Tag Archives: highlighter

May7

Buying Stuff: Episode 25

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I’m addicted to following manicured nail pictures on Instagram.  But not just any manicure – I only want to look at perfect ones with square cut nails and tidy cuticles.  They soothe my soul like nothing else.  Or like a Xanax maybe.  And because of this new found insanity, I have become inspired to paint my nails more often.  Like I want to be one of those girls with perfect square cut nails and tidy cuticles.    I want to soak my fingers in a bowl of warm olive oil too.  I want someone to suck all the fat out of my thighs.  That last one has nothing to do with a manicure, but if someone could get that arranged, that’d be great.

I bought stuff!  Let’s look:

Picked up this Besame Brightening Violet Powder because of its adorable 50s-era packaging.  It literally looks as if it walked right off the pages of an old Avon catalog.  Precious!  Back when I bought it, Sephora just started carrying the brand and this was the single solitary item it offered.  Now they have two other versions of the powder.  The idea behind the violet one is that it will brighten up sallow skin – and it may simply be psychological brain trickery for all I know – but I’d swear it does just that.  The violet tone is translucent but lends a skosh of something special.  It will never appear obviously powdered, but you’ll know it’s there.  Everyone else will assume you had a face lift.

One look and you’ll know why I got this:

It’s the Sigma Lip Switch in the shade Flip Flop and it’s pretty much the raddest thing you’ve ever seen.  Check out that magical iridescence!  It gives me heart eyes immediately.  But of course something this awesome can never live up to expectations because that is how my life works.  Cuz once it’s applied to the lips, it pretty much disappears.  It’s glossy, yes, but if you want that vibrant orange/gold/pinky shift, you will have to look elsewhere.  You get it faintly at best.

I have seen some Instagram pics where people would wear black or navy lipstick and then apply these holo lipglosses and the iridescence shows up much better.  But ask me how many times I’ve worn black lipstick.  I could count on one hand the number of times.  Actually if I had ZERO hands, I could still count the number of times.  Basically what I’m saying is for now I wear this as a sheer lipgloss over my coral or orange lipsticks.  It serves a purpose.  Not a very special one, but there ya go.

Not one to be left off the bandwagon, I bought this along with 97.95764% of the rest of the world:

It’s the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit (in the light/medium version), a product I didn’t really need much less know how to use but I bought anyway because if it’s a bestseller, I WANT IT.  Same goes for pretty much anything else in life.  Your Oscar-nominated movie is spoken entirely in French and with no subtitles?  No problem!  Your Pulitzer Prize-winning book is a 700-page diatribe set in war-torn Prussia in the 17th century and most likely to cause eye spasms and involuntary napping?  GIMME.  I just refuse to not be in the know.  But also, I can obsess like it’s my damn job.  I couldn’t have walked away from this highly talked about product even if I had my feet on backwards.  You cannot deny this kind of magnetism.  The struggle is REAL.

So now that I have it, I’ve been making myself use it.  And I’m really trying, I swear.  I contour, I bronze, I highlight and set my under eye.  But I haven’t been that impressed.  I mean, it’s not a bad palette, but I don’t feel the need to hoard it or protect it with my life (cuz I will cut you over a couple of my foundations, so I know it’s possible).  The highlight (shimmery) shade is really pretty, but all the rest for me are take its or leave its.  However, I OWN THE DANG THING, and that’s what’s most important anyway.

How about something pretty:

I die!  It’s the Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G. lipstick in Coachella Coral and it is summer in a tube.  It’s has a delicious, creamy formula, stunning color, and decent longevity.  Even smells good.  What’s not to love?  Okay, maybe the $32 price tag.  But it’s just so pretty.  I was helpless, I admit.  Plus, if you never use it and just pull it out of your purse when people walk by, then it’ll last forever.  And really, isn’t that the point of designer makeup – to see and be seen?  Obviously yes.

Another hyped up product by YouTube:

I was able to resist buying the Gerard Cosmetics BB Plus Illumination Cream until I watched this stupid/amazing makeup tutorial and decided I had to have it about 2.5 seconds later.  Well, you know how it is.  If I even think there’s one iota of a chance I can have flawless, beautiful skin just like in the video, then it could be dog poo in a jar but I’m all over it anyway.  Please and thank you.

So about this stuff.  It’s pure liquid gold.  Seriously.  You put it all over your face and holy moly, you shine like brand new money.  Apply your foundation on top and then sit back to enjoy the view.   It has such a stunning effect.  Foundation looks more flawless.  There is a radiance that is subtle but noticeable.  No shimmer, just glow.  Ugh, I love it.  You can also use it alone if you want to dab some on your cheekbones or shoulders.  Or you can do a drop mixed with your moisturizer or foundation for something lighter.  Whichever way you go with it, you’re bound to love it.

Pointless Makeup Product #272:

It’s the YSL Tint in Oil, and if you just went Tint in Oil?! then we are best friends and you can continue reading this blog.  It sounds really fascinating except that it’s not.  It’s just a lip oil so we can all just go sit back down.  There is nothing to see here.

But if you must know.  I got mine in the shade Drive Me Copper.  As you can see from the swatch, it’s not very coppery.  Nor is it very any other color.  It’s a tint – I get that – but you can literally swatch it next to the other colors in the line and wouldn’t be able to tell a difference between any of them.  However, I can say a couple of good things about the product because I like to make an effort sometimes.  It’s slick and shiny, so it would make a nice glossy topper for any lip color.  It has a sticky factor of zero.  And when worn alone it feels nice and comforting.  But if you’re expecting something special in terms of a product with actual copper color (or any color), this one gets a big o raspberry.

And then there was this:

I hit pan on my teeny tiny Bare Minerals Touch-Up Veil setting powder, and it sent me into a panic.  International Powder Crisis and whatnot.  You know how it goes.  So I immediately went in search of another setting powder that I could store in my purse and apply at work after I do my mid-afternoon blotting.  The Bare Minerals one is matte, which is all well and good, but I wanted to try something different.  A glow powder.  And what better way to do it than with the Too Faced Candlelight Powder.

I’m not very good at glow powder.  Either that or I expected more than I should.  Cuz I didn’t get that “lit from within” candlelight glow I was thinking I’d get.  Instead, I got glitter and sparkle.  I’m too old for glitter and sparkle.  I had read reviews prior to purchasing, and let’s just say SHUT UP with your soft-focus, your illuminates complexion, and your inspired by actual candlelight cuz none of those things happened and my heart is broken.  It claims to be absolutely invisible, and while it is translucent, there is definite shimmer on your face.  Okay, okay, it’s not out at the club shimmer, but still.  I’m gonna keep playing around with it.  Maybe it’ll grow on me.  I mean, most people like this powder.  They’re probably all 14-year-olds, but yes, most reviews are favorable.

Last product in the haul:

Sometimes I buy things for the sake of buying something.  Take the It Cosmetics CC+ Radiance Palette for instance.  I hadn’t heard much about it.  But I walked into Ulta without an agenda, had nothing in my shopping bag for five minutes too long, and I started to get anxiety.  What if I didn’t find anything?  I couldn’t leave Ulta emptyhanded.  That’s blasphemy as far as I’m concerned.  So picking this palette up was an act of desperation at the very least.  However, I would find it useful especially when traveling since it’s basically three products in one.

My favorite is the blush.  It’s a very pretty pink with a touch of coral and looks very flattering with my skintone.  The powder is just okay.  It pulls slightly pink on me so I don’t love it, although if it came down to packing an extra powder compact or saving space with this 3-in-1, I’d do the 3-in-1.  That’s not lazy, that’s practical – and we all know how practical I can be.  Finally, the bronzer.  Looks very dark in the pan, but it does not apply that dark.  It’s matte and has a bit of a reddish undertone – in my opinion; deciphering undertones is not my strong suit.  However, it’s not my favorite bronzer.  It’s not bad, mind you, but I never want to use this palette primarily because of the bronzer.

Well, that’s what I get for not doing my research before stepping foot inside an Ulta.  It could’ve been worse though – I distinctly remember having an ice blue eyeshadow rollerball in my bag as well.  I kindly put that back on the shelf.  Anxiety is a REAL DISEASE – as you can clearly see.

Time for night night.  Thanks for continually reading my blog.  I love all my people.  Internet hugs for everyone.  Well, just the cute ones.  Bye!

Dec15

Buying Stuff: Episode 23

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Just 10 days until Christmas and only 1,457 presents left to buy.  Have I told you about the time I waited until the absolute very last minute (i.e., Christmas Eve) to buy gifts?  Or that I bought Easter basket trinkets at midnight on Easter where they were, surprisingly, not even discounted?  How about those birthday presents that tragically get “rerouted” during delivery end up arriving at my house roughly a week late?  I tend to procrastinate with things that stress me out.  However, advertise a makeup pre-order for something that’s not even available for 2 or 3 months, and I’ll get that done like yesterday.  Perhaps someone’s priorities are skewed?  I mean, not mine, but someone else’s?

In any case, I bought stuff:

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Your eyes are not playing tricks.  I bought the Gucci Lustrous Glow foundation y’all!  I was so curious about this product because there were only like two reviews of this YouTube.  I wasn’t even sure what color I was, and that quickly became my mission-slash-obsession in life.  Like, first find out my Gucci foundation shade, then solve world hunger.  I started with Light 030.  It seemed to be a touch too light, so I thought it would be safe to go up one notch to Light 040.  This one I held onto for about a week trying to decide if it matched.  It didn’t un-match necessarily but my face is naturally a little darker than my neck so it was hard to be sure.  I went ahead and ordered Light 050 so I could do a proper comparison.

You can imagine all the trouble and expense I’m going through at this point, yes?  I had charges for foundations before refunds were processed.  Thank God for Discover, that’s all I have to say about that.  Finally ended up settling on Light 050.  It had the least degree of washing out (if any).  I wouldn’t call it a perfect match – a skosh too yellow – but I’d make it work.  I mean, it’s Gucci.  You don’t return Gucci.  It’s in a rule book somewhere, I’m certain.

And was all the trouble worth it?  Welllll, it’s a decent foundation.  It had a nice natural finish to it.  Very slightly glowy on me; it wasn’t “lustrous” by any means.  The coverage was light to medium.  When foundations are light coverage, I tend to not like them as much because all my ugly bits show through.  So keep that in mind.  If you have a good complexion to start with, you’ll probably like this foundation more than me.  Best part is the lovely packaging.  If anything, you can buy this to sit on the back of your toilet for your house guests to admire.  A little pricey for bathroom décor, but did I mention it’s Gucci?

It was 3 o’clock in the morning when this happened:

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I really shouldn’t have internet access once my husband goes to bed.  Cuz I bought the May Lindstrom Honey Mud cleansing silk almost on autopilot.  However, it wasn’t alcohol-induced so points for that.

This stuff is advertised as a cleanser.  It’s made out of honey and clay and somehow manages to smell exactly like a Tootsie Roll.  The consistency is like a pudding before it sets up in the fridge.  I won’t lie; you want to eat it.  It feels super moisturizing and soft on the skin.  I can see this as a very luxurious spa treatment because it’s so elegant and lovely.  HOWEVER.  I was disappointed that it didn’t seem to clean my skin very well.  If you ask me, I’d consider it more as a pre-cleanser than a main cleanser.  For an $80 price tag, you should expect more.  Like pore gunk removal-slash-zit zapping-slash-magical powers.  They do give you the option to apply this as a mask instead, and I can see it working well in that capacity.

A side note: the honey used for this is collected from unsprayed/unfertilized fields of wildflowers in Michigan.  So now everything bad I just said went right out of your head didn’t it?  Yeah, mine too.

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I owned zero products by Tory Burch when I discovered they had a small amount of makeup on the Sephora website.  And because I’m in a constant state of needing to own all the things, I picked up this Bronzer and Blush.  Shade is called Divine, although that point is moot since it only comes in one shade.

First of all, the packaging will suck you in.  I love orange.  So warm, so summery.  Just looking at it will bring a smile to your face.  But the product itself isn’t that bad either.  I wouldn’t say you could use each section separately unless you use teeny tiny brushes.  Rather, just swirl your brush over all the shades combined.  You end up with a very pretty sunkissed glow on the cheeks.  I am much more happy with this purchase than originally expected.

If you’re looking to buy Tory Burch makeup, there isn’t a huge selection.  Sephora carries lipstick and a lip and cheek tint as well.  Hopefully there will be more forthcoming in the future as I am not opposed to buying something else.

Look – something pretty:

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Another instance of wanting to own all the things.  My first Kevyn Aucoin purchase, and I’d say it’s a pretty good one.   Hautelook was having a sale and the only eyeshadow duo left was the #201 Antique Silver/Plum Shimmer.  Turns out, that was the perfect duo for me.  The purple looks so stunning with my brown eyes.  And the silver isn’t like SILVER! but more Silver.  Well, I’m sure you know what I mean.

Blendability was excellent.  Pigmentation was excellent.  I can’t think of anything bad to say.  I want to buy all of them, so that could be bad.  For my wallet, anyway.

I bought this too:

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It’s the eyeshadow palette out of the Tarte Bon Voyage kit.  Why didn’t I show you the entire kit?  Cuz the only thing I wanted the kit for was so I could get this palette.  It is amazing.  Great selection of mattes and pretty shimmers.  Nothing super glittery.  Neutral but still colorful.  I got so much use of it for an entire week and never reused a shadow.  That’s value.  The cost is $59, but this is a 20-pan palette, and larger pans at that.  Plus you get extras in the kit like a mini finishing powder, mini cheek stain, mini mascara, and a full size lipgloss and lipstick.  Oh, and a mini Maracuja oil.  So honestly, it’s got good stuff for a really great price.  What I’m trying to say is go ahead and buy this.  It’s at Sephora only.  And it’s LIMITED EDITION.  You panicked yet?  You should be.

However, do not buy this:

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This is a mucho mucho waste of money.  It’s the Bobbi Brown Mini Eye Palette.  Super cute packaging, which enticed me first.  Then I thought the price ($35) wasn’t too terrible for 8 designer eyeshadows. I mean, it’s not awesome but I suppose you’d could say I’m used to it.  My last thought was that I didn’t have a lot of Bobbi Brown stuff, and because I’m very ridiculous, I went ahead and purchased it because that made perfect sense.

Now.  I’m not saying this palette wouldn’t work for certain people.  But for me it was simply no bueno.  Three of the shadows were chunky glitter, and even though they are quite clearly different colors in the pan, absolutely no discernible difference appeared on my eye.  The other colors were okay, but very sheer.  If I want a sheer look, that would be okay, but more often than not I don’t.  The size of the palette is a 2-inch square.  This doesn’t bother me, but I wanted everyone to know in case they would be expecting something bigger.

Ever since I’ve gotten this palette, it’s been hiding out in the Train Case of Unused Makeup.  It’s probably going to live there.  I’m keeping it because the packaging makes me happy and it’s Bobbi Brown (i.e., fancy).  Does that make me shallow?  Probably.

Last thing:

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As if I don’t have enough cleansers or something, I went ahead and picked up the Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip cleanser primarily because I liked the name Ceramic Slip.  I really should develop more appropriate shopping techniques.  I certainly shouldn’t base my purchases based on clever names, pretty packaging, and whether or not they look like food.

Regardless, though, this is a good cleanser.  It doesn’t smell that great.  Like it literally smells like the inside of a ceramic pot.  That’s probably not its intended smell, but I detect nothing floral, sweet or perfume-y at all.  It has black pepper and frankincense in it.  Are those good smells?  NO.  But they’re not horrid, so we can move on.

This cleanser is not moisturizing.  It actually physically tightens your skin.  It foams up really nice when you use wet hands and makes you feel like you’re getting your face super duper clean.  It claims to give me miniscule pores and flawless skin.  It’s printed right there on the front of the bottle.  They wouldn’t do that if it wasn’t true.  Either that, or it’s just a very clever marketing ploy because besides the name, that’s the other reason why I bought this.

Okay friends, we’re at the end.  Beauty boxes are arriving so I’ll be getting on those reviews soon.  Plus I’m in a constant state of Buying Stuff, so honestly, the fun will never die.  Hope it’s warm and sunshine-y where you are.  I’m going to go roll up in a ball under a blanket somewhere.  Bye!

Jul3

Buying Stuff: Episode 17

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You ever have those times where you think you are doing so good at shopping, not spending too much, then on the way out the store you see something you most desperately need and end up ruining all your good work?  Except you technically didn’t ruin anything because now you have something amazing, therefore you go home feeling like you quite literally saved the world from a stock market crash.  Well here is one of those times:

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It’s a cute little mask set from Peter Thomas Roth and I am in love.  Even if you don’t like masks, you could buy this cuz it has pretty colors, and who doesn’t love that? (Crazy people.)  I’ve been wanting to try the two gel masks for awhile, so finding this kit made me var var happy.  I didn’t know the pumpkin one existed, so that was a bonus.  Although I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin smells.  The last pumpkin thing I had was a mask from Michael Todd, and it had the consistency and appearance of baby food.  Not necessarily a bad thing if you love pumpkin; however, I do not.  But this Peter Thomas Roth thing is an exfoliator and the opposite of baby food, so I think it will be fine.

And remember how I saved the world from a stock market crash.  So everything mentioned in this post, including the pumpkin scrub, is immediately justified.

Below is a small Sephora haul:

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I love it when I run out of something cheap like body wash or makeup remover.  I have a legitimate shopping excuse at that point, and anything else that happens to find their way into my little basket is just a hazard of the emergency.  I mean, what can you do without body wash?  You can’t take a bath, that’s for sure.  So probably “emergency” is too mild a term to describe this situation, but “catastrophic misadventure” is much too long to type.

So I picked up a Philosophy body wash (that triples as a shampoo and bubble bath) in the scent Melon Daiquiri.  It smells like summer in a bottle, and I really like it.  They have tons of scents to choose from, and I spent an obnoxiously long time sniffing each and every one of them.  I almost bought all of them at one point, but finally decided on the melon.  But the Animal Cracker and Coconut scents are probably my next buy.

Wanted to try one of the Too Faced La Creme lipsticks because YouTube haunts me about 95% of my day.  Lots of my gurus talk about how they like the formula of these lipsticks, and I am easily persuaded, so there ya go.  I swatched a few of them in the store, decided on Pink Chocolate, and proceeded to walk around with it in my hand for about 45 minutes.  Right before checkout, I had an attack of conscious and realized I didn’t need to buy another lipstick.  I put it back, then stood in line at the register behind a lady taking an extraordinary amount of time signing up for the rewards program.  Or just long enough for me to ignore my rudely interrupting conscious and grab the lipstick off the shelf again and put it in my basket.

Well.  People need to be quicker in dealing with their transactions, that’s all I’m saying.  Hardly my fault.

Also got suckered into buying the Sephora #55 airbrush foundation brush because I am helpless and need a psychiatric evaluation.  Honestly, how many foundation brushes do I need?  In my defense, none of them say the word “airbrush” in the title, and I don’t know about you, but that word sucks me in almost 97.90567% of the time.  As evident by the fact I bought the dang thing.

I primarily wanted it because back in May when Sephora opened, the sales girl applied the Kat Von D foundation on me using this brush.  The finish was spectacular, which prompted me to buy the foundation.  Since that day I have not been able to duplicate the finish.  In fact, I almost hate the Kat Von D foundation because it is so thick and dry that applying it is about zero fun.

So now that I have this brush, one of the first things I did was apply the Kat Von D.  I read the directions of how to use the brush, and it says to dip it in the product, swirl it on the back of your hand, then apply to your face.  I did all that, and I still didn’t get the finish I was looking for.  Drat.  Perhaps I am not the makeup artist I pretend to be?  Perhaps my brush is broken?  Whatever the case, I have yet to achieve the look of airbrush, but I’m still working on it.

And then for no reason whatsoever, I needed to buy the Becca Beach Tint Shimmering Souffle.  For one, it’s a new product and there was a lot of excitement circling the Becca aisle because of it.  And two, the texture of this is pure fun.  It’s like the bubble wrap of makeup – you can’t stop touching it.  Whoever decided to call it a souffle gets an award, because that’s the perfect name.  It’s cushiony, airy, light.  Here’s a better close up, complete with finger indention.  Not a big one cuz I didn’t want to ruin it right off the bat:

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This is the color Guava/Moonstone.  It’s a cream blush – but the easiest application of a cream blush I’ve ever used.  It’s no fail.  If you get circus cheeks from applying this, then you need to sit down, as messing this up would be nigh on impossible.  The color payoff is very sheer and subtle, which could be a good thing if that’s what you’re looking for.  Beachy and glowy is what it is and var var beautiful.  Now, this is the only color I’ve used.  The others may be completely different.  You may get circus cheeks out of them for all I know.  But the Guava/Moonstone is golden and sunkissed – probably works best as a highlighter since the coral in it does not pop like you might expect.  I also have medium light skin, so depending on how dark or light you are, this may or may not be your dream blush.

How’s that for a review?  Maybe, maybe not, could be, could not be, yes, no … You might just need to swatch them for yourselves cuz I ain’t getting sued for misleading information.  All I’m saying is I like it.  Mostly because it’s squishy in its jar.  I dare you not to want to stick your fingers all in this stuff.  If you are somehow able to refrain yourself, you might need to take that show on the road, because that amount of willpower is downright inspirational.

Next up is this horrible picture below.

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I can’t even pretend there’s not cat hair all over this blanket.  I’m sorry.  What can I say?  They lay about as if they own the place.  And I guess that’s somewhat correct since my girl cat poops wherever she feels like and we still let her live with us.

The only thing in the picture I bought was the Bobbi Brown blush – the rest I got for free.  Perks of being VIB Rouge, y’all!  Which did not cost me a small fortune to begin with or anything (you know, in case the husband is reading this).  But back to that Bobbi Brown blush.  I got the color Sand Pink, and it’s a really nice medium shade that looks good with my skintone.  I’d say it’s pretty pigmented, but right now I’m distracted by how much cat hair is on that blanket and I can’t think of anything else.  I need to page-down real quick or something.

So all that Fresh lip care stuff was a little sample set.  It includes the lip polish, two lip balm treatments, and a sugar shine gloss.  I am really enjoying these products.  Aside from the weird brown sugar smell, that is.  I don’t prefer it.  But I believe the scrub is the best one I’ve ever used.  It keep my lips exfoliated the longest.  Which is quite a feat because I have the flakiest lip skin in all the land.  I don’t even understand why.  It couldn’t be because I sleep with a fan blowing in my face for 8 hours or anything.

The lip balms are nice as well.  The Rose one has a slight pink tint, but it’s not super evident, so don’t expect a whole lot.  I do like the way they feel on the lips; very moisturizing.  The shine gloss is just a top coat.  I probably won’t use this as much, but it’s not a bad product.  I just don’t wear a lot of clear glosses.

Then I cashed in a couple hundred rewards points and got the next two things.  First one is the Aqua Eyes eyeliner by Make Up Forever. I didn’t realize when I got it that it was a brown pencil, but I’m kind of happy it was. I have a lot of black liners, but very few brown ones. I was mostly interested in it cuz I needed a really good liner that stays put in my waterline. And even though this one is waterproof, my eyes somehow, miraculously, couldn’t give a shit. So this isn’t the one, needless to say. Still searching. Story of my life.

Last product is the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer. I know I’m the last person aside from nomads and cavewomen to own this bronzer. Better late than never. I can’t own all the things all at the same time ya know? Anyway, I thought this bronzer would be too dark for me cuz it kind of appears that way in the pan. But it’s PERFECT. Goes on lovely, blends fantastically, and smells like chocolate. Plus it’s matte so old people like me can wear it with confidence. Yayuuuuuus. In short, it’s my favorite bronzer now.

Congratulations, you’ve reached the end of this post. Your reward? Another post tomorrow.

You’re welcome.