Manicure Monday – 11/5 – China Glaze Gelaze Recycle

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China Glaze Gelaze RecycleManicure Monday – 11/5 – China Glaze Gelaze Recycle

Anyone watching V for Vendetta today? I will be! Does anyone actually paint their nails on Mani Monday? I don’t! I don’t tend to do much exciting nail art these days, but my nails are almost always painted. I usually paint over the weekend so they’re fresh for the work week. It follows that I’d start a Manicure Monday series; the content basically creates itself!

Before

The Friday before Halloween, I did a simple black set with Sensationail Midnight Rendezvous (which I used in my glitter gel nail tutorial) On my ring fingers, I slapped a coat of Essie Matte About You topcoat for a nearly-no-effort accent nail. I don’t wear black often, and was initially like, “Ah! This is so stark,” but by the end of the ninth day, I found myself rather fond. Yesterday, though, I decided it was time for a different color.

Surprisingly had a devil of a time removing that set. Usually, I can pop my gel polish off fairly easily, but this took coaxing and inspired a bit of swearing. Anyway, after I removed the black gel, I slapped on some Solar Oil and let my nails rest for a while, lacquer-free, while I got some stuff done around the house.

Picking a Color

I found myself torn between the new-to-me nude shade I wore before Midnight Rendezvous (posted on Insta on 10/14), China Glaze Gelaze Awakening, and what I ultimately chose, China Glaze Gelaze Recycle.

I’ve written about my love of Recycle before. Grey is fantastic for Autumn, absolutely counts as a neutral, and isn’t as harsh as black but is still on the edgy side.

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Chatter: Halloween Makeup

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Chatter

Halloween Makeup

Each year, my Halloween effort has waned a little more. It is fantastic occasion to play with makeup and wear looks that you might not otherwise wear (even sans costume), I just can’t bring myself to exert the effort this year.

It’s fun to see the Halloween-centric creativity that has cropped up in the Reddit and YouTube beauty communities over the years. In the past, I executed a couple Reddit-inspired cat looks that were fun enough.

More than ever, this year, I can’t be bothered! The extent of my festiveness is a simple black gel manicure – like this, but without the fabulous glitter.

The Bottom Line

Are you doing anything fun for Halloween or did you do anything fun for the holiday season (parties, etc)?

Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 18 – Sunday Riley

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I had a different topic planned for this week’s post, but then shit hit the fan with Sunday Riley.

The Sunday Riley Snafu

On Monday, October 15 a throwaway account identifying herself as an ex-Sunday Riley employee posted on Reddit’s SkincareAddition sub. Her post described and disclosed some of what can only be described as heinous and unethical review practices on behalf of Sunday Riley.

I happened to find out via Twitter, which was agog with justifiable rage at this revelation. This isn’t just sketchy, it is going-to-ridiculous-lengths sketchy with extensive instruction, false Beauty Insider profile creation, and VPN usage. Check it out:

Sunday Riley

My Thoughts

I won’t waste your time pontificating on the matter, but have a few calmer points to add now that I am far enough away from discovering this.

  • I’m glad I am not a Sunday Riley customer. Especially with as expensive as their product is.
  • If your product is in fact good enough you should not ‘need’ to stoop to these levels.
  • They cannot be the only ones.
  • Will Sephora do anything about their relationship with this being out?

The Bottom Line

This is why you cannot purely trust reviews on merchant sites. If you are going to research product feedback, you should consult a diverse pool of sources. Period.

Pinkwashing

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This is a legacy post that has been given a facelift. Some content has been edited for flow and clarity, but the essence of the post is the same.

It is October, which means a lot of things – dark lips, darker eyes, fun crazy eye looks inspired by candy corn, Halloween-look YouTube tutorials…you know. Things that matter.

It also means that it is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Which means everything is coated in a pink so similar to Pepto Bismol that you’re half-surprised there isn’t a lawsuit afoot. This phenomenon has come to be known as Pinkwashing and the goal (supposedly) is to raise awareness. We find people clad in pink all month feeling awfully good about the difference they’re making…but spoilers, your pink tee isn’t funding mammograms for early detection. Treatment. Etc.

We need less, “awareness,” bullshit and more research for treatment and prevention.

If you wish to support research efforts, actually try to support the cause by researching who you are planning to donate to. Unfortunately, not all charities are as noble as they’d have you believe.

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Esqido Gel Eyeliner Pencil

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Esqido Gel Eyeliner

First things first: I received a pair of Esqido Gel Eyeliner Pencils for the purpose of a review. Otherwise, I did not receive any compensation or incentive to write this content, and as always, all opinions are my own.

Background

Esqido has provided me with lashes to review in the past. Even though I didn’t become a worshipper, they reached out to see if I’d be interested in giving their new eyeliners a shot.

I’m not a huge eye pencil user but eyeliner fits into my life a lot more than luxurious falsies do; I took them up on it.

Colors

For now, Esqido offers gel eyeliner pencils in black and brown; I received both. Between the two shades, I find myself favoring the brown for daily use.

It isn’t clear whether or not other shades are in the works.

Features

The first thing that struck me as clever as hell about these eyeliners is the silicone ring on the barrel that the cap will fit snugly over. Gel eyeliners, regardless of format, are notoriously susceptible to drying out; this ring protects the product by creating an airtight seal. CLEVER. Even my husband, who obviously gives zero bothers about cosmetics, thought it was cool and clever!

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Worth it? Tarte Knockout Tingling Treatment

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Tarte Knockout Tingling TreatmentTarte Knockout Tingling Treatment, $39

At the end of August, during the surprise BI sale, I purchased two things:

  1. Restocked Ole Henriksen Truth Serum.
  2. I decided to give the overwhelmingly positively reviewed Tarte Knockout Tingling Treatment (5oz for $39) a shot.

My interest in the latter was piqued when Stef Nicole mentioned it in her 2017 skincare video; she’s a highly skeptical character, went in to try this with an admirable level of skepticism, and came out impressed. So hey – I’ll give it a shot too. Like her, I question the foray of makeup brands into the skincare realm, but her judgment is pretty damn solid.

If it Ain’t Broke

For as long as I can remember at this point, I haven’t tried any new skincare products. This was due to a few things:

  • I’m on a low buy
  • I didn’t want to risk compromising my skin
  • Everything was working

For chemical exfoliation, I was largely relying on my Alpha Skin Gel for an AHA. That said, I can’t seem to get my hands on the Alpha Skin Gel easily – and for the first time in a while I felt adventurous.

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