Last month was a doozy for empties, I have no idea how I went through so much:
Let’s get started!
Trash Stash: August 2015
clinique
MAC Prim & Proper and dupes
Ahh, this blush. THIS BLUSH. I love it, and I hate it. Well, I mainly hate the fact that I didn’t buy a back-up of it. It’s not the blush’s fault. But the love I have for it… yes, I want to marry it.
It was part of MAC Give Me Liberty of London collection from 2010. MAC’s official shade description is “neutral nude” which really downplays how nuanced the colour is.
It’s a shimmering bronze nudey shade, yet it’s got a plummy-ness to it as well. It registers as both warm and cool tone on the skin, depending on the rest of my makeup look.
Lemmings #1
This is the first time I’m posting a wish list type of entry, but I’ve chosen to title it “Lemmings” instead. The reason for this is because most, if not all, of my wish list items have been brought to my attention due to other people’s posts about them. The meaning of “Lemmings” is from a 90’s video game whereby the little creatures would all fall off a cliff if not guided properly – they simply follow the leader. Essentially, a lemming is when other people buy something, and you have to go buy it too…
Similar to when your mother used to say, “If everyone jumps off the London bridge, would you jump off too?” In the makeup world, the answer is YES.
Road trip skincare and makeup bag
Starting this Friday, I’ll be on a road trip! We’ll be heading to northern parts of our province, also known as “cottage country” (don’t let the word “cottage” fool you, they have multi-million dollar homes that are owned by Hollywood celebs), and then heading to Ottawa. We’ll be staying mostly at Bed & Breakfasts (B&Bs) which are essentially rooms or a portion of someone’s house. They’re more homey than hotels – and usually the breakfasts (included) are amazing! We won’t exactly be roughing it, but I will be fairly low-key in terms of attire and makeup. I always ask myself 3 questions when packing makeup for a trip:
- Do I really need it?
- Is it the smallest / most compact item I own of that product category?
- Would I be devastated if I lost it or it got broken during the trip?
Keeping these in mind, here is what I’m packing for our 9-day trip.
I typically carry my makeup roll for the cosmetic items and a separate bag for skincare. The makeup roll was a gwp from Smashbox, and the cute travel bag is from Consonant Skincare.
Blush stash
Blushes make me SO happy! They’re like candy for my face! 😆
According to my inventory count, I currently have 155 blushes in my collection. And yet I still wish I had more…! 😛 The highest brands on my wish list are Sleek and Colour Pop – I can only order them online so it’s a case of hard to get = want them even more.
I store the bulk of my blushes in the same clear drawers as my eye shadows, but in the wider format:
Mini mascaras, mini reviews
This post kicks off “Lash Week” on my blog! I will be posting products and tools catering just to eye lashes, one of my most obsessed over facial features. Like most of you, I’ve got a stash of mini mascaras through gwp and beauty sets. This year I’ve been making a conscious effort to go through mine to see if there are any hidden gems among the lot.
I trialed the following 4 mini mascaras for one week each:
Buxom Sculpted Lash – $24 (Sephora)
Clinique High Impact – $19 (Sephora, department stores, Beauty Boutiques)
Benefit They’re Real! – $29 (Sephora, Beauty Boutiques)
Shiseido Perfect Defining Volume – $30 (Sephora, department stores, Beauty Boutiques, select Rexalls)
The value of the samples are actually quite good when you look at the full sized price and how many ml you get in the samples:
Grading skincare routines – part 2
It was inevitable that after I posted the Grading my friends’ skincare routine entry that my other friends also wanted to have their routines reviewed. I also had a reader asked me in the comments to review her skincare – which is very trusting of her! Below are their self-reported skincare routines. My comments are in [italics]. Brace yourself, this is a wordy entry. Again, as per my previous post’s disclaimer: I’m not a dermatologist or trained esthetician, I just play one online. 😀
Eye shadow stash
Here’s the motherlode. I’ve mentioned many times that I have a lot of eye shadows – over 600 – it is the most abundant makeup category that I own. I just love eye shadows and it’s the area of my face that I spend the most time applying makeup. I’ll keep this introduction brief and just let the pictures do the talking.
It took me over 2 hours just to sort and photograph the whole eye shadow collection and probably another 4 to edit everything. Usual disclaimer: this isn’t meant to show off. It was actually quite a beneficial exercise for me to display all my eye shadows visually. Warning: photo heavy post! (50 images)
Stuff I got for free
I’ve been accumulating a bunch of cosmetic items that I’ve received for free recently. Here’s what I’ve been given in the past month or so:
Grading my friends’ skincare routines
I was scolding one of my friends via email last week after she confessed that she has recently been sleeping in her makeup. I know, right? Horrific.
Then the discussion turned into said friend (Let’s call her A) asking for me to provide her with a skincare regimen. I turned the table around and asked my friends to provide me with their current skincare routines so that I can critique and also provide recommendations based on their skin type. Without further ado, here are my friends’ current routines and my recommendations.*
stash matters 