Face Time

It's gotten to the time of year where everyone thinks of spring cleaning, and lightening up their wardrobes and makeup routines.  Since that is all a form of organizing your life, I'm completely for these activities, as being organized - or at least attempting to be - is one of my favorite things to do/be.

One of the things I have wanted to do is find a new foundation.  I have ones that I know I like, but I also like trying new ones (new to me, not new to existence).  When the weather gets warmer, I am even pickier, since I sweat (not perspire, not glow - SWEAT) big-time, and it frustrates me to put on a foundation that almost immediately melts off.  I've had some luck finding ones that stay on, but am always looking for the best one.  As with everything, I want it to do what I want, the way I want it.  Completely reasonable, right?

So yesterday, I walked over to Sephora, because it was a nice day, and they have so many choices.  This was largely because so far, I've had no luck with the foundations I've tried from the drugstore, so I figured I'd see what the possibilities are for a little bit more money.  Since I had some of my extra money from Rosie's, I was willing to splurge a little bit.  Sephora has this thing where they take photos of three different places on your face, and the computer spits out recommendations.

The person helping me asked a lot of questions about my routine, what kind of coverage I wanted, etc. and then led me to this one:

According to the Sephora person, and the description of this product, it is water-based, and stays on longer even if you sweat.  Since Sephora has an excellent returns policy, I figured it's worth a try.  This will be the first time I've tried anything from Make Up For Ever, but I know that for a lot of people, this brand is the best.  This particular product has excellent reviews for my age group on Makeup Alley, so I figure it might be worthwhile to use it more than just one or two times before deciding what I think.  It sounds as if it has a slightly different consistency, which takes some practice to get what you want for your own look.

I have promised myself to try it for at least an entire week before deciding what I think - particularly since it has such favorable reviews.  (A lot of times after once or twice, if something isn't PERFECT, I give up and return it, or just stop using it.  Not reasonable, but I'm gonna try to change that, starting with this one.)

The other nice thing is that, even if I don't like this and decide to return it, I have the results of the scan with the other suggestions of things to try.  That in and of itself might be worth having.

I'll keep you posted.  In the meantime, if you have suggestions - as long as they are not overly expensive - let me know.  I've had many favorites over the years, both inexpensive and somewhat pricier, and inevitably once I find something I really like, they change the formula or discontinue the product.

We'll see.  ;-)

Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday - YAY!  Unlike most people, I love to celebrate my birthday.  Because no matter how you slice it, having a birthday is better than the alternative, right???

Though this year, it's hard for me to realize that it will be the last year I am in my fifties.  That just seems incredibly weird to me.

I had a truly lovely birthday, and received wonderful gifts.  I even received a gift that I was planning to review for you - so no time better than the present, right?

And here you are - Sephora brand Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover.  I received a large bottle of this from the kitties and Dug.  :-)

Now, I have never been a big fan of products that were specifically touted as eye makeup removers.  The ones I have tried have been too greasy, too ineffective, too expensive, too likely to get in my eyes and sting ... well, you get the picture. And for a long time, I just tried using whatever I used to wash my face to get rid of eye makeup - and would not buy waterproof eye makeup, since it wouldn't come off.

Then I read about an eyeliner I wanted to try (that's another review altogether), so when I bought it, I also bought a small bottle of this to try.

This stuff works!  And it works without having any of the negative qualities listed above.  It's very gentle, very effective, and not expensive at all.  I was actually planning to buy it again, and get a bigger size.  But The Tim said that every time he reached for his deodorant, he would see the one I already had, and noticed it was getting to the point of being empty, so I "must use it."  So he decided that it would be a good gift from the pets.

I would say that even if it is not your birthday, you should give this a try.  It has worked really well for me, and I was going to replace it myself, never thinking it would be done as a birthday gift.

(For the record, The Tim is not necessarily a "noticer" where beauty products are concerned, so this was a *real* surprise!)