50 Words or Less: Things I've Been Enjoying Recently

Monday, May 11, 2020

So these are unusual times, I think it would be an egregious move to pretend that things are fine and dandy when they're not. COVID-19 is claiming the lives of people all around the world, small businesses are taking huge hits, and plenty of folks are dealing with furlough or being laid off altogether.

Part of me feels like talking about beauty is the most frivolous, totally out of touch. Another part of me wants to push forward, because letting go of interests and passions feels like conceding. I don't quite know how to reconcile those two sides, so I'm gonna to continue to post but also acknowledge what's going on right now and the difficulties people are facing. For the time being, that feels somewhat acceptable.

Today's post is a collection of items I've been using, some of these things for as long as eight months. I'll keep it brief.

Tanseido YSQ 14 Brush (￥6,600, approximately $60)

Bought this before Tanseido's price hike last October. This brush is no longer made with pine squirrel hairs (shown), now it's ash squirrel. It's called an eye shadow brush but I use it exclusively for pigmented highlighters since I like a light wash of highlight. Super soft hairs with a lot of give.

Physician's Formula Rose All Day Petal Glow in Soft Petal, $15.99

I wanted this for months after @anafterglow posted about it, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Ordered it from Ulta during a sale. Floral rose scent, I deal with it because the color is just stunning. The particles are medium, sometimes they appear pink and sometimes they appear copper.

Soft Petal highlight on the left, SkinCeuticals Sheer Physical UV Defense Sunscreen on the right.

Same products, with the sunscreen blended into the skin.

SkinCeuticals Sheer Physical UV Defense Sunscreen SPF 50, $34

First try, it felt greasy and it dehydrated my skin. Definitely a skincare shortcoming on my part. Once I loaded up on a hydrating gel and something with ceramides underneath the sunscreen, I loved it! Works well under makeup, satiny appearance.

Lancome Cils Booster XL, $13/$26.50

I like how this keeps my lashes curled under mascara, they want to stay stick straight. Kinda pricey to me for an extra lash step so I've been sticking to deluxe sizes.

Stila Magnum XXX Mascara, $23

Sephora stopped carrying this, I bought a mini of it around Christmas. Super wet formula, not great for when I have allergies. Looks gives me nice length once it dried out a bit. Ulta and other stores still have it.

Naked lashes

One coat of Lancome Cils Booster XL and Stila XXX Magnum mascara. Would not recommend multiple coats of either one.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel, $22

Kinda crunchy but has decent hold. I can't get all my hairs in the same direction for a fluffy brow look, but at least the hairs stay in place. I'm wearing this in all the photos in this post.

All the products, together. ABH Clear Brow Gel on the brows, one coat of Stila XXX Magnum mascara and Lancome Cils Booster XL each, SkinCeuticals Sheer Physical UV Defense under foundation (Westman Atelier Vital Skin Foundation Stick in Atelier III), a very sheer swipe of Physician's Formula Rose All Day Petal Glow in Soft Petal applied with the Tanseido YSQ 14 brush.

Have you been wearing makeup during this time? I've seen people either really take this time to play with colorful makeup as a soothing activity, or skip it altogether. Sometimes I put it on, but I also go through streaks of 4-10 days where I wear nothing but sunscreen on my face.

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