Sephora

LuckyScent sale: So hey, I sometimes tone down busy backgrounds in my haul & swatch photos. In this photo, that makes the Vilhelm set look much more in-your-face yellow than I intended, compared to the b&w’ed background. 😄Boy Smells Farm to Candle Collection: Bramble and Crush - of all the Boy Smells candles I’ve had, Bramble has one of the strongest cold throws: lots of basil and moss, plus rhubarb and strawberry that smell fruity instead of overly sweet. I have high hopes for this candle! GWP:Vilhelm Parfumerie discovery set - don’t think I’ve ever tried any of these before, so this’ll be fun. Samples: Tauer Orange Star, Frapin Bonne Chauffe, and Tauer PHI Une Rose de Kandahar. Sephora - that one thing I’d convinced myself not to buy but here we are: Bought this right before my trip this month, so it was waiting for me when I returned home.Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Hot Cheeks Velour Blushlighter Cherry Pie'd - I got a “back in stock” notification right before my trip, so I caved. The other shade (Cherry Pop) is also beautiful but seems very close to Killawatt shade Ruby Riches or maybe Heart Burn, though I think the latter’s deeper and cooler toned. Not that Cherry Pie’d’s not also similar to something I already own, but not a Fenty blush/highlighter shade that springs to mind so like, you know, justified and whatnot. 🙃 Phytosurgence: The brushes are no longer shipping to the US, but everything else is—and tariff-free as long as the order’s under USD $800.Notes: SpoilerSmallquill brush - unlike the Soft Quill, this is not a stippling brush. But I wanted it anyway, knowing Phytosurgence would stop shipping their brushes to the US as of late April (thanks to tariff stupidity). The Smallquill is dense, yet has more splay than I expected. It’ll be good for liquid and cream blushes. Spectral Shine Radiance Balm shade Cosmic Cinders - a fairly subtle cream highlighter. It’s visible on skin but not laser beaming. I keep saying it’s good to have some subtle shiners alongside your space beacons, because you can do a lot with quieter highlighters. Like Phytosurgence’s bronzer, this highlighter formula requires hard pressure while swirling a brush in the pan to pick up color. (It’s intentionally designed to perform that way.) Skin Spark Blush Balm shades Incense, Singe, Fervor, and Dust - Incense and Dust are from the new Smoked collection of shades. Dust is a shade adjuster: I can mix this cool-toned grey into any other Phytosurgence blush to mute them to whatever degree I choose. I don’t contour my face but if I did, I could mix Dust + a brownish Phyto blush to customize a contour shade. Smallquill brush - unlike the Soft Quill, this is not a stippling brush. But I wanted it anyway, knowing Phytosurgence would stop shipping their brushes to the US as of late April (thanks to tariff stupidity). The Smallquill is dense, yet has more splay than I expected. It’ll be good for liquid and cream blushes. Spectral Shine Radiance Balm shade Cosmic Cinders - a fairly subtle cream highlighter. It’s visible on skin but not laser beaming. I keep saying it’s good to have some subtle shiners alongside your space beacons, because you can do a lot with quieter highlighters. Like Phytosurgence’s bronzer, this highlighter formula requires hard pressure while swirling a brush in the pan to pick up color. (It’s intentionally designed to perform that way.) Skin Spark Blush Balm shades Incense, Singe, Fervor, and Dust - Incense and Dust are from the new Smoked collection of shades. Dust is a shade adjuster: I can mix this cool-toned grey into any other Phytosurgence blush to mute them to whatever degree I choose. I don’t contour my face but if I did, I could mix Dust + a brownish Phyto blush to customize a contour shade. How about a little swatchin’, Scarecrow?

@caitbird So pretty

@jasbadyal I get good cheap ones off amazon.

Wellness In Progress - May 2025I feel like I've had a pretty good month for wellness so far. I didn't get bingo yet, but I've checked off some wellness activities that I'm pleased with already. Here's what I've done so far:💜Catch up with a friend - Last week, I went over to visit a neighborhood family whom I've been friends with for many years. I was there to go over some things before house-sitting and petsitting for them before they left for a trip, but since they had just finished cooking a late breakfast they very kindly invited me to join them. The food was delicious, and it was really nice to sit and chat and catch up with them.💜Have a healthy meal - last night, my mom made bean, roasted vegetable, and ricotta tacos, which we had with some mango. A bit messy, but oh so delicious!💜Music - listen, sing, dance - I have been listening to music every day when I can, either with my music library on my laptop on shuffle, or my current CD in my car (still listening to Archie Fisher, might switch it up soon though) on repeat. Currently listening to Leonard Cohen as I type this.💜Exercise - 30 minutes - I had a bit of misfortune this past week, as my car battery died 😭. It was a couple of days before I could get it to the shop for a replacement, and during that time I was petsitting for a couple of neighbors, so I had to hoof it back and forth to their houses. Between that and walking the one neighbors' four dogs several times a day, I was definitely getting my 30+ minutes of daily exercise in! So, there ended up being a silver lining to the unfortunate situation.💜Hydrate hydrate hydrate - Both of my reusable water bottles have been seeing heavy rotation so far this month, as I always try to have one with me at all times to help me keep my water intake where it needs to be. Especially with the weather warming up, I'm trying to be mindful of drinking enough to stave off those nasty dehydration headaches.💜Practice gratitude - I've tried to get into the habit of thinking of a few things I'm grateful for every day, whether big or small. Today was a good day, in fact I've had a stretch of pretty good days (car troubles notwithstanding), so I'm very grateful for that; I'm grateful for good food, family, and beautiful, sunny spring days like this one. I'll try to remember to post to Gratitude Thread! 🙂 this week.💜Free space - I was finally able to see my therapist for the first time in ages (schedule conflicts/my sleep issues have led to several appointments being rescheduled), which is always a positive thing. I've been seeing the same therapist for almost 15 years now, and she's great, so I'm very happy to be (hopefully) getting back to having regular appointments with her again.💜Aromatherapy - I have been enjoying a variety of perfumes and scented candles this month. Today's fragrance was NEST New York Lychee Rose Eau de Parfum 1.7 oz / 50 mL eau de parfum spray and I am currently burning DW Home Orchid Incense candle. Overall, this month has been fairly successful on the wellness front so far, and I hope to keep that up!

Maybe they could just take some notes from each other.

@itsfi

Oh, that's pretty cute

My grandmother who lives out of state was in the area, so we all went out to dinner together at a Thai restaurant in the city. I had grilled salmon with sticky jasmine rice and steamed vegetables, and cheesecake for dessert (one of the dessert options that I was really curious to try was a lychee cheesecake spring roll, but sadly they were out of it). It was all really good!I couldn't finish all of my entree (the portions were very generous) so I'll have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Today's song of the day is:The Shins - Simple Song💜