Ah yes my darlings more of the same as this seems to be the way the week is going. Early workouts and loads of time spent at my desk. Not the most exciting I’ll grant you but I am slowly coming up to the mark. And I think I will be back to normal work hours tomorrow, which will be nice. I still have a deadline looming, but it isn’t looming as frighteningly at the moment, which is really nice. I am hoping to get everything cleared away and then do a revamp of my desk top space as we go into fall. I’ll keep you posted on that.
I did take the opportunity to just leave my hair down for the day since i wasn’t going anywhere. I figured just brushing it and letting it be would be a nice healthy treat for it. No heat, no braids, no ponytail holders of any sort, just down and done. It reminds me I really need to get into see a stylist to at least add some sort of shape to it (as well as knocking off several inches from the length), but it was nice to just let it be for a bit. I did indulge in a bright red lipstick though. I also took a moment to play with the Norvina Palette that came in July’s Boxy Charm.
The Pacifica foundation I am going to try to use more frequently for a little while as it is about three quarters empty and I would really like to use it up. It is a good foundation, but i’ve had it for a while and would like to use it up and clear it out. It is definitely a repurchase item though so even when I do use it up it will only be temporarily gone from my dressing table. I just don’t like wasting products by letting them sit around long enough to expire. So it will make frequent appearances for a bit.
NARS is also a return from yesterday and will be reused for a bit as well. I actually hit pan on it yesterday. Just a tiny bit of silver was showing. It made me very excited as I have been working on using this sample size up for quite a while now. Today more of the pan is showing. I think the product is thin enough that the pan showing will grow quite rapidly. So I am going to see if I can use it up in the next few weeks.
Today I used the Illamasqua cream highlighter. It is in the same shade as one of my favorite powder highlighters from Illamasqua. I am kind of on the fence about it. I am going to have to use it more than once to really get a feel for it. It applied very brightly but then blended in more than I expected. I think I might have blended it out of existence. I’ll play around with it a bit more but I think I might prefer the powder version of this highlighter.
I do really like the Floss Lip and Cheek Stain as a blush though. I found it east to work with and I think it would be very easy to travel with as well. I don’t know if it is because I am getting older and my skin is changing or if products are changing or if it is a combination of the two, but I am really starting to like cream products a lot more. Well some cream products, and only in certain ways. This product I like on my cheeks but I am not a fan of it on my lips.
Mor my lips I used one of my favorite reds. It is a liquid lip from elf. It dries down well but comfortably and stays in place all day. And the shade works for me. It isn’t too pink and it isn’t too orange. which is really hard to find.
The Norvina Palette is one I will also have to play around with for a bit.It is highly pigmented but blends well. The darker shades have a bit of fall out. I didn’t really use any shimmers today. I do like that there is a pure white matte in the palette. I was very impressed by how white it was and how it didn’t go muddy with the other shadows. i think I will enjoy playing around with this palette. As I have a long stretch of mostly working at my desk coming up, I might try to play around with some brighter looks. It could be fun to try something new.
And that is more or less me today. It isn’t all that exciting I suppose, but at least it isn’t all that stressful either. It is just me catching up on paperwork and having a little bit of fun along the way. And there is nothing wrong with that on a wednesday.
Good afternoon my darlings. I hope your tuesday is going well. I am beginning to realize just how much being without the internet for two days affected my schedule. It was a long day yesterday and it will be a long day today. With luck if I put in a long day today then tomorrow will be less long and Thursday will see everything back on track.
Storing items on the cloud is nice, until there is no internet and you can’t get to the cloud to retrieve them. Fun stuff.
Again as today is mostly going to be a working at the desk sort of day, I Did my workout early, showered and then put my hair up. I went for two braids on the top of my head today wrapped around themselves and stuck in with bobby pins. I think over all it turned out well. The earrings are another Ear Fleek pair. I believe they were from the Minimalist category.
Today is not terribly exciting I’m afraid just the gym followed by a day of paperwork, so I went for a fairly simple look.
The Pacifica Alight foundation is about three quarters of the way empty at this point so I may keep it in frequent Rotation so that I can use it up. This is a beautiful foundation though and one that I will repurchase. I just have had it for a while and want to use it up. It is a good drug store brand and one I have no problem purchasing.
dry brush for the shimmer
As you may remember the NARS bronzer that I have is a sample size and one that I have been trying to use up. I like the bronzer but I refuse to purchase the full size until I have actually used up the sample size. I feel that using it up before purchase of a full size does two things. The first is that it doesn’t waste the product. The second is that it lets me know that it is a product I am willing to use to the point of using it up. So I know if I purchase a full size it will get used. And today, I actually hit pan in the bronzer. Not a lot of pan, just a little silver glimmer. But it does prove that my plan to use it up is working.
I don’t know why that makes me happy, but it really does.
The bareMinerals blush is one of my favorite formulas and as small as this sample is, and as often as I actually reach for it, I have yet to hit pan on it. It too will be purchased in the full size once the sample is used up.
I actually meant to reach for the Illamasqua cream highlighter today when I put my makeup on, but completely forgot and picked up the powder instead. Tomorrow, I will compare it to the powder. I managed to remember Illamasqua, just not cream instead of powder.
For my eyes I used the Ciate London Trend Edit Palette. I like how the colors blend and it is a great formula, but I do find myself wishing they had one deeper brown in the palette. The one that is deeper, has a reddish tint to it. I almost reached for my ELF Bite sized palette for a deeper brown, but decided not to. The mattes in this palette are great for a one and done look, but the mattes are similar enough that they just sort of blend into each other when used together. The shimmers are stunning though. I used a dry brush to tone it down but with a wet one the shimmers really pack a punch. I just want one darker matte to really make this palette sing. Otherwise I really like it.
The ABH Powder was a little on the powdery side today and I did pair it with the ABH Dewy set to counter act it, which seemed to work well. Otherwise I like the ABH powder. Plus it had a large amount of powder in the container so finding a way to work with it is key to using it all up. While i will continue using this powder, I don’t think I would repurchase it. This is going to be a product that I work hard to use up and then do not repurchase.
As opposed to my Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Mascara. That I will always repurchase.
So that is today’s look. Me and my braids are now taking a deep dive into editing a document. That’s right soon every comma will be in place and the sentences that seem to stretch on for paragraphs will be broken up into smaller sentences that don’t make readers lose their breath. I’m actually working with an engineer who seems to specialize in creating sentences that take up three inches of space on a page. I always get out of breath reading it. But soon all will be well. I just need to get back to it. I hope the rest of your day is fabulous.
Crest is having a sale on their whitening products in case anyone is looking to get their smile dazeling before heading into the fall.
Happy Monday to one and all. I don’t know about you but I had a fabulous weekend. It was nice and quiet with just basic chores done around the house and lots of down time. I know it doesn’t sound all that exciting but after the excitement of the past few months, I am beginning to treasure quiet weekends far more than wild nights out.
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy gathering with friends but it is so nice to just be able to shut down for a little bit. I did binge watch about half a season of RuPaul’s Drag race this weekend. Paramount + has the original Drag Race, plus All-stars. i think they have other varieties too, but I haven’t checked. I have to say, for $4.99 that is a pretty good streaming service. Why women Kill and Evil have both drawn me in. I kind of wanted RuPaul for something a little more light hearted.
Plus it is fun to have on while playing with Eyeshadow. I always end up a little more colorful than I intended.
At the moment I am trying out a product that Billion Dollar Beauty sent me. It is the Beauty box. It is a box that is like a magnetic palette except that the lid is a mirror with it’s own kickstand so it can stand up for use. They also sent me several pans to put in the box. I’ll be testing it out this week and seeing what I think of both the box and how it functions as well as the products inside.
Over all I chose products I knew and liked so that I could concentrate on the Billion Dollar Beauty products. and yes the Marc Jacobs Mascara is the new one that I said I wasn’t going to open for a while. I just couldn’t resist. It was my favorite mascara for so long and then i didn’t use it for a while so I wanted to see if it was still as good as I remember. If anything it is better. I absolutely love the way my lashes look with this formula.
Everything else I used worked well for me as always. I will discuss the box once I’ve had some time to use it. For now I am going to focus on the products. The blush was light but buildable, which is how I prefer my blushes actually. I would rather have to add more to achieve the effect I want than have to reduce product so that I void looking like a clown. This was a very good buildable blush.
The highlighter took me a few minutes to work with. I think that is because lately I have been going for more gold and pink tones with my highlight so that thay can easily blend in with my skin yet still give me a soft glow. It has been a while since I have used a highlight this tone. It is more in the silver white range. It does blend in well but the silver was brighter than I am used to. I like how it turned out, but it was a slight adjustment on my part. I think that as I work with it, I will like it better.
There were two brow products in the package sent over by Billion Dollar Beauty. One is powder and one is a cream. I like the powder and found it worked decently, but i prefer the cream. I don’t know if it was the color or the way it worked with the bruch, but I really enjoyed the cream brow product. I will have to make an effort to use the powder now that I know I like the cream so I will hold off judgement on that but the brow cream in taupe is definitely a product i will remember and reorder when this pan becomes empty.
The lips are cream pans as well. I like how the one I used today applied. I like how it felt on the lips and how well it lasted. The color is a bit light for me. I think the other two look a little darker, so they might be more to my taste. The formula is really good though so I think it is definitely worth going to look at their color range. I have two more lipstick pans to try out so I’ll leave the investigation to later.
Which finally brings us to the eyeshadows. There were two sent in the package, one matte and one shimmer. I went solely with the matte today in a look that is very unusual for me. I just used the light pink of moon. the look is really strange for me since a single pale eyeshadow is never how I do my eyeshadow, but I wanted to test out the formula of the Billion Dollar Brow Mattes. I really liked it actually. It is quite pigmented, didn’t creas, was easy to apply and stayed in place all day. As the other shadow in the box is a pink shimmer, I think I may have to pull out a couple of other shades to play around with as I use these two colors. For now, I was highly impressed with the matte.
And that is today’s look. It was a little different for me, and while I like how the face turned out, and the formula of the eyeshadow, I am not sure this look is quite for me. I find the pink eyes on me strange. Thus far the products are working well and for a first test the Billion Dollar Beauty products are working well.
And theat Marc Jacobs Mascara. There is a reason that Velvet Noir has long been one of my favorites. Sometimes you just need to take a break to remember just how fabulous something is.
Today has been a very off kilter day for me. Last night I forgot to take my Hum Nutrition Beauty zzz sleep Gummies and l lay in bed awake until about five am. They don’t actually put you out, they just make it easier to fall asleep as they quiet the mind. I finally managed to drift off only to have my alarm go off. I hit the snooze button as long as I could but had to finally admit that it was time to get up.
I figured I had pulled all nighters before, this wouldn’t be any different. Yeah, turns out it was a little different. My morning started well and then when I went into the bedroom to change for the gym I made the mistake of sitting down on the bed. And then laying down on the bed. And taking a two hour nap instead of going to the gym.
Which I have to admit is probably for the best.
So tonight, Hum Gummies before bed, an early night and no accidental nap tomorrow. Luckily I was just working at my desk today, so I can just extend my work hours a little bit and recover. I didn’t have any calls which was nice.
And so the day resumes.
Even though I did get a strange start, I managed a short walk and I did my makeup. I went for a very low key look today.
I am still testing out the Glam Glow Primer and I wanted to test it out with a tinted moisturizer to see how it performed (as I have a lot of tinted moisturizers I like in the summer). I like the QMS formula but it does tend to have a bit more shine than I like. The Mattifying primer really helped tone that down. For most of my face products I used the Cover FX Perfector Face Palette. I know it is an older favorite of many people but I just picked it up in a Boxy Pop Up and wanted to give it a go. I’m still forming my thoughts on it. Most of the products seemed fine for a first use, but I am a little on the fence with the highlighter.
The big try today was with the Fenty Beauty Highlighter duo. As highlighters they aren’t ones I reach for a lot. So I thought I’d try them as eyeshadow. They worked well although you really need an eyeshadow primer if you want them to stay in place. I found I needed a matte and went for one of my single shades from The Balm. It ended up working well for a light summery look. The shades I used were not really all that dramatic so I chose the Butter London Glazen lip Glaze as a touch of color and more shine than anything else. Which suited me today. It is a bit of a stick formula, bit it is a lip gloss which usually is somewhat sticky. It is an older lip product with not much left in it so I will probably be using it up in the coming weeks.
I am doing what I like to think of as a rolling declutter. Instead of just taking out products and either decluttering them or not, I am trying things I haven’t used in a while and if I still like wearing them they stay and if not they go. Hopefully by the fall I’ll have tried most everything and then I will sit down and have a good think about everything and how I feel about it. There is also going to be a push to clear out products that are close to being used up. But for now, I was pretty happy with how my makeup turned out. It is light and summery feeling and very much suited my day.
Good Afternoon my darlings and I hope you are doing well. I think I finally managed to sort things out with scheduling and will actually be able to roll into Friday with a lot less stress and the ability to have a regular week next week. I think that having a three day weekend, coupled with the fact that June has begun and that means the year is technically almost half over sort of threw a lot of things into a tail spin. People started evaluating projects and adjusting time lines like crazy.
Also I think a lot of the people I work with are now back to working in their offices rather than at home and they are finding themselves somehow less productive than they were working from home. I actually spoke to someone today who estimates their productivity is actually almost down by half. Part of that is that in addition to getting ready for the office in the morning, she has an hour long commute each way, plus all of the things that being physically in an office entails eating into her productivity.
It was a rather eye opening conversation actually.
But that is not the point. The point is that things seem to be settling down a bit for me and soon normality will resume. Actually it is sort of resuming now.
So woo hoo for me.
Today I did manage to go on one walk. The air felt thick enough to take a might of, but it wasn’t overly warm. There is the terrible sense of waiting though. The clouds are heavy and low, the air wet enough to wring and yet no rain. Or at least no rain yet. A minute or two ago I heard the rumblings of thunder so perhaps rain is imminent. I suspect there will be no possibility of a late afternoon walk.
I’ll manage to struggle along with out it.
Yesterday, I managed to get to the gym in the late afternoon and for future reference, that was a mistake. It was packed. I much prefer my off hours morning visits and will happily return to my normal schedule. It didn’t help that there were a lot of people who weren’t exactly wiping down the machines after use so I had to wipe off the ones I used before and after working out. I have to say even before covid, it really annoyed me when people did that and now my annoyance is just shared by more people. There was a kind of angry vibe in the gym.
But at least I learned something about my own schedule.
I forgot how much of a grip the Huda Beauty Primer has. It fell to the bottom of the drawer and the fact that is hads dark packaging meant that it hid out in the shadows while other products were used. Sometimes it is a good thing to rummage down to the bottom of the drawers. The Huda Beauty Primer does a little blurring, but it’s main function is to lock makeup in, which it does very well.
The other face and lip products I chose because they work well and i didn’t really have to think about them. I was still spending most of my get ready time playing with the eyeshadows. The close up of the eye is one that didn’t make it into my earlier Too Faced Melted Chocolate Eye shadow review. I did take this look off and fix it, but I wanted to include this photo to show both how messy the liquid shadow is when using a finger to apply it versus a brush and because I applied the powder over the melted chocolate before the liquid was dried down so the brown over it looks quite patchy. I fixed it, but I thought you might like to see some of the mistakes.
Over all, the drama of the morning is over and this afternoon is relatively peaceful. Tonight I am planning on watching another episode of Tell Me a Story. It is a paramount plus original and I am hooked. I am trying to space out the watching of them rather than bingeing them because it is a new series and there aren’t that many episodes. It is so hard to be good though. I think I’m going to start alternating them with the new Why Women Kill which looks good. Has anyone seen that yet?
I don’t know how many of you have Paramount Plus or who are looking into it, but their prices are getting ready to change. I think they change on June 6th. If you sign up before then you can lock in your current deal. Just something to think about if it is something you were looking at. We’ve been rotating our streaming sites, getting rid of the ones we don’t watch and adding in new ones to try out. I’ve had Paramount plus about a month now and it seems like a keeper. Just a heads up on upcoming changes for those looking into it.
Oh yes my darlings, walking early is the way to go in the heat. It still hasn’t hit summer temps yet but with the humidity, the heat hits just a little bit harder. I went on my walk first thing this morning and it turned out well. I was a little damp around the hairline, but not a sweaty mess. I took out the first summer bottle of the Avene Thermal Water Spray, gave my face a good cooling does and felt ready to go on with the day.
I always thought the water sprays were just a little extra and a bit pointless, but if you are spending time exercising in the sun, whether walking or gardening, they can really be a life saver. I now keep a bottle of the spray water next to the garden door along with a bottle of spray sunscreen. I may use the Volition on my face and neck but a good spray down of arms and legs from Neutrogena Beach Defense is invaluable when working in the garden. I get the spray sunscreen going out and the Avene Thermal Water coming in.
And then I drink loads of water to replenish what I just sweated out.
It’s my process.
I have to say I am super pleased with myself for going on the walk early. Its earlier in the year than I usually switch to my summer walking schedule, but I can already tell the summer schedule needs to go into effect. Because I didn’t adjust my alarm any, I was a little late getting started but next week, the alarm switches over. Friday is a gym day so I’ll do the switch over the weekend and trick my brain into thinking I am just recovering from Memorial Day and that’s why it feels earlier when the alarm goes off. After a few weeks I’ll adapt, but the trickery helps me get started. I am just not a morning person. If I could go for my walk at two am after being up all night i would as that would suit me better. Unfortunately, walking around alone in the dark isn’t always the safest of plans. So I trick myself a little with the alarm.
usually $15 this is currently on sale for $8. It isn’t a site wide sale, the Lip and cheek tint just happens to be one of the sale items at the moment. You can check out the full sale here.
First off if my hair looks a little different to you then two thumbs up and thanks for noticing. My new dye kit from eSalon came in and I couldn;t resist going ahead and dying my hair last night. I went a little darker because the sun always kind of brightens it a little bit throughout the summer. I have to say though, I kind of like the darker color. I’ll just have to see how it fares as time goes by. But at the moment I am liking it.
I am also trying out different hair styles to lift my hair up and get it out of the way. It is long, thick and very hot in the summer. Last year I pretty much ties it up in a hair clip all summer long. This year, i am trying for a bit of variation. This was two pigtails on top of my head. then I braided the pigtails and sort of wrapped them around each other, pinning them with bobby pins. I’m happy with it and will probably try it again, but I am still going to play around. Since I haven’t had my hair cut in a while, there is a lot to play with.
But on to the makeup. The Pacifica Foundation is one of my favorite drugstore foundations. It works well with my skin and looks pretty good. On me it does need a pore filling primer underneath or it will settle into fine lines by the end of the day. With a pore filling primer like the Benefit Porefessional, i can sort of spackle the fine lines and it makes everything better. I think this shade might be a tiny bit too light for me in the summer so I may have to look for a darker shade. I like it enough that i wouldn’t really mind having two shades around. And I never mind using the Benefit Primer.
The Too Faced Bronzer is now coming into season as well. It is often a little too dark for winter wear but now is it’s time to shine as it is just right for me at this time of year. I will be able to use it from now until October so you may see it (and the Cocoa Palette from Too Faced) more in the next few months.
Two of my favorites were also taken out today and that is the bareMinerals Blush and the Illamasqua highlight. I know I have gushed about the blush many times, but I don’t talk a lot about the highlighter. What I really like about this highlighter is that its golden color can be applied heavier if you want bright shine or blended in for a more subtle glow. I’ll be honest, i will never feel comfortable with a blinding stip of highlight on my face. I will always have the urge to blend it in. O love that i can blend this and then in as the light catches the high points of my skin it just looks slightly glowy. You can achieve the blinding light with this if you want. It just isn’t my thing.
Today I deliberately chose the Lime Crime Palette to use because it is so neutral. I’ve been working with the Patrick Starr One/Size all week and I kept thinking; It performs well, but it is kind of borning. the Lime Crime is a neutral palette but I never think of it as boring despite having many of the same shades and no real pop of color. Yet I don’t find it boring. The shades can be a bit powdery so prepare for that either by doing your eyes first or employing some sort of powder defense, but they are pigmented and blendable. I really do like this palette. It is neutral, but not boring. Today I went for the shade Abyss on the outer edge with Virgin towards the inner half of my eye and then couldn’t resist a dot og golden 1484 in the inner corner. It is a very easy palette to work with. If Lime Crime didn’t have such bulky packaging, I would have the entire collection of their palettes. As it is i am trying to find a place where I could put more of the palettes should I decided to stock up.
I finished the eyes with Big Poppa from wet ‘n wild. It is a really good, affordable mascara with a large wand. Not so great for lower lashes, but great with the upper. I’ll have to check out my notes but I picked it up about a week after it’s release so I’ve had it a couple of months now. While it still works well, I can feel a little bit of a difference now as opposed to when I opened it. I think it will last the length of time that I normally keep mascaras but I am pretty sure that when I reach the six month mark (which is the longest I will keep a mascara) it will definately be time to throw this away.
Finally with the lips I went with the Milk Makeup glow oil in Astro. I like the touch of color and slight sheen it gave to my lips. I have two shades of this Glow Oil and i really need to start putting them in with my lip products. They are great for the lips and my lips always feel amazingly hydrated after using them. However I can’t stand them as cheek products. I put them on and go to blend and they blend into nothing. I have the travel sizes of these, which are actually the perfect size for the lips. I would buy these travel sizes repeatedly for the lips, but I don’t think I would purchase the regular size. The regular size would be good for the cheeks but as I only used them on my lips, travel size works best for me. And they are less expensive as well which means I get what i want and actually save money. kind of a win-win. As with all Milk products, remember to keep that inner plastic lid on them so they don’t dry out. It is a small thing, but it really helps.
And that is how my Thursday is going. I feel pretty smug about managing to get my walk in before the heat and humidity rose to sweat me out and I think my hair and makeup turned out pretty well. But now it is back to work fo me. While I am looking forward to the three day weekend, it does mean that if i want to take advantage of it there are a few things I need to clear out of the way before I take off for a three day relaxation.
If your relaxation involves shopping, I’ve posted a few sales below that you might want to look into.
Ogee: NOURISHING TRIO – The set consists of Luminous Botanical Face Mist, Jojoba Glow Face Oil, and Sculpted Lip Oil (Clear). Treat skin to our hero hydrator: cold-pressed Golden Jojoba Oil to triple the moisture for both face and lips. You Save 29% when purchasing a set!
One of my favorites, Klorane has a sale starting tomorrow morning. With any purchase of $55+ you can receive 5 free samples and a bonus bag – simply use the code: PICK ME at checkout. The offer will start on Friday, May 28th and end Monday, May 31st (additional exceptions included below). It’s the perfect time to get your skin and hair ready for summer adventures with your Klorane favorites.
This week I hauled out all of the foundations that I’ve been testing and sorted through them. In doing so I found several that I forgot I had and really enjoyed using. I also realized how many products are in that drawer. So for the next little while I am going to be using foundations that I have previously tried out and keep using them to see if my opinions change as well as to see which ones that I find I keep reaching for. I find it is one thing to rank foundations in order after giving them each a trial, but seeing which ones I end up reaching for the most is wheat really ends up letting me know which products I really need to keep purchasing. Because quite frankly no one needs to keep twenty foundations stocked (And even saying at least three of them are sample sized and several are almost empty doesn’t make me feel a lot better about the stockpile.)
This week the foundation I pulled out of the drawer to use was the Pacifica Alight Clean Foundation. It feels good on the skin and even though it had a satin finish instead of a true matte, it isn’t upper shiny. It is slightly too light a shade on me right now so I I brought out another favorite that I hadn’t used in a while and it is the Park Ave Princess Contour palette by tarte.
I can’t lie I love this palette and this is really it’s time of year to shine. I don’t really do a lot of contour, but the darker shades in this palette work really well as bronzers for my skin tone and I can change them up depending on both the foundation I am using and my fading summer tan. And yes, I find it strange that we are in November and my tan is only now starting to fade. I spent a lot of time outside this summer and the summer seemed to last a lot longer than usual. In addition to using the bronzers I was able to use the lighter shades as pressed powders this week. It lets me use the entire palette more or less so there isn’t just one product used. Given the change of seasons thing still happening with my skin (and the fact that I find this palette beautiful to work with and look at) I am going to keep it out another week.
Even though I used the Tarte light contour as my pressed powder I had the Becca Pink Haze loose setting powder as my setting powder this week. As always I really enjoyed using it, even if it does leave a fine pink dust over my sink by the end of the week. I like the tint of pink it brings to the skin.
Making its final lap in the makeup bag this week was the Yensa Tone Up primer. It is one primer that I really like and have ordered a number of times in the past. This tube, like the ones that came before is now empty. Next week in the slot where I usually review foundations I will be doing a primer round up instead. The empty tube will stick around long enough to be photographed and then it will make its way to the empty bin. As I have nearly as many primers at the moment as I have foundations, I will not be repurchasing it for a while. It will however remain on my favorites list and eventually make a come back.
My concealer this week is an oldie but a goodie. It is the Revolution Fast Base Concealer. It is one of those twist up concealers with a foam top. I really like it and as it somehow became hidden under the foundations, I forgot I had it. It is getting a bit old though and it is almost empty. I believe I might hold onto it one more week in my makeup bag and use the last of it up. While I like the formula, I really don’t like the foam top. (I make an exception for the Maybelline Age Erase because it is one of my favorite formulas, but I still don’t like the foam top) Because of this I might not be repurchasing this exact concealer again. I will be looking to see if Revolution has this formula in a package with a wand applicator though. I just think the foam gets a bit grungy. I know it probably isn’t any worse than the padded applicator tip, but you pick your devils and I am going to have to go with wand preference over sponge tip. But I like the Revolution formula. And if I am being honest, if they don’t have this formula in a package with a wand, I probably will pick it up again. It is a good concealer and costs about $3. So it is kind of a win, even with the sponge top.
Keeping with the theme of things I forgot I owned, this week I also added the Revolution Highlight Palette to my makeup bag. It has a yellow silver, goldy peach and a purple tinted highlighter. As you might be able to tell from the photo, the yellowish highlighter is barely touched while the gold and purple are showing signs of wear. I really enjoy the formula of these and I like having the choice between shades, even if I only use two of the three shades. I like that I can blend it a little for a bold highlight or blend it in for a soft glow. It is an excellent highlighter palette and I am sorry I forgot about for so long. Incidentally if you are looking for a highlighter palette Revolution currently has this exact one on sale. If you click on the link it will take you there, Normally the palette is $15, currently it is on sale for $5.60) I am going to have to make an effort to remember this moving forward. This week I went hard on the purple highlighter more than the others because it blended better with the eyeshadow palette.
This week’s eyeshadow palette was The Queen Palette from Eloise. It has a very purple-y pink tone to it all in all. I suppose the purple is part of the regal theme after all. It was an interesting palette to work with. The shades were not my favorite. They were nicely pigmented and there was very little fall out. The mattes worked well as stand alone colors and matched the shimmers well, but got muddy when more than one matte was used. I, however, adore the shimmers in this palette and will keep it just for them. Luckily, there are more shimmers than anything else so I don’t feel like it is a waste.
However because of the bold colors, I only used two lip products this week. I used the Dose of colors liquid lip in stone. It is one of my favorite neutrals (I even have an unopened back up in my drawer) It is also quite old and reaching the end of its life so I have been keeping it in my makeup bag in an effort to use it up. Even though I have several other neutral shades I really like, I want to finish this out. The formula dries down really well, but it can feel a little dry on the lips. At my desk I keep a lip balm that I apply throughout the day, mostly as a snack deterrent, but I tended to put it over my Dose of Colors and then had no issues with dry lips (or snacking).
Does in Stone on top and Perricone, MD below
The second lip product I have in my bag this week is the Perricone MD No makeup Lipstick. It is a light reddish sheer on my lips that was just enough color to go with the eyeshadow palette but not compete with it. Also it is one of my lip products that expires in December so I am trying to use as much of it up as possible before then. It currently lives in the bathroom and gets applied whenever I am feeling the need for a touch up. That is the issue with Perricone Md. There is no stockpiling this makeup when you come across a sale. When it expires, it expires. The dates on the packaging are no joke. So I am going to see how much I can use before this reaches the end of its life.
This week I used one of my favorite blushes the Benefit Gold Rush Blush. I know it isn’t one I forget about but once I started pulling forgotten favorites, it seemed like a natural to add. I’ve actually used this blush enough that there is starting to be a little dip in the center, which for blush is a big deal for me. I do not tend to go all that heavy on the blush so any blush that shows wear, is well used and loved. This is both. I will trade it out for a different one next week though so don’t worry.
I couldn’t resist keeping both my Hourglass eyebrow pencil and my Beauty for Real Mascara in the makeup bag this week. I really enjoy both and I felt that the mascara was dramatic enough to suit the eyeshadow palette. It was, but I will pick up two different products next week.
Making a return trip into my makeup bag this week was the eyeko Fat Liquid eyeliner. It is still one of my favorite liquid eyeliner formulas. I tend to forget about it though because while it is fat, it is not terribly tall. So it slides down out of sight in the jar of much taller eyeliners. Thus it sort of fit my unofficial theme this week of forgotten and fabulous.
Speaking of fabulous, I used my HA Spray from Timeless Skincare again this week. However, even though it is not empty, I am going to be setting it aside and begin rotating some of my other setting sprays into the makeup bag again. (I know, Gasps of surprise all around) I still love this formula and I really love the idea that I am getting a skin care benefit from the setting spray, but I have other products that I need to use. So I will begin the rotation with the setting sprays once again.
And that my darlings was this week’s makeup bag. There were several items that I loved and forgot about but was happy to see return to be used again. I have a few products I am going to keep around while I try to use them up and next week will see a return of the tarte contour palette as well as a few new products to try out. Over all I had fun with this week’s selection. I just have to remember to widen my rotation through the depths of my dressing table so things are less likely to be forgotten.
The Make Up Bag used the week of October 17th – 23rd
We had some highs and lows this week let me tell you. The Kosas Tinted Face oil was a high. It was a beautiful foundation that I am happy to have around. I really enjoyed using it and will definately be repurchasing it.
The low of course was the very frustrating Illuminati X ISA shadow palette. Oh, it gave me such angst. The best over all description I can give is patchy. No, actually that has to be capitalized because it was so bad it needs to be yelled. It was PATCHY.
Sorry for raising my voice, but I wanted to make sure those of you in the back row heard me. For details you can click on the link to read the full break out review. As this palette caused me to waste a lot of time this week, I am not going to talk about it any more.
The primer I used this week was the Yensa Tone Up Primer Essential Glow. I love this primer. I think this is either the second or third tube of this I have purchased and at the moment I think I have about a week or two’s worth of product left in the current tube. I might keep it around a second week and see if I can use it up.
It is sort of bittersweet to use this one up. Because I have quite a few open primers at the moment (I adore primers, as most of you well know.) I am trying not to just automatically repurchase products when I empty them. So even though this has been a staple for a while, and I will put it on my list of products to buy again, I am going to have to wait a bit before it makes an appearance in my dressing table again.
This week I added the Maybelline Instant Age rewind to my make up bag, but didn’t actually use it as concealler. I slept tolerably well this week and my allergies are gone because the ragweed has finally withered away so I didn’t feel that I needed it. Plus, the Kosas foundation was excellent. But it is a good concealer. This week it was also used as an eyeshadow primer. Admittedly so was every other primer and concealer I had in my collection as I tried to get the eyeshadow palette to work. But I do like the Age rewind concealer and will no doubt be using it again.
My bronzer this week was the Too Faced Chocolate Soliel. I like the bronzer and the packaging is fantastic. What can I say, I am a sucker for a good compact.
Speaking of which I also used the Zeesea pressed powder this week. It is a decent powder, works well and does what it is supposed to. It isn’t a spectacular product, but the packaging is really nice. I love their British Museum Collection and will probably end up picking up more from them at some point.
They also just released an Alice in Wonderland Themed set. It looks absolutely stunning. Zeesea is one of those brands where the product is good, but not excellent but the packaging is collectable. It is also interesting as to what they have up on their website ant any given time. sometimes you can find what you want and other times entire collections disappear only to reappear a few months later. right now they are all about Halloween so very few of their collections are available. Which is kind of a bummer as they have a sale going on. To be honest, once this powder runs out, I’m going to pry out the empty pan, find another product that fits and just keep reusing the compact.
This week I had two Natasha Denona products in my makeup bag. I intended to have only one. The one I planned to use was the Bloom Blush and Glow Palette. I love the darker cream blush. I thought I could use the cream blushes and the Glow section as a highlighter. While I loved using the blushes and in fact forgot how much I actually liked using cream blush in general (Note to self: I really need to pick up more cream blush) I was not terribly enthused by the glow section of the palette. I think part of that may be my skin tone. When I applied it, the product just sort of blended into nothing on my skin. I think if I was lighter or darker it might work better. As it is, the glow did not get me.
However, I have a Glow powder from Natasha Denona. I never reach for it because I don’t really do much in the way of body shimmer. Admittedly, that could make my work out gear more spectacular. So I tend to forget that it is in my make up drawer. This week I pulled it out and used it as my highlighter. It is a nice subtle glow that really worked well for me this week. I absolutely loved it. And I need to remember to reach for it more often.
Wet ‘n Wild remained in my makeup bag this week with the Brow Kit and the eyeliner. The liquid liner is almost completely out now and I am keeping it in this coming week to finish it out.
I will be grabbing a second eyeliner in addition to the wet ‘n wild though as I think there are only a couple of days worth of product left in the tube.
I added a brown eyeliner to the bag this week. It was from Pretty Vulgar and has a gel like consistency. It is one of those liners that lasts all day without smudging or fading and won’t budge unless you use a makeup remover. It was excellent. (FYI Pretty Vulgar is still having a sale featuring one of my favorite mascaras, the Feathers, if you are looking to stock up. It runs through the end of the month).
My loose setting powder was the Pacifica Cherry Velvet loose translucent powder. I went through an entire one of these and picked up a replacement. I decided this week was the week I wanted to break out the replacement. I enjoyed using it just as much as I did the first container. I have the feeling it will be used and then repurchased again and again.
Also something that will be used and repurchased, the setting spray, Timeless Skincare HA Spray to be exact. Still using and still love. What more needs to be said?
The mascara was new this week. I cleared out a lot of my older opened mascara so I was able to open one of the never been tried before ones. This is the Lengthening Organic Mascara from Harvest that came in a Petit Vour box.
I’ll be honest, it isn’t my favorite mascara. It has an odd smell to it that I can’t identify. I know it is some sort of oil and that it is supposed to smell like that, the product hasn’t gone bad. I just don’t like it. And to be fair it does a good job of lengthening the lashes. But it tends to flake and by mid afternoon it looked as though I hadn’t applied any mascara at all. I was not a fan. I’m glad it is only a travel size because I don’t think I will be keeping it around.
Finally we reach the lips. I kept the TreStique jar out this week but to be honest, after fighting with the shadow I ended up just reaching for the Elf Sheer Slick in Black Cherry. It was quick, easy and I didn’t have to think too much about it. The Trestique lips and the lip liners I pulled languished this week. Next week perhaps, there will be more concentration on the lips. This week, the eyes were just the problem child needing attention.
So that was my makeup bag this week. The good the bad, the always keep around and the never again. It was quite the mix this week.
And as this is a Makeup bag post, I think it only fair to post about a make up bag sale. Kusshi has a sale going on right now. Friday through Sunday, they are giving away a FREE brush organizer ($39) with every purchase of a Signature or Vacationer bag. With the holidays around the corner, this is the perfect gift for all your friends and family! The Sale starts Friday at 7am EST and ends Sunday at 11:59 PST. Add brush organizer to cart for discount to applied. Their brush organizers are really nice as are their bags, I purchased on of the brush organizers for my Mom last christmas and she is absolutely in love with it. Clicking on the banner below will take you to their site if you are interested in more details. Happy shopping.
Happy Memorial Day! As with a lot of folks I’ve been sorting, cleaning, experimenting, and using the extra time at home to go through things. Once I started clearing things out, I realized I had a lot of open and partially used travel sized items that I needed to use and clear out so I have been making a concentrated effort to use them up. It is amazing how much space those little items can take up.
Plus I am fairly certain I am not going to be traveling any time soon so I might as well use the products now and then just get new travel items when I do travel. In case you are wondering, that’s also why there are so many travel sized items in this post. I also tend to get sample and travel sized items specifically to try out a formula before committing to a full size. I find it helps with my budget. But enough of an intro, to the products.
We’ll start with two empties from Sol de Janeiro. One is the Brazilian Bum Bum Cream and the other is the Coco Cabana cream. Both are excellent body lotions and in fact the Brazilian Bum Bum cream I have been using to help with the stretch marks that have been appearing as I’ve started losing weight.
I actually have a large container of the Bum Bum cream that I am still using, I just wanted to clear out the two smaller ones. I will definitely be reordering the Bum Bum cream, but I don’t think I will order the Coco Cabana cream. It is a nice cream and I have no problem with the scent, but for some reason I find the formula just a little sticky. After applying it I have to wash my hands. I don’t have to do that with the regular Bum Bum cream. So I will continue to purchase the Bum Bum, but not the Coco Cabana.
Next up we have two empty containers of dry shampoo. Both actually full size. The first is the TRESemme between washes volumizing dry shampoo. While it does have a little bit of a white cast when first sprayed, a quick brush and it is is gone. I also find that the dry shampoos that have just a little white cast to them tend to work better on greasy hair. As long as the white brushes out easily, I am fine with it.
The scent reminds me of a good salon. I’m not entirely certain what that scent is, but that is my best description. Personally, I like the scent. As the name suggests it is a good between washes shampoo. For heavy sweat days I’d still go back to the IGK, but for the day between, this is a really good dry shampoo I would purchase again.
I cannot say the same about the Pearlessence Cherry Blossom Dry Shampoo. It has a slightly sweet scent that could be termed cherry if you were being generous. Smell aside, I was not thrilled by the way this dry shampoo performed. There was a white cast that was a pain to brush out, and it didn’t absorb a lot of the grease.
My hair didn’t look cleaner, like it did with the TRESemme. It also made my head itch a couple of hours after I applied. It. I generally found that shortly after using this , I either needed to use the dry shampoo again to absorb more oil or I just needed to take a shower. This was not a day between dry shampoo, it was a ‘I can’t shower for an hour’ dry shampoo. I will not be buying it again.
I love the argon oil in the eva-nyc. My hair always reacts well to argan oil. And the conditioner smells vaguely like candy. It was not too heavy in my hair and gave it great manageability.
The Bumble and Bumble was an excellent product on days where I was just going to let my air air dry. I could put a little in, let the hair dry naturally and then just run a brush through it, easy peasy. There were no tangles and it didn’t weigh down the hair. I think I am actually going to be repurchasing a full size soon as I really don’t like blow drying my hair in the summer time. I think this could really help me out this year. And yes I know it says for fine hair and I have thick hair, but I tried the one they offer for not fine hair a while back and found it too heavy feeling. This despite the fine hair claim was perfect for me.
Another item I will definitely be ordering again is the Hydro Biotic Recovery sleeping mask from Dr. Brandt. During the winter this year this was my go to night cream whenever I felt like I had any dryness. It wasn’t too heavy, didn’t clog my pores and made my skin feel hydrated and refreshed come morning. I think when the weather turns in the autumn I will purchase another tube to use throughout next winter.
In my empties bin I have three powders, one pressed and two loose. The pressed powder is the ELF Perfect finish HD powder. I will definitely be reordering it in the near future.
It is one of those powders I always keep on hand. What I tend to do is use the ELF translucent powder all winter and then the Rimmel Stay Matte in the summer, just because my skin tone changes with the season and the ELF is a little lighter. I almost always order this as soon as I start to see pan on it, but this year I want to give other products a chance. It is actually killing me to have this empty and know I haven’t reordered it yet. So suffice it to say it is my favorite.
The first of the empty loose powders I have are the translucent Cherry Blossom Matte powder from Pacifica. This I will definitely re order in the future. It worked well on my skin and I personally love the scent of it. It kept my makeup in place and didn’t look powdery on the skin.
The second loose powder is the Becca Hydra Mist Set and Refresh powder. When I first got it I adored it. It worked well on my skin and it had that nifty, feels wet sensation that got everyone so excited. I’ve also had really good luck with Becca powders in the past. I generally keep the pink toned setting powder around because I really like it to add a touch of color to the face when winter has made me pale.
However, the wet feeling didn’t last. Soon it just felt like regular powder. Which is fine. I love using powder and the powder still performed well. I am just a little leery of whatever chemical change happened. The cooling sensation dissipated rapidly so I was always suspicious that the powder went bad. Because of this I think I will stick to other Becca Powders in the future.
Next up is the Wet ‘n Wild photofocus 3-in-1 Primer water in Rose. It is a good affordable setting spray. The Rose scent was a bit much for me, but the spray was nice and it held my makeup in place when I used it. I will probably repurchase this, but I think I would pick a different scent. I would probably go with something like cucumber. The rose was just a bit much. The spray is worth purchasing though.
I have two eyeliners in this bin of empties. They are both black and they both have a felt tip applicator. One is the Eyeko London Skinny eyeliner in black and the other is the Illamasqua liquid eyeliner. I enjoyed both of them and would purchase them both again. Once in place they didn’t budge or smudge and they were smooth in application and easy to use.
Marc Jacobs
Finally we get to the mascaras. I have four travel/sample sized ones that are leaving me. The first is one I am sad to see go. It is the Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara. I love the formula, I love the wand and I love the way it makes my eyelashes look. What more is there to say? It is a fabulous mascara. I had three of the travel sizes and this is this is the last one. I will be getting a full sized version of this one.
Oddly enough, despite the similarities in the applicator wand, I will not be purchasing the Stila Huge Extreme lash mascara. It didn’t work as well as Marc Jacobs and tended to clump. The wand may have been similar, but the formula wasn’t.
Marcelle
I was pleasantly surprised by the Marcelle Curling and Lengthening mascara. It both curled and lengthened. The formula stayed in place without flaking off. It was a very good mascara. I liked the curve of the wand as it enabled me to more effectively reach my lower lashes as well. It is one I would definitely pick up again in a full sized formula.
The Clinique High Impact mascara was also a decent formula. It stayed in place and didn’t flake, but it was nothing extra special. It is a good solid mascara, I just didn’t find it to be a WOW sort of mascara.
Clinique
And finally we have the MAC Extreme Dimension 3D Black Lash mascara. I have to say this is the last of these little tubes I have in my collection. For a while it seemed like they were everywhere. I’d open a drawer and then BAM, MAC mascara. It felt like as soon as I finished one, another would magically appear in my drawer. If there are such things as mascara fairies then I think this is what they leave.
MAC
At least for me anyway. Not that I mind. It is a really good mascara. I enjoyed using it. Once I finished this little tube I went into the drawer and was rather surprised there were no more left. Apparently I am no longer on the mascara fairy’s delivery route. I think now that I have one through all of my samples, I would consider buying a regular sized tube of this mascara. It has a nice wand, although it seems a little longer than many others, but I like the way it applies. The thinness of the wand also allows for application on the lower lashes without making too much of a mess.
So there you have it. We have made it through my empties bin and I have managed to clear out a bunch of partially used products. It makes me feel all virtuous inside. I also now have a list of several products I would like to repurchase and several that I know I don’t need to bring home again. Given the plethora of summer sales, it is a very good time to stock up on products I like. I just have to remember, I’m not allowed to use a new ELF powder until I have at least tried something else.
I know this was a much longer post than usual, so for those of you who made it to the end, congrats and thanks for sticking with me. Now that I am doing my weekly makeup bag post, it should help keep the length of the empty posts down in the future (should you want me to continue them). Happy Memorial Day everyone. I hope you are having a great one .
Should anyone be interested in doing a little shopping over the Memorial day weekend, there are heaps of sales going on. One that I will be taking advantage of is the sale on the Look Fantastic site. I know normally you think of their subscription box, but they do sell products and they are having some pretty good sales. It might be worth a look to scoop up some of your favorite brands while saving a little. (personally I am all over the Molton Brown Shower Gel – The Rhubarb line is really hard to find where I live.) Anyway, it is linked below for those interested.
I am a sucker for a good night cream and I adore sleep masks. I love being able to apply a layer of skin care to my face at night, go to sleep and wake up feeling as though my skin was pampered while I slept. Like an invasion of magical skin care elves hit my place in the night. I also like to slather my feet with cream before bed in the hopes that my callouses will magically disappear in the night, but that is a different story.
For the past month I have been using the Pacifica Wake up Beautiful Sleep Hydration Sleepover Mask. It was gifted to me by Pacifica, a fact I appreciate. For those who don’t know, Pacifica is both Vegan and cruelty free. On the product page for the Sleepover Mask…
Good morning, sunshine! Supercharge your bedtime and wake up beautiful every day. Essential lipids, antioxidants and natural extracts help revive and hydrate. A no-rinse, non-greasy, non-sticky mask with aromatherapeutic benefits for relaxation.100% Vegan and Cruelty-Free, Formulated without: animal testing, animal ingredients, parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, sulfates, synthetic fragrance and petroleum, Smells like geranium and rose absolute, it’s a creamy mask to help replenish and quench thirsty, stressed, or sun damaged skin.
All in all not a terribly long list of promises, which I like. I distrust when product promise the moon, unless there is a whole list of documented science behind it that they are willing to share. Although I’m betting such science would be proprietary and never shared with anyone. I am a big fan of reasonable claims. I also appreciate the lack of petroleum and extra fragrances. I don’t mind scent in my skin care, I just prefer it come naturally rather than have it be something that was added just to have it added. If it is in my skin care I want there to be a point to it being there.
Now even though the full size is 2 fl. Ounces or 59 ml, I received the travel size which comes in at 1 fl. Ounce or 29 ml. The full size retails for $14.99 at Target should you be interested, although I believe Pacifica is currently having a sale so their official website might give you a better deal. You can also use my code MIMSY15 if you are so inclined (I don’t get anything if you use the code, it is just a discount for you, although I think their current deal is 15% off everything on their site anyway, so either way you win. Not sure if you can add those two discounts together but it wouldn’t hurt to try.)
Also as I started gathering a lot of travel sized products because I had a series of trips planned for this spring and summer, I will be working my way through a bunch of them so that I can clear out some space. For most of them, especially skin care, I would rather use them now and then repurchase when travel is back on the schedule. Plus despite their small size, travel products take up a lot of space when sitting in the drawer. At the moment though my bathroom looks as though it was attacked with a shrink ray. But I digress.
I didn’t use the mask every night. I used it Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights for the month I used it. This wasn’t an attempt to make it last longer, I simply don’t use a night cream every night. While I love night creams and sleep masks, I find if I use them every night, then it is just a little too much for my skin, so I go the MWF route with them unless something shakes up my routine.
Using this system, not only did the cream last a full month, but I have just enough left for one more week. I know usually with skin care products I weigh them at the start and then at the end of the two week trial. I didn’t weigh this one as I thought as a travel size I would use it for two weeks and then it would be done. It surprised me and lasted longer than I expected. As it is half the size of the full sized product I would say the full 2 ounce size would last about two and a half months (10 weeks), at least by my usage.
Needless to say, not a lot of this product is needed to cover the face and neck. Just a small pea sized amount will do. It is thick and very saturating. While the product claims to have a geranium and rose absolute scent, it is a very mild scent. I can smell it if I put my nose up to the opening in the squeeze tube but once dispensed, the scent dissipates really quickly. Even then the scent is just lightly floral in the tube. If you are extremely sensitive to scents it might bother you, but otherwise the scent is really not much of an issue.
not much product is needed
The cream is a plain white cream that applies easily to the skin. If you apply it and then wait about five minutes before laying down, there isn’t a problem with the cream transferring you your pillow. It just needs a couple of minutes to sink in. I found my skin felt like it still had something on it, but it didn’t transfer to my pillow if I waited those five minutes. As I like to read before bed, I just applied it before I settled in with my book and I was fine.
The sleepover mask did provide a nice hydration, and it didn’t break me out or cause clogged pores, which is always a plus in my book. I have to say where it shines the most was on the nights after I received a little too much sun that day.
In early spring I always end up getting some form of sunburn. Not only is my skin winter pale and susceptible to burn, but the temperatures are still cool enough that I forget the sun is still strong. Applying the cream on those nights soothed the itchy, too much sun feeling I get from sunburn and calmed the skin. I also didn’t peel as I usually do. I’m guessing that is from the extra hydration added by the cream. It was only a mild burn, I wouldn’t use it on a major one, but It worked really well on too much sun skin (especially across the nose) as it claims in its product description.
I really liked using this as a night cream/ sleep mask and I will use up the last of it this week. I think I will also pick up another tube of this to have on hand as we move from spring and into summer. I don’t burn a lot and I use an SPF when I am outside, but my time working in the garden is starting to increase and I will admit I have a tendency to forget my skin and stay out working in the yard until whatever task I’ve set myself is done. Having something I can trust to give my skin a bit of a helping hand after I’ve spent too long outside is, in my opinion, a very good idea. So two thumbs up for the Wake Up Beautiful Sleep Hydration Sleepover Mask from Pacifica and a definite placement on my to be repurchased list.
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 