Jennie Day
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
Jennie Day
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT

Jennie Day Blog

Sweet Anthem Enchanted Fragrances

May 11, 2015 By jennie

My friend Meredith released four new fragrances in her perfume line, Sweet Anthem. The Enchanted fragrances include two heroines and two villains, and are a great complement to the rest of her line which already includes Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella inspired perfumes. (And for what it’s worth, those two are among my very favorites.)

11041566_10153163742463672_884610240927705401_n

Photo courtesy of Sweet Anthem.

The Heroines

Briar Rose – Most of Meredith’s perfumes, I can tell from sniffing the bottle whether or not I’m going to like it. This one was different – out of the bottle, the sweetness is overpowering. But I went ahead and wore it anyway, and I actually really enjoyed the scent after it had dried on my skin. It’s still quite sweet, but not so much that it reminds me of the horrible lingerie store body sprays I wore in my teenage years. I’ve also found it layers nicely under the Black Queen … which is appropriate.

Snow White – Probably the weakest link in the Enchanted line, to me. I’m having a hard time describing the scent because it’s very light and doesn’t last on my skin. I can’t pick out any individual notes, so I think it’s safe to say they all blend together nicely.

The Villains

Red Queen – This is a reissued favorite from the Sweet Anthem line, from long before I ever knew Meredith or her perfumes. This is the most nuanced of the enchanted fragrances, and the balance of sweet (from the honey and fig) and spicy (from the cardamom and pepper) is perfect for a villainess themed fragrance.

Black Queen – Easily my favorite of the Enchanted line. This has the same linden blossom and tonka bean notes from last winter’s Lolita, which I loved, but is a bit earthier with the oak moss and apple notes.

644436_10153147600293672_266289601929473660_n

Photo courtesy of Sweet Anthem.
You can buy the Enchanted fragrances sampler set with all four fragrances from the Sweet Anthem website.

Disclaimer – Meredith gave me samples of these perfumes in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Beauty

The Final SA List Subscription Box

November 24, 2014 By jennie

Back in March, I blogged about my friend Meredith’s perfume subscription service (The SA List) and self-deprecatingly described my (non) knowledge of perfume. After four seasons and a dozen scents, me with my library of perfumes looks a little something like this:

anchorman-pantherpiss_528_poster

source

Ok, not really, but I’m totally perfume expert.

Ok, not really.

What I said in that very first post was that I wanted to try lots of different perfumes and figure out what I like and don’t like, and I can say that was successful.

Really.

sweetanthemwinter

The final Sweet Anthem subscription box included three new perfumes.

Ulalume is the standout in this box, for me. It’s light and crisp, and I personally love the ylang ylang note – I used to use a ylang ylang shampoo and the familiar note in this perfume sparks some happy memories.

I also really like Lenore, which is sweet and citrusy. I wish it were a bit stronger – in the eau de parfum concentration, it disappears on my skin after just a few minutes.

The third sample, Agatha, didn’t do much for me.

I loved receiving the samples throughout the year, and trying many different scents – like I said, I wanted to figure out what I like when it comes to perfume, and I definitely did.

I probably would have figured out that I love Alice (my favorite of all the Sweet Anthem perfumes I tried this year) just by trying a tester. Others though, notably Walden from the summer box and Ulalume from this box, I felt very ambivalent about until I actually wore them for a full day.

Then there’s Poppy, from the spring box, that I was dismissive of at first smell – this summer, I switched the lotion I use and found that I actually really like Poppy, it just smelled off when worn on top of the old lotion.

Sadly, Meredith has decided to end her subscription box service, but as always, sample sizes are available on her website. You can also now purchase several of her perfumes online from Anthropologie.

Filed Under: Beauty

Sweet Anthem Fall Perfumes

July 23, 2014 By jennie

Two notes before I tell you about the latest perfumes from my friend Meredith’s perfume subscription service:

1. I was reluctant to post this review because the subscription list is closed for the remainder of the year. I decided to go ahead with it because if you are interested in any of the perfumes, you can buy a sample size on her website. Also, maybe I’ll have convinced you to sign up by the time she opens subscriptions for 2015.

2. One of my all-time favorite novels (The Virgin Suicides) inspired one of this season’s perfumes. I’ve been considering posting a series of book reviews of my all-time favorite novels, and this perfume has convinced me that it’s high time I re-read the book, whether I write a blog post about it or not.

So without any further ado, let me tell you about what a perfume inspired by The Virgin Suicides smells like.

sweet_anthem_fall

The fall edition of the Sweet Anthem features two perfumes dreamed up by customers in the Dream Fragrance Contest.

Petra got my vote in the contest, mostly because of the whole inspired-by-my-favorite-novel thing. There’s a scene in the book where the boys (who act as narrators) walk into the house of the Lisbon girls (after whom the book is titled) and it’s dank and musty and one of them steps in an uneaten sandwich on the stairs. That scene flooded into my head when I opened the sample bottle.

… Sorry for describing what is actually a lovely scent in an unappealing way; I promise it does not smell like rotten sandwiches. I was delighted with Petra at first sniff. It reminds me of walking into an old house with wood panelling (which is what the Lisbon’s house looks like in my head.) It’s sweet with the cherry and heliotrope, and a little smoky.

Unfortunately, something in this perfume smells a little sour on my skin. (I don’t have a sophisticated enough nose to pick out what it is.) I’m pretty disappointed, but I must confess – it hasn’t stopped me from wearing Petra (though, mostly around the house.)

Then there’s Ella, which comes, of course, from Cinderella: “a dream is a wish your heart makes.” Ella is kind of perfect for fall … mostly because of the pumpkin pie spice, because, duh.

It reminds me a little bit of Lolita (from the spring collection) mostly because they’re similar in intensity and both on the sweet side. I really like this perfume, but I’m “saving” it for when the days get shorter and Starbucks announces the return of the pumpkin spice latte and I dig all of my tights out of storage.

There was also a sample of Owl, which was the winner of last year’s dream fragrance contest. Owl is fabulous – it has the same white amber base note as Alice (my very favorite out of all Meredith’s perfumes) and is similarly earthy. They aren’t really alike – Owl is spicy; Alice is musky – but I really like both. I also got a solid Marguerite perfume, but it’s not pictured because I accidentally misplaced it. D’oh.

***

If you’re interested in trying samples of these, you can pre-order Petra and Ella from Meredith’s shop. Also, keep an eye on her blog or Twitter if you’re interested in signing up for The SA List when she opens subscriptions again.

Filed Under: Beauty

Julep Plie Wand

May 28, 2014 By jennie

Some months ago, I gushed over Julep, my favorite monthly subscription box.

Somewhat ironically, the same week (maybe even the same day) I published that post, they announced changes to their service, and the service has changed again since.

I say all this to level the playing field – I love Julep, and I have no hesitation recommending their products. However I do have qualms recommending their Maven subscription, because if you sign up today, you will not be signing up for the same service I have (I am grandfathered in to the old service) so your mileage may vary.

With that out of the way, last month Julep shipped out their latest product, the Plie Wand.

julep_plie_wand2

You can watch their instruction video here, but basically, it’s a tool meant to make nail polishing easier. And cleaner.

I’ve used the wand three times now, and I’m very happy with it so far. Let me back up and say that my usual routine is to paint my nails in a half-reclined position on the couch while watching TV or reading blogs, so I know that I would have better results if I sat down at an actual table and made sure I had enough light. So the real test with the Plie Wand was not “is it easier and cleaner painting my nails with this tool?” but “can I paint my nails lying down and not end up with a sloppy mess?”

The answer is yes.

julep_plie_wand

I received mine in my May Maven box, and the spring colors are SO PRETTY. I love them. (I got an extra polish as a freebie for crowd funding the Plie Wand when they announced it in January, and it’s a glitter top coat. Meh.)

But to be perfectly honest, the product isn’t perfect. For one, there’s a learning curve – the first time I used it, painting my right nails with my left (non-dominant) hand was EASY and great, but using it in my right hand was a sloppy mess because I am used to holding the very edge of my nail polish caps balanced between my thumb and index finger, which I’m not able to with this giant wand in the way. The other thing I want to mention is that QC was not quite up to par because here’s how my brush arrived …

broken_plie_wand

That won’t do. And I know I’m not the only one who had issues with glue failing on the Plie Wand. However, I got extra brushes so it was easy to switch out.

I talked myself into buying the dotting and striping tools, even though I am not nearly patient enough for nail art, and look! My nails look pro-worthy (not really.)

nail_art

Let’s cut to the chase – my left hand is pictured here because while I attempted some stripes and a flower (that’s supposed to be a flower, in case you couldn’t tell) on my right nails, they look pretty awful. I’m not really big on nail art, but I may attempt it more often because the tools did, as promised, make it easier.

If you’re interested in signing up to be a Julep Maven (which gets you a better price on the Plie Wand) you can use my referral link to support my nail polish habit.

Filed Under: Beauty

The SA List Summer Subscription

May 19, 2014 By jennie

A few months ago, I shared a post about my friend Meredith’s perfume subscription service: The SA List. I got the second edition last month and wanted to post about it, mostly to remind you that it’s available and you should sign up for it, and also so that I can post about perfume because it’s something I am definitely well versed in and totally qualified to talk about.

sweet_anthem_summer

The summer edition is two new perfumes, both more unisex than the spring collection. I also got candy and lip gloss samples from the Sweet Anthem collab with local candy company This Charming Candy.

Cooper is the one I was most excited for, mostly for the Twin Peaks reference and less so for the actual fragrance. Aptly described with more Twin Peaks references: “What are all these magnificent trees? Nutty vetiver, smoky teak, coffee – black as midnight on a moonless night, and the transcendental Douglas Fir.”

I had my suspicions reading the description that I would like Cooper only for the novelty factor, and while I definitely like it more than I dislike it, this isn’t something I want to wear regularly. It’s very sophisticated and old-fashion-y (if that makes sense.) In the eau de parfum sample, the scent is more powerful than I personally like to wear.

Walden is, of course, named for the Henry David Thoreau classic, and it’s one of my favorites of Meredith’s perfumes (my very favorite being Alice.) She describes it as: “Heaven is under our feet and over our heads. Aquatic musks, vintage florals, and the greenery everywhere.”

Walden is exactly the kind of perfume I was hoping to find – very earthy, subtle, a little floral but without being matronly. Also, it has ambergris, which I learned about in a recent episode of Bob’s Burgers and it isn’t gross at all.

960

source

The summer samples have already shipped, but you can still put your name on the list to receive samples from future seasons. The fall season will feature a perfume dreamed up by a Sweet Anthem customer, but definitely not me because I’m too wimpy to enter. Maybe next year …?

Filed Under: Beauty

Another Subscription Box: The SA List

February 19, 2014 By jennie

Like last week’s post on Birchbox, I am linking up this post with Unpack the Box and Mommy Splurge. Click the image to check out other bloggers’ box reviews!

Unpack the Box
Hosted by Unpack the Box and MommySplurge



Thus far, I’ve only posted about some of the big brands’ boxes, and I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you about a small business doing an awesome subscription service: Sweet Anthem.

Sweet Anthem is my friend Meredith’s company, and I am probably not the best person to talk about her perfumes because 1. I am biased because I know her and she’s awesome, and 2. I know almost nothing about perfume.

Seriously, my only frame of reference is other products I’ve smelled, and the only way I can describe perfumes is “well, that one smells like one that my mom wore when I was a kid, and that other one smells like a lotion I liked when I was in junior high …”

But I felt better about it after hanging out at the Sweet Anthem shop last week, when I picked up The Little Black Book of Perfume, which described one particular fragrance as “watching Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep after sitting though twelve episodes of Cheers.” So it’s not just me – scents are just hard to put into words, and our preferences are so personal.

The reason that I was so excited when Meredith announced that she’d be offering a subscription service is that this gives me the opportunity to try lots of different perfumes and figure out what my preferences are, and hopefully, gain a little knowledge about perfume.

20140124-101019.jpg

Here’s what came in the first box, the spring collected themed “Valentine for Vendetta:”

Lolita: Tonka bean, rosewood, black currant, cherry blossom, and sea salt. Lolita is very light and sweet and delicate – I really like the scent, but it’s so faint on my skin that I can’t decide if it’s something I want to wear regularly or not.

Poppy: Opium, Turkish musk, red flowers, cocoa, clove bud. This is rich and chocolatey, but not sweet, if that makes sense. I didn’t care for Poppy when I stuck the vial under my nose, but Meredith’s blog post about how to smell perfumes convinced me to try wearing it, and indeed, I like it better on my skin than in the bottle.

I also got Alice, which is a restock and is described as: Rabbit hole musk, white flowers, hazy woods, garden greenery, and wafts of smoke from the Caterpillar’s pipe.

These three were all eau de perfums, and I also got a solid perfume called Nell as a bonus, which looks to be from one of the older collections and isn’t currently available.

sweet_anthem2

Alice is my very favorite – smoky and a little floral. Meredith calls her perfumes “bottled stories you wear on your skin,” and Alice is, of course, based on Alice in Wonderland. I don’t usually like floral perfumes because they’re too sweet and kind of overpowering, so I love that Alice has a mix of other notes – the tobacco in particular makes it so much more interesting to my nose.

While I was at the shop, I (of course) tested several other perfumes, and ended up taking Phoebe home with me, too. Phoebe has several of the same notes as Alice, but is sweet instead of floral. Similarly, I didn’t think I liked sweet perfumes (maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like to smell like cake) but the tobacco and dirt notes are interesting and different and really appeal to me.

I’m surprised that I like trying and wearing perfumes as much as I do, but my interest is piqued. I may go back for Lolita, and Owl, from the Familiars collection. And I’m especially excited to try Cooper from the upcoming summer collection, which is Cherry tobacco, Northwest woods, and a strong, black cup of coffee. (Meredith, like me, is a fan of Twin Peaks!)

So if I’ve convinced you that you should become an SA Lister, here’s where you’ll go to sign up. You can also read the answers to frequently asked questions about the program. It’s $6-7, depending on how many seasons you sign up for. (To be clear, those are not referral links, I’m just sharing to support my friend because she makes nice perfumes and I think the subscription box is a fun way to try them!)

Filed Under: Beauty

Why Am I Paying For Samples?

February 12, 2014 By jennie

Last month, I wrote up a review of Julep’s nail polish subscription boxes. A couple weeks later, Karen at Unpack the Box announced that she would be hosting a monthly subscription review linkup with Mommy Splurge, so I threw my link into the mix and had a blast participating.

I didn’t plan on writing about how I’d just reactivated my subscription to Birchbox, but I decided to for two reasons: the obvious, which is to join in the next subscription review linkup, and to talk about the value of samples and whether they’re worth paying for.

Click this image to check out other bloggers’ box reviews!

Unpack the Box


Let’s start by getting one thing straight: Birchbox’s monthly subscription box is not a product, per se. When I say “the value of samples” I don’t mean the monetary value. I see many bloggers calculate the value of each sample to estimate whether they’re getting more product than they paid for. Or, you could say that if you receive five samples in each $10 box, you’re paying $2 per sample.

Honestly, I don’t think either way makes sense. Birchbox’s monthly subscription service is just that: a service.

The value of Birchbox, then, is in sending their customers products that they are “sure” to love. I say this because one of Birchbox’s talking points is the “custom curated box.”

Let’s talk about that concept for a minute, using my January box as an example.

This was the first box I received since reactivating my subscription, and when I received an email with my tracking information, it showed a picture of the products headed my way: a lanolin lip balm, a hot pink nail polish, an anti-aging serum, a dry hair conditioner, and deodorant wipes.

I was not interested in any of these things, and spent about a week kicking myself for signing up again and wondering “why am I paying for samples? Is it worth it?”

The more I thought about it, though, the more each item made perfect sense: I’ve purchased multiple lip balms and glosses from their site; I received a sample of anti-aging serum that I stalked on their website afterwards; I’ve added a nail polish to my favorites list but haven’t gotten around to purchasing yet; and I’ve bought several facial cleansing wipes, so maybe that precipitated the deodorant wipes …?

As for the dry hair conditioner, I have no explanation.

… and the end of the story would be that I got a mediocre box but with a perfectly reasonable explanation for most of the items inside. But when my box turned up, this is what was in it …

birchbox_jan

Fekkai shampoo & conditioner, Inika mineral eyeshadow, Nail Rock polish and glitter kit, and deodorizing wipes

I have no idea why what turned up was completely different, but I’m pleased with the items I received. (Also, the picture on the emails prompting me to purchase full sized items from my January box shows what I actually got, so I did not get the wrong box by accident.)

The shampoo and conditioner are nice – I don’t love them enough to want to buy the full size, but enough that I’ve stashed them with my travel sized toiletries for my next trip.

The eyeshadow is a pretty aquamarine that’s easy to apply and blend – probably my favorite thing in the box, and something I would consider purchasing (but maybe in a different color.)

The polish kit is the thing I was most excited about and turned out to by my least favorite item in the box – I adore blue nail polish, but this is not great (as you can see in the photo below, I slopped it all over my cuticles.) The glitter is highly textured so it snagged on everything, but I was very surprised that it stayed put and I didn’t end up with glitter all over my sheets the next day, so that’s something.

I have not tried the deodorant wipe.

blueeyeshadownailpolish

Inika eye shadow and Nail Rock polish in action.

So while I ended up with samples I was really excited about, that’s just one out of five that I’d consider purchasing. Which put me back on the fence – is this service really worth my money?

I’ve decided that it is, mainly because I’m still pretty new to makeup and beauty products, so the value to me is getting to try new things and decide what products I like and are worth my money.

Birchbox has gained popularity in the couple of years since I first subscribed, so they’re working with great brands whose products I want to try. And if you haven’t downloaded their iPhone app yet, it’s really terrific – I actually like shopping on the app more than on their website. Lastly, having sample sized items to stash in my travel bag is a plus 🙂

My biggest complaint is that I wish they would send more than one makeup item per box. I think makeup items are a little tricky to sample, and it’s usually makeup items that end up in my trash, unused. So while the blue eyeshadow I got in this box wouldn’t be my first choice, I can wear it, unlike the orange hued lipsticks and too dark BB cream that I’ve gotten in past boxes.

If you aren’t already a Birchbox subscriber and would like to be, you’re welcome to use my referral link which awards me some points towards future purchases.

Filed Under: Beauty

Julep Maven Box

January 6, 2014 By jennie

After my so-called makeup explosion, I became obsessed with nail polish.

I’d been hearing a lot about Julep, a Seattle company who was having great success with monthly subscription boxes of nail polish. I was totally disinterested at first, because my obsession hadn’t yet hit in full, and also because I’m pretty burned out on monthly subscription boxes. But then one of my friends posted something about Julep on Facebook, and I decided to give it a shot (also, I found a promo code to receive the first box for free. That was good incentive.)

I kept it quiet on the blog because I gifted some Julep polish this Christmas, but now that the holidays have come and gone, I have a few months worth of Julep’s boxes to tell you about. There’s a lot, so I’m just going to go over the highlights.

DSC_0165

First was the welcome box – I filled out the style profile, and they suggested the “Classic with a Twist,” which included Padma (purple) and Florence (nude) as well as the Luxe Skin Repair. They also offer a limited number of steeply discounted products with every box – for the first, I bought the acetone-free conditioning polish remover and oxygen nail treatment. They threw in a sample and a little package of candy corns, which I thought was a super adorable touch.

My favorite and most-used Julep purchase so far is their polish remover. I love the pump top and it doesn’t dry out my nails and skin, but I think the price of it is a little outrageous. I’d buy it again (I’d even pay more than the $4.99 super-discounted price) but $14 for 4 oz. seems too steep to me.

***

One of Julep’s marketing schemes is a monthly mystery box, which I fell for in November. It was themed the “Diamond Collection,” and guaranteed two glitter top coats with diamond shaped sparkles. I also received the pink grapefruit body “frosting,” an eyelash curler, an exfoliating mitt, a foot moisturizer, and some nail polish. I added some polish and the mystery add-on, which included hand, foot, and nail treatments, and more polish. All in all, I got twelve polishes in this box!

DSC_0163 copy

I ended up liking all the skin products and I would be happy to see any of them turn up in a future box, but I won’t go out of my way to buy any of them again – except for the double step foot moisturizer. It’s shea butter but in a dispenser like a stick of deodorant, so it’s super easy to roll on and I’m using it constantly.

Since I received so many polishes, I decided to gift two of the sets for Christmas and “only” kept six for myself. (I say “only” with quotations because I’m trying to convey sarcasm.)

***

The next box I received was from January’s “boudoir collection.” I decided this month to get the Modern Beauty (beauty products only), because the products were all about the perfect home manicure.

DSC_0108 copy

“Vanish” cuticle softener/remover, “Ta-da!” quick dry polish drops, and cuticle oil.

I’ve used these only once so far, but I’m very happy with them. I needed a cuticle remover (yes, needed!) and I’d been waffling on whether or not to buy a popular drugstore brand. I’m glad I didn’t because just days later Julep announced theirs and, let’s be honest – I would have bought it either way 😉

***

I should probably talk about the polish, since that’s what Julep is known for. I have so much new polish now!

DSC_0101 copy

Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of the shape of Julep’s bottles – they’re tall and skinny, so the brushes are long and difficult to wield. I’m getting used to it, but they’re more difficult to use than other polishes.

The saving grace is that the formulas are very thick and opaque – I’ve not needed more than two coats of any of the colors I’ve gotten, and a few of the colors can get away with just a single coat. And the colors are gorgeous! I haven’t gotten any that I don’t like (even in the mystery box) … although I’ve discovered that I don’t really like glitter top coats anymore. My 12 year old self would be so disappointed.

My favorite colors so far are this frost pink called Lois.

DSC_0097 copy

Or the medium purple called Charlotte.

DSC_0010

Also of note, their polish wears really well – I took this picture of Charlotte after 4 days of wear.

***

This post is getting a little long, so I’ll wrap it up, but I want to talk briefly about the subscription boxes. Like I said, I’m a little burned out on monthly subscription services, but I think Julep’s is one of the better ones.

Each month, they send out an email with the month’s selections. My answers to the online style profile put me in their “Classic with a Twist” category, but I can choose a different box so I know I’m getting colors I want. They offer a nail polish only option and a beauty product only option, or the option to buy the entire collection of polish colors and products. They’ve made it incredibly easy to skip a month, or ship the box to a friend as a gift.

I also really appreciate that their nail polish is “4-free” (made without four common toxins, including formaldehyde) and their skincare products without harsh chemicals. That’s not easy to find.

My criticism of Julep is that they boast about sending full sized products in the boxes, but their full size is smaller than other brands. A bottle of Julep polish is .27 fl oz, while most other brands’ bottles are .5 fl oz. A Maven Box is $19.99, and I think that’s perfectly reasonable for two half size bottles of polish, a beauty product, plus samples and shipping; but I think their regular pricing is too high, especially because they routinely mark items down as much as 75%.

If you’re interested in signing up, you are welcome to use my referral link to help support my nail polish addiction. Use the code “FREEBOX” to receive your first box free.

This post was linked up with Unpack the Box and Mommy Splurge.

Unpack the Box
Hosted by Unpack the Box and MommySplurge

Filed Under: Beauty

Oh, Make Me Over

November 13, 2013 By jennie

One of my pre-wedding tasks was finding a couple of makeup items that I needed, and what started with that simple task has grown into a full-blown obsession, which Joel has taken to calling the “makeup explosion!” Pretty accurate, actually.

h69B566BD

source

I did an image search for “makeup memes” and this came up. Remember that episode? Here’s the clip …

ANYway, I have nothing else to blog about today, so I figured I’d tell you about some of my favorite makeup items that I’ve accumulated lately.

Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge

DSC_0109

I bought this Bobbi and Katie palette last month – overall, it’s *pretty* nice. I’m not super impressed with the eye shadows, but I think the eye pencil is great, and I totally love the cream blushes in this set. I love cream blush because I can wear it on days that I don’t wear foundation (which is … most days) and they don’t slide off my face. These go on easily and they’re both really pretty, natural looking pinks.

DSC_0113

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner

DSC_0115

I am hardly the first person to blog about how great these eye pencils are – but it’s true, they’re awesome. I couldn’t decide what color I wanted, so I picked up the “Ocho Loco” set, and have been playing with all the great colors. My favorites so far are Roach, a warm, metallic (but not glittery) brown, and Tornado, which is a pretty purple-y indigo.

Diorshow Mascara

DSC_0179

I remember Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde saying something about how wrong the person who says blondes can wear black mascara was. I’ve been desperately googling, but I can’t find the quote, so maybe I just made it up to make myself feel better for hating black mascara – it looks entirely unnatural on me.

Far too many brands do not make their best mascaras in brown, which I find highly disappointing. (Actually, my #1 favorite mascara used to be Lash Injection by Too Faced, which was discontinued in brown about a year ago. That was a sad day.) The makeup experts at Sephora recommended Diorshow Iconic as an alternative, and I LOVE it. I’ve had no issues with it clumping, and it smells like roses.

Revlon Lip Stain

DSC_0167

This is what my make up guru (that would be Allegra) recommended as a lipstick alternative for my wedding day, and I loved it so much, I’ve worn it almost every day since. I use the “honey” color because … well, because that’s what Allegra said I should use.

***

After the so-called makeup explosion, I had to find a better way to store all my makeup. I started with a small bag that sat on the bathroom counter, and when I could no longer cram all my makeup into it, I hauled out my old Caboodle …

DSC_0143

Yes, it’s the same one I’ve had since I was 13 and it’s seen better days. It used to have a plastic latch with a pink flower on it and the bottom is filled with the dust of a thousand eyeshadows (I totally just wrote iShadows on accident. Oh, Apple.)

DSC_0142

Plus, there was the fact that it was full-to-bursting with all of my new makeup items.

Finally I had to admit that the time had come for my beloved Caboodle’s unceremonious trashing. And then I found this:

DSC_0140

The Sephora brand train case, which was conveniently marked down 50% last month – just around the time I decided it was time to upgrade my makeup storage center. So far, I’m very happy with it – I love having the dividers so I can keep my excessive number of nail clippers separate from my eyeshadow palettes.

My only complaints are that the tabs for the dividers don’t line up 100%, which drives me crazy; and maybe I have some attachment issues to my old Caboodle, but I really miss the lipstick holder (which I mostly used to have easy access to my Birchbox samples.)

The good news is, I still have a little room to grow, so I’m free to accumulate more new makeup.

***

I’ll have more interesting posts for you later. At least I spared you the gratuitous selfies, right?

Filed Under: Beauty

SUBSCRIBE

Enter your email address:

CONNECT

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

ARCHIVES – By month

By category

Copyright © 2023 · Dynamik Website Builder on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in