I was feeling festive this week because of the holiday season as I'm sure everyone was. This week was really humid and in the 70s so I stuck with lighter skincare and scents. Byredo Rodeo is one of my favorites the line makes. It's a lighter more feminine leather perfect for fall into winter weather. If you like leather but want a slightly lighter less dry twist on it, this one is for you. It was very limited. Top: Leather Accord, Heart: Suede, Midnight Violet, Base: Vetiver, Black Amber. I recently made a Rituel de Fille order to replace my beloved Phosphene Rare Light Luminizer during their sale. As you all know I totally adore the Rare Light Luminizers. The creamy texture lasts, is pigmented plus they have this really nice complexity to their shimmer. I grabbed new shade Spectre. This was a gift with purchase shade you can't buy. Described as a perfectly ghostly winter highlighter reminiscent of the rose-tinged halo around the moon on a cold night. It's a pale icy cool pink with some beige. It's very cool. I love testing the new shades but I think this one may be too pale and cool for me. We'll see.
I've been using Alpha-H for years. Their hand cream is one of my all time favorites for nights. The new Hyaluronic 8 serum is going to be a fast favorite. This is a high tech hyaluronic acid serum. It has a light slippery texture that's not sticky. This has eight multi weighted hydrating ingredients including the next generation hyaluronic acid PrimalHyal Ultrafiller™ which behaves like a dermal filler. Meaning they say it fills lines and wrinkles without a needle. I love the texture and it's only been one week of using it. It's alcohol and fragrance free in combination with a lightweight texture. I bought the Decorte Soft Creme Foundation a few months back. Now that summer is over I'm pulling out all the cream and liquid foundations (I live in cushions in the summer). This is a lighter cream foundation, it's not too heavy or moisturizing. It's actually lighter than I expected. This delivers light to medium coverage and has a dewy satin finish. It manages not to feel heavy or greasy yet not be dry and matte. It's lightweight yet feels nourishing to some degree. I wear shade 303 Warm Beige. I find it lasts fairly well (about 6-8 hours) and doesn't get oily in the nose. It's lighter than it looks in the pot and you only need a little to get good coverage.
I also grabbed the Rituel de Fille Ash and Ember Eye Soot in Half Light as I've been curious about it for a few years. This is a cream meets powder eyeshadow. Half Light is a softly shimmering taupe. I like how pigmented this is and it gives a nice soft yet sooty kind of look. It does crease but only towards the end of the day. I think this would look amazing with a sparkling powder shadow on top which would extend its longevity. Occasionally I throw something in these posts that I decided just to play with. I used the Merle Norman Lip Pencil Plus in Nearly Nude this week. It reminds me of a 90s deeper nude. This is a double ended crayon with a liner and creamy semi-matte full coverage lip color on the other. I ended up liking the red color more than the nude.
Earthwise Beauty just launched a new product and I'm completely smitten in one week. On a Swing Among Trees is a serum meets mist. It has turmeric hydrosol as a base which had me on first look. Add in aloe, sodium hyaluronate & the ceramide complex (glycerin, cholesterol, five plant based ceramides) for ultimate moisture. Myrrh, frankincense, balsam resin, colloidal silver, chamomile, saffron & turmeric extracts round this mist out. If you wanted to try a barrier repair and firming product in a mist format, this is for you. Plus it smells like heaven. Augustinus Bader is a cult favorite. The Cream is the lighter formulation of the two. Based on 30 years of research this has the patented complex TFC8 this cream is meant to rejuvenate and improve the complexions appearance. I picked the lighter texture with the goal of using it during the cooler weather days. I thought I would update (as so many of you are curious) now that I'm almost done with week four of using this Mon-Fri. I love the silky texture of this. It's a heavier lotion or light cream depending how you think of texture. It moisturizes well without making my skin feel heavy or suffocated. I find this lighter one is perfect for daytime. It leaves my skin supple, with a satin and silky feeling. As far as does it change texture and diminish lines? I'm not sure yet. I think four weeks is too early to tell. A full skin cycle is 5-6 weeks for turnover. I'll use this for six weeks then stop for a few and asses the differences. I do like the satin/silky finish it gives my skin and it feels smoother overall but again I want to wait before I say for sure because this is such a hefty price tag item.
Top to Bottom-Merle Norman Liner then Cream, Rituel de Fille Spectre, Half Light, Decorte, Augustinus Bader:
*Earthwise Beauty & Merle Norman gifted but all thoughts are my own.
