Ipsy Glambag August 2014

This is my unbagging video of Ipsy's Glambag for August 2014.

Products received:
Urban Decay Perversion mascara
Absolute You're the Balm lip balm in grape
Coastal Scents Forever Blush
Dr. Brandt Pores No More primer
Lord & Berry kohl liner in Black Silk

Why you should be using Pinterest

By now, everyone knows that Pinterest is a site to plan your wedding on or a place to keep pictures of crafts you'll never do. Right?

People often share links to recipes on Facebook with the line "Sharing this so I can find it again!" I'm pretty sure that reasoning was invented by people sharing links who wanted them to get more views (because of Facebook's algorithm, the more attention a link gets organically, the more people the FB gods will allow to see it later). Especially since it's nearly impossible to find anything you've "shared" on Facebook because there's no way to search.

I am aware that Facebook has started including a little box of your "saved links" -- it created one for me when I shared a link suggesting people make it and learn how to cook something that doesn't include canned croissants, cream cheese and potato chips... but I digress. I can't find that box now so my point stands.

Pinterest is really made for this kind of thing. I love Pinterest.

I have 188 pins on my recipe board. Whenever I'm at the grocery store and feeling adventurous, I open up the Pinterest app and scroll through all my nicely-organized recipes. It's fast, stays organized, and, even better, doesn't hide some of your posts just because it feels like it that day. (What are you doing over there, Facebook? It's like if your users were able to find any-damn-thing it'd hurt your bottom line.)

I could even organize these into easier-to-manage boards if I want -- vegetarian entrees, sweets, things I'd like to BBQ.

And food is not the only thing you can use it for (but really, what else is there).

Looking for red knee length dresses? There's a board for that. Need some inspiration on how to decorate your bookshelf? Pins aplenty. Just about anything you would like has a board curated by a real person who's looking for the same stuff you are. You can even skip Google and go right to Pinterest, where you'll find hundreds of pictures with links to the thing you need. It's amazing.

I've installed the Pin It button on my browser, so any photo I see I can pin. That's especially helpful to me because I'm one of those crazies who actually pins things from outside the site. So many pinners pin in a vacuum, just adding things to their boards that others have already added. But I use Pinterest to save things from all over, as I am a seasoned traveler of these here interwebs.

If you visit, for instance, Cookinglight.com and find a stellar, healthy mac and cheese recipe, pin it! You'll have it forever and later, when you go back looking for something to make, you'll be like, "Oh my gahhd, that mac and cheese! So glad I pinned that!" (And also please send me that recipe.)

If you're only following your friends or family members and pinning what they've pinned, you're probably not getting the most out of the social network. (I hestitate to call it that, because it somehow feels so private.) I follow a lot of my friends but they post a lot of things I'm not interested in, like mason jar crafts and the aforementioned heart attack dinners. I can understand why you wouldn't want to use Pinterest if that's all you saw all day. Follow some cool people or sites you like! Here are some suggestions:

Maryam Montague: This lady is always pinning gorgeous Moroccan rooms and scenery, global design and desirable fashion.

Sugarpie Project: Tons of cool pins on every subject. Leans towards the very hip.

Joy Cho: Sooo many adorable pins on design, beauty, food... you name it. She's a good intro pinner because of all the cool stuff to look through.

So pin away! Give it a chance. It might seem like it'll take a long time to curate a good board but I promise, you won't even notice. You'll be glad you did. And if you feel like Pinterest is Tumblr for moms (it is), well, just embrace it.

Beauty products I'd never give up

I'm not much of a product girl. I love them, to be sure--but I don't get too attached unless I find something I really love. I haven't ever found a hair conditioner I want to stick with, for example. Each month I pick a new one.

For instance, I recently tried Eva NYC's Therapy Session Hair Mask, and it made my hair super soft, but I won't be getting it again. It actually made my hair so soft that my curls just fell limp. (But if you have straight hair or very dry hair, I'd recommend it as it really made a noticeable difference.) Also currently holding a spot in my shower rack is Generic Value Products' Tea Tree Oil Lavender Conditioner, which is supposed to heavily moisturize, but I've not noticed if it does. So next month it will be something else, and I'll let you know how that goes.

Solid meh for both of these.

But there are just some things I'd never give up. They're all basics, and nothing fancy for the most part, but each one has proven itself to be indispensible and thus will need to be pried from my cold, dead hands.

Beauty products I'd never give up by kirbythinks featuring L'Occitane

Face moisturizer / Nuxe lip treatment / L Occitane beauty product / Benefit mascara / TheBalm makeup, $27 / Blending brush

Benefit They're Real mascara has made a believer out of me. It has a great brush, doesn't flake, no tarantula eye, and it makes my lashes look a lot fuller and longer with just one coat. I don't recommend rubbing your eyes while you're wearing this -- obviously that goes for any eye makeup, but just know that this stuff will give you the raccoon eye if rubbed. Other than that, the stuff is solid.

L'Occitane Ultra Rich Face Scrub is heavenly. I used to use a much cheaper exfoliating scrub which has tiny "micro-scrubbers" in it, and I recently found out that those little guys are made of plastic and are killing fish. As a person who gives somewhat of a shit about my environment (and has dry, flaky face skin), I had to find a natural alternative. The pot I have was a present from a friend and I will be buying it again. It's light and fluffy with an amazingly fresh scent, has shea butter and chestnut extract, and its scrubbers are natural -- finely-ground nutshells. It's totally worth the $38. I use it two times a week and it's a total treat every time.

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack was my introduction to MAC makeup, and really taught me the difference between quality and not-so-quality makeup. It's perfectly black, stays put, and won't run.

I've been using Aveeno Ultra-Calming Daily Moisturizer for at least eight years now. I used to have red splotches on my cheeks, but after using it for a while, I didn't have them anymore. Still don't. It rubs right into your skin and doesn't stay greasy. Bonus: it has SPF 15.

Almay Wake-Up Undereye Concealer is probably easy to underestimate. I bought it on a whim and it's turned out to be very dependable. I have dark circles under my eyes; every morning I pat on a little triangle of this, set it with some powder, and you'd basically never know. (In fact, a coworker once asserted that I don't have dark circles. When I told her I use concealer, she said "Must be a really good concealer.")

I bought Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm at a Parisian pharmacy because it was on sale. I've been really impressed with it -- it doesn't sit on your lips at all. It soaks right in and leaves your lips moisturized perfectly. It smells amazing, kind of lemony-honey-fresh. In Paris, I got two sticks for €10, but in the US, you can only order them online for $9 each, as far as I know. When my backup runs out, I'll be ordering more.

The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer came in one of my first Birchboxes, and I immediately fell in love. I use it to highlight the inner corners of my eyes and the bottom edge for a little extra sparkle (and sometimes even my cupid's bow if I'm feeling fancy), but it could be used to highlight your face or as an eyeshadow. It's the perfect color of gold. A little goes a long way --  I've had my little sample (pictured is a full-size) for at least a year or two now. Anytime I put on makeup, this is in the rotation.

Blogs I love (but they stopped posting as soon as I started to read them)

I'm bad luck for blogs (my own included, probably). I always get into a site and then the author stops posting, and I get sad and read all the old entries over again.

So here's a list of mostly-dead blogs and webcomics I recommend. Read all the posts and then be sad along with me.

Hyperbole and a Half

Hyperbole and a Half is written by Allie Brosh, and she is the embodiment of all the things that are good. Allie went through a bout of depression, so it's understandable that she doesn't blog as much as she used to. Her cartoons are amazingly bad and good at the same time. I recommend the entries about her dogs most of all.

What Claudia Wore

"Things that are wrong with this cover:

1. Kristy! What happened to your adorable face? Who are you?

2. Cary Retlin's giant teal t-shirt.

3. Pink. sleeveless. mock. turtleneck.

4. Jessi's proportions. Also her face.

5. Purple lockers?

6. Mary Anne's orthopedic sandals.

7. No tagline. Apparently middle school vandalism is such a serious subject that the editors couldn't bear to take away from the power of the illustration."

When I was a kid, I loved The Baby-Sitters Club books. The author of this blog did, too, and Claudia was her favorite, just like me (although I thought I was more of a Mary Anne). The blogger, Kim, is totally into fashion and taught me a lot about it by detailing how fierce Claudia's outfits, described in great detail in the books, were. I think there's nearly infinity books so I'm not sure why she stopped blogging, but it is a loss.

WTFplus

editor’s note: mondrian’s sassy diva period?  erotic clowning outfit?

WTFplus is not totally dead now, either, and I have hopes that it will return with full force. The genius idea here is to point out how ridiculously ugly/overpriced/odd/useless plus size clothing is. When I was plus size (basically my entire adult life until recently) I had the same thoughts that she did. I've read the back entries of this blog more than once.

Hark! A Vagrant

Kate Beaton is literally the best thing on the Earth and if you say otherwise then I say good day to you sir. This is another one that is also not completely dead, but barely posts anymore. Comics about family, comics about historical figures, comics about silly things. This is the best webcomic.

To My Husband

"VALENTINE’S DAY CHECK LIST

No Pants • Steak • Red Wine • Joint • Mel Brooks DVDs • Lube

Love you too, boo."

A woman wrote notes to her future husband and I agree with pretty much all of them.

You Are Not a Photographer

"Someone made a mess"

This one gets updated once every week to two weeks now. But it has 143 pages of hilariously bad photography to amuse you for hours. Gold.

The tampon aisle, explained

I don't know about you, but every time I go to buy tampons I have to stare at the 4000 packages for like 20 minutes before I find the right ones that don't suck or have a stupid gimmick. Since I'm a nice person, I've built an easy-to-use guide to help others.

You're welcome.

The Thrift List

This weekend I was determined go thrift shopping.

I really wanted some old jeans that I could turn into "boyfriend" jeans. My problem with shopping is that I always forget exactly what I need to be looking for when I get there. So I'll be shopping for these jeans, let's say, and I'll find some that are the right brand, the right size, the right "slouch," so I buy them. But I didn't even consider the width of the leg.

What I ended up buying were a great $2 pair that looked sort of like this. The problem, as I'm sure many of you have already guessed, is that these cannot be rolled up without looking sloppy. And they have to be rolled up, as I have the shortest legs in history.

They were also non-spandex, as the blog post I read recommended. (Go to it, I've recently discovered The Refined Woman and I'm all over it.) Apparently (since I have not worn a pair of non-spandex jeans in about 15 years), non-spandex doesn't work for me. My thick thighs and hips just need some give, man. The pair I bought were turned into cutoff shorts and they aren't very comfortable, so they'll probably end up in the garbage eventually. C'est la vie.

Obviously I need a little help.

So I wrote a list. It's the easiest and yet smartest thing in the world, and if, like me, you get a little too excited when you find something you like, you should do it too. A list of things I want to thrift, with conditions, quickly built by browsing Lookbook. Stuff like "white button up shirt, light fabric, small collar, feminine cut."

And it worked out beautifully.

I didn't find the jeans I was looking for, and I think that boyfriend jeans might be one of those styles that "just doesn't work for me." I did, however, find this great 70% cotton, 30% bamboo (who knew?) island-y buttoned blouse, this cute polka-dotted skirt with secret shorts underneath, a jean vest and a brown belt.

(That jean vest might be the subject of a future post as I try to figure out how to wear it.)

Building a list before clothes shopping is now mandatory for me. Do you have anything that keeps you on target while shopping? Let me know--I'm sure I could use it.