Whimsy of Things

I started out this month with a specific goal in mind with specific rules. I am not happy to say that I broke all of the rules. I thought about keeping all of this to myself, but in the interest of transparency and the fact that this blog is mostly for me, I am going to spill the beans and walk through all of my thoughts on what I did. I feel that, if anyone is actually reading this, knowing that I didn't waltz through this experiment perfectly is probably more useful than being dishonest about it. Here is a list of all of the things that I bought in January - sanctioned or not. Makeup/Beauty Purchases: 1. Tati Beauty Sponge things - I am happy with my current method of applying makeup and foundation and my husband just bought me the fanciest brush that I own. The total of this purchase was $22.72.   I didn't need this. It isn't replacing anything that I have used up. This was 100% a purchase that went against my rules, especially considering that January was suppos...

It isn't January anymore, but the project goes on.  I should have three more days including this one then I will talk about my February Project. I have liked powder foundations since I bought a compact of the Body and Soul Powder Foundation about 15 years ago. This has long since been discontinued and I have always missed it. I have also tried several powder foundations trying to get something similar. This powder foundation is the closest I have found and I really do like it. This is the Aquasurance Compact Foundation in ACF101 Ivory .  I already know that I like this foundation and I plan to repurchase it in the future, but I have been using this mostly on the weekends and for touchups. I wanted to give this a try as a workday foundation.  To do so, I sort of kept Taylor Wynn's Powder Foundation tutorial in mind and opted to use the Tati Beauty Blendiful for application because powder puff type applicators work really well with this type of product (More on the B...

I made some progress on my stuff this month, but as you will notice, there is only one makeup product in this batch.  These are the things that I legitimately used up and are true empties: Soap and Glory Flake Away Body Polish: I like having a scrub for my weekly soak, and I like Soap and Glory products, but I really don't like the standard Soap and Glory scent. I would consider getting this again in a different scent and I like that Walgreens frequently has sales on this product. EVO Salty Dog: A salt spray is one of the staple products that I like to have around to get the texture in my hair after I wash it.  I like this spray. The scent is light and it has a pretty good hold. I have used better salt sprays, but this one doesn't dry my hair out or leave it sticky which is about what I am looking for in a salt spray. I may buy this again when I work through the sprays that I have, but I would like to find something less expensive and easier to get. Solid and Strip...

It is here! The day I have been dreading!  Its Dermacol day!  I have tried more than one tube of this foundation and I could never make it work. It is so thick and so high coverage that I could not for the life of me understand why it was so popular.  I did recently switch from using a brush to using a sponge so I thought that might help sheer it out some, and I told myself that I would try really hard to keep it light in the application. I believe that Dermacol is cruelty free, at least that is what my internet searches have told me.  I tried this in 208, which is the lightest shade and FAR too light for me. I should have tried 207 which is actually a little darker. When I say this is too light, I mean I look pasty and it is very clear that I have makeup on just because of the tonal difference between my neck and my face.  Because it is such high coverage foundation and so paste-like, you can see my skin through and it is clearly different. Imagine pa...

Today's foundation is the Sephora Matte Perfection Tinted Moisturizer in 02 Silk .  This one makes me SOOO freaking mad.  First, it isn't cruelty free so it isn't something I would repurchase anyway. Second, I actually sort of liked it. Third, my husband complimented my skin when I wore this and said that I looked really pretty the day I wore it. Normally this would have me sold, but animal testing. BOOOOOOoooooooo oooooo . This one claims to be a lightweight, soft-matte finish tinted moisturizer that gives sheer, breathable coverage and that it is undetectable on skin.  I wouldn't even call this sheer... light maybe, but not sheer. It has a really pretty glow that doesn't lean oily looking, blended well and is a good shade match. See?  Really pretty.. No settling into lines, no cakey-ness, just nice.   It lasted pretty well throughout the day, not as well as a full foundation, but all in all, nice.   I would love this as a weekend or ...

Facebook made me buy it!  Facebook makes me buy really stupid stuff. I had to completely ban myself from buying anything at all from Facebook because almost all of it comes from China (I am looking at you too small dog bed!).  This is not from China and it is probably a perfectly fine foundation, but it wasn't for me. Today I am testing the IL Makiage Woke Up Like This foundation in 040.  This foundation claims to have a lightweight texture, matte finish, buildable medium to high coverage, be cruelty free and have some good skin care like ingredients.  I don't remember if I did the shade finder quiz or if I just picked it, but I bought 040 and I think I would have been better off with 035 or 030.. this is just a little dark on me even though it looks ok in the photo.   The coverage on this is ok and about the level I like.  I have found that I am really pretty solidly in the medium coverage camp.  I am not a huge fan of the textu...

Look who I found!  More foundations to try before the final declutter! That Dermacol scares the crap out of me because I know I have tried it more than once trying to get it to work but dang, that stuff is like paste on your face. I will give it one more shot though. Today I am trying the Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream in 02 Vanilla.  Again, I am interested in a tinted moisturizer for the weekends that this one had good reviews when I bought it. This might be the most pointless thing I have put on my skin. I think I get better coverage from a pressed powder!  It doesn't build, it has a strange gel consistency and it is just bad.  I know I can't expect a lot from a tinted moisturizer, but I need something. This reminds me of that Glossier Skin Tint that I also didn't like. This one isn't even worth trying to mess with to use under something else. I may see if one of my friends wants it because I can't donate it....

It bugs me that I have enough spare foundations laying around my house and cluttering up my life that I am able to use a different one for two weeks straight with no repeats. This is just silly. Anyway, today I am trying the Purlisse Perfect Glow BB Cream in Light. I like the idea of a BB cream or a tinted moisturizer for the weekends, especially if it has some SPF included.  I want something I can throw on with my fingers without fussing with brushes or sponges that has ok coverage and doesn't look horrible if I start to sweat.  Yeah I know, I don't ask for much!! This one was not it.  The coverage was really light  and it wasn't easy to blend.  I had a lot of gathering around my nose (you might be able to see it in the photos). The color match was ok, but that was partially due to the fact that the coverage was so light.  I might try to use this up as a sort of primer since it is a small tube to begin with and Project Beauty Share wo...

Today I tried out the Kokie Full Cover Foundation in 20W.  This one comes in a really pretty bottle, is priced well at around $10.00 and has a consistency that I like.  It is also cruelty free.  Unfortunately, I am pretty sure this one is discontinued which sort of sucks because I ended up liking it pretty well. This blended out well, had just the right amount of "glow" on my skin and wore pretty well throughout the day.  This was a pretty nice color match too!  I had two (workable) complaints. First, the smell. It has a weird artificial apple smell that I was not a fan of, but it went away pretty quickly.  Second, the coverage was a little heavier than I would ideally like.  That could be worked around by mixing in a little tinted moisturizer, applying it more lightly or something along those lines.  I would have likely picked this to go onto the next round (more on that later) if it were not for the fact that this isn't going to b...

It occurred to me that I should do swatches of the foundations that I am testing this month to give you all a comparison. 1. Joah Truely Yours Natural Finish Foundation Drop - JLF125 Classic Ivory 2. Purlisse Perfect Glow BB Cream - Light 3. Sephora Matte Perfection Tinted Moisturizer - 02 Silk 4. Catrise HD Liquid Coverage Foundation 010 Light Beige 5. Kokie Full Cover Foundation (likely discontinued?) - 20W 6. Candid Natural Finish AntiPolution Foundation - 110 (A good shade match, and my most loved foundation) 7. IpKn Moist and Firm BB Cream - Light 8. Flower Beauty Light Illusion Foundation - Ivory L2 9. Photoready Candid Glow Moisture Glow Foundation 110  10. Il Makiage Woke Up Like This Flawless Base Foundation - 040 11. Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream - Vanilla 02 I actually found 2 more foundations when I was going through my things that I will add to the list later.. the Kosas Tinted Oil Foundation and the Dermacol Foundation....

Today I am retrying the Flower Beauty Light Illusion foundation.  This product is reasonably priced and is cruelty free (yay!) in Ivory.  This foundation is supposed to have medium coverage and provide the "most flattering soft luminosity imaginable" with a skin-like feel. It has a little SPF but not enough to skin a separate sunscreen. All of that sounds great and I remember liking this in the past. This time, the coverage seemed to be a little heavy compared to what I would ideally like. The issue here is that it is so glowy that it accentuates all of my texture, and being over 45, I have a good bit. The color match seemed ok, but overall I will have to pass on this one for the long run.  I guess I could try setting it down, but the coverage would be even heavier and that is one of my issues with this foundation. I haven't been great about taking wear test photos later in the day because most of the foundations I have tried lately have really let me down a...

Hello again! I have 2 BB Creams to try during this project and I have decided that I will give them a shot on Fridays.  I actually wore this one earlier this month, but my school writing has prevented me from uploading a review as often as I would like so here we are. I tried the IpKn Moist and Firm BB cream in Light. It contains ceramides, collagen and niacinamide which I like and a pretty solid sunscreen which can't hurt especially since I would like an easy weekend product to use when I don't want to pull out sponges and brushes. I tried to find the cruelty free status of this product and wasn't able to come up with much, but due to the lack of information, I probably wouldn't purchase this. Its unfortunate too because I feel like this looks really nice and has good coverage for a BB cream.  It sat on my skin well and the color match was pretty good. The texture is nice and it feels good on my skin. It actually feels more like skincare than makeup whic...

I got hung up in school so writing about this has taken longer to post that I would have liked, but this blog is mostly for me to keep track of spending and to get my thoughts out there, so I don't feel too bad. In any case, today I tried the CYO Lifeproof Long Lasting Foundation.  I have two bottles of this because it was on sale and it came so highly recommended by Taylor Wynn . Unfortunately, this foundation has been discontinued so even if I end up loving it, I wouldn't be able to replace my current foundation with it.  This is in the shade 103. This is supposed to be a medium coverage foundation that is transfer proof and lightweight.  I do find that the coverage is medium, but I don't feel like it looks very skin-like on me. This is a photo right after application. I feel like it is more noticeable around my mouth and nose, but I don't feel like it offers very good coverage as I can still see some redness on my cheek that wasn't covered. I didn...

Today I am giving the Catrice HD Liquid Coverage Foundation in 010 Light Beige another try.  I would like this one to work out.  For purely fussy reasons, I like the glass dropper bottle. The price point (around $11.00) is great, and this company is cruelty free (the biggest thing I am looking for in an alternate to my favorite). Upon initial application, the coverage of this seems about right. I don't feel like it is a thick layer on my skin.  It blended out with a makeup sponge quickly and anything I put on top of it blended out without issue.  The color match is even good. The finish is a nice satin matte and the texture issues seem to be about standard. At this point, I have already decided that I like this one enough to send it on to round two (more about that later). I didn't happen to get a photo of this outside right after application yesterday, but here is what it looked like outside at the end of the work day The coverage clearly isn'...

Today I am retesting the L'oreal Infallible 24 Fresh Wear foundation in the shade 420 - True Beige. This foundation was all the rage on YouTube 6 months ago or so, and I got hung up in the hype and ended up buying 2 bottles because there was a sale at Walgreens where the second was half off or something like that. I would rather this didn't work because the primary purpose of trying to shop my backups for a replacement for my Candid foundation is to find something from a cruelty free option and this wouldn't work for that. The foundation applied pretty well with my standard makeup sponge.  Just a note, all of the foundations I am testing will be applied without primer and with the same makeup sponge for fairness sake.  The coverage was a little heavy and I could feel the foundation on my skin, but not as much as the Pacifica foundation from yesterday. The finish ended up being a satin matte finish (which I think is the finish I prefer overall). Inside, right...