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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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Maybelline Creamy Matte Daringly Nude

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Two weeks ago, I shared a review and some swatches of Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick in Divine Wine. I actually purchased Daringly Nude, another non-corpsifying (on me, at least) nude lipstick. I had never really thought of a matte nude lip but when I went to make my purchase they were out of the other shade I wanted, so I went with this instead – I figured Daringly Nude would be, “safe,” as lip colors go.

Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick in Daringly Nude - Case

I actually swatched this one on my lips as soon as I left the store. It flattered, so I was happy. It felt good on my lips, didn’t dry them out, and it lasted decently. The consistency of Daringly Nude feels identical to that of Divine Wine, though Daringly Nude appears more matte on the lips than Divine Wine. I also noticed that it settled into my lip lines a little bit more – but this may not have happened if I had super moisturized lips.

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