Whimsy of Things

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...

I want to go over some of my other "essentials" in the miscellaneous category, but today I want to talk about a foundation project that I am doing this January.  I have a large number of foundations, most of which I bought based on recommendations of Taylor Wynn , who has an amazing YouTube channel.  I love watching her videos and I like her personality a lot.  She has a great series called 15 Days of Foundation and she regularly does Foundation Fridays where she reviews single foundations.  Her skin looks amazing! She is beautiful! The sad fact of the matter is, my skin does not like the same foundations her skin likes.  Let's keep in mind that I am probably a solid 25+ years older than her and we live in completely different climates.  I also think she tends to prefer a higher coverage foundation than I do.  One of the things that got me into the idea of doing a replacement only no-buy was the fact that I would run out and buy nearly any foundation...

To expand on the Makeup Essentials that I posted about the other day, here are the Skincare Essentials that I will reference after no-buy January.   I will use the same color coding as on my last post: Green I am allowed to repurchase this item and I don't have a specific replacement I need to buy Blue I am allowed to repurchase this item, but I have to get a specific replacement Grey I am not allowed to repurchase or buy anything new in this category if I happen to run out Skincare Essentials: Morning Routine: Acid Toner: This is a relatively new addition to my skincare routine and yes, I know I probably shouldn't do this step in the morning, but it has worked well for me for a while. I used up a bottle of P50 a few months ago, and I really loved that stuff. It is expensive, but it takes a while to go through, so the cost per month wasn't really that high.  I have a couple of other acid toners to go through, but when I am done with those, I will repurchase t...

After I make it through my no buy January, I will be transitioning into a replacement only no-buy for makeup, skincare, stationery, and body care products.  That being said, I need to record what categories I consider something that needs to be replaced.  I have color coded the headers as follows: Green I am allowed to repurchase this item and I don't have a specific replacement I need to buy Blue I am allowed to repurchase this item, but I have to get a specific replacement Grey I am not allowed to repurchase or buy anything new in this category if I happen to run out Here are the essential makeup products that I use on a regular basis: Primer: I use primer because I seem to constantly get samples and I like to go through them, but I don't know if this is a category that I will replace if I use up all of my current stash.  There is a very small chance that this will happen this year because I have quite a bit to go through currently. I don't feel like primer re...

December was a light month for empties for a couple of reasons.  First, I tried using some face wash that my Dermatologist had prescribed and it did a number on my moisture barrier. I spend about two weeks of December sticking to the very basics and so I did not make any progress on serums or actives in December.  The second reason is that I went into work less. I do my skin care routine (more or less) every day, but I don't generally wear makeup products if I am not leaving the house. I had 3 Full sized empties, 4 sample sized empties and used 3 foil pouch products. I had one declutter/expiration. Full Sized Products: 1. FineVine Tea Tree Body and Foot Wash I like having a strong tea tree wash for my feet in the shower. I don't generally use this anywhere else on my body. I tend to try to use very moisturizing body washes, sometimes even body oils, and I like having stronger soap for my feet.  This soap was fine. I don't feel like it was super strongly scented...

Before we start - Some Clarification Yesterday I laid out the rules for my financial project for this year and mentioned that I would touch on each category and go over why they are problem areas for me.  I did want to mention that I didn't say what would happen with any budgeted money that I have set aside each month as the month changes. I will be rolling any unused portion of my budget over into the next month. This will allow me to save up for bigger purchases if needed. I cannot, however, borrow money from my future budget for a current purchase. One other rule I forgot to mention is that any money from items I sell that I already own can be put into my makeup/stationery/clothing budget. This is to encourage me to get off my butt and finally list/post some items I have been hanging on to for a while that I want to sell instead of donate. I want this stuff out of my house and the financial incentive for selling it would be nice. My Problem Categories Skin Care and Makeu...