Free for Haul Friday, Volume #488

Share your recent beauty purchases or rediscovered favorites in your stash (for those on low/no-buys!), chit chat about weekend plans, and learn a little more about each other!

Let's Chat!

Share your own answers in the comments!

  • Haul/Rediscoveries: Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo, Make Up For Ever Let’s Gold palette
  • Weekend plans: Getting estimates for house-related things, try to catch up on some sleep, put new cabinet hardware on in the master bathroom, tidy up the master bedroom!
  • Do you play any video games?: I still play Farm Heroes (on my phone) if I have nothing else to do and I’m out somewhere, and then I play Overwatch here and there (on my PC).

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Seraphine Avatar

Haul/Rediscoveries: Well, it’s halfway through March and I’m still sticking to my almost-no-buy! I’m so proud of myself! There are a couple of temptations out there, but my willpower is feeling pretty strong.

Weekend plans: Family birthday party, chores, relaxing

Do you play any video games?: I have a few that I play on my iPad when I’m winding down at the end of the night or in a doctor’s waiting room: Wordscapes, Word Stacks, and Woody are my current favorites.

Genevieve Avatar

Well done Seraphine, it’s a great feeling when you stick to your goals. Anyway, a lot of the tempations contains dupes of products you, no doubt, already have. I find that by digging out something I haven’t used in awhile makes me feel like I am discovering something new.

Nichole Avatar

I’ve been loving red lips lately. I own a lot but don’t wear it often. I rediscovered Hourglass’s Icon Lipstick in my stash. Oh goodness that red is fabulous. It’s a shame it’s DC. I don’t think the new Icon is the same shade. An equally great shade is Coloured Raine’s Cherry Blossom. Those deep blue reds are perfect for my skin tone.

Deborah S. Avatar

Haul: Nothing this week! No/low buy going strong.

Weekend plans: Headed up to Glacier National Park. We go every winter and went in January but there wasn’t any snow and we like it when there is snow on the ground. Lake MacDonald which sits at the bottom of the pass is actually frozen over which doesn’t happen all that often, although it froze the winter of 2016. It is a pretty good sized lake so quite indicative of how cold and for how long. So my Instagram will no doubt be flooded with pictures over the weekend.

Video games: Not really. I have a Sudoku app loaded and play that when I am waiting for Drs. appt. , flights etc. Never really got into video games.

Tammy Avatar

I can’t wait to see your photos!

BTW, after telling you I didn’t have anything in my cart for the Sephora sale next month, within 72 hours I put so many things in my cart that I now have to pare it down?

Deborah S. Avatar

I am a little worried that when I actually do start buying things again, I will go crazy and buy a ton! I know what you mean, though. I started out with mostly skin care that I usually stock up on during the sale but I have gone back and added more makeup also. I actually have close to $600 worth of stuff in my cart which isn’t that hard at Sephora but when I think about my hoped for trip to Europe at Christmas, I think it would be crazy to spend that much on makeup,now.

kjh Avatar

Back in the days of yore (1956) my parents took me on the classic train trip to Glacier from Chicago. Back when the railroad hotels still had original FL Wright, etc. Waterton, too. Not only do I remember every rodent and bird, as well as the blacks, grizzlies, and bison, I still recall many phrases in the Blackfeet tongue. I also clearly remember going by boat to the hotel on Lake Mac Donald, and my first glimpse of the Going to the Sun Highway. I’ve done alpine passes in a car, Switzerland/Italy/France/Germany/ Austria as well, but nothing has left the impression Glacier did.

Deborah S. Avatar

Like you, I have seen some beautiful mountain ranges and nothing compares to Glacier National Park, IMHO. The park has had a series of issues and mother nature has wreaked her havoc there over the past 25 years or so. The forest was/is infested with a beetle that has ravaged many of the older trees and the north slope range, across from Lake MacDonald is almost completely bare. Then for two summers in a row the forest fires have raged through the area. They took out one of the original chalets last summer. After the chalet the fire crested the mountain and put Lake MacDonald Lodge in danger of burning so the firemen (from all over the world) made a stand and were able to keep it from advancing on the Lodge. It would have been a catastrophe if the Lodge was lost. The beams in those lodges came across on the rail and there is a beam in the lodge that spans the entire length of the lodge, from one tree. I love staying in the old railroad hotels. So much history.

Mariella Avatar

I love doing Sudoku (well, not really “love” it but I had read that it’s a good thing for keeping my brain from turning to mush as I get older) but I cannot play it on my phone or computer….I need to be able to do it on paper, with a pencil, so I can pencil in “possible” numbers….I really don’t have the sort of brain that can “see” where anything but the most obvious numbers should go so I have to go “step by step”; I think it’s also why I cannot – and have never wanted to – play chess. I really don’t have that sort of brain, though I wish I did.

Genevieve Avatar

What a fantastic place to visit – we are real mountain buffs in our family and love driving through mountain passes etc and visiting way out places (in mountains). I am not a desert person at all. Our mountains here in Aus, are pretty, but certainly not as tall and big as your ranges. How freezing it has been for you, whilst it has been incredibly hot here.

Deborah S. Avatar

Hi Genevieve, yes I am blessed to live in an area that has so much natural beauty but as you mentioned, it does come with drawbacks and the main one is severe winter weather. I have to admit that I don’t really have a problem with our usual weather and temperatures but the last three years it has been heavier than usual and temperatures have stayed really cold. I am actually in Kalispell, Montana, right now and going into the park tomorrow morning. It was shocking to me that the lake just south of Kalispell, Flathead Lake, is frozen over also. I was coming to see the lake inside of Glacier, Lake MacDonald but Flathead is the largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi river which basically divides our continent into Western USA and Eastern. For it to be frozen over is really amazing. It has been 36 years since it froze over last and it didn’t maintain the freeze like it has this year. It is rather cool to see people walking about, ice fishing, snow shoeing, etc on the lake. Anyway, hope it cools down for you a little bit. You should be cooling soon, I would think. We are expecting a heat wave next week when we will get up to the 40’s which I think is about 4 degrees Celsius. It will feel like shorts and sandals weather to us!

Lauren Avatar

Haul/Rediscoveries: I haven’t broken into the “fun” colors in my ColourPop Chasing Rainbows (Holiday release) or my BYOP that I did in December. Today, for work, I said screw it I feel like Spring and want to do something subtle, but different. Be gone browns! I ended up using the single shade Howlin’ all over and glitter glue with Chasing Rainbows shadow Not Playing in the center. I have gotten *so* many compliments today that I can’t wait to start using more fun colors at work. Howlin is really impressing me with how pretty it is and the pigment is fabulous. You can keep it light or do a second layer, so blendable and… I’m in love with it. I never thought I’d be pulling off a pastel purple, but I’m glad that whatever possessed me to buy it did so.

Weekend plans: No plans for once. I’ll probably spend the (finally) lovely weather riding my horse. Maybe the dogs and I will go to the park too!

Do you play any video games?: No, I don’t. I still have my Wii and some computer games, but I find I never have the time to break them out. I do play Guitar Hero on the rare occasion I find myself at Dave & Busters though! I love that game.

Sam Avatar

I ended up hauling some of the glossier play stuff in the end- I am hoping to give it a good try out today! I just got a couple eyeliners (the metallic pink and green ones), and got a couple of the liquid eye shadows they came out with a while ago. I also purchased some of the colourpop spring collection yesterday- there are just so many colors that I’ve been looking forward to for spring. I got the lipstick in Flower Szn, the blush in Get Lei’d, and the jelly much eyeshadows in Close to You, Big Ego, and Photosynth Sis.

Cuddles are good motivation for all that house stuff :3 Especially animal cuddles- they can be so sweet to us, it always makes me feel lucky. We are continuing to reorganize furniture and clothing to have a little more space- been pretty industrious lately. 🙂

I love video games, mostly RPG’s- my husband and I have some games we will play together, but mostly we’ll take turns going through some behemoth of a game while the other watches (and motivates? jeers? XD) Our favorites right now are Breath of the Wild and Stardew Valley, but I got to introduce him to Pokemon recently which was so much fun.

Jessica Avatar

Haul: nothing.
Weekend Plans: I have to work tonight, I was supposed to be off, but I took the shift from my coworker b/c he had to work all last weekend b/c of people calling off. Saturday I’m going to visit with my grandparents for a late birthday celebration for my grandma. Sunday, I’m on newborn duty while the toddler is off with his parents enjoying a PJ Masks concert.

Jessica Avatar

Thank you Genevieve. We did well together. Thankfully, he slept most of the time, which meant that I got to nap a little, lol. We only had 5 minutes of terror b/c we had a difference o opinion. He wanted his bottle right away and I decided changing his diaper first and then bottle was the best course of action.

Genevieve Avatar

Well done Jessica – changing his nappy first is a good idea because if they fall asleep after the bottle then it is definitely tricky. Napping whilst the bubba is asleep is good too. He sounds like a gorgeous little one.

Mariella Avatar

Haul: nothing this week – nothing at all! Rediscoveries – while it’s not that old, it’s a palette I’ve not used a lot so I got out the UD Beached palette to use the other day. I think I’ll challenge myself to use it for the next week or so.

Weekend plans: hot yoga tonight; gym tomorrow and more soup making and coffee cake baking on Sunday as March Break ends and school resumes Monday.

Video games: not at all, unless things like computer solitaire and similar games count.

Genevieve Avatar

I am starting to get into soup making again too. I had a cooking day last Tuesday and made some vegetable soup, bolognaise sauce, Swedish meatballs and a chicken pasta sauce. I was on a roll. All demolished now.
Lachlan: Nonna, you don’t put cucumber in a veggie soup!
Me: It’s not cucumber Lachlan, it’s zucchini.
Lachlan: That’s worser! My not like zucchini.
Oh dear! Nonna ‘ate” the zucchini bit and he ate the rest.

MacKenzie G. Avatar

Haul: I was a little bad today and placed a rather large order on the Kylie Cosmetics website . . . I got the Kylie x Jordyn palette, the Valentine’s Day palette, and 2 singles (Ma$e and Hungover). It was technically 2 separate orders, because the V-Day palette went out of stock as I was checking out, so I put the Jordyn palette in my cart instead because I had originally wanted it and didn’t know they brought it back. Then I just ended up checking the site again a few minutes ago and the V-Day palette was back in stock, so I (quickly) placed my order. Thank goodness for Afterpay!

Weekend plans: taking the practice GRE that I put off last week, studying, writing my independent research paper (in Spanish). I’ve been procrastinating the paper for the last few weeks, but I was able to go to the library and bust out several pages yesterday, and I think the creative juices finally started flowing.

Do you play any video games?: I do! I got a Nintendo Switch for Christmas, along with Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, from my parents (they’ve never bought me a video game console, so even though I’m “a grown-up” this was a big deal). I also love RPGs, and have logged a lot of hours into Skyrim, Stardew Valley, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, etc. But I hardly play when I’m in school, so the last time I played for any length of time was when my university went on strike for 3 weeks in January/February.
Side note: If anyone is curious, Google “Wright State University strike” and you’ll find plenty of info. It was the second longest higher-education strike in the U.S. (~22 days). Thankfully, the professors won and we’re all back in class!

Genevieve Avatar

Best wishes for the studying MacKenzie – you can do it. How clever you must be to write in Spanish – may I ask what your topic is?
And don’t feel bad about buying some makeup either – when you have finished your paper, you will have all this fun stuff to play with.

Tammy Avatar

Haul: Viseart Petit Pro Liaison and Sonia G Builder Two. I also picked up six individual size hair masks from Sheamoisture (I love the Coconut and Hibiscus Curl and Shine mask), and two bigger containers of the 100% Virgin Coconut Oil Rehydration Mask to try. This allowed me to take advantage of the extra points for Ulta purchases, on products that were also on sale AND I used an additional $5 off coupon.

Rediscoveries: I did my first (and massive) declutter last weekend. This brought many of my preferences to my attention; for example, I kept all my Chanel and Viseart palettes. And it wasn’t because these brands are high end, because I did destash some of my Tom Ford items and could have gotten rid of all my Tom Ford without regret. At any rate, I thought Viseart’s Bridal Satin would be perfect for spring, and yes it most definitely is! Just like last spring, when I searched high and low for THE spring palette and ended up realizing nothing would be able to top Viseart’s Boheme (which I already owned), this year I am discovering the magic of Bridal Satin. I used the pink, taupe and purple shadows today, and finished off the spring vibe with YSL’s Vinyl Couture Mascara in I’m The Trouble (Blue).

Other rediscoveries: NARS Liquid Blush in Orgasm (perfect for spring and different than the dry version, which I gave away) and YSL’s Rouge Pur Couture lipstick in 70 (Basic Nude).

Update on my eye situation: Eight weeks ago I developed a condition where the upper inner tear duct of my right eye began running continuously. As in, I can’t go 2 minutes without having a Kleenex in my hand to soak up the fluid running out of my eye, and going through jumbo boxes of Kleenex daily. It obviously wasn’t an eye infection as there was no redness, swelling, pain, itching or gunk, but my GP and I tried antibiotics twice, just in case. Yesterday I finally got in to see the eye doctor. (What I’m about to tell you is a ridiculous continuation of a series of unfortunate events that started over the 4th of July weekend of 2017.) In the summer of 2017, I developed a rare double abscess in two of my molars, made even more rare because one of the molars had a root canal years earlier (but they missed a root and left a broken piece of metal in another root.) They were able to do a successful root canal on one tooth, but the other root canal was unsuccessful and I ended up losing the tooth after months of pain, antibiotics, and specialist interventions. By the time they took the tooth out, the abscess had dissolved a hole in my maxillary sinus. I had to have a bone graph to repair the hole in my maxillary sinus. I Went through the bone graph, waited months to make sure it took, then my surgeon put in the post for an implant. I just got cleared two weeks ago to finish the implant process and am scheduled to get a “tooth” at the end of this month. While I was at my oral surgeon appointment, I asked if my eye trouble could be related to my bone graph or implant. Absolutely not, according to my oral surgeon. It absolutely is, according to the eye doctor. My nasolacrimal duct has been completely obstructed by the maxillary sinus bone graft. I am now scheduled to have surgery in April to have a stint placed in my nasolacrimal duct. If that doesn’t work, there will be a second surgery to “reroute” the duct. This whole situation has been unbelievable since the beginning, and it just gets more incredulous as it goes. I sometimes think it won’t end until they finally just remove the right half of my face ?.

Weekend plans: Tonight husband and I might attend our daughter and granddaughter’s Queer Eye marathon and ice cream party. If we go, we will bring pizza and beer ?.

Tomorrow is gym and cooking, and Sunday I will take my daughter and granddaughter out on a date. My daughter will pick out clothes for my grandson’s birthday party (next weekend). It is my gift to him, but I enjoy letting my daughter pick his clothes. Then we will take Natalie (granddaughter, age 13) to Victoria’s Secret for bras.

Video games: Me playing video games is about as likely as a person developing a double abscess, losing a tooth, having a hole in their maxillary sinus, getting a bone graph, the bone graph blocking the nasolacrimal duct, and having to have surgery to try to reopen the duct. One of these situations DID happen, but I cannot imagine a universe where one would find me playing a video game, lol.

Mariella Avatar

Oh dear, Tammy – it seems almost impossible that they could even diagnose something like this. Good luck with the upcoming surgery. April is approaching pretty quickly and here is hoping everything is resolved and you are well (and can wear eye makeup!) again!

Genevieve Avatar

Actually Tammy, I was privately wondering about whether your eye issues had anything to do with your tooth problems of a year or so ago, because of the severity of the issue and the way in which the abcesses reached up into your sinus area. It really is a quadruple whammy or so for you.
I hope you enjoy your weekend and picking out a little boy’s outfit for his birthday is such a fun thing to do.
Keep well Tammy.

Nancy T Avatar

Ah, poor Mellan! He wants his Mama to get some good restful sleep, too, I’m sure. ?

Haul: NOTHING! I’m happy to report!

Weekend plans: Other than laundry (same humongous load of dark/black clothing begging to be washed!) and my meeting on Sunday, nothing else really.

Do you play video games? Nope. But I have tried to, though. My son keeps sending me invites to play Words With Friends and Farm Heroes, plus some other game that I cannot readily remember the name of. Tried those first two I mentioned, but I had to finally tell him that I needed a bigger screen to play on in order to see what I was doing, lol! I know he was disappointed, though. ?

Rachel R. Avatar

Haul: Marc Jacobs Steel(etto) Palette; Ciate Jessica Rabbit Glitter Storm Lipstick; bareMinerals Complexion Rescue in Opal 01.

I ordered the ABH Riviera Palette, but it was left out of my package, and I’m waiting on the new shipment.

Weekend plans: Just the usual shopping and housework.

Do you play any video games?: I sometimes play casual games on my computer or phone, but I hopeless with consul games. I’ve never been physically coordinated enough for all those buttons.

Genevieve Avatar

Christine, I think you need a few more hourse of sleep – cuddling into Mellon would be lovely.
Haul: I did purchase the Maybelling Metal Chrome highlighter in Rose Gold and it is beautiful.

Weekend plans: Friday – Lachlan over and out for dinner.
Saturday – catching up with some primary (elementary in the US) friends and neighbours from way back for lunch. It should be lovely as I haven’t seen them in decades.
Sunday – just housework chores.

Video Games – nope, have never played one and I don’t play them now.

Mariella Avatar

Genevieve, meeting up with friends from primary school sounds like such a BLAST. I’ve only got one friend from those days and we live in different cities and keep in touch (birthday cards) but don’t get together often enough. I’m hoping to change that this spring.

Scanning through re the answers to the video games question, I seen generally that it’s (dare I say this?) a bit age related….those of us who are somewhat more “mellowed” (sounds better, doesn’t it) don’t seem to have been as drawn to them (my experience with them was in monitoring my own now-adult children’s time on them rather than playing them myself, though I do recall playing Twisted Metal with my kids and being SO dreadful at it….)

Genevieve Avatar

The luncheon was a total BLAST, I can tell you that. There were also some childhood friends (we’re talking 3-4 year olds) who lived around the corner that I played with as well. It was like the years had just melted by and we were altogether again.
But the most exciting aspect to the event, was that one of the girl’s, who lived across the road from us as kids, married an Italian man, whose family came from the exact same suburb as my husband’s family from Italy (north-west Italy – city of Pordenone). When I came home and told my husband this, he thinks they were the same family that lived next door to him in inner city Melbourne as a child! We are going to investigate this possible connection this week. No six degrees of separation here. So amazing.

Debbie Avatar

Haul/Rediscoveries: I’m sticking to my no buy, but am checking out the 21 Days of Beauty offerings for this season. Might pick up some necessities. Brow Wiz for sure.

Weekend plans: Just getting ready to start the garden…hoping for no more snow.

Do you play any video games?: I play RPG’s on my PC. Right now I am going through another run-through of Dragon Age including all of the games plus the DLC’s. I’m still debating if I want to give Anthem a try. I do play amusements like the various versions of Candy Crush.

Brenda C Avatar

I would cuddle with Mellan too.

Haul/Rediscoveries: The Essia | Ultrasonic Lifting & Exfoliating Wand it was half price and I’ve wanted it for a long time.

Weekend plans: NOT A THING!

Do you play any video games?: Just solitaire on my phone.

Gwen Avatar

Rediscovered favorite: Pawn by Lipstick Queen. It’s the perfect nude terracotta shade. I love their formula. It definitely goes in my top 5. Hoping to purchase more during Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty

Tracey E Avatar

Haul: No purchases this week. Received a back ordered Bobbi Brown Liquid Crushed Lip in Haute Cocoa.

Rediscoveries: I continue to enjoy using products earmarked for use (cream eyeshadows, certain mascaras, Hourglass Dim Light powder) and using brushes purchased in the last few months (from Smith, Sonia G, and Wayne Goss).

Weekend Plans: Finishing taxes, decluttering common areas, preparing a donation, and watching sports.

Video Games: Not really, though I could be persuaded. I enjoy Mahjong when traveling (though not really a video game).

Terri Avatar

Mellan must have stocked up on beauty sleep over the years, because he is gorgeous and perfect and looks better in that photo than I’ve ever looked in my life.

Hauls/Rediscoveries: Thankfully, no hauls. I almost caved on the Too Faced sale, but there weren’t enough sale items left to make it worthwhile by the time I checked it out. The reviews you’ve done for the Burberry Kisses Sheer Lipsticks have reminded me a LOT of Canmake Stay-On Balm Rouge, even many shade names are the same, though the Canmakes are a wildly popular Japanese drugstore item that cost about $7. So I dug my Flowing Cherry Petal shade out of the bottom of my purse, and you know what? It stayed on for hours and kept my lips moist though they’ve been crazy dry lately. I’ve been assuming the pricey Burberry lipsticks are better than the Canmake, but maybe not.

Another big rediscovery was… my skin!! I went out today with just sunscreen and a bit of powder on my skin (basic eyes and lip balm), and I actually looked… good!! This is huge, as I had cystic acne for many years and five years of really intense skincare research and regimen has given me more confidence in my skin than I’ve had since I was 20. I only ran errands, but still. It’s especially nice to have this option as foundations have gotten increasingly complicated for me as my skin ages and is drier but still oily (?!?) and weather changes make it act crazy.

Weekend Plans: I’m going to be moving to a new town within the next few months, and I’m excited but have an anxiety disorder, so I’m going to work on balancing moving research with breathing exercises my shrink taught me. I also need to go to my storage locker for smaller clothes as I’ve lost weight. Lots of good changes, but change is scary for me, hence the breathing exercises. Dropping down from my fat-fat clothes to my fat clothes genuinely causes me anxiety, as thrilled as I am to have finally lost weight. Mental illness freaking sucks.

Video Games: I have never been attracted to RPGs for whatever reason, and much prefer puzzle-based games. I love Farm Heroes Saga and I have an extremely unhealthy attachment to Seekers Notes, which has cost me much money. And shame. Shame money. “I could have bought that stunning new Natasha Denona palette I don’t need” money. And seriously, how gorgeous is that palette?

Tammy Avatar

Terri,
My skin sounds very similar to yours, except my acne started during menopause and it sounds like yours started earlier. I’ve had combination skin for my entire life, but now the dry parts get REALLY DRY and yet my skin seems to freak out (acne-wise) whenever I use products that are supposed to be good for dry, dehydrated skin. Since the acne started a little over a year ago, I’ve tried a variety of products, but nothing has fully gotten the acne under control. I was doing pretty good for part of winter, and then in February I started breaking out again. I have now stripped my skincare back to only 2% salicylic acid solution, vitamin C every other day, Retin A every other night, Jordan Samuel’s Hydrate Facial Serum to help with hydration, and Paula’s Choice Resist Anti-aging Clear Skin Hydrator (it’s supposed to be helpful for aging acne). I’ve been doing this for a week and my skin is starting to clear up (no new acne and the 5 or 6 pimples I have near my jawline no longer contain pus and are now just red dots that need to heal).

So many skin-care professionals insist the right skin oils are okay for combination skin, but they really don’t seem to agree with my skin. I would like to find an oil for the dead of winter that will provide hydration and protection from the bitter cold without wrecking havoc on my acne-prone skin.

I was wondering what products and regimens have you found effective?

Terri Avatar

Curology helped a LOT, then I had to cancel it when I lost my job. I was thrilled when Differin went OTC. I went through a fairly miserable purge for a bit, so I would mix it with benzoyl peroxide gel to heal faster (which basically turns it into the prescription Epiduo for much less money). I learned the hard way to not leave Differin on overnight or it will travel to my neck and create raw red rashes. Once the worst was over, I only need to use it two or three times a week. I’m like you, I rotate my actives. A couple nights of acidic vitamin c, a couple nights of Differin, I try to do at least one night of alpha lipoic acid from The Ordinary. I double cleanse, do my active and wait a bit, wash it off if it’s Differin night, then do a few layers of this amazing Japanese hydrating toner from Mochitto, a layer of squalane (major game changer for me because it hydrates so well without breaking me out), then the UV Repair Cream from Skin Actives which has an insane number of antioxidants and healed my scars very quickly and got rid of a vertical line that was forming on my upper lip. I’ve discovered that my skin really likes pomegranate oil, but it’s really thick so I mix three or four drops into my squalane (which I buy from a wholesale place because my budget is very tight plus I hate to waste money, looking at you Biossance!), and combine them in my hand before applying to my face. I think the pomegranate oil will probably be too thick for summer, but I’m loving it right now. My morning routine is super simple–cleanse, Mochitto, then sunscreen, or squalane if I’m not going out. I used to be heavy into a ten-step routine, but Mochitto has ceramides, ferments, and hyaluronic acid, so that made my life easier.

There are oil mixes I’d love to try like Youth For The People or the Herbivore oils, but they just aren’t in my budget. To me it’s easier to get an ounce from a wholesale place like lotioncrafter and try it out. I love their plum oil, it really brightened my skin, but I found that it gave me whiteheads, so now I just sneak a drop every now and then. If it’s really cold and I’m looking old I will save Vaseline around my eyes at night and that really plumps me up. The hardest part anymore is figuring out how to deal with the crazy drying/peeling stuff my skin does in spring and fall. Using actives more diligently helps, but I’ll still get dry patches that foundation highlights, so I haven’t cracked that yet.

Your routine sounds a lot like mine but with different products, so I would recommend getting a sample of squalane to try. It’s lighter than oil, and though it does break some people out, it doesn’t break me out, which is basically a miracle!

Jill Avatar

Haul/Rediscoveries: I got 2 of the Inc cream blush pots, some spring LM caviar sticks and 2 CT Eyes That Mesmerize shadow pots (my first CT, haven’t tried the brand) — Now I’m done buying makeup until I run out of something or something new comes along and really slaps me silly, yay!!

Weekend plans: Date night with my guy saturday night, we’re going to see Captain Marvel at one of those movie theaters that serve and alcohol and have a dinner menu inside the theater. Sunday rolls into my answer to #3….

Do you play any video games?: Yes. I’m a gaming nerd, always was and always will be. It’s how I met my guy 10 years ago and we still supplement our time together with some good old fashioned virtual killing. He even got me into watching those youtube channels with him where you watch people play video games — my own video watching algorithm is a confusing mix of makeup videos, gaming videos, live kitten cams, touring small NYC apartments, and livecams mounted on the front of trains in norway. (don’t ask….)

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