Friday Finds & Check-ins, Volume #562
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!
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- Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Clionadh Multichrome Eyeshadows x48! Two more orders to go. Giorgio Armani Lip Maestros x7 (new shades) came in late yesterday. My Dermstore sale order arrived (that was really fast, I ordered on the 9th!), which included FAB Ultra Repair Oatmeal Mask, Indie Lee CoQ-10 Toner, Sunday Riley UFO, Allies of SSkin Mandelic Night Serum, Allies of Skin, Triple Hyaluronic Serum, FAB BHA Acne Spot Treatment Gel. A few MAC x Nordstrom sets, though I might not get to them right away.
- Weekend plans: Still working on what rose varieties I want to have planted in the front yard come December/January (pre-orders start in September/October). I also want to pull up one of the sweet potato vines we have planted because those things grow like weeds. I pruned one back so much and had to do it all over again two weeks later… but I’m not sure what to replace it with yet.
- What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken?: I guess the fact that there isn’t one that sticks out much is proof that I don’t travel very much, LOL.
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Recent Purchases and Rediscoveries : First off this is a few weeks of purchases. I purchased a whole bunch of Revlon superlustrous shine lipsticks. There was a sale on Ulta. My favorites are dewy peach and sparkling honey. I also purchased two loreal colour riche shine lipsticks. I ordered the colourpop blush in nightbloom with the matching lip oil, along with the aloe and avocado face serum, and a small pencil brush. A replacement of my Maybelline the Rocket mascara. It used to be my favorite… now it doesn’t do anything… I think it needs to dry out a bit. Lastly I splurged and bought Nars bronzer in Vallarta.
Weekend Plans: Reading Imperfect Women by Araminta Hall, and the usual Animal Crossing… lol.
Travel: I have traveled alot but mostly ever only saw the insides of airports and conference rooms… so honestly probably Dallas Texas but only because I saw the grassy knoll jfk stuff and there was a squirrel there. It was a good time. Lol. Someday I will go on a proper vacation.
Recent Purchases: Just some bralettes because I am incapable of wearing a real bra while I’m at home anymore. I just can’t do it. And I can’t wear jeans anymore either. ?
Rediscoveries: Nothing I’ve really rediscovered, I’ve just been playing with my new makeup this week.
Weekend plans: Cleaning and lawn work.
What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken?: My family all went to Disney back in February, and while it was hectic, it was awesome to see everything through our little boy’s eyes and give him some new experiences.
I had to retire a couple of old bras lately and I just purchased more sports bras to replace. ?
Currently I only have one classic bra, the rest are bralettes (I am obsessed with Calvin Klein Invisibles) and sports bras.
Celesta, at least you’re not going braless like some other women I know. ?
Ladies, the good news is that once you’re over the change, they don’t hurt anymore and wearing is fully optional. I haven’t worn one in 3 years, because inverse psoriasis swelled my peri-pit skin, and it really hurts, when it isn’t feeling like being stuck with needles. Tried bralettes, no go either. Oversized camis with shelf are ok. No pain.
I’ve been making the switch-over from “real bras” to bralettes, too! No more underwires for me.
All sports bras or bralettes for me, too. If I’m just at home and my top isn’t see-through, I’m usually braless.
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Nothing makeup related as we are still concentrating on house stuff. So boring and so necessary.
Weekend plans: Unpacking! Putting together bookshelves and unpacking 200+ books will be an all day adventure. Also possibly going to Trader Joe’s, but of course going out right now is terrible.
What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken?: My husband and I have travelled a lot, especially within California while we lived there. We got to go to Hawaii for free and stay at a very nice resort, and that was pretty awesome. We were too young to fully appreciate it though! Our trip to New Orleans a couple of Christmases ago was amazing, and I still think about the food from that trip *drool*
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Still no beauty related purchases, still no changes in my routines. Things seem to take longer to finish nowadays.
Weekend plans: Nothing except the usual stuff. I need to think of a place to hike this weekend, preferably some redwoods considering the heat wave that hit the Bay Area.
What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken?: Hmmm… it’s a toss between my first trip abroad (to London with my brother), my Swedish vacation (last European vacation before I moved to US 4 years ago) and my first US road trip (I visited LA, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Mammoth Lakes and Yosemite).
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Nothing this week. I am relieved that my stress shopping has calmed down a little.
Weekend plans: Some escapist TV and the farmer’s market.
What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken? Travelling has been my passion and it is what I saved my money for, plus my husband is a wizard with frequent flyer miles. I have taken some amazing trips over the years but I guess the standouts are trekking in Nepal in my “youth” (I was 32), a safari plus other travels in South Africa, and a trip to Japan.
Travel will never be what it was. No one believes me when I say my bestie went to SA by herself in the 70s. You could then. But also, travel in my era was nothing like in my grandparents’ era. They went around the world on an ocean liner, steamer trunks, 30s places like the Hotel Taj Mahal and the Grand Hotel Wagons-Lit. IDK how they saw the Great Wall and Lake Como from an ocean liner, but there are mementos. Nobody gets that kind of time off in the 2000s. Plus, at this point in 2020, who wants a ‘short’ cruise (90 days captivity worth of short) much less a lengthy sea voyage? We should be thankful for what we’ve had and done, because the world has changed irrevocably.
Totally jealous of your grandparents. That is legit travel. Wishing I could do that….
G’Morning Mellan! We do still have 2 minutes of “morning” left, LOL ?
Purchases/rediscoveries: Just placed an order for Marc Jacobs Hot Stuff & Night Fever Airblush. I’ve been wanting it forever. Have had it in my Sephora basket a few times when I was there, but always talked myself out of getting it for some reason. Today, I just went with the flow and did the thing!
This week, in an effort to replicate the lavender matte in the Sydney Grace x Mel Thompson Tiny Marvel’s palette, I took my old KVD Pastel Goth palette out and mixed Meow with Dope trying to get that color. Then used Viseart Coy #4 on top of it from the inner corner blended over to mid-lid. Quite pretty effect! (But I still want Mel’s Palette!)
Weekend plans: Nothing new. Zoom meeting tomorrow morning. Would love to go for a swim, but it’s supposed to hit 116° today, which means the water will be downright warm and NOT refreshing. Yuck. This summer has been just terrible. No Monsoon. At least not in the Valley. Might pop a load of laundry in at night, since that’s literally the only time of day I can handle this heat somewhat. It’s been unrelenting!
What was the best trip/vacation you’ve ever taken?: So many wonderful trips during my younger years! I would have to say that our yearly trips down the Jersey shore were always very serene and joyful. But it was the every other summer’s spent in the Los Angeles area that provide the most memories. Disneyland, Ojai, Mojave desert drive, camping trip to the Sierra Nevada range, day trip to Bakersfield to literally go to a bakery and get a tour of the facilities and view operations there, a long weekend up into Wrightwood up in the mountains during a winter trip, visiting various beaches like Redondo, Balboa Island, etc. So many wonderful memories!
Mellan, I know just how you feel. He’s such a sweetie.
Recent Purchases: Sydney Grace x Mel Thompson Tiny Marvels Palette; Midas Cosmetics Lemonade Palette; BH Cosmetics Sweet Shoppe Palettes in Sugar Cone and Cherry on Top; BH Cosmetics Naturally Flawless Foundation in Ivory; (sale) MAC Dazzleglass in Funtabulous.
Weekend plans: Trying to figure out what to do for our anniversary on the 31st. We might try to go camping in an area with lower COVID cases, as we have a camper to sleep and cook in, and it would be pretty easy to avoid people or social distance at nature spots. Lots of campgrounds are closed due to loss of staff and funds stemming from COVID, so I have some research to do.
What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken?: Our trip to Utah for a dinosaur-related vacation stands out. Utah is so insanely beautiful, and the people there were so nice. We’re a nerdy family, and we loved all the museums, fossils, etc. We got to see a lot of First Nations Pictographs, artwork and crafts, and exhibits. If our A/C hadn’t given out and needed immediate repair, it would have been perfect. Even then, we lucked out finding a great repair shop and went to a neat little aquarium to visit that day.
Our 2006 trip to Disneyland was also a winner. My kids were old enough to appreciate all the little touches in the park, but young enough to believe the characters were real. We went in October when it was decorated for Halloween, and it was my birthday week, which added to the fun. Both my kids were still having behavior issues, but at Disney they were relaxed and perfectly behaved. It was a much needed good time for our family at that point. Disney was so good to my younger son. He just missed meeting his crush, Princess Jasmine, and was upset. An employee noticed, realized he was special needs, and told us when to come back, a few minutes before Jasmine returned. He made sure my son could see her first and spend a while with her. Jasmine was very kind and kissed him on the cheek, and he wouldn’t wash it off that night till we used tape to remove the lipstick and put it on her autograph page. He still has it.
Rachel, that is an awesome story and exactly what Disneyland is supposed to be about. as the parks have gotten busier over the past few years, it has definitely changed a lot, but the CMs are still the nicest people you’ll meet and they really do go out of their way (and waaaay above their pay grade) to make it a special time for both children and adults. I had had so many positive experiences myself and witnessed so many others at Disneyland over the years.
I was spoiled by the days when it wasn’t completely packed all of the time, but there’s still so much magic there even now. If y’all get the chance to go back sometime in the future post-Covid, I hope you have time for the whole Star Wars land thing. It is very, very cool.
We’ve been wanting to go back, but expense and crowding is an issue. Both my sons are adults now, but on the autism spectrum, so huge crowds and long waits can be an issue. I know they’re better at managing ride wait times, though, at least before COVID. We’d love to see the Star Wars land. The CMs do it because they love it, and they’re wonderful. We used to go once or twice a year when I was young, from toddler to age 9. Even then, you couldn’t go in summer without having 2-3 hour long lines for popular rides. It was my favorite place in the whole world, though!
Purchases: Some L’Occitane shea butter hand cream for my trainer for her birthday (like the rest of us, her hands are suffering from all the washing and sanitizing and the gym’s quite justifiably stringent rule that all equipment be sanitized before and after every use). I wanted to get her the Saje Safe Hands Antimicrobial Hand Lotion that is so wonderful but it’s sold out EVERYWHERE. I also stopped at Sephora to check something out and they had the coolest “all proceeds to charity” hand sanitizers from MILK, I think. I bought a set for my daughter (she teaches elementary school) – I got her the selection that looks like a bunch of small IV bags (they’re refillable). Turns out, when you buy the product, they tossed in a really nice bag of minis from Laura Mercier, MILK, Juice Beauty, First Aid Beauty and a few other companies. And they gave me a YSL lipstick mini in Rouge Tuxedo.
Weekend plans: Seven Saturdays on Locke tomorrow. It’s the main-ish street near our house that is being closed to traffic every Saturday so all the restaurants can set up outdoor patios. I’ve been playing nurse to DH after 2 surgeries (the 2nd was cataract surgery yesterday) so I’m looking forward to being a bit spoiled myself for a change. I’ll probably hit the gym too. And take it easy!
Most memorable trip has to be to India for a wedding a few years ago. About 100 Canadians (all friends of the groom’s parents or the groom) went and a few of us – all friends from school, and a few of the young people – all stayed in the same guest house. What a blast it was – it was sort of like camp for grownups, in some ways. India – the tiny bit we had time to see – was every bit as fascinating, exotic and heartbreaking as you might think. I don’t imagine I’ll ever go back but if I won a trip, I’d go in a heart-beat. Also a trip that stands out – my first trip to France when I was in uni and was staying for 3 months for a course (well, that was the excuse for going). I remember arriving in Nice by train and thinking “I can’t believe it – I’m really here”. It was a memorable summer in that I also met one of my best, lifelong friends that summer as well as my husband (he and I met on Bastille Day!)
Recent Purchases: I’ve ordered a few things this week — Sydney Grace’s Tiny Marvels palette, ColourPop’s Garden Variety palette, PMG’s Rose Decadence palette, and Coloured Raine’s Juicy Boost palette — but haven’t yet received them.
Weekend Plans: Recover from a stressful week.
Best Trip: One of my first trips to England for nearly a month. I was based in London, but traveled all around, including a pilgrimage to Liverpool.
Isn’t England such a beautiful place with all of those treasured heritage buildings? I thoroughly enjoyed our driving tour there. We had hired a car and driving around the countryside and visiting little villages was delightful.
I hope you are able to de-stress from your busy work week Christina.
Haul:
Sephora : Better Not Younger Volume and Restore Kit, Better Not Younger Super Fortifying Serum for Hair, Farsalli Mini Glass Radiance Glow Serum, Marc Jacobs Glamethyst See-Quinns. It is a lovely shade of purple.
Weekend plans: Nothing again. Still working on painting some furniture and trying to decide if I want to tackle painting my kitchen cabinets. I really want to paint them white but I know how much work is involved and not sure I want to commit to doing it all by myself. I am also going to go huckleberry picking again. Every year my small town hosts the “Huckleberry Festival” over this weekend. Because of COVID they had to cancel it this year. So, I have to go pick some myself but will likely buy a gallon also. I love going picking as it is way up on the mountain tops. Huckleberries only grow in certain places and are so fussy about the conditions so some years the harvest just isn’t good. This is one of those years.
Best vacation: This is a hard one because I love to travel and would make a career out of it if I were younger. When all is said and done, our 5 week trip to Europe in the fall of 2018. I am saving to go again.
Purchases/rediscoveries: None, but I made an… undiscovery? I ran out of the Dr. Jart+ cicapair serum (which I’ve been using for what, 1-2 years now?) a few weeks back and didn’t feel like spending $50 and making a Sephora order for it. Realized my skin hasn’t gotten any worse since then, so I don’t think I need to spend that money anymore.
Weekend plans: I’m participating in an online dance festival! It’s going to be weird to do HOURS of dance workshops at home, but on the other hand, it’s a lot easier and more affordable than traveling someplace else for it. But it’s also supposed to be really hot this weekend and I’ve just got the one small fan for my dance room. Good thing I’ve still got some heat tolerance left from 22 years in AZ 🙂
Best trip I ever took: Probably the first time my spouse and I traveled up here to the Seattle area! It was the first time in over a decade of marriage that we flew someplace for a vacation — otherwise we flew to visit my in-laws, or we’d drive to San Diego for a long weekend or something. We chose Seattle because two bands we liked were both on tour and happened to be landing in Seattle the same weekend, so it was perfect… take a vacation, go someplace new we’d been curious about, and not have to choose which band to catch on tour (neither was coming to AZ). We had an amazing time, ate so much good food, met up with some friends, and ended up falling in love with WA. Took us a while to decide to move here but that trip planted the seeds 🙂
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Pat McGrath Rose Decadence, and I got Divine Rose II with the code from the Sephora sale.
Weekend plans: I signed up for an online figure drawing class through Drawing America! Can’t wait. I signed up for Masterclass at the beginning of the pandemic and finished the Neil Gaiman course on storytelling. I want to work on some drawing and writing this weekend.
What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken?: Croatia! Spent time in Zagreb, Krk, and Istria. Gorgeous land and buildings, extremely few tourists, friendly people, delicious food! I want to go back sometime and see the touristy locations like Dubrovnik and Split, and check out Albania and Bosnia while I’m in the Balkans. Bosnia has one of the few remaining old-growth forests in the world.
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: My JD Glow order arrived today!!! I got galaxy shadows in Unexpected, Fairy Acid, Prismatic and Opal, their HD Crystals in Empress and Intended, highlighters in Serenity and Periodt and their Angel glitter gloss. It’s my first order and time trying out this brand but everything looks BEAUTIFUL!! It only took a week to get here too! Earlier this week I rediscovered my love for Mac’s Platinum pigment and tried cake liner for the time as well!
Weekend plans: Play with my new makeup.
What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken?: Probably my trip to India. It was just really eye-opening and the cultural shock was real, which I think means you’re learning and growing!
Mellan’s loving that ear rub!
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: I ordered too many eye shadows this week. Pat McGrath’s Rose Decadence mini palette, Coloured Raine Juicy Boost palette and umbrella, and also BPerfect x Stacey Marie Carnival lll palette.
Weekend Plans: I’m supposed to hangout with a friend tomorrow but not sure if I’ll chicken out. I haven’t been socializing since the virus. Plus I’m a reclusive homebody so I have to make myself go out sometimes.
What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken?: I went to Kenya on safari with a group of nurses before I was married. It was so beautiful and seeing all of the animals in their natural habitat is something I’ll never forget. Also our family trip to Paris and London was amazing!
How cute he is, patiently waiting for Mama to get his breakfast!
Haul: I saw the sale on PMG’s website and decided, as shipping was free, to buy the Lapis Luxury single (nearly everything else had been sold out) and the trio of small lipsticks. It will be my first PMG purchase.
Rediscoveries: bareMinerals The Playlist. I used the teal and bronze shade (Louder) this week and thought it looked pretty good.
Weekend Plans: We had a zoom call with my son, daughter in law and grandchildren this week. Olivia was showing us her dance moves and Lachlan his creations with lego. At the end of the call, the kids made their ‘food’ requests: Lachlan – lamb cutlets; Olivia – roast beef; Mummy – Vietnamese beef and Nicholas – chicken parmas. The only way we can get food to them is by meeting them in the local shopping centre cark park, which is within the 5 km radius for both of us. I am going to give it all a go next week. But first they have to give me back my 5 million containers!
Anika is 38 weeks pregnant at the moment, so we are on standby. She is usually a week or so late, but every pregnancy is different.
Best Vacation: Apart from going to Europe several years ago, my favourite vacation was going up the East coast of Australia this time last year with my eldest son. What made it so easy was that I didn’t have to navigate, he is so tech savvy. We get along really well and it was just wonderful in hindsight.
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Chanel Velvet foundation (it actually stands up to the mask). Skindinivia
Bridal spray. DepHue Hair gloss and Amlactin heel/foot cream (Dermstore sale)
Weekend plans: Writing reports for two patients. Hauling alfalfa for the horses this winter. Finishing a bloody good book, under a shady tree, with beverage of choice.
What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken?: When I was a tiny girl, my dad took me to Canada for a violin concert. I don’t remember many details, except the food was good and the people were nice and my dad made a stuffed animal out of a sock for me, because I was scared (I think the weather might have been bad). He has long since passed away, but that was a good time.
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: My Tarte order came yesterday! I got the limited edition 20th Anniversary B-Day Bae blush and a Tarteist Pro Wild Animal magnetic palette. I put my Sydney Grace Pure Love blush in it right away, and I plan to order some Clionadh multichromes-Jewelled and Vibrant-and put them in as well when they arrive in October.
Weekend plans: Some errands today, work tomorrow, lots of TV marathons.
What was the best vacation/trip you’ve ever taken?: I guess the fact that there isn’t one that sticks out much is proof that I don’t travel very much, LOL.
No new purchases. Rediscovered my MAC eyeshadow singles and have been giving them much love after I learned All That Glitters, Sumptuous Olive and Star Violet have been discontinued. Boo! I’ve played with Omega, Coquette, Shroom and Vex lately for a natural look. Been loving putting Shroom on the browbone and in the inner corner. Shroom is the shadow with the biggest pan in my collection. Also have pulled out ABH Prism and doing a soft halo eye with Sphere, Lucid and Unity. It’s wearable neon for summer imo?
Weekend: I only have a few days before the next school year begins so I’m taking it easy before the chaos ensues!
The best trip was I went from Germany to Czech Republic to Hungary to Austria to Poland my sophomore year of college and then studied for three months in Latvia. Then visited Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Sweden and Finland too. There’s so much out there in the world and I don’t think you’re truly an educated person until you leave your home and move beyond your town!
Recent Purchases: Selfridges – Suqqu Designing Color Eyes 133 Tonbodama and Suqqu Powder Blush Compact 101. The blush compact acts as a bronzer, blush, and highlighter palette on my skintone and is the star of Suqqu’s AW 2020 collection.
MyBeautyBrand (30% off) – By Me x Hannah Martin – Pure Powder Blush in Margarita Peach 504, Sheer Brilliance Highlighter in Maria Honey Gold 603, Total Colour Metallic Eyepaint in Colette Foil Copper 201 and Kate Pearl Gold 251, and a lipstick in Olivia Bronze Rose 301. This is a new brand for me and the products create a beautiful coral-themed look. I’m especially enjoying the eyepaints.
Weekend Plans: We’re in the final stages of our first house purchase. The inspection found a large diseased tree that poses a risk and is an outrageous amount to remove. We weren’t sure how the sellers would react, but it looks like we’ve reached an agreement on the tree and minor electrical work that will be completed before we take possession. If everything goes well, the amendment will be signed on Sunday and we can plan our move. Other than that, cooking Thai dishes this weekend.
Best Vacation/Trip: I went with my high school band to Germany and Austria for two weeks when I was 17 and it was fantastic to experience this part of the world with my friends and classmates and to see that people cared to come out and listen to our concerts. Closer to home, my family went to Newfoundland every other summer when I was growing up and family gathered from all over Eastern Canada. We drove from Manitoba. There were so many special moments during those vacations and I treasure the time we spent with our extended family.