Today was National Lipstick Day. When I first started seeing articles and social media posts about it this weekend I did not care one bit. There are no lipsticks I seriously want right now, and I feel comfortable with the variety of lipsticks I do own. But after the tenth time of being reminded of this bogus holiday I felt a sudden urge to search out a new lipstick or two.
When I learned (thanks to a Facebook ad) that Target was having 25% off lipsticks, my memory cycled back to a YouTube video where Hannah from Smokey Glow mentioned liking a certain Milani lipstick. I remember looking up that lipstick after watching the video and really liking one of the colors. I don't remember though if the one I liked was the same one she did or a different one. Either way, it didn't stick in my mind well enough to be that memorable, and I wasn't about to go back through the last month or two of her videos to rediscover which one it was.
I don't even remember how I find out that Ulta had certain lipsticks buy one get one free, but somehow I found myself scrolling through the options, searching for two lipsticks that I maybe possibly wanted. Honestly, if I didn't have a toddler I probably would have just driven to Ulta today and swatched around until I found two I liked. In the five minutes I had spent scrolling on Ulta's site I had already convinced myself that I needed to repurchase a Lorac Pro Matte Lip Color in Mauve, even though I had replaced its role in my collection with Stila Papillon.
Once I saw these two stores had decent sales I wanted to explore what other options were out there for purchasing lipstick today. But here's the thing: until today I had little to no desire to purchase a lipstick any time soon. Why was I seeking out these deals when I didn't care about the products? It's the complete opposite of the Sydney Grace sale, where I found what I wanted, waited patiently for a sale, and then whittled down my wishlist even further before purchasing something. (Side note: I'm so glad that I waited until the mystery final day to get 25% off; it's exactly the kind of sale I was hoping for.)
And you know what frustrates me the most about this day? I didn't even wear lipstick today and have probably only worn it six or so times in the last month or two. Lipstick has not been my mind at all lately - until the internet told me it should be.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Monday, July 22, 2019
A Small Annoyance of My Small Collection
When you have a smaller collection, I feel like it's more impactful when a product isn't currently on your good side. Don't like something? Just let it roll into the back of a drawer as you use other products instead. But when you only have around ten lipsticks it's hard to forget about that... one.
I spent weeks researching pink lipsticks before I purchased Stila Papillon. I lost count of how many lipsticks I swatched before I decided that Papillon was the right pink for me. And when I got it, it was. Just the right amount of pink with the right neutral tone with the right matte formula. I was so ecstatic, and I wore it so much. But now, months later, it's no longer my perfect pink. At least not right now.
I have one other pink, Revlon Blushed. It's about as opposite from Papillon as I can get while still adhering to my makeup preferences. Blushed is a beautiful light pink pearl lipstick. But here's the thing: it doesn't fill that desire that my currently dislike for Papillon has created.
If I had a larger collection I could easily play around with different pink lipsticks. I could have a week- or a month-long project of wearing a different one every day. But I don't have that luxury, nor do I want it. I purposefully chose all my lipsticks (though technically Blushed was much more of an impulse purchase), and I know that they're the ones I decided on for a reason.
Even though Papillon is not on my favorites list right now doesn't mean it won't be in a few months. I keep telling myself that I'll get excited about Papillon again once the weather gets cooler, when I'm wearing more mauves and purples and less oranges and coppers. In my mind, Papillon just doesn't pair with Petite Heat. And that's okay. I'm learning to play with different colors instead.
I spent weeks researching pink lipsticks before I purchased Stila Papillon. I lost count of how many lipsticks I swatched before I decided that Papillon was the right pink for me. And when I got it, it was. Just the right amount of pink with the right neutral tone with the right matte formula. I was so ecstatic, and I wore it so much. But now, months later, it's no longer my perfect pink. At least not right now.
I have one other pink, Revlon Blushed. It's about as opposite from Papillon as I can get while still adhering to my makeup preferences. Blushed is a beautiful light pink pearl lipstick. But here's the thing: it doesn't fill that desire that my currently dislike for Papillon has created.
If I had a larger collection I could easily play around with different pink lipsticks. I could have a week- or a month-long project of wearing a different one every day. But I don't have that luxury, nor do I want it. I purposefully chose all my lipsticks (though technically Blushed was much more of an impulse purchase), and I know that they're the ones I decided on for a reason.
Even though Papillon is not on my favorites list right now doesn't mean it won't be in a few months. I keep telling myself that I'll get excited about Papillon again once the weather gets cooler, when I'm wearing more mauves and purples and less oranges and coppers. In my mind, Papillon just doesn't pair with Petite Heat. And that's okay. I'm learning to play with different colors instead.
Monday, July 15, 2019
Favorite Shade vs Most Used Shade
I thought it would be interesting today to compare shadows within palettes, particularly figuring out if my favorite pan is also the one with the most usage. I have three pre-made palettes, so I'll be focusing on those.
Lorac Nude Skinny
Nude Skinny is easily my oldest palette, and I think its usage reflects on my journey with color and eyshadow in general. In the early days I used to use my pans up as evenly as possible. This meant that if something had pan showing it had gone through significant use. The only pan in this palette that reached this status is the first one from the left. It makes sense though, as this is the only cream color in the palette and the only one I would have used with every single look.
Ignoring that one, my most used shade is just one over. A few years ago I absolutely loved subtle gold eyeshadow. I had not yet ventured into the world of color and was still gaining confidence in applying makeup in general, so the less obvious something was the better I usually felt. Nowadays though my favorite would be the copper shade, the fifth one in the palette.
ABH Subculture
For subculture, we also need to distinguish the "used for blending" outliers. Cube is basically gone, and Dawn is halfway there. Both of these shades were used to blend out shadows, so I'm not really counting them. I do really like Cube since its color-shifting quality is not something I would generally think to use. I'm also somewhat interested in seeing what it would look like as a face highlight; I've been eyeing Nyx Snow Rose lately, which I think is similar, and find it so interesting that Temptalia gave Cube an F but Snow Rose an A-.
So, if I'm disregarding these blending shadows my most used shades in Subculture are actually my three most favorites: Roxy, Edge, and New Wave, with the latter barely beating out the other two for the title of most used. Roxy definitely surprised me the most because I was not at all interested in even that type of color when I bought Subculture. Once I realized how beautiful it looked in the crease, I've been enjoying experimenting pairing it with different colors.
New Wave and Edge though were basically my favorites from the get-go. Initially I thought I would love the blues (Axis and Untamed), but I keep going back to the yellows instead. Both Edge and New Wave work wonderfully in the crease or on the lid, and it is so much fun combining them with oranges and others in that family.
Urban Decay Petite Heat
Speaking of oranges, let's move on to Petite Heat. Like with the other two my most used shade is technically the leftmost, Inhale. It's the lightest shade and the one I use to blend out edges, so it's understandable that it would have the biggest dip. Besides that one though, Heist is definitely the most used. At first I thought that Heist, Wild Thing, and Hot Spell would show similar usage, but after closer inspection it's quite obvious that Heist has been used much more. Between Heist and Wild Thing I'm not sure which I love more. They are basically my favorite types of colors to use around my eyes, and I absolutely love having an entire palette based around that.
Lorac Nude Skinny
Nude Skinny is easily my oldest palette, and I think its usage reflects on my journey with color and eyshadow in general. In the early days I used to use my pans up as evenly as possible. This meant that if something had pan showing it had gone through significant use. The only pan in this palette that reached this status is the first one from the left. It makes sense though, as this is the only cream color in the palette and the only one I would have used with every single look.
Ignoring that one, my most used shade is just one over. A few years ago I absolutely loved subtle gold eyeshadow. I had not yet ventured into the world of color and was still gaining confidence in applying makeup in general, so the less obvious something was the better I usually felt. Nowadays though my favorite would be the copper shade, the fifth one in the palette.
ABH Subculture
For subculture, we also need to distinguish the "used for blending" outliers. Cube is basically gone, and Dawn is halfway there. Both of these shades were used to blend out shadows, so I'm not really counting them. I do really like Cube since its color-shifting quality is not something I would generally think to use. I'm also somewhat interested in seeing what it would look like as a face highlight; I've been eyeing Nyx Snow Rose lately, which I think is similar, and find it so interesting that Temptalia gave Cube an F but Snow Rose an A-.
So, if I'm disregarding these blending shadows my most used shades in Subculture are actually my three most favorites: Roxy, Edge, and New Wave, with the latter barely beating out the other two for the title of most used. Roxy definitely surprised me the most because I was not at all interested in even that type of color when I bought Subculture. Once I realized how beautiful it looked in the crease, I've been enjoying experimenting pairing it with different colors.
New Wave and Edge though were basically my favorites from the get-go. Initially I thought I would love the blues (Axis and Untamed), but I keep going back to the yellows instead. Both Edge and New Wave work wonderfully in the crease or on the lid, and it is so much fun combining them with oranges and others in that family.
Urban Decay Petite Heat
Speaking of oranges, let's move on to Petite Heat. Like with the other two my most used shade is technically the leftmost, Inhale. It's the lightest shade and the one I use to blend out edges, so it's understandable that it would have the biggest dip. Besides that one though, Heist is definitely the most used. At first I thought that Heist, Wild Thing, and Hot Spell would show similar usage, but after closer inspection it's quite obvious that Heist has been used much more. Between Heist and Wild Thing I'm not sure which I love more. They are basically my favorite types of colors to use around my eyes, and I absolutely love having an entire palette based around that.
Monday, July 8, 2019
The Bad and Boring Makeup Tag
What is a foundation finish you don't like?
I rarely wear foundation anymore, but if I were to purchase a bottle right now I highly doubt I would buy something that was ultra matte. I find that very interesting too because I like the majority of my makeup to be matte (eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick, blush), so why wouldn't I want my foundation to be matte as well?
What is the worst mascara you have ever tried?
Admittedly, I haven't tried many mascaras. Once I found Clump Crusher I pretty much stuck to buying that one. In recent years I've only used four different mascaras, and two of those (L'Oreal Butterfly and Covergirl Supersizer) I remember not liking as much as the other two (Covergirl Clump Crusher and Covergirl Full Bloom).
What is one thing you tried once and then thrown away?
I'll name two: the two bad mascaras from the previous question. To be fair, I received both from Target Beauty Boxes, and neither was something I would have chosen for myself. They were both black mascaras, which I never use.
What is the most boring eyeshadow palette you own?
It's so funny to call this the most boring palette now because I remember how excited I was to hunt this down a few years ago. Lorac Nude Skinny is probably the epitome of "boring" palette to many people. It's a small palette that's essentially a handful of browns, but I love it. It's a palette I need to use more often, come to think of it.
What is a makeup trend you think is boring and want to go away?
I feel like I'm all about boring makeup. If I wanted a trend to go away it wouldn't be because it was boring. I mean, I'm tired of colorful highlighter, but I definitely wouldn't call that boring makeup.
What is the worst liquid lipstick you have tried?
Back when I used liquid lipstick, I only tried ones from Tarte, Smashbox, Stila, and ABH. Tarte was the Sephora birthday gift and just wasn't a color that suited me, so I threw it out before I even really considered how I felt about the formula. I remember liking the one from Smashbox, but I just did not wear Out Loud enough to justify keeping it around. I don't remember having strong feelings either way with the Stila products I tried. But the liquid lipstick from ABH. Oh man. I struggled so much with my lipline when I used Kathryn. I hated it too because I got compliments whenever I wore it and I bought it primarily because the name has significance to me. But I would get so frustrated whenever I tried to apply it.
What color do you think is the most boring one?
Maybe black? I think it's just because I remember the time when so many people wanted an extremely black eyeliner to make wings. Plus, I highly prefer colored mascara to black.
What brand do you think is coming out with the most boring things?
Benefit is the first brand I thought of. I might be wrong, but it seems like they only release one new cheek product a year along with a handful of their current products packaged together in some new kit. I'm just not interested in purchasing multiple blushes at once or buying eyebrow products period, and that's all I associate with the brand.
Which step in your makeup routine is the most boring one?
I have been applying the same eye primer since I got my first non-drugstore palette nearly five years ago. I've gone through at least four different tubes, but the Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer has not failed me yet.
If you had to chose between a good base with a bad eyelook or a bad base with a good eyelook which one would you choose?
I feel like it depends on the day. I wear glasses, so my eyelook is often obscured. But I know that i would be ticked off if I spent time working on an eyelook only for it to come out bad, so for that reason I'm going to choose to have a good eyelook.
I rarely wear foundation anymore, but if I were to purchase a bottle right now I highly doubt I would buy something that was ultra matte. I find that very interesting too because I like the majority of my makeup to be matte (eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick, blush), so why wouldn't I want my foundation to be matte as well?
What is the worst mascara you have ever tried?
Admittedly, I haven't tried many mascaras. Once I found Clump Crusher I pretty much stuck to buying that one. In recent years I've only used four different mascaras, and two of those (L'Oreal Butterfly and Covergirl Supersizer) I remember not liking as much as the other two (Covergirl Clump Crusher and Covergirl Full Bloom).
What is one thing you tried once and then thrown away?
I'll name two: the two bad mascaras from the previous question. To be fair, I received both from Target Beauty Boxes, and neither was something I would have chosen for myself. They were both black mascaras, which I never use.
What is the most boring eyeshadow palette you own?
It's so funny to call this the most boring palette now because I remember how excited I was to hunt this down a few years ago. Lorac Nude Skinny is probably the epitome of "boring" palette to many people. It's a small palette that's essentially a handful of browns, but I love it. It's a palette I need to use more often, come to think of it.
What is a makeup trend you think is boring and want to go away?
I feel like I'm all about boring makeup. If I wanted a trend to go away it wouldn't be because it was boring. I mean, I'm tired of colorful highlighter, but I definitely wouldn't call that boring makeup.
What is the worst liquid lipstick you have tried?
Back when I used liquid lipstick, I only tried ones from Tarte, Smashbox, Stila, and ABH. Tarte was the Sephora birthday gift and just wasn't a color that suited me, so I threw it out before I even really considered how I felt about the formula. I remember liking the one from Smashbox, but I just did not wear Out Loud enough to justify keeping it around. I don't remember having strong feelings either way with the Stila products I tried. But the liquid lipstick from ABH. Oh man. I struggled so much with my lipline when I used Kathryn. I hated it too because I got compliments whenever I wore it and I bought it primarily because the name has significance to me. But I would get so frustrated whenever I tried to apply it.
What color do you think is the most boring one?
Maybe black? I think it's just because I remember the time when so many people wanted an extremely black eyeliner to make wings. Plus, I highly prefer colored mascara to black.
What brand do you think is coming out with the most boring things?
Benefit is the first brand I thought of. I might be wrong, but it seems like they only release one new cheek product a year along with a handful of their current products packaged together in some new kit. I'm just not interested in purchasing multiple blushes at once or buying eyebrow products period, and that's all I associate with the brand.
Which step in your makeup routine is the most boring one?
I have been applying the same eye primer since I got my first non-drugstore palette nearly five years ago. I've gone through at least four different tubes, but the Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer has not failed me yet.
If you had to chose between a good base with a bad eyelook or a bad base with a good eyelook which one would you choose?
I feel like it depends on the day. I wear glasses, so my eyelook is often obscured. But I know that i would be ticked off if I spent time working on an eyelook only for it to come out bad, so for that reason I'm going to choose to have a good eyelook.
Monday, July 1, 2019
Sydney Grace Is On My Mind
The first time I ever heard about Sydney Grace was a few years ago when Georgia Harris mentioned their single eye shadows in a YouTube video. Back then they weren't even called Sydney Grace, and I had little to no interest in the company. At the time I was convinced that I could get any single shadows I wanted through Mac - even though I had never even seen a Mac product anywhere besides a computer screen.
Well, fast forward three or so years and I've of course realized that Mac doesn't actually fulfill all my eye shadow wants like I had been convinced. But this doesn't mean that I immediately jumped straight to browsing Sydney Grace's inventory. My first step in accepting the Mac "lack" was eagerly awaiting every release (of which there were many) to see if I liked any of the limited edition single eye shadows. Months dragged on, and eventually it felt like I was lucky to even see a release with a single eye shadow period.
So what changed? I started noticing Sydney Grace being featured on Temptalia. Now, I used to check Temptalia multiple times a day when I was in the early stages of my makeup journey. When a brand was on that site, it felt like it must have a good reputation if Christine reviewed it. I started finding myself checking Temptalia's swatch inventory for Sydney Grace products instead of just scrolling down for hopes of a new Mac launch. When I started searching for dupes of my favorite shades in Subculture many Sydney Grace shadows started showing up there as well. All during this time various YouTubers I was watching continued mentioning Sydney Grace shadows in their videos.
I bet you'll never guess which brand's single eye shadows are at the top of my wish list. It's strange too because one of my biggest "rules" with purchasing makeup is that I want to be able to touch and test a product before I buy it. There is no way I'd be able to do that if I bought from Sydney Grace. But nevertheless I'm still drawn to their shadows. The one that started the increased interest in the company was Geese a Laying, followed closely by French Hens. By now, my wish list is easily approaching a dozen shadows, even though I am easily content with the eye shadows I already own.
Right now Sydney Grace is just the new interesting brand for me, and it's taking some determined self-control to not just buy the things that interest me in this moment. A few years ago I would have likely already filled a 12-pan palette with Sydney Grace shadows. But now that I'm much more conscious of my spending habits when it comes to makeup I recognize that I need to take a step back before placing an order. Now, do I anticipate buying some Sydney Grace shadows before the end of the year? Absolutely. After all, some sort of promotion is happening near the end of this month. And even though I have no clue what the promotion is for, something tells me I need to be following their social media presence in the next few weeks.
Why though? I never follow brands on social media. I get my makeup news from Temptalia, and lately I've enjoyed reading about any releases on my own terms, rather than being bombarded by them on YouTube. What is it about Sydney Grace that encourages me to make an exception on the social media follow? the swatch before purchase guideline? I'm slowly trying to figure it out for myself.
Well, fast forward three or so years and I've of course realized that Mac doesn't actually fulfill all my eye shadow wants like I had been convinced. But this doesn't mean that I immediately jumped straight to browsing Sydney Grace's inventory. My first step in accepting the Mac "lack" was eagerly awaiting every release (of which there were many) to see if I liked any of the limited edition single eye shadows. Months dragged on, and eventually it felt like I was lucky to even see a release with a single eye shadow period.
So what changed? I started noticing Sydney Grace being featured on Temptalia. Now, I used to check Temptalia multiple times a day when I was in the early stages of my makeup journey. When a brand was on that site, it felt like it must have a good reputation if Christine reviewed it. I started finding myself checking Temptalia's swatch inventory for Sydney Grace products instead of just scrolling down for hopes of a new Mac launch. When I started searching for dupes of my favorite shades in Subculture many Sydney Grace shadows started showing up there as well. All during this time various YouTubers I was watching continued mentioning Sydney Grace shadows in their videos.
I bet you'll never guess which brand's single eye shadows are at the top of my wish list. It's strange too because one of my biggest "rules" with purchasing makeup is that I want to be able to touch and test a product before I buy it. There is no way I'd be able to do that if I bought from Sydney Grace. But nevertheless I'm still drawn to their shadows. The one that started the increased interest in the company was Geese a Laying, followed closely by French Hens. By now, my wish list is easily approaching a dozen shadows, even though I am easily content with the eye shadows I already own.
Right now Sydney Grace is just the new interesting brand for me, and it's taking some determined self-control to not just buy the things that interest me in this moment. A few years ago I would have likely already filled a 12-pan palette with Sydney Grace shadows. But now that I'm much more conscious of my spending habits when it comes to makeup I recognize that I need to take a step back before placing an order. Now, do I anticipate buying some Sydney Grace shadows before the end of the year? Absolutely. After all, some sort of promotion is happening near the end of this month. And even though I have no clue what the promotion is for, something tells me I need to be following their social media presence in the next few weeks.
Why though? I never follow brands on social media. I get my makeup news from Temptalia, and lately I've enjoyed reading about any releases on my own terms, rather than being bombarded by them on YouTube. What is it about Sydney Grace that encourages me to make an exception on the social media follow? the swatch before purchase guideline? I'm slowly trying to figure it out for myself.
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