beauty recently...

[permutative]

writing this on the plane because i knew i wanted to make a dreamwidth post about this and try to understand the amount of money that I spend on skincare and beauty in general… I fear it has become kind of overboard recently 🙂‍↕️ also sorry if the spacing is weird the rich text editor has been freaking out on me and i'm too lazy to figure out where it went wrong in the html

Skincare (AM)

• toner: i’ve gone through 2 bottles of the isntree yam root vegan milk toner this year after being somewhat disappointed/meh on the og anua heartleaf toner… i really liked how nourishing it was and i feel like thicker/milky toners are definitely more up my ally. i’m using the anua rice 70 glow milky toner right now and i’m also liking it a lot!!! it’s kind of thin but i just do two layers of it and it feels super nice. tbh i’m kind of dreading winter break because my toner bottle is too big to travel with … I DONT WANT TO BE DEHYDRATED
• active: I’ve been using my friends prescription clindamycin + benzoyl peroxide cream (free) because she refilled it on accident… i think it really helped with my non-hormonal acne on my forehead/temples which i think had been caused by 1) eyebrow threading and 2) certain hair products??
• lotion: i’ve been using the skin1004 centella soothing cream, it’s interesting because it’s a gel cream but it’s also kind of thick ??? idk if it’s occlusive enough for winter tbh but i will continue using it for the day and then just add sunscreen on top
• sunscreen: on my last tube of the isehan kiss me sunkiller perfect water essence spf50 etc etc… i love this sunscreen so much because it’s LEMON SCENTED and applies so nicely!! i will say that it has a very dewy/glowy finish that kind of registers as oily to me sometimes :( but i will never forget the day i walked into teso life and they were selling these tubes for like $7 each. literally insane moment for me and i bought four tubes on the spot 😭

Makeup 

dude idk what’s going on here. 6 months ago i was barely wearing any makeup and now i'm back at it... i think it was the combination of 1) getting super tan during the heatwave on september due to going to the pool, which led to my undereye concealer match looking super bad 2) trying to figure out how to cope with my resurgence of stress/hormone induced acne 3) the joy of New Products that changed my mind… I also got new brushes (a blush brush and a powder brush) from elf and i feel like having the proper brush for the product you’re using truly changes the game :(

I’m starting to suspect that I would like applying eyeshadow sooo much more if i had better tools for applying it. Would appreciate recs if ug have any!!

• i got tower28 swipe hydrating serum concealer a month ago and have nothing but good things to say about it… it reminds me of the hourglass vanish concealer that i loved wrt thickness and moisturizing feel. but it’s also significantly more affordable and i like that the olive undertones shade matches my skin well
• i powder with the etude house no sebum pressed pact… i feel like i’ve been using this pressed powder since like sophomore year (definitely sus). at what point do powder products expire???
• i have two setting sprays, the nyx dewy finish and the milani make it last that i got from a friend. tbh once i’m done with these i’m kind of interested in getting a more matte setting spray… i feel like my skincare routine/current sunscreen makes me SOOO SHINY and powdering doesn’t help that much it when i follow it up with setting spray.
• i’ve been using the fwee blush in sunshine guava (not the pudding pot viral ones... i lowkey think this blush might be discontinued? thx van for getting this for me from korea) and the milani baked blush in luminoso a lot recently. those r the only two blushes i have since i threw out my glossier ones (i fear they were kind of getting old/i was worried they would break me out). both are kind of coral pink which i think matches my face pretty well… the fwee blush i like the look of a lot because it’s really buildable and easy to apply with fingers. however i feel like cream products kind of sus me out in the sense that i know i need to try and finish it sooner rather than later because of its more short-term expiry. the milani blush i used to like a lot (and still like sometimes) but i feel like i get blush blindness when i apply it and it also kind of emphasizes the texture/acne that i have on my cheeks :(
• i used to use my rare beauty liquid luminizer highlighter in enlighten a lot but now i’m not into the shinyness 🥲🥲🥲 i still like it for parties / having some small inner corner highlight though
• for my eyebrows i’ve switched to using kulfi beauty’s clear brow gel. i used to be such a staunch supporter of the nyx tinted brown brow mascara but this is sm nicer to apply and doesn't feel like too much product + i kind of like the natural color of my brows tbh… it also has a tool u can use to comb thru ur eyebrow hairs and adjust the shape which is fun!
• my mascara is nothing crazy, it’s the missha 3d (or maybe 4d?) mascara. ngl i never spend that much money on mascara because ur supposed to replace it every year or 6 months or something insane
• eyeliner: i’ve experimented with eyeliner a bunch but i feel like i’m so flop at applying it / having a consistent wing / etc. sometimes i do the white eyeliner pencil on waterline thing that apparently (?) was made infamous by alix earle (??)
• eyeshadow: i have the romand better than palette in pampas garden 😔😔 i don’t wear eyeshadow that often and tbh still need to get used to the feeling of having something on my eyelids (???) it’s kind of strange sometimes. 

i feel like i’m still Guy with too much lip products 🥲🥲🥲 umm i’ll try to go quick through this

empties:

• tower 28 lip jelly gloss in pistachio — dude these are soooo good and i stand by this. i feel like the formula is so moisturizing and like, yummy and thick without being too much. So easy to reapply and i wore it all the time despite the shade not really adding that much color to my lips
• Flortte lip gloss serum shade #2 — my friend first got this for me from teso life i think. it’s a similar formula to the tower28 one but a little bit thicker. i really like the scent (it’s very sweet and warm) and again the formula was super nice to reapply

1. i still have romand lip tints in nucadamia and almond rose. lowkey idk where my third one went… sometimes i get annoyed with how it stains kind of bright and i feel like the formula isn’t conducive to reapplying but i can’t fault my 18/19yr old self for buying these
2. I also have a diff color of the flortte lip gloss serum in shade #4.. it’s a lot more barbie pink vibes so I don’t like the color as much but I’m still a fan of the formula
3. romand glasting melting balm in kaya fig — it’s a little stickier than i thought it would be but i definitely like it! feels kind of sticky though and i feel like i prefer a more thicker liquidy type of product compared to something like a stick… but now i Know
4. summer fridays vanilla lip balm — bought this because my friends and i were splitting a 3 pack so that it would be cheaper 😔😔 dude idk. i feel like i liked this a lot (what’s not to like… squeezy tube + medium thickness formula + vanilla scent) but it kind of melted over the summer and now the cap is always sticky/leaking so i can’t transport it anywhere 🥲🥲🥲🥲 what’s the point!!! so that frustrates me. i still try to use it sometimes in my room but aggh
5. laneige lip sleeping mask, berry — i stopped using this for a good year+ but my frustrations with the summer fridays lip balm had me coming back to this… i stopped using it originally because i would get small pimples on my lip the next day. but i think (looking back) that that might have been just because i was using the spatula to apply the product to my lips?? now i just make sure that ive washed my hands before applying and i haven’t had any issues with pimples forming… 😔😔😔 but i also HATE sticking my fingers into tubs + don’t like sensation of lip product on my finger + i feel like i can’t use this on the go because i’d want to wash my hands first and stuff :((( 
6. milani fruit fetish lip oil, lychee nectar — lowkey this lip oil doesn’t have much color payoff, it mostly just delivers on shine + TASTE/SMELL???? it’s so yummy and nice to reapply. wouldn’t be surprised if i emptied it next year… the doefoot applicator is also comedically big. but maybe that’s just because i’m not that used to doefoot applicators
7. i also have this random perfect diary high shine lip stain that feels similar to the romand ones but a little more thinner and watery… i love it purely for its packaging. i use it sometimes but it’s kind of the same color as my lips so ??

i feel like my lack of transportable lip balms has been krilling me. i got a rohto mentholatum lip balm earlier this year but then proceeded to lose it like almost immediately??!! so i’ve just been suffering with slightly drier lips + overcompensating by reapplying more “moisturizing” lip products but yea. i recently bought the ole henrikson pout preserve in strawberry and the eadem chou chou lip balm in BUTTER MOCHI (???!!!) and i’m excited to use….i loveeee squeezable lip balm in transportable tube…. (yes i know i have a lip product problem but i’ve been kind of stressed and going thru it and at least im not like, idk, blowing my money on sports gambling)

Skincare (PM)

• oil cleanser: i have the softymo speedy cleanser (and was able to refill it recently!!) and it still does the job. i also got BOJ cleansing balm on black friday via Costco and i’m excited to use it over winter break because it’s a lot easier to travel with (i lost the part of the bottle that locks the pump in place so i would have to travel with it in a separate plastic bag to make sure it didn’t leak on my other shit)
• water based cleanser: i feel like i haven’t changed what i use in this vein for so long… i have both the blab matcha cleanser (i use it more while traveling) and the cerave cleansing gel. kind of boring and tbh i should prob go for a more gentle cleanser in the future (re: cerave) but i also like that cerave feels strong enough to take off sunscreen (unlike the cursed cetaphil cleanser i was using a year ago)
• actives: i used to use prescription 10% azelaic acid and the cerave retinol serum that i have alternately over the summer but ngl i think the azelaic acid expired + i’m uncertain abt the cerave retinol’s efficacy (it just seems kind of gentle?? which is good i guess)…. so i haven’t been using either anymore. tbh i feel like the move for me is probably a BHA but i’m so used to getting prescription tret instead of other types of actives so… yeah. i’ve been using tretinoin a couple times a week (like seriously only 1-2x) because i’m scared about freaking out my skin/drying it out too much
• toner — same as before
• ampoule — i use the ma:nyo bifida biome complex ampoule still!! it’s so good for skin barrier function… i’m still such a fan of it. it’s kind of expensive though and i find it kind of goofy that i order it from TARGET… not sure if i’ll replace it when i finish this bottle
• lotion — fell for the skincare deals on costco (x2) and bought BOJ dynasty cream because it finally had a decent price ($10 instead of $20+…) 😔 ngl it’s good but such a small amount of product and stressful to me because of the tub packaging. glad i got the chance to try it though

Perfume

tbh i think i got over my perfume phase (thankfully) so don't have too much to talk about. yes i still use britney spears midnight fantasy perfume. yes i still have some oil perfumery rollerballs that i feel kind of mehh on. i recently emptied out a travel size bottle (10ml) of jo malone english pear and sweet pea which i kind of want to replace but also feel torn about because it doesn't last that long TT__TT maybe i should bite the bullet and buy a bigger size. idk. some of my friends got me a rollerball version of very good girl by carolina herrera which i find really fruity and sweet (<3) but other than that... haven't done much. my dreams of mojave ghost are very far away

considering trying out the ouai melrose place travel size because i love the scent for my shampoo but other than that there's not much on my radar

Haircare

I feel like this has been the year of wavy hair for me. It was really nice when I had short hair because I’d just automatically have defined waves and volume but now that I have longer hair I’ve been struggling to keep them more defined… 

• Shampoo: redken allsoft shampoo — usually get this from ulta when they run a sale. I’m lowkey running out of it rn, planning to phase in the biolage colorlast shampoo
• Clarifying shampoo: i have the ouai detox shampoo and i love how it smells… i feel like i’ve been reaching for this more and more now that i put more products into my hair after i wash it
• Conditioner: i was using my redken allsoft conditioner but i lowkey ran out so i’ve just been using a hair mask in place of conditioner
• hair mask: amika hydro repair hair mask — dude I really do like this hair mask although normally when I’m in school I don’t really use it to its full potential (you’re supposed to leave it on for 10 min before washing off, which I definitely don’t do). It kind of has a play-do type smell to it though
• leave in conditioner: i use the pattern by tracy ellis ross leave in conditioner, and it’s my second bottle of the mini sized version. I really like it but sometimes i wonder if i should use curl cream instead of leave in… or if it’ll be too heavy… much to think about
• miscellaneous: I tried using the Aussie hair gel a bunch of times and it had decent results (thx kaia for the rec <3) but i think it caused a lot of breakouts for me near my temples where my hair/front facing layers touch the rest of my face. I also have spray-on argon oil from OGX that I use sometimes but I’m kind of lazy about using it on my ends. I also have an inkey list salycylic acid scalp treatment that I use sometimes when I have a flakey scalp… 
• I also tried the curlsmith weightless air dry cream because I saw it at Marshall’s but i didn’t really like how it looked/dried… aghgggg hair stuff is so hard :( 

I feel like I’ve been using the redken shampoo for YEARS and I’ve liked it but I foresee a future of experimenting more with my hair…!! I also received a diffuser/blowdryer from my friend as a birthday gift this year so I’ve been experimenting with using it. I feel like the heat protectant I use isn’t very good/robust (it’s the momori peach hair spray) so would appreciate recs in that vein I guess.. Ngl sometimes i’m like what if i iust gave up on wavy hair and lived my life peacefully. Might be easier tbh

Anyways, in conclusion, I feel like I've increasingly become this kind of high maintenance person and I'm like ???? whenever I have to travel because why do I bring so much crap around with me!!! I've seen some posts in r/projectpan and i'm lowkey inspired although so many of the products i currently have seem impossible to finish.