Modern Medicine

I don't LIKE medication per se, but I like the effects of taking the right medication as opposed to wandering around in pain. I've started a new medication for migraines that is actually effective (more than I can say about Botox. All that did was give me one angry eyebrow.)

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Just the one on the left

I have a new medicine, but it's a self-injection. That's terrifying. While effective, administering it basically consists of me taking about 2 minutes to get it all ready and then spending the next 40 trying to talk myself into actually pressing the button. I'm just going to count down from 3. . . OK, 3 . . 2. . . 1 . . . OK, maybe I'll count up to 5. 1. . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 5 no I think counting down is better . . . 3 . . . 

Maybe we should count down from 5 . . .

At least it's working, so I feel a lot better and I can start attacking the de-cluttering process!

As soon as I count to 3 . . .

*clouds from Family Guy via comb.io

No-Buy October Check-In

It's halfway through October, so how am I doing with my no-buy?

Well, I didn't buy this:

I had a 30% off coupon!

 I didn't buy this:

But that scarf is cute

 I only went to TJ Maxx for the Shopkick* walk-in points.

I won't!

The only thing that's tripping me up is my own laziness with food preparation and my undying love for giant Diet Cokes from McDonald's. Everyone knows McDonald's has the best Coke products.  So, I have ended up going through the fast food drive-thru instead of cooking at home with my groceries. I am planning on not doing that for the rest of the month.


*Shopkick gives you points just for walking in and/or scanning labels in a bunch of stores. You can cash in your points for gift cards or real money deposited through PayPal. The link should populate with my referral code: FREE021418 and give us both 250 Kicks when you have your first walk-in or scan your first item.

Palette-Palooza: Week 4

Okay, this is a little embarrassing now. I skipped one day, so this week makes 27 palettes. 26 eye shadow palettes and one blush palette I used as eye shadow. And I have more.

There is no way I can use all this stuff before it goes bad, if it hasn't already. It's such a waste of money. I'm trying to enjoy what I have and use this feeling as a positive- I have more than enough of any color family I could ever want. I even have dupes within my collection, so I have several formulas of the same or similar colors. I need literally nothing else.

1. Too Faced Sweet Peach
The Too Faced scented palettes have begun! I love the peach scent on this- it smells like candy. The best part is that it's also really good shadow. While peach tones are warm, they aren't as harsh as gold on me. They end up looking very natural and bright, which is fantastic. Plus, you know, it smells like candy. Who doesn't want to have a pleasant olfactory experience first thing in the morning?

2. Too Faced Chocolate Bar
This was the first Too Faced palette I owned, and it was gifted to me from my sister. She had already used it and decided she didn't like it. Happy birthday to me!
This is the chocolate bar-inspired palette that launched a thousand dupes and a few more chocolate palettes from Too Faced. The colors are all lovely neutrals with a pop of purple and a deep crimson. I love that the lighter shades are in double-sized pans since a lot people would use them with pretty much any other shadow as a setting powder and/or brow bone highlight.

3. Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bon
Another chocolate bar! This is the more cutesy version of the pacakaging, which I'm not a huge fan of, but the colors are amazing. It's the more cool-toned sister of the original, and I love these so much. I have never used the bright pink in the bottom row, but everything else is wonderful. They kept the double-sized pans for the base/highlight shades on this one, and the chocolate scent.

 4. Revolution HD Palette Matte Amplified 35 in Commitment
I bought this because it was $3.99 at TJ Maxx. The end.

Not really the end. I generally like Revolution's formula, but the HD is really, really good. It blends well, and feels almost creamy. People use the word "buttery" a lot when describing shadows and I kind of always roll my eyes, but that's the word for this. I love the shades in this palette as well. I thought a $4 palette might be a gamble, and the photo looks fairly monochromatic for a 35 color set, but this is lovely. Lots of cool mauves and pretty golds, from deep to light shades.  And, I would like to say, this box was still sealed, so I couldn't see the shades before purchase. A sealed box at TJ Maxx?

Will Ferrell Say What GIF from Willferrell GIFs

5. The Balm: In the Balm of Your Hand
This is definitely a case of YouTube made me buy it. I saw The Balm all the time at Kohl's, but wasn't super interested until I saw a bunch of YouTubers wax poetic about its amazing blending ability and staying power. I almost bought this at a TheBalm.com sale, but I hate paying for shipping. When it showed up in an Ipsy box, I was thrilled. This really is very nice. I've used all the powders as eye shadow, and it worked out to be a great pink and brown color scheme. The blushes are pigmented and pretty, and the hype around Mary Lou Manizer is well-deserved. Its a glowy highlighter that's not glittery or metallic- it just gives a soft natural highlight. I just have to remember to use a light hand when using the browns as a crease shade. Even the contour shade can pack a punch and get very dramatic if too heavily applied.

6. Bad Habit Aphrodite
This was a brand sold on ShopHush, which is no longer online. I had to get this photo from their Twitter album. This was a dupe for Huda Beauty's Rose Gold palette, and it's amazing. I don't usually wear pink looks because I feel like it too easily veers into conjunctivitis territory; I wear makeup to look better, not contagious. However, these shadows are so easy to blend, and have such pretty colors, I have dabbled in more red and pinks. It also has a bunch of neutral browns, tans, and golds, so I really like this one.

7. Urban Decay Naked
The palette, the myth, the legend. Urban Decay released a YouTube funeral for this palette when it was discontinued, and it's just as extra as you might imagine. I got this photo from an Allure story about the palette since UD no longer carries it. They still use the Naked name for a huge hunk of their product releases, so this flagship palette cast a giant shadow.
At its release, this was a game-changer and opened the floodgates for the deluge of palettes we have today. I like it well enough, but really only bought it when it was half-off because of all the hype around it. It's a quality product, and I like the UD formula, but there are a ton of very similar palettes now. I can see why UD decided to do the "remix" versions of this palette, but it seems odd to discontinue it completely. I guess they really wanted a final push to unload all the extras they had lying around as other big names started cutting in to the market for a neutral palette.

How many palettes?

I’m in my 4th week of Palette-palooza and I honestly  didn’t think I had this many. I took them all out and put them on my coffee table.

The cat couldn’t be bothered to move. It’s his Sunday, too. 

It appears I have around 40 palettes. That’s too many. And I know that Tartlette in Bloom is missing, so how many others are kicking around somewhere?

Via https://gfycat.com

No More Stuff!

It's the Jewish new year, so I'm making resolutions. I've done pretty well in getting the parts of my apartment that a casual visitor would see looking nice. I put new covers on the old Ikea Ektorp sofa set and my living room seating has never looked spiffier. The counter tops and tabletops are clear and clean. A few throw pillows have been strategically thrown.

On to my bedroom! The closets! And, eventually, the scary storage cage downstairs!
But first, I'm going to stop in the influx of more stuff. I wish I could say I just came to this calm, rational conclusion by mulling over my current stuff-based situation with a cup of tea and a sturdy journal.

and the table is so organized, I bet

But in reality,

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So, I'm embarking on a No-Buy for October.

The Rules of No-Buy

1. Don't talk about No-Buy

2. JK, I'm about to talk about it a lot. Like, A. Lot. 

3. Don't buy stuff.

I mean, that's pretty much it. I will still buy groceries, but not take-out. I have enough of literally everything else.