Thank you all for the well wishes. I am doing much better and I even drove this week! I cannot say that I was completely calm, but I managed to get back home with no injuries. Here are the highlights from the past week…
Empty #1. This week I emptied my first jar of Meow Meow Tweet Grapefruit Deodorant. I didn’t have to think about it twice and I repurchased it right away. I am sure I mentioned this deo before, but if you missed it, this is an effective cream deodorant that is also baking soda-free. It smells great and does the job.
Empty #2. Finishing your cleanser is never fun, but finishing it on Friday evening is the worst! Especially when you do not have a back-up for it. Anyways, I said goodbye to another bottle of YULI Halcyon Cleanser and I promptly…
Repurchased. Yep. My skin and Halcyon have gotten into some type of agreement because it appears that every time I try another cleanser I get spotty, and then my skin clears out as soon as I use the Halcyon Cleanser again. I have also gotten used to rinseing my face with water instead of having to wipe off with towels. I only do balm cleansing once or twice a week when I have a little me-time. You can read more about the Halcyon cleanser here.
Hand Serum*. My sweet friend from England, Annabelle, sent me a gift for Christmas that I have been loving. It’s a hand serum from Bodhi & Birch, and it’s my first time trying a product from them. Although it’s an oil, it absorbs into the skin immediately and leaves no greasiness behind. It’s such a great overnight treatment and it smells lovely! The scent is citrus-y, and uplifting. I can’t thank Annabelle enough for such a thoughtful gift (she knew my poor hands needed this!). Now I just have to figure out how to buy more from Bodhi & Birch, because they only deliver to the UK. A good find for sure. **Update**: the Bodhi & Birch Hand Serum is now available at LoveLula with free international shipping (click here).
Photography. Lately, I have been receiving a lot of questions about my photography equipment: camera, lighting, how do I do this/that, etc. I have been using a Canon t4i for the past two years (and a Polaroid before that), which gives excellent, quality photos, but I would not be able to properly review the camera as I don’t even know all of its features. I am not a pro, nor a tech savy person in general, so I mess with all the settings until the photos look bright and clear. Sometimes I just mess with all the settings and get nothing done. All product photos are usually taken with artificial light. I use a ring light that my husband chose for me (you can find it here on Amazon). All my recent photos for the makeup posts are taken in natural light, which is why they are much brighter and nicer than the ones I used to take at our old place.
Eye Primer Update. many of you have been asking me to test out some “natural” eye primers, and I have started to do it. I am happy to report that I have used the Red Apple Lipstick Eye Primer* for the past two days, and it has worked very well so far. It comes in a little pot, and as I would do with any eye primer, I only dab a tiny amount with my ring finger, just enough to cover my upper lid up to my brow bone. As you may have noticed I have hooded eyes so anything will crease on me–anything. The Red Apple Lipstick primer prevented eye shadow from creasing for the entire day on both days that I used it. I will continue to use it (I need to workout in it!) and will review it a little later, but I have been pleased with the performance so far. Yay! My only concern is that it comes in only one, light shade, and I do not think that it would suit all skin tones. Have any of you tried it? Thoughts?
Giveaway Coming Soon. Keep an eye on the blog this week! I’m not trying to tease you, I really just don’t know which day of the week I will be posting it yet.
Questions, Requests, etc. If you have any questions or requests, please leave me a comment below. There are several products that I have been using that I would like to review/feature, but if you have specific requests, please let me know. I am currently searching for eye primers, eyebrow makeup, concealers (that’s a hard one), and some of you have been asking me which spf products I use (maybe an ultimate sunscreen post with all the ones I tried?). As always, feel free to ask and I will do my best to get on it.
Have a great week!
