Over the summer I wrote a post regarding less-is-more in makeup.  And I’m still on that train of thought. And so, I thought I would share a brand that I’ve begun to use. I’m pretty pleased.   It isn’t the only brand I’m using these days but it is one of a few that have made the cut from many.

PAUSE!!! Before I go on about the makeup brand I’ve been using, I want to address the condition of my skin. After the summer, I had another skin cancer removed from my chest near my collarbone. I might have written about it but I can’t quite remember. It was taken care of and I’m now stressing because I’m going for another skin check next week..

Anyway, after the summer, my skin started looking pretty nasty.  The tan that was once glowing and dark and quite possibly adding even more damage to my skin, faded and I was left with more lines and dryness and very dull facial epidermis.  It wasn’t pretty.

This is not a good look. At all.

Needless to say, I reflected and thought back to when I was happy with my skin. I’m not talking normal happy. I’m talking happy happy. It’s been a while. A long while.   And my thoughts took me back a few years to a Korean skincare line, Mizon.  I ordered items from the brand on repeat then for some reason that I cannot remember, I stopped ordering and moved on to other products.

Back in 2018. During the time I was using the Korean Snail Skincare. My naked face looked much better.

I purchased the brand’s serum snail ampoule—a gel textured serum that is applied with a dropper, and snail cream and these golden under-the-eye pads with snail gunk that were very relaxing as well as working to smooth my skin and just make it nice.

I’ve returned to this Holy Trinity of skin care. Thankfully Amazon still has it in a kit–and I subscribed for every four months!

With fingers crossed, I headed back to Amazon and recited a Hail Mary in hopes that both Mizon and the three products would still be sold.  With a streak of good luck and the wish that Mary wanted me to look better, the brand was still being sold—and popular.

I’m pleased to say that my skin is actually beginning to look a lot better.  The snail cream is incredibly hydrating and feels great when I apply it.

Dry skin? This snail cream is incredibly hydrating!

The eye pads are fun. Just plain fun. They feel cool and refreshing and don’t take the wrinkles away but do leave a slight healthy glow.

These eye patches are just plain fun and refreshing. Do they take wrinkles away? No!!!!  But they refresh me enough to help me look bright eyed!

The ampoule?  I’m not a gel or serum person. Honestly, I ended up trashing most of the serums I’ve in my bathroom with the exception of one or two–but the snail serum is the keeper.   And, as it does do something good to my skin, it makes makeup apply and look better.

Onto the new makeup.

The iconic makeup artist, Bobbi Brown, has always been a source of intrigue to me. Mainly because she’s always made that natural, no makeup look really work.

Actually….I purchased this double-decker palette a few years ago and I still use it.  YES. I use expired makeup!

The thing is, I was never able to wear any of her Bobbi Brown brand foundations because no matter what the light shade range, it was too yellow on my skin.  My daughter, Oona, loved the makeup because she was able to wear it and it was beautiful on her.

The Bobbi Brown. She looks so natural and nice! And might I add, I love her taste in clothing!

I always thought it was too bad that I couldn’t be friends with her brand but—well, not all brands are made for all skin or people.

Then came Jones Road Beauty.  It’s a brand by Bobbi Brown but a different kind of makeup. It’s actually created with the mature woman in mind! What a concept! The most intriguing items for me, at first, were the Miracle Balm and the WTFoundation.

My collection thus far….

From Left to Right:  The Face Pencil in Shade 5; WTFoundation in shade Porcelain; Face Pencil in Shade 2; The Best Eye Pencil in Black;  Just a Sec shadow in Pewter; Just a Sec shadow in Golden Peach;  Cool Gloss in Pink/Gold; Miracle Balm in Bronze. Not pictured: Miracle Balm in Dusty Rose and Blush in Pop.

Bare faced.  After my morning routine of snail skin care and a light application of Embryolisse Lait Creme as primer, I’m ready to take my damaged and aged skin to a higher lever on the Jones Road Highway!

I did use the Face Pencil in Shade 2 today as a concealer of sorts but it’s difficult to see in the photo–it’s because it blends very well with my skin tone. I also used it as a primer for my eyeshadow.

If you zoom in on my incredibly textured face, you can see the pencil under my brow bone which I used as eye shadow primer.

Next was the eyes.  I used the Golden Peach all over my lids to brow bone then went into the crease with the Pewter. What I love about these shadows is that they are not ashy or chalky and not overly-pigmented which is great for building up color. On my brows, I used Trestique’s Brow Crayon because it is my HG brow product!

Just a Sec shadow in Golden Peach. TBH, it’s a great satin shade and one that I’ve been looking for forever. It’s not orange-peachy, it is just a light hint of peach that blends beautifully..

…and let’s discuss Pewter. It blends into this little throw blanket but doesn’t show up as a gray shadow–it’s a very unique shade and looks fantastic on the eyes.

Next was a thin line of pencil liner with The Best Pencil in Black. It is creamy and the line will last all day.  For a precise line, you really need to keep the pencil sharpened.

Lining the lid for me is the most challenging–it’s because I’m cross-eyed.

Here we are. Eyes done. The shadow is just so subtle and for every day it works beautifully. My brows and mascara are different brands. Onto the face!

The WTFoundation is also wonderful. The shade I have is Porcelain and to tell you the truth, I should have gone with a shade or two darker. No worries though because it still manages to fall within my shade range—and with other products still looks great.

It’s like a whipped marshmallow cream for your face. I’ve tried using my Leila beauty blender to apply but I prefer using my fingers and tapping the foundation into my face—then I’ll take a stippling brush and lightly pat the foundation onto my skin and finally, placing my hands over my face to “set” the foundation.

WTFoundation in Porcelain. It’s a bit too light but still within my range. Next time I’ll order a shade darker. But can I tell you–this is one of the best foundations I’ve ever used. As whipped and lightweight as it is, it stays put all day. ALL DAY!

I pat the foundation in with my fingers. Then ridiculously lightly will rub it in then place my hands over my face. The warmth of my hands kind of melts the foundation into my skin.

A little more patting and rubbing and we’ll be onto the Miracle Balm.

TheMiracle Balm is just what it is. A balm for the face. The two balms I have in ownership are the Dusty Rose, which I use as a blush, and Bronze, which is a great way to warm up the face They come in rather large container/tubs and are best applied with the fingers.  I especially have a large amount of fondness for the Bronze Miracle Balm simply because it adds a nice warmth without looking like a heavy powdered bronzer or a contour. It’s truly lovely.  The Dusty Rose balm adds a flush of color and on days when I want a bit more blush, I’ll use a regular blush and apply the balm over it.

It might look very bronze and golden but it goes on completely different.

I prefer to apply this with a little silver spatula/spoon that is available. It makes it easier.

Miracle Balm patted in with fingers. See? I’m not all bronzed out. It simply adds warmth.

Next onto the blush. I prefer a powdered blush over the balm.  The balm seems to intensify the blush and I love that.  I’m using the Jones Road blush in Pop!

Pop is very, very pretty pink blush. I love this one!

With blush on and cheeks flushed, all I need is lip color, hair, and regular clothing!

Because my lips are very naturally pigmented, I have a difficult time with lipstick and gloss. So under this gloss I applied a very pale pink matte lipstick by another brand and applied the Jones Road Gloss in Pink/Gold over it.

I put hair on. But still haven’t gotten dressed yet. See how natural the products are. Do I miss applying a ton of makeup on my face? Well…. not on my face. I do miss putting a lot on the eyes but as I’ve aged,  a lot of eye makeup just makes me look older.

You may have seen reviews on social media where young influencers do the nasty and place a ton of product onto their face. WTF do they do this anyway?  And those same influencers who load the makeup on, don’t have positive commentary.

Really? REALLY? Look at the one on the left? What a joke. Don’t even get me started on the over-filtered, over blurred one on the right. HTF is one supposed to see how the products work in real life if you depend on these influencers for a review? I can’t even anymore… It breaks my heart that companies send these women products to try.

In the first place, this makeup really isn’t for them (Why then does PR send them the products—can we talk about that for a moment? In addition, WTF are mostly young women on the JRB site showcased. More old ladies please!). This makeup is for those of us who have really dry skin. Its for we with the dermis of age.  And lines.  And uneven skin tone.

From the Jones Road site. This girl is freaking gorgeous. Gor. Jis. But I wish cosmetics sites would start to show real women and especially those over 50 with no filters so we could see just how this makeup works!  

It is not for those with very oily skin. There. I said it.

Thank God for good house lighting. Here’s another face full of Jones Road Beauty. The Golden Peach and Pewter shadows look stunning here because I built the colors up to wear to the office.

And I’m not gonna lie either. The foundation, upon being applied, does creep into those fine lines and crevices. But..if you just wait a few moments and tap the makeup out of those fine lines, you are good to go—for the day!

Oh look. I got dressed. And before leaving the house, I’ll go in and wipe excess off my face. Trust me when I tell you, my skin is dry as the desert and this stays on all day and really looks wonderful.

It’s so funny because I’m in the middle of a cosmetics purge. Makeup that worked for me pre-pandemic just doesn’t work anymore. That’s the funny thing about the aging process. You age for decades and notice slight differences and then over the course of a few months—it’s BAM! And it seems as though your face aged overnight! Am I right??

And when I look at photos from a few years back, it’s almost shocking to see the amount of makeup I wore on my face whereas now, it’s just that I want less. And what I have less of I want it to be of better quality.

Me. Five years ago. I LOVE the eye makeup but these days, I cannot wear any eye makeup on my bottom lid. My skin is more wrinkled too.  What I wore then, I cannot wear now. It’s reality!

Now I’m wearing less.  Speaking of less, what do you think of this sleeveless top from J. Crew Factory? I bought it for the Holidays but couldn’t resist wearing it to work!

So that’s it. Let me know if you’ve tried Jones Road Beauty—and if you were users of the Bobbi Brown makeup brand! It’ll be nice to see what you think!