Friday Finds & Check-ins, Volume #585
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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Share your own answers in the comments!
- Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Sephora #LipStories Astrology Lipsticks
- Weekend plans: Catch up on the blog! I was fortunate that I was ahead a bit earlier this month, which I did use up, but I am less stressed out (in general) when I am a wee bit ahead so I am aiming to get there. “Ahead” just means that I might have a day’s worth of reviews done and then a few reviews done that are scattered over the next week!
- Do you garden or keep houseplants?: I have some houseplants–seven I think!–and I do some pruning/trimming of the bougainvilleas and orchid trees we had planted last year.
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This week's mellan photo/video...
Share your pet photos to the Temptalia Pets flickr group!
This photo set is from July 2013 (he was around 5.5 years old), when we lived in California. We purchased our first home the year before, and while my parents had (have) a pool… he was obsessive about pools. He acted like an addict not getting his fix whenever we visited my parents; he would howl and cry and whine and effectively act like he was being tortured if he wasn’t allowed to swim at my parents’ house. Water dog he was!
I got him a kiddie pool for the summer, which certainly confused him but ultimately still enjoyed… just not anywhere near the level of enjoyment he derived from an actual pool. 😂
Recent Purchases: The Kaleidos Makeup x Angelica Nyqvist Club Nebula palette… I love this brand and influencer, so I couldn’t not get it. It looks really beautiful.
Rediscoveries: Viseart Dark Edit palette… though, I have major trouble with the mattes creasing on me, even with an eye primer and setting the eye primer. If anyone has any tips for this, I would appreciate it. I don’t have oily eyelids and always use eye primer, so this baffles me.
Weekend plans: Getting my son in for a haircut and maybe doing some makeup decluttering. I saw that my original ABH Norvina palette is falling apart; this morning I went to open it and the outer packaging just fell off the plastic palette part. I also tried to use it this morning for the first time in a while and was disappointed with the quality of the shimmers. My tastes and application techniques have changed a lot this year, especially when it comes to shimmer eyeshadows, and I think it’s time to reevaluate what fits my style.
Do you garden or keep houseplants?: I don’t have a garden, though my husband has mentioned that he would love to have a vegetable garden so maybe sometime. We’d also have to invest in a way to keep all the bunnies away too; we have a lot of bunnies in our neighborhood. I do have a few houseplants. I repotted several last fall and am so glad to see that they’re thriving. I don’t have a green thumb by any means, so any successful plant growth is a win for me.
It does happen – you pull out an older palette and you look at and think – hmmm this isn’t so good. And I guess that’s the same with your Norvina palette, which as I recall, wasn’t particularly great to begin with.
I saw your latest eye look the other day on Instagram and you seem to have evolved your eyeshadow skills to a different (but better) level. Your eye look was lovely.
I hope your son enjoys his haircut and maanages to sit still for it and I hope he is still happy with his big boy bed too.
Thank you so much Genevieve! My son did great during his haircut. And he adjusted to his big boy bed surprisingly fast! Thankfully 😅
Ooh I’m excited for your Lip Stories Astrology lipstick reviews. I’m not into astrology at all but I like the color selection and this line usually holds up well to your reviews.
Mellan in swimwear & pools were always some of my favorite photos of him. Such a dear little pup 💔❤️
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Peach & Lily Super Boost Resurfacing Mask (my face is not ok! hoping it works well 🙏). Not Your Mother’s Matcha Green Tea & Wild Apple shampoo & conditioner.
Weekend plans: Start the process of prepping for our 2-month stay in San Antonio, TX for my husband’s work. Just generally cleaning, packing, arranging all the things.
Do you garden or keep houseplants?: I used to have a couple small avocado trees that I grew from a pit (fun but long process). I also used to have those general leafy potted plant thingies that you could literally snip off and dunk in water and grow more of. Right now I don’t have any.
I also used to have a bunch of fresh herbs by a kitchen window but can you believe I haven’t had a decent kitchen window in the last 5 places I’ve lived??
How I miss having windows in the kitchen and bathroom, like I had in Europe. 😅 When I moved to California I looked like crazy for apartments with windows in the kitchen at least… the thought of not being able to open a window when I cook is still daunting. But there was nothing like this in the area were I live.
I think an opening window in the kitchen and bathrooms are a must. When we bought the place we live in now, I thought we were getting opening windows in the bathrooms – but nope – just panes of glass. What an oversight that was.
No new purchases this month. I just wanted to send you a warm hug from cold Minnesota. Rest in peace Mellan.
Thank you, Wendy <3
I love this story and of course you bought him a kiddie pool and while registering the difference from the big pool he was still clearly happy and having fun. It is beautiful the life you shared with him! I hope you will be filled with happy memories and also that you will feel his presence in whatever form he exists now whenever you miss him as he was before. I hope you will post more stories and pics when you are inspired and I am grateful for all you do on the blog. Have a beautiful weekend.
Thank you, Elle! We have memories of him everywhere, so he definitely still lives on in our hearts & minds <3
My dog is getting older and slower. It’s sad to be confronted by his mortality. He isn’t my first fur baby, I know the pain that is coming. I’ve used Temptalia for years and love the puppy pictures. I was so sad to hear about Mellan’s passing. There was definitely an ugly cry involved, I can’t help but emphasize with that kind of pain. I hope you are managing ok with the loss.
We’re doing okay, thank you for asking! Better than we expected. Sad but mostly at peace – we made the right call, and we know dogs never live long enough!
Sending you and your baby hugs!
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Rediscovered The TF gingerbread spice palette was gifted to me for Christmas. Iffy quality, however, I have thoroughly enjoyed the deep/creamy purple “reindeer paws” as an eyeliner. I have also liked using the Bare Minerals bronzer in “warmth” as the world’s largest single eyeshadow…especially blended out with a matte cream shadow. Super nice.
Weekend plans: I am onto Kon Mari step 2, whichever that is. I think books. Also, starting some seeds. And perhaps playing with the 3-year old horses if we can wade through the mud 🙈
Do you garden or keep houseplants?: we garden; houseplants are eaten by the puppy. We have garden boxes, which has been helpful. Will see how that goes this year. In theory, I should plan the garden on graph paper etc etc. Tried that, but I never stick to it, so there’s no point. I get the seeds, they go in the ground, and we are off. Monty Don would never approve 🤣
Friday find: Look book from Sezane….apparently the 70’s are back (and some of the 60’s!) . I like them, independent, woman owned and they donate 10% of profits to charity. (Mostly though I look….$$$)
https://www.sezane.com/us/new-in
An Italian morning breakfast cake….so simple and easy!
https://youtu.be/Zh1Cnj-u6F8
About the palette: by “iffy” I meant inconsistent…..thinking it was older, it was found at Marshalls.
A three year old puppy will eat just about everything! How gorgeous they are.
Lol!! They really do 😂
Pool pupp-ster Mellan! That story is both heartwarming and hilarious, too!
Purchases/rediscoveries: Placed an order with CP yesterday. RBK’s Spare Thyme Liner and Mycelium SSS. Also ordered Wild Child palette, Basic Instinct SSS and Brat Pack Lippie Stix. Feeling extremely stupid for not looking at the larger swatch pics here, instead just going off the first set of smaller preview pics. As a result, there is a disdainful pressed glitter in my palette! And it’s a beautiful shade, too! 🤦🏻♀️
Weekend Plans: Dropping off some paperwork in downtown Glendale, then hitting Sephora for more Ole Henriksen Truth Serum. Will be hopefully enjoying a splendid rainy weekend as long as the storm system holds together.
Do you garden or keep houseplants? Well, considering that I have a black thumb, I don’t really bother. Cats I can take excellent care of, but plants? They always, without fail, die on me within 6 months. Succulents last around a year or two.
That would be a record for me. 😅 I managed to kill a succulent is one month. I basically had to do nothing and it still didn’t worked.
Why does CP manage to ruin a perfectly good shade by adding pressed glitter? Seriously, someone in their creative or leadership team must be obsessed with it.
No recent purchases this week.
You and your hubby are in my heart and prayers, i know what it is like to loose a dog for i have lost 2 labs in 2011 and 2013. Sending you love and a big hug from Las Vegas. RIP Handsome Mellan.
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Nothing new.
Weekend plans: It’s going to be a rainy weekend, so unfortunately hiking is out of discussion. I know trails that are good for rainy weather, but they get very crowded and I would like to avoid them. So it’s long walks in the neighborhood, some shopping, chores, cooking, reading and other similar stuff.
Do you garden or keep houseplants?: No. If there are people with a green thumb, I have a black thumb: every plant I tried to keep dies, no matter what I do. I can’t even keep flowers I receive more than one day before wilting. 😅 Fortunately this doesn’t happen often, since people know I disapprove cutting flowers. My mom is the total opposite, she can grow plants from spuds, seeds, small cuts, anything. Once me and my bad energy moved out, she basically built a plant house.
I love the Mellan pool pics. I’m glad that you are sharing his photos and keeping his memory alive.
No recent purchase or rediscovery.
Weekend plans: usually I make Saturday and/or Sunday to be the days I make more involved recipes, as well as doing misc. activities or tasks. This Saturday I’m making minestrone (not that involved) and Sunday I’m making a mushroom-meat pizza in which the crust (made in cast iron) is the mushroom and meat. Should be interesting.
We have a short acre property and there are areas left wild and areas with lawn and various gardens. The various gardens are what I planted and maintain and I also keep an eye on the wild areas to pull out invasive weeds. Husband handles the lawn and helps with the gardens and the wild areas. We don’t go outdoors as much in winter but our work keeps us in shape and we get exposure to the fresh air and soil microbes we need for optimal health.
My yard has a lot of “wild areas” too and I LOVE it! My stepmother-in-law was all “It’s a shame you can’t put in a lawn”, but meanwhile I have an awesome neighbor who will give me advice on which plants are native species that I should nurture (and can sometimes eat) and which are invasive pests that I should pull out. And my yard feels magical and makes me feel like I’m in a forest, not a suburb.
AJ, same here regarding having a helpful neighbor to teach me which plants were invasive. I also feel like I live in a forest here. In our neighborhood, even though it was a development, many of the yards didn’t have lawns put in at all. So some of my neighbors have no lawn at all. When we moved in, the previous owner had made a lawn out of much of the yard, but it seemed to be too much so we kept making the lawn smaller by putting in gardens in the outer parts and creating gardens where it made sense to cut off the lawn area there. Overall, best of both worlds. We’ve got flowers that come up all year so we’re supporting the bees too; hummingbirds kept visiting some mahonia flowers that just opened a couple weeks ago. One thing I recommend: if there’s an area you have that’s maybe part lawn or that you want to make more wild, plant some natives there. We tore out ivy from our hillside and planted all sorts of native plants and shrubs, and now we’ve got lots more bird and wildlife visitors.
Hooray for helpful neighbors! Mine even came over and used her tools to dig out some of the blackberries that were growing into ANOTHER neighbor’s yard (we live along two long driveways with multiple houses along them, with a narrow strip of landscape between — she seems to take care of the entire strip).
We don’t have anything that would be considered a true lawn, though there is some scrubby grass in the back yard that I wouldn’t mind getting rid of. We’ll see how ambitious I feel in the spring 🙂
What a beautiful part of the world you live in Kitty – it’s lovely to have the mixture of native and planned gardens to enjoy.
Purchases/rediscoveries: Nothing this week! Well, nothing beauty-related. Decided to spend the holiday money from my in-laws on a drinks fridge which should arrive tomorrow. I was super excited to find one that was available in obnoxious lime green, since it will likely be living in the garage with my obnoxious highlighter yellow car 🙂
Weekend plans: Keeping it quiet and simple. With the new COVID variant spreading I feel even less inclined to go out than before. Probably do a lot of reading!
Do I garden or keep houseplants? I have a whole collection of succulents and cactus, and I added two snake plants to my dance room last year. Then for Solstice, my spouse got me an “AeroGarden” which is a little tabletop hydroponic system. I’ve currently got a variety of herbs growing in it and the basil and thyme are both close to big enough to harvest a bit! Can’t wait to garnish my cocktails with fresh herbs 🙂
Hoping to finally put in a bit of a garden this year. We rent this place so I don’t want to sink TOO much $$ and sweat equity into it when I don’t know how long we’ll stay, but we do have a big beautiful yard and it would be nice to do a bit with it beyond maintenance (and by maintenance I mean my never-ending battle against blackberries, ivy, invasive groundcover, and holly).
Just read this after responding to your above reply to me. I battle the same invasive plants, also including Scotch Broom which grows everywhere like a weed.
I think I had a few Scotch Brooms in the back yard, too. I’ve been joking that the previous tenants must have set up some sort of invasive species preserve here. We do have salal berries, Oregon blueberries, and native blackberries too, but mostly it seems to be Himalayan blackberries and ivy vying for control.
Recent Purchases (last 2 weeks or so): Natasha Denona Love Palette, Beauty Bay Book of Magic Palette (sale), Marc Jacobs Beauty O!mega Gel Powder Eyeshadow in Moment-O! (Sephora sale page), The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%, and two backups of ColourPop x Mulan Powder Blush in Matchmaker (sale).
Weekend plans: I’m not sure. We all got our first doses of COVID vaccine Wednesday, and have been varying degrees of fatigued since. We might just take it easy — it will depend on how we feel. So far fatigue and sore arms are the extent of our side effects.
Do you garden or keep houseplants?: No, my back is too bad to garden. I miss my daffodils and tulips. I don’t keep houseplants. My mother kept dozens and made me take care of them growing up, and that was enough for me. lol
It is interesting to read of your reaction to the Covid vaccine Rachel. Did the health personal say that that could be a possible reaction? – the fatigue, I mean?
I hope you both feel more enegetic soon. Have your sons had the same reaction as well?
Side effects with the first shot vary. A lot of people only have soreness. Some have fatigue or headaches. Brandon had a night where he was sweaty, which usually occurs with the second dose. Second dose has more, more severe, longer lasting side effects, according to my friends who have had them. Up to 36 hours; may include sore arm, chills and sweats, bad headaches, severe fatigue. We get our second doses Feb. 10.
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Nothing new this week.
Weekend plans: Staying close to home. It’s getting cold here.
Do you garden or keep houseplants?: I have never had any outdoor space for any type of garden. I have kept a schleffera plant alive for a number of years and it is now quite large. Recently I had the urge to get more plants and I bought two aralia. I have also started a few avocado pits and planted some seeds from citrus fruit.
LOL I can see Mellan going eh, what is this thingie ?? Mama says it’s a little kiddie pool, but this looks like a big water bowl to me!
Haha!
How gorgeous is Mellon, playing in the pool like a little kid – he still had quite lot of puppy in him there.
Thank you Christine for showing these to remember him by. What a big hole in all of hearts, especially yours and Shaun’s his passing has left.
Recent Purchases: Well 2021 has kicked off to a pretty good start for me. My Lorac Noir palette arrived yesterday and it looks divine. My husband commented that it didn’t seem like I was ‘ever going to run out of those colour things’ – I’m not quite sure he knows what they are!
When I was in a larger shopping centre close to home, which had a MAC store, I decided to see for myself the difference between MAC’s Chili lipstick and Devoted to Chili, seeing how my online order didn’t work out. I ended up purchasing Chili – and it is a lovely shade. Perhaps a bit too matte looking for me, but certainly creamy and comfortable to wear.
Finally, when I was in said shopping centre, I ran into my daughter in law, who was just with the baby, as Olivia and Lachlan were staying with her parents for a couple of days. We were talking about what eyeshadow shades she would like for her birthday and she was after rose gold ones. A perusal of Mecca’s store, led me to purchase the Smashbox Petal Metal that came out awhile ago. I liked it so much that I ended up getting one for myself (lucky there were only two left). Yes, I know I have Naked 3 – but these shades are so very pretty…..
Weekend Plans: Very typical of our Australia Day weekend (it’s on Tuesday), the weather is going to be scorching hot – into the low 40 degree territory on Monday.
I don’t have any definite plans – just the usual laundry, housework and shopping for food.
I’ll be taking Olivia and Lachlan to the pool on Monday.
They are still looking for another place to live – thank you to those who wished them well last week.
I’s just so hard to find a place that meets their requirements – a backyard, 3 bedrooms, a decent kitchen and living space. They have put their ‘expression of interest’ in on a few places, so we are crossing our fingers that some of them come through.
House plants/gardening: Nope – no houseplants and I am not really a gardener either, but I do tend the plants and flowers in our courtyard garden and front area.
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: On a no/low buy until Christine’s palettes come out, so no purchases this week.
Weekend plans: Cleaning my husband’s office, it will go fast with both of us doing it. Last Friday night we finished hooking up our security cameras in the front of our house only to wake up Saturday morning to a smashed side window on our truck, he hit two other houses and spent a total of 50 minutes on our cul-de-sac leisurely emptying our neighbors garage of it’s contents. Left and hit 5 other houses and entered some houses, I hope they catch him, it was very scary watching him on the cameras.
Do you garden or keep houseplants?: I have 4 plants left in the house, they’ve slowly died off over the years, I have to get someone to stop by and water them when we go on extended vacations so I’m not getting any more. In the Spring we always buy lots of outdoor flowers I spend a lot of time outside watering and taking care of them.
OMG Brenda – how totally scary – did you or your neighbours ring the police? What an awful person to do this to everyone, who just works hard to make a living.
It’s a blessed thing that you got your security camera, for sure.
Thanks Genevieve, Yes the police gathered all the footage and they really want to catch this guy because he’s entering residences so who knows what else he’s going to do. We live in a really nice neighborhood nothing like this has ever happened before, but times are changing and not for the better.
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Natasha Denona Love (full size), as well as mini ND Gold and Sunset palettes. I waited a long time to start with ND, and I am making up for lost time. Her shadows really are fantastic and so easy to work with!
Weekend plans: I have a short shift at work tomorrow, but I am off Sunday. I’ll have the house all to myself! I’ll probably do some cleaning and read through the Kevyn Aucoin books I got earlier in the month after years of wanting them. I leafed through them a couple of times already, and I feel like they’re gonna be full of inspiration!
Do you garden or keep houseplants?: I have two plants inside right now–a snake plant and a Christmas cactus. I have kept outdoor plants in a garden, but not since we moved. The weather is a lot different here as there are actual seasons, unlike the Bay Area, so it will require more planning to put in a garden here.
I’m curious about the lipstories reviews, too. I generally like that line but someone mentioned how similar the artwork on the cases is to the artwork on a Colourpop X Kathleen Lights astrology collection from a couple of years back and now that’s all I can see.
Recent Purchases/ Rediscoveries – In the mail today I received OPI’s spring collection of polishes and a couple of days ago I received the Orly colorbox so I have a lot of new colors to play with. Beyond that I also got Nars lipstick in Tolede earlier this week, and my Ipsy bag arrived, too.
Weekend plans – Basic stuff like laundry, errands etc. I’m also hoping to do some cross stitch and write and if I’m really on the ball maybe a little baking, too.
Garden or keep houseplants? – Both although I didn’t do much gardening last year. I have a few houseplants but I have cats, too, and the house is a kind of feline ninja challenge with a salad bar reward. The cat safe spaces aren’t the most plant friendly ones so my options are limited until I come up with better ideas.
Recent Purchases/Rediscoveries: Mugler Alien from a local drugstore, Demeter Fragrance x Elvira (icon!) 4-piece mini set (shipped Wednesday, was expected today but got stalled in Indianapolis), and a Sephora order (shipped today, expected Monday)-Rare Beauty Confident Energy eyeshadow palette, UD 24/7 Roxy (sparkly blue-I think it’ll coordinate with Confident Energy) and Viper (sparkly purple) eyeliners, Marc Jacobs Whip It lip gloss (Enamored glosses are on sale-around 9 or 10 shades are already sold out, and Whip It looks like it’ll be next), and YSL x Zoe Kravitz Brooklyn Baby lipstick.
Weekend plans: Worked all day today, going to the store tomorrow night (one of the least crowded times at my local supermarket seems to be after 8 pm on Saturday nights), maybe some errands Sunday if need be.
Do you garden or keep houseplants?: I can easily kill a plant within a week! My mom and I both have black thumbs–I think it’s hereditary. The only plants we’ve managed to keep alive are in our flower beds (maybe the beds being outside and our lack of involvement with the plants keeps them alive?). I have a purple tulip that produces about 4 blooms and Mom has irises and peonies.
Love seeing pics of Mellan so playful in the pool and the story
Purchases/Rediscoveries: No purchases this week. Rediscovered Charlotte Tilbury’s Transform-Eyes and PMG Bronze Ambition palettes to dupe the Spring Chanel quad Bouquet Ambre that isn’t being released in the US/Canada. Also rediscovered Tom Ford’s Afternooner palette chosen as an item to pan/ make a dent in this year (the bronzer shade is perfect for this time of year).
Weekend Plans: It’s a sports weekend, watching NHL games and cheering on the (NFL) Green Bay Packers. Also getting groceries, doing laundry, and writing overdue emails.
Do you garden or have house plants? I don’t have a green thumb though I like to tend to annuals and shrubs, etc. once established. My spouse has the green thumb in the family and he tends to a few house plants that he brought home from his office. They reside on top of a hutch in the kitchen as our cat was going them when in the livingroom.