How is it Summertime already?! I remember when I was a little kid and every school year took for-ev-er, but now? Months go by like weeks! Anyway, I love Summer so I’m really happy to see the sun shining bright, longer days, and oh how I enjoy the hot sticky goodness that’s still to come! Hmmm. That sounded a bit obscene, no? I don’t mean it that way! 😜 I’m just a fan of warm weather. I find 80 degrees to be damn near perfection! 😆 I think I’m weird that way, but I love Summer! Why the hell am I rambling on about Summer when I’m trying to get to my May Favorites? 😂 That’s right, it’s time for all the things I’ve been loving throughout May!!! 🎉
I’m going to start with I guess a fitness favorite from this month. Maybe it’s more of a lifestyle thing? However you want to class it, it is my new FitBit Alta HR. I have had two versions of the bulkier FitBit Charge HR / Charge 2 before and always hated the look and feel of them, but found them helpful in my struggle to get in better shape. Recently on QVC, there was an offer on the newer, slimmer Alta HR version that does pretty much everything that my bulky Charge versions do, but it looks nicer. I decided no matter how stupid it seemed to replace a perfectly good FitBit with one that essentially just looks better, I was gonna buy one. I did and honestly I think it’s one of the best things I’ve done in a long time! It sounds kind of crazy, but it makes me feel so much better wearing the thing. If nothing else, it’s actually more comfortable to wear. That surprised me, but the thinner band is not only lighter on the wrist, it doesn’t get hung up on jacket sleeves or leave a giant lump under long sleeve shirts which actually makes it a lot more comfortable and less noticeable while wearing it. I almost don’t notice that I’m wearing it because of those things and the much more delicate appearance. Obviously it’s still not the prettiest thing on earth, but it doesn’t bother me as I don’t find it a distracting eyesore like the prior versions. It still counts my steps, checks my heart rate, monitors activity and the like. As silly as I felt ordering it, I am so happy I did! My old one is still getting use too as it has a better way of tracking workouts, so I switch to that while exercising and then back to the Alta HR for day to day life. If you’re interested in a fitness tracker that looks acceptable while still having a good chunk of useful features, I highly recommend checking out the FitBit Alta HR.
On to some beauty favorites for a bit. 😜 I actually didn’t wear much makeup towards the end of the month and the beginning, well I wore a lot of the same things. 😂 My greatest obsession was hands down bright cobalt blue eyeliner in my lower waterlines! Sounds a bit out there I suppose, but it looks really cool…at least I think. 😝 It’s oddly subtle despite being an intensely loud, bright color. I started out using the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in “Chaos” and ended up with the Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Matte Gel Eye Crayon in “Out of the Blue” (there was a Friends & Family sale 😉). They’re essentially the same intense cobalt blue shade, but the Marc Jacobs version is so intensely pigmented, opaque and really creamy. More so than the Urban Decay. It’s a pricey number, but if you’re looking for a pencil of this color, it’s worth the extra cash! It’s so gorgeous…and it stays put! There’s something about this shade that’s just so Summery as well as fun. It also brightens the whites of the eyes. And if you have blue eyes (unlike myself!), I think it would really make them pop! Anyway, I’ve been loving the fun pop of color from crazy blue eye liner and think you should all give it a try! 😉
To go with my intense blue waterlines, I’ve been using the Milk Makeup Eye Pigment in “Gig.” I’ve used it with other powder shadows as well as alone and it’s just a beautiful rose-y, bronze-y mix for the eyelids that can be applied quite subtly or for full on in-your-face metallic goodness. 😝 If you’ve seen my post all about Milk Makeup, you may recall that I wasn’t too fond of the Eye Pigment I initially tried. It was way too dark and ended up patchy. “Gig” is a relatively new shade addition and I haven’t had any trouble with it. It does dry really fast and is intensely pigmented, but as long as you do one eye at a time and work quickly you’ll be fine. I squeeze out the tiniest little dot possible onto the back of my hand and typically start by placing color where I want it on my lid with a brush and if I want it blended out at all, I do so immediately. I then repeat on the other eye. If I want more intensity than I started with, I either build up more with the brush or use my finger to pack on more color. The more you add, the more metallic it becomes. It’s actually a really versatile shade as I find I can do a barely there wash over the entire lid and into the crease, or make a more metallic bright lid shade with no trouble. Both are equally pretty and it works great no matter what look I’m going for…just make sure to work fast! 😉 Also, once it has dried down, it will not budge! I don’t need primer or anything under this pigment to keep in on my eyes and could probably shower or go swimming without it changing in any way! It’s impressive stuff! So yeah, I take back my initial opinion, though that first shade may still be just as difficult to work with. “Gig” however is an absolute dream!
Sticking to my Sephora VIB Sale Haul items (because so far all of these have been new acquisitions from sales 😉), I have a new favorite contour powder! It is the infamous The Sculpting Powder from Kevyn Aucoin in the shade “Medium.” This stuff deserves the hype it gets! It’s absolutely wonderful. It is very pigmented, so if you’re pale like myself, you’re going to want to use a light hand (I always have a light hand so it’s no problem for me). It blends out beautifully and is absolutely the perfect shade for contouring…at least on my skin. There is a lighter shade as well, but I have heard that the tone is not quite right so I stuck to the original classic. As long as you use don’t go overboard while applying it, I think even fairer skin tones could use this without difficulty, in part because it just blends so well! Absolutely wonderful for contouring…I wouldn’t try it as a bronzer though as it is very cool toned!
I guess that’s it for beauty favorites this month, but I have two podcasts to mention. Naturally they are still in the Crooked Media family (check out past favorites for Pod Save America and Pod Save the World). This time I would highly recommend Pod Save the People with Deray McKesson. This podcast so far has focused on a single issue as well as activism and what’s going on in the world of activism as well as how to get involved. Deray’s interviewing is fantastic because he actually lets people talk and I feel like I’ve learned so much already! I would highly recommend checking out the first pod where there is a lengthy discussion about Medicare and Medicaid that I learned so much from! It was great. There’s also a Bonus Pod talking to Edward Snowden that was really interesting as well. I can’t say I’m a Snowden fan, but that interview made me respect him a lot more and have somewhat of an understanding about where he’s coming from. It was just a really interesting discussion between two highly intelligent men. Great stuff!
The second podcast I may have mentioned before, but I’m too lazy to check. 🤣 It is called Lovett or Leave It which is Jon Lovett’s (Pod Save America) fun, taped in front of a live audience, comedic take on the news of the week. If you need a laugh after all the horrors of the political week, this will probably be up your alley. I find it to be great entertainment with current events as the background. It’s a lovely thing to wake up to on Saturday mornings and gives me a chuckle or two despite the dire state of the US these days. Definitely for the left-to-liberally minded as well as the politically informed, but if that’s you, check it out! 🤓
So there we have May in a nutshell! Honestly when it comes to beauty products, I’ve mostly been trying new things that I have yet to make up my mind about, as well as a bunch of skincare things that I’m considering using while on Accutane. On that note, let me quickly add a few sites that I’ve found for inexpensive samples of products nearly impossible to find near me. One is Bella Cuore which will send samples of pretty much anything available on their site. You can order any 5 samples for $15 dollars and add additional samples for $3 each. These are similar to samples you would have made at Sephora, so no branded packaging, but great to try a shade, scent or just test out for a few days. I’ve found this incredibly useful and had never heard of the site before. They sell all Organic products and I believe all brands are cruelty free as well. Another site I’ve found that offers samples on select items is called Mindful Luxe which focuses on Natural products which, again, I believe are all cruelty free. The subscription site for Petit Vour also sells samples of certain items (I believe mainly samples that have appeared in boxes). If you’re unfamiliar with Petit Vour, it is like the cruelty free BirchBox. You get 4 cruelty free, vegan and non-toxic samples (occasionally full-sizes) each month for $15. I’ve been subscribed for a while now and have really enjoyed it. Let me know if you’re interested in hearing more about, or seeing “unboxing” posts about the service.
Well that was a long tangent! 😂 Anyway, those are my cruelty free favorites from the month of May! As, always thank you so much for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon!
