The Daily: May 8th, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Mine was interesting. As you recall it was the one year anniversary of my brother’s death. Thinking about it last week sort of had me out of sorts. there was sadness and missing him, but there was also just a clear reminder that time does move on. Grief can feel like it sticks you down in one spot, but time does keep passing. And letting grief anchor you into one place does no one any good. It was a lesson I learned when my Dad died and I had to learn it again now. You grieve but you have to still keep living.

Didn’t mean to go dark on anyone during a Monday afternoon.

I think the best description of my weekend is introspective. Most of the activity went on in my head. well the gardening between rain storms happened outside of my head, but there was a lot of thinking going on. And I feel better for it. I am certainly less melancholy than I was last week.

At the moment it is raining down buckets. The sun was hit or miss today so the photos I took are not the best, still, let’s jump out of my head and back into everyday life with today’s look.

Today’s look

Primer: Beauty Bakerie The Butter Primer

Foundation: Hide Invisible Oil Free Foundation

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation Vibes Bronzer

Blush: Axiology Multi Use Color Cream

Setting Powder: Kim Chi Chic Beauty Puff Puff Pass Set and Bake powder

Eyeshadow: Natasha Denona Alloy Palette

Mascara: Anastasia Beverly hills Lash Brag

Lips: Uoma Beauty Lip Liner in Angelou and Trestique Mini Matte Lip Crayon in Barcelona Bright Berry

Again I apologize for the lighting. The sun was not my friend and the overhead light was not working with me. Next time I will just go to the bathroom and take the photo there. Anyway,,,,

I love this Butter primer from the Beauty Bakerie. It is light weight and pore filling. It goes on white which always makes me feel like I am going to look ghostly, but then it blends it. The stick formula makes it easy to use with no mess. I think this may be one of the best things I’ve tried from the brand. Their lippies are great too …okay it may be a tie.

At the moment I am looking at all my foundations to see what is going to be used for summer wear and what needs to be set aside for post tan fading times. This Hide shade works for me. It is a beautiful formula and I really like wearing it. My brush does leave tracks so I had to smooth them over with a makeup sponge, but it was so worth it, The formula is weightless and leaves my skin looking fantastic.

The Buxom is one of my go to summer bronzers because it works with both foundation and BB creams. I do need to pick up some BB creams. The one I have left from last summer has very little left. I keep trying to pick things up when I go to Target but they are always sold out. I think an Ulta run might be in my near future.

I chose the Axiology today partially because it is just a good product and I love using it. I also chose it because I wanted to see if the cream product had dried out any in the paper tube. I love that the tube is all paper and can just be rinsed and recycled when you are done with it, but I didn’t know what that would mean for the product. Thus far there has been no signs of it drying out in the slightest. So I am relieved and excited. It is a really good cream blush.

And you know I love my Kim Chi setting powder. I gush about the puff (cause it’s awesome to have a usable puff in a powder) but it is a great product on it’s own.

I did go a little heavy on the eyeshadow today as I was playing with the palette, but I think it turned out well. I have noticed that the mattes will blend well together but the shimmers don’t really blend. They just overlay the mattes. There is a definite line where they stop. At least mine didn’t want to blend too much. I applied it and then reached for my blending brush. I got the demarcation line to blur slightly but you can still tell where the application stopped. It looks fine with my eyes open, but that sort of bothers me a bit. I do love the palette though and will happily play with it some more.

And you know I love the ABH Lash Brag. Great mascara and soon I will have to replace it. Partially because there isn’t much mascara in the tube and partially because it is reaching the deadline. I may love the mascara but I won’t risk an eye infection for it.

And then we have the lips. I lined them with the Uma Beauty lip liner. It is an excellent formula. I then topped it with the Trestique. I love these lip crayons. I don’t know why i think of the mini collection in the summer. I think it might be because I have the mattes mixed with sheers and the colors are all so bright and cheerful. They go on like light weight bullet lipstick. They last longer with a lip liner under them. They are also quite moisturizing so the lip liner won’t dry out the lips. Really love these for summer wear.

And that my darlings is me. I’m coming out of the doldrums, even if the weather is a bit stormy and I feel good. thanls for putting up with me when ,my disposition is less than sunny. I appreciate it.

The Daily: May 2nd, 2023

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today’s Look:

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

Primer: Pinklipps Soft Matte Primer

Foundation: Yensa Super serum Silk Foundation

Concealer: Dior Backstage Concealer

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation Vibes Bronzer

Blush: Depology Tinted Multi stick

Highlight: OFRA All of the Lights Highlighter

Setting Powder: Tatcha The Silk Powder

Eyeshadow: Fenty Beauty Snap Shadows Smoky

Mascara: Anastasia Beverly Hills Lash Brag Mascara

Lips: UOMA Beauty Lip Liner in Angelou

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And so my darlings, that is me.

The daily: Tuesday, February 28th, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings, the mail just arrived and I am so excited. Montrax just sent over their Heated Eye Mask for me to try out. It not only has a design that is supposed to provide total black out for sleep but it is heated and has a scent pod to go with it. Eye masks are one of the ways I fight my lifelong battle with insomnia, so I can’t wait to try this out and see how it performs. I will of course report back once I’ve tested out all of it’s functions, but i couldn’t help but show it to you now. Think of it as a spoiler alert for a future post.

Other than my excitement over the mail it has been a pretty quiet day. My babydoll is back to work, his sinus situation settled. This up and down weather has been hard on him. while I just get headaches and a stuffy nose from the change in weather, He is prone to full blown sinus attacks and while the spring and autumn are usually the difficult parts of the year for him, he is used to getting a break at other times of the year. this year it seems like there have been very few breaks. Only a few spots between one sinus issue and the next.

while they are bad, i think it is the antibiotics that really just throw him for a loop. They just do a number on his system. But he is recovering. Yesterday he was home and so today I am making up for the things i didn’t get done because he was home. As well as taking advantage of the sun and relatively warm temps today to air out the house. I have all of the windows open, the sheets in the washer and all of the blankets hanging out in the back yard. If nothing else, but the end of the day, the house will feel fresh. It took a little time out of my work schedule to do, but i think it will be worth it. I also might work a little later tonight to make up for it. But over all, I feel good about taking advantage of our rare day of sun. It has been a rainy winter.

But all this means that I went quick and easy on the makeup today. Hair in a ponytail and clothes that I don’t mind getting a bit dirty. Although I have to say, I am rather pleased with how the makeup came out.

Today’s look

Primer: Yensa Tone Up Essential Glow Primer

Foundation: KVD Vegan Beauty Good Apple Foundation Balm

Bronzer: Milk Makeup Bronzing stick

Blush: NARS Orgasm blush

Setting Powder: Item Beauty Powder Hour (shade in the clear)

Eyeshadow: Revolution Beauty Mini Reloaded Palette in Velvet Rose

Mascara: Uoma Beauty Salute to the Sun Mascara

Lips: Ace Beaute Perfect Pout Liquid Lip

While I am still trying to decide how I feel about this good Apple foundation, I have found that it does really well with the Yensa primer. I love the primer so i don’t mind wearing it. I also thought there was more in the tube then there is. I will have to order more of the primer soon. Admittedly I am going to be spending most of March trying to use up and try out the collected sample size primers in my collection, so I may be able to postpone my shopping. I am a little mad at myself for not checking the primer earlier. I recently reordered the Yensa Foundation and if i had known the prime was so low i would have ordered it at the same time, but I did not check. Such is life.

I do love this Milk Makeup Bronzer and when this sample is finished it too will be ordered, in a full size this time, so that i can continue using it. I love the NARS blush formula and like millions have said before me, the shade Orgasm just works. It is a beautiful shade.

This mini Revolution palette is an amazingly quick everyday palette. I used the chocolate brown on the outer corners, the pink shimmer on the inner corners with a little bit of the matte pink on the very inner corners to make my eyes look a little wider and then i called it done. As well as being compact for travel, this is just a really good I have no time this morning eyeshadow palette. It is very low key but paired with a stunning mascara it pops.

And so I went for the UOMA. It is getting clumpier the longer it is open, but it is still usable. I think I have about a week or two left before I can no longer use it. So I am going to make the best of it and use it a lot until it is too clumpy to reach for.

And finally I rounded it out with the Ace Beaute liquid lip. It is a nice creamy formula and this is a good neutral shade for me. Plus it is so beautiful that the packaging makes me want to use it. I would like toi try the formula in a darker shade though because I wonder about the wand and how controlled I could be with a berry shade. It is a long wand and with this shade I am find but darker shades tend to show slight imperfections in application more, so i want to try it. I do like how this formula just glides over chapped lips and hides the bumps. Yet another reason to try out more shades.

But there is where I leave you my darlings. The wind is blowing through the house and freshening the air. The blankets are flapping in the wind and I need to transfer the sheets from the washer to the dryer before i get back to work. I hope the rest of your Tuesday is splendid.

The Daily: February 22nd, 2023

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

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

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

Today’s Look:

Primer: The Butter Hydrosilk Primer from Beauty Bakerie

Foundation: Beauty Blender Bounce Foundation

Concealer: Dior Backstage Flash Perfector Concealer

Bronzer: Milk Makeup Bronzing stick

Blush: NARS Blush in Orgasm

Powder: NARS Powder in Eden

Highlight: OFRA All the Lights

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

Mascara: Uoma Salute to the Sun Mascara

Lips: Ace Beaute Pout Perfect Liquid Lip

Setting Spray: Ciate London Watermelon Burst Setting Spray

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Daily: February 7th, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings. While today is not quite as nice outside as yesterday it is still fantastic walking weather and I took advantage of it. Possibly a little too much advantage actually. I may have extended my walk a little too much as I was enjoying seeing the actual sun in the sky. I loved the fresh air and the sun. My legs are certainly feeling the extra distance and today, time is not my friend.

Today time is running from me like it owes me money and knows I hired a leg breaker to collect.

And so I am going to have to keep this short and sweet today. Not that I am planning to breaktime’s legs, or send anyone to do it, if time actually has legs. it is always said to be running (time is running out, time runs on, running away from me, etc) so I suppose it does have legs. But I wouldn’t break them, even metaphorically.

But moving on. Today’s look:

Primer: Figs and Rouge Satin Soft Blurring Primer (from my Use up box)

Foundation: No 7 Lift and Luminate Triple active Serum Foundation

Bronzer: Milk Makeup Bronzing stick (sample from use up box)

Blush and Lips: Axiology Color Multi Use Color Cream in True

Setting Powder: Beauty Bakerie Flour Setting Powder in Oat

Eyeshadow: Revolution Mini Reloaded Palette in Velvet Rose

Mascara: Uoma Beauty Salute to the Sun Mascara

The two items I chose from my Use up box today are the Primer and the bronzer. I am doing my best to try and use at least one item per day from the box and thus far I think I am doing okay with that. The Bronzer is the Milk Makeup one and it is a sample I am trying to use up so I can justify purchasing the full size. It is fantastic. I am still on the fence about the primer. It is half empty and I am still not sure, which means I probably won’t repurchase it. It goes on well and it does have a slight blurring effect, but that’s it. It is a very wet formula that I am not all that fond of and it takes a while to dry down enough to continue with my makeup. I think that under a really dry foundation this would work well, but I don’t have a lot of really dry formulas. i may try it with the KVD as that is my driest formula. But for now it is fine to use but I probably won’t pick it up again.

Today’s foundation was the No 7 Serum. Have you ever not used a really good foundation for a while, gone back to it and then wonder why you don’t use it every day? I have been trying a few new foundations lately but to be honest if I kept only two foundations it would be this one and the Yensa BC Full Coverage foundation. I like other foundations and will certainly use and repurchase them but if I had to pair it down, those are the two I would keep. The No 7 lift and luminate is just so beautiful on my skin. It has been a while since I have reached for it so I am waxing a little poetic, but it really is a fantastic formula.

Today I used the Axiology as both blush and lip. I specifically went for it today because after yesterdays trial with this as blush I knew if I didn’t try it as a lip product i would just continue to use it for my cheeks and think of it as a cheek product. On the cheeks it is still fabulous and I am going to enjoy reaching for this for a while as a cheek product. On the lips it feels like a lip balm rather than a lip stick or a lip gloss. Thee is absolutely no scent to it, which is not a bad thing for a lip product. It doesn’t really dry down but after a few lip prints in the first ten minutes or so it does stop transferring. I blotted it as though it was a lipstick and then kissed the back of my hand. there was a little transfer and then ten minutes later when I kissed my hand again thee was only a shadow of a print. In case you were wondering about my test. It doesn’t have the dry down of a liquid lip and it doesn’t have the waxiness of a bullet style lip, it does feel exactly like a lip balm.

I am also impressed with the color pay off. A part of me thought that because it blended out so well on my cheeks it might not have as bright a tint for the lips. I was wrong, it is very pigmented. while it is a fantastic blush shade for me, it isn’t really my favorite lip shade. It looks a little too pink toned for me in real life. I like it but I don’t love it. I think if i were traveling I would use it in a pinch, but I really like this as a cream blush so I would go multi use in a pinch but I think the cheeks are claiming this one. I think part of that though is that I really love it as a blush. It does feel really good on the lips and I do also have the tinted Dew Multi Stick as well so perhaps I will try that as a lip item tomorrow. It seems a bit light for blush for me so perhaps it will be more for my lips. We shall see.

Today I went with the Beauty Bakerie Setting powder. It is a great setting powder with just enough tint so it isn’t stark white on the skin. It is just a really good setting powder.

I really enjoy this revolution mini palette for quick and easy application. Today I went with a dash of the dark brown and one of the lighter highlights and called it done. I tap the brush off and there was no fall out. It applied smoothly. I’ve noticed that this formula seems to lean towards a lighter application. if I go darker and more dramatic these shadows will fade a lot by the end of the day. If I start light however they will last the day where I put them. i don’t think it is a formula that builds up well if you are planning to wear them all day. It can look good that way but it seems a trade off. You can have high drama, but only for a little while, or you can have a solid casual look all day.

I’m sure there is a life lesson in there if you care to look, but we will move on to mascara.

Today I used the Uoma Beauty one. It is fantastic on the lids. It has a fluffy brush and makes my lashes quite dramatic. It also is a nourishing formula so my lashes feel good at the end of the day. However I have noticed that the more I use it, the more clumps of product I am getting on the wand. It isn’t affecting the application as I can knock it back off on the tube, but I am noticing it is increasing. It is something I will be watching out for.

And that my darlings is me today. Unfortunately I must now dash. I shorted myself on time with my fabulous, but overly long walk. My legs are rubbery and time is now openly mocking me. And so adieu for now my darlings, I will be back with you soon. Have a great rest of Thuirsday.

The Daily: February 1st, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings and welcome to February. I know the day is still cold and drizzly but because the calendar page turned i find my eyes drifting towards the seed catalogs. I need to get my seed orders in soon so I can start the seeds in the small greenhouse and have them large enough when actual spring time arrives to allow them to survive the move out doors.

And by greenhouse I mean a plastic shelving unit with a sort of clear rain coat over it. Greenhouse makes it sound far more grand than it actually is, but as it is an amazing bit of kit, I just have to give it the full title of Greenhouse. And yes, this year i am starting my seeds just a little bit earlier than last year. I checked my garden Journal to be certain.

Garden Journal

Last year’s spring was such a yo-yo of temperatures that a lot of my seedlings weren’t quite up to the transfer. I did the normal tempering of the plants but we had cold fluctuations all the way until May when summer came blazing on and lasted until October. I figure if I start my plants earlier and make sure they are more substantial, possibly with a longer tempering time, (starting outside in the day, coming in at night and gradually staying out all night until they are planted in the actual garden beds) I might have better luck this year.

Given the winter, I don’t think this spring is going to be an easy transition year either. So I am trying to plan for that. We’ll see if it works.

Other than that it is still rainy and just barely above freezing, 34 where I am. which means I just want to stay inside. which is fine as I have a lot to do. I was less puffy and inclined to watery eyes today so I am guessing that whatever was in the air washed out. Either way, for today’s makeup I decided to go for the complete use up box and then filter in the other elements from my collection to get a complete look. I’m actually quite happy with it.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Figs and Rouge blurring primer

Foundation: Bite Beauty Changemaker Foundation (discontinued)

Bronzer: Milk Makeup Baked Matte Bronzer

Blush: Tarte Breezy Cream Blush in Pink Sky

Setting Powder: By Terry Hyaluronic Hydro Powder

Not really a setting Spray: Peach and Lily Glass Skin Veil Mist Hydrate and Glow

Eyeshadow: KVD Vegan Beauty Single Shadow in Lolita and Elf No budge Shadow Stick in Rose Gold

Mascara: UOMA Salute to the sun

Lips: Revolution Pout Bomb in Clear

This primer I have to apply more like a moisturizer than a primer. With primers I generally put the primer on the spots where I need the primer the most and then blend out. This has too thin a consistency so I dispensed it on to my hand and then applied it like a moisturizer. I think it does a little blurring, but mostly it is a hydrating formula. with the heat running constantly at the moment, I am perfectly fine with a moisturizing primer.

I do love the Bite Beauty Foundation. I loved many things about Bite Beauty but alas, they are no more. I was pleased to realize there was less product in this tube than I thought so I definitely think I can use it up this month and clear it out of my collection which makes me happy.

I love the formula of this Milk Makeup Bronzer. I have a sample which is halfway down on product and it is in the Use up box so I can use the sample up and then order a full sized version. I really enjoy it and will have no problems reaching for it this month.

I put this cream blush from Tarte in the mix this month because i am still unsure about it. i have been liking cream blushes more and more recently. Usually they apply with a finger tip and then blend in. This one doesn’t work well that way. When i use a finger tip it tends to sort of take off the foundation when I try to blend. So I used a makeup sponge today. I patted it in the pan and then to my cheeks. At first it didn’t look like much but it built up and suddenly I had very pink cheeks. I used my foundation brush to knock it back a bit in color and then topped it off with the setting powder and I really like the way it turned out in the end. I am still going to have to play with it though. It is an interesting formula.

While I adore the pressed powder from By Terry, the loose version tends to be hard to blend out and leaves white marks. i went in with a light touch and a fluffy brush and it worked okay. it always looks good in the end but it takes a bit more effort than I want to give a setting powder. It is a travel sized version though so hopefully I can use it up this month and let it go.

Whether it is the setting powder or the central heat, my skin looked dry today so i found myself reaching for this spray a lot today. it keeps everything from looking and feeling dry without smudging. The mist is fine enough that even the mascara didn’t run. I really enjoy this spray. It is a long time favorite and one i usually reach for more in the summer, however this winter it has been a real skin saver.

The KVD is one of my favorite single shadows and I was happy to keep it in the Use up box rotating in this month. I will happily use it. Today I paired it with the Elf shadow stick. I picked this up on a shim and I am going to have to pick up more. They apply easily, blend well and do not budge all day. This shade happens to work really well with the KVD shadow so I think it will be popping up more often this month. I am a big fan.

Todays clear winner in the makeup category is this UOMA mascara. Two coats, ultra fabulous. I mean seriously, I am very impressed with my lashes today.

And I just wasn’t reeling the lipstick today so I went for the clear gloss of Pout Bomb. It is fabulous and with the heat running I know the Vitamin E will do well for my lips.

And that my darlings is me today. Not to bad as it turned out. It is a low key look that I am comfortable with. I deliberately used all of the items in my Use up box, mostly to see how they worked together. I won;t reach for all of them every day but I am going to try to use one item from the box each day through February. i don’t know how well I’ll do, but I like having that a a goal. I am also happy that if I use the box it is more of an every day look.

But now it is back to work for me. I hope you have a fabulous Wednesday wherever you are.

The Daily: January 30th, 2023

Good afternoon my darlings. It looks like we are actually closing in on the end of January. It is always interesting to see the end of January. A lot of months I am surprised to reach the end of them but somehow January always feels much longer than any other month in the year. I think part of it might be that ic comes after a bunch of holidays. For Me Halloween is sort of when time speeds up.

Halloween is that fun holiday where you dress up and have candy and carve jack o’ lanterns and just generally have a good time making smoking concoctions that look like witch’s brews for the cocktail hour. Then the next morning as I realize the mold has claimed the inside of your pumpkin and the rot from being on the front stoop for several weeks has caused it to slump sideways, I am hit with the realization that it is in fact November.

we always do a lot of our gift exchanges on Thanksgiving because some people only travel for one of the holidays so everything has to be purchased and wrapped for those folks and then there is the shipping for other people so they can have things by Christmas and with one thing or another, the shopping the gatherings, the decorating and the taking down of decorations, from November 1st to January first there is just a blur of movement and whizzing past of time until it stops with the midnight champagne cork popping of new years.

Then everything sort of slows down to normal speeds, which oddly seems glacially slow.

And so January seems to last forever. Yet here we are about to reach the end.

At least that is my take on it. I suppose I am in a bit of an introspective mood today. I spent large chunks of my weekend trying to work out a character’s motivation. My plot idea had him behaving in a certain way so the story would move along but then I couldn’t figure out why he would do what I wanted. It made no sense so i had to think about what this particular character would do in the situation, based on how I’ve written him thus far and how that would affect the story. And than just for fun I flipped it around and thought about how I’d re write the character so that he would behave as I wanted and then i tried to decide which I liked best.

I actually enjoy that part of writing. But it does put me in an introspective sort of mood. I start wondering how everything around me ticks. Luckily oi am working from home with no meetings scheduled today so no coworkers will be affected.

Today’s Look:

Primer: AOA Studios Blur Fection Primer

Foundation: HIDE Invisible medium to full coverage foundation

Bronzer: Kim Chi Chic Hello Thailor Bronzer

Blush: Benefit Cosmetics Georgia Blush

Powder: By Terry Hyaluronic Hyrdo Powder

Eyeshadow: Revolution Beauty Coraline Palette

Mascara: Uoma Salute to the Sun Mascara

Lips: Yensa Super 8 Lip Oil in Power Pink

I picked up this AOA primer from Shop Miss A on a whim and I have to say I really like it. It is a bit crumbly until it warms up and then it blends beautifully and sort of works like spackle on fine lines and pores. I am really enjoying it.

The HIDE foundation is perfectly my shade at this time of year and it does blend well. I am noticing that less is more though. One layer looks beautiful but it is not a foundation I am having any luck building up. One to two pumps covers the face well with a medium coverage. it is my preferred coverage so i am okay with that but building it up just makes those fine lines show more.

The Kim Chi bronzer is beautiful. It is soft and richly pigmented. It applies strong but blends well. I just need to remember that it is more my summer shade than my winter one. It was a bit heavy for me today and since I haven’t used it in a while I was a bit heavy handed. It blended out well, but it was definitely operator error.

This Georgia Blush however is prefect for winter for me. It tends to get lost when I am tan but it is a nice soft pink on winter pale skin for me. I just need to remember to reach for it more often. I am glad I reached for it today.

The By Terry powder is one I will use, but I don’t think I will repurchase, at least in the loose version. The pressed powder is amazing for afternoon touch ups but the loose powder is a bit temperamental. if you use a sponge or a puff it wants to shoe where you first touched down on your face, It can be blended out but it takes some time. The best application has been a fluffy brush tapped on the wrist once before applied to the face. That helps. Once on, it is a beautiful powder, it just requires a bit more thought than other setting powders.

I chose the eyeshadow because I had Revolution on my mind today. I caught up on all of the legal drama of the brand over the weekend so I was thinking about them. Plus once I opened the palette I saw the purple and deep blue and decided that was just what I wanted today. I know, very Ursula of me, but I think it came out well. At least I like it. While I love my neutrals there are some mornings where my brain just says ‘Color NOW!’ and this is just what happened. Personally I like the way it turned out.

I am also loving this UOMA mascara. I deliberately went with just one coat today and I think my lashes look fabulous. In addition, this formula feels so light weight and when I used it last week, my lashes felt soft when I removed the mascara. I know it is a nourishing formula or it is supposed to be based on the website description, but it really seems to be doing some nourishing. One use isn’t enough to really tell, but it is encouraging.

And then there are the lips. I went with the Yensa Super 8 Lip oil. The one I was using before was just a light shine on the lips with barely a tint. This one is far more pigmented, almost like a lipstick. I am actually very impressed with the pigmentation. It is brighter than I usually go with my lips but I do love this formula. I think because the lip oil I used previously had such a barely there color I didn’t realize just how pigmented they were. I am going to have to look at the shade range and actually think about colors instead of just lip care with a shine. And I am always happy to find more lip products.

But that is me my darlings. I am kind of tickled with the way the yes turned out today. It is mostly my computer screen that will get to see them, but they make me happy. And somedays, that is what count’s the most. Happy Monday everyone.

The Daily: August 18th, 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today’s Look:

Primer: Touch in Sol No Poreblem Primer

Foundation: Real Her Powerwear Probiotic Foundation

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

Eyeshadow: OFRA Signature Palette: Symphony

Mascara: Give Them Lala Beauty Mascara

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

Lips: Uoma Beauty Lip Liner

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Daily: August 8th, 2022

Oh my darlings I have returned. Like Rip Van Winkle I have awoken from my slumber, and I feel just about as creaky too. I was feeling tired on Wednesday afternoon and thought a little nap sounded like a good idea. I woke up Thursday morning with my alarm from my Wednesday nap, visited the restroom, decided the day was not going to work out, let everyone know and then crawled back into bed. Around four in the afternoon on Thursday I got up did another visit to the bathroom, managed to get down a smoothie (Berry from Smoothie box. Usually it tastes fab, but I could taste nothing, I just knew I needed some food in my system and the Monthly order came in, which really saved me). I was up for maybe an hour before going back to sleep. The same process repeated Friday and Saturday. Sunday, I began to feel human again.

Today I feel better still.

I am still at the sitting up in the chair is the limit of my exercise point in recovery, but the fact that sitting up in the chair does not exhaust me is a huge bonus. And i felt like actually applying makeup today even if i couldn’t actually get my fitness plan in. It was at least something normal in my day. Plus today I might actually get a sandwich and some solid food in my belly instead of existing on Smoothie Box Shakes. They are great and really helped me out, but I am actually starting to crave chewing even if I am still not all that hungry.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Elf Poreless Putty Primer

Foundation: No 7 Lift and Luminate Triple Action Serum Foundation

Bronzer: Illamasqua Sculpting Gel stick

Blush: Benefit Cosmetics Georgia Blush

Powder: Tatcha Silk Setting Powder

Eyeshadow Primer: Sandbar Beauty Eyeshadow Primer

Eyeshadow: Lunar Beauty Nude Prism Palette

Mascara: Give them Lala Beauty Mascara

Lips: Uoma Beauty Lip Liner and KVD Epic Kiss Vegan lipstick

Today I went for the drug store power couple of Elf poreless Putty Primer and No 7 Lift and Luminate. Both are long time favorites. In fact i am not sure why everyone is not raving about the No 7 foundation. It just works beautifully. I always have a bottle in my makeup collection because if all else fails, it won’t. Lightweight and beautiful it actually beats out some of the more expensive foundations. It is actually a bit of a dupe for the Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation actually. It isn’t quite as fabulous as the Aqua foundation is a high end foundation that feels high end on the skin, but it is a good drug store version. (The Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation is currently my top luxe foundation, Yensa my mid range foundation and No 7 my favorite drug store foundation, in case you are curious. I tend to save the Koh Gen Do for special occasions though rather than every day use. I know I shouldn’t, but I do. Maybe I’ll just have a luxe product day.)

I wanted to test the Illamasqua sculpt with an actual foundation instead of the lighter weight products I tend to go for in the summertime. and it worked beautifully. It feels wet which takes some getting used to but it blends beautifully and builds well.

I get so used to reaching for my Gold Rush Blush from Benefit that I forget that I have Georgia. I do really like it. It is a little lighter and it does work better when my skin is a little on the paler side, but for me today it worked well. I really like the formula of the benefit blushes. It is also a reminder that I need to look at the newer blushes that were recently released and see if any of the shades look like ones I want to try out.

The Tatcha powder worked like a dream, I am still using the travel size (as so little is actually needed) and I am definitely going to pick up the full size once it runs out.

Since today’s focus was the eyes and the palette, I am going to skip to the lips before going back to the eyes. The KVD lipstick is a great vegan formula, I just find the color to be a little too bright for me. It looks darker in the tube but it goes on lighter. I tend to have this issue with the solid lipsticks from KVD but not the liquid ones. To darken it I used the Uoma lip liner. It worked beautifully and I am happy with the results actually.

This was the first use of the Give them Lala Beauty mascara. It was okay. Not very impressive, but As I sneezed twice during application and had to correct the mess, I don’t think i would be pleased with any mascara today, so perhaps we will just give it a pass.

last week with no lid primer (exhibit A) on left and todays use with the lid primer on right

As you may recall last week I dipped into what I thought was a brownish red shade and found out it was purple. It also applied very patchy. See exhibit A from last week. Today I decided to roll in a lid primer and then try again with the same shade. The Lid primer is from Sandbar and it works well in general. It has a slightly stickiness to it that grips shadows.

And this is a shadow that needed it. while I did apply other shadows on top of it so it isn’t the same look the purple is the basis for both looks. With a lit primer, the shadow applied well. It didn’t stick in one spot and refuse to blend. While this isn’t a shadow shade I would really wear a lot, I think it applied a lot better. Since I have had my issues with this palette, I think i am going to keep the lid primer in this week and see if the other shadows work better with it. I suspect they might given the change in the shadow today. I still am not a huge fan of the way the shimmers work with the mattes, but perhaps that issue can be worked on as well.

And so my darlings, this is me today. I am sitting up and looking fairly productive. Or at least not sleeping. I am still contagious so I am sticking close to home. Or actually in my home. At best i might make it to the back yard later (woo look at me go…) But I am beginning to feel more like myself again and that makes me very very happy.

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.