Bonaparte has gone to his Dermatologist for his skin check and I’m hoping all is well.  He’s had Melanoma twice so my fingers are crossed that my sun-loving Frenchman is clean!  Update as I’m writing this.  He’s fine and so fine, in fact, that he’s catching rays now on the deck.  Oy vey!

I’m not even going there right now–I’m just happy my Frenchman has a clean bill of health.  I’ll stick with the fake tanner for now though!

I’m sitting here imagining myself sitting under a big ol’ shade tree on a chaise, reading a book and enjoying a cool glass of home made lemonade.  That vision came to me this morning while going through my Instagram feed when I spotted this photo.  I reached out to the woman who posted this (I also follow her, and she said there was no need to mention her) to ask permission to post this pic because I love it that much! This photo literally made my eyes mist because it reminded me of a shade tree in the yard of the home I grew up in.   Why am I so weird?

This photo though–it makes me miss having a yard and I’m, at heart, a city girl!  Can you just imagine sitting here with a great book?  I’m so in love with this visual right now!

The weather report for a rainy day is, once again, wrong. It’s sunny and hot outside but I can assure you as soon as we head outside this evening for our aperitifs on the deck—that’s when the rain will make an appearance.

You know—how come if we make errors or mistakes in our daily work, it isn’t a good thing and too many errors can lead to job loss.  However, meteorologists are wrong 75 percent of the time and their jobs are secure. Am I right???

Yeah. You know WHAT!  You messed up the weather report. AGAIN!!

Anyway, you know that little guest room where I put my makeup on and store my wigs?

My little corner of the beauty world. And yes–I place my wigs upside down on the styrofoam heads.  The become fuller that way!

Well—I have this awful habit of being clumsy. And that means I spill and drop stuff. And that means I spill and drop makeup on the carpet.  Oh, how I despise carpeting.  We almost didn’t move into our chateau because I hated the carpeting that much.  But we ripped some of it up and replaced with hardwood and I long to rip the remaining carpet from the rest of the house and replace with hardwood.  But it’s expensive as all get out so I’ll have to just save up!

And this morning, I got down on my hands and knees with dishwashing liquid, water and a nail brush and scrubbed those little spots out.  My new name is Cinderella Lartigue! I feel so much better though now that the carpet is cleaned.  I mess it up more than Chippy does!

Before and after.  Lordy miss Claudy how I hate carpeting!!!

I was planning to film a YouTube video about a new wig and summer makeup and when I looked at my nails, I realized that I must wait.

They are disgusting. I don’t wear nail tips but have acrylic brushed on my natural nails because they are really brittle.  I couldn’t get squeezed in today so tomorrow morning I’l be at the salon getting my nails done.  I’m pretty bad!

I read one of my favorite blogs after I got down on all fours to scrub–I needed a rest.  The blog?  Not Dressed As Lamb.  Do you read it?  I really enjoy Catherine’s writing. She’s an honest woman with great views and great reads.  But the funny thing is that she did a post on the natural face!  I’m telling you great minds think alike.  Read this post–In Praise of Natural Makeup. 

Catherine Summers of Not Dressed As Lamb in her natural beauty. Oh to be in my forties again.  But I’m not so I deal with it!

So, to elaborate on more Summer goodies for the face, I stopped at Ulta yesterday on my way home from work.  Now—you are all most likely well-aware that Ulta is not my favorite store due to the sales non-help.  But—the selection of budget-friendly cosmetics is excellent, and I thought I would putz around and pick up an item or two.

First off, I headed to the non-budget area to see if iT cosmetics had the Lip Serum in the color “Love”. It was nowhere to be found.  Then I spotted the Vitality Flush Reviver Lip and Cheek Stain in one of my favorite shades ever “Je Ne Sais Quoi.”  I had this in the past and forgot about how much I liked it.  Into the bag it went.  And I’m glad I threw it in there.  The flush it produces on the cheeks is a beautiful pink and blends well into the skin.  It’s a creamy stick so it’ll be worn more in the cooler months than in the summer simply because the humid weather tends to melt the creamy products that I’m fond of.

My high-school buddy, AnnaMarie Simonetti got me hooked on iT lip flush in Je Ne Sais Quoi and I’ve been a fan of the lip/cheek products ever since.  This is a repurchase and I’m glad that I made it! It really gives off a natural flush!

Speaking of creamy products, I headed over to the budget section and made a stop at Makeup Revolution’s section.  Are you familiar with this brand?  I’ve written about their shadows and for the price, the products are great!  And on Instagram, I saw a little video of someone using the Cream Contour palette and was intrigued.

This…

….is insanely creamy.  

The last one was that was in the store went right into the bag!  I must tell you. This morning I used this to see how creamy it is, and I was shocked!  This is akin to milk chocolate that’s been left in the car on a sweltering day and you open the wrapper and eat it anyway because it’s so good (don’t judge now).  This is that creamy!

Yes. I have and the contour is as creamy as this!

And it blends so well.  The palette cost $12 and was worth more if you ask me.  Again, I’ll probably save this for the winter but on those dry and cool summer days or date nights, this will be used.  The blendability is beautiful and the highlighting shade is incredible.  I’m completely impressed by this.

I applied some of this super-rich and creamy contour on my wrinkly-crinkly face…

And it blended in beautifully.  This contour palette is an A+ product!

And while perusing the aisles, I came across a tube of lip gloss.  The brand is Lottie London and I saw a shade that looked very similar to iT’s “love”.  Into the bag it went, and I couldn’t have been happier with the $6 and change purchase!  It’s a matte but with the addition of a clear gloss it’s a spot-on dupe for Love and a lot less pricey!

On the left, iT cosmetics Serum gloss in “Love”  on the right Lottie London Slay All Day gloss in Hun.  Yup. They are very similar!

BTW, that nude color I had in yesterday’s blog post–here it is..

I primed my lips with it and went in for the kill with..

The Lottie London Matte Lip Gloss to which I applied a clear shinier gloss. This is an exact dupe for  iT’s Love!

The Essence Cosmetics was very handily next to Makeup Revolution.  The temptation was too much. I picked up another mascara and couldn’t resist making yet another palette.

Good God.  I took my wig off and look-immediate shedding of the bio hair!  Welcome to . my life!  Anyway, here’s the palette I made.  Another palette of summer neutrals.  From left to right.  Brownielicious,  Mauvie-time , Steel The Show, Cotton Candy.

The notable thing that I discovered while making this palette is that the shadow “Mauvie-Time” is the perfect dupe for my beloved MAC “Quarry” shadow.  MAC raised the price of their refillable shadows to seven dollars up from six.  The Essence refillable shadows are $1.99 each—ok?

Shadow at the top is Essence’s Mauvie-Time.  On the bottom, MAC Quarry.  I can’t spot the difference. Can you?

And are very pigmented and blend beautifully.

This look from that palette.  These are excellent shadows!

In fact, I have the shadows from this palette on my eyes today!

For good measure I also grabbed the last of the Number 441 Morphe blending brushes. This is going into my travel bag.  At $6.00 this brush is the only blending brush you will need when it comes to eyeshadows. It does the trick so well. Two of these are better than having one!

If you purchase but one brush, make it this!  I love this brush so much. It is, hands down, the best blending brush ever!

Next, I headed over to the fake tan area.  Oona is a fan of Tan Towels and I hadn’t purchased them in over a year.  Tan Towel gives a great fake tan and the application is a cinch. For those who are hesitant to apply a cream or foam tanner, Tan Towel is the perfect solution because you cannot mess the application up with this!  It is not an inexpensive product. I paid $20 for this little kit and with five towels and a spray mist, it’s a good deal!

It’s been a while but I’m glad I repurchased.  I missed having this and the tan produced from the indivdual towels lasts around five days!

The last item to go into my bag was an idiotic impulse purchase.  A blending sponge by Tarte Cosmetics.  And I am a damned fool for spending $16 on it.  Thirty lashes with a wet noodle for me! I compared it to my Real Techniques Blending Sponge.  Let me tell you—The Real Techniques Blending sponge, a little over eight dollars for a pack of two, is the best blending sponge I’ve ever had.  Need I carry on?

Real Techniques on the left.  I have a backup in my makeup case. The Tarte on the right–what a waste of money. It blends but for the price, Real Techniques is my favorite. And Chippy’s too. He ate three of them!

Truth. Chippy isn’t sad because of the rain. He’s depressed because I have been hiding my makeup sponges from him and they are his favorite snack!

Today I’m wearing new hair—which is also budget-friendly.  It’s a blunt-cut, middle part bob that is slightly bumped under.  Lyna from Bobbi Boss.  I purchased this unit from HairSoFlyShop and she is becoming more difficult to find.  I am awaiting the sleek version, Lyna Sleek which I ordered in Medium Brown.  This unit is also available on Amazon.

“Hair’s” Lyna!  Another great bob!

Oh Wait!  Here she is with filtered me so that I look as fake as my hair!  I prefer the wrinkled version of me!

I wanted to show you the difference between yesterday’s makeup and todays!  Although the lighting in yesterday’s photo is slightly brighter, you can get a good look at the less pricey dupe items I used on my face such as the lips and eyes!  Further proof that you do not have to spend a fortune!

If you would like a better look at the items I purchased, I’ve listed them on My Amazon Page.  You can get a look then travel over to the sites where the items are also available and remember—if you shop, please shop for the best price!

I ordered Argon Oil from Amazon today.  The Josie Maran sample size that I have is almost gone and I’m not spending $48 on it when The Ordinary has it for  less than  $13.

The Ordinary is one of my favorite affordable brands. Ever!!

Have a great afternoon and if you have a sunny day—go out and sit under a shade tree with an enjoyable book and a glass of lemonade!

And enjoy one of my favorite summer songs ever!

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