I was going for surly teenager...

Did I nail it?

Eyes are heavily foiled Fyrinnae Calavera Cupcakes on the lid, the orange shade from the Sephora Pantone quad in the crease, and the purple shade from the same palette in the outer V. I used Tarte Lights Camera Lashes mascara and some very light UD Perversion liner to finish it off.

Lips are Korres Purple Red lip liner topped with Evil Shades Zombie lipgloss.

Close up on the eye:

Sunday Sunblock: Origins A Perfect World SPF 25 Age-Defense Moisturizer with White Tea

Hi! I'm back. The first three weeks of school, and also the first cold given to me by the tiny disease vectors students, have wiped me out and made wearing and photographing makeup a lot less important than sleeping and staring at the Internet in complete and utter exhaustion.

Today, I want to talk about Origins A Perfect World SPF 25 Age-Defense Moisturizer with White Tea (that ingredient is underlined at the bottom of the list). I got it for free on Earth Day because I brought an empty lotion thing to Sephora instead of to my local recycling place. It was worth about what I paid for it.

The product is an off-white cream that smells somewhat of salad. Yes, salad. Or grass clippings. I can't decide. It's a chemical-based sunblock, or organic sunscreen, that claims an SPF of 25. It rubs in pretty clear, if a bit shiny. I've been using a half teaspoon or so on my face, neck, and ears, and another half teaspoon or so on my arms.

For the past week or two, as I've been using it steadily, I have noticed a few things:

1. A mild burning feeling upon application.
2. A raw, red feeling on my neck and upper chest, accompanied by itching. Sunburn? Or reaction to the product?

I have a couple theories on this: first, there are a ton of photosensitizing ingredients in this product, so maybe that weakens the SPF effect; second, the third inactive ingredient is chamomile water. Chamomile is related to ragweed, or the archdemon of all Plants To Whose Pollen I Am Allergic, so it's possible I've just been reacting to that. However, my arms have gotten some color recently, and I've been inside more often than not. That indicates some level of product failure - with the same amount of product and frequency of application, I've been better protected by other products.

Needless to say, I do not recommend this product, which, in case you are some sort of masochist spendthrift, is available at Sephora and department store counters.

Product specs:
Size: 1.7 oz/50 ml
Price: $39.50 (I got it free as part of an Earth Day promo)
Price per ounce: $23.24
SPF: 25
Active Ingredients: Octinoxate (5%), avobenzone (3%), octocrylene (2.7%)
Inactive Ingredients: water/aqua/eau, citrus aurantium amara (bitter orange) flower water, anthemis nobilis (chamomile) flower water, butyloctyl salicylate, ethyl macadamiate, methyl trimethicone, jojoba esters, butylene glycol, lauryl peg-9 polydimethylsiloxyethyl dimethicone, peg-100 stearate, glyceryl stearate, citrus aurantium bergamia (bergamot) fruit oil, citrus medica limonum (lemon) peel oil, citrus aurantium dulcis (sweet orange) oil, cinnamonium camphora (camphor) bark oil, mentha viridis (spearmint) leaf oil, magnolia acuminata flower extract, iris pallida (orris) root extract, rosa damascena (rose) extract, citral, linalool, limonene, camellia sinensis (white tea) leaf extract, pinus pinaster bark/bud extract, arabidopsis thaliana extract, ascorbyl tocopheryl maleate, oryzanol, ergothionene, triticum vulgare (wheat) germ extract, hordeum vulgare (barley) extract, cholesterol, caffeine, mangifera indica (mango) seed butter, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), potassium cetyl phosphate, cetyl alcohol, ethylhexylglycerin, linoleic acid, squalane, sodium hyaluraonate, caprylyl glycol, dehydroxanthan gum, silica, ammonium acryloyldimethyltaurate/vp copolymer, citric acid, sodium stearate, sodium dehydroacetate, phenoxyethanol, mica.

I typed all of that out for you. Enjoy.

Sunday Sunblock - off today

Apologies for not posting a sunblock review today - tomorrow is the first day of school and I'm a teacher, so I've been making pretty props for my kiddos instead.

I hope you're all wearing sunscreen when you're in the sun!

July Used It!

I can't believe it's August already! Where I live, back to school is Monday (I grew up going back the first Wednesday after Labor Day). It's also been really hot for weeks. So I'm having some serious cognitive dissonance here.

What did I use up in July? Any winners? Losers? Let's see!


365 Fragrance Free Body Lotion*  - not pictured. This was the 32 oz size, and hard to use up!
Buy again? No way. It doesn't absorb well. I used it up primarily as shaving cream, and I have other things I find more effective.

Caudalie Eye Cream sample 
Buy again? No. I mostly rely on samples for eye creams because I haven't found any that really make a significant difference. This one was nice, though. And I liked that it came in a tube instead of a packet.

CVS Biodegradable Nail Polish Remover*
Do not buy this. The idea of a non-acetone, more environmentally friendly product to remove nail polish is very appealing. However; in order to remove a manicure, I need to use a new cotton pad every other nail, put fresh remover on the pad after every nail, and practically scrub at my polish to get it off. That's five cotton pads, ten douses of remover, and way more time than I'd like to spend removing my polish. In contrast, I used the butter LONDON remover recently and used three pads and five douses - and was done sooner.

First Aid Beauty eye cream sample
Buy again? No, for same reasons as stated above.

Garnier shampoo and conditioner samples (3 packets total)
Buy again? No. These were all freebies, and I didn't find anything great about any of them. The color treated hair ones were fine, and the "pure" one was also merely fine. That one was billed as a 2-in-1and as being "silicone free." Well, it didn't seem to condition, and had dimethicone in it. Last I checked, dimethicone was a silicone. Liars.

Hugo Naturals Vanilla Orange body wash*
Smells delicious, dries out my skin. 'Nuff said.

Inglot Face Primer Sample
I have to say, I haven't really noticed any significant difference between all the siliconey primers I've tried. But I like samples!

Jurlique Herbal Recovery Gel sample
Buy again? No, and its biggest drawback is the somewhat flowery scent. You might like that, but it reminds me of my seasonal allergies.

LaVanila The Healthy Sun Block - Body*

Milani Total Lash Cover mascara*
I did not so much use this up as give up on it. It was difficult to apply, even after I chopped off the extraneous end of the brush. It flaked onto my undereye area and gave me even darker dark circles. I have very little good to say about this product, which is sad because I wanted to like it. Alas, mascara is a very tricky beast. 


Organix Macadamia Dry Styling Oil*
I'm really undecided on this. Like really undecided. I like it better than a lot of siliconey serums I've tried, and it has the advantage of "disappearing" into dry hair more than others. After I run out of the other leave-ins I have, I'm trying out mineral oil, because I hear a drop or two of it on wet hair works absolute magic.

Peter Thomas Roth Retinol Fusion PM .4 oz. "sample."
This is a large sample. I liked the way it felt on my face. I keep hearing good things about retinol. I like a lot of things about this product. I do not like its $65 price tag. Maybe I will buy this when I am older and richer. Or maybe I'll find another retinol product that doesn't take several hours of work to buy.

Philosophy On a Clear Day spot treatment*
More and more, I'm thinking that spot treatments in general are just not for me, because of the "underground" way my worst zits happen. Moisturizing and exfoliating the heck out of them has been working better for me. Not a knock on this product in particular, just the entire category.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple sample (not shown)
I may buy this again as a "splurge," but I'm not convinced that it's significantly better than other, less expensive cleansers. So while my budget is limited, I'll continue to spend my skincare dollars on treatments instead.

Revlon PhotoReady Compact Foundation*
I got this at the CVS clearance sale. It looks great in photos, but I really didn't like putting it on - the "liquefying screen" is really gimmicky, and putting enough pressure on the screen to get the product to squeeze out forces it to the edge, where it becomes unusable. This experiment will probably not going to be repeated by me.

Simple eye makeup remover*
This does get makeup off relatively easily. It's the biggest winner this month.

Tresemme Split Remedy Shampoo and Conditioner samples
Sadly, there is only one remedy for split ends, and it involves sharp scissors you never, ever use for anything else. But I got these for free, so why not? They were worth ever so slightly more than I paid for them.

July Summary:
Winner - Simple eye make up remover (and even here, I'm not totally in love. Bummer of a month!)
Possible winners in an imaginary universe wherein I have more money - Philosophy Purity Made Simple, Peter Thomas Roth Retinol Fusion PM
Losers - CVS Biodegradable Nail Polish "Remover," Milani

Products used up: 20
Full size products used up: 8