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Week Enders | 26May17

Well, that happened….
I’m not going to find joy in that hand-swatting video. I’m not going to find joy in that hand-swatting video. I’m not going to find joy in that hand-swatting video. I’m not going to find joy in that hand-swatting video. I’m not going to find joy in that hand-swatting video. I’m not going to find joy in that hand-swatting video. I’m not going to find joy in that hand-swatting video. I’m not going to find joy in that hand-swatting video.

.beauty.
During my wanders, The Sun has been shrugging, “and,” at my natural spf. Like, I can feel my chest sizzle. It hurts. I’ve, kinda, been forgetting to cover or cover well-enough. I, usually, whine, in my head or out loud, that I don’t like the white cast from most sunscreen creams and lotions. Glossier just launched, Invisible Shield, a clear spf. I’m drawn to it, well, because, I’m all obvious. I’m not drawn to the $34 price tag or that it’s only spf 35. I think I’m just looking for reasons to not. So, for now, I’ll stick to my Neutrogena. It’s water-resistant and spf 55. It’s a goes on a little white, but that doesn’t last.

.heard. + .read.

Really want to read Lizzy Goodman’s Meet Me in The Bathroom. It’s an oral history of NYC’s rock scene in the aughts. Can’t decide if I’m going to Kindle or paper it?  Here’s a Stroke’s excerpt from New York Magazine.

.seen.

My First Bond…
Roger Moore passed away this week. He was and will always be my first.

This, here.
I don’t watch any of The Bachelor/ette shows. I have, i think. Years ago. An episode, here or there. I only thought of watching last season because of Roxane Gay’s tweets. She makes it so interesting. Then, you know, I watched an ep and nah. So, when they announced THE FIRST BLACK BACHELORETTE, I thought I might. Then, I saw the guys and read a bit of their bios. So, nah. Then, I caught a few of Bim’s tweets  and almost watched the premiere live. Then, I watched other things. I woke up to commentary from Roxane, Vulture’s Ali Barthwell and Jenna, The God/dess. I’ll definitely catch up over the long weekend.

I. CAN’T. BREATHE.
GoT. July, girl. Where you at?

This weekend, I might be:

+ hanging with family.
+ pondering hotel rooms in the suburbs.
+ thinking about my granddad who drove a tank in WWII.

Happy Memorial Day Wknd!

What are you up to?

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Week Enders | 11March17

Well, that happened…
Last week, I wrote about needing to find ways to more deeply connect to my body.  To feel and deal better with frustration and anxiety.  Well, I started somewhere.  Breathed a little heavy.  I looked for workouts on YouTube and started living the Nike+ Training app life.  I took the stairs at work.  Mostly down only, but, still, that is, again, a start.  I’ve been doing the wander, too.  I’ve been thinking about new routes in the hood and I’m working on wander playlists.  Glad I started somewhere.  I just need to keep going.  Is it weird to want to do a push up?

Wait, it was there all along?
I resisted some serious pull last week.  Glossier launched blushes.  Wayne Goss released an updated makeup brush set.  Sephora was even tempting folks with La Mer deluxe samples.  I didn’t buy any of it.  Not saying something GossyGlossi won’t come my way in the future, just not near.  I think my discipline was rewarded.  I randomly used the Tom Ford Cream and Powder Eye Color in Golden Peach from last year’s Soleil Summer Collection that was just sitting in the shadow drawer.  Ummm… Hello, Pretty.  So, so sorry you’ve been ignored.  That won’t happen again.  It’s still available and there are new shadow shades for 2017 that I won’t be getting, because Naked Bronze and Golden Peach are already owned and everything.   https://www.beautylish.com/s/tom-ford-beauty-cream-and-powder-eye-color-golden-peach

Logan.
So damn good.  A tear might have even fallen.  Is it wrong to want to climb the bad guys to kick their friends in the face?  If you’re a Marvel fan or long for a superhero film worthy of all the exclamation points, go see Logan while it’s on the biggest of screens.  See buffed Hugh Jackman in a tee as a Wolverine for the last time.  If you want a film full of action and a well-told story, but can’t make it to the theater, definitely get it on demand.  If catching it on cable is more your speed, it will be worth every minute spent.

This Really Is Us
I don’t understand how you guys do it.  How can you sit down and watch this every week?  I want to call the show emotionally manipulative trash, but This Is Us is just great TV.  It’s messy and life-y, all love and loss. Complicated and so normal.  Well-written and acted.  And I can’t handle it.  I have to watch in mini binges.  It’s easier to cry 2 out of 4 hours, than to know every single week, I could have my heart broken.  I caught up to the Memphis episode last weekend and was a mess.  Well, except for when I said Paper Boi five times after seeing Brian Tyree Henry.  I don’t know why I thought I had recovered enough to watch this week’s episode in real-ish time, breaking from my emotionally-supportive pattern.  Seriously, they had those beautiful little girls put their tiny hands in my chest and rip my heart to shreds.  Even, the mailman had me fucked up.  Ugh.

For the record and later discussion: Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth is the new Claire Huxtable.

All the cool kids are in Austin.
SXSW started. The music kicks off later in the week.  NPR has a preview mix.  Spotify has a SXSW Latino playlist of bands that will be at the festival.  And The Fader will be streaming live from The Fader Fort.

This weekend, I might be:
+ washing my hair.
+ doing an african dance workout.
+ wandering.

What are you up to?

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On Beauty | July Favorites

When it’s hot, my hairline is a raging waterfall.  The likes no hand or forearm can master.  Attempt to put on makeup? No, Ma’am.  On a cool day and when I needed to cool down, there were a few things in July that brought a smile to my mostly sweaty face.

COLD WATER – I’m a room temp fan.  Hardcore stan.  I order water with no ice.  Always. This heat, though.  It feels like for the last month my body has demanded the most. Super COLD, pls+thx.  All the time.  And with the exception of a weird heat/rash attack, I’ve seen the benefits of all that water.  My skin is looking hydrated as fuck.

Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint in Deep/Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Topaz – There were a few days I was actually able to wear a hint of product.  After a disastrous attempt at bonding with a couple of drugstore cushion foundations, I wanted to play with my Glossier skin tint again.  The skin tint is minimal coverage. They call it a wash of color.  If I’m going to do minimal coverage, I just don’t cover.  Until now, I hadn’t really found a reason to use it regularly.  It just sat on the vanity looking ‘cool girl’ cute.  When I mixed a pump of the Becca with a bunch of drops of the skin tint, the sky cried.  The Becca added a bit of depth and warmth, while maintaining a look that is still sheer, lo-fi and understated.

Estée Edit Edgiest Kohl Shadowstick in Black Viper – I wandered into an Estée Edit event at Sephora and got got. I, even, said that I was on punishment when it came to black liner/shadow stick things.  Like, HOW MANY BLACK LINERS DO I NEED?  Well, I have another one.  Black Viper is already well-used and well-loved.  Could be on that grail that’s holy.  It goes on and doesn’t move.  When the waterfall is being wiped and they eyes aren’t spared, the waterline is still smoked out.  Let’s just say I’ve fallen asleep with it on and it’s been there the next day.  I’m just saying it’s possible.

Estée Edit Barest Lip Color in In The Buff – Call luck or fate, the first lipstick the makeup artist put on me was out of stock.  It was a good nude. Even great, until… In The Buff.  Hello, Everything.  Hello, Meant To Be.  The almost perfect, perfect nude-y mauve.  It’s sheer, buildable, with a subtle sheen and the ease of a no-look application.  Like, completely, perfect color.  There is one thing, though.  You know, the faint rose smell that you can’t stand? Yeah, that.  Ugh.  If this color married the Burberry Full Kisses formula and lost the scent, I would be beyond happy.

Acts/Ideas/Revelations to habit:

Straw, please.  When the temperature drops to reasonable and the desperation dries, I’ll have to remember that drinking water with a straw makes it a little easier to drink LOTS.  My dearly, newly, beloved can be an easily ignorable bore.  But, my aging face can no longer handle just mainlining coffee, even if it’s decaf.  That, and I know better.  Water, it is.  With a straw.

So, wait. I have to set it with powder? I missed that step.  I like to say I’m reflective, not greasy.  I’ve used powder before, years ago, on bare skin to finish off a simple no/low makeup look.  It was polished fire for, like, 15 minutes.  Then, before I got where I was going, it was gone.  Earlier this year, I fell in love with putting Guerlain bronzer where it wasn’t “supposed” to go, but felt it was a tad dark to do every day.  Cut to a couple of weeks ago, I pulled out a powder closer to my skin tone from the back of the drawer and set the Glossier/Becca.  Hours later, epiphany central.  I could still see the look I intended to create that morning.  This is definitely happening all the time, you know, when the sweating stops.  I just have to wash my face at night.  That or the MAC MSF is breaking me out.

Mix it.  Mix it good.  I hate the ashy/obvi sunscreen cast that sits on my face until it doesn’t.  Instead of putting on my moisturizer, waiting for that to sink in and then, putting on my sunscreen, I’ve started adding a squirt of sunscreen to a dollop of my moisturizer.  I just work it in all at once, and I’m done.  Fine.  Skin, further protected.  Glorious melanin, you’ve got back-up.

It’s August.  Stay hydrated and smile.  Cause the water will fall.

n♥

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