This past year I really tried to get smaller products, travel size sort of thing.
I never go through any one product, except shampoo, conditioner and the occasional liquid foundation. So instead of wasting product by having it go bad I felt that smaller sizes were best.
One of the things I am terrible about using in general is body lotion. So when Bath and Body Works had their $2 hand lotion sale (regular price $9) I stocked up on a few. I threw them in my work bag, in my nightstand, my desk, in my kitchen, just about everywhere to force myself to get better about using it.
I didn’t limit myself to using them only for my hands. I should add that I don’t need a lot of lotion because my skin doesn’t absorb it quickly so the smaller size works for me.
Well, even with only 1 fluid oz it’s taken a while so finish one cream. But I did it!
When I cut it open I was able to get so much product still! It was enough for noth legs and feet. Now that I’ve emptied one I’m excited to keep it going!
I get so hung up on posting only full looks and I end up not posting anything so today I’m going back to my roots and paint a pictorial
I used mostly, if not all, Colourpop single shadows. Celestial came from the discontinued Semi Precious palette
I’ve been enjoying putting together my own palettes and it’s helped me use shadows I haven’t touched since purchasing them. Here is the custom palette I used today
Row 1 left to right : Issues, Imperial, Easy Go
Row 2 left to right : Martian, Ready or Yacht, Anthem
Row 3 left to right: Sideline, Conjour Up, Celestial
I’m going to try doing more of these, the same way I try so many other things haha.
Let me know what you think and cross your fingers I follow through!
Other products used : Benefit Boi-ing Cakeless Full Coverage Concealer (gifted)
I should not be allowed to have long hair. I’m not ready for the responsibility of caring for this hair *SMH*
I’m on vacation and forgot to bring conditioner even though I’m fully aware 85% of the time the hotels will not provide this (why?????). As soon as I saw the “conditioning shampoo” I knew I was in trouble.
Typically I wash my hair once or twice a week with some co-washing in between (I use Curlsmith Curl Quenching Conditioning Wash which I highly recommend). I have the satin pillows, do the braiding before bed, that kind of…care. On vacation though? I may have forgotten to try to tame my hair before bed.
I can’t explain how I washed my hair the next morning. I kept hoping that as I applied and scrubbed the knots would just go away.
They didn’t.
When I say I wanted to cry and take the butter knife to my hair (note to self: leaving scissors at home was a good idea) I meant it. I had noooo clue how I was going to get through this rat’s nest. It was the same story on BOTH sides *insert cry emoji*.
Thankfully I grabbed random sample products I keep specifically for traveling and miraculously I had packed It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-in and Virtue Split End Serum
I have experience with the It’s a 10 product and the one issue I have with it is that at some point early on in the product’s life, it becomes impossible to spray out. Given my dire situation, I added a bit of hot water, shook and hoped for the best.
I had not previously used the Virtue product but I definitely have split ends so, perfect! I probably used half of this sample in my hair today. Which means, I can confidently say it doesn’t not leave your hair sticky or greasy and it doesn’t feel heavy. This helped me untangle my hair enough to separate it in smaller sections to deal with the knots.
Once I got my hair separated into smaller sections I started spraying the It’s a 10 and used a comb to brush through the remaining tiny knots.
After what felt like a lifetime, but was only 20 minutes, I was able to comb through my hair completely. Try not to recoil in horror, I know I need a cut and color touchup. Working from home has made it a low priority. After this though, I may need to reevaluate.
So my hair goes back to it’s standard side braid until it and I learn how to act right.
Colourpop ctrl+alt+glam is a 12 shade palette of “lilac, magenta + warm neutrals in Matte, Metallic, Matte Sparkle and Pearlescent Glitter finishes”
It’s a limited edition palette that retails for $22 but I bought it during the Black Friday sale for $9.
It’s not a palette I would have paid full price for but I did like the shades enough to pick it up during the sale.
Hologram is the only glitter shade and I’ll be taking that out because I don’t like that finish.
Here are the two quick looks
I used the same mattes in both looks. In one I used Avatar (purple) and in the other I used Glitch (blue)
I wouldn’t normally pair blue and purple/magenta but I liked both looks. I would be more likely to wear the monochromatic eyeshadow look but I like having the colorful option.
I like that there are neutrals in this palette so you can achieve a variety of looks, including more “wearable” looks
Did you pick up this palette? I’d love to see your looks! You can tag me on Instagram @asquard (:
Moving forward I’d like to try to do a few looks using a palette in a row 1) to have things to post and 2) because I like to use a palette more than once in a row (:
And I definitely need something to post because WordPress has totally convinced me others want my domain name and keeps me paying for it. Haha
Anyway, here’s this palette again
And here’s the look
I don’t think there’s a very wide range of variety in this palette when it comes to the mattes, but I think with the right combination of the shimmers and layering of the shimmers/metallics you can get a good amount of looks out of this palette
For this look I used Entice, Woods and Suspense
Entice is a nice crease shade and helped blend and soften Woods. I used Woods in the outer V of my lid and lightly in the crease. I had to build up the Woods shade but it works out because I can control how light or dark it shows up. I built it up darker in the outer corner to give some dimension to my eyelids.
I like that I can use this for a variety of looks, from natural to darker looks.
The Forever Flawless Deadly Desire was released in 2021 and is no longer available.
I like to continue using and posting older makeup because I’m sure other people still have older palettes and I’d love to be able to see and share looks using these palettes
I loves the cover of this palette and the embossing and the shade names. I can’t lie, these are aspects that okay heavily on my decision to buy a palette. Plus, these tin palettes from MR are good quality and I expensive
This is the look I did using this palette
I love the topper shade Greed, used all over the lid. It isn’t the most opaque shade but if you use it over a base it goces a nice pinky/purple shift. I’m sure you can also use it over a color base or other colors to make it pop more.
I hate using the shades with the skull embarrassing because I love the look but I’m past the days of hoarding makeup just because of how it looks lol
Do you have this palette? I’d love to see your looks, tag me in Instagram @asquard ❤
I received this NYX Butter Gloss in Sugar Glass in an Ulta sample pack.
It comes in sleek packaging with a soft doe foot applicator.
I haven’t used this formula because I don’t usually go for glosses but this one is really comfortable. It’s not sticky at all and feels moisturizing. It also has a wonderful vanilla-y icing scent that you can smell as you’re applying the gloss but not once it’s on so if you’re sensitive to scents this shouldn’t be an issue.
I’m not going to run out and buy more but I’m glad I was able to try this out and will continue to use it.
I recently decided to do, and post, eye looks even if I don’t do an entire face of makeup.
This gives me the opportunity to share looks, and have them for future reference for myself, without the commitment of doing a full face then removing all that makeup. Which, let’s face it, is what I feel most lazy to do.
This also makes me feel better about the amount of making I have because I’m actually using it instead of having it sit around waiting until I have an excuse to use it.
For this look I reached for the Colourpop Good For Hue collection. My goal is always to maximize the products used but you can definitely achieve beautiful looks by using only one quad/palette.
I used the Hot Chocolate and Cream Soda quads and for extra spice I used a shade, Token, from the Lucky Penny palette too.
Cream Soda is perfect for very subtle and shimmery looks, while Hot Chocolate makes for great smokey eye looks. I used both for something in between.
I started with Milkshake in the crease, added Token to slightly darken the crease and built up the depth with Choc Full and Ur Hot.
I could have stuck to the Hot Chocolate quad and used Fun Factory with a fluffy brush and light hand in place of Token.
For the lid I placed Half Sweet on the center of my lid, going over the out edge a little to blend it, and Malted in the inner corner portion, going over Half Sweet a little to blend the shades. I applied both using my fingers.
I quickly did my brows and went in with Soda Shop between my brow and crease.
It’s been so long since I’ve been able to regularly post vacation photos..
A quick run through of the hotel I stayed at this trip.
Hacienda Buenaventura Hotel is a quaint hotel that offers an authentic Mexican atmosphere. It’s an all inclusive that has one pool, a beach club area and two restaurants The buffet style restaurant opens for breakfast, lunch and dinner while the a la cart restaurant is only available for dinner and reservations must be made the morning if. It’s a very small and intimate restaurant so spots are limited but the food is 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼 All inclusive means food and drinks and I had no issues getting anything from local beers to food liquor. The staff was very friendly and accommodating and the room were nice. It’s definitely an older hotel but everyone I talked to mentioned the “homey” or “authentic” feel and there were many people who have been visiting the hotel for DECADES. As with every hotel there are some downsides: only one bar open through out the day. The beach club hours are only 10a-6p and if you can’t walk the two blocks you risk having to wait 30+ minutes. In general the guests were also friendly and willing to get to know strangers or stick to themselves. Saturday there was a “Mexican night” celebrating authentic Mexican cuisine and music. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the night. You can catch an Uber ride, taxi or bus ride at the hotel. I can’t wait to come back and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to visit and stay away from the typical touristic hotels.
My Life in Makeup 