pleased and thank you

so it's lent and i gave up buying myself stuff

i've done well and it isn't easy.

i've also cheated a couple (few, several) times 

but overall i have cut back on stoop purchases which is my purpose

naturally. sephora would send a 15% off coupon this time,

and after talking it over with God, 

we decided it would be ok to make one purchase

i went to the jcpenney sephora with a nars "the multiple" in mind

and decided against it for a multiple of reasons, lol,

- i have a bunch of free sample highlighters already

- i am prone to breakouts at least monthly 

and highlighting them is not something i want to do

- $39

- the testers were really smudged and nasty; 

two of them out of eight or ten were not even available for testing 

- upon testing, my face did not look like kate bosworth's and she swears by these

instead i meandered to the josie maran shelves and took a gander,

came across this "argan infinity lip and cheek creamy oil" for $18

background info:

i am into the color of benetint, it suits me,

but putting benetint on my lips does nothing really,

and the benetint balm (apparently discontinued)

 is almost perfect, albeit too sheer

this lip color by josie maran in boundless berry is perfect.

repeat, perfect.

it is everything i know benetint could be.

i am very pleased.

wore it all day at work two days in a row 

and upon exiting my room to check patients out at the front desk

and to check myself out in the full length mirror directly outside my room

i was happy to see it had stayed put and did not need hourly reapplications,

plus i did dab a little from my lips to my cheeks 

and it creates a natural, dewy, flushed look - very kate bosworthy

there other colors and i am interested in the "always cherry"

i will be purchasing after easter as a late birthday present for myself.

i did a good job not buying both with the 15% off coupon because it was lent!

i held back and only let myself buy one although i could have easily purchased both.

-- yes i have been taking prenatal vitamins because they were on sale! --

foundation highlights

big news: i got highlights.

they look really good,

 they are only little face-framers.

told my mom i should've done it a long time ago

instead of resorting to cutting myself bangs and stuff

when i was feeling like i needed a change.

quick review of these two foundations.

i use foundation, not to cake or hide freckles, etc..

i love my freckles and even some of my sun spots are fine for now

i use to to even skin tone and add some moisture to my face

i also find i am less likely to touch my face if i do my makeup 

which is a good thing.

DIOR - approx $40 and slightly too yellow in color for me.

it is a heavier coverage which i was learning to adjust to 

simply because it was DIOR

stupid.

yes, i am a lover of packaging 

but i ended up decanting into a smaller little plastic pot 

because the original glass packaging 

was too cumbersome in the makeup bag.

i think this kind of makeup is for grannies? people who like to cake it on?

whatever the case, will not be buying again.

COVERGIRL - it's easy breezy & beautiful

my shade literally disappears on my skin

basically see through yet dewy and youthful

keeping bobbi brown teenage beauty mantra in my head:

only apply where you need it, not all over.

simple.

it's only $9 and it rocks.

i do want to try bourjois healthy mix foundation

because lisa eldridge likes it a lot

(she calls it "dewy" which is my favorite term when talking makeup)

and it is made in the same factory as all the chanel foundations

perhaps after lent? perhaps.

my strange addiction

i need to stop buying lip products!

(remember this for lent, and maybe next year's NY resolutions)

the revlon moon drops lip conditioner i bought at rite aid today at lunch...

(buy one get one 50% off)

(also bought two other lip colors that seemed like a good idea at lunch but when i tried them on after work i asked my reflection "were you high at lunch?"

and i told my brother who was watching me put  one of them on,

"this is called gothic princess"  

- just so you get the idea of the shade range i was in - 

.... they have been returned)

...has a circle in the middle that is a different color than the outside

like an orange creamsicle, i thought,

i even searched "revlon lip conditioner cross section" to show it but to no avail - 

the above picture was the best i could find, 

but don't be fooled, the tube is emerald green in real life.

i like it and i have no idea how they got it to smell exactly like a grandma!

how did they do that? 

apparently, people hate the smell;

reading the reviews online people used words like

"disgusting" "worst" "terrible" "gross" "cannot stand" "weird"

but i say

"creamy" "dreamy" "supple" "nostalgic" "tasty" "fun!"

oilé

i'm having a really hard time 

not turning this blog into a beauty roundup

of the products i accumulate and test on myself

right now i'm so into oils 

and things in unlabeled jars, pots, and dropper bottles

just bought that josie maran argan oil - no opinion yet

i switch off cleaning my face with 

a half sweet almond/half castor oil (clear pump bottle)

and straight coconut oil (clear pot) 

depending on what i feel like at night, either pumpy or scoopy

my favorite part of the day is my night routine: 

taking off my makeup and putting on my night creams 

my second favorite is when 

i wake up 8 hours later and put my makeup on again

happy sunday, bring on another week!

hawaii mani

got this mani when i went to hawaii

got it again this week for good time's sake

isn't it cool?

sunday favorite day 

and possibly my favorite top shelf 

in a while

twins love it too because she is on their favorite show

H2O: just add water

which is about mermaids, of course

insane psycho freak

i've been copying my mom. 

in this case, wearing the same rose fragrance as her 

since last summer i think...

it's called

GUEN Beauty Fresh Rose Shower Cologne

and all of the important writing on the packaging is in korean

so i can't read it.

hannah bought it for her for her birthday last year

so i would sneak into her bathroom to "get something" or "weigh myself"

and spritz it on every morning.

finally i went down to the beauty supply to buy my own and

lo and behold, they don't have it anymore, they just have the sample.

so i made it a point to go in there once a week

and bug them to see if they had gotten it in.

no. no, we haven't. no, come back next week.

can i have the sellers contact info please? 

no.

and then one day:

"here just take the sample, you insane psycho freak"

! YES !

however, samples do not last forever.

so i started stalking google. 

literally could not get any search results on it

until this past weekend, when a store in san gabriel

known as "NAIL SUPPLY HOUSE" had it on their website.

went in there today and bought em out.

i gave it such a raving verbal review,

the lady asked me to spray some of my sample on her;

i happily obliged.

sidenote about NAIL SUPPLY HOUSE:

we're talking OPI nail polishes, regularly $8.50, for $5.50

we're talking essie, usually $7.50, for $4.75

we're talking floor-to-ceiling nail polish and nail polish smell - 

at one point i had the feeling i was going to faint 

and thought about stepping outside for a breath of fresh air

 but told myself to keep it together.

great place, might be my first yelp! experience, might not.

Vitamn C

could a diy vitamin c serum be taking the place of my la mer?

i think it is!

if you are curious to learn more, watch this video.

it's thirty minutes, i watched the entire thing twice.

la mer is $150 for the 1 oz

and the packaging is perfection

the color combo is perfection

and it works

but it's $150

buying all of the ingredients 

for the diy vitamin c serum is $15 tops

and it works, possibly even a little better than la mer

i know, i said it

but pores are shrinking, people!

skin is as soft as a baby's bottom!

sunspots are fading!

i've been using a 20% formula at night for 2 weeks, maybe 3

put it on straight outta the shower,

(oh for the love of God, it burns!) 

seal it in with CeraVe PM facial moisturizing lotion,

and there are definite results

on occasion i tap into the la mer 

primarily for the smell,

but secondarily because sometimes 

there are areas that need more help

i will continue to buy la mer 

but i will now have to purchase it less often...

this is called a win-win.

eye spy

what do these pictures have in common?

the creme of all cremes,

the creme of the crop,

la mer.

a note about pic 2: 

MARVIS is the most sorry excuse for a toothpaste ever,

the website is like an annoying fashion statement.

at least it has fluoride in it @_@

and why are people still using manual toothbrushes? are we cavemen?

might as well brush your teeth with a splayed branch from the forest.

first 4 photos: into the gloss

last one: mine, baby