Oh the best laid plans…when last we spoke I was enjoying the Annmarie Skincare Charcoal and Cacao Facemask and chopping vegetables in preparation for a delectable Friday night happy hour. But alas it was not to be. I chopped the onions and was reaching for the mushrooms when it was time to remove the mask.
I took my mask off, delighted in the fabulous skin left behind. I wrote up my thoughts for you and returned to the kitchen. My plan was to finish my chopping, caramalize the onions and then add the mushrooms. Once they were all cooked up I was going to add in the coat cheese, let the filling cool and wrap it in puff pastry, cooking until the pastry triangles were crisp.
Unfortunately as I went back for the mushrooms, my phone rang. A little over a year ago my babydoll replaced his car. There was something that needed fixing on it at the time so he didn’t trade it in. He planned to get the issue fixed and then sell it to a friend of his. He got the issue fixed but then his friend kept putting him off. And eventually the deal fell through. Mostly because last year changed a lot of things.
My babydoll decided to hold onto the old car for a little while to figure out what to do with it. Periodically he takes it out to make sure everything is still running appropriately. Friday he realized he hadn’t taken it out in a while and he decided to drive it to work. It was fine going in but apparently the battery died sometime during the day so I had to run out and pick him up. He had a pretty rough day all around and asked if we could just pick up dinner along the way. Which we did.
The chopped onions were used with hash browns on Saturday and This Friday I will try again with the puff pastry triangles. Luckily the rest of the weekend was quiet. More for my babydoll’s sake than mine. Last week was a bit rushed because it was a short week, but his week was calamity after calamity with the cherry on top being the dead battery so he really needed to just collapse for a bit and recharge. I’m hoping he has a much better week this week. As for me I got to catch up on the show Billions. Paramount + has Seasons 1 – 3 streaming until October 4th. I’m trying to get through all three seasons before then, so there will be repeat binge sessions. Besides I needed a bit of a break from horror and murder which seems to be taking up the bulk of my television time lately. I’d worry but as everywhere near me has already started putting out their Halloween decorations I think it might be something in the air. Regardless, Paramount + is now turning into one of my favorite streaming sites (I think it is $4.99 per month. This link will take you there if you want more details)
Okay lets start with the primer. I know what you are thinking. Didn’t Mimsy just do a primer declutter? I don’t think this was mentioned. Good eye. It was not. Because of the bulky packaging this Glam Glow Primer, my Illamasqua Primer and my Stila Primer were moved to a different drawer. I forgot all about them when doing my declutter, so I will use all three this week and cover them here. Today is of course the Glam Glow. I do like this primer. It smells of licorice and it is super mattifying. I actually chose it today because we have something like 97% humidity. Even sitting indoors at my desk, I am bound to get sticky. So today was it’s day to shine. Or at least to keep me from shining. As much as I like this primer, I think I would have to think a while before repurchasing it. The package is bulky and there isn’t a lot of product in it. There is far more package than product. It is nice to have and I will happily use this until it is all gone, but I think because of the amount o0f product in the package, I would only purchase this when it is on sale. It is a great primer, but there just isn’t a lot of product.
The Revolution Fast Base Foundation stick is a definite repurchase. It is an excellent foundation, that doesn’t cost a lot of money and it is perfect for travel as it can’t spill. It can leave the skin looking a tad on the shiny side, so be prepared with a powder. Today’s powder is my long term fave, No 7. Do I need to say I’d repurchase this? Probably not, but I will. This is a staple of my makeup bag and has been already repurchased so many times I have lost count.
The bronzer however is new to me. I have to say I was super excited when this came in the mail the other day. No I don’t have fairies dropping bronzer off at my house. Although really, how cool would that be. The magic makeup fairies… Anyway, no. I ordered it. It was very satisfying to get though. A while back I realized that the only item I didn’t have in my collection from Ciate was a bronzer. I had every other type of product. So I thought, Oh I’ll get the bronzer and then do a full face of Ciate London products, won’t that be fun? So I went to order it. It was out of stock. Then it came back in stock and I forgot I was going to do a whole face of Ciate and thought, I have enough bronzers. So I didn’t order it.
Then I remembered and went to order, and it was out of stock again. There were a couple of other missteps but I finally got around to ordering it and here it is. Of course now I have finished both mascaras from Ciate that I was using and accidentally broke the highlighter. So no full face at the moment. But I’m sure I will at least get a mascara in soon. The Ciate Mascaras are on my reorder list and I’m sure I will reorder before the bronzer runs out. So this was my first use of the bronzer. It was nice actually. I’m sorry it took me so long to order it. The bamboo bronzer is a nice shade for me and is more buildable than highly pigmented. I really like that actually as it keeps me from having to blend out harsh stripes. The shade I am using is South Beach. I really like this first use of the product and I am looking forward to using it for a while. It is also a lovely looking compact to thats always nice too.
There was another new item in my look today and it was the Steve Laurant Wild Thing eyeshadow palette. It is not exactly a new palette. I received it in a subscription box a while ago but I can’t remember ever using it and when I went through the palettes to declutter I couldn’t remember using it. It also looked untouched. So I decided to give it a go this week. This is my first use of it and I can’t say I am all that impressed. For something called Wild Thing, it is incredibly tame. The small two inch square palette would be perfect for slipping into your bag to touch up work makeup. Because this is really a neural office palette, despite the name. This far it isn’t highly pigmented. I’m going to be playing with it this week and I’ll keep ypu poster.
The other kind of new item is the Zoeva Lip Twist. I used it once before. It is extremely sorft and on my first use the point of the lip crayon sheered off. It does have a sharpener on the end, but I decided not to use it and just use the lip crayon with a flat end. This is working pretty well. I think it I were to sharpen it, the point would fall off again and I would just waste product. It is a neutral enough color that it works. I think if this were a bright color than I would have to use a brush to get clean lines, but the neutral works well as it is. It feels a little waxy o0n the lips so I’m not sure if I would order more colors in this formula. It is a nice neutral but I think this may be my only powerful lip twist from Zoeva. I just have many other products I like a lot more.
The last product I really want to mention today is the setting spray. You’ll notice it is not Farsali. That is because I finally finished the Farsali Setting Spray over the weekend and decided to celebrate by reaching for the Benefit Cosmetics. This setting spray has an ultra fine mist and really helps lock in product. The scent is reminiscent of the Porefessional Primer, which I happen to like. But it is a light scent. It is a much lighter scent than the Farsali and was kind of a relief to use. The Farsali was nice, but that scent was too much. I was happy to be able to switch out products once again.
And that was pretty much my makeup for the day. And now that this pleasant interlude is over, I must get back to work. I hope your Monday flows smoothly and easily.
Last month I completely spaced on doing a review of the empties in my bin so there is a lot to go through this month. Most of these items had full posts listed on my site so if you want more fulsome details I hope you check them out. This is just a rundown of the products I used up, along with a few notes about what I think of them now that they are gone.
The products all laid out
Item number one is the Marc Jacobs Youthquake. I had high hopes for this one. It smelled nice and in general I like Marc Jacobs’ products. This however felt very heavy on the skin and was far too moisturizing for me to take.
I could use it as a night cream but not during the day. To use it up I ended up using it at night (and to be honest, also on my elbows which tend to get really dry in the winter). It was fine at night (and my elbows loved it) but it was too heavy during the day. I will not be repurchasing it. I will be reusing the very pretty jar somewhere though.
The PureHeals Pore Clear Black Charcoal peel off mask is also not going to make it to my repurchase list. While I like the mud masks that PureHeals makes (and will order those repeatedly) this mask was not for me. It never did anything for my skin that I could tell and it hurt to peel it off. If a peel off mask is going to hurt then I want to see some results. After all the Hey Honey Take off The Drama mask hurt like the dickens but my skin was fabulous afterwards. This just hurt and offered no return. I kept trying and it never got better. So it is good by to the empty and I will not be picking it up again.
the A+ high dose retinoid (L) and ICE Moisturizer (R)
Next up there is a trial size of the Sunday Riley A+ High Dose Retnoid Serum. I enjoyed using this very much and will be picking up a full sized bottle sometime in the near future to try out in my retinol trials. It was very nice and gone far too soon.
I will not miss the Marcelle CC Cream. I finished this small tube up last week and happily added it to the empties bin. While it is a wonderful color corrector, over the course of the day it seeped into the fine lines around my eyes and made me look super tired.
Marcelle Golden Glow CC Cream and Tarte Shape Tape Concealer
Plus, it lives up to the name Golden Glow and made my face very glowy, which is not my thing. And so this too will sadly not be repurchased. I was disappointed as every other Marcelle product I’ve tried has been top notch.
Also disappointing was the Dove Nutritive Solutions for Volume and fullness. While I love Dove products in general and usually have no problems with them, this shampoo and conditioner set just didn’t work for me.
While I don’t normally have a problem with tangles, while using this shampoo and conditioner, I ended up having more tangle problems than usual. I also felt like my hair was slightly dull and getting some build up.
The first few washes were fantastic. But then it just went downhill fast. While I love the brand Dove and will continue to buy other products, this shampoo and conditioner set won’t be one I will repurchase.
I have to say, I am slightly on the fence about the feel renewed Pumpkin Walnut facial cleanser. I never actually thought I’d say that. Because this is not my first tube. It is the scent that always gets me, and if I’m honest, it is the reason I purchase it. I adore the scent and it was a good clean, but it was a rather rough exfoliate when it comes down to it. I believe I used it early in November, maybe even late October. The scent was suitable for the time frame and utterly delicious.
I have tried a couple of other exfoliating scrubs that perform better, even if they don’t smell as yummy. The Olay Regenerist scrub in particular smelled nice and clean and was a much gentler product on the skin. I think this may fall into the category of I’d use it if it ended up coming into my possession but I wouldn’t seek it out. It is a good exfoliator for once or twice a week, I just don’t think I would want to keep it stocked. I just need to find something better with the same scent.
I will be stocking the pixi skintreats Clarity Tonic though. It was a fantastic toner and I had wonderfully clear skin while using it. While I like other pixi toners, I have to say this one thus far is at the top of the list. This doesn’t mean I won’t try other Pixi products, but this one is a definite repurchase.
The Balance me and the Derma E products both worked well, enough but the scent of them both was not one I appreciated nor wanted to face every day. I find it kind of a shame as they were good products. However I know myself and the scents just meant that if I repurchased them in a full size I would slowly stop using them because I couldn’t take the scent.
The Derma E was floral and somewhat cloying while the Balance me smelled a bit like floor cleaner. I just know the product would go to waste if I purchased them. The Whish primer, however, was something altogether different.
Derma E toner and Georgette Klinger Collagen and Elastin Mask
The Whish botanical Primer was a failure as a primer. An Absolute Failure. It did nothing a primer really should be expected to do. It was however pretty good skin care. While this primer won’t be returning any time soon, it worked well enough as skin care that I am going to be looking into the other products from this Whish line that are specifically designed for skin care use. I will not use this as a primer. So it will not be returning, but some of its brand compatriots will. I can’t be upset about trying it though as it did bring Whish to my attention.
Sulwhasoo serum, Whsh Botanical Primer and Goldfaden Needleless Serum
The Tatcha Deep Cleanse will hopefully soon make a return in a full size. I really enjoyed this cleanser. It was one of the few exfoliating cleansers that I have tried that I found I could use on a daily basis with no skin damage.
My skin looked and felt wonderful while using it and I really enjoyed the scent of the cleanser as well. It is lightly floral but with enough of a fruit back note to keep it from being cloying. I was somewhat surprised as I didn’t particularly care for Tatcha’s moisturizers when I tried them. However I can see why this cleanser is one of the brand’s best sellers. It is definitely something I want to repurchase.
Elemis Pro-collagen marine Cream and Tatcha Deep Cleanse
There were four sample sized moisturizers in my bin this time around and I have to say all five of them made my list of products that I would want to reorder in a full sized version.
The Sunday Riley Ice moisturizer is not the most appealingly scented cream. It smells vaguely medicinal. However, it is a thick cream that disappears into the skin and hydrates well. I think as a night cream it would work well for me. It is also one of those products where the product worked well enough that I found I could live with the scent. As I am very scent oriented (in case you hadn’t guessed), that is saying something.
The second sample was the Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine cream. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that I enjoyed it as there are very few products from Elemis that I don’t enjoy. This sample came to me through a Look Fantastic Box and I was happy to get the chance to try it before adding a full size to my try out list.
Surprisingly the fourth is the 111Skin Y Theorem Day Cream. With 111 Skin I am sometimes on the fence with them I like a lot of their products but there are few I fall in love with. Especially after seeing the price. They usually strike me as good, but not quite good enough to justify the price. I don’t mind paying more for a product I think is worth the price. Especially where skincare is concerned.
This is one moisturizer I could easily see myself falling in love with. It claims to be a day cream and that is exactly what it is. I really like a product that stakes a claim on one thing and does it well. I liked it enough that when I looked at the price of the full size I actually found myself thinking it sounded like it was priced correctly.
That was how much I enjoyed the sample. I was very sad when the sample ran out and you can bet that anytime I see a sample of this up for grabs I will be snapping it up. This is one of the few things from 111 Skin that I believe actually earns its price tag.
Another product that earns it’s price, although it is substantially lower in price is the Timeless SkinCare Hyaluronic Acid Serum. I believe a full sized bottle is around $9.95, but trust me, this serum is something I would actually pay twice that for, maybe even three times. During my use of it, I actually saw a reduction in the Great Stress Crack of Mimsy, which is what I call the ever deepening line across my forehead.
While using this, it not only didn’t deepen, but it appeared to be getting shallower. I was sad when it ran out. I have two hyaluronic acid serums to test out from other brands and now that I’ve had a few weeks without this serum, I am going to start a trial of the next sot see how it performs. But right now, Timeless SkinCare has set the standard and it is a pretty high mark to reach. Regardless of future trials, this was an excellent serum offered at an excellent price and it is one that I foresee making several repeated trips to my skin care shelf.
A few products that won’t return? The Sulwhasoo first care Activating serum. Its herbal scent I could get used to if it was an amazing product, but it left my skin sticky and not feeling improved. The Goldfaden, MD Needle-less line corrector will not be returning either. It felt like it was stinging, but beyond the stinging it didn’t do much. In general Goldfaden, MD and I have not had the best history. I have a serum to try from the brand, but thus far everything I have used from the brand has left me saying ‘Thanks, but no thanks. ‘
Sadly the Pa’akai cleansing cream also falls into that category. It cleanses well enough, but the scent is just far too perfume-y for me to take on a twice daily basis. Incidentally, I did use the product up, but there was just enough remaining to coat the back of the bottle where it lay in the empties bin so it looks full. It fooled me too but I opened it and looked inside thinking I might not have finished it out. But oh yeah, it is empty and the perfume scented remains remind me why I am not using it.
I found myself trying to avoid washing my face while using it, and that is not a good thing. There are many steps I could probably skip in a skin care routine should I want to pair it down. Washing my face isn’t one of them. So, it is a good cleanser, but sadly the scent just made it not for me.
Also not for me is the Tarte Shape tape Concealer. It works well as a spot concealer, blending beautifully into my skin and hiding red spots and blemishes. But it settled into the fine lines under my eyes and just made me look haggard. Which is not what I want in a concealer. So I used the last of this little sample size up as a spot corrector. And now it is empty and will not be repurchased. Sadly I used to love the Shape Tape Concealer. I think that as I get a little older, my skin’s needs just change. I have changed not the product. If fine lines aren’t a problem for you then you will still love it. (if you like it now). This was an excellent concealer for me once upon a time, but no more.
Benefit They’re Real Mascara, Wander Beauty Mile High Mascara, Maybelline Color Strike Shadow, wet ‘n wild liquid liner and Revolution’s Fast Base Concealer.
I do have a second concealer in my empties bin this go around and it is the Fast Base Concealer from Revolution. I love this concealer, never had any problems with it settling in my fine lines and will be repurchasing it very soon.
The fact that is it a $3 concealer, if I remember correctly, doesn’t hurt the wallet either. I don’t mind paying a lot for products that work, but good products come in all sorts of price ranges, and this one certainly proves it. The Fast Base will be repurchased.
There are two empty mascaras in my empties bin. One is the Mile High Lashes from Wander Beauty and the other is a sample sized tube of They’re Real from Benefit Cosmetics. While each performed well, to be honest, neither are the products I prefer from the brands. With Wander Beauty I would purchase the Unlashed Volume and Curl Mascara before I would purchase the Mile High Club mascara. With Benefit, I would purchase Bad Gal Bang before I would pick up They’re Real. That isn’t to say that they are not both quality products, but I doubt I would purchase either of them specifically. If going onto their brand pages, other products would draw my attention. So I did like them, and wouldn’t mind using them again, I just know that if shopping, they aren’t the ones I would repurchase.
Also not making my repurchase list was the First Aid Beauty Primer. It is a mattifying yet hydrating primer but my skin isn’t dry enough for the product. If I had skin that was a great deal drier, this would be a different conversation. But alas I don’t. So the First Aid Beauty primer I would not repurchase. If you have really dry skin and are looking for a mattifying primer, you might have better luck than I did with this product.
One primer I will consistently repurchase is the Yensa tone up primer. This is either the second or third tube of this that I have gone through and I absolutely adore it. It mattifies and fills pores really well and my skin reacts really well to it. It makes my top ten favorites list. In fact everything I’ve tried form the Super 8 line from Yensa has been really good in general. I’m actually finishing out a BB cream sample size from the brand this week that I know I am going to have to order in a full size once I’ve whittled down my foundation products.
L to R: Hey Honey Gold Mask, Yensa Primer, Hey Honey CC Cream
The Hey Honey Trick and Treat CC cream is also on my reorder list. It fairly melted into the skin and left me with a beautiful no makeup look that worked really well for daily wear. I adored the formula and will be purchasing a full size in the future.
As far as Hey Honey goes I will also be reordering the Show Your Glow Colloidal Gold and Honey Beauty Mask. I really like how soft and lovely it made my skin feel. The fact that I wandered around the house for fifteen minutes looking like I’d been gilded by a wandering art restorer was kind of fun as well. But the mask was fabulous.
I also want to order a full sized version of the Georgette Klinger Collagen and Elastin Mask (pictured above with Derma E). The sample I tried worked really well on my skin and it is one I would not mind keeping a full size of around. It plumped up my skin and diminished my fine lines after one use. The tube had enough for three uses and I was happy to use it for an entire week of masking. I was however very sad when it was empty. So to the repurchase in a full size list the product goes.
As much as I like Native Deodorant, I have to say the sample size of the holiday scent Sugar Cookie was enough for me. The sample size lasted a little over a month and quite frankly as much as I liked it, I was happy to end the trial. I am still using my Native Deodorant, but it is the Cucumber and Mint.
Like the holidays, it was nice while it lasted, but I was happy to resume the standard once it was done. I could not have taken a full size of this. I am still upset I didn’t pick up the fill size of the Candy Cane Scent, but they didn’t have it at Target (apparently it sold out extremely fast) and I didn’t get around to ordering it in time. That one I probably could have used longer than the Sugar Cookie. Mostly because I adore peppermint.
I still don’t know why spearmint (an inferior to peppermint in my opinion) gets to live on throughout the year, but peppermint, fabulous peppermint is banished to the holidays. Because of this I stock pile products and end up using products decorated for Christmas in June. It isn’t right. Do you know how many bars of Dr. Squatch’s Peppermint soap I have squirrelled away in my linen closet? I don’t either and I’m not counting because it would make me feel bad, but I do now have an absolutely deliciously scented linen closet. But that isn’t the point so I will end my pro-peppermint rant and get back to the empties.
I know this is a behemoth of a post, but there are only two more items and then, my darlings, we are through. The Color Strike Shadow from Maybelline was really hard to work with and had the added effect of not staying long on the lid once I got it to work. While I generally like Maybelline Products, this was not my favorite. I am getting rid of it because trying to make it work nearly drove me bonkers. I’m sure there is product remaining in the tube, but it was so hard to ge out onto the little brush that I couldn’t prove it. It will not be repurchased. I’ll still use Maybelline products, just not this particular product.
And to end on a good note. The wet ‘n wild liquid megaliner eyeliner. It reminded me of how much I really liked liquid eyeliners. It performed magnificently and I was so sad when the product reached the end of its productive life. It went on smoothly and after letting it dry a moment, it stayed put all day without fading. (If you don’t give it a moment to dry it will transfer when you blink because it is a wet liquid. So just give it a second and you are good).
I will repurchase this product and I will continue repurchasing this product. I will also be picking up more liquid eyeliners from different brands in the future. As a side note, the wet ‘n wild liquid eyeliner was the very first eyeliner I learned to apply way back in Junior High. I loved it then and I find it amusing all these years later to find that it is still a great product. So many of the products i used to absolutely adore when I I was first introduced to makeup have either sadly gone away or are kind of amusing to look back on. I find it fun to find one product that still works as good as I thought it did when I first started with makeup.
And with that my darlings we are finally through with two months’ worth of empties. If nothing else this reminds me that I need to remember to do these once a month or suffer the wrath of an overflowing bin and an extraordinarily long post. I nearly forgot about some of the items towards the bottom.
If you stuck with me, thanks for making it to the very end. If you didn’t’, don’t worry, it was a really long haul and I almost gave up midway through myself. I will see you at the end of January with next month’s empties in a much more manageable sized post. I have put it on my nice new calendar so that I will not forget it. I will also be back this afternoon with a perfume review as well, but I am definitely remembering the empties bin each month instead of letting it carry over.
Welcome to the weekly makeup bag post, where I let you know all about the products I chose t use this week. There were some repeats this week and there were some new products. Over all it was a pretty interesting mix.
My foundation product this week was the Hey Honey Trick and Treat CC cream. I’ve used it before and I thought I had only one more week left in the tube. I’m pretty sure I have a third week left in it so while it was used, it was not yet used up. I really like this formula. It is a my skin but better look that feels like nothing and lasts all day. It is one that I will be repurchasing once it is empty and I’ve cleared out a few more products from my dressing table. I will probably keep it around this week again just so that I can finish it out. I don’t want a mostly empty tube to get lost in the bottom of the drawer. Plus I really liked it, so it isn’t a hardship to have another week with the foundation.
As you may recall from the eyeshadow post yesterday, my eyeshadow this week was a collection of Maybelline singles. The cream color tattoo shadows were fantastic, the Expert wear shadow was basic, didn’t blend terribly well and only lasted about six hours and the Color strike stick was a complete waste. So the eyeshadow actually ran the gamut. The Color Strike I dropped into my empties bin as soon as I finished writing up the eyeshadow post yesterday. It was a relief to pitch it and know it is not lurking with my other singles eyeshadows and giving them bad ideas.
This week I had another Maybelline product in my bag. I picked it up on a whim during my last venture out of the house and I have to say I really enjoyed using it this week. It is the Cheek Heat cream blush. It was really easy to work with. I was able to sheer it out to just a light pink or build it up to a hardier blush. As my Foundation was a barely there foundation this week the sheered out version was absolutely fantastic for me. I like that I can play around and decide what to do with it. That was fun. It is a product I will keep around and reach for often.
This week the Tarte Park Ave Princess Contour palette remained. I used the two lightest shads as pressed powder and then used the darker shades as bronzer. It worked really well for me. I am glad I kept it out a second week running but as much as I like seeing the pretty palette out on my shelf, I will be putting it back in the drawer this week so that I can use something else. Oddly enough, I think this palette is now only available as it is in one of Tarte’s Vault collections. All of the products are still available, they have just been repackaged into several different forms.
My highlighter this week was the K Voss Shine on stick. It was a creamy stick highlighter and came to me via my Petit Vour box. I will admit, at first it scared me a bit. When I applied it, the product looked like an orange stripe. Then I blended and the highlighter turned into a warm golden glow. It was subtle and quite beautiful. It did not remain a bright orange stripe, for which I was grateful. While I started out nervous about it, I ended up loving it and will be returning it to the makeup drawer to be pulled back for another round.
There are a few things that were in this week’s make up bag that will not be returning to the dressing table. The first is the Wander Beauty Mile High Mascara. While it was a nice mascara, it isn’t my favorite from Wander Beauty. Personally, I really like the Wander Beauty Unlashed Mascara. This one was just good but not as good as the Unlashed, at least in my opinion. The Unlashed mascara is really good, but no one seems to mention it while they rave about the Mile High. Perhaps it is just my take on the two.
However, this mascara has been opened for six months and I have used it repeatedly over that time. Clearly I don’t mind using it, I just prefer the other. And now that I have finished this, I can open the currently unopened Unlashed Mascara from Wander Beauty that is in my dressing table. So yeah, go me! There is really very little product left in the tube so clearly I felt good using it and now, I feel good about letting it go.
I am a little sad to be letting the Fast Base concealer from Revolution go. It was a good product and I really enjoyed using it. The fact that it is a $3 concealer and puts several more expensive ones to shame didn’t hurt. But there is no more concealer to be found in the tube. There may be residue on the inside that makes it look like there is more product, but no there is not. I can turn and click all I want but no product issues forth. Alas poor Fast Base, we knew ye well. I’m pretty sure another one will be picked up in the future.
My loose setting powder and my most used lip gloss both came from Elf this week. That is the elf translucent setting powder and the Black Cherry lip slick. Also on my lips this week was the Dose of Colors Stone liquid lip and Sugar Crush in the shade Sprinkle.
This week I set aside my Timeless HA spray and chose a small trial sized setting spray from my dressing table collection. I went with the Fix it up Matte Setting spray from Kokie.
It sprays well. It smells like paint and gave me a headache if I sprayed it without opening the bathroom door, but it did lock my makeup into place all day. So it works well, but it really is like shellac to the face. It keeps the paint in place but there is nothing skin care beneficial about it. Now to be fair, they actually make no skin care claims. They just call it a setting spray and claim that is keeps makeup in place. which it does, really well. I think because I just came off using a setting spray that had skin care benefits and smelled like cucumber water from the spa, it was just a rough transition.
I will keep it in rotation until it is used up, although I can’t say I will happily reach for it, because of my darlings, the fumes, such headaches. But I will use it until it is gone and then never repurchase it again.
I also used the Huda Beauty Lip pencil in Trophy Wife and the Real Her eyebrow pencil. I loved both and would happily keep them in my dressing table and into my make up bag rotation. I am actually starting to be really impressed by Real Her products. I have a face palette (blush Bronzer and highlight) that I have used of theirs that is actually starting to show the metal indents of the pan underneath. which is really rare with me. And the Huda Beauty is just a super creamy formula that makes me want to pick up several lip liners. The Trophy Wife is a good pinkish color. And actually I need to reevaluate all of my lip liners as I am using them more. I recently watched a Lisa Eldridge You tube Video called Makeup tips for Happy lips. So amazing.
I love my bright lipsticks but as the corners of my mouth turn down a little the darker shades make me look a little sad or mad. The video shows a super quick and easy tip for correcting this and I have been playing around with it a bit. I found lip liners really helped me pull off the trick and it also made me realize that most of my lip liners are in similar shades, so I really need to start filling in the gaps and matching some of my favorite shades of lipstick a little better. This weekend, a list will be made. For now we move on. Although i highly recommend checking out her video (linked above).
As my Black cream eyeshadow from Maybelline doubled as my eyeliner this week, I think we have actually reached the end of the makeup bag. There was some good, some bad, some forgotten treasures and some dear friends we must bid farewell until repurchase time. Overall, a pretty good mix. I can’t wait to see what happens next week. Have a good Friday everyone and I’ll see you back here this afternoon for the Friday Facemask.
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.
This week I wanted to test one of the sample sized foundations I picked up in my summer shade. It was the Yensa BC Foundation. It is full coverage and is formulated as a mix of BB cream and CC Cream. I really enjoyed using it this week. While I will be keeping the remainder of the tube in my collection until I use it up, I will eventually end up purchasing a full size. It gave me excellent coverage without being cakey and it didn’t settle into my fine lines throughout the day.
To be honest, I am not as enthused by the primer I used with it. I thought about using the Yensa primer, which I absolutely love as I thought it would pair well with the foundation (which it did actually, there was one day where I tested the two together and they are a winning combo), however I am trying to work through my sample sizes so that they don’t pile up and expire before I can try them and so that I can decide what full sized products I want to add to my dressing table in the future.
So the sample sized primer I pulled was the Too Faced Hangover Rx Replenishing face primer. I can’t decide if I don’t like it or if I just didn’t like it with this foundation. The primer smells like coconut, which is not my favorite, but it isn’t strong enough to be a major issue. It is white and massages into the skin like a moisturizer. It is very hydrating, but to be honest I didn’t notice much of a difference when I wore it under my foundation and when I wore the foundation with no primer. By contrast when I wore the Yensa primer underneath, it enhanced the foundation.
I think I might like it better with a foundation that feels more drying on the skin as I suspect that this is either designed for those with dry skin or who are using a foundation that tends to dry them out. While I have foundations that occasionally crease towards the end of the day I don’t really have any that leave my skin feeling dry. What I might do is try this again in the winter time and see if I like it better when my skin is dryer. I think the issue is that it is just not really designed for my skin type. So at the moment, it will return to the dressing table for a later week long test but as of now I don’t think I will be picking up a full sized version of this primer as much as I tend to love Too Faced Products.
By contrast I brought out the Kristofer Buckle translucent loose setting powder to use again. This is its second time in my makeup bag. I picked this powder up as part of the Vanity Collection Kits that are offered on the Kristofer Buckle site.
I chose it because I wanted to test out the Triplicity Foundation Stick and because I absolutely adore the formula of the Cashmere Slip Lipstick. The shade Bardot is the lipstick I grab before any other one in my collection. Don’t get me wrong there are others I really love, but it is just such an excellently wearable formula. But that isn’t the point. The point is I picked up the kit and the powder was in it. Incidentally, I highly recommend the kits. All of the products are full sized and it is a really affordable way to try out multiple products from the brand. And they are having a BOGO sale on the kits so it is a good time to stock up.
When I tested the products I more or less had a Kristofer Buckle themed Makeup bag that week. I knew I loved the lipsticks and I absolutely fell in love with the Triplicity foundation stick and because of this I think the powder got shorted. I remember thinking ‘it’s a good powder, but wow that foundation.’
Sometimes I get focused on one thing and let others slide. This week I used the powder in my bag. I was not distracted by the other Kristofer Buckle products. I have to say I found it better this time than I did the first. It is very finely milled, sits well on the skin and does not cause a white cast in photos. It also has zero scent. After a couple of months of coconut scented powder (which I liked, it was a good powder) it was really nice to have a powder that has no scent. The little powder puff that comes with the powder is completely useless. I used a powder brush and my Huda Beauty makeup sponge instead, but it is a much better powder than I remembered from my first use and I was happy to use it this week and I will be happy to keep it in rotation.
With powders I like to keep one pressed powder and one loose powder. This week my pressed powder was the No. 7 Perfect Light pressed powder. It is one of my go to powders. I will often wear it simply over primer to control shine and it is the compact I reach for when I need to powder my nose mid day. As I didn’t need to powder my nose this week beyond what I put on in the morning, I did not get to use this all that much. I’m going to be keeping it in the makeup bag this week. Also I think it will work well with the foundation product I plan to use this week. No. 7 is also having a sale at the moment 20% Off When You Spend $79 with code 20OFF. The sale runs through September 13th.
This week I pulled the Revolution Fast Base Concealer to use. Because the foundation did not require any extra assistance, I ended up using it solely as an eyelid primer. It worked well even though the shadows had a tendency to fade throughout the day. It gave me a smooth, even toned base from which to start building my shadow looks.
Speaking of shadows, I used the Ciate London New England Palette this week. The link will take you to the full review. It is a bit mixed. The pigments are more buildable than intense and if you want the shimmers to brighten you have to use a damp brush. With a damp brush the shimmers and metallics are spectacular. The look just has a tendency to fade to nothing after about six hours.
For my bronzer this week I took out my Space Case Fakeation on Mars Bronzer. It Is one of those products that I tend to forget that I have. The case is dark blue and tends to fade into the shadows of the drawer.
The product itself is quite nice. It is a buildable formula rather than an intensely pigmented one so if you are worried about applying too much bronzer and making your face look dirty then this might be an option for you to look into. I really like it because I can decide just how dramatic I want to be. I am also glad I found it now as it is one of those bronzers that really helps when your skin is going through seasonal tonal changes.
It is great for darkening a slightly too light foundation without making your face look like it is overly powdered. (I’m sure there is another term for that, but you know what I mean). I really like this when I am too light to still use my summer shades but not yet pale enough for some of my winter ones. If used when the foundation isn’t quite dry it really blends in nicely to help adjust the shade.
This week’s blush is one that came in a subscription box at some point, but I can’t remember which one. I also forgot I had it. I think what happened was that it came in and was a smaller size so when I put it with the other blushes it was over shadowed. I don’t think I used it before this week.. It was the Mannakadar Buildable Blush in Bali Babe. I would say that it is more bendable than buildable. It is an intense pigment that does blend out well. It does not go on light. That being said, I did like it. Is it my favorite blush? No, and truthfully I probably won’t buy a full sized version. I will however use this until it is gone. It falls into that good but not spectacular range.
Ofra and Bad Gal Bang, two of my favorites from this week’s bag
One product that always falls into the spectacular range is the Ofra Glazed doughnut highlighter. It is simply stunning. It applies bright but blends beautifully to a soft glow. This is a product I will use down to pan and then instantly replace. Normally I go for more gold toned highlighters, but this just blends so beautifully I am willing to lean towards silver.
I had two eyeliners in my Makeup bag this week. One was the Hank and Henry Blickity Black and the other was the Milk Makeup Gel liner. The Milk gel Liner is in a champagne nude type color (I couldn’t find the color on the liner) and it goes on creamy and smooth. I used it in my water line. It is more subtle than a white liner and gives a softer look. I am a big fan of the formula and will be seeking out other colors to add to my collection.
The Hank and Henry, not so much. The liner which is a calligraphy pen style, has the tendency to skip instead of giving a smooth line. It also bled a little into my fine lines, not a lot, just enough that I noticed when I was applying it. While it stayed in place once it was on the lids, it tended to fade a little towards the end of the day, getting a kind of off black color by the time I went to take off my makeup. The final issue was that I had to kind of wait between eyes. I would get one done and notice it was skipping more the monger I used it so I would have to cap it and let it rest before doing the other eye. I was not a fan.
I am still a fan of the Bad Gal Bang mascara from Benefit, which was my mascara this week. I think there is enough product for one , maybe two more weeks in the tube so back into the dressing table it goes, but it is with a pang of loss that I sent it away. I really like this mascara. The other Benefit mascaras are good and I enjoy using them, however this is my favorite.
And yes I realize I am sort of hoarding it a little bit but not just going ahead and using it up, but I have several opened mascaras to finish up as well as several unopened mascaras I want to try so once I finish this trial size I am not allowing myself to buy the fill sized version until I clear out a little more space in my mascara section. So I am holding on to this as long as I can so that when I do finish it I can justify purchasing the full one. Don’t worry, it will still get used up within the six month deadline, I just want to hold on to it a little longer.
For my brows this week I kept the Hourglass brow pencil around for defining the bottom of the arch, but mostly used a tinted eyebrow gel. I have several but I somehow never think to reach for them. This one is the Soap and Glory Archery Volu-boost brow fiber gel. It’s the shade Talk of the Brown, in case you are curious. I really enjoyed using it. It didn’t make my brows crispy or look plastered on (I really hate when bows are so insanely defined and plastered against the skin by gel that they look painted on. I think it makes people look like cartoon characters. I am really happy that it looks like fluffy, natural looking eyebrows are trending. While this did help me tame and define my eyebrows it didn’t give me cartoon brows so I was happy. I really think having the eyebrow pencil to define the bottom helped and I like the Hourglass brow pencil formula.
Finally we come to the lips. This week I had three options in my Makeup bag. The first was a MAC Bullet style lipstick. It is in the shade mocha. I always think of mocha as a brown shade but this read more pinky neutral on the lips this week. It was just as creamy and lovely to wear as I remember Mac lipsticks being and the shade went well with the pinkier tones of the eyeshadow palette without overwhelming them.
The trestique also went well with the brighter shades, blending but not competing with the eyes. I chose one of the lips from the Mini Matte Lip Collection, the Florence Fig to try out this week. Again it is a neutrally pink, although slightly darker than the Mac.
The darker Trestique is the top swatch with the lighter Mac below
I really love the formula of the Trestique lip products. They are creamy and non drying and they last a really long time. They need touching up after lunch, as do most traditional lipstick formulas but over all it lasts quite well. I now have the set of mattes and the sheer glosses in the Trestique Minis and to be honest I am thinking of just putting them all in a jar and leaving them in the bathroom with my skin care so that they are on hand to reach for.
I’ve actually had really good luck with the trestique formulas in general. Their Bronzing stick is one of my favorites. They are another brand where I almost have enough products to do a full face of just the brand. I’ll have to take an inventory and see what I am missing and possibly do a full face make up bag one week.
The third lipstick product that was in my bag this week was the Clarins Velvet Lip Perfector. I have to say I was very much looking forward to testing this out. I’ve used several skin care products from Carins and I really liked the Lip water stain I tried. However I did not use it this week. I tested it out but the eye shadow palette tended to skew more pink tones and this was just a bit too red so it looked off. I will be bringing it back this week and this week it will be used. I am actually selecting my eyeshadow palette around this lip product. Next week will be it’s time to shine.
This week there is one final product in my Makeup bag and it is the setting spray. This setting spray however is a little something special. It is the Timeless Skincare HA Spray with Matrixl 3000 + Cucumber extract. It was gifted to me by Timeless Skincare, along with several other skincare products I am trying.
This is both a setting spray and skin care. I posted a seperate post about this spray yesterday (the link above will take you directly to it). Because it is skin care and I do like to give skincare at least 30 to see if it works (as it generally takes that long to show any changes) this setting spray will be in my bag for at least the next month. Trust me that is no hardship. In addition to the skin care benefits which will bc covered at the end of the month long trial, it is a really good setting spray. In addition it’s cucumber scent makes me feel like i just left a spa. I know it is just the scent but it is really nice and extra refreshing. So I will be using it in my makeup bag as I do my full trial. Then I’ll start rotating other setting sprays in.
And that concludes this week’s make up bag. Next week I will be using the QMS tinted moisturizer. From what I have heard, it is very light coverage so I will probably be going more natural with my look in the coming week. Which is fine with me. It is still very hot here and I have no real plans to leave the house so easy and breezy suits me just fine.
The Make Up Bag Used the Week of August 22nd – 28th, 2020
I know usually the first things I list are the Foundation and the eyeshadow with links to the full reviews, but this week I have to start with my setting spray.
completely empty
I know it seems like an odd place to start but I am pleased to announce that I have finally finished up my I heart Revolution Fixing Spray in the scent Peaches and Cream. It was an older spray that has spent a great deal of time in my dressing table and I made a concentrated effort to use it up.
It is a really good setting spray so using it wasn’t a hardship. It had just been around a while. But now it is finished and I can rotate other, newer products into my makeup bag. I’m sure at some point I’ll pick up another Revolution spray but I am rather happy to change scents for a while. The Peaches and Cream was nice, but I’m ready for a change.
just a wee bit left
Speaking of using up products, I am close to finishing out my Ciate London everyday Vacaay loose setting powder. Only a week or twos worth of product remains so the jar was in my Makeup bag this week and will remain until I finish it out. Then I’ll use a different product. Or rotate through my other powders. I was just so close to finishing this that I just wanted to concentrate on it. And it is a good powder. Incidentally at the moment the look Fantastic Website has Ciate London Products on sale up to 70% off. and they are just kicking off their Labor Day sales. Right now you can get 22% off Sitewide with the code LABORDAY22. That sale runs through September first. They also have a Flash Sale! 40% off Select Peter Thomas Roth (valid through 8/29). I actually just finished testing out two moisturizer samples from Peter Thomas Roth and will be posting a review on Monday. (I’m also going to be trying to order the Hungarian Mineral Water moisturizer this afternoon. I love when my skin care trials and sales meet. It makes me feel the universe is working with me instead of against. But moving on back to the makeup bag…).
My foundation this week was the Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation. I ordered the sample packets to try out the shade ranges. I’m pretty certain that 213 is my shade but I will be trying the other packets periodically to make certain before I order a bottle. As it is a $77 foundation, I want to be certain of my shade before I purchase. The samples came with a coupon for $10 off a purchase of the full sized foundation as well, which I thought was nice. While the link will take you to the full review I have to say that this foundation was absolutely amazing. I was really hoping it wasn’t. I was hoping I could say, yeah it’s nice but not really worth the price. Except that it is actually worth the price.
My eyeshadow palette this week was also worth every penny I spent on it. However in this case that was only $4.99. I used the My Glamour Squad Eye shadow Palette from Wet ‘n Wild this week. It performed fantastically well for me and I am actually thinking of picking up more Wet’n Wild eyeshadow Palettes. In the post about the shadow palette, I stuck with finger swatches because that is what I always do and I wanted to stick with the standard. The finger swatches came out poorly. This formula works better with a brush.
I loved it on my eyes. I felt bad about the swatches so I did a quick swatch with a brush to show a little better how they apply. So that’s why there is a better swatch picture of the mattes in this post.
Actually the Coffee Cat palette they just came out with is right up my alley and will probably be one of my next purchases. As long as the formula of the shadows remains the same, I will be a big fan of Wet ‘n Wild’s shadows.
While I used my Pretty Vulgar concealer under the shadows to give me a nice base to work with, I didn’t need to use the Pretty Vulgar lid primer. So even though the official lid primer was in my bag, I didn’t need to use it with these shadows.
I like both the primer and the concealer, but I think next week I am going to switch out the concealer but keep the lid primer around. I might not need the lid primer, but it is a new eyeshadow palette I will be working with so I like to have it around just in case.
Making a return trip into my Makeup bag this week was the Touch in Sol No Poreblem primer. As always it performed beautifully. I love the way it feels light, yet fills in my pores. It is one of my favorite primers. This week I have two new primers that have been added to my dressing table by subscription boxes. I’m not sure yet which I’ll try out, but next week will feature a brand new primer. The Touch in Sol is not going anywhere but back to my dressing table.
For blush and bronzer this week I turned to Julep. I really like the shade of the pore minimizing blush. I have the shade rosewood which is my perfect summer shade. I think I’m going to need to get a lighter tone for the winter months though. I keep poking around on the Julep site to see which shade looks like it will work. It is a great formula and one I don’t mind having multiples of. At the moment Julep is having a sale as well so I’m hoping to make a decision before the sale ends. There’s nothing like a deadline right?
I also used the Julep bronzer. While not as spectacular as the blush, it is a good bronzer. It is buildable and really easy to blend. I use the shade medium tan and I think it will work for me both with my tan and when my skin grows winter pale. The only difference is really how much product I use. I use more in the summer but I really think just a lighter application will keep it working for me in the winter. It is one of the reasons I really like the buildable formula. It means I only need to buy one shade.
For my mascara I paired the eyeko lash alert mascara with the doucce Punk Volumizer. The eyeko mascara is great at lengthening and the doucce is great for bulking up the lashes so it was a good pair. While I like the eyeko lash alert, I prefer the formula of their black magic mascara. This was the second week for the Lash Alert sample size and I managed to use up the remaining product in the tube. So it will be sent to the empties bin.
I’ll probably pick up the Black magic mascara or an eyeliner next time I shop with Eyeko mostly because I prefer the formula but it is still a pretty good mascara. The Doucce was better paired with the eyeko, but still just an okay mascara. I’ll be using it up and saying goodbye rather than repurchasing.
My eyeliner this week was from Beauty for Real. It gave me a nice thin line of mascara and was easy to work with. While it didn’t seep into my fine lines, it took a little while to dry down and was prone to smudging before it dried down. Once dry it was fine, but you just have to be careful those few minutes. I did notice that by the end of the day, the eyeliner had faded a bit, going a little more gray than black. While it was a decent eyeliner and I will continue to use it, this isn’t my favorite and once it is done, I won’t be repurchasing it.
My highlighter this week was the floss sunlit from the August Allure Beauty Box. It was an interesting product. When you look at it it looks kind of silvery, but when you apply it, the highlighter turns more gold. As I prefer the golden highlighters with my skin tone, I was okay with the change.
highlight swatch, not blended in
What I found interesting was that it applied better with a finger than with a brush. It was rather disappointing when I used a brush to apply it. It faded away to almost nothing. When I used my fingertip to apply it worked fabulously well. It blended nicely and provided just the right amount of glow. I don’t know if I was just using the wrong sort of brush, but I’m not adverse to applying it with my fingers. I think the fingertip might work better because of the product’s consistency. While it is technically a powder, it is not very powdery and has almost a jelly consistency. It’s kind of strange, like it is hallway between the two. It is still powder and not a jelly but it has almost that wet touch to it. I kind of liked it actually.
And finally we come to the lips.I had four products in my bag this week. I had a Huda Beauty lip countour in the shade Trophy wife, two liquid lipsticks from Bite Beauty (Caramelized and Infuse), and a lip gloss fromC’est Moi in the shade opulence.
The lip gloss was nice. It had no real color to it so swatches just show up as a glossy spot. It sat well on the lips and wasn’t too terribly sticky. It was a lip gloss so there was some stick factor, but it wasn’t too much. It is a nice lip gloss that I used both on its own and over other products this week.
The Huda Beauty lip contour I used both as a lip liner for Infuse and on my entire lips. I like the color and under the C’est Moi lip gloss it wasn’t too drying. It is still a lip liner so there is some drying when used this way, hence the lip gloss over it to make it more comfortable. I also used Caramelized to alter the color a bit.
Caramelized by Bite Beauty is just a little too neutral of a shade for me to wear on it’s own. On me it makes my lips disappear into my face. However it is an excellent lip topper. I used it over Trophy wife to make that a little less pink and I used it with Infuse to make it a little less vibrant. Typically with bite beauty I end up going for their bullet style lipsticks (which I absolutely adore). But I really like these liquid lips.
Lip swatches, Huda in Trophy Wife on top Caramelized in the middle and Infuse at the bottom (Bite Beauty)
The formula never really dries down so there are a few lip prints left behind, but it is a very comfortable formula to wear. While I like the color of Infused, I often none it down with Caramelized. I’ve done so often enough that Caramelized is starting to get a pinkish tint to it. Who knows, a few more weeks of use and the color might have altered enough so I can wear it on it’s own.
One thing I like with this is that the color remains for most of the day. It dims a little in the afternoon, but I think that is because some of it wears off during lunch. But at the end of the day, I was still wearing lipstick. And I do like a lipstick that can last the day with me.
So that was my makeup bag this week. I had a great deal of fun with it and it helped me start to add to my list of products I want to pick up in the near future. I hope this has helped anyone else reading to plan their purchases as well.
Welcome my darlings once again to The Make up bag. I hope you had a fantastic week. While I have been testing out new foundations fairly regularly for a while, some full sized and some only sample sized, I thought it was time to take a little break from the new and roll through some of the foundations that I enjoyed.
So I lined up all of the currently open foundations I have in a shade that works for me at the moment and a chose whichever one appealed most to me in the moment. I’ll be honest, it was a pretty close tie between the Kristofer Buckle Triplicity foundation Stick and the Pretty Vulgar Cool AF Lava Water Foundation. Since I just used the Kristofer Buckle last week, I went with Pretty Vulgar and I am glad I did. I really enjoyed using it this week. The formula works well for me and went well with the ELF Puff Puff Primer I tried this week.
This particular ELF primer is a bit more moisturizer like than I anticipated, but it worked well. The link is to my full review if you’d like to get all the details, but I did enjoy the ELF Puff Puff Primer and will be keeping it in my rotation.
Making a continued appearance in my make up bag was the I heart Revolution Fixing spray in Peaches and Cream. I know I’ve talked about it a lot, but I do like it. I have about three week’s worth of product left in the bottle (as a best guess) so I will keep it around for a few more weeks in the hopes of finishing it out. It is nice, but it is an older product I’d like to finish out.
Speaking of peaches, This week’s eyeshadow palette was Peach Bellini from Makeup Geek. The link is for my full palette review. I really liked using the formula this week for a super simple low key week. The shadows were highly pigmented and easy to blend. Also the color scheme seems very summery to me.
Starting to see a little of the pan’s rings below the powder
Both of my powders this week were repeats The Ciate Everyday Vaccay was the loose powder and I have about three more weeks of use before it is empty so I will continue to use it until it is gone, then shift to other powders.
My pressed powder was the No.7 Perfect light in medium. It is very rapidly becoming one of my favorite pressed powders. I’m actually starting to see the outline of the pan below in the center. While I will continue to use up the ciate next week, I will be sending the No. 7 back to the dressing table and picking out another pressed powder to try.
There were three more repeats this week. The first is the Instant Age rewind Eraser from Maybelline which served as my concealer and eyelid primer. I really liked it in both capacities.
Also returning was the Eyeko Fat Black eyeliner. It is one of my favorites. Once in place, it doesn’t go anywhere and never seeps into my fine lines.
The final repeat was the Julep pore minimizing blush in the shade Rosewood. I don’t know if it actually reduces my pores as there are several other products between my pores and the blush, but it is an excellent blush. It is of the buildable variety rather than the highly pigmented, although you can deepen it a lot if you try.
Eyeko eyeliner and Hourglass brow pencil
I personally prefer my blush to be buildable and blendable, which this is. I believe Jlep is having a sale at the moment. I’ve liked every product I’ve tried from them. The products are easy to work with and the packaging is sleek and pretty.
I know packaging shouldn’t count as much, but it kinda does. At least with me. I know, it’s a personal flaw. But I do like the sleek design while my more practical side likes the fact that it is also quite sturdy.
Julep blush and Tarte mascara
And now for the new arrivals in my makeup bag. The first is the Ace Beaute Bronzed in Paradise palette. This palette had four shades of bronzer. Only one works on me as a bronzer. It is the third in the pan in case you are wondering.
The darker and lighter shades I could use as eyeshadows but not as bronzer. In the winter I might be able to use the second shade in the palette but that is about it. Truthfully, I don’t particularly care for these bronzers.
They oddly work really well as eyeshadows, but on the cheeks I found them a bit patchy and hard to blend. I might try working with it again, but I have much better formulas in my collection that I would rather use.
The Hourglass eyebrow pencil (shade soft brunette) also came in a Boxy Charm and I have to say, I really liked using it. I really liked the formula and I really liked the precision point. It is small enough that I could do really fine lines with it.
Do I like it as much as the Benefit Precisely My Brow?
Almost.
If I had to choose between the two I would still choose the Benefit, but only by a small margin. I do like that it comes with a spoolie on the end. I will happily use this for a while. Between it and the Il Makiage pencil I received from IPSY, I won’t have to buy an eyebrow pencil for a while. And then I have my wet ‘n wild brow kit powder. So I am set for brows. I really did enjoy the hourglass this week so I think I might just have to keep it around for a second week.
Really quickly I wanted to mention the So eco shading brush that came in my Look Fantastic box this month. I added it to my makeup bag and I think it is going to remain in my bathroom brush jar for a while. With the Makeup Geek Shadows the easiest way to work with them because they were so highly pigmented was to take a flat brush and set the shadow on the eye at the spot I wanted it to be darkest and then blend with a fluffy brush. This week I used the So Eco brush as the flat brush and it worked really well. The indentations in the handle were perfect for gripping and the bristles are really high quality. So two thumbs up for Look Fantastic.
Unfortunately I did not have as good a luck with the Palm Balm from Beauty crop that came in this month’s Glossy Box. I added both it and the Milk makeup Lip and Cheek stick to my bag this well. I figured since I had already used the Julep before and loved it, I would keep it as a back up and see if either of these two products worked. Both the Palm Balm and the Milk Lip and cheek are designed to be products you can use on, you guessed it lip and cheek.
The Palm balm comes in a nice little glass pot and in the pan it is really stiff. I had to rub my finger over it a lot just to warm it up enough to stick to my finger. On the cheek it goes on okay, but it really hard to bend out. It really wants to stay in whatever position you place it in first. When blending, I felt less like I was blending and more like I was scrubbing it off.
Anytime I tried it as a cheek product it ruined any other product I already had on my cheeks. It worked better on bare skin, but I don’t know if that was just me rubbing it off or not. On the lips it was interesting. It gave my lips a nice tint and like the cheeks, once applied it wasn’t going anywhere. It lasted the whole day as a light blush of color.
However it was also very drying. Once I applied it I had to wait a moment and then top it with a Jersey Shore Cosmetics Lip Balm to keep my lips from drying and falling off my face. With the lip balm protector it was fine. Without it, I crumbled to dust.
The Milk Makeup Lip and Cheek also did not work on my cheeks. It went on well but blended away to nothing with the first touch. However it made an excellent lip balm. It provided a light my lips but better tint and it kept my lips hydrated and moisturized. I really enjoyed it and will keep it in my collection for my lips. I won’t use it on my cheeks, but my lips love it. The Palm Balm will not be staying in my collection long.
I did have two more lip products in my bag this week. Although I did wear the Kristofer Buckle Bardot for National Lipstick day, it wasn’t officially in my bag this week. This week I mostly used the Lorac Alter Ego Hydrating lip stain in Breadwinner and the OFRA liquid lip in the shade Pasadena.
Breadwinner is a light wash of color that feels comfortable on the lips and is really easy to wear. I enjoyed it very much. It doesn’t dry out the lips and is as hydrating as it claims. It is not an all day color though.
On the days I wore it, I had to apply it when I finished my coffee and again after lunch. It does wear off if you are eating or drinking, but it is a formula that is really nice if you want just a light wash of color that you don’t have to worry about. It didn’t get on my teeth and it didn’t leave lip prints everywhere. It will definitely make a reappearance in my makeup bag.
OFRA is on the top and Lorac is on the bottom. The Lorac was swatched multiple times to build up the color for the picture. it is much less pigmented on the lips
OFRA’s Pasadena will also make a return. It is a nice neutral lip that works well for me. So often neutral lipsticks either blend my lips into my face or just look brown. This has just enough pin in it to work for me. While the all day formula does stay all day and wasn’t drying on the lips, it does feel just a little bit sticky. It wasn’t terribly bad and because of the color I will keep it around.
The one I have is a trial sized liquid lip rather than a full sized. I like everything about it except the slight stickiness. If I can find another long wearing liquid lip in this shade that doesn’t have the stickiness, I would buy that. I think the stickiness is the result of it never drying down completely. If I can’t find this shade in another formula that I like better, I will purchase a full sized version of this. I know that is a strange answer. It is a good formula that I don’t mind wearing, but I am hoping to find better. However I am not certain I can find better. Perhaps that is a better way to put that.
The Tarte mascara on the eyes and the OFRA on the lips
Finally we come to one of my favorite items, the mascara. I went with the tart Gifted mascara this week. Tarte’s mascaras are always hit or miss with me. There are a couple I really like and a couple I find to be just okay. This one has a thinner, straight wand and I have to say I really liked it. It made my lashes look longer and it lasted all day without any sort of flaking or smearing. To be honest, I like it almost as much as my Kevyn Aucoin. I know gasp. But don’t worry, my two favorites are still Marc Jacobs and Butter London. It just bumps The Expert Kevyn Aucoin down a notch on the fav scale. Not by much, just a little. In a horse race it would still be a photo finish.
Alright, well that was my makeup bag for this week. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As usual next week will feature a brand new bag of makeup for me to try. Some will be old favorites and some new finds. With luck some of my new finds will be good enough to become old favorites. But now it is back to work for me. I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday and I will see you back here this afternoon for the Face Mask Friday post.
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 