Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 7 – Beauty Community Toxicity

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Unless you’re truly a hermit, you’re probably a member of a handful of communities. Maybe it’s your neighborhood, your kid’s school, or a hobby you have. Unfortunately, as communities grow, the risk for toxic behavior increases. Either infighting starts or bad apples from the outside wriggle their way in and start causing discord. Some, like the gaming community or some political groups, are more apparent than others.

The Toxicity is Unbelievably Disheartening

In the beauty community, it is largely passive-aggressive, catty bullshit that, theoretically, most people in the community should be old enough to have moved beyond having time for. Then, occasionally, you have outsiders decide to bring their own baggage and horrible behavior along with them.

Now, Twitter is a microcosm all on its own – but I saw this account of such nastiness in January and was just flabbergasted:

toxicity

The thing of it is that I’ve seen toxic commentary like this in response to makeup looks or videos. It isn’t just one girl’s account; it is indicative of beauty community toxicity, and perhaps societal toxicity as a whole. Don’t believe me? Check out some of the hateful vitriol on Guru Gossip. Ladies, it is possible to be critical and skeptical of a content creator without being so nasty.

WTF

I don’t have a ton to say other than it is disappointing as hell that some people out there just have to be miserable over makeup. To me, makeup and beauty should be fun, expressive, and lighthearted. If you’ve spent any time in the beauty community in the past few years though, you know it is anything but. It seems to me that if a topic brings you so much angst that you need to threaten violence over fake freckles, you need to step back and reevaluate your life.

Balayage Update

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Balayage Prep

Having delayed and rescheduled my last appointment, I was due to have my next balayage session on St. Patrick’s day. I don’t treat myself to salon treatments very often (balayage just twice a year, and rare mani/pedis aside), so I was looking forward to it.

In spite of that eager anticipation of a few hours of very girly, “treat yo self,” time, my uncertainty about my hair has continued.

I enjoy having my hair a bit lighter than its virgin state, but

  • Salon visits are time-consuming and inconvenient
  • Salon appointments are expensive
  • I wasn’t thrilled with my most recent results

I’ll call a spade a spade – I’m a demanding customer. When you spend so much on a service, you expect to walk away feeling more than just, “okay,” with it.

Other Goals

I’ve had a shift in priorities in the last six months or so. Our financial goals shifted and we decided to decrease discretionary spending. We didn’t eliminate all of our, “fun,” and had made room for certain planned things – like this. Ultimately, though, I came to question the idea of this splurge in the face of the other things (less expensive/impactful towards our goals) that I limited or eliminated.

Balayage Appointment Reminder

The Wednesday before, I received an appointment reminder that revealed the colorist I was booked with was the same one as before. I visited their site to see if they had any specials running (sometimes they did a free bonus service with a certain amount spent) but instead found that they increased their price for the balayage service by 50%. WHOA.

Coupled with my uncertainty about continuing, I decided to interpret these things as a sign to cancel. So I did.

So Now What?

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Worth it? Ulta Brow Tint

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Ulta Brow TintUlta Brow Tint, $10

When I learned that my favorite brow product, Gimme Brow, had been recalled/discontinued, I was upset. I seem to end up getting attached to products that end up facing discontinuation just a year or two later. I set out to research replacements because like mascara and unlike lipstick, I do my brows daily.

Exploration

Glossier’s Boy Brow product looks attractive, and I intend to someday try it. That said, that day doesn’t happen to fall in the first quarter of 2018. Instead, I was surprised to find that Ulta Brow Tint, an unassuming brow product in their house line, has incredible reviews… and is only $10 a tube.

Supply Run

I needed to resupply on dry shampoo last month, which is ‘permitted’ by my ‘rules.’ Likewise, resupplying on a brow product is within the rules as long as I’m not getting crazy experimental. Since my previous product is not available for purchase, trying something new is fair. And, better yet, it costs less.

Better-better yet:

  • The whole line, including Ulta Brow Tint was buy one, get one free
  • I had Ulta coupons
  • I had a gift card

…so I didn’t spend out-of-pocket.

Shade Range

Ulta Brow Tint comes in six shades and, as a result, beats the pants off the color options of most other brands offering similar products.

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Invisalign Update: Tray 34/36 & Refinement Trays Soon

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Invisalign Update - 34/36 - Refinement Trays

Suddenly, nearly nine months have passed. For about two months, now, my upper teeth have been very nearly straight. Not perfect, but such a night-and-day difference from my starting point that they may as well be. Throughout the process, my confidence in my teeth has grown even though they’re a work in progress. I don’t hide my teeth when I smile now – it’s pretty weird! Good weird. :) After the trays I started earlier this week, I have two more left. On April 3, I return to my orthodontist and will almost certainly be rescanned with the iTero Element to establish a a course of refinement trays. This probably means I’ll be hanging out in my 36th tray for a while!

What are Refinement Trays?

If the initial course of trays didn’t quite get everything where it needs to be further correction is required. Usually, new impressions or a new scan is taken, then new refinement trays are fabricated. The refinement trays are the same type of thing as the original course and may or may not include the same number of attachments or other ‘tools’ to advance the plot of straightening your teeth.

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Roller Eyeliner

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When I wear ‘proper’ eyeliner (not shadow-as-eyeliner), I use one of two formats: gel liner (my favorite) or a mechanical twist-up (the only one I’ve had luck with). There’s been a lot done with eyeliner in the past two decades but when I saw these new-fangled roller eyeliner releases, I got EXCITED.

Roller Eyeliner – What Is It?

The three roller eyeliner products on the market appear to use the same idea. A wand that has a small, foam disc on the end that rests in an ink-like liquid liner when the tube is closed. The disc is thin and has a small radius to facilitate easy application.

It isn’t the first time, after all, that I have been excited about the intersection of beauty and technology or beauty and engineering. What’s more amazing is that all three I’ve found consistently receive 4/5 star ratings on their respective sites.

Could it be that it isn’t just a gimmick!?

Roller Eyeliner - NUDESTIX Rock n' Roller

Nudestix

First, I saw NUDESTIX Rock n’ Roller Easy Eyeliner Ink. Samantha Ravndahl mentioned them in some format of hers and I was blown away. Then I saw them in an Instagram ad and…I was blown away again. I was so excited, in fact, that I made a point of showing this brilliant take on an eyeliner applicator with my could-not-be-more-disinterested-in-makeup husband. Even he thought it was neat; it reminded him of something used in metal fabrication.

There are three colors: ever practical black, Bronze Patina, and my favorite – Golden Rosé. I keep catching myself telling myself, “That’s totally wearable enough for work.” Honestly even writing that out gave me a twinge of temptation. And then I remind myself that not only does it run $24… I’m on a No Buy. 

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Worth it? Reusable Makeup Removing Cloths

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I love those Swisspers cotton pads that are a lot like the Shiseido ones. They’re both really nice (although the Shiseido are on the expensive side), but I invested in some reusable makeup removing cloths that have all but replaced them.

Waste Not

In the last year or so I’ve been gradually pursuing the idea of less.

  • Less makeup.
  • Less clothing (now possible since I have a lovely little apartment-sized washer and dryer).
  • Less waste.

I won’t pretend I’m living some virtuous low-waste fantasy. I’m totally not, and I’m not even trying to strive for that. I am, however, trying to make gradual, reasonable cuts to certain single-use items I buy. Fortunately, nice reusable makeup removing cloths don’t feel like a sacrifice or burden.

My Reusable Makeup Removing Cloths

There are so many options out there that it is hard to know where to start. When I first started shopping, I saw Makeup Eraser at Nordstrom and Sephora but $20 for one single cloth was a bit rich for

a) my blood and

b) something that I wasn’t sure of yet. I still haven’t bothered trying them because what I’ve gone with is (comparatively) inexpensive and fantastic!

SephoraSephora Black Magic Reusable Makeup Removing Cloths

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