The Daily: March 15th, 2023

Beware the Ides of March….Beware…especially if you think you might be betrayed by a friend. But who really plans for betrayal anyway? No betrayal for me today, Just a day at the desk. I am feeling significantly less stuffy and puffy today though which is nice.

I also had a fight with my bangs. They did not not want to behave. And in the end they won and I am resigned to them just looking slightly crazy. And yes I adjusted my position in the photo so you can’t see that a section of my bangs kept threatening to rise up like it is testifying in church.

Although I’m not sure me falling asleep with wet hair is testifiable material.

I did just get a package in today that I am super excited about. I’ve started ordering restocks of things because I realized not only did I need my spring orders but I was out of a lot of things. I think everything has been so chaotic that things slipped through the cracks. And while I was doing my restocking I popped on to the Beseme Cosmetics site. They do a lot of vintage style cosmetics. 1950s lipstick, cake mascara, that sort of thing. They also have collaborations that are just fabulous. A while back I picked up the Sleeping Beauty Collaboration for my Aunt who was over the moon about it and then I picked up the I love Lucy Collab for my godmother who is a HUGE I love Lucy fan.

I got to see a grown woman squeal when she opened that one which was nice. And very surprising.

The thing is that their collabs do not last long. Half the time they are sold out by the time I find out about it and go to the site to look. So I have started lurking. Or maybe stalking is a better term. I pop into the site routinely because they have great formulas and their collabs make such fabulous gifts. The makeup is long since used up but my aunt still uses the hand mirror I picked up with the collection. Which is something I love, they have items that outlast the makeup so it feels more gift like.

Anyway no new collabs but a I was there I saw the pressed powder compact. it is refillable and one of the refills was pink powder. So I scooped it up, along with a pot of their cream blush. It comes in a gorgeous metal container that is red and gold. Anyway the package arrived today. It arrived after I put on my makeup so i didn’t use it today. I thought about it, but decided adding it on top of what I was already wearing was not the greatest idea. If you have been following me for any length of time you might recall I have been searching for a pink powder to replace my no longer being products Becca Pink Haze setting powder. I have my fingers crossed that this is it. And even if it isn’t the compact is a slimline perfect for my purse and refillable. So it will be fabulous no matter what.

I will start playing with them tomorrow but I couldn’t help but gush as they came i before this post went up.

But on with today’s makeup, before I have to get back to work.

Today’s Look

Primer: Basic Beauty Smooth and Blur Primer

Foundation: Beauty Blender Bounce Liquid Whip Foundation

Bronzer: Milk Makeup Bronzing Stick

Blush: Jane Iredale Blush Stick

Setting Powder: Anastasia Beverly Hills Translucent Setting powder

Eyeshadow: Too Faced Better than Chocolate Shadow Palette

Mascara: Pur Fully Charged Mascara

Brows Grande Brow-fill

Lips Seraphine Botanicals Long Lasting Vegan Lip in Cherimoya and Fig

Okay let’s jump in because today was interesting. This was the second use of the Basic beauty primer. I think if I had more texture to my skin then maybe I would like this. It does make my skin smooth and soft, but it doesn’t really do much of anything else. It isn’t gripping, It doesn’t really feel hydrating. It doesn’t color correct or really do much blurring. It is just smoothing. And as my skin is pretty good right now, that doesn’t really do much for me. I’ll use it tomorrow again which will empty out the small tube but I don’t think this will be a full sized purchase.

I did choose a foundation that works well on it’s own with this primer and the Beauty Blender foundation does work really well on it’s own. I can tell that I am not wearing a line filling primer underneath, but I think it still looks nice.

While I love my Milk Makeup bronzer, I think my sample is starting to dry out. I can actually feel it becoming more difficult to blend. It is nearing the end of the product so that does have something to do with it, but it does have me concerned about picking up the full size. I think this is a bronzer that you use when it is your only bronzer. While the sample is on the way out, I think I may have to use a few more products up before I am ready to purchase the full size. I think it is a product that just needs to be consistently used.

This was my first use of the Jane Iredale Blush stick. My thoughts are really positive about it. The blush blends well and is really creamy. I do have to blend one cheek at a time it feels like it wants to set if I apply it on both and then blend. But that isn’t unusual. It will be interesting to see how it wears. I only did a light application so I’ll have to play around and see how well it builds.

I like the ABH Setting powder, which is fortunate as I have an unopened backup in my drawer. I wish it had an inner lid to keep it from getting so messy, but otherwise it is fine. I think if i keep using this I might actually finish it by the end of the month. I like the powder but it is a big powder so it feels like an accomplishment. Plus it has been opened for a while now.

This was my first use of the Too faced Better Than Chocolate and I predictable went for the browns and bronze. They worked well. they applied smoothly and blended nicely with no real fall out to speak of. I think I may have to use a wet brush with the shimmers but thus far, I like the formula.

This Pur Mascara is done. This was the last of the product in the tube. It is a decent every day mascara. it isn’t spectacular but it is reliable in the lengthening department. I don’t think I am going to be purchasing the full size.

I am really loving the Grande Brow Fill as it covers in my patchy parts of my brows with no problem and holds everything in place all day.

And then we reach the lips. I like the color and I love the way this liquid lip applied. It is however the stickiest lip formula I have used in a while. Seriously the sticky doesn’t go away. Seraphine Botanicals is one of those brands that I really want to like. They always look good and I am always excited to try them but then some how there is always one element that makes me think no, this isn’t for me. This lippie has a great color and applies well and evenly. It smells good and has no taste to it. But that stickiness is hard to get over.

And that my darlings is me today. It was a bit hit or miss today, but in the end, it doesn’t look half bad. It was definitely a bit more up and down than my usual makeup,. But then i did try some new things. Which is kind of the fun of makeup. But now it is back to work for me. Have a great Wednesday.

The Daily: March 6th, 2023

Oh my darlings it has been a weekend! On Friday we had a windstorm kick up that knocked down the internet around 10am. Friday is also trash day at our house and As soon as our bin we emptied by the garbagemen I went out to get it. I was not quick enough and ended up racing off down the hill to catch it. The bin was fine with nothing in it, but once empty there was no stopping it. We live in an area where there are smaller trucks so we don’t have the giant wheelie bins. We have the smaller older style trashcans. Think Oscar the Grouch only made of plastic instead of metal. Which actually that size is perfect for us. It fits three bags of trash and most weeks we only have two bags to go out, if that. I’ve been working on reducing our trash as much as possible.

Even with less trash, the trash is able to hold the bin in place. Empty it was just a play toy for the wind. My best consolation was that I was not the only one reviving their high school track skills.

I got back to the house just in time for the internet to go out. Which, while it did change my plans for the day, I didn’t mind too much. I am working on a large project that can be still worked on off line. So that was fine. Although there was no Face Mask Friday because about the time I was thinking about taking a break and putting on a face mask, we lost electricity.

Yeah Wind!

Oddly enough we got the electric back about the same time the rain storm came through. I say rain but it was filled with much hail. By Saturday afternoon things were more or less back to normal. At least weather wise.

Which is when my babydoll’s sinus issues became a little worse. We thought he was getting better. But bright and early Sunday Morning we ended up at Urgent Care. The sinus infection sent his blood pressure skyrocketing. He is currently knocked out by antibiotics in the bedroom. So hopefully that will be better soon.

I have to say this was the most stressful weekend I have had in a while. While I am keeping an ear out for him, it is actually a bit of a relief to get back to a work day. Thus far, things are kind of just chugging alone as a regular Monday. Normally this would not be something to celebrate, but right now a normal Monday feels really nice. It is a bit of a low key Monday thought so I went light with the makeup.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Laura Mercier Pure Canvas Primer (Hydrating)

Foundation: One Size Turn up the Base Powder Foundation

Bronzer: Milk Makeup Bronzer Stick (Use Up Box)

Blush: Tarte Breezy Cream Blush (Use Up Box)

Eyeshadow and Lips: Axiology Lip to Lid Balmies Nude Plum

Eyeliner: Too Faced Smoke Show Kajal Eyeliner

Brows: Grande Brow-Fill Volumizing Brow Gel

Mascara: Thrive Causemetics Mascara

This Month I am going through many of my primer samples to decide which ones I want to try out in a full size. I actually in many ways this is the month of samples as I am doing the same with skincare, but that is another story. I started with the Laura Mercier. It is hydrating and it does need a little time to dry down and absorb. Once it does, the primer gets very sticky and really locks the foundation down.

Today I wanted to try the primer out with a powder foundation and I really love this One Size foundation. I usually reach for it in the summer as it is just super easy to apply and just a good low makeup product. I know that you can build it up, but I generally find that when I build it up it looks a little powdery on me. So I go with the more natural look. As I am trying out different primers I will be rotating through foundations to see how they perform. The Laura Mercier really works well with this powder formula.

I am still working through the Milk Makeup bronzer and am slowly making progress on using it up. I love it but it is a small sample and I want to use it up before I pick up the full sized version. I just know I won’t use the sample after I pick up the full size so I need to use the sample up before ordering the full size.

This Tarte Cream Blush came in a Boxycharm a while back and I never really got around to using it. I love the color. It works really well with my skin tone. The cream formula needs to be warmed up with the finger. It is easy enough to do I just run my finger over it in a circle until it starts to melt a bit. Then I can use a sponge but I really end up using my finger more. The reason is that it doesn’t bend all that well and you really need to move fast. If I use a sponge then I generally find more of the blush sticks to the sponge then gets applied. I still need to play with it some more. I love the color, but the blending isn’t my favorite.

I am also playing around with the Lip to Lid Balmies from Axiology. This is one of the products they sent me to try out. There were three items in the box and this set of Balmies is the third to try. I really like the way it can go very light on the lids. It can be built up but I decided to go very light today. I warmed the stick up in my hand so it spread super easily. It is fine without warming, but I find it a little easier to spread over the lid if it is a little warmer. That way there is almost no pressing on the lid. I did feel it needed a little something so I actually picked up an eyeliner. I know, I can’t remember when I last used eyeliner. which is why I went with a crayon style since I knew it wasn’t dried out. This Too Faced formula really went on easily. I like it. I have hooded eyes so I generally only use liner when I am not using much shadow. Mostly because I usually feel that the only thing you end up seeing is the eyeliner. This was a decent pairing though. I did realize how out of practice with eyeliner I was though. I might have to try to use it more just to get back into practice.

When I went looking for eyeliner I found this unopened Thrive Mascara. It was still sealed and so I unsealed it and use it today. It is a bit more pointed a wand than I usually prefer. I really love my fluffy wands. However i really like this formula. It is really good at lengthening the lashes and it feels good on the lashes. Also the metal tube just feels luxe. I just feel fancy when I use it. There is something about the heavy metal tube. It helps that it is a really nice mascara.

I went very simple with this Grande Brow Fill. I really like it for simple non-drama brows. This fills in the few little spaces I need filling and keeps everything in place. It is a very quick, very easy product to use when you want something nice but low key.

I went back to Axiology Balmies for the lips as well. I use a brush for the lips because I don’t like putting something on my eyes that i have put on my lips. That is just me. I also get eye infections pretty easily so I take extra precautions. It is the same color on lips and lids though. On the lips it feels like a lip balm. It is very comfortable. It doesn’t dry down at all though so you will leave lip prints. Also it doesn’t hide any rough patches on the lips. It really has the same consistency as a lip balm although it is far more pigmented. I like it for a low key lip look and I do like how I can double use the product.

And that my darlings is me. It was a very tense weekend and I am very happy to roll into a Monday where i just have to concentrate on the work in front of me, with occasional check ins to see if my sleeping babydoll is still okay. Periodically he asks for tea, otherwise the antibiotics have him knocked out. It is a somewhat quiet day. And now that he is on the mend, I feel a bit better myself. Here’s hoping for a nice quiet week.

The Use Up Box: January 2023 review and February Selection

This year I decided to do something a little bit different with my makeup. I realized there are items I like that I never reach for, items that are nearing their expiration date, items from discontinued brands and items I might have tried but never really long enough to decide how i feel about them And so each month I will be picking a few items from my makeup collection and putting them in The Use Up Box.

In this box would be items that were constantly in view so I would see them and hopefully if I wasn’t specifically testing anything in that category I would reach for the item and use it. I think I was partially successful in that I did use up a few items. I think I was also overly ambitious in the products I chose. First let’s tale a look at what was in the January Box.

The January Use Up Box

The items that I fully used up were the Marc Jacobs Primer, The Becca Pink Haze Setting Powder and the Colourpop Ultra matte Lip. The Marc Jacobs primer and Becca Setting Powder were both discontinued so I am happy to have used them up and cleared them out,. They were both good products but they are no longer being produced so it was time to let them go.

The Colourpop is still in production, but this particular lippie is an older one that I have had for quite a while. It was getting to the point where I needed to finish it up and let it go. I really enjoy the formula and color so I will probably repurchase it at some point but for now, I have finished with this lippie and am letting it go.

I was hoping to finish up the Bite Beauty foundation because Bite beauty is no more and even though I love this foundation it is no longer being produced. However i had several new foundations come in that I needed to test so I didn’t reach for it as often as I planned. It will remain in the use up box for February. Hopefully it will be finished out in February. My goal is to use it at least once a week. i think that will finally clear it out.

That is actually the only product that is staying in the use up box.

The Josephine Cosmetics Lip was put in the box because I couldn’t remember trying it before. I knew I swatched it but couldn’t remember how it performed. It performed beautifully and is a lovely red shade that I will be keeping for a while. It will remain in my collection.

the Brow Bar By Reema is one of those products I love the thought of more than I like actually using. It is really a beautifully designed kit. But it is not my shade. i love the under brow highlighter but none of the powders work for me and I really don’t like the cream formula. The pencil and the tools in the kit I love though. And that mirror is fantastic for travel. For those reasons I am transferring it out of my makeup drawer and just putting it in the purse that I use for travel. I think that is when I am going to reach for it and that is where it will be the most useful. I might end up letting it go, but for now I think as a travel item, it is still useful for me to keep. Just not in the drawer with other eyebrow products.

Because the highlighter in the palette was so good, I didn’t reach for the Eyeko under brow highlighter. I did youse it a couple of times and liked it, but i am not going to put it with the use up box. I am going to transfer it to my brow products drawer and try to reach for it when I do my brows. As my bangs are kind of long at the moment I haen’t been reaching for brow products and need to remedy that, but I will try to work on that.

The Pretty Vulgar lid primer i only reached for a couple of times. It is a really good lid primer, my favorite in fact, but it is edging into the expiration date. There are only one or two more uses with of product left in the tube. I am going to put it in the front of my eyeshadow drawer to use when I have shadows that need a lid primer. It will be reordered as soon as it is empty but it won’t last the week so I am not going to add it to the use up box because it is almost done.

The two eyeshadow products I included because i wanted to start rotating through my single shadows. I tend to forget to reach for them. I figured if I had them out I would reach for them more. And I did reach for them a couple of times. I just have several palettes i need to test out so I ended up reaching for them first. I still think it is worth it to have a single shadow in the box so I am adding one for February and rotating these out.

So are you ready for February’s Use up Box?

February’s Use Up Box

The Foundation I love but want to use up because it is discontinued. The Figs and Rouge primer is about half empty and while I did like using it, I am still on the fence about whether or not I would repurchase it and would like to both figure that out and use it up.

I really love the milk Makeup bronzer but it is close to being finished up and I would like to use it up and order a new one to use. It is a sample size and I would definitely like to get a fill size to use.

The KVD Shadow is one of my favorite one and done eyeshadow products so i am rolling it in for the days when i don’t have something specific I want to use since it is very good. The By Terry powder is one of those products that is hard to work with but looks beautiful once it is on. It is a sample size of powder and I would like to use it up. Because it is difficult to work with i probably wouldn’t repurchase it. I adore the pressed powder version of this, just not the loose version.

The final product is the Tarte cream blush. I tried this when it came in a tarte themed Boxycharm. i liked it but I have several cream blushes I love so I tend to reach for them first. I don’t feel that I gave this enough of a chance. So hopefully i will reach for it more if it is out and I can decide how I really feel about it.

I’m sure you have noticed, but the February list is much shorter than January’s list. I’m hoping that will cause me to reach for the items more since there are fewer of them so they will be more displayed than in a clump. Either wya, I still like the idea of the Use up box and I am happy to continue down this path. I also find it useful to assess what I like and what I am wanting to use. It actually inspires me to go through each drawer and look at things that I haven’t reached for a while or forgot about. Hopefully you find it fun as well.

The Daily: January 19th, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings. What a week this has been. I feel like it has been quite the wild ride. I know it is only Thursday and technically Monday was a holiday but it does mean that Tuesday and Wednesday were both off the rails packed and Thursday has been much the same. While Monday was the observance of MLK Day and a federal holiday, Tuesday I planned to make up for the holiday. However things with my mother inturupted.

In the best possible way of course. It was a very happy inturuption.

It also meant that Wednesday I tried to catch up from Monday and Tuesday. I was only partially successful so instead of Thursday being the day where I work really hard in the morning and realize I can sort of coast into Friday, Thursday is going to be one hectic day.

It is also one wet day. There are a series of storm fronts passing through and dropping rain down on us today in buckets. It is kind of interesting actually. We have a stretch of gray and quiet where the sun looks like it is thinking about poking through for a visit. The attempt is apparently seen by storm clouds as some sort of insurrection and it is put down by really strong winds followed by a brief deluge where the rain makes actual pock marks in the ground. Then, dominance reestablished the rain and wind back off and the entire process starts again. I am timing my running out of the house to do things (like chase after the trash can that I didn’t realize was still out (completely empty thank god) and has been sent on a mission to the neighbors. At that time I found my neighbor (who has some form of severe dementia and rotating caregivers) also had the trash can out. I brought it back and got a thumbs up from the Hospice nurse just before the deluge returned.

The look below is what I started with this morning but to be honest, most of hit has been washed away. It started to look like I was melting so i went ahead and recovered my makeup for the day since this afternoon is just me at the desk. The lipstick survived the rain without an issue though. It is supposed to be a long wearing lipstick and in all fairness it was the last to go. But I did take pictures this morning so we’ll go with those.

Today’s Look

Primer: PinkLipps Soft Matte Primer

Foundation HIDE Invisible Oil-free Medium Full Coverage Foundation

Bronzer/powder: KAB Cosmetics Contour Palette

Blush: NARS Orgasm Blush

Eyeshadow: Too Faced: Sweet Peach Palette

Mascara: Milk Makeup Kush Mascara

Lips: Guerlain 16 hour Wear Velvet Matte Lipstick in Black Red

Okay let’s dive in. This was my first use of the Pinklipps primer. In fact it was my first pink lips product. I’ve seen the brand but never tried anything from them. This is a balm style primer and it is thick. It does a really good job filling in pores but it felt a little waxy. I am not sure if I applied too much. It looks great but it doesn’t feel the greatest. It is really good for filling in fine lines though. I will definately be playing around with it.

This is the second use for the HIDE foundation and I really like the way it blends out. I still think the container feels cheap but the product is nice. I did notice that as I didn’t apply primer on my forehead, the foundation did sink right into the lines on my forehead pretty fast. Nothing was getting through the spackle that was my primer today, but I could see it needed something under it from my forehead application. I suspect i will enjoy this foundation with a primer but not without.

This was the first use of the KAB Cosmetics Contour palette that came in my advent calendar this year. (Glossy Box I believe) Mine doesn’t say whether it is volume 1 or 2 but I think it is 1. It has bronzers that suit my skin tone now and ones I will lean towards in the summer. It also had pans I could use as just powder, which I also used today. I really like the powder. The bronzer I like in tone but it is a very pigmented product, so remember that in application and go lightly. It does build and it does blend so I enjoyed that. The palette is a bit big. While I do like the amount of product in the palette with the big pans, I tend to forget to reach for the big palettes. I am going to try to remember because I like this, but There is the tendency for the big palettes to get pushed to the back and forgotten. They are good products though so hopefully I won’t forget them.

I forgot just how much I loved the NARS blush. The Shade orgasm is just so beautiful. I know I will try to reach for other products, but I really like having this NARS around again.

With the eyeshadow I went with the Too Faced Peach. Partially because I just liked the scent of the palette. It seemed summer warm on a day that is anything but. I really enjoyed using it. I had to tap the brush to get the excess powder off as Too Faced shadows do get a little powdery, but it was worth it. I really liked how the shadows came out. I was kind of sad the look was destroyed by the rain.

Although it was the mascara that suffered the worst, which is kind of sad because the Milk Makeup was on point today. Long, think and fluffy, I think my lashes looked great. until they turned me racoon-like anyway. I used two coats and the Kush Mascara looked fabulous.

I decided to round out the fabulous with the Guerlain lip. I initially tried a liked peach toned gloss but the peach tones just didn’t suit so I went with the black red of the velvet Guerlain. This is too pricy a lippie for me to get in every color, but it is a fantastic formula. The color pay off is fantastic, if feels soft and nourishing on the lips and I simple adore it. I have the refillable case so I will just keep refilling it with my favorite shade. Admittedly I am thinking that for my birthday I might get a second case and one of the more neutral shades so I can have both a red and a neutral. That is either going to be my birthday peresent to myself or my reward for getting my weight back into the range where it starts with a one instead of a two. I haven’t decided. But either way, it is a fabulous lipstick.

And so that is me today, or it was until I suffered rain damage and went to seek out the makeup remover. I am bare faced for the rest of the day and I think I am going to take advantage of that and apply one of the Wander Beauty Baggage Claim Eye masks on while I work. Which alas, I must now get back to. Have a fabulous Thursday my darlings and try to stay dry.

The Daily: December 15th, 2022

Good afternoon and welcome to a very cold and crisp day. I know we aren’t as cold and crisp as a lot of other places. My babydoll’s family is currently shoveling out several feet of snow. I also have one great uncle who is cackling because he is living in a place where someone else has to do the shoveling and he doesn’t have to actually go anywhere. I know he is cackling because he called to let me know the package I sent for Christmas arrived so I didn’t have to worry about postal issues. He was laughing about not having to shovel snow and then went straight into a conspiracy theory about the post office for about twenty minutes. I’m not entirely sure if the postal service is a force for good and the only thing keeping us from a land of chaos or an agent of evil who will take us all down. Given the conversation it could go either way.

In fact there could be two factions working simultaneously within the system.

I think he picks a group and works on a conspiracy theory for the year. Last year’s was the liquor industry. And again, not sure if they were a force for good or evil either. It could have gone either way too.

I rather like hearing the annual conspiracy theories.

And I am glad he got his christmas package. And doesn;t hae to shovel snow.

While we are chilled here, there is no snow. The rain is gone now too. I’m sure it will return. what are the holidays without at least one ice storm. And that’s what it feels like it is working it’s way up to actually. but that worry is for another day. Right now, it is cold and clear. I may stay indoors but i am going to sit in the light from the window for a bit this afternoon just to soak it in. But before then…

Today’s Look:

Primer: Glamglow Supermatify Primer

Foundation: NARS Natural Radiant Long Wear Foundation

Bronzer: Too Faced Chocolate Soliel Bronzer

Blush/highlighter: Gold Rush Blush From Benefit Cosmetics

Setting Powder: Beauty Bakerie Flour in Oat

Eye Shadow: Tresluce Midnight Deseos

Mascara: Fenty Full Frontal Mascara

Lips: MAC Love Me Lipstick

Today we have a last use for two separate products. That’s right my darlings. The Glam Glow Primer is finally empty. It is no more. This was it’s last use. It was great with oil control and took down redness like a dream. But the brand no longer makes it and it is only available on Amazon. So even though the container is refillable, I will not be refilling it. It was fantastic though.

Also fantastic? The Benefit blush. I loved the Gold Rush blush. the shade was perfect for me and it had just the right amount of light catching shimmer. Mostly that was gone by now. As is the blush. And I don’t think Benefit makes this shade any more. They redid their blushes and got rid of many of the old favorites. I need to take some time and check out the new ones. However this one is now empty. There is no more usable product. And that makes me both sad and glad all at the same time. I loved both of the now empty products and I am sad they are no longer going to be in use, but I really love the feeling of actually finishing a product up completely. It just feels so good to know that none of it went to waste.

Plus both were rather bulky containers and them leaving creates a pretty big pocket of space in the drawer. hich I can’t say I am mad at.

Today I pulled out the NARS Foundation. I don’t use it often because I picked up the wrong shade. This one I can only wear in the depths of winter and even then I need a bronzer to help even it out. I need to really just buy a new bottle, but then i look at the other foundations I need to get through and tell myself i can just use this one until more of the others have been used up, then i’ll be able to justify getting a new bottle. And I really o need to remember to get a new one. It is a great foundation. The trick for me is to remember to start with a very small amount of product. I always forget how little product you actually need to cover the face. and then i waste a lot of product by dispensing too much. A little gos a long way, remember that and you are golden. It is a really good foundation . And I need to use it more.

Today I adjusted the shade w a bit with the bronzer. This Too faced bronzer is great. it is highly pigmented and I generally use it either in the summer time or if I am trying to slightly modify the color of my foundation. this isn;t the first time I’ve picked up the wrong shade. This bronzer really comes in handy and why it was pulled out of the summer makeup section for front line duty today.

With the eyeshadow, I couldn’t resist the blue green shimmer shade. It is more metallic than shimmer. It also applies a bit patchier than the other shades. This I think needs a lid primer underneath. It is lovely in the pan and fantastic looking on a swatch, but thus far it is the patchiest of all the shadows. It doesn’t apply as smoothly as the other metalics and was kind of a pain to deal with. Once in place it seems to be staying in place really well. So there is little fall out. The fall out you see is me being a bit messy during application. I also doesn’t blend. Once it is on, it is where it is, you can see the marks where I tried to do a little blending. This shadow wasn’t having it.

Fenty beauty. I have used this mascara before. with Fenty there are a couple of things that are really nice. Mostly the gloss bombs. Pretty much everything else that I have tried has been just okay. it isn’t bad, but it is forgettable. this mascara is one I don’t mind using but won’t miss when it is gone.

and as always I love Mac Lipstick. it is a staple and always looks good. It is sort of the standard. You must be at least this good to stay in my makeup bag. I have several products that exceed the mark, but it is good. Reliably good. which is saying a lot. Also the MAC lips are currently on sale. (The above link will take you there, not an affiliate link, just something i noticed when i was linking the products).

And that my darlings is me today. Not half bad although I spent way more time with that eyeshadow than I planned. And in the end it still looks like I took five seconds. I was really happy with the layering of the mattes before the shimmer though, so it is a little disappointing. Anyway, back to work for me.

The Daily: November 2nd, 2022

Today my darlings we are going to do something different for my daily post. I had planned on a bit more normality, my first use of the the paid My fitness Pal app, lie in general, and my daily makeup look. You know, all of the usual stuff. Then I went to get my makeup for the day out. I first came across the Becca Foundation I planned to declutter on monday. It was still out. I promised myself I would throw it out this afternoon. Then I reached into the drawer and pulled out the RealHer Foundation thinking I hadn’t used it in a while. It was seperated. So I reached for the NYX and found the tube was really light. I dispensed some into my hand and found there wasn’t enough left to use for one last time.

And so instead of putting on my makeup I laid out all of my foundations and did an impromptu foundation declutter. I know, My plan was to wait until December and go through my decluttering so that everything was fresh for the new year.

But I was annoyed. So Foundation declutter today. As a warning there may be a primer declutter for tomorrow as they are in the same drawer and there are several products that either need to go to a new home, tried out or simply thrown out because they have reached the end of their lives.

But for now, we are doing a foundation declutter.

Before we start I would like to say that a lot of these foundations came in subscription boxes. I did purchase quite a few of them because a few years ago the foundation I used routinely was discontinued so I went on the hunt for a new everyday foundation. Then I stopped and began rotating through products to use up the ones that I had. there are two powder foundations I didn’t take out for the declutter. One is the KVD Lock it Powder foundation and the other is the One Size Powder foundation. I like both of them and will be keeping them. Also I have two foundations that I did order. One is the Bounce from Beauty Blender. I tried the sample that came with a Sephora order and I liked it enough that when I saw it was on sale for half price and there was a $5 discount for first time purchases I went ahead and bought it. The second I have on order is the Koh Gen Do Aqua foundation. It was out of stock for a really long time but now it is back in stock. It is a fantastic high end foundation and my go to for event foundation. I tend to go through a bottle during the holiday season.

So this is everything else.

Just seeing them all laid out like that is a lot. But let’s dive in. There are a lot to go through so there is only going to be a few little bits about each so this isn’t a mile long. First we have the empties and expired products.

RealHer I am Divine is expired. It is an okay foundation but not one of my favorites. It tends to sink into the fine lines and isn’t all that long wearing.

The QMS Medicosmetics Active glow is also expired. It is a decent tinted moisturizer. It gives pretty much no coverage. it is great for a no makeup day, but aside from taking down redness it doesn’t do a lot. I liked it on no makeup days, but it is a pricy product that I won’t be repurchasing because there are less expensive products that perform better.

The Becca is discontinued, almost empty and on the verge of expiring. It was supposed to leave on Monday, but it was apparently just waiting for some friends to join it.

The NYX Bare With Me tinted skin Veil is empty. Completely empty. It is a fantastic product that I leaned on all summer. It is a great tinted moisturizer that works as a light coverage foundation and in the spring i will be repurchasing it. For now, the tube is empty and going away.

The Purlisse Perfect Glow BB Cream is also a summer time favorite. There is a smidge left in the tube but I am going to go ahead and declutter it. It is a good light weight formula that gives light to medium coverage (my preferred coverage actually) and I will definitely be repurchasing it.

The Catrice HD Liquid Coverage is a product I am sad to see go. I love the formula but had so many problems with the dropper. It is quite honestly a packaging problem. I am sure i will end up picking this up again in the future simply because it is such a good formula, but I have had two bottles of this and each of them has had issues with the dropper. since I don’t reach for it, this foundation has expired. I think if I had fewer foundations I would go to the trouble of having a replacement dropper next to the bottle to use but it is messy and with other foundations to choose from, I just chose other foundations.

Too Faced Dew You Full Coverage foundation is a good full coverage foundation. I don’t go for full coverage a lot and this foundation is light with kind of yellow undertones. There are about two weeks out of the year where I can make this work (this came in a subscription box). Because of that I don’t use it often and it has expired. It is very long wearing and very full coverage. It is just the wrong shade for me. I also think that Too Faced discontinued it.

I have two foundations from Yensa. One is the BC Skin on Skin Foundation. It is fantastic and I would wear it everyday if I could. Which is why the tube is almost empty. It is staying for now but i will use it up before the new year and immediately repurchase. The Yensa Super Serum Silk Foundation is growing on me. I don’t like it as much as the BC foundation, but I like it enough to finish the bottle. I am still on the fence about whether or not I want to repurchase, but it is staying and I will continue to use it.

The No 7 Lift and Luminate and the Elf Acne fighting foundation are my two drugstore favorites. The No 7 is reordered as soon as it gets low. I like the Elf and will repurchase it but I don’t feel as intense a need to replace it. The Elf is getting low and I will probably finish it out before the year is up. Oddly this is one of the only Elf foundations I do like. While I don’t have that big a problem with acne, this feels lighter than the other elf formulas and one that I would use again,

The Ciate London Extraordinary Foundation is a good foundation. I like using it but you have to go sparingly with it. A little does go a long way. You can build it to full coverage if you want to though. The more you build it though, the more it is going to settle into fine lines. I always use a pore filling primer with this foundation and I always go with a lighter application. For me the big draw for this foundation is that the shade I have perfectly blends with my skin tone.

The next three foundations I like and will use, but I probably won’t repurchase. I reach for them often enough that i will use them up, but I’m just not going to buy them. Two came in subscription boxes and one came from Influenster. The first is the Charlotte Tilbury Air Brush Flawless Foundation. It is nice but tends to feel a bit heavy and oddly enough looks a little powdery even without setting powder.

The Tom Ford Traceless soft matte is a beautiful foundation. It is a serum style and looks fantastic on. It is however quite pricy and to be honest the No 7 Lift and Luminate is almost on par with it. The Tom ford is a little bit better but only by a slim margin. while I don’t mind paying more for a great product, the difference between the tow is too slim for me to justify. I will however use every drop from this bottle.

The third in this group is the Natasha Denona Transformatte. It is a good formula but feels a little heavy on the skin. It is supposed to be pore vanishing but I still need a pore filling primer if it isn’t going to sink into fins lines throughout the day. It looks beautiful for about 8-9 hours and then it sinks into fine lines. I like it enough to wear, but not enough to repurchase given the price of the formula. It is good, but I am not repurchasing when it is done.

The bareMinerals Complexion Rescue is a good tinted moisturizer. It is great for a no makeup look and blends into the skin well. I like it, but I have other products that do the same. I am still actually on the fence about this product though. I don’;t think I have actually used it enough to really decide if I would repurchase or not. I do know my skin loves this more than it does my other tinted moisturizers. I think I might just have to see how I feel after more product has been used.

And then we have Bite Beauty. I love their Changemaker foundation. Or at least I love the formula of the Changemaker foundation I have. I know they changed a lot of their formulas. I don’t know if this foundation went through a change as well. I adore this formula and would purchase it repeatedly. If it hasn’t changed. Also I think the brand has started to go out of business. So this is a conditional love but might not be able to ever repurchase.

Also in that boat is the Kristopher buckle Triplicity Foundation stick. the brand is no longer in existence and I am finishing out the last of this stick. It was a fantastic formula and I will probably cry when the stick is completely depleted. It will not follow me into the new year though.

The Revolution Fast Base Foundation Stick i love and will repurchase repeatedly. I purchased it initially just to have something spill proof that I could travel with. And then I fell in love with it. it is creamy, blends beautifully and looks great. It isn’t the longest wearing foundation but when it wears off it just sort of fades away instead of peeling or sinking into fine lines.

And then the final stick foundation from Anastasia Beverly Hills. It is the Caramel Stick Foundation and it works really well with my skin. It is longer wearing than the Revolution but it also needs a little warming up before using. If you warm it up then it applies well and is very creamy. Again it is also the prefect shade for my skin so that helps.

and so there we have it. A quick and dirty impromptu declutter. It wasn’t what i planned for the day, but it was definitely needed. So the end result: Seven foundations are leaving today. There are thirteen remaining. One is discontinued and will be used up and let go. three are almost empty and will be gone before the end of the year. And five of them will be used up and never repurchased again.

It is still a lot, but as I empty out the ones with low product in them, even if I like them they will not be repurchased until the ones I want to use up and not repurchase have been used up and sent on their way. I’m sure there will be other foundations that come my way in the year but I feel pretty good about knowing what I have, the product level of what i have remaining and the fact that I have gotten rid of items I simply won’t (or can’t) use. Just before we roll into 2023 I will do a brief review to see what is going to actually make it into next year with me but for now, i feel really good about this, even if it wasn’t part of today’s original plan. Hopefully you enjoyed the break form the norm as well.

The Daily: August 24th, 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

today’s Look:

Primer: Too Faced Hangover RX Replenishing Face Primer

Foundation: RealHer Power Wear Probiotic Foundation

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

Brows: iMethod Beauty Eyebrow Stencil Kit

Eyeshadow: OFRA Signature Symphony Palette

Mascara: Eyeko Black Magic Mascara

Eyeliner: Tarte Tartiest Double Take dual ended liner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Daily: June 16th, 2022

Good afternoon my darlings. Have you ever had a day where everything just chugs along as expected. No mishaps, no emergencies, no surprises? Just the day quietly moving along as planned? I know it is the sort of day that once it is passed will slip through the cracks in my memory and be forgotten in a haze, but to be honest it feels fabulous.

I think it has just been such a strange spring for me. Every time I turned around there was another large must deal with event coming down. There were some high points but there were some low points but it was a very spiky looking graph because there seemed to be no mid points.

The transmission on my vehicle started to slip and needed expensive repairs. I got a commission on a project I really wanted to work on. My brother died. I received an award. My heating and air conditioning unit needed to be replaced. One of my younger cousins had twins. One of my best friend’s father died. One of my cousin’s kid’s graduated with honors. A friend got married, two friends got divorced.

I’m sure there were a few more things in there. Some of them happened to me, some around me, but this was not a quiet spring. It was a season of emotional rollercoasters. It felt more like a cork had been popped out and everything just sort of spewed forth in one big gush. I think a lot of it might have been things that were delayed due to earlier lock downs and rescheduling issues and it just all happened to land at once. But it kind of makes me appreciate the solidly steady quiet days where things just go as intended.

Today, I watered, I worked out, I showered and dressed for the day, I worked, I had a a Smoothie Box smoothie (Orange – it was delicious) for lunch. I went back to work. Then I remembered I was going to marinade the salmon we were having for dinner (we just got a Vital Choice order, in fact because it came in around the same time as the Smoothie Box we are thinking of getting one of those small stand alone coolers Nothing large, but in the summer we eat a lot more fish so we order Vital Choice more often (plus there is a huge sale going on right now, I;ll link it below) so that it is on hand and my babydoll wants more room to stash his freeze pops. Yes those plastic tubes of colored sugar water and ice you freeze. He loves them and couldn’t find space in the freezer).

VITAL CHOICE GRADS & DADS SALE! SAVE 10% Off Order $149+ SAVE 15% Off Orders $279+ Using Code: VCSAVE At Vital Choice! Hurry Sale Ends 6/20/22! Shop Now!

The marinade is my favorite, equal parts maple syrup and soy sauce, freshly grated ginger, a couple of pinches of pepper flakes and that’s it. I put everything in a bag so it is easy to turn after two hours and I put the bag in a bowl in the fridge so if the bag springs a leak there won’t be sticky marinade in the fridge. We are having it with roasted green beans that have a dash of sesame oil and some sesame seeds on them. Beans are in season here so you can buy huge bags locally. I roast a whole pan and the left overs will get pureed and mixed with potato so so tomorrow we will have a sort of vegetable pancakes to go with our gochujang chicken.

Yup my biggest concern thus far was making sure I had a plan to use the leftover beans I know we will have.

Ah, normality, how I have missed you.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Sephora Smooth + Blur Primer

Foundation: Revolution Fast Base Foundation Stick

Bronzer: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

Blush: IBY Beauty Blush in Sun Kissed

Powder: Kim Chi Beauty Puff Puff Pass Setting Powder

Eyeshadow: Maybelline Color Tattoo cream shadow and Lottie London Metallic Pigment

Mascara: Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir (the link goes to Sephora for reference but it is out of stock everywhere and discontinued)

Lips: M2UNYC Matte Liquid Lip and TYS Lip Treat Lip Plumper

Today was an interesting mix of new and old, or maybe I should say established. I started with the trial size of primer that came in my Allure. It is one of those tubes that is mostly empty. I might be able to squeak two more uses out of it. It is from the Sephora line and I have to admit when I saw it in the Allure box I wasn’t thrilled, but I did think that if it was there then maybe it was there because it was really good. It is the sort of slippy silicone feeling primers. It works well. It isn’t fabulous but it is functional. It is the sort of thing that if i was placing a Sephora order and needed one more thing to push me over a spending limit, I might add. It is not something that I would look for or specifically go to buy. It is a $16 primer so it is more affordable, but honestly I think the Elf primers are $8 or $9 depending on where you get them and they are better. So if you were looking for an affordable primer I would go there before going to the Sephora line. It does a decent job, it just isn’t rave worthy.

The Revolution Fast Base foundation stick on the other hand is a standby summer favorite. I finished up a tube last summer and then when Revolution had a sale I restocked. This was my first use this summer and I do love this foundation stick. It doesn’t need to be warmed up, blends easily and I found my perfect match (F11 in case you are wondering). It is something that I can wear now and will be able to wear throughout the summer and into the fall when my tan fades. I generally end up using up a tube of this foundation every summer.

The Too Faced bronzer, is a regular use product, it tends to work better for me when I am more tan so it does get more use in the summer. and lets face it the compact is beautiful too so it is nice to play with.

The IBY blush I saw in the drawer this morning and could not honestly remember using. I opened it and it looked untouched. It also looked like a good shade for me. I’m guessing it came in a subscription over the winter and I thought ‘summer shade’ and put it to the side. It is a darker tone and for a first use it worked well. It isn’t highly pigmented but it beldns without disappearing which is nice. I’ll play around with it and see if I am going to add it to my summer makeup, but first use seems promising.

I like the Kim Chi Powder. It is a good quality and with the powder pudd I don’t need to use all that much which keeps it from looking powdery. I did notice if I used a brush then it could look powdery, so I always use the puff with this powder.

Because I wanted to play around with the metallic foil I just used the Maybelline to give me a little darker shade towards the edges. I really do love these color tattoo shadows. It took me a while to figure out how to work with them but in the end they turned out to be fantastic. I need to figure out how to get myself to reach for them more. It is an on going problem with the single shadows. I paired them down to the ones I really like, but I just need to figure out an organizational system that works. So it worked fantastically as always. The gold was the pone I was playing around with. It is the Lottie London. When I used a brush, there was fall out. when I used my finger there was less fall out but it was a bit messy because my finger was just too large. Today I soaked a cotton swab with Setting Spray (Benefit Cosmetics Super Setter) and it was perfect. It had the rounded tip of the finger and the dampness locked in the powder so there was no fall out but it had the maneuverability of a shadow brush. I now want to try this with all of my loose pigments. I don’t know why I didn’t try it before. It was a fantastic solution and thus far I have had zero fall out.

Even though Marc Jacobs Beauty is no more, I found an unopened back up of the Velvet noir and decided to use it. I’ll try to use it more on the days when I don’t post a daily so that I am using products available to purchase if you find them appealing (I hate when I see something I like only to find it no longer exists). this was my favorite mascara for a long time, but Marc Jacobs Beauty has closed. Also I saw an article about Revlon closing too. Which I admit stunned me more than Marc Jacobs.

Revlon is declaring bankruptcy. That seems almost unfathomable.

So we end with lips. I chose the M@UNYC because I like it, it is matte and it dries fairly quickly. I wanted to try the lip plumper over it. The TYS doesn’t have a huge amount of plumping that I can see (but it does tingle a lot) and it has the same effect over lipstick as it did on bare lips. Which was what i was testing today. And it worked.

And so that is me. I was a bit long winded today, maybe with everything seeming calmer I just felt like chatting. I hope you don’t mind. I am tickled my cotton swab idea panned out and I will be trying it elsewhere. I am also thrilled I thought up an advance plan for the left over green beans. I know, not buckets of excitement, but today, that is an amazing thing. Have a great rest of your afternoon.

The Daily: June 1st,2022

Deep breath my darlings. We have reached June. I am leaving May behind and looking forward to a bright drama-less June. This morning I remembered to get up earlier than normal and while I still grumbled at the alarm clock, because let’s face it morning swill never be my thing, I didn’t hit the snooze repeatedly. Nope. I got up and out of bed and started my day.

Why the early rise?

So I don’t pass out from the heat of walking in the afternoon. My goal this week (and possibly next) is to get in the habit of rising earlier so I can include my morning walk, for at least as long as the heat lets me anyway. There is always a point in August where even if you get up before the sun and go walking in the dark the air is still too hot and sticky to tolerate out door activity. So I am adding in that habit now and then I am going to slowly incorporate an afternoon activity indoors.

Mostly because I need a break mid afternoon. There is just a point where I need to physically leave my desk and move around or I just feel jittery and off balance. That is where the YogaWorks on-line classes will come in. I won’t be doing them every day, but I need some sort of structure to my indoor workouts. If I have a planned class or set of workouts I am good. I have generally found that if left to my own devices I will drift and not really put in the effort. If there are a set of classes, then a part of my brain is always worried that if I don’t put in the effort in this class then I won’t be able to keep up with later ones.

I think it is a hold over from Math Classes.

But at this point in my life, I do know this about myself. So I’m using it to my advantage. There are two sections of the Yoga Works program one is more interactive than the other and I don’t think I need that level of interactive yoga. So I am going for the more low key one (which still has over 1300 classes). It is also only $19 per month. which is well within my budget. Plus you get the first two weeks as a trial so I’m going to use the trial and if it is what I hope it will be, I will go all in. Then when August rolls around and walking out doors at all becomes relatively impossible if heat stroke is to be avoided, I will adjust the system again.

At least this is the plan. I’ll keep you posted on how it works. Today I was just happy to convince myself not to hit the alarm and to go on my morning walk before having my coffee.

The coffee was there when i returned. After I cooled down and took a shower of course.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Glass Primer from Rodial

Foundation: Yensa Skin on Skin Full Coverage BC Foundation

Bronzer: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

Blush: Patrick Ta She’s Passionate Blush

powder: bareMinerals Original Mineral Veil Setting Powder

Eyeshadow: Iconic London Sunset to Sunrise Eyeshadow Palette

Mascara: Anastasia Beverly Hills Lash Brag Mascara

Lips: Uoma Lip Liner with KVD Vegan Beauty Epic Kiss Lipstick

Most of the face products you will notice are the same as yesterday. Today I did that for a reason. I am testing a primer I have never used before so since I used products I liked the look of yesterday, I just went ahead and used them again today to see the difference the primer made.

There wasn’t all that much of a difference appearance wise. The glass skin primer may have been a little more glowy. However it did feel different. It felt a little stickier than a lot of my other primers. While this did let my makeup stay on longer today I did notice that my foundation and other face products, took a little more effort to blend. The foundation in particular took more effort to get to the point I wanted it to. It got there, it was just more effort. It could be the two products don’t like each other and that will be something I pay attention to as I shift foundations around during the primer test.

One thing to add about the primer though was I was surprised by the scent. It is very menthol-ly. It mentions menthol in the description but I was not quite prepared by how strong the scent was. It isn’t bad, but it is strongly scented.

The powder is one of my favorites from bareMinerals. Today instead of using the powder brush I applied it with the powder puff from the Kim Chi Powder. I really think I am going to have to get a couple of powder puffs to simply use for face powder. It uses less product than a brush does, plus you don’t have fall out over the clothes. While I like the look of this powder when applied with a brush, I like it just as much if not more when applied with a puff. Plus there is less product used so it lasts longer. I know there are always makeup sponges, but they don’t quite work as well for me as a good powder puff. I think it might be a shape and surface area thing. I am going to have to look at getting some powder puffs.

I have to admit that does tickle me a bit and reminds me a little of watching my grandma apply makeup when i was a kid. I always thought her glass powder jar was so glamorous. It had a mother of pearl sheen to it and just looked classy. I may have to look into one of those jars as well. I’m sure I can find one on line somewhere. Maybe look at classing up my dressing table.

But before then, we will continue with the eyeshadow. while I am still liking the formula of the eyeshadows I am finding the mattes and their color choices are not the best. I tried several of the lighter mattes today. The first one was the same color as my skin, the second was really orange-y pink and then I tried a could others to tame it down. I know it mostly looks like I swiped one color over my lids and that I was very sloppy about it too. I am not fond of this eye look, but i was tired of messing with the shadows. I loved the darker mattes yesterday. The lighter mattes I used today were a little more powdery than the darker shades which I found surprising because usually it is the other way around. They blended just as well, I just didn’t like the shadow colors. I suspect that as I play with this there will be one or two mattes I love and the rest will be varying shimmers. The shimmers are nice and they have a wider variety of colors than the mattes. At least that is how it feels thus far. It is still only my second day with the palette though. It will be interesting to see how I feel about this palette by the end of my trial.

And then we have the lips. I used the Uoma Lip liner to darken the KVD lipstick. I enjoy both although they really didn’t want to blend that much. I think I need a creamier lip liner to blend with this lipstick more. It looks really dark in the tube but it comes out brighter on the lips. I’m not sure if this is a trend across all of the colors but it is something to note.

Overall today worked out well for me. As most of the face products were a repeat from yesterday for the primer test, and they are all ones I like it isn’t that much of a surprise I suppose. I am not a fan of the eye look but every thing else, I think turned out okay.

And now it is back to work for me as I finish out this Wednesday afternoon. I hope your First day of June is simply fabulous.

The Daily: May 31st, 2022

Today my darlings is the last day of May. This has been a hard May for me and I for one am very happy to see the end of it. It seemed as soon as one calamity started to fade another one decided it was time to rise. Some were larger than others obviously and a few will have lasting effects, but when the hits keep coming even the small problems suddenly seem like too much.

So I am fervently hoping for a quiet June. A nice peaceful month where the only thing that really worries me is the number of rabbits that are intent on nibbling in my garden.

and actually thus far that hasn’t been bad. Don’t get me wrong, the rabbits are everywhere this year. It was apparently a bumper season for bunnies. However my yard hasn’t been hit too much. We do now have a neighbor with an outdoor cat and that cat likes to spend time in our yard chasing things. So I think that may be the reason. I’m not a cat person, but if the cat wants to chase the rabbits and squirrels out of the yard I am fine with it. My babydoll is still trying to decide which sort of terrier he wants as he thinks that will take down the rabbit problem.

But for now the neighbor’s cat is helpful. And the birds seem smart enough to stay out of reach.

This long weekend was nice. I don’t know what you did but I did a whole heap of nothing and I did it far from all of my electronic devices. If the world ended this weekend i wanted to be the last person to know about it. In fact i wanted to be the person asking “Hey what was that noise?”

There was no computer, no phones (because the cell service was really bad not by actual choice), while there was music we used only CDs and records so there was no possibility of news updates.

It was glorious.

I can’t tell you how much I really needed a break from the world at large. My brain simply needed a break. And I got one, a nice long one from Friday afternoon to late last night. And now I am ready to face June. I am hoping it is a quiet June, but I am still in a better place to face it.

The bangs are crazy, no excuse, just pointing out the obvious, I am happy with the rest though

Today’s Look:

Primer: Yensa Essential Glow Tone Up Primer

Foundation: Yensa Skin on Skin Full Coverage BC Foundation

Bronzer: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

Blush: Patrick Ta She’s Passionate Blush

powder: bareMinerals Original Mineral Veil Setting Powder

Eyeshadow: Iconic London Sunset to Sunrise Eyeshadow Palette

Mascara: Stila Huge Extreme Lash Mascara

Lips: About Face Light Lock Lip Gloss in Angel on Fire

Okay today I was feeling a little summery. Perhaps it is the anticipation of June’s arrival and the desire to put this awful Spring behind me. Today I paired the two Yensa products together. I know it is a bit more of a glow than I like, but I am beginning to embrace the no longer full matte look. I’m never going to go full on wet look, but a little glow is nice. Although when I do I don’t use any highlighter. Highlighter seems like overkill. I might work with the Subtler St. Luxe though as it is less highlighter and more lit from within shimmer, but that is for another day.

I also wanted to pair these two as I am going to be playing with some of my more illuminating primers and this is one of my favorites, so I wanted to compare the softer glow to the upcoming products (I am still working through the new primers I’ve accumulated).

The Too Faced bronzer is a summer staple. If you use a light touch it works early on in the summer and is buildable so that even at my deepest summer tan I can use it. So it will be making it’s way out of the drawer more as the summer sets in. I am slowly working my way into the seasonal makeup change. It has been slow this year.

This Patrick Ta blush is a bit lighter than I usually go for, but somehow works with the primer/foundation combo. I tend not to reach for it in the winter when I am too pale and it is just too pink and then about this time of year it s okay so I’ll start reaching for it and remembering that it is a really nice formula. Then with my mid summer tan it is about perfect for giving me a light blush with a natural summer look. It is a really great formula and I need to look at picking up at least one more shade for year round use. I just need to sit down and figure out what that shade is.

I loved the way these shadows blended today

The powder was a deliberate choice, and it will appear again tomorrow. I’ve recently been trying different powders and using a poof to apply the setting powder rather than a brush. With powders that tend to look powdery it looks less powdery with the poof than with the brush. This bareMinerals is one of my favorite powders. With a brush it doesn’t look powdery. Today I applied it with a brush and tomorrow I will use the poof. I want to see if it makes a difference with the application of a product I already like. So I know I love this powder it is more a case of testing application tools.

This was my first use of the Iconic Palette. I couldn’t find it listed anywhere other than Boxycharm or IPSY so the above link will just take you to the eyeshadows page of Iconic’s home page. (I’m not an affiliate, I just like to link back to products so you can find them easily). I don’t know if this palette has been discontinued but even if it has this is my first use of their eyeshadows so I’m testing it for the formula. I do like the colors though, it is a nice collection of shades. And as far as first use goes, this went really well. The shadows have a little powdery-ness to them but it wasn’t too bad in the fall out department. They applied well and blended really well. I used two mattes and a shimmer and all three blended well. I’ll be working my way through this palette as I try out the different shades (because sometimes lighter shades work differently than darker ones) but thus far I like the formula. So hopefully it will be a fun test.

I love the Stila Mascara and feel I will soon have to replace this tube.

The About face Lip gloss seemed right for today. It has a light color but felt like a summer gloss. It has a peppermint scent to it but no plumping. It is also slightly sticky. It is a nice gloss though and stuck around for a while. It isn’t one I’d feel the need to replace, but it is one I will use until it is done.

And that was me today. well rested, even if my hair does look a bit insane and feeling ready for the new month ahead. I have my fingers crossed that it will be a nice quiet one with the only excitement happening being the champagne popping at the end of the month in celebration of my birthday. In fact that’s what I want for my birthday, a nice quiet month or just steady days. excitement can take the summer off and return when the leaves start to turn. I know it doesn’t work that way, but at least I got a nice quite weekend before returning to work today. I hope you had whatever long weekend you needed to get you ready for your work week as well.