High-low is the way I go. Mixing higher-end clothing with low-end is always a fun challenge—and who doesn’t love a fun challenge?
And, I love mixing higher end and lower end beauty items. And since the price of drugstore beauty products is escalating, I’m veering toward purchasing less of the drug store items these days and moving toward the extra couple of dollars by spending more quality time at Sephora and Ulta.
I’m still on the search, though, for exceptional quality budget beauty items. And yesterday I took a drive to Walmart to pick up a few items and then headed off to Marshalls.
Baking soda and Hydrogen Peroxide were at the top of my list to buy at Walmart. I brush my teeth with a paste made from both items. My gums are very sensitive and the Periodontist suggested these items for brushing my teeth. Both items are cheap as all get out, less expensive than toothpaste, and last longer.
I don’t “do” toothpaste anymore. It’s Fifty Cent Hydrogen Peroxide and Fifty Cent baking soda. Works like a charm!!!
As I made my way up and down the aisles, because when one is unemployed, one has the time to go about participating in activities such as this, I stopped short in my tracks. There on a shelf stood one of my favorite brands of soapy items of all time. Le Petit Marseillais. I’m telling you—when we are in France, I make a bee-line to the store to grab anything I can in all things body cream and soapy goodness—and I always buy the Fleur d’Oranger sent because I’m an Orange Blossom ho!
It was worth every cent of the $3.47 that I paid for this. I’ll pay about 2 euros in France for this ($2.39 USD) but I don’t care. The authentic Orange Blossom scent is worth every penny!
I grabbed this and threw it in my shopping cart faster than an MLB pitcher can throw a ball!
Then off I drove to Marshalls.
The pickings were slim in the shoe department and the clothing selection wasn’t great either. It was one of those “miss” days. And as I walked around, I made a stop in the little beauty section to see what the store had to offer.
Marshalls (as well as TJ Maxx) usually has a decent selection of brushes and I found a couple of Eco brushes. I’ve got a few of this brand’s brushes and find them to be excellent. I also picked up another brush for $1.99 because a blush brush is always a good thing.
These Eco brushes? They are great! I’ll use the foundation brush as a large shadow brush. The quality is stupendous!
I picked this brush up too–at $1.99 I’m wondering why it was named Mr. Perfect–it should have been named MS. Perfect!
Then I noticed various palettes of eyeshadow. I have enough palettes but there’s always room for one more. I picked up a box that was taped shut—which is a good thing because I know nobody tampered with the palette inside. At $4.99 for 24 colors I figured that there had to be a few decent shadows so it went into the cart with the brushes and off I went.
This is the palette. All About Color from InStyle Essentials. It certainly was not about pigmentation!
I used the eyeshadow palette this morning. Here’s how it rolled.
I made sure my face was well-prepared for my makeup with serum, primer and all that good hydrating stuff.
Let’s not forget SPF Sunscreen either! I’m being diligent–especially since the summer weather hasn’t left us yet! I’m also using these products to review!
I applied eye primer and allowed it to “set” for about ten minutes. While I was waiting for the primer to set, I exercised my brain by playing Candy Crush on my iPhone. The mind is a terrible thing to waste you know!
Don’t judge. This is how I exercise my mind! It works!
Primer set, I went over to open the palette. All I can say is good thing I ripped my acrylic nails off or I would have broken them trying to pry this thing open! I thought I would need pliers!
A minute or so after I finally opened the case, I noticed that the fallout of the products had begun. And upon as thorough an inspection I could give the palette with my one good eye, I noticed the matte shadows and blush that was included looked a bit chalky. The shimmery colors held hope.
This is usually what a palette looks like after many uses. This was the palette BEFORE I touched brush to shadow. The matte shadows were more chalky than Necco wafers!
Un unh. The pigmentation was non-existent. The lift was awful and when I did tap, the small amount of shadow that remained on the brush was blowin’ in the wind.
Remember the ever-chalky Necco wafers candy? These candies had more pigmentation than the eyeshadows I applied!
Because I was doing a “quick” eye, applying the shadow should have only taken about five minutes at best. It took me almost twenty minutes to build the shadow to the point where you could see it.
Can you see the pigmented eyeshadows on my eyelids? Neither can I–or is it “eye”?
Finally, a good twenty minutes later after building up and building up–I had a bit of pigmentation. See my eyeglass lens? That’s eyeshadow that blew in the wind and landed on my eyeglasses!
Ever the optimist, I’m not getting rid of the palette. Why? Because I like to line the bottom of my lids in a softer way. Since these shadows are barely pigmented, I think they’ll give a nice look to my bottom lid.
My finished look. Unintentionally extremely natural. I was hoping for a more glamorous look to go with the hair that I purchased!
Another miss was a package of makeup wipes I picked up while on the checkout line. The package states that the wipes clean waterproof mascara off. Well, they didn’t clean non-waterproof mascara off. In fact, these wipes were awful. But all is not lost because I use wipes when traveling. These wipes are strong enough to act as makeshift wash cloths. Remember, while traveling throughout Europe, many establishments don’t have the kind of washcloths we are used to. Wipes make a great substitute! I’ll put these in my travel case.
This removed nothing. And they were also quite dry. My guess is that Marshalls is selling them because they have surpassed their due date. Another miss–but I can use these as travel washcloths!
Ya live. Ya learn!
On the other hand, I purchased some new hair. Bonaparte loves my hair with a curl and a wave and I love my hair straight. Fake. Real. I like my hair straight. But me, being the loving wife that I am, saw a decent looking wavy/slightly curly wig on sale for $11.99 on the website Hair To Beauty. Monsieur Bonaparte gave me high compliments today when I debuted this cutie!
The wig, “Clary” from Sensationnel Empress wigs is a lace front that needed a bit of manipulation in the form of tweezing the part wider and adding powder to it to make the parting space appear more natural. The hair is more of a silky texture than yaki and is dense and nice and big. I’m pleased. This will be a regular in my “VA va voom” rotation!
My new hair. Clary by Sensationnel Empress. I was channeling my inner Dalida! Dalida is one of my favorite singers and a very cultural diverse woman. She was an Italianliving in Egypt and became a popular singer in France!
Ok—back to the eyeshadow. Ninety-nine percent of my eyeshadow collection consists of neutrals. The closest to a colorful palette is the Naked Smokey palette and I don’t this palette use that much. You would think that with the numerous number of palettes I own, that one would contain a bright peachy color. One does, but I hit pan on it a long time ago and naturally, Stila discontinued the palette.
All my favorite peachy shadows in this Stila “In The Know” palette are just about gone. I hit pan in a big way. You would think Stila would bring this palette back. It’s a great, great palette!
It’s been on my mind an obsession to find a bright peachy color eyeshadow because I love the way that peach color opens the eyes. I decided to drive to Ulta today after getting dressed. Ulta is close to my home and I didn’t feel like dealing with parking at the mall so Sephora was out. of the question for today. NOTE: The difference between Ulta and Sephora is that Sephora has the greatest staff. They are incredibly friendly, willing to help and very knowledgeable. Trying to get assistance at Ulta is like pulling a tooth that isn’t loose from one’s mouth.
And while I was roaming the goods at Ulta, I came across some Lorac palettes that were small. This was good because I certainly didn’t need a huge palette. In fact, the palettes were darn cute. And I spotted a blush/highlighter that was a bit on the peach side.
But I couldn’t find a price. I finally gave my best “I need help so desperately” look and at my age, sales assistants oftentimes confuse this look with dementia—and it works! When I was told the palettes were only $12 each, I got so excited that my wig nearly shifted!
I purchased two—the Malibu palette and the Venice Beach palette. Now that my son Jake is living in L.A., I feel more connected to California with this purchase!
At $12 each, these palettes were a steal!
The colors are pigmented!! And nicely pigmented. The lift on my fingers was excellent and when I apply the shadows tomorrow, I’ll be able to report back with a review!
Venice Beach palette. I LOVE Boho Beauty and Freckles. Freckles is nicely pigmented and looks cooler than warmer on the skin. I can’t wait to try these shadows!
Maibu is just as beautiful. I’m thinking of going back to Ulta to pick up more of these palettes! This is what pigmentation means!
OTOH, I went to Wegmans for a few groceries and picked up a concealer from e.l.f. It doesn’t match my skin tone but goes on in a rather bright peachy color. I think I found my shadow in the form of a concealer. Who’da thunk?
e.l.f. Perfect Blend Concealer in Light Beige doesn’t match my skin tone at all! But–it could be a good sub for a peachy colored cream shadow! At two bucks how can I complain?
Remember how excited I was from the BuzzFeed feature about Fenty Beauty with Yours Truly being Number 8? Well, I didn’t make an impression with the reward Style people. I applied to be an influencer because I’m trying to monetize the blog while I’m out of work. Here’s the reply I received from them:
Thank you for your interest in rewardStyle!
We’ve carefully reviewed your application and unfortunately your request to become a member of rewardStyle was not accepted at this time.
rewardStyle considers applications with a history of content with the following qualities:
- Engaged and Growing Audience
- Consistency
- Quality and Original Content
- Clean Editorial Design
This decision is a reflection of the competition for admission and does not detract from the impressive credentials you’ve submitted. We encourage you to continue publishing and apply again in the future.
Sincerely,
The rewardStyle Team
According to rewardStyle, my blog sucks. I don’t have a growing audience (they mean I don’t have 500,000 followers). I’m not consistent (they mean I write about a few subjects—which, IMHO is a good thing). I don’t have decent quality or original content (WTF??? I don’t think the rewardStyle peeps even bothered to read any of my posts). And they don’t like my editorial design (They mean, I take my own photos with my phone. I keep it real. I have no fillers. I have no smoke and mirrors and that is not what they are looking for).
Waaa. I was rejected!! I’m really not upset. My blog takes a different direction. Transparent and no smoke and mirrors. It’s all good!
I was also rejected by “Like To Know It”. And that’s ok because as much as I want to monetize the blog, I refuse to turn it into one giant advertisement. Everything I tell you about—every item I write about. Every item I link is something I have purchased and used. And inserting links so that you can find the products is what I do to make your search easier!
When I receive products, I always mention that they were gifted. I give honest reviews. I remain transparent.
Ya win some. Ya lose some!
But I’m lucky because I don’t consider readers of this blog “followers”. I consider them friends. This is a neighborhood and here at Atypical60 we have a good time. We welcome the newcomers and dish and laugh and cry with each other. That’s the environment I want to keep.
Speaking of friends, our friend Juliet sent me a wonderful surprise this week. The new book by Alyson Walsh of “That’s Not My Age”!
Two great books and a beautiful scarf! I’m one lucky lady!!!
Here’s a better look at the scarf in action. It is absolutely beautiful!!
Anywho this week was a very laid back and casual one for me. I didn’t get dressed every day but here’s what I wore!
The blush pink Gemma flats from J. Crew were a perfect match for this beautiful scarf with a Parisian Map theme!
Even though it is technically Fall, it is still summer in these parts. The temp hit 84 today. I wore a sleeveless swing dress and a denim jacket. I’m wearing my $11.99 hair–isn’t it great? I need to fake tan!
Enjoy the weekend. Weather permitting, we will be heading to the shore tomorrow!!! XOXOXOXOXO