CoverGirl Summer Essentials Review

Hi! I've been meaning to post this review for awhile now but I'm just now finally able to get around to finishing it. I included a few CoverGirl products in my Summer Inspiration post a couple of months ago but I hadn't used them for a long enough duration for me to feel comfortable posting a review on them. They weren't running down my face with the heat though, which is why they made the Summer Essentials list. With summer over though and having had the time to wear all of these for various lengths of time in different weather conditions, I think I've experienced enough to write a review on them all. Let's get started!

1. CG Smoothers BB Cream + Tinted Moisturizer with SPF15

-Light formula

-Doesn't dry out my skin

-Super easy to blend out

-Combines well with foundation and sits nicely underneath pressed powder

-Rubs off quite easily

-Tends to itch after having it on all day

This BB cream has a light formula, which I appreciate. It also doesn't dry out or cause breakouts on my skin, and since I have found that many makeup products tend to do that, especially if I haven't been properly moisturizing, I appreciate that as well. It blends out super easily and has a versatility that I really like. When I needed a bit more staying power I just combined a bit of this with my CG foundation and it gave me a great finish and lightened the feel of the foundation on my face. When I wear it alone the pressed powder on top gives my face more of a flawless, matte finish, which I like. I know most BB creams give the 'dewy' look, but on me I think it just looks sweaty, so I prefer a matte face. I don't have issues mixing it with anything or blending it out on my face. 

As for the cons, though, the biggest one was that it tends to smudge quite a bit throughout the day. Others can't really tell right away, but I can tell so I usually have to take pressed powder along with me and touch up my face throughout the day. If I'm using the phone or my sinuses are acting up and I have to blow my nose, I always end up with product smudged all over the Kleenex or my screen. That gets annoying. The other con about this product that I've noticed the more I wear it is that after awhile, my chin and cheeks start to itch. At first I thought it was just the brush I was applying it with so I switched the brush, but after a few hours I noticed it was starting to itch again and it just spreads upward. This isn't something I can wear all day with no issues, but it holds up well for a few hours. I did notice that the itching decreased when I combined it with a little foundation. That's probably just how it reacted with my skin though; my regular foundation is also by CoverGirl and I've never had that issue, so the itching is probably just how my skin reacted to it.

2. CG Intensify Me! Eyeliner Pen in Very Black 

-Tip allows for more control in application

-Style of the tip allows for more versatility with lines

-Not too watery 

-Dries out quickly

-Is darker in swatches than on the eye

-The applicator in some pens is a little hard on the skin

I had such high hopes when I used this for the first time. I loved the style of the tip, although it took me some time to learn how to use both successfully. I liked that it wasn't a more flimsy tip because those are harder for me to apply eyeliner with, but--and I don't know if this was just mine or not--the applicator was a little too hard, as I scratched my eyelid a little bit the first time I tried it. But that aside, I loved the style. From what I'd read, that was actually a complaint of many of the dissatisfied users; they didn't like the style of the applicator. For folks like me for whom a cat eye is usually either spectacular or an epic fail, however, that style gives us much more control over where and how the product is applied. It's much more firm, which also allows for more precision, whether the line is a thin or thick one, winged or straight. Unlike many liquid eyeliners with a brush applicator, this pen's formula isn't too watery, so I don't have to spend 5 minutes repairing smudges or places where there's a glob of liner on my eye. I would recommend this for a beginner because of the ability to control the intensity of the lines you draw. 

But on the other hand, it dries out super quickly. After a few hours of wearing the liner, I've noticed that it tends to crack a little on the outer edges of my eye. I accidentally left it without the top on for no more than a couple of hours and when I found it, it had already completely dried out. I've tried wetting the applicator, I've tried pushing the formula back into the applicator, I've tried everything I could think of to get it to start working again, but all to no avail. So if you carry a big purse or put your makeup in your backpack, be careful with this one or you'll find yourself in need of a new liner. One of the things I was most excited about when I first purchased this was how dark it initially swatched on my hand. The first time I wore it it was super dark and I loved it. But I noticed it gradually beginning to lighten, and the last couple of times I used it I had to go back over the line with my regular liquid eyeliner. Maybe that's just my complexion though, I'm sure it'll show up better on more fair skintones. 

3. CG Super Sizer Mascara in Very Black

-Very dark

-Easy to remove

-Good for days with light makeup

-Formula + brush are prone to create clumping

-Doesn't have the 'oomph' I prefer with more dramatic looks

-Tends to smudge

For a couple of months before I finally broke and picked this up, I'd been seeing it all over social media with folks touting it as this big deal. When Influenster added a snap to my dashboard to pick up the duo of the eyeliner and mascara, take a photo and upload it to IG though, I figured what the hell, why not. I needed a new mascara anyway, so I tried it out. I'd been using it for a couple of weeks when I created the Summer Essentials post, so I'd gotten a pretty decent idea of how it worked by then. Since the goal was to keep my makeup light for summer, I didn't need another mascara to get the effect I wanted. Well, at first, anyway. But I'll get to that in a minute. The first thing that I really liked about this mascara is how dark the formula is. I don't know if this is just a complaint of mine, but I've noticed with some mascaras that the color isn't very intense. I prefer my mascara to be really dark and this one was, so I enjoyed that. For days when I want really light makeup, this one does the trick. It lasts throughout the day and at first, I didn't need to use it with another mascara. When it's time to remove it at the end of the day, it's not difficult at all, and I like that. The Bombshell mascara was a real [expletive] to remove, even with eye makeup remover, so I was a little concerned that I'd have the same issues with the Super Sizer, but I don't.

After using it a few times though, the results changed. I noticed that my lashes were much more prone to clumping and smudging, especially underneath my eyes. The one good thing about this mascara and my lower lashes is that the smaller wand bristles are really well-suited for them; I just wish it wouldn't smudge. I think because the formula is so wet, it ends up making my lashes stick together and I usually have to go back through them with a comb every time I wear the mascara. I was hoping this brought the drama with elongating my lashes, but it doesn't. I always have to use another mascara to get them to look as long as I like, but that always makes them more prone to clumping. The cons are things that I can easily work around so it's not awful, but they're a little annoying. lol 

Overall, I like all of these products and actually still use the BB cream and mascara on a regular basis, but I wasn't terribly impressed with any of them. If you don't bother much with eyeliner or struggle with the applicators on most liquid liners, the Intensify Me! will be good for you to use. If you prefer your mascara light and have an eyelash brush on hand, the Super Sizer would be great for you. And if you, like me, usually prefer lighter coverage for your face or don't have oily skin, the CG Smoothers will be perfect for you. These aren't bad products at all; I think my primary problem with all of these products was simply that they didn't live up to the hype. I was expecting these to be through the roof awesome, but they were just okay for me. Do you own any of these products? How'd they work for you?

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Fall Explosion Tag

Hi! How've you been enjoying these first few weeks of fall? I'm loving the dip in temperatures, but not looking forward to the cold just yet. My relief at no longer waking up drenched in sweat and having to keep the fan on anymore is always short-lived because with the changing seasons and temperatures come the rise of seasonal colds and the like. Neither I nor my immune system are looking forward to that. But you take the good with the bad, right? lol

 As I grow older, I've come to realize that there are things that I love about every season. I used to detest fall with a passion for a number of reasons. I considered it the forgotten season and was just fine with that. But I have noticed my tastes and preferences starting to evolve as I make the slow trek towards middle age (LOL I'm not even 30 yet. #quarterlifecrisis) and one of those things that I've finally learned to open my mind about was the fall season. Now that I have, though, I've become slightly obsessed so I wanted to do a few more posts on it. This helped me to see that there were actually things I loved about the season even when I thought I hated it, so that's been kinda cool. 

I'm a big fan of YouTube tags and over the years, all kinds of tags come and go. They've kinda fallen off over the past couple of years or so, but a couple of the fall tags were what pulled my attention the most. I'm trying to be more active on here, I really am, but the vintage blog and lack of funds are preventing me from reviewing with more consistency. So I thought this would be a good idea to both give me another post that I didn't need to purchase anything for and get my head more into the season. A couple of my favorite fall-related tag videos were the Sweater Weather and Fall Favorites tags, but instead of making two separate posts I figured I'd combine everything into one big questionnaire, Myspace style. lol I also sprinkled in a few of my own season-related questions. Some of these have photos, some don't. That's how I roll. LOL Let's get started!

1. Favorite fall lip product?

My favorite lip product during the fall is dark anything. Dark stains, dark liners, dark glosses, dark matte lipsticks, I don't care what kind of lip product it is as long as it's dark. My current favorites are LA Girl's Glazed Lip Paints in Daring & Tempt, and the Matte Liquid Lipsticks in Rebel & Backstage, and a dark red, almost purple liner for both. I also really like the dark ombre lip for fall. I couldn't decide, which is why the photo has quite a few products.


2. Favorite fall nail polish?

My Fall Inspiration post will have a full layout of what I like, but fall always makes me break out the deep, darker colors.


3. Best/favorite fall memory?

I don't have many since fall is a very new item on the 'like' list. When I give it some thought, I realize that fall has always been the season when my love life gets a boost lol, but even with that being the case, I don't have too many noteworthy anecdotes. One funny one is when I was 18, I was seeing some dude and it wasn't anything serious, but I was catching feelings and tried to soak in every stolen moment we could have. He came to see me on Halloween but could only stay for an hour because he had a curfew. We wanted some privacy, so we just hung out and talked...and made out, obviously lol...in the car. Neither of us was ready for him to leave but neither of us wanted him to get grounded either because then he wouldn't be able to come over at all, so after we stalled as long as possible without going past his curfew, he walked me back up to the door to kiss me goodnight. He gets back to his car and realizes we'd locked his keys in there. Where I live, the typical fall weather doesn't hit until right around Halloween, so the temps had dropped, we're standing outside in t-shirts, and he's locked out of his car. After both of us, my mom and a neighbor all failed to get the lock open, we finally had to call the fire department to come help us out. The good thing about that was we got an hour more of cuddle time. lol The bad thing about that was he obviously was grounded when he got home, and that was our last hurrah for a little while. It was embarrassing then, but it's a cute and funny memory for me now.


4. What is autumn like where you live?

Well as I said above, most of the time, the first month of the season is pretty mild. They're not quite summer temperatures, but they're still warmer than most other places during fall. It's still sunny most of the time but the mornings and nights are both cooler, and even though we don't get much humidity anyway it still improves during the fall. Temperatures are more prone to fluctuate during the fall, sometimes we'll have days pushing 90 degrees, while other days will drop without warning to the low 70s. Around Halloween, they'll drop even further, the cold winds and bad weather start blowing in, and we won't see a degree above 80 for awhile after that.


5. Football games or jumping in leaf piles?

I spend all spring and summer complaining about there not being any football to watch, then end up forgetting about it come fall. LOL Hands down though, football. I'll still jump in a leaf pile, but the joy doesn't last as long as it used to. lol Lambeau Field is a life bucket list for me.


6. Favorite fall TV show?

Scandal and The Blacklist. I don't watch a lot of current tv these days, but those are the two fall shows that I consistently wait for every season.


7. Favorite fall drink?

I don't have one. Hot chocolate, if I had to pick.


8. What do you think is the most overrated fall trend?

Source

Pumpkin spice everything. I have no problems with pumpkin, pumpkin pie is actually one of the only kinds of pie that I'll eat, but I don't think its necessary for it to be in absolutely everything all season. It's in everything. Before long there'll be pumpkin spice flavored edible panties. Ugh. Let me stop; I've already put that out in the air.

9. What are you looking forward to the most this season?

Source

Partially excited for Halloween, partially excited for the day after when the candy goes to half-price, and decorating for November before I have to change everything up for the holidays.


10. Favorite Halloween movie?

Source

Hocus Pocus, duh!


11. Which trend do you associate more with fall: dark lips or winged liner?

Source

Winged liner is a year-round thing for me, so I'm gonna go with dark lips. I try to stick with berries and pinks for summer, so it's nice to go to the dark side for fall. I've been missing my dark lipsticks. But dark lips and winged liner? Win!


12. Skinny jeans or leggings?


Both. I love the comfort of leggings and tend to associate those with fall because you can do so much with them. I wear them underneath jeans once the cold weather hits, but while it's at the cooling down point, you can pair them with slouchy sweaters and boots, or tights with skirts and cute shoes. I also love the fit, feel and look of a good skinny jean though, because those too look good with plaid or flannel shirts, slouchy sweaters, boots, or cardigan/t-shirt combos.


13. Favorite fall candle?

Marshmallow Fireside and Pumpkin Pecan Waffles from Bath & Body Works.


14. Any ideas for a Halloween costume yet?

No. I have some ideas for Halloween makeup looks I'd like to try, but as far as a costume I'm not sure yet. I've always wanted to try a dead bride or a pirate wench. What will I end up doing though? Probably sitting down, playing around with makeup and finding something that looks really creepy, then scaring my sister. Again. lol


15. Any fall traditions?

None really.


16. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

Cold coffee, chai and hot chocolate. I'm not going to pick just one. I do what I want. Insert emoji with shades.


17. Favorite Thanksgiving food?

To be honest, I'm not very big on Thanksgiving. It originally started as just being bored with the holiday, but I realized over the past couple of years that I don't like the history the holiday was built upon either. I appreciate and respect the theory of the holiday, to be grateful for everything and everyone in my life, but the holiday itself isn't one of my personal favorites. So the food's not of much importance to me.


18. Do you have a signature fall fragrance?

I don't know that I have a signature fall fragrance, but I do have signature scent notes that I gravitate to more during the fall and winter months. Fall is when I move away from the fruity, floral notes that I prefer during the spring and summer; I prefer muskier scents as the colder weather starts to set in. I don't have a specific one, though.


19. What songs evoke the fall spirit to you?

I don't know that I have any. I was on the Autumn Cozy Tumblr account a couple of weeks ago though, and Autumn has some pretty good recommendations for fall music. Check my Fall Inspiration post for more.


20. Is there a fall polish that's on your must-have list this year?

I was dying for a copper or gold-toned polish this year, and Sinful Colors answered my prayers and had another 99 cent sale so I picked up Copper Pot. I think it's beautiful.


21. What's your favorite thing about fall?

The burst of colors. I love how nature seems to come alive. I think this photo captures the beauty in the atmosphere and the overall cozy feeling that fall creates. I don't know who took this, I think I got it from Tumblr, but I thought it was a perfect visual for what fall is. Look at all the colors in the photo! This is what fall is all about--falling leaves, tons of colors, variety of shapes and sizes, either drifting from trees or crunching under your feet. It's a beautiful time of year.

22. Favorite Halloween candy?

Source

It used to be candy corn, but now I don't think I have one. Nah, it's still candy corn. I just don't eat it too much. lol


23. Combat boots or Uggs?

It's a new one for me, but combat boots. I've never been a fan of Uggs, but recently I've been finding myself drawn to combat boots. I'm still not quite ready to chance wearing them as I don't know how they'll look on me, but I've been digging them lately. I've also been really into boots like the ones in this photo. I got a snap of these when I was out looking for fall fashion inspiration last week and I'm in love with them. I don't know if I can pull them off, but they're outside of my comfort zone and I wonder what all I can style with them.


24. Any fall activity you have yet to try but would like to?

Source

I would love to go to a pumpkin patch. Any of the years we've had a pumpkin for Halloween, we just got one from the local grocery store. I always hear about celebrities taking their families to pumpkin patches and we even have a few of them here locally, but I've never really had the desire to go to one. One thing that creating seasonal bucket lists has given me is the desire to try new things for the sake of enjoying the experience, and this just feels like one of those quintessential fall experiences that I haven't gotten to participate in.


25. Favorite fall accessory?

There are three. A scarf, a beanie, and a camera. I think fall is one of the most beautiful times of year, and it's also one of the most beautiful to photograph. One of the reasons I love fall is because it's when I get to finally break out my beanie collection again. I'm new to the world of scarves and enjoying how they look on me as opposed to other people, but I think they're the perfect fall accessory and complement a ton of outfits.


26. Is the Starbucks PSL worth the hype?

Source

I hear about this so much you'd swear it was the second coming of Jesus. It's on my bucket list to try one so I can decide for myself, but my initial answer to this is no. I already think its overrated because I see it everywhere, and most times when I see something that is very overblown like PSL, it ends up being sorely underwhelming. I'm expecting that here. lol 

So there are some of my thoughts on fall themes. I really liked doing this post. I think tags and things like that help you get to know me a bit better, which I like, but they're also just fun to do. I think I might adapt a few more of these as the seasons pass. What are your fall favorites, is there anything you're excited for this season? What are your answers to these questions? Let me know in the comments!

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September Favorites

This month doesn't have a bunch of items on it, but there are a few newbies on here for once. I think from here out in terms of official categories for the site, the apps and websites will be combined into one Tech category but if necessary, I'll still keep them separate for my Favorites posts. I have to start checking out new apps and websites again; I've been slacking a little bit there. And everywhere else on this blog if I'm keeping it real, but that's another story for another day. On to the favorites!

LA Girl Glazed Lip Paint in Tempt

I didn't really try anything new this month in the way of beauty products, but I found this stunning blood red lip paint from LA Girl last weekend and I fell all the way in love with it. It is the perfect deep red lip that I was looking to wear for fall and I can't wait for the next time I feel like resembling a human so I can put it on. LOL I've had hair like Goku and (other than for a few minutes Sunday while I was trying out a look,) not a stitch of makeup on all weekend and I've been diggin' it. This lip paint does sweeten the pot of putting some on, though. lol I think I have enough of the LA Girl products I've tried to pull together a review that I'm satisfied with so you'll be seeing a swatch of it soon.

none this month!

Even though my answer is the same as it's been for a few months now, the difference is that this month I've actually been reading. I just haven't read anything that stuck out to me. I've read a few books but they were romances, which I prefer to review on book sites, or they just weren't very memorable. I'm hoping that the next batch of books I read give me something I can put up here. 

Narcos, The Blacklist, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

Netflix really came through for me this month. I've been trying to get more involved with what's on regular tv this month, but the more interesting options were on Netflix for me. Firstly, the Netflix Original miniseries Narcos debuted earlier this month I believe, and I loved it. There's some heat on the main actor for being chosen to play a Colombian despite being Brazilian himself, but I thought he did a stellar job. If you aren't aware of Narcos, it is a miniseries about the players in the Medellin Cartel, and the various individuals in law enforcement who work to bring them down. I thought this was a gritty series that showed an adequate amount of what was going down on both sides of the coin. If you've seen the documentary Cocaine Cowboys then many of these names will be familiar to you; Narcos goes much more in-depth about the everyday happenings during that time in a way that's true to the meat of the story, while putting a new spin on things. 

I was in satellite timeout last year when season 2 of The Blacklist premiered and didn't come back until the end of the season, so I just waited until Netflix made the entire season available. I loved it. Season 3 premieres tonight, and I can't wait! I love the show and James Spader so much that I end up forgetting how much I don't care for Liz lol, but I'm still excited to see what the writers have cooked up for this season. 

Speaking of shows that I was in timeout for, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries was another one that I didn't get to see. Instead of it being satellite timeout like The Blacklist, this one was an American timeout. LOL MFMM is an Australian show, so being in America I didn't get to watch the third season when it premiered in the spring. Netflix didn't make me wait forever for once though so when the third season was uploaded last week, I was all over it. I am in love with this show and I really wish the Australian ABC affiliates aired it here in the States. If you like period crime dramas in the same vein as Agatha Christie's Poirot but with much more sassiness and less fussiness (I love my Poirot but anyone who says he isn't a bit of a divo sometimes is a liar lol), then I think you'll like Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. 

Murdered: Soul Suspect for PS3

I've had this game for a little while now, but I got stuck early on in the game and didn't touch it for months because I couldn't get past the level. I was talking to a friend a couple of months ago when she mentioned she had the game as well. A common complaint we had was the demon presence, which (despite it serving as the major obstacle to get past, which I understand) sort of detracts from the game overall. It was actually a level with the demons that I struggled to get past, so it killed my desire to play. Talking to my friend helped reignite it so I tried again, but this time I ended up addicted. 

Murdered takes us into the world of Salem, Massachusetts, where we're introduced to Ronan, a street-smart delinquent turned rough around the edges police detective. Unfortunately, we're introduced to him through his murder, which is the first bit of gameplay. After being thrown out of a 4th story window, the killer uses Ronan's own gun to kill him. As Ronan, the player gets to experience the spirit world through his eyes and find out who killed him before being able to reunite with his wife in the light. In finding out who killed him, Ronan finds an unlikely sidekick in a bratty but powerful teenager, and a backstory much larger than anything he could have imagined himself. I enjoyed this game immensely, irritating demons aside. I can usually take a stab at guessing how the story ends and be right, but I wasn't even halfway right for this game and I liked that. The controls were fairly easy to learn and remember, there are tons of smaller side stories to keep you occupied, and the graphics were awesome at illustrating the mysticism and supernatural influence that is part of Salem's reputation. It was a dark, eerie environment and enhanced the gameplay for me. I would suggest manual save options if I had any critiques, because the autosave can get irritating if you have to leave in the middle of an objective. Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed this game and am probably going to play it again so I can complete all of the side missions. 

Official Packers app, Snapchat, Tumblr

Now that football is finally back on the radar, I can use my Packers app again. The spring and summer are the driest times of life in every conceivable way, including activity on that app because its off-season. lol I've been trying to catch the games when I can but since I often forget, I keep up via the app and the team's IG account. I think it's a very extensive app in terms of the team information and access to stats that it provides, but I'm not a fan who cares much for the stats (partially because I don't understand them and can't remember all those numbers anyway lol) so I hop on there for the schedule, player statuses, gameday scores and injury reports. All of those are fairly accessible but I'm subscribed to instant updates so it wouldn't matter anyway. It's well but simply designed and I like that as well. 

I've been on Snapchat a lot this month, but I have yet to actually post anything on it. The only reason why I have one at all is because some of the YouTubers I follow are active on there so I'll check in and be nosy a few times a day from time to time. I didn't see the appeal of Snapchat for the longest time and there's still no personal pull towards it, but I do like it. There's nothing interesting enough in my life for me to create any snaps myself, but that's totally fine with me. I can barely keep up with both blogs, the last thing I need is another barely updated social media account. But it's a fun app to be nosy on. lol 

I was really late to the Tumblr train and I still wouldn't say I'm on board with it entirely, but it is an amazing source of inspiration for a number of things. It has been an immensely helpful resource in helping me create my Fall Bucket List and Autumn Inspirations posts (both of which are coming soon), so I've been spending a lot of time on there. I don't post on there very often (shocking, right) but scrolling through the feed is a lot of fun. 

Bloglovin', YouTube, Google

I get daily updates from Bloglovin' on the blogs that I follow on there, and it has been a real lifesaver for me. There are tons of great websites, all of which put out awesome content, and I can't remember all of the names on my own so Bloglovin' saves me the trouble. It's one of my favorite emails to get every morning; it's like a collection of daily inspiration and ideas. If you follow a lot of different blogs or websites, I suggest getting a Bloglovin' account and adding them on there so you don't miss any posts. 

Duh, of course YT is on here. I'll go into more detail later, but one of the main reasons why I always watch YT is because since my satellite timeout last year, I noticed that I don't really care for regular tv anymore. I enjoy the more personal feel of YouTube, and I find myself more excited for new videos than I do for shows that come on tv. Well, except for wrestling and Scandal, because duh. My tv time this month was split pretty equally between Netflix and YouTube, and I have no complaints. 

Finally, Google is on here because I was building some ideas for Octoberfest over on ATV, and I needed to research those ideas first and see if they were feasible to make into an entire post. I had to consult Google quite a few times this month, so I had to put it up here. 

Fall and Halloween decor

I haven't had my eye on any other kind of DIY project lately except for the ones related to the season or Halloween. I was finally able to figure out how to integrate a little design into my room, so the only things I've been looking to be inspired by are fall and Halloween. Usually, I don't mind Halloween but I don't think much of it because I don't end up doing anything or going anywhere. The area is more often than not pretty dry of trick-or-treaters as well, so sometimes it feels like the holiday just skips by us entirely. But for some reason, I've been feeling really inspired by Halloween decor, so I've been testing out some ideas I came up with. If I'm satisfied with the results, the goal is for them to make it into a few DIY project posts here. The same goes for fall, although I haven't gotten around to testing a lot of those yet. But other than that, there aren't really any DIY projects grabbing my attention right now. 

Fall and Halloween decor/inspiration, website design, fall makeup, baking, cold weather recipes, bonfires, creepy Halloween topics

Fall and Halloween decor are about the only things that I'm seriously interested in creating right now, so I've been looking for project inspiration almost constantly. I think I'm finally getting somewhere in terms of realizing the look I'd like the blog to have, now I'm just trying to figure out how to bring that vision to fruition. There is a template that has an important element to it that I'd like to integrate into the final blog design, so I've been scouring the 'Net trying to find it. 

Fall makeup has been on the brain lately as well; after keeping my makeup neutral and light for most of the summer I'm looking forward to more intense looks. I've been looking for makeup looks that integrate some of my fall palette without being too dramatic or overdone, and I've found a ton. Those will be up soon; I'll probably put them in a playlist in case you're a little short on makeup ideas too.

When fall comes around, the desire to cook becomes similar to an obsession. I, despite my best efforts to appear otherwise, have a mother hen in me, constantly clucking at everyone around me to be careful, make sure you eat, and during the colder months that mother hen/hermit hybrid is amped up a notch. The way I show my love or hope to provide some comfort and warmth to someone else is through food (but not in an emotional crutch type of way) anyway, so this is really when I like being in the kitchen. I love stick to your ribs, feel-good-food, especially during fall and winter. I love to cook anytime of the year, but this is when I feel the most at home, so to speak. Delicious smells piping out of a warm home, all of the inhabitants full and happy inside the home, me surrounded by bubbling pots and pans of food, it sounds like heaven to me. I waited so long for it to be warm enough for me to grill again, but now that the season has officially passed, I'm over it. LOL I'm trying to break out the slow cooker and make a bunch of hot meals, even though the temps haven't cooled yet. But watch, when it finally does get cold I'm going to complain. I do it every year.

Since I was in high school, I have wanted to go to a bonfire party. I hear about those who live up north or by the beach doing them all the time, regardless of season, but I don't hear about them too often living here in the desert. I'm a bit of a firebug anyway so this is probably for the better lol, but I have always wanted to either build a bonfire or go to one. My mom and uncle used to tell me about bonfire parties they'd attend while they were in high school, but I don't hear about the kids doing that nowadays. If I could build a safer version of one so we could roast marshmallows in the backyard, I'm on it. lol

As I said earlier, I'm doing an Octoberfest of sorts over on ATV, so when I was using Google it was to research topics and content. I don't want to make things gory, but I wanted to find a way to combine history with the creepiness and jumpscare popularity of Halloween, so I've been trying to find all sorts of creepy Halloweenie subjects.

Documentary I watched: 

Pecados de mi padre/Sins of My Father

I came across this in the "Because You Watched" section of Netflix while I was watching Narcos, but I waited until I was finished with the season before I watched this. Sins of My Father is a documentary following the son of Pablo Escobar as he attempts to seek forgiveness from the sons of the families his father wronged. We get to hear his story, which we don't see much of in Narcos because he is a child. Juan Escobar, who has since changed his name, made headlines at 16 immediately after his father's murder by vowing vengeance on those who killed him. This statement, although said obviously in distress, ended up marking him forever, as if being Pablo Escobar's son wasn't enough of a marking, and he ended up being exiled from Colombia as a result. I don't want to spoil the story, but Pablo Escobar had political dreams that were shattered when news of his drug empire went public, and the public figures who opposed him the most were killed. His son makes it his goal to seek forgiveness from the sons of those men, and that's what a good deal of the documentary deals with. It also touches on the juxtaposition of the loving, doting father that his son grew up around with the heartless, bloodthirsty monster his father also had the capability of being and his struggle to accept both as truth. It was at that moment that I understood and sympathized with him because through no fault of his own, he was as dragged into the situation as the other victims were, but because he is the living 'heir' of Pablo Escobar's legacy, he now bears the brunt of his father's sins. It has to be an incredibly difficult situation to live with, and I applauded his courage in making this a documentary rather than keeping his story to himself out of fear of being discovered. It's an honest look into his son's path, from the uncertainty to the viewpoints of those whom he's seeking forgiveness from, and I highly recommend it. 

Well I hope you enjoyed this month's collection of favorites and you're as excited for fall as I am! I have some fall-themed posts coming up this month and I am going to try my hardest to stick to the blog schedule I wrote out last night. I know it's been very dry around here for months and I promise that isn't the intention. I try to find reviewing jobs and opportunities all the time. I don't have money to spare most of the time, so more popular things to review often evade me and because I don't have the audience to market myself to larger companies, obviously they aren't going to be sending me items like they do with more popular vloggers and bloggers. They need to start a company that serves as a middleman between more popular vloggers and smalltime bloggers, and if they get sent a box of products that they have no intention of reviewing or even speaking about (which happens often), they can send it to us and we'll do it instead. lol I have no issues with reviewing a box full of makeup, giving my honest opinion on all of it and getting to put it all together into a post full of swatches and fun details. Anything that doesn't get used can then be added to a giveaway. And getting paid to do all of that too? Sounds like a review blogger's dream. I'll gladly put my name on a list for that. But anywho, let me pull my head out of the clouds and get to work on the next post. See you soon!

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August Favorites

Aww, it's already the end of the last full month of summer! On one hand, I feel like summer can't be over fast enough; it's been almost too hot to live. But on the other hand, I've been loving the warm nights, the late sunsets, and not needing to wear a jacket just to take out the trash. This month didn't yield many favorites for me; I've really got to start working on that...and posting on here more. Now that Summer Under the Stars is over, I won't have my attention split too much between here and ATV, so I should be able to put up a few reviews. Anyway, on to the favorites!  

Carapex Renewal Facial Cleanser, Carapex Super Moisturizing Butter Foot Cream

I reviewed a batch of Carapex products last month sometime and like I said during the review, two of the five products I tried have since become holy grail products for me. The facial cleanser has helped with my skin, which admittedly isn't too problematic, but it's helped clear my skin, even out the texture, and removed the excess oils. I read a few bad reviews before I tried it out, but none of the adverse effects have hit me so I'll file them away just in case but my skin's been much more behaved.

The foot cream has been a godsend because during the summer, when my feet are undoubtedly in their worst condition of the year, I need something that is a level above too legit to quit. This foot cream has improved the overall feel of my skin, doesn't make my feet feel crazy greasy, and it's been great for my feet since I've been using it. It's not too heavy on the feet but I feel like it's going to be awesome with socks come wintertime. It's the only cream I've been putting on my feet this summer and it's really the only one I've needed.

TCM's Summer Under the Stars

Part of the reason why I was so silent over here throughout the month of August was because of TCM's annual promotion Summer Under the Stars, which features an all-star lineup of a different collection of actors each year. It's always a lot of fun to participate in but it's also very time consuming because I make daily postings throughout the entire month over on All Things Vintage. I can barely pull off daily blogging; there's no way in hell I could ever be a daily vlogger. I fully tip my hat to those who do it. Anyway, this was probably the most tv I've watched in months, which is also time consuming because I live-tweet through the movie I selected to feature for that day, and as a result I wasn't really watching too much else. 

As for other movies, I did go see Straight Outta Compton earlier in the month and I loved it. Maybe it's stupid of me, but I feel like having Ice Cube's real son stepping into his shoes to play the part gave the film some authenticity. I absolutely loved the movie and I don't often want to go back to the movies to watch the same film twice, but I wouldn't mind seeing this one again. It was gritty, provided some understanding as to why these guys were the way they were, and allowed the message of the group to reach an entirely new audience, which I think is especially important with this being the dawn of a new generation of rap. 

Injustice: Gods Among Us (PS3)

This isn't a new game to me by any means, but I finally bought it not that long ago and while I beat it the same day I started playing, I am still stuck on it. It's actually why cosplay has been on my mind so much lately; I would love the opportunity to try my hand at creating some cosplay versions of the costumes in Injustice. Anyway, the world doesn't need one more review of Injustice but I thought the style of gameplay here was great. I had some trouble with the more complex combos than anything else, but I really loved the storyline and it reminded me a bit of DCUO, where I remember Booster Gold mentioning that there was a Squad K to handle Superman if he ever became a danger to the planet. I wonder where the hell they were for Injustice. lol

HellFire, Phonto

I went back to HellFire this month for a new tournament, just in time too because apparently, the creators have finally decided to listen to all the complaints and reset the style of the dungeon tournaments back to how it used to be. I know that was one of the biggest reasons why people started to leave the game, so resetting it might bring a few of them back. What keeps me on that site, honestly, are the cards. I love the graphics, love the lore behind them (when I remember to read) and the small competitive streak that I do have is always ignited when trying to level up my cards for these tournaments. 

Phonto has also become my new bestie, especially with Self-Love September going on. This is the only app that I use for those photos and for an app, I really like all of the customization options that it has. It already comes with a lot of base fonts, but you can add as many more as you want and edit them however you like. I wish that it had a GIMP/Photoshop feature with text layers that you could duplicate because that would make things easier, but it doesn't take anything away from the app by not having it so I can deal. It's a more than worthy option if you have to rely on mobile editing like I do. 

Wonder Forest

If you're a beginner to blog or website design, check out Wonder Forest. Dana has an entire encyclopedia of knowledge on both blog and website design, customization and coding, and if HTML doesn't make your brain hurt then it shouldn't be too difficult to implement into your site. There are also a number of articles on how to strengthen your blog through your content, audience reach, and how to strengthen your skills as a blogger. I think it's an excellent resource for someone just learning the ropes. She also offers her services for blog design, holds classes to assist bloggers, and has premade templates for sale on the site. 

Cosplay costumes, desk organization, fall room decor and accessories, T-shirts

As I mentioned earlier, cosplay has been on my mind quite a bit lately, partially because of playing Injustice and Dynasty Warriors. I've been looking at the different character outfits, trying to figure out which would be the easiest, cheapest or most fun to cosplay, either for a convention or for a "Cosplay in Real Life" inspired outfit. It's fun to break an outfit down into its various compartments and challenge yourself to figure out where you can create the base materials for said outfit from. I came out of my IMVU experience with a lot more respect for and understanding of cosplayers, and I'd love the opportunity to bring some of my ideas to fruition someday. 

Most of my desk is finally organized the way I'd like it and I'm quite happy with it. It's been an ongoing process, partially due to my not really having a direction for it at the beginning of the year to finally getting inspiration but not the money during the spring, to being able to carry out most of what I wanted this summer. It's still not finished and I suspect it'll take awhile longer because of the money factor, but when I'm done I'll probably do a small DIY post on it. I'm really pleased with it so far and since I've been using it, it's helped my productivity skyrocket, which I needed for SUTS over on ATV for August. I think for me, I need an environment that speaks to getting work done in order for me to get in gear. When my health issues are flaring up, it really doesn't matter what environment I'm in at all, but it's been a really good motivator to at least try now that my desk is in working condition. 

Since fall is right around the corner, I wanted something festive I could decorate my desk with. I have a few ideas I want to try out and if they end up successful then I'll do a DIY on them, but I'm not sure yet. I love the various decoration options that come with the changing of the seasons. It helps me engage in the moment, in the season, and take everything in. I guess that sounds cheesy but stuff like that helps with me. 

I'm still looking to DIY some t-shirts. Since I can't afford a lot of the t-shirts I really like, I'd like to do a similar inspired shirt so I can still walk around in all my proud geekiness. I've already started buying shirts, but I want the time to figure out what I want to do with them before I potentially ruin them. LOL

Fall inspiration, Dunkin Donuts caramel iced coffee, cosplay, website design, 30-day challenges

Even though I love summer, the heat has been unbearable and feels like it's been going on forever so I'm looking forward to fall. A little bit. lol Not looking forward to having to put on layers of clothes and stay indoors for months again, but I'm looking forward to not having any more days at 95 degrees or higher. One thing I always love about fall is the color scheme and the difference in the types of makeup you can do. I keep my makeup light during the warmer months because duh, but fall is when I start to get into the darker, smokier looks again. I love mattes and darker colors during fall, so I look for both fashion and makeup inspiration to show those things off. 

I don't mind Starbucks, but it isn't the end all, be all in coffee for me. I love some of the sweets though. lol I've tried cold coffees from a number of places but wasn't able to find the one that did it for me until I went to Dunkin' last month and ordered a cold coffee. I'd never ordered from there before, so I randomly asked for some caramel in mine and it was one of the best cold coffees I've ever had. Not overloaded with ice or sugar, the brew doesn't leave a strong aftertaste and the caramel mellows everything out. Yum.  

 As I've mentioned a couple of times, I'm more of an amateur cosplayer in real life but I have what I call 'virtual experience.' LOL *Geek alert* (This is a side note, but as I writing the 'geek alert,' I had to push my glasses up on my face. Geek style. LOL) Basically, I was part of a RPG website called IMVU, which is something like Second Life, and I used to roleplay on there in a number of different roleplay factions. Even though its a virtual existence and you get to build your character and the advantage of that over a forum-based RP is that you get some visuals and real-time responses during an active scenario, imagination is still required. You get to build the look that you want your character to have, get to build their various forms (if that's the kind of RP you're in), in essence build their life on this site, all of which takes imagination and creativity because you're creating something from scratch. And then if you're a product developer or photographer (I was both), you get to either create products if you can't find exactly what you want or photograph others in their various forms, both of which were a lot of fun to do. So it gives you some experience in creating your own looks, and being on IMVU with so many different kinds of people from all kinds of walks of life (I mean seriously....it's so amazingly diverse and that's one of the things I loved about it. If you were in a crowd that understood you, there was no judgment if you came in a chat room looking like a pixie. If you were around real-life style chatters, however, all bets were off. lol) gives you more courage to really do you. Which then, in my case after I left IMVU, emerged as a love affair with cosplay. Really long way around a simple interest, but that's some of my story with discovering the joys of cosplay.

Website design is something I need to look into since being able to hire a blog designer really isn't going to be part of my life in the near future. I'm trying really hard to understand what HTML is so that I can do what I want to do with both of my blogs. I took a class in high school my senior year so some of the basic terms I am slightly familiar with but I barely...and I mean barely....scraped by. HTML just isn't my thing. One of the things that I've learned in life is that you can never learn too much and the more you can learn to become a Jack..or Jill..of all trades, thereby decreasing your need to seek outside help, it does nothing except serve to make you better. Many bloggers have to learn HTML at some point if they didn't go into it already knowing about it, and it's becoming imperative that I learn this, especially because I don't have the option to seek outside help. The look of one's blog can be a representative of the content and if you're a review blogger like me, it's extremely important that my blog has a clean look but still speaks to my personality and the content that I post. To be honest, the current design is very mismatched with the quality of the reviews that I'd like to put out, which doesn't make me confident when trying to pitch myself to companies. I would totally understand if companies didn't select me for their jobs because my blog doesn't reflect the professionalism that I'd like it to. Despite my cute nerd icons for the headers, I think those too, especially because I don't have pro level graphics design experience, may give my blog more of an amateur look rather than the look of a blogger who wants to be taken seriously. So HTML, website design and the like are definitely on my must-learn list. 

Lastly, 30-day challenges have been on the brain in spades lately. Currently, I'm taking part in Self-Love September, which thankfully was started as an open-ended challenge, because with me being too ambitious for my own good, I thought I'd be able to get it done within the month, but failed a few days in and now I'm behind. I think I might want to push it and do one more for December, just to end the year on a strong note. That's undecided though. Let's see how Self-Love September works for me first. 

Well that does it for me this month. I don't have too many new favorites, which I'm realizing is becoming a thing for me, but they're old goodies so I don't care. I rambled much more when it got to my Random Things, but I feel like that's sort of a reflection of my mindset lately, which has been more random than focused on just one thing. That's fine with me too, some months I'm really stuck on one or a few things, while other months my mind is all over the place. August was definitely a bit of both, which results in nothing but scatterbrained randomness and nonsense. lol I have a couple of reviews coming up within the week, so stay tuned for those and I'll see you soon!

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Self-Love September

When I first decided to post about this challenge, I thought I'd share my personal experience with self-love and how I learned to love myself, but I realized that I'd shared so much of the story that the challenge was pushed further and further down the page. lol So I had to start over and seriously condense it so the point of the post wasn't lost. But anyway, ever since I did my 30-Day Wellness Challenge (which I promise will be up soon) back in May, I've been itching to do another challenge of some kind. I got busy with trying to cross items off the Bucket List for the majority of the summer and all of August was pretty much consumed with completing Summer Under the Stars over on the vintage blog, so I didn't really have time to look for another challenge to do. Over the past month or so, I've noticed that the topic of self-love has come up a number of times in personal conversations and I thought a challenge focused on that would be a natural follow-up to those conversations. In one of those talks, I remember telling the person I was talking to that when I was younger and at times even as an adult, I wondered how one could know when they were doing something that promoted self-love. What specific actions could I execute to purposely show myself love? When the question was returned to me within that conversation, I found myself surprised...and proud...that I had a multitude of answers. It took me a long time to come into the knowledge of how to properly love myself, but then I realized that in small ways, I'd been doing small self-love actions for years, and you probably have too. But I remember back when I couldn't answer the question at all, so I looked online for some help on what it means to love oneself and actions that could help start the process, and I came across this article on mindbodygreen about a 30-Day Self-Love Challenge. It was perfect timing and killed two birds with one stone. I actually meant to post this a couple of days ago so that if you wanted to jump in the challenge at the beginning of the month with me you could, but my laptop hates me again so it held me off for a day. I'll mention that in another post.

Anyway, I decided to take on this challenge, not only because I never miss an opportunity to give myself some lovin' (not that kind ya nasty), but because it can be helpful to others starting out on the journey of taking time for themselves and learning to love spending time alone. I came to the realization that I needed to take time for myself and do things that I genuinely enjoyed, just because I wanted to do them. When I came across the 30-Day Self Love Challenge, I figured this would be a good time to make me stick to my goal of putting forth the effort to make myself feel good and take advantage of the opportunity to spoil myself. I don't mean that in a superficial way. What I mean by that mainly is that instead of expecting or desiring certain things from other people and being upset when I don't receive them, I would rather ask and get it from myself instead. So instead of feeling empty and upset like I have noticed many single people (myself included at one time) tend to feel because they're alone, I'd rather feel full and loved, because I am full of the love I consistently show myself. The mentality that nobody can treat me better than I treat myself has helped teach me to regard myself with nothing but the utmost respect, love and care. It has also ensured that I no longer put myself in situations that aren't the healthiest, with people who won't treat me well. That's not just for boyfriends, that's for friends and even family. Not only will I no longer allow myself to be put down and insulted by others, I try not to put myself down, insult or beat myself up like I used to. I won't compare my body to others and allow myself to feel worse about what I have..or don't have. I want to feel special to somebody one day; I mean who doesn't? But I need to feel special to myself first, and if I won't tolerate certain things from others because they hurt me then I shouldn't tolerate them from myself either. Nobody can treat, spoil or love me better than me because now I know exactly what I want and what will make me happy. It's not a long list of things and none of it is material-based, but they're all still important to me. If someone can come along and raise the bar because he loves me that deeply, then great. But if not, that's great too. I'm kind of a catch so whether some dude gets to reap the benefits or I do, it's still a win for everyone involved, right? LOL I kid. Sorta.

Anyway, since I have had that mentality, I try to spoil myself every now and again with a special treat, I'll challenge myself to go somewhere I've really wanted to go and just enjoy the experience when I get there, or I'll just lounge at home and do something I want to do. Everything that I normally expect from others, especially the things I look most for in a relationship with someone else, I give myself first. Respect, time, attention, consideration, a true commitment, trust, and love. Actions that foster those things help me to recharge my batteries, they make me appreciate what I can give to others a lot more, and I now know how to avoid my tank being depleted by others. I've learned more about what I want, I know how to articulate it now, and I know what fills me up/depletes me emotionally, all of which were things I didn't know definitively for a number of years. I knew I wanted to be treated with all the attributes I named, but I wasn't sure how to articulate what behaviors showed me those things, which I'm sure confused my boyfriends at the time. All of the attention, time, effort, support and love I would show to boyfriends I now put towards myself and to be honest, I feel more loved now than I did in some of those relationships. I think self-love is extremely vital to one's well-being and sense of self in general, so if you're struggling with taking time for yourself or learning about how to show yourself that you are indeed loved, I think you should take this challenge with me.

The original challenge is one that can be started at any time, but I wanted to do it for the month of September and finish up before the holiday craziness sets in. For me, the challenge is Self-Love September (I'm an alliteration fan, in case you couldn't tell by now. Hello, Pinterest Project and Subscription Box Series. lol) and the challenge is doing something for the sole purpose of your enjoyment or peace of mind for those 30 days. The original challenge has a template of sorts that you can use to develop your own list, which was a great starting point because I wouldn't have had the first clue of where to begin. Maybe you do some of these things now, but they don't feel as special as they should. You're doing them, but they're just normal things to you and you don't see them as self-love building actions. Make those small things feel more special. Start from the template list (I would paste it here but even if I properly source it I still feel like I'm stealing lol) and come up with your own list. I'm keeping some of the original things, but putting them in different days and adding a few of my own things to the list. Follow me on Instagram to keep up with the things I've chosen for that day; I've already posted what I did last night (earlier this morning, I'm an insomniac) and what I'll be doing later today for Day 2 of the challenge. If you decide to do the challenge, tag your posts with the challenge's original tag, #30daysofselfiecare and for the blog, use the tag #rrntselflove so I can see what you're doing. I really hope you decide to participate if you come across this post and if you do, good luck!

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