Beauty Finds, Tips, and Tricks

I just bought a Big Girl curling iron. It's ceramic. And not available at Walmart. The free gift was a deep waver. I have no idea what this is, but it was free. They were out of the flat iron. Ulta kills me. The 5 for $5 is pretty awesome for little gifts. Got some biosilk ( they also had CHI argan oil, but I have a jug of organic stuff at home), some silver glitter nail Polish, and a couple of cute little doodads for the kid. Saved $78 today, ha ha ha.

 

Unique as in a set. Not all new colors. But a few.

I think it's a very usable palette. More so than any of the Vice palettes or the Urban Spectrum palette. Pretty as it is, I doubt I'd use many of the super bright colors.

 

I had a blast playing with the Benefit pushup gel eyeliner because I'm so bad at it and my eyelids are wrinkly.
However, apparently I am not only allergic to the eyeliner, but also the makeup remover. Just an FYI to anyone with sensitive skin. It's really cool, though. The applicator makes it easy to get on, I'm just straight-line challenged. I'll keep practicing. After the swelling and discoloration of my eyelids chills out, ha ha ha!

 

Better! Ulta's sweet and shimmer liquid liner. I like this one much better for control. Don't know how long it'll wear. Naked rest of the eyes because they're still itchy, lol.

 

I'll probably be scouting your thread @snowy, as I've had to rethink most of my beauty routine due to moving from the Chicago area to the suburban desert. My very first issue was my hair. The texture has gone from full with body to fine. Changing shampoo and conditioner helped but what I need to do is save up for a water softener system. I stopped using bleach in my hair as well. Am a shade of "mocha," ATM.

I'm in my 50's and dealing with changing skin. I inherited my mom's raccoon eyes and was using an under-eye cover up, which upon seeing it in the harsh light of Arizona, wasn't fooling anyone--it only changed the colour of the circles. Instead, now I wash my face and use a moisturizer and a brightening/de-puffing eye cream with coffee as the active ingredient. I like how it looks and feels. In this harsh, hot climate the last thing I want is another layer on my skin, but I like to look more polished sometimes. I haven't updated my beauty regimen in (ahem) decades and so have been catching up on what is what. Tried a sample of Clinique's superprimer and I love how light it feels and how it renders a smoothness similar to using a creamy foundation, so I'm currently not using foundation at all.
I skated by all my grown-up life on no mascara or eye shadow--just a pencil eyeliner. Now though, I'm getting "meaty" eyelids with the aging process and so have turned to working on bringing my eyes out. I'm happy with a low-cost buy from Maybelline--The Nudes, 12 shades of eyeshadow. I'm experimenting with makeup much like I did when I first started wearing it. It's quite fun!

 

Wow! Many resources. Thank you!
--- merged: Aug 12, 2016 at 10:26 PM ---

Just adding a bit from personal experience, which does not include waxing.
When I hit puberty, I found myself with a noticeable mustache. Too embarrassed to discuss hair removal with my Mom, I started shaving it with a razor. Since then, I've tried bleaching and plucking, both of which took too long or lasted not long enough that I returned to shaving, this time using a small Panasonic battery-powered facial razor. While the results don't last very long, it is incredibly fast and easy and leaves a smooth finish with no razor burn. The biggest downside for me in tugging at my skin with plucking is that I managed to overpull my skin in some places and with aging having lost elasticity, I've done permanent damage. I imagine waxing would be done infrequently and so wouldn't involve the repetition that plucking does. Still, going forward I remain wary about over-tugging the skin on my face and neck.

 

Very true. It took forever for shaving hair on the female face to be acknowledged as something that was normal to do.

 

It's probably been mentioned here already...but I just discovered homemade sugar scrubs. Made one today and used it on my legs and HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS, I AM A GOLDEN GOD.


Well, maybe Pale Goddess would be more accurate. Anyway, my legs (and hands, for that matter) feel smooth and soft and amazing. I will definitely be doing this every 2-3 weeks.

 

It occurs to me that I could've been a little more detailed. The mix I used:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
A few drops of essential oil (I went with lemongrass this time)

Stirred for a few minutes until it was all mixed together...and the urge to taste it was ridiculous. Managed to resist, though Got in the shower and washed & conditioned my hair (I don't like our tub for baths, otherwise I would've soaked for a few minutes instead), then slathered the stuff on my legs. Smelled so good. Rinsed, slathered it on again, and shaved. Rinsed. Washed. Applied generous moisturizer upon getting out.


I've also seen it recommended to shave first, but I wasn't sure my semi-sensitive skin could handle that. Legs are still supersoft today, though not quite as smooth. I might experiment with using Nair, but that might be a bit too much for my skin.

 

Neat!
It is nice to get a spa-like experience at home. We all deserve pampering. Thanks for sharing the ingredients--other than the essentials oil, they are all in our pantry or fridge at any given time.