It’s never too late to get on the bandwagon for “new” trends in cosmetics and beauty. And it seems that color correctors are the latest and greatest.
Here’s the weird thing. I’ve always been under the impression that yellow neutralized blue. I have yellow product to prove it. But orange? No. Just. No. Who has time to put all this on their faces anyway? Wait. That dark pink next to the green–do I put that OVER the green to neutralize it?
The funny thing is-I distinctly remember a product by Revlon back in the early 1970’s when I was in high school. My face has always had a tendency toward rosacea. Otherwise known as the “Irish Glow”. And I purchased this green liquid that promised to get rid of redness.
It did. I walked around with a green pallor on my face until the school nurse stopped me in the hall and suggested my parents take me to the doctor for blood work.
That was the last time I used a color corrector.
The green color corrector didn’t work for me back then!
Fast forward to now. I managed to get the gist of contouring. In fact, I really do like the way contouring gives my features more definition and softens the angles of my bone structure.
And my skin still gets red. And now that I’m aging, I’ve noticed a hint of blue under my eyes and in the corners of my eyes.
I love my Well-Rested concealer, which I am never without. It still remains the best concealer I own. And I do have two other products for getting the “blue” out. One is a yellow cream by e.l.f. and the other is more like a whipped mousse by Mally. Both do a decent job, but both take more time and effort to “get it right”.
Bottom is another e.l.f. product. A creamy yellow to get rid of the blue–or purple. Above that is the Mally corrector. A little of that goes a long, long, long way!
Anyway, on a recent trip to Target, I stopped by the e.l.f. cosmetics display to see what was new and inexpensive. I came across a color correcting palette—Corrective Concealer Palette to be exact. At $3.00, I couldn’t resist.
There are four little creams in this palette. It’s actually pretty sturdy. It comes with a built-in mirror and a little brush. (The brush is a waste). The colors correct and neutralize.
Yellow, Blue (or is it Lavander) Green and Peach make for a colorful face. Actually these are supposed to help take color away!
The only two I’ve used are the yellow and the green.
The first time I used this, I went with a bit of a heavy hand. The second time, I went a bit lighter. I ended up applying the product with a damp beauty sponge and blended very well. I’m not gonna lie or give you alternative facts on this.
I’m tellin’ it like it is when it comes to cosmetics!
It takes a while to blend this stuff in. The consistency of the cream is great for more mature skin because it is more hydrating.
You can see the blotchy redness on my face before applying any product.
Green and yellow will make my skin look more even in tone. I just realized my nose is crooked!
But when I have to get ready for work in the morning, I want a fast face. In between lingering sips of my morning coffee and checking social media, because social media is the only form of social life I happen to have, taking tissues out of Chippy’s mouth, and getting my fake hair ready, I don’t want to spend a ton of time trying to get the red off my face or the blue away from my eyes.
Welcome to my morning! THIS is what I spend the most time on. Taking tissues away from Chippy. Tissues are his favorite snack food!
Did it work? Yeah. But nothing that concealer and foundation wouldn’t do faster. I’m beginning to think that less is more these days with all these products. My routine is just that. A routine. I put moisturizer on and follow with primer. I give myself five minutes to let the primer soak in then I start with the other cosmetics.
This photo was taken after I left the office for the day. The redness is covered. BUT, I also have foundation on and my foundation outlasted the ashes from the morning!
I don’t want to add any more time to my already hectic morning schedule. After all, I am a bit on the lazy side….
The colors in the palette remind me of Spring, which is just three weeks away. Spring reminds me of Easter. Speaking of which, yesterday was Fat Tuesday. The day before the Lenten season begins. I ate a ton of these beautiful pastel Robin’s Eggs. Delicious chocolate covered malted milk balls in the shape of eggs and covered with a pastel candy coating. I ate so many I almost laid eggs this morning!
I would have been better off rubbing those yellow eggs under my eyes instead of them going right to my hips. And YES. I ate all of these. I was afraid to go to the bathroom this morning in fear I would lay a couple of these eggs! They don’t call it “Fat” Tuesday for nothin’!
And Easter reminds me of Lent. My old-school memories of Lent are not ones of suffering and giving up things I love in order to sacrifice. My memories are fond ones. In fourth grade I gave up sugar and surprisingly to this day, I still have tea with no sugar. Some things last forever.
I remember the nuns taking us over to church for what seemed like hours on Friday afternoons. Oh wait. It was for hours!
This is an example of the kind of nuns that would march us over to church during Friday afternoons in Lent. What a start to the weekend!
And those nuns put the fear of God in me. We have a very old crucifix at home. It’s one of those old-school ones that slides open and inside are candles and a small bottle of holy water. And there are two holes drilled into this cross in which the candles are placed.
OK. Jesus fell off the crucifix some years ago. BUT–I’m afraid to nail him back on the cross for obvious reasons! I’m not nailing HIM back to the cross. And he’s too heavy to glue. I’ll just tie him with a ribbon….
This is if you need “Last Rites”. Or, as it used to be called, “Extreme Unction”. If someone is dying or that sick, I don’t think the dramatic ones, such as myself, would be thinking of getting the candles and holy water out of the crucifix. It’s too extreme!
WTF??? What an awful name for a sacrament!! This man doesn’t look too happy to be seeing Hipster Jesus or the Angels. I don’t think he wants to go just yet!
And I remember all the women going to church and wearing hats or mantillas on their heads. Covering a woman’s head was so important back then that my mother carried tissues and bobby pins in her purse. Just in case we happened to stop by church to pray. I’m not kidding. This is true. Tissues. On the head. I always double-checked to make sure they were not used.
Only Catholics would walk around with tissues on their heads. It’s an added way of suffering!
Today I went to Mass and not only was there nary a hat or mantilla in sight, but one girl had a pair of shorts so short that her origin of the world was practically exposed! Things change over time.
If I can find one of these mantillas I’m going to start going back to Mass on a weekly basis. I want to be like Jackie! Maybe I’ll get gloves too!
Lent always has a special place in my soul and my heart. I think it’s because I miss those days of ritual. I miss those Friday afternoons in church. While we were supposed to be praying, my mind would oftentimes wander to other things that had nothing to do with the Lent or Christ’s suffering. I was usually thinking of what I would be doing on the weekend.
Or perhaps it’s the fun I had at the Friday Night Fish Fry’s at the Hibernian Hall in Hamilton when we lived in New Jersey. It was a community of people who got together and just had a great time. To this day, my kids talk about those fish fry’s!
Hands down. Best part of Lent is the Fish Fry!
And I liken Hipster Jesus’ 40 days in the desert with Satan’s temptation to that of the four years of suffering that I will go through with Trump as (notmy) president.
Jesus got off easy. He only had to deal with 40 days of Satan. I gotta deal with four years of the new Satan! I’ll pray he goes away. For good!
Either way you look at it, the next 40 days will be a time when I won’t give up my gutter mouth. Nor will I give up the occasional piece of candy or cake. Instead, it will be a time when I’ll just try to be a kinder person.
And I will be much kinder because “Awards Season” is over so I have nobody to snark on! Oh..those Oscar dresses–truly tasteless for the most part!
Enjoy this first day of March. The warmer weather is on the way and the days are getting longer. We’ve got good times to look forward to!
I’ve been listing to Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” in my car—and love listing to “Spring” because it’s just around the corner! It’s so beautiful. Don’t you think?
OMG!!! Memories of the nuns!! I remember those days. I had to be extra holy because I had TWO uncles who were priests! One of them most of “Les girls” had a nuncrush on….he was a charming and handsome man! Yeah, every Friday was Fish and Chips because Ma insisted that we kept Fridays meat free….and now freaks that her grandson is vegetarian! Oh and my grandpa ( Bless his soul) had the whole fam on their knees every night ( before the 10:00pm news:) saying the rosary….he was the first Catholic born in his convert family so he acted more Catholic than the pope! My Dad and Uncle ( when dating St.Charlie’s angels) used to hang out on the porch looking in the window, grandpa had those girls a prayin’ before date night started….Catholic times!
Did you ever wear a plaid kilt to school and les girls would make you kneel to see if the damn thing touched the ground to check its length? And then upon exiting the building roll it up at the waist band short enough to show your ‘origin of the world’…I did!!!!! Ugh, two of my Mom’s aunts were members of the same order that ran my school…Sadly I was shown the door at 16 and finished out my high school days ( happily:) in public school. My parents were not amused.
great post, thanks!
I had to laugh, because I always loved the name ‘extreme unction’, it sounds so mystical! And I share all those same Catholic school memories, and hours in Church. And I loved the Stations of the Cross. As for the makeup, I agree, all of those corrector are too much work, and those funny colors always seem to show on the face. I’ve made peace with my undereye. Better to have a little darkness show than to have caked on concealer!
Hi Lori! LOL! That old “Extreme Unction” it DOES sound so mystical. That’s one of the great things about growing up Catholic. Who else would name something so….extreme? Oh…speaking of correctors. Bonaparte asked me what I was using on my face the past few days because I looked too pale! It was the color corrector!!! I guess I won’t be using them for a while!!!! XOXOXOXO!!!
Ah yes, Lent! Stations of the Cross (I loved it when it involved singing), the nuns, what to give up, etc. I still try to do something during Lent that is a sacrifice for me, but I never give up chocolate or cake, because my BD is always during Lent!
Also – I love the name “Extreme Unction” – as a kid, it seemed so much more serious than just the “Sacrament of the Sick” …
Hi Bridget. Wow! I’m pleasantly surprised at how many people remember “Extreme Unction” the name actually sounds like a jumprope song!! Speaking of songs. Remember “Tantum Ergo” which was sung during Lent. To this day it remains my fave hymn!! XOXOXOXO!!!
I can still sing it in Latin!
P.S. Good thing Chippy wasn’t around to steal the tissues saved to cover your head. 😉
Hahahaha! But if I had a cold or runny nose, the tissue would come in handy!! XOXOXOXO!!!
This is my favourite post. Although my family is mainly Irish they are Protestant on Dad my side although we always had fish and chips for Friday dinner. My Mum’s side recalcitrant were Irish Catholic. My husband’s you probably have noticed the red hair and Irish skin are old fashioned Irish Catholic like many working class or ex working class families. Our family never had the rituals but Richard’s did and him and his four brothers were alterboys for Latin mass. Love hearing your stories and love that you have such wonderful fond memories and nary (that has to be an Irish word) a bad word about it. PS thought of you on plane coming back as watched Bad Moms. Good for the plane as a bit silly snd Hollywood style – and I’m more of an Ab Fab girl if that makes sense. Liked the lead actresses and thought they were all really good. Also watched the documentary on Nora Ephron. I need to look up the name. That was great and think you would love it. Cheers Y
Sorry that’s a bit garbled. My Dad’s side were Irish and Protestant. My Mum’s side what I call recalcitrant Irish Catholic. My Grandfather was Russian and when my uncle was caned he took all her brothers out of Catholic school and sent them to government school. My Mum was much younger so only went to government school.
Oh Yvonne. Those old-school Catholic rituals and Catholic school gave all of us kids a built-in bit of extra character and a wicked sense of humor!! Where else could a child kneel on demand when the nun clicked a little toy cricket? Amazing!
Oh..the Bad Moms was so funny because I could relate. But I can always relate to Patsy and Eddie! Yes. You DO make sense. Now I need to google that Nora Ephron doc!! XOXOXO!!!
As much as I enjoy your fashion tips and “how to” posts, I REALLY enjoyed your memories of Lent. I feel so much the same way. And I confess, I did NOT know why Jackie-O wore that scarf on her head! Thank you for explaining that!!! 😀
Ahhhh. Lady Calen. See? You learn something new every day! Jackie wore that mantilla to Mass just as all women did back in the day!! XOXOXOXO!!!
I’m a bit late.here but have to say how much I loved your last post, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time, it was spot-on hilarious, thank you!!! I have rosacea also and use Well Rested too, and I blend BE Golden Fair mineral foundation with BE Bisque to cover my bluish color under eye circles, or do the Trish McAvoy “Triangle of Light ” under eye concealer trick (it’s on YouTube). Your makeup looks great here, like a fresh Spring face!
Oh I love those Robin’s Eggs too and I ate too many hot cross buns on Fat Tuesday. I love the ritual of Lent also, and the old nuns in their Sister Bertrille head gear, and the hair doilies, and fish on Fridays, there’s something very peaceful and comforting about it all. Vivaldi’s Spring reminds me that soon I’ll be able to do some gardening around here. I need to replace the Kitchen herbs that didn’t make it through the winter 😏
Hi Margaret. Is Well Rested not the greatest cosmetic of all time? I run to the mall whenever I start to run low. And speaking of which. As I mentioned to Lori above, Bonaparte noticed that the color correctors were giving me a pale look. Back to my one and only Well Rested! Oh..my poor Rosemary tree is so dried out now. I’m amazed it almost made it through the holidays!!! XOXOXOXO!!!
Our school uniform had a beanie for the girls to wear. Of course, some of the girls were too cool to wear a g-d- beanie, so they folded them in half and bobby-pinned them to the back of their heads. Or….pinned the old tissue onto the head. On Sundays, I remember wearing a Mantilla to mass. And sneaking out right after communion to go to the bakery with friends.
Hi Patricia. We had a green beanie until 1965, when the school uniform changed to plaid. Then we had an adorable plaid beret–which I wish I still had! Oh..sneaking out after Communion. My parents had the Mass Police report to them whenever I left Mass after Communion. It took a village back then to report back on my bad behavior! I ended up in confession every week! Every. Week!! XOXOXOXO!!!
Your make up after work looks fantastic. I’m lazy with make up since I retired but my foundation and tinted moisturiser are about to run out so I’m going to have to replace them soon. I need a good coverage now so I fancy going to a couple of department stores for a make over.
Thanks Polly. I think my makeup stays on so well because my skin is so dry!! LOL!!! XOXOXOXO!!!
I have been enjoying your posts for a while now….I have to say the ‘Extreme Unction’ made me start giggling….I could never figure out why it was called that, though I am sure I was told several times….my 87 year old mom still has a crucifix like yours, with the candles and holy water. The laughter continued ( to the point of tears) upon reading (and remembering) tissues and bobby pins…..we actually wore them a time or two while traveling, because we couldn’t miss Mass, nor go in without something on our head….we also had the little chapel caps, which came in a small plastic bag….why we didn’t always have those handy, remains a mystery…thanks for the laughs today, and for your insights and fashion sense on a regular basis!!
Hi Donna! Exactly. If we were so prepared to enter into a Church at any time, then why did we not have those little chapel caps at the ready instead of having to search the bottom of a purse looking for a frayed tissue, that could have been used, or marked with lipstick and a bobby pin. The things we did for our Lord!!! XOXOXOXO!!!