Skincare

December 2017 Favorites

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December 2017 Favorites
December 2017 Favorites
C.O. Bigelow My Favorite Night Balm, $7.50 / Dove Beauty Bar, varies / Twilight Bath Bomb, $7/ IKEA TOFTBO Bath Rug, $8
Amope Pedi Perfect, $49 / Clarisonic Radiance Brush Heads, $27 (but as cheap as $15 ea if you shop smart)

The one week of free-time I had in December was spent doing holiday things – baking, spending time with family and friends, the like. The rest was spent as pure downtime, regenerating and recharging along with my husband. I could have worn glitter eyeliner every damn day – but I didn’t. In fact, I hardly wore any makeup at all for half the damn month. Instead, I spent time doing self-care things.

So, in short, all of my December 2017 Favorites are along those lines.

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The Haul-idays / No Buy / State of Things

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No Buy

Haul

Since the sale I bought C Firma during, I allowed myself to spend a little more on beauty-related products during the holidays.

In addition to the MiroPure Straightening brush, I bought:

  • Another hair tool to try. There’s no universe in which I would have dropped money (>$125!) on a Beachwaver but I got the InstaWave for $25.
  • A few more Gelaze colors to play with. I hadn’t purchased any gel polish in nearly a year!
  • Some extra Clarisonic brush heads. There was a Cyber Monday sale – got two Radiance heads for $24. Not as excellent as my usual purchase of 4 for $64 (4 pack for $81 + 20% off).
  • A new (to me, not new release) Real Techniques brush. I didn’t really have anything to use on my whole, finished face to blend any edges that I missed, and for $4 on sale I figured it was fair.

Holiday Stuff

In all, I found myself yet again underwhelmed by the holiday offerings put out by most brands. It does look like Fenty Beauty rose to the occasion (still haven’t tried anything from Fenty, though), but everything else fell flat to me. Even Urban Decay who, in spite of my occasional criticism, I generally enjoy, swung and missed (me).

The only thing I found myself tempted by were the new Heavy Metal glitter liner shades – but given that I have few opportunities to even wear the one I own (Midnight Cowboy), I refrained from adding more to my collection. Glitter eyeliner, after all, is not appropriate for work.

State of Things

Now for some general, “state of things,” updates on things I’ve talked about but not super-recently.

No Buy

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Clever Ways to Use Your FSA Funds

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Use your FSA funds for sunscreen & these other items before year end!
photo from http://www.oralabs.com/blog/wear-sunscreen/

For those of you with HSA or FSA funds, December 31 marks the, “use it or lose it,” deadline. If you don’t need an eye exam or new glasses, what do you spend those funds on?

DID YOU KNOW…

…that HSA and FSA dollars can, in most cases, be spent on sunscreen?

You’ll want to verify with your plan provider, of course, but yes – this is a viable option. If you have an FSA card, you can order FSA-eligible items directly with it; Walgreens has a whole section of their site dedicated to FSA-eligible items; otherwise you will have to check for your reimbursement process.

What better way to stock up on sunscreen for 2016? Most varieties are covered – sprays, traditional lotions, sticks, what-have-you. You may not be able to convince them to cover Coola or Supergoop (but I don’t know for sure that you can’t, either), but still. Stock up for 2018!

Other FSA Funds Neat-to-Knows

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Silkn Revit

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Silkn ReVitSilkn Revit, $99

This is a legacy post from earlier this year that I’ve added a little more meat to and cleaned up some sections for clarity.

Now that I’ve reviewed the microderm-like product that disappointed me, it’s time to talk about the one I dig! I got my Silkn Revit at Costco (who is seriously underrated for beauty finds, by the way) for $65, which is over a third off its retail price. Unfortunately, I can’t find this on Costco.com at the moment; I picked mine up in the warehouse. If I couldn’t find it on sale, I’d look at Nordstrom (what with their famous return policy as insurance against a major issue) or Amazon ($63 on 12/16/17!)

Every blog review I’ve read so far has been little more than a regurgitation of the marketing materials Silkn puts out. Cute…and not useful.

Ergonomics

This device is far simpler than the PMD device I tried recently. There’s a single button that turns on, increases suction, and turns off depending on how many times it is pressed. It is ergonomically-friendly, lightweight, and easy to hold.

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Tuesday Extra – The Humidifier

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The winter solstice is in two days and my hair is protesting by being static-y and my skin is parched. Let’s talk about my skin, my cat, The Sickness, and humidifiers.

So – about me: since I started using it a few years ago, argan oil hasn’t let me down. Four drops a night, historically, has been enough for my skin. As temperatures have plummeted and heaters have been on, though, my skin needs more. During the day on weekdays I’ve been cocktailing B-Hydra (came with my Come C About Me set) with C-Firma. On weekends, I’ve used a couple drops of argan in its place – but I was considering using a, “full dose,” of argan oil TWICE a day. That’s how dry my skin was getting – and yes, I’m staying hydrated!

As for my hair, winter means more blow-drying for me. I never blow dry without product (I’m finally nearing the end of my Paul Mitchell Super Skinny), so imagine my surprise when I ended up with staticky hair last Friday. I deep condition once a week so I didn’t think it was an issue – but this year, it evidently is!

Poor Little Cat

I’ve never understood how people could just not like cats. (Close friends who take time out of their day to read are probably laughing and shaking their heads, “Here we go…”) It literally does not compute in my brain the same way not liking ice cream or Cowboy Bebop don’t compute. So if you’re one of those people, sorry, but you’re going to suffer through a cat photo and a brief story.

This…

…is Taiga, and she is majestic but sensitive. Her stomach can get finicky if she eats too fast or if it is Tuesday or if Mercury is in retrograde. Unlike her sister but like me, her skin tends to get fussy and dry if humidity in our apartment isn’t up to snuff. Poor thing will scratch herself senseless trying to mollify her itchy, dry skin. It hurts my heart – after all, I can’t just slap some argan oil on her the way I can myself.

The Sickness

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The Sickness; Sephora and Ulta Haul Chatter

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I seem to have a reasonably solid immune system and tend to only be taken down by the sick once or twice a year. Alas, this past week was one of those times. There’s been a lot of hot tea and chicken soup in this house in the last two weeks There wasn’t a whole lot (read: none) in the way of writing in the last week-and-a-half. The time I didn’t spend down and out (and re-watching Cowboy Bebop for the umpteenth time) I spent at work because I have a problem am a sucker didn’t want to leave things unfinished before my vacation (all are true).

Before The Sickness struck, though, I managed to get through my Ulta and Sephora purchases without going overboard.

Sephora Haul

Sephora still had Drunk Elephant’s Come C about Me set in stock, so I went for it. I haven’t gotten into any of the product yet; tragically the skin near my nose has been more reptilian than human since I received it. I’m excited to check out B-Hydra to see about the hype.

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