The Daily: March 15th, 2022

welcome to the Ides of March my darlings. I hope you know enough to beware. Today has been a pretty quiet one here. The only thing I have to beware is an overly full e-mail box. My inbox generally gets slammed at the beginning of a quarter and then again closer to the end, when there is still time to do things before the quarter ends for those chasing the end of the quarter and those who are early for the following quarter. Its sort of where panic and preplanning collide. Kind of fun but as I’ve typed this paragraph I’ve had to stop three times to answer text messages One of which involves a hastily scheduled meeting.

Fun stuff.

So today I missed my walk, which sort of bums me out as the weather is fantastic for walking. It’s also fantastic for biking which is why I am hauling my bike out of winter storage this evening and getting it ready to ride. There are many bike riders out there today. I can see them from my window. Thee are also a bunch of electric bikes. Have you seen these? I think they are fabulous, especially in my area where there are a lot of hills. I think that you generate a lot of the electricity yourself and it helps you over the hard bits, which is nice. I’ve been lurking on the Velowave site lately.

They have a sale, if you are interested yourself. i am trying to decide between the mountain bike and the road bike. For now I just have my regular bike, which I need to check over tonight. Even though I know nothing is near it over the winter, the tires always seem to go flat. But soon all will be well. Our local gas station has an air pump suitable for a wide range of vehicles including bike tires, and I am always slightly amused by the faces on the drivers when I fill my bike tires up there.

Save $200 for RANGER fat tire 750w electric bike

Admittedly today planning for exercise might be about the extent of what I get done. I can already tell this is going to be a hard week to squeeze in my usual exercise. So I am going to have to watch my calories like a hawk.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Tatcha The Silk Canvas Primer

Foundation: Charlotte Tillbury Airbrush Flawless Foundation

Bronzer: Trestique Bronzer Stick

Blush: Illamasqua Colour Veil gel Blusher

Highlighter: Illamasqua Beyond Powder Highlighter

Setting Powder: Anastasia Beverly Hills Loose setting Powder

Brows: Hourglass Arch in Soft Brunette

Eyeshadow: Karmela Cosmetics Defiance Palette

Eyeliner: KVD Vegan Beauty Cake Pencil

Mascara: Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Mascara – The entire brand is being discontinued so everything on the site including this mascara is on sale.

Lips: UOMA lip Liner in Angelou topped with About Face Light Lock Lip Gloss in Angel on Fire

Setting Spray: Benefit Cosmetics The Porefessional Super Setter

Today was an interesting one. We’ll start with the primer. I love this primer. I simply love everything about it. I know it was a huge favorite for a lot of people and for a long time everyone talked about it so you are probably sick of hearing about how fabulpous it is. But that’s the truth it is fabulous. Not only is the primer itself a good primer that fills in pores and leaves you with a great base for makeup, but my skin always feels good after using it. while I don’t require my primer to have skin care properties, it is always nice when they do. In addition the primer has that tatcha skincare scent which I really love and the packaging just feels so luxe in the hand. I even love the little disk it comes with to scoop out the product so I don’t have to dig into it with my hands. It really is as good as the hype and there aren’t that many products I can say that about.

I know, I am biased about primers. I didn’t always see the need, but once I passed my 30th birthday, they became one of my favorite makeup categories.

Today was a first use of the Charlotte Tillbury foundation. It is more full coverage than I usually go, which is fine. I don’t mind a full coverage product now and again and as my go to full coverage was discontinued (because Becca went out of business)finding a new one isn’t a bad idea. This did have a bit more of a yellow tint to it than I was expecting. It is one of the reasons I rolled in the ABH powder actually. It applies very white and then blends in which took away some of the yellow tone. I think I am going to have to play around more with this foundation to see how I feel about it long term. It doesn’t feel heavy on the skin which I like but the shade I have is neutral so I am not sure about the yellow undertone. It is also creasing slightly under my eyes and around my mouth, more so than most other products I use. So that will have to be addressed. I’ll have to play around with it, right now I am on the fence.

The bronzing stick you know is one of my favorite products. It also suited this foundation. While it can easily be blended out with a medium coverage foundation it works really well on a full coverage one, and I am thrilled with it’s performance. The Illamasqua blusher is rapidly becoming one of my faves as well and I did want to see how it performed with a full coverage. I think it did well. I picked out the Illamasqua highlighter as well. I really enjoy it. It can be a stunning streak or blended into a soft golden hue on the high points of the face and it lasts a long time.

Today I also remembered to reach for a brow pencil. This Hourglass one is a big favorite. At the moment I mostly forget brows a my bangs are sort of covering them. I really do like the softness of this pencil though as well as the color. It perfectly suits my brows without making them too dark. It is running low so I will replace it. there are a few brow products that I reach for and this is one of the few that I love. Plus I couldn’t find the brush for my Billion Dollar Brows Pomade. These are the two products I am currently switching between.

I am still trying out the Defiance Eye Palette. Quite honestly I think Defiance is the wrong name for it. That makes it sound bold and bright. Soft neutrals is more this palette’s strength. They aren’t vey pigmented. Today I used the soft pink of desire paired with the shimmery pink of Charisma. They are nice, but not very pigmented. I had to use the setting spray to damp down the brush to get any pigment at all from the shimmers. The look was soft enough that it needed an eyeliner to actually look complete. I went with the KVD Cake eyeliner. I like the formula. It is a very creamy liner that stays where you put it. There isn’t much more that I can ask from an eyeliner. I haven’t used eyeliner in a while and since this is a pencil it wasn’t dried out. It is a good reliable eyeliner, especially if eyeliners aren’t your regular look. This one lasts without drying.

The mascara I used today was the Marc Jacobs Velvety Noir. I loved it for a long time, but alas Marc Jacobs is discontinuing their makeup line. If you are looking to stock up the site has massive sales. This mascara is half off although I think they might have actually started selling out of product. It is a good mascara byt my tube is actually almost empty. I may use it up this week and then let it go.

Lips were a combination of the UPMA and About Face. The lip gloss is too pink without the liner underneath and together they make a great pair. I know, I keep reaching for the UOMA. I will switch it up and start reaching for other products. Although I might have to hide this from myself in order to do so. It is simply quick and easy to grab. the lip gloss is fine. It looks nice but it is just kind of a basic lip gloss. I’ll use it, but I don’t see the need to by other shades from the line. And once it is gone, I won’t be picking up a replacement. It isn’t bad, it is actually very nice. It just isn’t special enough to bother seeking out.

And finally I set everything, and applied shimmer, with the benefit Cosmetics Super Setter. while it sets makeup well, it’s magic is in it’s very fine mist. There are no splotches from too heavy a spray with this one. It is a very nice mist that actually smells exactly like their primer. Which I don’t mind.

And with that, I will leave you. The phone is beeping and the e-mail overfloweth, because it is just that time of the quarter. And there is no rest for the wicked. Have a great rest of Tuesday everyone.

The Daily: March 14th, 2022

Oh my darlings, we had ourselves a rollercoaster of a weekend here. I went to bed on Friday night and it was 57 degrees outside. Temperatures plummeted in the night and I woke to 22 degrees and four inches of snow on the ground. I know that doesn’t sound like much but when you live in an area that sees more wind storms than snow storms, it was enough to cancel any form of plans anyone had. most places were closed and for some reason everyone raided the grocery stores for bread and milk, along with coffeemate. I don’t know if the store was just running low but every flavored coffee creamer in the refrigerated aisle was cleared out. Which I found a little amusing.

And right on cue with the snowstorm, my Easter dress arrived from Ever Pretty. I remember so many Easter Sundays where I had the thin little Easter dress and was given the pretty cardigan to wear over it to keep warm only to have my legs feel like they were freezing off. So it seems appropriate that the dress arrived.. It also necessitated a full length photo which I almost never take, mostly because I tend to take the photos myself. If given a camera my babydoll will aim it in the general direction, take the photo as quickly as possible before moving away, lest he be asked to take another one. He is not a fan of the camera.

But I needed the picture so he took it. And while I love the dress the full length photo reminded me how much weight I still have to lose. I can pretend if it is just a head shot. And I know, I am doing the slow chipping away, but it feels like I have been at a stand still for a while, so there may be some revaluation this week, possibly followed by a consultation with a professional. I ended up feeling both good about myself and bad about myself all in one fell swoop.

I’d like to say I am above it and that because i am working on my weight I let it go, but it is a hard thing to let go of. It was harder as this past week showed a gain. Even though it was justified, it still didn’t help my frame of mind. I’m using it to motivate me instead of letting it get me down. That’s the positive.

I’ll also say that the time change didn’t help matters. I woke up feeling like someone stole an hour from me this morning. I’m not a morning person and Spring Forward always hurts Me and the coffee pot are best friends today. So yeah, over all this weekend was a real rollercoaster of emotions and thoughts for me. But thus far Monday has actually been chugging along nicely. I’m anticipating a late afternoon crash and decline in productivity, but this far, things are going well.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Too Faced Hangover Replenishing Face Primer

Foundation: NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation Vibes Bronzer

Blush: Ciate London Marbled Light Blush

Highlighter: Nomad Cosmetics in Moonlight

Powder: Becca Cosmetics Pink Haze

Eyeshadow: Karmela Cosmetics Defiance palette

Mascara: Big Poppa from Wet ‘n Wild

Lips: Uoma Lip Liner in Angelou and MAC Love Me Lipstick in Bated Breath

I am still working my way through the primers and foundations to see what stays and what goes. I’m actually impressed by how many foundations I let go honestly. I know some of them were almost empty but it still counts. Today I paired the Too Faced Hangover primer with the Nars foundation. They are actually a great pair. The too Faced Primer I can only wear for a limited amount of time in the year. It is a fantastically hydrating primer. Unfortunately once the world heats up, it is a little too hydrating for my skin. It is great at this time of year though. And I enjoyed using it.

The NARS foundation I forgot about. It is more full coverage than I usually use, which is why I haven’t reached for it. It is a great formula though and as most of the foundations I did clear out are more full coverage, I will be keeping this one and using it up. It is a bit on the light side for me, which is another reason that I don’t reach for it a lot. While I like the formula, I don’t know if I would purchase it again. There are other formulas I simply prefer more.

I really should have paired it with a darker powder but I saw the Pink Haze and realized I hadn’t used it in a while. It is a Becca product and Becca is, alas, no more. I am trying to use it up to clear it out and then looking for a new pink powder to replace it with. i really like having a pink setting powder for days where I just look a little pale and wan looking. It is a great way to brighten the skin with out going crazy. It is a subtle warmth to the skin.

Both the Buxom Bronzer and the Ciate London blush are two of my favorites, although the blush is deep enough I probably should wait until I have more of a tan to use it. I was sad to see that it wasn’t listed on the Ciate Site any more. I think it is just not currently available rather than discontinued. At least i really hope it isn’t discontinued as it is my favorite Ciate Blush. their other blushes are okay, but this one works well and blends much more easily than the others I’ve tried. So hopefully i is just out of stock.

Today I reached for the Nomad highlighter because it is one I’ve been holding onto for a while without using. It is a purple toned highlighter that looks a bit holographic when it catches the light. It is lovely and I love looking at it. But I don’t wear it much. In truth the reason it has lasted so long is because I have no other highlighters like it, not because I wear it. It wants to be just a bright stripe of highlight and doesn’t blend well, which is what I like my highlighters to do. I put it on and wasn’t really a fan. I think what I may do is transfer it to my single shadows drawer and see if I like it better there. It is a fantastic color, just not for my cheeks.

This was the second use for me of the Defiance Palette. Today I went only with the mattes to see how they worked. They apply with nice pigmentation and I like the range of shades as it looks like a good everyday palette. The blending didn’t go so well. Several of the shades disappeared when I started blending. I think tomorrow I may try it with a lid primer, but while the colors are nice, the shadows were not that impressive.

I am more and more impressed with the UOMA lip liner though. I am finding myself reaching for it more and more often. The shade is perfect for an everyday look for me. It is stiff enough that it gives sharp lines well, but soft enough that I don’t feel i am using a number two pencil on my lips. On it’s own it can be a little drying, but it is not nearly as drying as most lip liners when used for lipstick and can be worn on it’s own. Usually when I wear it alone I put a little lip balm over it which helps. It also pairs well with one of my favorite lipsticks and that is the MAC Love Me Lipstick in Bated breath. The color is fantastic for everyday wear and I have worn it quite low. I am going to have to replace it soon actually. And when I do I will probably also add Ruby to my order. It looks like the perfect red shade for me and you know I am still on the quest for the perfect red lip. If it is MAC I will be thrilled because I love this formula.

And finally I topped this look off with the wet n wild mascara. It is a great formula that gives me length and volume and quite honestly puts some of my more expensive mascaras to shame. It is one of those use well after opening. I only keep mascaras six months because of possible eye contaminants, but this is a mascara that won’t let you keep it past six months. Right on the six month mark I’ll notice it starts to clump a little. Until then it works perfectly. It is almost like a built in product timer. Which I’m not mad about. Partially because I sometimes lose track of what I opened when. This year my goal is to have fewer mascaras open at a time. I think I am down to about four open ones so I am doing pretty good. I have a couple of open ones that have only a few more months left so I think I am doing well. Personally I would like to only have about two open at a time. I’m not sure I make that goal though as I sometimes have a hard time not opening a new mascara. But I am going to try.

And so my darlings that is me today. I am chugging along, trying not to grumble about the time thief who stole an hour from me this morning and I am thinking of ways to revamp my workout routine and possibly start chipping off some of the weight a little faster. Not hugely fast you understand, because it always worries me when weight drops too fast. I just want fast enough that I no longer feel like I am standing still. And god almighty I would like to get under 200 lbs. You have no idea how much I want that. So tonight there will be time spent in reevaluation. For now though, it is back to work for me. I hope the rest of your Monday goes swimmingly.

Spring Into Clean Skin Campaign – Shop Curated Bundles

The Daily: March 7th, 2022

Good grief I desperately needed this weekend to make up for Friday my darlings. Apparently an automated control check flagged my site for violations. It took me most of the day to get to a person to look it over and decide the computer had been mistaken. the journey to find a person was somewhat perilous.

But I did, and all is better now.

Today’s work out was again a long stretch on the walking trail. The wind has picked up and you can practically feel the rain on the air, which was a good reminder to set up an indoor workout for tomorrow. And as the creeks are still running high, possibly for longer depending upon how much rain actually falls. In reality it could blow right past us and drop not a sprinkle, or the weather front could park itself for a week and flood the low lying areas again. At this time of year anything is possible.

If the weather holds off until later this afternoon then I am going to get my bicycle out of it’s winter storage and begin the process of getting it ready for the spring. I know I probably should have done it sooner, but I just didn’t get around to it. So out it will (hopefully) come today and the readying process will begin. And this year i will be remembering to wear a watch and use an extra layer of sunblock. Once that cool air starts washing past me I forget that the sun is still hot over head. And as I proved last year once I start riding my bike I forget that it is exercise and just enjoy the ride.

Good for burning calories, not so good the following morning when my thighs think that I am a monster. This year, I’m going to try to find a balance. So with a walk in and bike repair and the planning of an indoor workout, I think that I am hitting Monday pretty strong. let’s hope the rest of the week flows just as well.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Porefessional Primer from Benefit Cosmetics

Foundation: Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless Foundation

Bronzer: Trestique Bronzer Stick

Blush: Illamasqua Gel Blusher

Powder: Ciate London The Extraordinary Translucent setting Powder

Eyeshadow: Huda Beauty Mercury Retrograde Eyeshadow Palette

Lid Primer: Moonlit Eyeshadow Primer

Mascara: Wet ‘n Wild Big Poppa Mascara

Lips: Uoma Lip Liner in Angelou and Illamasqua Antimatter Lipstick in Midnight

Today my darlings we are saying goodbye to the porefessional. It is one of my favorite go to primers, but alas the tube is now empty. It is on my to be repurchased list because I really love it. I have lost track of how many tubes of this I have gone through. The problem is I have other primers that i really need to work through. So I am going to be doing that. I want to clear away at least two more before i repurchase this. Mostly because I know as soon as I repurchase it I will want to use it. So I delay rebuying. But for now it is goodbye.

At the moment I am going through my foundations. And I know as I have been sorting them I seem to like all of the ones I have. The truth is that when I use a foundation i will wear it exclusively for a week. If i don’t like it in that week, then I general get rid of it. If it is interesting enough to play around with a little more I will keep it a little longer, but in general if I don’t like a foundation, it doesn’t stay. So I generally like all of the foundations I am going through It is mostly a recap and a decision as to what has outlived it’s time with me. This maybelline fit me is a really good drug store foundation. I have the shade 115 which suits my skin fine at this time of the year. It is a little light in the summer, but as I generally go for more BB creams and tinted moisturizers in the summer, that’s fine.

I like it but I have enough foundations I can wear in the summer that I don’t feel the need to double up on shades. It is very matte, so I probably should have put an illuminating primer under it. I just really wanted to use up the last of the Benefit cosmetics primer today. The big issue I have with this primer is the container. It has an open top and I always waste product when I dispense it. I have recently seen this foundation in a tube at Ulta so when I repurchase it I will be going for that instead. Hopefully the formula is the same. It is a great formula, I just waste product due to the open top. I do better with droppers and tubes to be honest. This foundation has very little product left and is sitting on the edge of expiration so I think that I am just going to go ahead and let it go. I will repurchase it though as it is a good drug store foundation, I’ll just puck up the tube instead of the bottle.

For the rest of my face I chose some favorites. I’m hoping to finish out this Ciate Powder this week. it is good and I already have another one in waiting. The Trestique is a long time favorite and the Illamasqua I like more with each use. It is simply a great formula.

I have to say I am actually liking the Huda beauty palette less with each use. Without the lid primer the shadows have a tendency to blend into nothing, except for the shimmers which just take over. With the lid primer, the shades are brighter but they don’t blend as well. Also the colors are somewhat misleading. I dipped into a brown shade and it turned out to be reddish. Which is fine, just not what I was expecting. The shimmers are stunning, I’m just not liking the mattes very much. Which is odd as I usually love Huda’s eyeshadow formula. There is just something about this palette that I am not a fan of.

I noticed I had purged several mascaras lately and used this as an excuse to pick up another tube of the Big Poppa from wet ‘n wild. It is a great mascara and I am a big fan. I picked up a tube as soon as it came out and used it to the last swipe. The issue with this mascara is that the timer really starts ticking once you open it. I try to let mascaras go at the six month mark (unless something happens to cause an early purge) and at the six month mark this one is ready to go. About the time when I know it needs to leave my makeup bag, it starts clumping letting me know it is ready to go. It works beautifully up until then and as I sometimes forget how long I’ve had a mascara open,. it is kind of nice to have that built in timer.

The illamasqua lipstick I love. It is a bullet style lipstick that dries down just enough to extend longevity but not dry out your lips. It is slightly more on the pink side than I would like, so I use the darker lip liner under it. This was one of those lipsticks I picked up in my quest for the perfect red lipstick. It looks the part in the tube, but is slightly pink on the lips, so the quest continues. But the formula is great and as it is only $11 I think I will pick up some more shades.

And that my darlins is the look for today. I am saying goodbye to an excellent primer and a good foundation and still wearing down a setting powder. I am also falling in love with a gel blusher and getting irritated by eyeshadow. So it was over all a mixed bag. The final look didn’t come out too badly, but it was an interesting set of products to work with. And now my darlings it is back to work for me. I hope the rest of your Monday is simply fabulous.

Save $200 for RANGER fat tire 750w electric bike

The Daily: February 28th, 2022

Good afternoon my darlings and welcome to the end of February. It is a cold one too. The wind is blowing and the air has not gotten above 37 but feels closer to 28. I don’t know why 28 always just seems as though it is super cold in my head. I think 28 is the temperature where for some reason my internal alarm bells start ringing and I start worrying about frozen pipes and out door plants. Which is silly. Any plant that could be taken down by frost is still in the greenhouse and our pipes are well insulated. Childhood holdover I suppose.

But as chilly as it was, this was the first day in nearly a week that the park was not flooded. And so I took to the walking trails. I was well and truly bundled up but I was reveling in the lovely sunshine. And the dry pathways.

I know I complain a bit about the flooded walking trails, but I don’t really mind the rain. After all the more we get, the less likely wildfires become. And I am with Smokey the Bear on the preventing wildfires page.

Although even with the pathways dry and clear I don’t think dry is something we will have to worry about for a while. I did get an extra long walk in though. Partially because it was possible, and partially because I don’t know what to expect for tomorrow. Tomorrow my babydoll is having dental surgery so normal life is a little up in the air. The morning posts will still be up as usual, but the afternoon Daily post may be a little light.

Today of course, my mini foundation declutter has begun.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Benefit Cosmetics Porefessional Primer

Foundation: Ulta Beauty Youthful Glow Foundation Serum Drops

Bronzer/Blush/Highlight: Real Her Ultimate Glow Getter Palette

Setting Powder: Ciate London The Extraordinary Setting Powder

Eyeshadow: Huda Beauty Mercury Retrograde Palette

Mascara: ABH Lash Brag Mascara

Lips: Uoma Lip Liner in Angelou

Today was actually an interesting mix of products. I chose the Porefessional promer because I know it works well with all of my foundations, and the Ulta Beauty foundation needs a matte primer under it. At least for me. It tends to be a bit glowy without it. I also need a setting powder with it as well. Since the Porefessional goes well with all of my foundations, and it only has about a week or two’s worth of product left in the tube I am going to keep it out and use it in an attempt to use it up. This is kind of sad as it is one of my favorite primers, but I have a bunch of other primers I need to start reaching for, if only to clear them out, so using up the last of my favorite and refusing to purchase a new tube until I’ve made some space in my primer drawer does help me out. It makes me sad, but it is helpful..

I am also sad that this is the last use of the Ulta Foundation. It is a great foundation and I will repurchase it in the future, but I was scraping bottom today in order to apply it. There is a little bit left, but not enough to actually cover my face. So I used it today and am saying goodbye to the bottle, until we meet again in a new form. I originally picked up this foundation in a sort of emergency. I had an event I wasn’t expecting sprung on me and I had to make an emergency pitstop in Ulta. This was on sale and in my shade so I picked it up. And I am very glad I did.

It is a serum foundation and a very liquidly one at that. You really need to remember to shake it before applying and it needs a primer underneath or it will settle into the fine lines. With a prefilling primer underneath, you are golden. The foundation applies smoothly and stays in place all day. It will wear a little around the mouth. I find it does this less with a good all over setting powder. Over all it is a great $16 foundation. I picked it up in a hurry and even though this is it’s last use, I will be repurchasing it sometime in the future. Or picking it up in another emergency.

My setting powder is the travel sized version of the Ciate London setting powder. There is very little left so it will be around until it is gone. I have a full sized waiting in my unopened drawer though so it won’t be gone long. I am trying to whittle down my powders though so I may wait a while before opening it. I am one of those people that likes some variety in my products but once I get too many things open i start worrying about spoilage and I also have a hard time focusing on which products to use. Its also why I get into the habit of reaching for a few products and then surprising myself with products I forgot I had. It is something i am trying to work on. But I do like this powder. If you use a lot of flash photography it can have a little bit of a white cast. The Coconut setting powder actually doesn’t have this problem though so if you do a lot of flash photos then I would suggest that.

I don’t.

Mostly because the flash photos I take generally end up looking as though they were taken at a crime scene. Especially in the kitchen. I took a photo of a princess cake I made (the dome one with the marzipan blanket over it – I was very proud it turned out well). The room was dark enough that the flash went off. It looked like I was a detective marking out which item contained the poison. which as I was quite proud of managing to create the cake was so not what I was going for. So …right, not a flash photo aficionado.

Moving on….

Love the Ultimate Glow Getter. it was easy to reach for and worked well. The pans marks are definitely starting to show through. No silver yet, but it is getting there. It is a great travel palette or an Oh crap I slept through my alarm and have ten minutes to get out the door palette. Quick and easy.

The mascara and lip liner too, quick easy and I really like the look of them.

Then we get to the Huda Beauty Palette. This is my first use of the palette, so i tried for a matte, a shimmer and one of the more glittery shades. The mattes look far more pastel in the pans then they apply. The shadow I used today was the dusty pink called Off Balance and darkened at the corned with a bit of vortex. I dipped into the pink thinking it would be closer to neutral skin tone for me. It was brighter than I thought. As there are several really pastel looking shades, I am curious to see if this holds true for them as well. I used a pink shimmer, which wasn’t that pigmented (today I used only a dry brush) and then I used one of the glitter shades, super moon. It applied clumpy and then I used my finger to smooth it down and it spread like warm butter. It just applied clumpy with the brush.

I think this is definitely a palette i will have to play around with. Looking at it it looks very Spring/Easter-y so I thought this was a good time to test it (ahead of planning for easter.)It seems a little less pastel than I planned. But I will continue to play and see what I see. The mattes are highly pigmented. I’ll just need to find the right way to apply it. And I think the glitter will give me a good option to try out the lid primer.

Over all it wasn’t a bad look. I have a foundation that is leaving, even though I love it. A primer and powder that I am using up and an eye shadow palette to try. Not a bad Monday, makeup wise.

The Daily: February 24th, 2022

Today my darlings the rain is pouring down and the sun has decided to take the day off. even though it is mid afternoon it feels as though it is still early morning. which is not helping my productivity. I had to turn up the radio and dance myself into productivity today.

Well chair dance anyway.

There was a lot of arm and shoulder shaking with head nodding and the occasional under the desk foot movements. But I did for the most part stay at the desk. My few ventures outside were more of a rescue mission to the mail box and brief sprints to the car. You have to love when you have to dry out a bill before you can think about paying it. And then I accidentally stuck one of the wet flyers to the counter top and a corner of it dried and stuck to the surface so I had to soak it off, which wasn’t part of my planned day, but necessary.

I’m hoping the chair dance burned extra calories. I did my exercises but my babydoll was giggling when he told me he was picking up dinner on the way home. He is in that ‘soon I will have dental surgery and need to eat what I want now’ phase. while I appreciate not having to cook, I am a little worried about what he’ll be bringing home. It is however out of my control. So I did my exercises, and I am hoping for an extra calorie burn while dancing and using my resistance band at the desk. Because there is also a lot of work to get through today. It was a busy morning and it looks like it will be a busy afternoon. I think as a reward I might finish binge watching The Mayor of Kingstown on Paramount + tonight. I also might catch up on the Winter Olympics coverage they have on there as well. I’ll be honest I keep meaning to watch but thus far the only winter olympic bits I’ve seen are the ones reviewed by Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg. which are absolutely fabulous, but not really watching the Olympics.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Ole Henricksen’s Banana Bright Face Primer

Foundation: Natasha Denona Transformatte Foundation

Bronzer: Trestique Bronzing Stick

Blush: Illamasqua Colour Veil Blusher

Highligher: Wander Beauty Wanderess Highlight

Powder: Ciate London The Extraordinary Setting powder

Eyeshadow: Lime Crime Prelude Exposed Palette

Mascara: Pat McGrath Fetish Eyes Mascara

Lips: Uoma Lip Liner in Angelou topped with Kinship Super melt Jelly lip mask

next week I am going to start rotating through my foundations. My goal is to see which ones are expired and which ones I no longer want as well as which ones I really like and need to remember to reach for. In the BoxyCharm choice for Premium (which was Monday) I chose a Charlotte Tilbury Foundation so I know I have a new foundation coming in. That is sort of what prompted the foundation clear out. I figure I’ll rotate through my products and see what I see more than plan a declutter. So I wanted to use the Natasha Denona one more time. Since I know I like it and I just used it, I know I’m keeping it, I will have to set it aside while I sort through products. So I used it with the primer I like pairing it with the best and that is the Banana Bright. The brightening primer just works so well with this foundation. I really like the way my makeup turned out today.

The trestique is a long term favorite and I couldn’t resist using it again. I justified the use because it was still out from yesterday, but it is just a really good formula for me.

My plan was to use the Illamasqua blusher as both blush and eye shadow today, but while it is fantastic for me on the cheeks, The shade didn’t look quite right on the eyelids. I think if I were going to use this as a shadow I would get it in a darker shade, which they make. Although I love a lot of my single shadows, I really forget to reach for them so at the moment I am trying not to buy single shadows.

There are only two single shadows I have ever managed to use up in my life. They were both from Chantecaille. One was a smoky brown matte and the other was a shimmery iridescent pink. I was being minimalist in my products and used them as my only two shadows until they were empty. I absolutely loved them.

I’m thinking of getting a metal panel and putting magnets on the back of my single shadows so that I can create a sort of wall art piece that will keep the single shadows from getting lost in the shuffle, but that is a project for another day.

I’m loving the Wander Beauty highlighter, but I also justifies using it again because it was out. I will switch it up more and not just reach for it automatically. I need to actually do a bit of a highlighter declutter as well. I have a couple of shades I’ve been hanging on to because they are different and not because I actually use them. I may work on that while I go through the foundations. But today I used one of my favorites and I am okay with that.

Because the blusher didn’t workas eyeshadow I pulled out my Lime Crime Exposed Palette. it is just a good easy palette to use. The eight shades are well thought out and complementary to each other. I have my quick go to looks with this palette but if i want to shake it up, I can easily create something new. there is enough variation in the colors that it is not boring.

Today was the last of the Pat McGrath Mascara. It is a good mascara. I like the way it looks and performs. Thee are just other mascaras I prefer. So while I wouldn’t mind using this mascara again, I’m not putting it on my repurchase list. So today was it’s last day.

The Uoma lip liner is a nice color and it suited me today. I’ve tried it alone and it is a little dry and I tried it with lipstick. Today since I wanted to keep the color, I went and put a lip mask over it. The lip mask has worn off but it keeps the line hydrated and my lips actually feel pretty good. I think I may have to pair these two up again. I also might try pairing this jelly mask with other more drying lip liners and see what I get.

For now though that was my makeup for the day. No surprises as most of these are products that I use routinely. They all worked as expected. The mascara is being cleared out but everything else will return at a later date. Next week I plan to play around with the Huda Beauty Retrograde Palette so we’ll see how that performs as well as clearing out some other products. But for today, I got to use some of my favorites and I feel pretty good about that.

The Daily: February 22nd, 2022

Oh my darlings, the rains have arrived. Temperatures plummeted in the night, causing a fantastic morning migraine, but that has for the most part faded. For which I am eternally grateful. This week is going to featue rains off and on but now that the atmospheric pressure is more or less constant it is jut rain and not skull crushing headache.

I can live with the rain. In fact i rather like it. It may ruin my walks in the park due to flooding (if it weren’t for the flooding, I’d just take an umbrella. However here the floodwaters are unexpectedly deep in places and because it is flooding as part of a river system there is actually a current that is quite strong in places so it is best to leave it alone until the waters recede) but it is fantastic for my garden. The daffodils are starting to come up and we have the first few spears of tulip leaves.

We also have a rabbit nibbling the tulip leaves so when the rain stops I will be mixing up some bio friendly dish soap into some water in a spray bottle and spraying down the leaves. The rabbits don’t like the taste of soap any more than I do. It is thus far the only thing I can figure out that will keep them off of the plants. It is actually my favorite pest control tool. I picked up one of those little plastic spray bottles in Target for about a dollar and it works fantastically well. I’ve had it for a few years now so it was a good investment.

This week in addition to my usual rainy day exercises, I’m incorporating resistance bands. I did a short work out with them yesterday just to get used to them and thought ‘well this is silly’ and then this morning I am really feeling it in my upper arms. It may have felt like I wasn’t doing much but this morning the muscles in my arms beg to differ. I’ll keep trying them out and once I’ve got a feel for them I’ll review them for you. But I have been looking for something more to use to work out my arms. And this I can actually use at my desk, which is nice and lets me take a few minutes during the day to stop and do some arm work. I actually used it this morning while I was on a conference call. It was extra useful as one of the people I was talking to was actually rather annoying. It was a great way to keep from snapping at them after I explained the same thing for the fifth time.

It was a call where the answer didn’t actually change but the person I was talking to seemed to think that if they just rephrased it, they could get what they wanted. It was an excellent use of adjectives I will give them that. And the resistance band was a great way to keep from interrupting so they finally felt they asked as many ways as possible and finally had to accept the answer. I suspect my arms and shoulders will be quite sore in the morning.

But it is definitely a win for the resistance band.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Ole Henriksen’s Banana Bright Primer

Foundation: Natasha Denona Transformatte Foundation (still currently on sale for 50% off)

Bronzer: Buxom Staycation bronzer

Blush: Benefit Cosmetics Gold Rush Blush

Highlight: Wander Beauty After Hours Glow

Powder: Ciate London The Extraordinary Setting Powder

Eyeshadow: Juvia’s Place The Nubian

Mascara: Pat McGrath Labs Fetish Eyes Mascara

Lips: Uoma Lip Liner in Angelou and YSL Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick in Le Nu Satin Finish (#70)

Today I wanted to try a glowy kind of primer under the transformatte foundation and to be honest I really enjoyed the depth it provided the mate foundation. I went with the banana bright a that always works so well for me when I want just a little bit of glow. If paired with an illuminating foundation it is too much for me, but paired with a matte formula the Ole Henricksen is fantastic. And it worked beautifully with the Transformatte. I have been very impressed with this foundation over all.

I wanted a slight bronze today as I was going for a more natural look to my face makeup and I really love this bronzer for that sort of application. It works well over tinted moisturizers for a really natural look or can be built up with a full coverage look. The one I have is a little light for summer time use if I am going for anything other than a natural look, but it is fantastic at this time of year.

The gold rush blush I love for just a warm glow. of the Benefit blushes it is my favorite and the one I come back to. The gold tones just work so well with my skin tone. It isn’t shimmery once you get past the initial over spray, but it does bring a warmth to the cheeks. And at this time of year I can look a but pasty, so i appreciate it.

The wanderess glow highlighter is also a fantastic product. I tried a sample and liked it enough to purchase the full size. It is one of the few silver toned highlighters that I can say that with. I tend to lean more towards the golden tones in highlighters but this one can be bright or subtle depending on how you blend it. It can lend itself to the stripe of silver if that’s your thing, but I love blending it in to a soft glow. I really need to remember to reach for this more often. I know I say that a lot, but rarely with highlighters.

The Nubian by Juvia’s Place returned as I am still testing it out. It is a really good shadow formula and I love the everyday colors. The slight variations in color mean that most looks I get out of the palette have a very similar feel to them, but the formula of the shadows is really nice.

The fetisheyes mascara is also nice. It looks good and I have enjoyed using it. The mascara is reaching the end of it’s life though and has only a few uses left (so you may see it repeat for a week or so). while it is good, it isn’t better than some of the drug store formulas I’ve tried out. So for me, while nice, it isn’t worth the price. I will finish out the tube and then let it go. if it comes my way again I will use it, but I will not be repurchasing it.

Which leads us to the lips. The Uoma lip liner is a little dark and while not as drying as many lip liners, could still do with a lipstick. The YSL lipstick is a little too light, so I put them together. while I like the combination, The YSL lipstick has a bit of a perfume scent and taste to it that I don’t actually care for. while it looks great and has a fantastically moisturizing feel, that perfume taste kills me. The picture was taken after first application and I let the lipstick wear off without reapplying because I just couldn’t take the taste. So right now the Uma is standing alone.

So that my darlings is todays look. And now it is back to work for me. The rain may be shushing down but the paperwork remains. Such is life. But it was nice taking a little break with you.

The Daily: February 17th, 2022

Good afternoon my darlings. It is amazing how a small think like an unexpected blemish can completely throw you off your game. But fear not. A combination of acne Fighting products, and cleansing masks and exfoliation have set me right again.

Or at least closer to normal.

My skin is feeling better and for the first time since Monday I actually felt comfortable putting makeup on my skin. whenever my skin freaks out over anything (breakouts, too much sun, windburn or an allergic reaction) I just find it better to do as little as possible. I treat and then leave my skin alone. So that is what I did this week. I know not as much fun and as I had a palette and a foundation I really wanted to play around with it was kind of annoying.

But the skin wants what it wants.

As for the rest of the body, I did get a walk in this morning. The temperatures are still warm and rain clouds are massing on the horizon, but rain has yet to fall. The wind however is another story. we have a wind advisory going and it is no joke. While we secured all of our patio furniture this time (because running after lawn chairs isn’t something that should be repeated) others were not so lucky. Trash cans were the biggest run aways today. We live in an area that is bisected by two town limits and the county line. Each town has a separate trash collection and the county adds a third. Our trash gets collected on Fridays, the other town has Wednesday and the county has Thursday.

i know that sounds strange, but trash days you can actually see the lines as they appear on the map based on trash can placement. Today was county trash day and the street where the county line hits is on a slope. The large wheely bins full of trash are heavy enough that they are stable but several had their wheels turned the wrong way so the wind pushed them down the street. It was like the trash cans were trying to run away. Maybe they have plans to form a wheely bin gang in the cul-de-sac at the end of the street.

I do know the wind was enough that there was only one short walk today. It is the kind of wind that makes you feel like you are actually having trouble breathing. Not great for exercise. I will probably break out the workout video in the sun room later to makeup for it.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch

Foundation: Natasha Denona Transformatte Foundation (still on sale for 50% off on the site – not an affiliate code, just something I saw when getting the link)

Bronzer/Blush/Highlight: Ultimate Glow Getter Palette from Real Her

Powder: bareMinerals Mineral Veil Powder

Eyeshadow: Juvia’s Place The Nubian Palette

Mascara: Eyeko Black Magic Mascara

Lips: Uoma Lip Liner in Angelou And MAC Lipstick in bated breath

Today even though my skin was feeling better I went with a porefilling and smoothing primer. I will still test the foundation with no primer under it, but today was not that day. I really like the Clarins primer and it is one that I will reach for when my skin is feeling a bit rough. Plus the red glass jar always feels luxe to use.

Today I applied the Transformatte foundation with a makeup sponge rather than my brush. I get a bit of a fuller coverage with the sponge than I do with the brush. Part of that is that I think I end up using more product with the makeup sponge than I do with the brush. While I don’t mind the sponge, I think for this foundation I prefer the brush application and perhaps a smoothing with the makeup sponge. Part of that is because I prefer a lighter coverage and part is so that I just prefer applying with a brush and then going in with the makeup sponge for details. Both look good but I think it boils down to a preference thing.

For simplicity today I went for my Real her palette and my bareMinerals powder. Both are fantastic. While I am doing fairly well with rotating my face palettes, I really need to put my bareMinerals powder away and use some of my other powders. I love setting powders and I have a couple that are close to being used up and I really want to use them up to make some space, but it is hard not to constantly reach for the bareMinerals. it is just such a good product. I will try though.

Today was interesting with Juvia’s place. I deliberately went in a little heavy handed with the brushes and as a consequence I had more fall out from the shadows as I applied them. I do really like them though and even heavy handed the fall out was pretty minimal. I am noticing however that because of the somewhat limited range of colors, most of my looks with this palette are going to come out looking very similar. I still think it is a great everyday palette. The shades are absolutely perfect for my office and meeting looks and I can see myself using it for work a lot. I just think the color range is going to make the shadow looks a bit on the repetitive side.

The Uoma lip liner is the perfect shade of lip liner to blend with the MAC Bated Breath. I don’t have a lip liner for the lipstick and as it is one of my favorite lipstick shades, that is really nice to have. It is a shade darker than the lipstick and it lasts longer than the lipstick so after lunch I did notice a distinct lip liner line on my lips, so that is definitely something to remember. I’m going to have to see if it matches any of my liquid lip liners enough to give it a try with them. But it is a good lip liner thus far. Not super creamy, but rather long lasting.

And so that was my look for today. It was nice to actually put on makeup today. It felt like my week was actually getting back to normal. While the moisturizer debacle did throw me off my game a bit, my work load this week was pretty heavy and I did sneak in a few extra warm weather walks so it wasn’t just the blemishes throwing me off my game. It was just one of those weeks.