Details on my August 2017 Favorites after the jump. One is preeeetty mundane, but is a huge quality-of-life enhancement for me…so I’m excited!
Nobody likes a tryhard, yet so many brands are trying to be edgy lately. I’m not offput by crude humor in the slightest, but I can’t help but feel like brands are desperately grasping more and more for attention via punchy names and claims.
Isn’t it a little tired? Isn’t it enough to have a great product and solid marketing?
NARS Orgasm has been out for ages and the name makes sense for the color they are suggesting it is inspired by. It doesn’t strike me as tawdry even if the average shopper would feel unnerved asking for it by name in Sephora.
Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara isn’t a particularly nice formula – but oh man, such an edgy name! There are plenty of other products out there that are trying a bit too hard. Some are good, some are clearly banking on their shady name to make sales.
Oh, marketing. Urban Decay has a history of products with shady names. Okay, it’s one thing to name a color something off-beat. They’ve teased their new Troublemaker mascara which is, allegedly, “sex proof.”
Okay Urban Decay; I know that Wende founded the brand with the aim of going against the grain. With an effortless edginess in mind. But in their tagline, “Beauty with an Edge.” But isn’t marketing, “sex-proof,” mascara trying to be edgy a little (a lot) harder than is necessary?
Urban Decay themselves state on the product site:
Troublemaker holds up in hot and heavy situations and still looks good in the morning. We tested it ourselves, and it lasted through saunas, snowboarding and sex!
Being a blogger on a no buy is a challenging position to be in. I ought to remain at least vaguely aware of wtf is happening (ABH Subculture) and what cool beauty products are launching. ALl oh this, of course, without becoming tempted enough to make purchases.
You are cordially invited to join me in marveling at my first world problems.
Anyway, as a result of
I’ve tried an Hourglass mini before, but ultimately invested in the full sized product because, well, the product is fantastic. I imagine that’s no different with the Ambient Lighting Blushes, but let’s say you’re gift shopping and have a limit of $25-30. This little one, currently only available in Mood Exposure, runs $24.
Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum, $80I mentioned in my June favorites that buying Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum. I adore this damn serum. A colleague and paled at the cost when I sang its praises; I understand. I love it, plan to repurchase, and still recoil from the price tag.
Short of tools like my Luna Mini or Clarisonic Mia2, I don’t tend to spend much on individual products. With a few exceptions, I’m generally of the opinion that beauty need not break the bank.
Being young (enough – and only for now, don’t worry, this isn’t a cocky statement) and skeptical of products promising miracles, I pass on a lot of prestige and luxury skincare. Aside from my tools, none of my skincare routine is prestige at this point!
Never. As far as I’m concerned, mid-twenties is a perfectly reasonable time to reconsider your approach to skincare even if you aren’t suffering a skin mutiny as I was.
Once my acne was under control, I decided my skin could use a boost in the liveliness department. Although I find makeup fun, I much prefer to have healthy, radiant skin than to need to slap on product to fake it.
Mid-twenties is not too young to start anti-aging products – and with a demanding career, my skin was looking a bit tired. I don’t want or need anything hardcore. No retinol here (at this stage in my life). But I do have under-eye circles, some dullness and uneven tone, etc. I decided that Vitamin C was the place to be for my needs right now.
A blog I’ve followed for years and implicitly rely on touted Ole Henriksen’s Truth Serum but when I got into reviews and other comparisons, many sources seemed to suggest the Drunk Elephant product to be superior. Part of this is packaging, part is the concentration and type of Vitamin C itself, and the other part of are the other ingredients. I was leery about spending that much on a type of product I’d never tried before, so I kept searching.
Interestingly, although Stefanie Nicole (check out her channel here) has a YouTube channel, she works in the beauty industry on the manufacturing and distribution side of things. She also has a no-nonsense attitude that resonates with me. I appreciate her willingness to say, “I didn’t care for this,” or, “This product didn’t perform well for the price.” We need more of that! In this case, Drunk Elephant C-Firma does, in her opinion, perform well for the price.
Upon hearing her ringing endorsement of Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum, I decided to splurge during the Spring BI/VIB Sale. My skin was consistent at that point (not as stable as it is now, but better!), and I felt comfortable adding a variable.
If you’re a lunatic beauty hobbyist, you’ve probably heard that Sephora has altered its policy regarding Beauty Insider Points. Before, you could hoard them five-ever and spend them on ridiculous 1000+ swag. Now they have a shelf life.
People are losing their shit.
Twitter is aflame with disgruntled point junkies customers who feel that this new policy is an attack on freebies they are entitled to not actually entitled to. Oh for the love of highlighted cats it’s a war on our deluxe minis.
Don’t get me wrong – I love freebies, point perks, and gifts with purchase. I love that marketing strategy – what better a way to get us to buy product than to give us tiny versions to become obsessed with? At the end of the day, it sucks when perks change – but you aren’t owed freebies. And besides that…
No? Are you freaking out?
Year is half over. I just celebrated a birthday. ‘Murica just celebrated its own. I will have my first set of Invisalign trays before the end of the month. Hallelujah.
Btw, is anyone else like, “Get off my lawn and stay out of my damn hydrangeas,” when it comes to fireworks? No one was physically on my lawn, and I don’t have hydrangeas – but I am exhausted today because don’t you know it is ‘Murica’s birthday until (at least) 2AM on July 5? Sigh.