette though and I will use it until it is all used up. the bronzer is still available so I’ve linked that above. I haven’t reached for this in a while because quite honesty Tarte slipped from my mind. But I do love this palette. It always makes me feel special to use it and the products work well for me.

This was my first use of the Tarte cream blush. It does give more of a natural finish than expected. I thought it would be more pigmented. That is not a complaint actually. It is buildable and I didn’t notice it peeling up any of my foundation when i applied it. I think the trick with cream blushes is to first apply them before setting your foundation with powder and second to dab instead of rub. I applied with my finger and then blended worth a makeup sponge. I think a brush would have damaged the foundation and not done the blush justice. as it is I like it. It isn’t my favorite cream blush, at least at the moment, but i think it is something I can work with and wouldn’t mind reaching for again.

I actually remembered a highlighter today. I went with OFRA and forgot how blinging it can be. I need to remember to go in lighter next time. It is a great highlight though and the pan is huge so it will last forever.

Today I went with the ABH Setting powder. It was in the back of the drawer and I brought it to light. I like applying this with a makeup sponge and then just brushing away the extra. The translucent is a bit white so I can’t use it with lighter foundations as it lightens them just a bit. It works well with slightly darker foundations again because it seems to lighten it up just a touch. I really liked using it today. it is finely milled and didn’t look cakey.

This tarte palette was created for Boxycharm so I just linked to the tarte eyeshadow page for those interested. The formula on this was okay. It isn’t a terribly exciting palette. It is a very basic neutrals palette actually. The dark brown isn’t as pigmented as I like but I love the bronze shimmer. I know surprise. What bronze shimmer don’t i like. It is a good little everyday palette. I just have several very much like it in my collection so it is hard to get excited.

Today I actually used eyeliner. To be honest I was more interested in the brightener. I think I will probably reach for it more often. the eyeliner is nice and worked well. I just don’t wear a lot of eyeliner these days. The brightener is really goo. Creamy and goes in the waterline well. It is the reason I will be keeping this product.

For Lengthening this is actually one of my favorite mascaras. It does nothing for volume so usually I pair it with something that is more volumizing than lengthening, but for lengthening this is a fantastic mascara.

And finally I have the dragonfly bobby pins from the Coraline Collection from Revolution. I am really surprised by how high quality they feel. I couldn’t help but put them in my hair today. Personally I love the way they look. And the set was only $8. Not sure if they are still available but they are quite fabulous. I also got the palette from the collection and I am excited about trying that out soon. But I couldn’t resist the hair pins today.

A Week of OFRA’s Signature Symphony Palette

L to R: Sublime, Charm, Blissful, Tempo and Godiva

Recently I have been using the OFRA Signature Palette – Symphony. It came in a Boxycharm Premium and retails on OFRA’s Website for $32.There are five pans. There is one shimmer (Sublime), One satin (Tempo), two mattes (Charm and Godiva) and an eyeshadow that is essentially an OFRA Highlighter (Blissful). I love OFRA Highlighters and I think that is smart actually. It works really well as both a stunning shadow and as a highlight.

And to be honest, OFRA’s highlighters are so big it takes forever to actually get through one of them, so I don’t mind having the smaller highlight. These are not the first eyeshadows that I have tried from OFRA. I really love the formula. They are very saturated colors. While the darker shades can scatter powder around the eye, if you tap the brush off before using it is generally not a problem.

The quality of the shadows is there.

The mix of shadows in general works well the Lighter matte (Charm) is almost exactly my skin color when applied so it doesn’t show up well and is okay-ish as a transition. The shimmer (Sublime) is stunning and the brownish shade (Godiva) is pigmented with a reddish tinge to it. It is also a bit more powdery than the other shadows and takes a little bit more time to blend out. It actually works a lot better if you use an eyeshadow Primer.

The highlight/shadow, Blissful, is stunning. There is the cranberry colored satin shade (Tempo) that is the biggest pop of color in the palette. And boy does it pop. As with all of these shadows, one dip in the pan is enough o cover the eye. The problem is that if you use that shade it will dominate. It is very difficult to tread softly with Tempo and using it with any other shadow obliterates the other shadow.

Except for the highlighter, Blissful. It can hold it’s own with the shade Tempo.

For me this makes this a rather limited use palette. I can create a look with the cranberry shade, either with or without the highlighter. I can use the brown with the shimmer or the highlighter or even on it’s own. I have tried varying the looks over the past two weeks, but the truth is they all tend to come out fairly similar.

Which doesn’t mean I don’t like them. I do actually. I just think it is a palette I would pull out for a day of use, not one I would use for a week or so. It certainly isn’t one I would travel with, which is a bit of a shame. It is the perfect size for traveling.

While I like this palette, what bothers me is that all of the other OFRA Palettes I have from blush to face, have removable pans. I really like this, especially in these plastic hard case palettes. It means that when a shade runs out I can replace the shade and just put the new one in an exiting palette without wasting the plastic palette. It also means I can customize the palette. If there is a shade that doesn’t work for me I can swap it out.

It is one of the things I especially like about OFRA Palettes, that removability/reusability.

This palette has the hard plastic case but unlike the other palettes, the shadows can’t be removed. They don’t have that little divot to the side that lets you take the pan out of the palette. I know it is from their signature collection which might be why the shadows can’t be removed, but even if they didn’t want them swapped with other shades it would be nice to have the option to replace a shadow once it ran out if I liked it enough to use it to pan.

I find it wasteful especially since their other palettes have this feature. Other than that they are beautiful shadows that stay in place all day. I just could never control the cranberry shade. I like it and it pairs well with the silver of blissful. I will actually probably reach for it a lot in the fall and winter. I just can’t make it play well with others. because of this and the inability to remove pans, I find this OFRA Signature Symphony Palette a nice, but limited use palette.

The Daily: August 24th, 2022

I knew as soon as I said something about enjoying normality things would take a turn. And yet I did it anyway. I should have known better.

I got a call from my mom. she will soon be scheduling an operation. In a couple of weeks they will remove another small tumor from her hand. It is cancer. It is also the third operation this year, They are going in to get what they missed last time so hopefully this will be the last of the operations and cancer. This one is going to be more invasive so once it is scheduled I will be going down for a few weeks to take care of her.

Apparently her doctor is assembling a team of surgeons and once everything is scheduled she will let me know the date. And then I will schedule and go down for two weeks.

So for now there is normality on turbo drive as I try to wrap up outstanding contracts before I go. I’m sure it will calm down once I process and get an actual schedule, but for now my brain is screaming, go go go. Both to go down to be with her and to get every open project completed. As a warning, I may sound a bit crazed for the next few weeks as I go into schedule clearing mode. I’m told everything looks pretty good. Well good for something called malignant anyway. So that helps a little.

For now I am trying not to worry about anything but clearing my schedule so I can just head out when the time comes. So let’s shift into something more or less normal shall we?

forgot the smoothing spray so hair looks a little crazy, plus i was twisting it while on the phone

today’s Look:

Primer: Too Faced Hangover RX Replenishing Face Primer

Foundation: RealHer Power Wear Probiotic Foundation

Blush/Bronzer/Highlight/powder: Cover FX Perfector Face Palette

Brows: iMethod Beauty Eyebrow Stencil Kit

Eyeshadow: OFRA Signature Symphony Palette

Mascara: Eyeko Black Magic Mascara

Eyeliner: Tarte Tartiest Double Take dual ended liner

Lips: Evio Beauty lip liner mixed with Colourpop Evil Queen lipstick

Today I did decide to go with the Too Faced primer. It is a bit on the dewy side for me which is why I don’t reach for it often. It also smells of faux coconut which isn’t my favorite scent in the world. It is a good primer though. It holds makeup in place well and the coconut scent does fade. It worked well with the Real Her foundation. It wasn’t as dewy as I thought it might be. It was a bit glowy, but not over the top. It was something I could work with.

The Cover FX palette is an old one. In fact I don’t think CoverFX carries it. The link above is for Beautylish instead. I have had this a while and in fact should probably think of getting rid of it. As always I apply the bronzer and wonder why I don’t use this palette more often. Then I get to the blush and remember why I don’t use this palette that often. It’s the blush. I like all of the other products, but the blush is not really the right shade for me. It is a bit too pink and I always have to work to tone it down with the bronzer after I apply it. I really do like the bronzer and the setting powder in it. I might look into replacing those two products.

got a little crazy with the eyeliner. there was some transfer because this is a formula that needs to dry a moment or two before you open your eyes,

Today I decided to see which of my eyeliners still worked. I like the black of the tarte, but it did get a bit out of hand today. It has just been so long since I used eyeliner that my lines were crooked and I kept having to go back. I was also a little frustrated as I tried three eyeliners that dried out before I got to the Tarte so I rushed things. And me rushing eyeliner is never a good thing. I have hooded eyes so I have to cheat a little on the lines, which takes time. I do like the liner with the cranberry shade from the OFRA palette. I just reached the point where I didn’t want to spend any more time with it and said, ‘That’s good enough’ and let it go.

I pulled the Evio lip liner out because I wanted to darken the red lipstick. I think it worked well It is a creamy formula that can be worn as a lippie on it’s own with no problems actually so it blended with the lipstick well. I think it darkened it up a little so I liked the color better.

And I love both the Eyeko Mascara and the iMethod eyebrow stamp. I am getting quite the divot in the eye brow pomade so i may need to try out some of the other pomades with the stencil and stamp soon. but I think I have a while yet before that happens. And so On with the day we go. I suspect I will be working late tonight, more as a panic working than a necessity. Tomorrow I’ll start spacing things out more, but for tonight I suspect i am just going to work myself out. I just need to push past that initial burst of panic and things will be fine. I suppose it is my process. So it is off to work I go. I’ll see you when the panic subsides.

The Daily: August 22nd, 2022

Good afternoon my darlings. I hope you had a fabulous weekend. I had a pretty good one. I spent a large time trying peppers to make paprika since they are now ripening thick and fast. I also dug potatoes and pretty much ruined my nails despite the gloves. But I do have a nice crop of potatoes and my nails will recover. Also for the first time i managed to plant melons and actually get a melon to grow on the vine. It is a cantaloupe style melon. I know, it doesn’t sound like much of an accomplishment but I have planted melons in my garden, in every garden that I have ever planted actually and for some reason I always get the flowers but never the fruit.

So as odd as it sounds I am doing the happy dance over the melon.

Beyond garden chores I mostly vegged over the weekend. I watched a lot of the Star Trek’s Lower Decks on Paramount+. It suited my mood and was fun.

Today I managed an early walk under threatening skies. Rain was threatening for most of the weekend, but held off until last night. Now even though it is a low percentage, the sky really looks like it wants to open up and the air feels weighted. But I still got in the walk. I was drenched when I came back, but technically that was the humidity and not the rain. And a quick shower sorted me right out. Plus I got in my exercise. I think this week might be beat the humidity rather than the rain. We shall see.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Elf Poreless Putty Primer

Foundation: RealHer Powerwear Probiotic Foundation

Bronzer/ Blush/Highlight/powder: Pur 4-in 1 perfecting Powders Palette

Eye Shadow: OFRA the Signature Palette Symphony

Brows: iMethod Beauty Eyebrow Stencil Kit

Mascara: Eyeko Black Magic Mascara

Lips Mac Love Me Lipstick in Bated Breath

Today I started with one of the primers I always keep around. It is the Elf Poreless Putty Primer. It is $8 I think and it is so worth picking up to keep around. I have the original version but they do make a variety of formulas now. I’ve tried a few of the others, but this is the one I really do prefer.

I am still testing out the Real Her Foundation so I am switching out primers. I think it worked well with this primer. The foundation is matte, but it isn’t a flat matte. It has a little bit of depth to it. I did use a little bit of highlighter under my cheeks but the rest of the products were matte and there is still a bit of a glow. I may try an illuminating primer with it to see if they can be paired or if I find it too much. But I like the way it turned out today,.

I am still testing out the OFRA Palette and today I simply used the one brownish shade and a little of the highlight in the inner corners. The brown is not as deeply pigmented as the cranberry shade, but this was still only one dip in the pan for the eyeshadow. I like OFRA shadows, but I have to admit I am getting a little bored with this palette. I think it is one that I can easily use, but not one I can use every day for a long period. I am actually kind of ready for the review to be over. I think I will end up reaching for this palette in the future but it will be for the day, not the week.

I am thrilled with how my brows came out. I do need to do some clean up with the tweezers but the iMethod worked beautifully. The Pur palette is always a favorite. It worked beautifully as always and you know i love Mac Lipsticks. This one is my go to neutral and I am going to have to replace it soon. I went with the Eyeko Black Magic Mascara to finish off the look. Usually I say I prefer the Lash Alert, which I do, but after using the Lala Beauty mascara last week, this mascara feels fabulous by comparison. I’m not saying the other was bad, but at no time did I use it and not end up having to clean up transfer from under my eyes. It just takes longer to dry and I had issues with every use. It made the Eyeko which is a good mascara feel utterly fabulous. It went on, it looked good and it dried quickly without making a mess. So today Black Magic was just fabulous. which isn’t surprising. Eyeko does really good eyeliners and mascaras. So even though Black Magic is generally second to Lash Alert in my opinion, it is still a fantastic mascara.

And that my darlings is me today. I feel well rested and slightly smug about getting my walk in before the rains returned. It has also been a really productive day so I also feel good about spending the weekend resting between bouts of garden chores. Admittedly tonight I may end up needing to do nail triage. Hopefully there will be some survivors. I hope your Monday is going fabulously well.

The Daily: August 18th, 2022

Oh my darlings today I actually saw temperatures that were in the 60s. It was still 66 and really only before 9 am but I saw it and I took advantage of it. and today thee was no one else out. Which was surprising given the drop in temp and the relatively comfortable conditions.

It was pleasant though. I nice walk, my own private park and no additions to my fitness plan, just the walk. I did see Peanut poke his head into the window to watch me walk by though. Luckily he was safely inside Mary’s house. He goes home on Sunday and I’m hoping she keeps a bit more control over him until then.

I don’t mind pitching in to chase the dog, I just don’t want to do it often.

So the walk was nice and quiet, work has been nice and quiet. I’m trying not to find any of that suspicious and just enjoy it. It is a bit strange when chaos seems to become the norm.

For those looking for back to school savings, the sales have started going up. I’m going to try and include a few each post. I hope it helps.

Foreo has one that runs from now until August 31st. You can get either 20% off sitewide or 33% off UFO ini, with 2 free boxes of mask (Make My Day + Call it a Night) by using the code: GOLD33.

Sleepyhead has stand-alone mattress topper covers for 2-inch and 3-inch XL Twin toppers, and our 3-inch Queen topper on sale Use code SUMMER20 for $20 off or SLEEPY10 for 10% off, whichever will work best for your order.

And The Underclub now has the return of Bralette subscriptions. In case you want a fabulous bralette to go with your fantastic underwear subscription. They are hands down my favorite subscription service. I adore the all inclusive styles and wearing the underwear makes me feel pretty all the way down. Plus as silly as it sounds, if I know that I am wearing pretty underwear, I feel more confident. So I will always love wearing pretty underwear. And if you can get a bralette to match, even better.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Touch in Sol No Poreblem Primer

Foundation: Real Her Powerwear Probiotic Foundation

Bronzer/Blush/Highlight/powder: Pur 4-in-1 Skin Perfecting Powders Palette

Eyeshadow: OFRA Signature Palette: Symphony

Mascara: Give Them Lala Beauty Mascara

Brows: iMethod Beauty Eyebrow Stencil Kit (currently on sale)

Lips: Uoma Beauty Lip Liner

Okay lets have a look at today’s products. The Real Her foundation I went back and looked up and didn’t see a review for so I’m guessing it came in with a bunch of makeup products, was tried and forgotten, so I am trying it now and will rotate through different primers as I get a feel for it. Today’s primer is an old favorite, the No Poreblem Primer. It is light weight and porefilling. I really like it. Plus the pink tones of it mostly melt into my skin but still give a slightly healthy look to it. Especially under a matte foundation. It doesn’t make my skin more pink, just a little bit brighter, I think anyway. This is not my first bottle of this primer and i doubt it will be my last.

the foundation is holding up well today too. It covers well and while I did need to use the makeup sponge to get rid of a few brush streaks, it is sitting very well on the skin and not emphasizing any fine lines, which is nice.

The face palette I used from PUR is one of my favorite travel palettes because I happen to like all four of the powders included. I don’t tend to reach for it when I am not traveling though. I really should reach for it more. The powders are buildable rather than highly pigmented and it is easy to get a softer more natural look from them. Which is one of the reasons I travel with it soft often. It can be beefed up for a night out or toned down for daily use. I always find it surprising as i don’t tend to have the best luck with PUR products. these I really like though.

The iMethod stencils are now my standard. I will try other pomade but I do love those stencils. I also really like the Uoma Beauty Lip Liner. I’m sure I’ll put some sort of lip gloss over it later but for now I like the color and feel of it. It is one of the few lip liners I can actually wear as lipstick without feeling like my lips are parched.

Which leaves us with the OFRA eyeshadow palette. Today I used the lightest matte of the three and then added a little of the highlight in the corners. It is still highly pigmented but it is not as dominating as the cranberry shade. It worked out well as a more or less one and done look. It has reddish tones so it is similar to the other looks with this palette. I think the brown and highlight are the only two that don’t lean into the red so maybe I’ll try a look with just the two of them next and see if there is a wider difference. But over all I enjoyed the palette, it was easy to use. and didn’t require a lot of work or thought. Which is nice on a rushed morning.

Over all I am pleased with today’s makeup and happy to see how it lasts the rest of the day. I hope you are having a fantastic day and that your afternoon end on a high note.