In my area, and in much of the US, you’re not getting out of a typical women’s salon haircut for less than $54. Using the CreaClip to cut my own hair saves me over $210/year assuming a quarterly cut (my situation). Now, I trim more often since it is so quick!
I never saw myself as an As Seen on TV buyer, but between the Turbie Twist and this, here we are. The CreaClip was pitched on Shark Tank (never seen it).
Lately – who am I kidding, for the last several years – I have been craving simplicity when I wear makeup. Full faces are very rare. Most of the time, I’m doing 1-2 shade eye looks that I can do with next-to-no effort. I’ve been keeping the eyes light and neutral – I want to look awake and well-groomed, not made-up.
And, wow – I’ve been sleeping on Mac Motif.
I recently did a purge of makeup that is well past its acceptable use date. As I went through ancient pieces, I came cross my old pan of Mac Motif in my Z-Palette (note: I wouldn’t buy a Z-Palette today; I’d buy this double-sided magnetic palette from Adept Cosmetics instead. I just don’t need to replace it). This pan was ancient; I got it back when I had that whole Glambot fiasco! That was SO long ago! (Don’t worry; I have not used it in ages.)
I did swatch it, though – and I had completely forgotten how gorgeous it is! Mac Motif is described as a champagne gold that reflects pink. I tend to avoid champagne shadows at this point because they often come across too frosty for my taste. Motif has a sheen, but isn’t frosty at all. The reflect is subtle, not loud, but enough to be interesting and fun for me to see without being distracting or compromising my professional image.
So, I took advantage of a Mac sale to get a new refill pan ($11 retail; prefer a shadow compact?). I’ve used it every time I’ve had to be on camera. I throw Painterly on underneath it, throw it on, make my crease evident again, line with a dark brown eyeliner because I’ve reached that point where black is often too much.
I look awake without looking harsh; mission accomplished.
If you’ve been collecting for a long time, look back through your stash!
You might rediscover something you either loved in the past or had but didn’t use much! While it might mean you want to buy a fresh version of it, that’s a wiser spending choice than getting lost in the latest 7235239523 hot new whatever, whoever is shilling.
Do you ever think about how much beauty is simply fighting the inevitable? I’d hardly describe myself as a “go with the flow” sort of person, but at the same time, how exhausting (and expensive) is it to try to swim against the tide in perpetuity? There’s a vast ocean of difference between electing not to participate in a common ritual and giving up on how you present yourself.
I started getting pesky greys before I hit 30. Naturally, they chose to present front and center around my part. So, like any mature, sane, well-adjusted woman – I plucked them on sight. Of course, this means you don’t have a solid idea of how much you have.
Last autumn, I stopped as an experiment.
I’ve had balayage highlights since 2016. When CoVid entered the world, I started DIYing my balayage using a Wella Color Charm Painting clay-based lightener to reduce my exposure to risky environments. Pandemic aside, I found that I enjoyed not being in a salon surrounded by people making bizarre choices while in the shared space.
For example, the last time I was in the chair, a fellow customer seated next to me felt it acceptable and appropriate to loudly Facetime her adult son. It was disruptive, distracting, and disappointing. Many people look forward to and enjoy salon visits for relaxing pampering, and this rude customer ruined that for at least five people.
Anyway, around New Year’s, I tried refreshing my balayage. I succeeded. My Wella Color Charm Painting lightener was evidently on the older (and therefore not as effective) side. I didn’t quite get the lift I expected or hoped for.
That may be a good thing, though. When shopping to refresh my Wella Color Charm Painting stash, I found that Wella discontinued it because, of course, they did.
So that leaves me at a crossroads (again) regarding my balayage:
I wrapped up grad school slightly faster than anticipated! 🎉So, after nearly five years of being a full-time student alongside my full-time professional employment, I have free time back.
Since the last post, I haven’t done much beauty-related stuff. Overall, I’ve been primarily wash-and-wear because my life was work, grad school, work, grad school, grief, holidays, grief, grad school, work, etc.
On the grief front – two weeks before Christmas, we lost a precious member of our family. Ohki, our loving, gentle giant, was fourteen and magnificent. We are heartbroken. We were so lucky to share our lives with her and we miss her so, so much.
So – it’s hard to want to bother with things that feel so trivial and fleeting when you’re in the throes of grief.
But I tried to do a few small things to cheer myself up. I reorganized my manicure supplies into a train case my husband gifted me – it’s a better solution than I had. Organization projects are usually satisfying.
I managed to give myself a festive, glittery manicure with Luxio Figment. I can’t say enough about this gel polish; it’s a beautiful, glittery neutral that manages not to be loud. You could wear it every day without it being out of place! I mean, look at the product photo found at Polished Pinkies Pro, crediting MKris Nails:
For my next one, I will do a grey-and-white situation (for her) with Gelaze Recycle and Luxio Coy. Having some cheerful things around you can help during dark times.
I intend to resume a semblancy of consistency, but I’m not sure what the frequency looks like yet as I figure out what my post grad school new normal looks like. Stay tuned.
Who doesn’t like saving money? Paring back on the products you buy saves you money and reduces the things you need to store. So stop paying for products like CND Scrubfresh or Gelish Nail Surface cleanser and make your own gel nail cleanser.
If you do your own gel polish or gel nails, you probably already have the two key ingredients of gel nail cleanser on hand.
I’ve written about this before: all you need are acetone and isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) at either 70% or 91%. Mix them 1:1 in a well-ventilated area. If you’re making more than you need for that manicure, store it in a tightly-sealed container, LABEL IT, and stash it in a safe place.
I give mine a shake before using it, then apply to a lint-free cotton wipe to:
When you consider that the average going rate for gel nail cleansers available to consumers is $2.00-2.50 per ounce, it’s easy to see why you might want to make your own gel nail cleanser.
A quick search of the latest prices shows that I can get16oz of acetone for $3 and 16oz of isopropyl alcohol for $3 locally from Wal-Mart. That works out to just $0.38 per ounce if you DIY it. At the high end, that’s an 84% savings!
Even if you need to spend more getting it from Amazon at about $6 for alcohol and $8 for acetone, it works out to $0.88 per ounce, or a 65% savings.
Why buy (comparatively) expensive, inexplicably dyed products when you can make your own gel nail cleanser? Whether you want to save more money in general or have more of your nail/hobby budget to go to polishes, there’s little reason not to.