Tag: review

reading list

Reading List: August’s Book

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Happy Friday, darlings! I hope you’ve got an exciting weekend planned or, if relaxation is what you need, I hope that you’ve planned some time to chill out and restore yourself.

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It’s time for August’s book!

I tossed around a few options for this month, because I was unsure whether I wanted (yet another) book focused on self improvement or something completely different. However, while looking through a few of my stacks of books, I came across one that I hadn’t read yet and was eager to finally dig into.

August’s book is Elizabeth Takes Off by Elizabeth Taylor. I don’t think I’ve read a celebrity’s autobiography in years, so this will be very different from my norm. I love Elizabeth Taylor (remember I did a post about her nearly a year ago?) so when I purchased this book, it was because I wanted the secret to her crazy-tiny waistline. Yeah, it’s superficial, but if she’s giving out the secrets, I want to be the first in line, with my pen in hand.

When I glanced through the book, I recalled that this is, indeed, a book about her diet, but it’s also a discussion about her personal life and career, so it should be a well-balanced, fascinating read. I’m looking forward to reading this one!

beauty

Beauty Review: Fenty Beauty Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter

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Yup, I have another Fenty Beauty product to review! I know that all of my reviews are a bit late (I wasn’t eager to hop on the Fenty bandwagon) but I am finally getting a chance to replace my empties and stock up on new items.

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I got the Fenty Bomb Baby Mini Lip and Face set with the Fenty Glow lip gloss and (the product I’m reviewing today) the Killawatt highlighter. The highlighter shade enclosed in the set is Hu$tla Baby, described as a “peachy champagne” shade. The full sized Killawatt Highlighter comes as a duo: Hu$tla Baby is paired with Mean Money, a softer champagne shimmery hue.

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Hu$tla Baby

I swatched Hu$tla Baby and I swooned – the shade is so pretty! It looks peachy before using the flash, and is a shimmery, multidimensional gold when the flash hits it. This is so flattering on so many skintones: I loved how it looked on my skin! The subtle glow lasted all day, and looked incredible. You have to use a light touch when applying this product: it’s super-pigmented and a small amount goes a long way. You get a lot of bang for your buck with this one.

Hu$tla Baby without flash, and swatch without flash – blended on the top, concentrated on the bottom

The Mini set is $23, while the full-sized highlighter is $34. I’ll be investing in the large one as soon as my mini runs out. This is such a fun product – I highly recommend it!

 

beauty

Beauty Review: Tarte Tarteist Lip Paint

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In my latest Sephora sample goodies, I received a lipstick that I’ve never tried before. In fact, I’ve never tried anything from this brand. I figured that a review would be fun, since it’s all new to me and I have no bias when it comes to the brand.

The brand, (you already know what it is if you read the title!), is Tarte, and today I’m trying the Tarteist Creamy Matte Lip Paint. I am a huge fan of liquid lipsticks and glosses, so I was stoked to try a new one. I looked up Tarte and I was really impressed with the eco-friendly stance of the brand, so I had really high hopes for this product.

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Tarteist Creamy Matte Lip Paint in Birthday Suit (photo courtesy of Sephora)

Tarteist Lip Paints come in two different finishes (matte or glossy) and over 40 different shades. I received Birthday Suit, a pinkish nude that I suspected would be a bit too light for my complexion. As always, my eyes didn’t fail me: Birthday Suit was not the nude for my skintone. It was too light, too much salmon/peach, and it came across a bit chalky. To be honest, the color was hideous. That isn’t Tarte’s fault, nor is it Sephora’s: I was sent what was available, and it was free, so no complaints from me!

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My sample of Birthday Suit

However, I don’t believe in quitting, so I figured I would fix it up. A little bit of inexpensive dark brown lip liner, some blending, and I had a wearable nude shade that didn’t look pasty nor did it clash with my cool/neutral undertones. I wore it for several hours before reapplying, and it did a pretty good job of holding up during lunch.

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Before liner and blending: Yikes!

 

After liner and blending: MUCH better!

As part of my review, I looked at some of the comments on Sephora, made by others who tried this lip paint. The consensus was that the formula was drying, and most people really didn’t enjoy the product. I wondered why I didn’t have the dryness that they reported, then I remembered: I used a lip balm about 10 minutes before I applied the lip paint. I tried this later, without lip balm as a base, and I too found it a bit dry. For that reason, I can’t give it a glowing recommendation but I can offer this tip: if you find a shade of Tarteist Lip Paint that you love, just know that you can prevent dry lips by applying balm to your lips first.

Overall, if I had to rate the product, I’d give this product a 3 out of 5 stars. The fact that you need to apply a balm first is a bummer, especially since this product is $20 per tube. For the price, there should be more moisturizing ingredients included. However, it’s a matte liquid lipstick, so too much moisture would probably keep it from having the matte finish that is expected from the product. I hope that Tarte continues to experiment with this formula and perfect it, because I love the company’s environmental and ethical stance, and I would love to support hem in the future! It’s worth a try if you’re committed to using vegan, eco-friendly products and don’t mind using additional products to preserve the moisture in your lips.

 

beauty · luxury

Fragrance Review: Bulgari Omnia Pink Sapphire

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Recently, I ordered a few things from Sephora, and I got a goodie bag chock full of some cool items that I am eager to try and review for you all. I received several fragrance samples in my box, but I was immediately drawn to the pretty pink sample card that stood out from the rest.

As it turns out, this sample was the Bulgari Omnia Pink Sapphire eau de toilette. This is a new fragrance from Bulgari, as in, it was just released earlier this year. As a certified scent addict (you all remember when I did 30 Scents in 30 Days on Instagram, right?), I was all too ready to try this out and see how I liked it.

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(photo courtesy Fragrantica)

As always, I get my information on the scent profile from Fragrantica. I’m pretty good about identifying at least two or three (sometimes more) notes, but I like to guess what’s in it before I double check my guesses against the Fragrantica website. I like testing myself to see if my nose is catching the subtleties. Anyways, I sniffed it and immediately picked up on the citrus and some floral notes, but I couldn’t identify much more than that, until it dried down and I smelled some musk.

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The package that caught my eye

According to Fragrantica, the notes includes pomelo, pink grapefruit, frangipani, tiare, pink pepper, musk, vanilla, and woody notes. It’s starts off bright and heady: it’s flirty and attention-grabbing at first spritz. Then it dries down to a lovely powdery essence that is sweet but keeps those musk notes in the forefront.

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Inside of the Omnia Pink Sapphire sample

Overall, I enjoyed the fragrance, with a few “cons” that I will mention here. I found that the fragrance didn’t last a very long time on my skin (a little under 6 hours) but it’s an eau de toilette, so that is normal. I loved the fruity-floral top notes but found myself disenchanted with the base notes. It felt a bit too sweet, and not the balance of sweet and earthy that I prefer as my fragrance dries down. I asked some “neutral noses” to sniff the perfume, and they approved, so, while the fragrance isn’t cloying, I’m still not completely sold on it yet. At this point, I’m chalking up my distaste for the dried-down fragrance to a persistent sinus headache that has made me dislike a lot of things over the past few days. . . I’ll try it again and if I have a different verdict, I’ll make a follow up post.

 

beauty

Beauty Review: Fenty Beauty Lil Match Stix Duo Mini Shimmer Skinstick Set

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During a lunchtime stop into Sephora, I was searching – in vain – for Fenty Beauty’s Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation in shade 420. Fenty Beauty is Rihanna’s uber popular makeup line that continues to break records and shake up the beauty industry. It’s sold out every time I go to this particular Sephora location, and I’m dying to try it, so I ended up just ordering it online.

However, the trip wasn’t in vain: I spotted some new Fenty Beauty products as I walked through the checkout line (I found some cute makeup brushes that I had to get). As it turns out, Fenty Beauty has designed some miniaturized versions of their popular products. I picked up the Lil Match Stix Duo Mini Shimmer Skinstick Set to try out some new shimmer skinstick shades.

The set contains two match stix shades in Sinamon and Starstruck.

reading list

Book Review: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

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writing

When I mentioned The War of Art by Steven Pressfield in my May Reading List post, I shared that I had read it before, but I rushed through it. I read it as part of a business “boot camp” that I participated in a few years ago. The book was good but since the business I was designing wasn’t “creative”, it didn’t feel relevant to my circumstances at the time.

However, I’m in a different space in my life now, and I am tapping into my creative powers regularly. That’s why I post daily in this space, whether I have lots to talk about or not much going on. It’s all about continuing to write and dedicating myself to my craft. Errors and all, I post here every day with the hope that I’ll share something that inspires or educates.

Back to War of Art: this book is all about learning what “Resistance” is, how it impacts our creative projects, and how to break through it. For those that don’t know, Resistance is anything that distracts us from our creative projects or interferes with our creative expression. Resistance takes many forms, but each of them are detrimental to the creative, who is denied their natural expression when they allow Resistance to win.

Resistance is described as an enemy that has mastered the art of disguise: so much so, it’s possible that this enemy is attacking you from several angles. However, once identified, the enemy can be defeated and the creative can realize his/her ultimate goal. Pressfield assures us that Resistance can be beaten, as he stated, “Defeating Resistance is like giving birth. It seems absolutely impossible until you remember that women have been pulling it off successfully, with support and without, for fifty million years”.

The book is divided into three sections. The first section outlines the many disguises of Resistance: it can be something as blatant as procrastination or as subtle as vicarious living through loved ones. The second section describes the way to conquer Resistance which is going “pro”: utilizing strategies of the “professional” to sets out to do his/her work regardless of all of the Resistance swirling in the atmosphere. The third section is all about what happens after Resistance is conquered. This section speaks of the magic of starting a project, the incredible outcomes of deferring to “higher powers” like God, the Muses, etc., and moving beyond the Ego.

This entire book is enjoyable, but I’m especially a fan of the second section. Many of the practices outlined are disciplines that could serve you in multiple arenas. I often need to be reminded of what a “professional” does, so that, instead of being frustrated by circumstance, I’m focused instead on what I need to do.

This was such a good read! I hope you all check it out and find some benefit in it for yourselves!

food

Review: Horace & Dickies Food Truck

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Several weeks back, I visited a food truck I’d never tried before. I didn’t have a taste for anything in particular, but I decided to do seafood for lunch because, generally speaking, seafood never lets me down.

My lunchtime adventures led me to Horace & Dickies, a restaurant that expanded its enterprise to include a food truck that serves lunch at different popular locations within Washington, DC.

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At the truck, I ordered the crabcake and fries, a simple meal that I thought wouldn’t take very long to prepare. I wasn’t disappointed: the crabcake was prepared quickly. I was handed a bag and I returned to my desk where I ate my meal.

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An abbreviated but adequate menu

My short explanation is this: I liked the fries more than the crabcake. Don’t get me wrong: the crabcake was good. But I wasn’t blown away by the flavor of it. I’ve eaten many crabcakes and have a good basis for comparison (not to mention, I’ve made some incredible crabcakes from scratch, as well), so I know when a crabcake is “good” and when it’s “awesome”. And this one was “good”: not the best I’ve ever had, but definitely worth the money and a solid effort.

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My meal

To be fair, I probably would have enjoyed it more with remoulade sauce (I asked for some, but it wasn’t in my bag). Also, the sandwich cooled a bit on my walk back to the office: everyone knows that piping hot food is better than when it’s cooled down.

Would I eat here again? Absolutely. The food was good and I suspect that, if eaten immediately, the sandwich would be outstanding instead of just “good”. I’m really looking forward to trying Horace & Dickies again so that I can give a followup review for the crabcake!

 

beauty

Review: SCINIC First Treatment Essence

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Hey friends! This is a long overdue review, of a product that I’ve used since March (remember that Glass Skin Challenge?)

As you recall, one of the steps of the Korean skincare regimen includes “essence”. This mystery product that isn’t a fixture in most American skincare routines but it’s a must have for a proper Korean-inspired regimen.

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“Essence” is a nutrient-rich solution used after toning the skin but before applying heavier products like ampoules (serums). It prepares the skin for the following steps by hydrating and balancing the skin.

I tried SCINIC First Treatment Essence because I didn’t know what to expect from this step of my routine and I wanted to try it as affordably as possible. According to the Amazon listing, the product contains “80% fermented yeast concentrate”, which both alarmed and intrigued me.

I gave SCINIC a try during the Glass Skin challenge. Even though I haven’t been able to isolate the efficacy of this product (after all, I used it along with several other new products), I am comfortable saying that I really like it! I enjoyed it so much that I purchased more after I ran out.

The thing about essence is that it really makes the skin feel refreshed and hydrated after using it. I noticed that my skin retained moisture well while using essence but the extra moisture didn’t result in breakouts or clogged pores/congested skin. My skin has been really vibrant with this product in my routine. I’m glad I tried it!

travel

Review: Microtel Inn and Suites, Philadelphia Airport

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Even though I adore luxury experiences and love sharing those reviews with you, it’s important that I try a variety of things because you may find it necessary to scale back the luxe and enjoy more economical experiences.

 In this spirit of this, I am reviewing a lower priced hotel in the Philadelphia area. I stayed at the Microtel Inn and Suites near Philadelphia International Airport (on Tinicum Drive). The hotel is modest but boasts a continental breakfast, close proximity to the airport, and free wifi.

I reserved a room with a double bed, and I was impressed with the simplicity and tidiness of the room upon settling in. However, there were a few issues that I want to note, for anyone interested in visiting this location.

 For starters, only the suites have microwaves, coffeemakers and refrigerators. Since my room technically wasn’t a suite, there was no way to preserve the takeout that I ordered. Also, the walls are very thin: I heard the television next to my room for quite a few hours. I know that complete soundproofing isn’t possible – nor is it desirable – but I would have enjoyed a quieter stay (for the record, the room next door did turn off/turn down the TV before 12 AM, so I didn’t have to listen to their set all night).

The main issue came after my first night at the hotel. The following morning, I went to use the internet and . . . it wasn’t working. I contacted the front desk and I was advised that they were aware of the issue but they were waiting on a technician to resolve it. It took nearly 4 hours (from the time I woke up around 6:30 AM to sometime before 11 AM) for the internet to be fixed. It wouldn’t have been a major issue except I needed to access systems for my job and send reports. I ended up using my cell phone as a hot spot, but that is my least favorite way of accessing the internet.

My overall takeaway is this: Microtel Inn and Suites Philadelphia Airport location is fine for one night, two maximum. It works out just fine for someone that may need to rest before continuing on their journey, or if you’re traveler that plans to just crash for the night after having a whirlwind tour of the city.

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Book Review: Lifestyle Design for a Champagne Life by Cassie Parks

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What’s better on a Friday than a book review? I can’t think of too many things I enjoy more than reading and talking about the books that I’ve read!

I really enjoyed rereading “Lifestyle Design for a Champagne Life” by Cassie Parks. I read the book previously and found the tips to be tremendously helpful, but I was due for a refresher.

For those interested in law of attraction (LOA), Parks gives a great formula for engaging and leveraging LOA to create a dream lifestyle. This is a fantastic intro to LOA principles and a step-by-step guide for using some common but powerful LOA tools.

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Here’s a toast to your dream life!

Parks’s overall approach is as follows:

-Envision your dream life

-Script your story

-Experience the life now

The steps are simple enough, but Parks gives additional details to add additional magic. Her system invokes more emotions – therefore, more intensity – than some of the processes used by other LOA coaches. That additional intensity means that your manifesting is more effective and you can align yourself with your desires faster. And when you align faster, the things that you desire come to you easier and quicker.

My favorite aspect of this book is how Cassie makes it easy to get in touch with your dream lifestyle. Her methodical approach is clear and easy to follow, and her genuine desire to help is endearing. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in using LOA tools to attract your dreamlife!