Hey, everybody! Now that 6* months have gone by, it's time to do my midpoint check-in for my 2023 low buy.
Back in February, I posted my plans for my 2nd annual makeup, nail polish, and clothing low buy to help myself engage in more conscious consumption. Just as I did halfway through 2022, I'll be updating you all today on how my low buy is going, what I've purchased so far, and any miscellaneous thoughts I've had. *Note: this blog post is late -- I meant to get it out at the beginning of July to truly be a midpoint check-in, but life just happened to be lifeing harder than expected. However, I'll still only be talking about any purchases from up until the end of June.
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Can you believe we're already in 2023? Well, call me Ripley because it's here whether you believe it or not!
With the end of 2022 also comes the end of my first-ever beauty and clothing low buy. I started this in February as a way to intentionally curb my spending and be more intentional about what I buy. I posted my plans/intro post in February, and my midpoint check-in came in July. As of July, I was doing really well within my criteria, and I was actually way below my set purchasing limits. Now that we're here at the year-end (actually 11-month) finale, let's see how my makeup, skincare, nail polish, and clothing low buy actually went!
Another year has passed, and it's time for a yearly favorites post! Both in my general life and my beauty consumption, 2022 brought some old, some new. Read on to see what stood out for me in the worlds of makeup, skincare, and nail polish this past year.
7/14/2022 0 Comments Mutually Creative: @ellessentially_ -- Playfulness in Beauty, Content Creator vs. Influencer, and (Content Creators’) Workers’ RightsIn this new series, I interview one of my internet mutuals about their makeup, fashion, or whatever cool, creative thing it is that they do. While some of them may consider themselves to be "influencers," many of them are everyday people who happen to have a skill and a hobby with a platform. However they self-identify, let's dig a little deeper into their creativity and style in "Mutually Creative."
Out of all my Instagram mutuals, Elle of @ellesentially_ is one of the most "professional" as a content creator. With an impressive resume of beauty brand partnerships including Glow Recipe (skincare), Cirque Colors (nail polish), and L.A. Girl Cosmetics (makeup), she has built up a portfolio of work which she was actually paid real, American dollars to produce -- because exposure does not pay Sallie Mae.
Elle is probably best recognized for her macro shots and satisfying texture close-ups, but I also know her as someone who advocates for fair treatment of creators from beauty brands. Every so often, she will post on her IG story the exact rate information she sends to brands, putting on for public display the exact dollar amount she charges for content. From across the country via Zoom, we talked about being playful with beauty and beauty content, the role of content creators in marketing and consumerism, and her efforts in trying to get paid fairly by brands for her work. Back in early February, I posted my beauty (makeup, skincare, nail polish) and clothing low buy plans for 2022. A "low buy" is an intention that some people set out -- particularly in the minimalism and project panning beauty communities, at least from what I've seen -- to try and regain control of their purchasing habits. For me, my two goals were 1) to reduce spending and 2) to be more conscious about my purchasing habits.
A reason why I published a post detailing my low buy criteria, other than for ContentTM, was to try to hold myself accountable by publicly documenting/averring my plans. Now that we are halfway through the year, I am here to check back in and let you all know how I've been doing with my low buy! 1/29/2022 0 Comments 2021 Best in Beauty: My Favorite Makeup, Skincare, and Nail Products from the Past Year
Hey, it's been a while, beauty people! Turns out I do indeed have a life outside of my small corner of the internet. Nonetheless, let's go on to my 2021 best in beauty: my makeup, skincare, and nail favorites from the last year!
Just as I did with last year's favorites, I won't be listing a product for every single category, and this won't be a "most used" list. Instead, I'll only be including the products that truly ~sparked joy~. As such, I'll be omitting many categories from this compilation, and some categories will have multiple products. For each product, I will be indicating what year I bought it and if it was a repeat favorite from 2020. I think this is always interesting to see when I read/watch other people's yearly favorites. The online beauty space -- consumers, brands, and our consumerist culture as a whole -- has a tendency to latch onto new releases and immediately discard older products: with what's considered "old" becoming younger and younger with each no release. I'm no minimalist by any stretch of the imagination, but I hope to combat that crow brain, "ooh new shiny thing" mentality just a little bit. Click here for my 2020 favorites All prices listed are in USD at the time of writing. They are not affiliate links, only for your own convenience, because I am but a common man. 1/12/2021 0 Comments 2020 Best in Beauty: My Favorite Makeup, Skincare, and Nail Products from the Year
Hello, everyone, and welcome to 2021!
As we enter this brand new year, I wanted to reflect on the previous one and all of the makeup, skincare, and nail Stuff that I used -- specifically my favorites of this Stuff. You may notice that several categories are missing, and some categories have multiple products. To choose these products, I didn't go category to category -- primer to foundation to concealer, etc. -- but rather chose the products from my collection that truly sparked joy for me in 2020. As such, I didn't select from categories where I didn't have a product that truly wowed me like the rest of the things on this list do, even for categories that I use almost every single day like brow gel. Consequently, this is a "beauty favorites of 2020" and not a "most used products of 2020." I also included what year I first got the product. A majority of these 2020 favorites weren't purchased in 2020; 2020 purchases make up 30% (7/23) of this list, 2019 makes up 43% (10/23), and 2018 -- the first year I got into makeup -- makes up 26% (6/23)*. One could argue that this means the 2020 additions to my collection were not wise investments, but I like to see it as my past purchases standing up to the test of time -- and not treating my beauty products as disposables, only fun while they're still shiny and new. Unless otherwise specified, all of these products are cruelty free! *These percentages are all rounded to the nearest whole number, which is why they don't add up to 100%, haha. Hi! Today, I'll be talking about the indie nail polish Quixotic Polish Nightshade. Nightshade was part of their Flakie Bombs Collection released in spring 2020. Quixotic is an indie nail polish brand based out of California, and they describe their polishes as being vegan, cruelty-free, and 5-free (no dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, toluene, formaldehyde resin, or camphor).
Hi, everyone! Today, I'll be talking about the nail polish Garland from Quixotic Polish, which is currently still available. Garland was released as part of the Quixotic Cold Front Collection on Black Friday 2019 (I believe as a winter 2019 collection). Quixotic Polish is an indie polish brand based out of California, and the maker Mary Mouroulis describes the polish as being 5-free -- specifically no dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, toluene, formaldehyde resin, or camphor. Quixotic is also vegan and cruelty-free, meaning the finished nail polishes themselves nor the ingredients used are not tested on animals/don't contain any animal byproducts.
8/8/2020 0 Comments femme fatale devil's wheel swatch & review (polish pickup august 2019/july 2020)Hi, everyone! Today, I'll be talking about the nail polish Devil's Wheel by indie nail polish brand Femme Fatale. This polish was originally released for Polish Pickup -- a sort of "collective" where indie makers (mostly nail polish) release a product based on a community-voted theme that's exclusive to just PPU for that month. Devil's Wheel, inspired by a carnival spinning ride, was originally released for Polish Pickup in August 2019 for the theme "At the Carnival." Later, it was re-released for the July 2020 "Rewind" theme: an exception to PPU's typical monthly exclusivity where makers can bring back 2 polishes from past Polish Pickups. However, I actually bought it from a Facebook destash sale. I've been eyeing Femme Fatale polishes for a bit because they do a lot of really beautiful special finishes, so this seemed like a great opportunity to try out the brand.
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about @glowyminoI have dry skin and very dry and textured lips. I also have a medium-light skintone (somewhere in the realm of NC25-30) with strong warm yellow/olive undertones. I have a tendency to prefer a glowy, lightweight base and color cosmetics in shades of a warm undertone. Read more about me in the about page! Archives
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