Now Over – Deals & Steals – $15 Purity

Every now and then I come across a great deal that I can’t help but share, regardless of my posting schedule. Philosophy’s cult-favorite Purity facial cleanser normally runs $24 for 8oz. Over the holidays, Sephora had an online-only 8oz for $15 special. Alas, it sold out swiftly.

PurityNordstrom Philosophy Purity Duo, $15

To my delight (and perhaps yours), Nordstrom has an 8oz bottle PLUS a 1oz travel/sample bottle for only $15. Because it’s Nordstrom, it’s always free shipping.

I’ve had a 2-or 3-oz bottle for AGES because a tiny bit goes a long way (especially with my Clarisonic, but even without!) and I alternate it with Cetaphil Gentle, so this will last me nearly forever. I have some air travel coming up this year, so the 1oz bottle is welcome to withstand TSA scrutiny, too.

The sale, the shipping, and 3% back at eBates made me jump earlier this morning. Now I’m good on face wash (combined with my current stock) for over a year! Some people like to use it to clean their brushes, too; as for me, I’ll stick to using it on my face, but for product minimalists out there, this is a multitasker.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder – Dim Light

Hourglass Ambient Lighting PowderHourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light

If you’re looking for the Ambient Strobing Powders, sorry to disappoint. I haven’t tried one.

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder line launched a couple years ago, and since then many have adopted them as their holy grail powders. They were firmly out of my reach, however, at $45 a pop. Lovely though they may be, are they worth almost fifty bucks? I’m skeptical.

Some months ago, a travel size of Dim Light (what appears to me to be one of the bestselling shades) came available at Sephora for only $22. I was lucky enough to win a wishlist-based contest in which the winnings were your choice of items of up to $X amount, so I chose the small (only 0.049oz) Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder to give a shot, for science and curiosity and, well, I don’t own any highlighters (really!).

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MAC 217 vs bdellium 776

Finally.

What?

217vs776

I got my hands on my first MAC brush. I’ve actually had it for a couple months now but have waited to share (I do that). In truth, I expected my first MAC brush to be a 242; you know, all that pigment-packing glory? Oh well.

So I finally got what many consider to be the Holy Grail of blending brushes – I was able to use Plenti points at the MAC counter in Macy’s to get a few bucks off it. Let’s put MAC 217 vs bdellium 776 (what I’ve been using and have been just OK with) – and see which is better.

MAC 217 vs bdellium 776MAC 217 vs bdellium 776

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December 2015 Favorites

December 2015 Favorites
December 2015 Favorites
1. Boots Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm, $7 / 2. Pointed-Tip Cotton Swabs, $5
3. Sephora Serum Foundation, $24 / 4.  Hot Tools Digital Titanium Flat Iron, $60
5. Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow in Space Cowboy, $21

Dear heavens how the hell is it 2016? WHAT IS TIME DOING. That said, it’s now the first Wednesday of January…so that means its time for my December 2015 Favorites. Meanwhile I’ll be working on my incredibly premature midlife crisis.

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Look Awake in No Time

Today is my first day back to my day job since the day before Christmas Eve; an unpredecented holiday break (my employer has a use-them-or-lose-them vacation day policy) for me. So, as I’m sure anyone in a similar situation can imagine, this first Monday of the year is a molehill that feels like a mountain as I make my way through the motions of my workday. But hey – at least I look awake!

Professionals, students, and Moms, you can relate: Sleep is a beautiful, precious thing. Even though I find significant joy in makeup, one cannot get through the days as a functional human being on joy and/or a perfectly executed winged liner alone.

On a daily basis, I prefer more sleep over more time to primp. I am a Snooze Button fiend. In spite of my extra sleep, I often still look pretty tired and sleepy until my second cup of coffee (and even then, coffee doesn’t cure dark circles). I’m not always a fan of looking like death-warmed-over, though.

Fortunately because I find myself in this situation more often than I care to admit, I’ve become pretty good at handling it. Regardless of the reason we’re time-deprived, most of us have three minutes. Yes, three. That’s it. This isn’t a, “no makeup-makeup look,” that requires you spend more time than you’d ever expect. This isn’t a full blown morning routine complete with sun salutations and lemon water, though – this is JUST making your face look less exhausted without doing a full face. Give me three minutes and I can look like my cats didn’t wake me up three times last night or like I did more harm than good by thrice-striking snooze.

First, concealer, post haste. I still really love Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer, even though the packaging could be better. I’m cracking open my fourth tube, soon – and let’s face it, how often do we makeup fanciers repurchase something 4+ times? Yeah, I dig it. We understand each other.

Look Awake In No Time
Look Awake In No Time…with my highly sought-after diagrams /s

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Depotting

I’m definitely pro-depotting when it comes to singles and duos, little things whose packaging takes up more space in your stash than it ought. I generally shy away from it for palettes, though. That said, something struck me a couple weeks ago and I decided it was time to reorganize my makeup storage/wannabe vanity. I got rid of the awkward brushroll that came with my Coastal Scents Elite Set because it wasn’t the best use of space for me (obviously the brushes stayed), played some Tetris, and decided I needed to pare down on the packaging where I could.

Too Faced Everything Nice (henceforth called TFEN) is fun, but frankly the packaging is huge considering its contents.

So I went at it with a nail implement I don’t use (not because there’s anything wrong with it, I just prefer other tools for the same tasks for which it is intended). Since TFEN is a cardboard palette, it was relatively easy to work with to pop the pans out; each pan is secured in its ‘well’ with some glue that comes up easily enough. I used a metal file to loosen around the outside edges of each metal pan, the slipped it under and slowly, gently (emphasis on those two!) pried upwards.

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