2017 favorites

Happy new year and happy 2018! I wanted to share my top 10 favorites  of 2017 with you.

10. NYX Away We Glow in 08 moon glow - I ran out of my beloved Becca shimmering skin perfector in pearl and replaced it with NYX for two reasons: 1) I'm a grad student on a budget, and more importantly, 2) There is no known universe where I could finish a full size shimmering skin perfector. The mini spotlight size took me 2 years! The NYX isn't a perfect dupe (not as gel like of a texture, doesn't blend as well over powder), but is 90% there and meets my needs perfectly. Like everyone else on the planet, glowy skin and I were friends all year long.

9. Whole Foods organic lip balm - I went through about a dozen of these in 2017, 50/50 lost vs. used up. I love the honey vanilla version, it moisturizes without irritating my skin and only costs about $3. Sold for life <3

8. Sheer glossy lips - My skin is too dry and I am too impatient for the perfectly carved out lip line and matte liquid lips. I need my skin and lips to feel comfortable and I'm permanently running late, so for me that means tinted lip balm, glosses, and sheer lipsticks I can apply on the bus without a mirror. Some of my favorites: Urban Decay and Too Faced La Creme lipsticks layered over lip balm, Clinique almost lipstick in black honey, Fresh tinted lip balm in rose and petal, and Bite's (discontinued?!) lip gloss in currant.

7. My Japanese brushes - My everyday brushes never fail me and I'm still amazed that some of these brands aren't more popular. Chikuhodo, Hakuhodo, Koyudo, and Mizuho all have some relatively affordable brushes (MAC or MUFE price range) that blow everything else out of the water in terms of quality. I like more natural and sheer looks with powder products, so my soft natural hair brushes deliver. Pictured: Hakuhodo tapered candle 5521, Hakuhodo J521 eyeliner, Chikuhodo Z-5 large eye shader, Mizuho PM11 brow brush, Koyudo 035 medium shader, Hakuhodo K022 blush/powder . I don't think everyone needs these exact brushes, but I do think it is worth buying high quality brushes of which ever shapes you use every day.

6. NARS Laguna - Check out that huge pan! I wear bronzer everyday and Laguna was easily my most reached for this year. Even on my cool toned fair skin, this is never too orange. I don't know how, but Laguna always makes me look healthy and pretty.

Thoughts on decluttering, reusing makeup containers, and *actually* using samples

Hello friends! I have talked about my decluttering / simplifying / no-buy journey several times on my blog (see here, here, and here), but today I want to share how it's going and talk about finding creative ways to use what you have.

First up: an update on my decluttering progress & no buy. I pretty much stopped decluttering / simplifying my collection within the last three months because I was satisfied with the state of my collection. Everything I own is something I use and enjoy. Some items only come out to play  seasonally or in certain moods, but that's a-okay by me.

I went about a year-ish on a very minimal purchase streak (an informal no-buy if you will) but I feel like that phase is also over. I no longer think about trying to force myself not to buy or limiting my urge to purchase, I am more naturally skeptical and inclined to ask myself if I *really* *actually* want it. I have purchased a few things lately that I have loved - a sunscreen replacement, a few eyeshadow singles from Essence, a new mascara - but nothing over the top.

I'm on my second year of not making Sephora VIB or Ulta platinum - it felt nice to pass the anniversary of not making the cut. I have also been continuing to reform my social media habits - I don't follow any beauty related stuff on snapchat, pretty much quit instagram, and have continued reforming my youtube subscriptions. I am down to two nail polishes plus a top coat, my favorite red and my favorite nude, which is a HUGE improvement from my previous collection of ~25 polishes. I have also been nurturing my reading and baking habits. I am pleased to announce my currant almond scone habit is still going strong :)

Let's talk about reusing what you have - quite a few of my everyday favorites are items with recycled packaging. If you love a product's packaging, keep on using it, even if you declutter the product inside. Some examples:

How long does it take for cream products to dry up?

Seriously though, how long do cream products actually last before they are so dry and crusty you can't use them? Makeup packaging has little icons that say when you should toss a product, but I personally ignore those suggestions unless the product changes in smell, texture, or function. In the name of science (ish), let's take a look at some of my super duper old cream products:

Inglot gel eyeliner: Currently 2 years and 2 months after purchase. I saw no changes at all for a year and then product pulling away from the edges and hardening slightly after a year. By the second year anniversary, there was a huge crack down the center of each and the texture is a dense, dry putty instead of a smooth cream. Now, at 26 months, they are basically useless. If you were desperate, you could probably use Inglot duraline to limp along to the 2.5 year mark. Gel eyeliner shelf life is about 2 years.

Maybelline color tattoo cream eyeshadow: Currently about a year and a half after purchase. I like Maybelline color tattoos, but they aren't incredibly long lasting. I have owned several matte and several metallic shades, and the matte shades have a much drier, firmer texture initially and dry up faster. My metallic shades have all been fine for the first 6-9 months but show serious dryness at 9-12 months. Now, a year and a half in, the product has pulled away from the edges of the pot and the texture is incredibly dense and flaky. I can only use this by patting the product on the lid with my finger because it flakes/pills with swiping motions. It's basically dead. I recommend repurchasing annually or finding a formula with better longevity.

Anastasia dipbrow pomade: Currently 2 years and 2 months after purchase. I noticed product pulling away from the edges of the pot after about 6 months (!), serious dryness around 9 months, and then no changes at all in year 2. Oddly, I prefer the dry, stiffer texture because less pomade picks up on my brush. It still works okay for doing natural brows, but its days as a gel eyeliner or serious instagram brow pomade are OVER. Weirdly, I'm loving it more as it dries out. If you love the texture of the brand new product, you will start getting crabby 6 months from purchase.

Dear makeup diary - feeling overwhelmed by my makeup collection

Those of you who follow me on Instagram or chat with me on Reddit may already know this, but the tail end of 2015 to now beauty wise has been all about trimming down my collection and appreciating what I own. I wanted to write a little bit about how I've been feeling about my collection - maybe it will help you refocus on your own collection, declutter, plan purchases more, or something else. Who knows.

I have been thinking about writing this post for a long time, but I decided to go for it after reading or hearing other people say things that really felt like what I was feeling. Notably, Dustin Hunter's YouTube video (his #1 tip for saving money on makeup? Don't buy any.), the subreddit Makeup Rehab, and Kimberly Clark's excellent Anti Haul series.

Where I went wrong 

I wish I could tell you that I arrived at my desire for a smaller, more edited collection in an inspiring, zen way. Or I wish I could tell you that I dialed back on buying makeup and beauty products because I found my holy grail in every category or new releases stopped catching my attention. I wish, but no. I started realizing as I was getting ready in the morning that I had much, much more makeup than I was using. I realized that I had products I forgot about for months. I started feeling overwhelmed looking at my makeup table and then I started feeling guilty about the money I had spent on beauty products. I never spent money that should have gone to bills or something more important, but I realized that they money I spent on beauty products a little at a time could have added up to larger more durable joys - a really nice camera, fancy dates with my husband, the comfort of a larger savings account, and a bunch of other things.

The hype machine

Probably like many people, the items I bought when I first started getting into makeup years ago were the products I saw on blogs, YouTube, and on Instagram, not the products that were thoughtfully purchased with my own preferences in mind. In the beginning, buying items based on internet reviews from strangers felt so rational. By comparison to my impulsive Walgreens eyeliner purchases in junior high, YouTube reviews made me feel like I was being smarter with my money. The problem, of course, is that my makeup collection snowballed. When I was first introduced to the YouTube and Instagram beauty community, I was naive enough to not think about where these people were getting their products, photo blurring and overexposed video lighting, how long they had used the item before giving it a thumbs up, and reading between the lines to infer a negative review from a relentlessly positive 'guru'. 

Not only was I literally buying into the hype machine, I didn't know my own preferences well enough to discern the difference between "this color is perfect for everyone!!!" and a shade I, personally, would use often in my routine. I wish I could have learned what my preferences were another way, but I learned what I didn't care for by buying products, trying them, and then realizing that I didn't like a specific shade or finish on my skin. Combining decades of untapped makeup curiosity, the disposable income from a professional job, and the proliferation of makeup focused beauty communities/channels online in the last five years has brought me to the place of having a large collection.

So, I felt super, duper guilty. I realized that I was spending my precious resources - my hard earned money, my time, my mental energy - on something that wasn't giving me the joy it had before. I still enjoyed my getting ready time in the morning, but I felt like my relationship with the online beauty community and shopping had to change.