Hi all ^-^ Currently working on all the December posts – I may have made some tactical errors in purchasing a massive IPSY box and their advent calendar, which by the way arrived on the 23rd. So no time to make an actual post about it. I will do an all-encompassing review of the calendar itself, but maybe not broken down by product like my usual posts are. But I’m still excited about it ^-^
Anyway, I did want to do an end of the year, most loved products and a routine update with the ones I’ve started regularly using. I also wanted to talk a little about having my work schedule start so early in the morning and what it means for my routine.
So I leave for work at 7am, to start my workday at 8. Leaving any later and I hit some major rush hour/school traffic, so it’s not worth it. I’d rather get into town a little early, grab my coffee, start my day without the bustle.
Even at this time of the morning though, there’s still traffic.
The thing that makes this difficult, is the sun hasn’t risen yet when I leave for work at this time of year. Maybe from November to February, If I want to do my makeup, I’d have to do it at 7:10 and leave the house at 7:20, earliest, which means I have a harder commute. It’s something I struggle with a lot in the winter. I can’t do my makeup by artificial light, I just can’t do it. I turn out all yellow.
So right now I have a weekday makeup routine that I do from my car in the parking lot at work, and a weekend makeup routine I do when I wake up with the sun on the weekends. I expect this to continue until mid-February.
My skincare routine is done when I leave in the morning, because I can certainly do that part in the dark. So none of that has really changed, except the products I’m trying out this month or that month.
But I have made some new additions to my makeup routine from products I’ve discovered this year, and they’re here in order 🙂
First thing is, I’m pale in the winter. Much more pale than my Eaze Drop foundation shade 2. So I’ve been mixing in my new Huda Beauty concealer that I reviewed, which is several shades lighter. Still blending with my favorite brushes from Juvia’s place. I’ve had more success with getting the right tone if I mix together my much lighter concealers, but none of them are as liquidy as this one and the heavier ones completely mess with the Eaze Drop’s texture.
So in the car, I mix the foundation and concealer on my fingertips and dot them over my face and blend just like if I were at home.
Next I use the Bronzing Multi-Stick from Persona. The shade I have is Dune, which is very warm brown and not as dark as it could be, but it’s fine. It’s just a little bit of bronzer/contour and it’s a soft formula so it melts and blends really well. It’s also a convenient roll up stick form and a small compact, so easy to travel with and easy to apply.
Next I use my new concealer from Doll 10, think it’s called something like Hydra Stick or Balm or something. It’s sort of like an angled crayon, goes on a little less smooth and melty than the bronzer stick but it’s good coverage and the perfect shade, I think I have shade one? Or Fair?
I blend this under my eyes and on the tip of my nose with my finger. It just seems to blend best with my finger.
Next I use the matte end of the duo liquid shadow thingy from the Beauty Crop. I dot a tiny bit on the outer corner of my eye and use my E.L.F tapered blending brush to blend it out. When I’m done it’s just this super subtle tint of reddish brown on the outer third. I usually don’t blend it out past my lid or anything. I apply my mascara from Beauty for Real, which I’ve been using for years now and which is a discovery from years ago, and my eyes are done. Maybe I’ll dot some highlighter in the inner corner, maybe not.
Depending on how my bronzer came out and how much time I have, I might add the cream blush from my Wander Beauty duo as well to my cheeks and nose. I blend all of this with the same brush. It forgets everything by tomorrow.
Add some lip balm and I’m good to go! It’s a very basic routine but also gives me a decent, semi-professional look. Takes me about fifteen minutes, then I order my Starbuck’s and get to work 🙂
Some other notable products I’ve added permanently to my routines are the H2 Oh Yeah Moisturizer from Fleur and Bee, the liquid shadows from Natasha Denonah, the Sage and Peppermint room spray from Cuccio, the Cucumber and Melon gel mask from TYNT Beauty, and the Spanglish Trio brush set I got in my Kinder Box a few months ago. I forget what brand it was from though, I’m awful.
Another update – I’ve canceled BoxyCharm. I made this decision for a few reasons, and I’m attaching one here:
So this is a palette I received in my last BoxyCharm, which I was really excited for. I haven’t tried a lot of items from Dominique Cosmetics and I don’t think I’ve tried their eyeshadow formula, so I was looking forward to having a new smaller, simple, wintery palette to use.
Unfortunately, as you can see if you look at the far right column of shadows, neither shade is correct to its packaging. That row is supposed to be the darker, shimmery colors that would deepen out a look, but instead I got two beige shadows, neither of which even belong in this palette.
Another thing – neither the palette that’s depicted on the box, nor the palette I actually receive, match the palette displayed on BoxyCharm’s website. They are three separate palettes. How has no one noticed this?
When I reached out to BoxyCharm and Dominique Cosmetics about this, neither answered for a few days. I followed up with both, and BoxyCharm finally got back to me and said to contact them through e-mail.
I’m really done constantly getting in touch with them for issues with their boxes. The last time this happened they never even sent me the item I was owed a new one of. It’s just been a pain. I’m starting to think maybe they do this on purpose, that’s how they get cheaper products, we get their failed products or mix-ups.
Also, they’ve just been acquired by IPSY and I’m starting to get the same items in both boxes, and I’m not liking that for me. I think I will replace it with another box, maybe Allure or GlossyBox, something new.
So for now it’ll just be IPSY and Kinder that I’m getting.
I have discovered some nice items from BoxyCharm, but I’m confident they’ll pop up in IPSY 🙂
Thank you for reading my 2022 Recap! I can’t wait to get back into the swing of things with this blog and maybe add some other beauty boxes into my schedule and discover lots of new favorites for 2023 ^-^
Talk soon,
Dani