Drugstore

Weekend Trip Skincare

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Happy Halloween, everyone! Unfortunately, I do not have some badass/beautiful/weird Halloween makeup to share with you today. Perhaps some year.

In tune with Wednesday’s post, I figured I’d share my weekend trip skincare, too.

Spoilers: there isn’t much to share. It doesn’t really differ from my regular skincare.

Weekend Trip SkincareWeekend Trip Skincare

I’ll be bringing:

  • Ponds Luminous Finish Makeup Remover Wipes
    I use the Original wipes, this came with my most recent pack as a, “Hey, try me!” thing…
    So I’m trying them!
  • Clarisonic Mia2.
    Yeah, I caved a while ago and got one. I didn’t share? Don’t worry, I will.
  • Wee Purity Cleanser.
    A little goes such.a.long.way. I normally use Cetaphil Gentle, but I don’t have a wee bottle of it.
  • Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil Light

Each of these items is compact and travel-friendly (including my Clarisonic Mia 2 which has a clamshell case). Though I do have a lot of skincare stuff at home, this is what I’m constantly using.

You’ll notice my weekend trip skincare list did not include sunscreen – but that is because my Ponds BB+ cream contains it, so I don’t want/need an extra (plus, I’m finding a lot of facial sunscreens break me out anyhow). I won’t be doing anything in the days prior to cause additional sensitivity (use of AHA products, aggressive exfoliation).

Simple, straightforward, not a twelve-thousand product routine. What about your weekend trip skincare – is it more involved? Or do you just wing it and hope whatever soap the hotel has will be kind enough to your face? Or are you like me and haven’t been on a trip in ages and can’t really say?

Sick Day Makeup

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I have been sick-ish since last Friday with a stupid sinus thing. That said, I look like hell because being sick generally does that to you as does the whole sinus-pressure-induced headaches and face pain. Oh, and waking up in the middle of the night, too. All awesome stuff. I’m finally pulling out of it, thankfully.

Fortunately, I haven’t had to look as rough as I’ve felt and sounded. Even though I don’t always execute this philosophy, I am of the opinion that the days upon which we want to bother with makeup the least are often the days when we can benefit from it the most. Being sick – not enough to debilitate you, just enough to make you uncomfortable and annoy you – is no exception, especially if you aren’t able to stay home for the duration of your illness.

Also, I want to be clear that I’m not suggesting that anyone do these things or wear sick day makeup, but since I had to go to work I prefer to look a little more lively; feeling out of it is an impact to productivity enough without a dozen people stopping you throughout the day asking if you’re okay, tired, sick, etc. I prefer not to entertain those questions, so sick day makeup it is. If I didn’t have to work, you can be sure that I would’ve been bare faced.

What the sick day makeup needs to correct: pale, dull skin; drier-than-usual skin, dark eye circles, redness around nose area. Woo. Despite what you’ll often hear and see, simpler is far better when you’re feeling sluggish.

Sick Day Makeup - Keep it SimpleSick Day Makeup

Though I already have a pretty simple routine, if I’m feeling out of it I want to simplify as much as possible. I want my sick day makeup to have as few steps as it reasonably can without sacrificing results because chances are I wanted to get out of bed on time even less that day than a regular day. I need to add some life back to my face if I need to be around people – which I did since I was unable to take any days off.

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Touch of Spice – Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick

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I finally picked up the specific Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick I was wanting in the first place – Touch of Spice.

Touch of Spice is a sort of My Lips But Better shade – a matte rosy shade with a bit of brown. Very autumn-appropriate and extremely wearable in all situations (as compared to Divine Wine, which may be a little bold for the taste of some). The formula seems to be identical to the aforementioned darker shade and the lighter Daringly Nude. I don’t know about you, but it drives me up the wall to get two colors from the same line to find that they have completely different consistencies and wear time. I’m pleased that the Creamy Matte line from Maybelline is pretty consistent (at least across these three shades I own).

Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick Touch of Spice

Like all the others in the line, it features a frosted tube in a sort of plum-ish shade that is not indicative of the lipstick itself.

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September 2014 Favorites

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September 2014 Favorites

September 2014 Favorites
1. MAC Lipstick – Brave $16 / 2. Sonia Kashuk Brush Cleaner $8 /
3. Clinique Almost Lipstick – Black Honey, $16 / 4. CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, $14 /
5. Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick – Divine Wine, $6

I didn’t think much of it during the month, but looking back – my September 2014 Favorites were pretty lippy!

Details after the jump.

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Wanted: Low-Scent Dry Shampoo

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Dear Haircare Companies,

Dry shampoo is a staple for me. In addition to saving me from situations where I don’t have as much time as I’d like, it is a regular part of my routine in that it helps me go a little longer between washing, especially when used my favorite way: before bed. This helps preserve the health of my hair in addition to saving me time, effort, blah blah blah.

Every one that I have tried, with the exception of my current favorite, is rife with varying strong perfume-y fragrance. Even my favorite is scented more than I’d like – though not as much as the competition I have tried. While I understand the goal of a scented dry shampoo in that it should help refresh your hair, I really don’t want to walk around smelling like my dry shampoo. So I ask this: please make a low-scent dry shampoo. Please.

Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak, “Refreshing,” Dry Shampoo.
Not an example of a low-scent dry shampoo.

In a rush the other day, I didn’t take a good look at the state of my hair before I left to start my day. When I got to work (early, thankfully), I felt that I could use a quick blast to help my hair have a little more life. Fortunately, I have a travel-sized can of Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak Dry Shampoo (long name, sheesh) in my desk. Being as that I arrive eons earlier than my teammates, I sprayed a quick blast at my roots – and coughed. Mmm, aerosol perfume – now with powder particles!

I got up and went to one of the restrooms (which for some ungodly reason do not have fans) and finished the job, but I had to keep moving around to avoid a lungful of this stuff. Granted, most dry shampoo is aerosol and you could have this happen – but of all the ones I have tried and all the times I have used it, this was the worst. The spray is dense, the fragrance is dense; even aiming the product at your roots (as intended) doesn’t prevent some of the powder-mist from settling wherever it feels like (like your top). I hope it dissipated before the next person went in; but even after the dry shampoo cloud itself disappears, the fragrance of this one lingers.

Low-scent dry shampoos would definitely be adopted. A lot of your consumers already wear perfume or some other fragrance. Having their fragrance-of-choice compete with their dry shampoo is no good. On the other hand, I’m sure some of your consumers, or your would-be consumers suffer in the midst of strong fragrances – so they either suffer while using your product, or they forego it. In the interest of keeping happy customers–and gaining new ones–I suggest that you, like Expo did with their dry erase markers, make a low-scent dry shampoo.

Sincerely,

the Beauty Skeptic

Herbal Essences Reboot

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Herbal Essences RebootHerbal Essences Smooth Collection Shampoo and Conditioner

Years ago, Herbal Essences underwent a facelift and eagerly dashed away from the awkward, far-too-excited commercials of yore. But with the new look came new formulas, and people pined for the Herbal Essences formulas from back in the day. Within the last year, Proctor and Gamble decided to reboot two of the classic Herbal Essences lines: Smooth (rose-based, pink bottles shown above) and Shine (chamomile-based, the classic yellow bottles). Users rejoiced!

I’ve never used Herbal Essences products aside from a leave-in product about four years ago, so I wasn’t lining up to pluck the bottles from the shelves. I didn’t have a basis for comparison to the old stuff, so talking about it wasn’t a priority.

Recently, having finished up my Nexxus Therappe and Humectress, I was shopping for shampoo again. I perused the aisle until my gaze fell across the new-old Herbal Essences bottles. I don’t want to spoil it, but I’ll give you a hint: look at the green banners on the left side of each bottle.

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