Look Awake in No Time

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Today is my first day back to my day job since the day before Christmas Eve; an unpredecented holiday break (my employer has a use-them-or-lose-them vacation day policy) for me. So, as I’m sure anyone in a similar situation can imagine, this first Monday of the year is a molehill that feels like a mountain as I make my way through the motions of my workday. But hey – at least I look awake!

Professionals, students, and Moms, you can relate: Sleep is a beautiful, precious thing. Even though I find significant joy in makeup, one cannot get through the days as a functional human being on joy and/or a perfectly executed winged liner alone.

On a daily basis, I prefer more sleep over more time to primp. I am a Snooze Button fiend. In spite of my extra sleep, I often still look pretty tired and sleepy until my second cup of coffee (and even then, coffee doesn’t cure dark circles). I’m not always a fan of looking like death-warmed-over, though.

Fortunately because I find myself in this situation more often than I care to admit, I’ve become pretty good at handling it. Regardless of the reason we’re time-deprived, most of us have three minutes. Yes, three. That’s it. This isn’t a, “no makeup-makeup look,” that requires you spend more time than you’d ever expect. This isn’t a full blown morning routine complete with sun salutations and lemon water, though – this is JUST making your face look less exhausted without doing a full face. Give me three minutes and I can look like my cats didn’t wake me up three times last night or like I did more harm than good by thrice-striking snooze.

First, concealer, post haste. I still really love Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer, even though the packaging could be better. I’m cracking open my fourth tube, soon – and let’s face it, how often do we makeup fanciers repurchase something 4+ times? Yeah, I dig it. We understand each other.

Look Awake In No Time
Look Awake In No Time…with my highly sought-after diagrams /s

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Chatter: Resolutions

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New Years' Resolutions“New Year, New Me!” resolutions?
NOPE.

I don’t believe in them. New Years’ Resolutions are a cop out. You don’t need a new calendar year to make a change in your life.

If you’re committed to the change, the right time to start is immediately…not January 1 (unless it occurred to you on January 1). That said, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with taking a moment to set your priorities for the year and reevaluate any existing goals.

For instance, my husband and I hope to become homeowners in 2016. We’re working hard to this end, but that happening means a lot of stars have to align. That’s our big one. Things that kind of help us work towards that goal are (especially for me) things like being mindful of obvious things like electric usage, sticking to meal plans because Taco Bell is entirely too tempting, and following my beauty no-buy plans (an interesting challenge, what with writing a beauty blog).

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Depotting

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I’m definitely pro-depotting when it comes to singles and duos, little things whose packaging takes up more space in your stash than it ought. I generally shy away from it for palettes, though. That said, something struck me a couple weeks ago and I decided it was time to reorganize my makeup storage/wannabe vanity. I got rid of the awkward brushroll that came with my Coastal Scents Elite Set because it wasn’t the best use of space for me (obviously the brushes stayed), played some Tetris, and decided I needed to pare down on the packaging where I could.

Too Faced Everything Nice (henceforth called TFEN) is fun, but frankly the packaging is huge considering its contents.

So I went at it with a nail implement I don’t use (not because there’s anything wrong with it, I just prefer other tools for the same tasks for which it is intended). Since TFEN is a cardboard palette, it was relatively easy to work with to pop the pans out; each pan is secured in its ‘well’ with some glue that comes up easily enough. I used a metal file to loosen around the outside edges of each metal pan, the slipped it under and slowly, gently (emphasis on those two!) pried upwards.

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Chatter: Makeup in the Office

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I find beauty and make-up fun (obviously, I spend more money on it than I care to admit, have a blog devoted to it, and am a moderator of a community devoted to it), but I don’t relish the idea of being bound to it; I feel like makeup should be for the wearer. I don’t force myself to paint my face daily – I do it when I feel like it. When you have to force yourself, it isn’t fun.

That said, I work in a corporate office. I’ve recently earned a promotion that puts me in a role in which means I see and work with more people than I used to, and a lot of the people I’m working with on a daily basis are Important People.

I find myself in this place where I’m torn between, “You can’t make me wear makeup in the office; the use of cosmetics has no impact on my work,” (which is valid) – and the understanding that it is more important than ever in my career to leave good impressions and, “put (my) best face forward.”

Granted, doing just that – putting your best face forward, that is – does not mean full facepaint. It does mean looking like you care about your professional presentation at work. Put together, well-groomed, however you wish to put it.

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ORLY Gel FX

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ORLY Gel FX (left side)Left side, ORLY Gel FX shades Melt Your Popsicle, Oh Cabana Boy, and Skinny Dip

In my Sally Beauty Haul a earlier this year I bought some new gel polish, including three ORLY Gel FX shades. I’d never tried ORLY’s gel formula before, so this was a trip into uncharted waters.

I am LOVING this formula! Regrettably, I do not have photos or swatches at the moment, but the first application of Melt Your Popsicle (a vivid orange) stuck around for TEN DAYS despite 1) a shoddy, kind of rushed application and 2) me being REALLY hard on my hands.

It’s a really sturdy formula! The only criticism I have for ORLY Gel FX is that, like Gelish, it is best to flash cure every nail or two so the product doesn’t go do what it wants (shrink, move). I ran into a little trouble trying to paint all of them and then do a full cure. It is minor, though, and I’ll take it for how awesome the color is.

As far as this color goes, if you want to really make it pop, apply two coats over an opaque white gel. I’ve done three coats of Melt Your Popsicle, Skinny Dip (bright, pool blue), AND Oh Cabana Boy (vibrant pinky fuschia with shimmer) on its own and my nail line was still visible (it’s kind of a jelly) though the color was pretty saturated. It still looked good, though.

I plan to follow up with swatches of the three ORLY Gel FX shades I own at some point, but I’m not feeling the neons right now. It’s I’m Not Really a Waitress season, after all.

Boots Botanics Organic Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm

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I was into skincare before I was into makeup, so over the years I’ve tried a veritable ton of cleansers. Brands, formats, whatever. What I hadn’t tried, though, was a cleansing balm. After hearing Lisa Eldridge (I think) mention the Boots Botanics Organic Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm being a cost-effective alternative to a more prestigious offering (the Eve Lom one), I decided to find it. As it turns out, my local Target carries it – but it can also be found at Ulta, on drugstore.com and on Amazon (if you’re willing [or don’t have a choice but to] to pay double for it, that is).

Boots Botanics Organic Hot Cloth Cleansing BalmBoots Botanics Organic Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm, $7

Famous is my love (read: disdain) of long product names, but I found that I’m willing to endure it for this little jar. Cleansing balms generally aren’t the type of product one uses to dominate their cleansing routine so much as supplement it; to give it a little boost or pleasant change to the routine. For me, it will not supplant my routine of Cetaphil Gentle + my Clarisonic, but will instead be a welcome once- or twice-per-week addition to it.

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