There are a lot of favorites and new discoveries to talk about from March and I got a little rambly writing this. I’ll get right into it.
Beauty
Sally Hansen Steely Serene / This pastel grey nude taupe is so beautiful! It looks fresh and ethereal. This polish barely showed any chipping the entire week that I wore it.
Nivea Creme / This lotion has been saving my hands and feet from being super dry all month. It was hanging out in my bathroom not being utilized enough until I realized how great of a hand cream it is. Now I’m flying through it and using it nightly.
Carol’s Daughter shampoo / This shampoo smells so nice and seems to be working well with my favorite conditioner, Redken All Soft. I picked it up for the volume boosting and no sulfates claims. At only $10 I am extremely impressed by it and I think I’m going to be sticking to this brand for awhile.
L’oreal Infallible Pro-Matte Foundation / Whenever I use this foundation I always love how my skin looks. The matte finish looks great without feeling or looking heavy and it provides easily buildable coverage.
Diorskin Forever Foundation / When I’m not using L’oreal Infallible I have been forcing myself to use this foundation. Not because I don’t want to, but because I have an awful habit of “saving” my nice makeup for special occasions. When I mentioned that to one of my friends she reminded me about expiration dates and they won’t stay just as good as when you first get them. Thinking of the money I spent on this just wasting away has me pulling this out a lot more and it is FLAWLESS. I still don’t use this when I’m just doing a makeup look for a blog post because putting it on just to sit in my room is not acceptable for me.
Rimmel Addiction / First of all, I really appreciate lip liners that are in twist up automatic form rather than needing to be sharpened. Recently I have realized that lip liners make makeup look ten times better. Even if I only have on mascara, moisturizer, and lip gloss, putting on liner completes the look like icing on a cake. It is one of those key finishing touches that improves my face so much. This nude Rimmel shade is my current go to in my collection.
Eylure Vegasnay Absolute Allure / Finding great drugstore lashes makes me so happy. This style reminds me of House of Lashes Bambie, one of my favorite styles ever. It is a cluster lash with a long length. The reason I like them so much is that they work well to emphasize the roundness of my eyes instead of going more cat eye shaped, which is fun to switch up every once in awhile. The cluster spacing also shows off eyeshadow really well instead of hiding it with a fan of thick lashes.
Stila Grace Shimmer & Glow / As a huge fan of the Stila Glitter and Glow formula, I initially wasn’t interested in the Shimmer and Glows. Why would I want the same thing but without glitter? Swatching Grace at Ulta changed that immediately. This is one of the prettiest eyeshadows I’ve ever seen and I think I’ve told like three friends to go buy it already. Stila describes this as a shimmering rosey taupe and I can’t get over the beauty of it. It reminds me of a mix of Nars Himalia, ABH Marina, and Makeup Geek Grandstand all wrapped into one…but even better because of the mega intense pigmentation. Holy grail & must have material. I’m blown away by this every time I do my makeup. Go swatch it and you’ll see I’m not exaggerating.
Ambre Blends Essence / Sometimes I do this potentially regrettable thing where I buy perfume online. I bought Ambre Blends after hearing Shelby Wilson talk about it in her February favorites video. The way she talked about it being so unique and warm persuaded me. I have not regretted it and LOVE the way that it literally smells like getting a hug… that description sounds odd but it’s as descriptive as I know how to be with scents. I never thought Amber was a particularly interesting scent until this. It is oil rollerball so it has incredible lasting power and I’ve worn it almost every day since I got it.
Lace Baking Powder by Makeup Revolution / I talked about this baking powder in my post on brightening under eye powders. Great product, low price.
Other
Collagen / This almost could go in the beauty section. I was such a skeptic about collagen powder before incorporating it into my diet. Collagen does nothing when applied topically, but now that I’ve drank it everyday I have noticed strong nails, better skin, and faster hair growth. I literally can’t keep up with my roots because everytime I dye my hair I have a couple centimeters of regrowth in like a week… I attribute that to supplements and collagen powder.
TSC Podcast / The Skinny Confidential is a podcast by Lauryn Evarts and her husband Michael. I am so addicted to it and have been listening to the episodes on skincare, makeup, health, and fitness nonstop. Lauryn is the star of the show for sure but her husband is great at asking unique questions to their guests that really keeps the conversation interesting. I started following her Insta, Youtube, and blog after discovering this podcast. I sound like a stalker wow. What I really like about her is that she isn’t one of those people that hide things when they learn about an awesome new product, workout, or any other cool tip. I HATE when people do this and I strive to be someone that shares when they find out something cool. It’s literally the reason I started my blog. Check out The Skinny Confidential because you’ll be just as obsessed as I am.
More Podcasts / For a long time I wanted to get into listening to podcasts but didn’t know where to start. Everyone suggests murder and crime ones, which aren’t my thing. I find it so relaxing to go on a walk, clean, or drive while listening. I started by searching the Iphone podcast app for topics or people I’m interested in like skincare, then looked at blog recommendations. For example, yesterday I searched “Leah Remini” and listened to a couple episodes of RuPaul’s podcast where she was a guest because I love her to death. Once you start listening you’ll hear the podcasters talk about other shows they like and you can get ideas from there. If there are any makeup/ beauty podcasts you know of, send them my way! My favorites so far are the following:
TSC Him & Her
Off the Vine
The Balanced Blonde
The Bitch Bible
Stuff Mom Never Told You
Fab Four Smoothie / On my podcast kick I discovered Kelly LeVeque. She is a nutrition genius and teaches her celebrity clients how to lose weight. Her thing is suggesting foods that help you not get hungry and keep blood sugar steady so you don’t crash or get cravings. Fats, fiber, protein, and vegetables are the cornerstones. I get hungry literally so often and am such a snacker, so this has really been interesting to me. Instead of worrying about eating low calories all the time I’m trying to eat things that will hold me over a long time that aren’t carbs. I’m trying to be low carb, low sugar, and using Kelly’s strategy of curbing hunger before it starts. Her Fab Four smoothie is filling and delicious. She doesn’t like to include much fruit to limit sugar, which intrigues me because I didn’t really know how to make a smoothie without fruit before checking out her recipes.
Reebok Club C 85 / I picked up these shoes after deciding they were the cutest white sneaker ever. I had been considering a pair of white Vans Old Skools but just wasn’t obsessed with them. Canvas is so hard to keep clean and I see so many people wearing Old Skools where I live. I’m annoying that I try to be ~different~ but I also have so many pairs of slip on Vans that I felt like adding another was overkill for my collection. The Reeboks aren’t too chunky, are all white, and kinda look like the Yeezy Powerphase Calabasas. My Kardashian- obsessed self loves those but I’m not someone to spend $250+ on shoes. I thought the price was reasonable at $45 and can’t wait to keep wearing them a ton.
Get Out / It took me way too long to see this movie!! This is so Black Mirror-ish and I love how much it made me think. It’s not scary but is an awesome psychological thriller with just the right amount of comic relief.
Weight Training / I’m proud to be able to say that I went all month doing weights during my week day workouts! Whenever I start trying to add weights in usually I end up dropping it and going back into my cardio routine that I’m so used to. I did three days of weights and two cardio, for the first couple weeks of the month, but I switched to three cardio days out of five workouts now. Doing this resistance training makes me feel great physically and mentally so I’m trying to love it more and incorporate it into my workouts as much as possible.
Four Sigmatic Coffee / Mushroom coffee is the new kombucha. There are a ton of health benefits to mushrooms (not the drug kind!) and I’m even taking a mushroom preworkout. This coffee tastes SO rich and delicious and I only need one cup to feel energized throughout my work day. I like to make it in my cold brewer.
I ate way too much at Easter dinner yesterday so I’m not starting the new month out all that well off yet. I’m excited to get to do some wedding makeup this month and to hopefully keep getting stronger (and skinnier hopefully) with weights workout. I can’t see this turning into a fitness blog anytime soon but hopefully I’ll be getting into more wellness things that I can share next month. Another thing I’m also excited about is getting the KKW Beauty x Mario collaboration palette. This morning I decided that it’s an item I would definitely regret not picking up. If I can score one I’ll be doing a review ASAP. Thanks for reading!
-Kim