Sunday, October 4, 2020

Oh My Word!

I've been gone longer than I anticipated. My computer is currently in my mother-in-law's room so I really don't have access to it like I used to. A lot has happened this year: we moved to a house, we renovated the house to make it livable, we lived on someone couch for a month during some of those renovations and on the set of The Money Pit for the rest of the renovations, we saw the onset of the zombie invasion followed by the real life version of VEEP that somehow morphed into Watchmen, and started building an entire back wing onto the house because my husband and mother-in-law were unfulfilled with the lack of construction noise during the quiet months.

In unboxing news: I cancelled Sephora Play because I finally reached the breaking point with their lack of effort in any of their boxes. It is telling when I start to enjoy the 50¢ perfume samples over the actual makeup and skincare samples. What's cute is my "Take that, Sephora!" moment didn't last because they discontinued the subscription the following month.

I didn't renew my Birchbox subscription in April because I just couldn't justify spending $15 a month on a gamble that I might receive one decently sized sample. Well, that and I was very frustrated after 3 years of a subscription service not recognizing that people do come in different races, and not all black people are light skinned, half black people that you would be led to believe if your only encounter with them was via television ads and the token black friend on a sitcom. I'm looking at you, any of the Smollet children.

I grudgingly let my basic Ipsy subscription lapse in May. Not because I dislike the service or because the price increased to $12 but because I'm just awash with sample sized skincare and I have more makeup than I know what to do with.

I'm also a hypocrite and I subscribed to Ipsy Plus for $25 a month. I enjoy the service but this may have to lapse as well since 1) I don't post anywhere as frequently as I should and 2) I'm still woefully overstocked with skincare and makeup.

I also signed up for FabFitFun but hear me out! I needed a purse and that was the most cost efficient way to get one. Well, I did sign up the season before that because I really wanted the super cute ballet slipper pin and white vase that I ended up not receiving in my box, but that's a story for another time (or not). I don't intend to keep up with FabFitFun though just because it's costly and I'm just accruing stuff without much space to put it. Also, they seem to be lacking the "Fit" aspect lately.

Finally, I signed up for Weight Watchers. What does that have to do with anything on this blog? Absolutely nothing. I've been increasingly unhappy with how I look and feel and one day I was sitting on my bed, accidentally looked at the body length mirror facing me, and I looked like the Venus of Willendorf. That was a deal breaker for me.

Image courtesy of Bing

I can't promise I will be more active since again, this is my mother-in-law's bedroom. It's like being 12 all over again with the one computer, hooked up with 28.8 kbps dial up, is in the corner of my mother's bedroom and I had to find select times to browse... gifs or poorly designed websites (because that's all that existed back then) without judgement. I do pop up more frequently on Instagram though, which isn't saying much.

All in all I just wanted to bounce through and let you know I'm alive and well. I'm going to Venus my way to some more tea and a good doomsday book now. Enjoy!


Sunday, January 19, 2020

June 2019 Sephora Play Review



Play! by Sephora is a $10 monthly subscription that provides members with 5 beauty samples and 1 bonus item. The samples are never full sized and the bonus is usually a perfume but can sometimes be a foil packet. Wow, I’m doing a terrible job of selling this, guys. The only one benefit of the Sephora box over other similar boxes is all items can be found inside Sephora or available online at www.sephora.com. That is, until the chain discontinues something but that’s not too common.


·         Tarte Foundcealer SPF20 in 42N
·         Belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb





Tarte Foundcealer SPF20 in 42N

Once again, Sephora tries to match my skin tone and once again, Sephora fails. This time, they failed in the other direction. Tarte’s Foundsealer in 42N is about 2 shades too light for me, which I suppose can be worked with either in a dark room or the deep recesses of winter with some bronzer. The coverage is not my favorite. Like the name suggests, it is supposed to double as a foundation or a concealer. I’m not into high coverage foundations so this was an immediate miss, though I appreciate the opportunity to try it out. It’s too light for me to try to spot conceal with it over my normal foundation shades, but the coverage is definitely there. I will continue to play around with this around the house when I can guarantee nobody will see me out in the wild.



Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Vanilla

This was somewhat of a repeat item. I’ve tried (and loved) the original Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Strawberry. With its sweet scent, hydrating power, and generic petroleum jelly flavor that discourages me from eating it off of my lips, I intend to blast through my jar this winter.



Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner

Yet another product I’ve tried in the past. I should start off with the negatives first, and keep in mind, this is just all personal preference. I have hooded eyes that are difficult to work with and a pretty low-key preference for eye looks. I do not enjoy wearing eyeliner outside of my waterline and I like liquid liners even less.

That said, this is a fine eyeliner. It’s felt tip, which is more difficult for me to use than a brush tip liner (see Kat Von D’s Trooper Eyeliner) but it’s the finest felt tip I’ve ever encountered. It’s also the blackest liquid eyeliner I’ve ever tried, but I’ve never actually tested its waterproof claim. If I had to have a felt tip liner, this would be my choice.



Biossance Squalane + Tea Tree Detox Mask

I really enjoyed this face mask. It’s interesting in that it never dried down fully like a typical clay mask. It did a great job of moisturizing my skin and brightening my complexion a bit. It didn’t have any lasting effects over time but the immediate brightening was lovely.



Belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb

I’ve tried this moisturizer before and I really like it. The gel formula is moisturizing but not greasy so it’s great for daytime use, especially in the summer.



Hum Nutrition Hair Sweet Hair Gummies

This is generally a wasted sample in a subscription box because one dose isn’t enough to get an idea of how well a vitamin works. The flavor was rich; these were a pleasant gummy flavor. The texture was odd though. They were hearty and I even noticed a little extra texture to them. Now, this is a terrible analogy, but imagine eating rice pudding and noticing a heartier texture to it. IT was something like that, or perhaps a real fruit leather, where it’s heartier than an over-processed Fruit Roll-Up or Gushers snack. I can’t ever see myself paying what this product is asking. I might instead go for Nature Made Pre-Natal vitamins or something to that effect, If I’m looking for a hair/skin/nail multivitamin.

L to R in indirect natural light: Stila Eyeliner, Tarte Foundcealer in 42N

I’m no longer finding joy in subscription boxes like I once did, as evidenced by my posting once every 3 or 4 months now. Maybe it’s the stress of the move and fixing up a house, maybe it’s just an overabundance of items and I’ve found what actually works for me. Unfortunately, FOMO (cook kids’ translation: fear of missing out) is preventing me from quitting anytime soon. I’m slowly trying to whittle things down but damn this compulsive buying!