Merit Solo Shadow Sheen shade Iris - I’m still on the fence about how very low impact it is on my lids. It’s subtle enough to be a lowlighter—heck, an dimlighter elsewhere on my face. That kind of product can be useful to have on hand, and I still need to play with it more to see if I can amp it up on my lids. But if I didn’t like this color, I’d have probably returned Iris by now. Fun “well why’d you buy it in the first place” questions and answers: “What’d you expect, it’s Merit; everything they do is subtle.” True, and I did expect this shadow to be subtle. But as I said in the November hauls thread, there’s nuance and then there’s this, which is dangerously close to “why even bother applying it” territory. 😅”You should try a different shade, maybe Iris just doesn’t work for your skin tone/undertone.” Nah, Iris should play nice with my natural lid coloring. The problem with Iris is the saturation, not the color. I’d have the same problem with the other shimmer shades—especially the copper one, which would be impacted (eaten alive) by my lid color.”Maybe you’re too used to non-neutral/nude shades to appreciate this shadow.” I do love all the pretty colors, no argument there. But also, Natasha Denona’s Mini Bronze is one of my favorite palettes and it’s basically 4 tan to deep nudes + 1 bronze metallic. 🤷‍♀️ Eh, we’ll see how I feel about Iris next year. I doubt I’ll buy another shade though.

I tried not to buy things I could get for (or near) $0 OOP via Ulta points or Nordy Notes; those are my biggest stockpiles of reward cash. This rule didn’t keep me away from YSL’s sale, but it did keep that order small—and it stopped me from buying direct from various brands, vs. planning to order from Ulta or Nordy. Passed on MYKITCO’s flash sale on sale event: I didn’t wanna pay the $18+ shipping fee plus customs fee upon arrival. Luckily, the one thing I wanted most hit Beautylish over the weekend, so I got it at an even better discount plus free shipping. 👍

Kenra making its way to Sephora US (online only). Said to be arriving December 9.Kenra Professional | Sephora

It was not all that long ago @Samtian when I was sheet masking twice a day because I was on a mission to use up all my sheet masks 😬, so if you want to go with 2 different eyeliners, have at it. 😆

That's super kind @Ispend2much6 , I'm a model in my head, that's about it 😂

@lmaster @Beautiful look with your BIC sweatshirt.

Breakouts. They happen. 😩 I've been getting one, sometimes two, every month, it seems, for the last few months after a period of time of not experiencing any breakouts save one every 4 or 5 months. After last month's breakout, I went to find this Solawave Bye Acne: 3 Minute Blue + Red Light Acne Treatment and have been putting the handy, travel-friendly and easy-to-use gadget to use when I feel a pimple forming. I put it to use recently on a couple of pimples this month. Using this little do-hickey on each spot for a few minutes each for a few nights has been good - it doesn't hurt and some good results can be had, depending on how consistent you are with using it and the size and nature of the breakout. Consistent use, of course, plays a key role, but I also found this works best (and faster) on smaller or moderate sized zits, which makes sense, though I did see a reduction in redness with larger breakouts than I would otherwise experience if I didn't use this device on them. As for the two pimples I used the device on this month, one was zapped away before it could fully form - yesssss!!! The other one, a little bigger than the first, took a little more time, but the area didn't get as red or inflamed as my breakouts can get. TL;DR: Portable, quick (3 minutes per spot) and it doesn't hurt, and works fairly well when I feel a pimple forming. Good for reducing healing time for mild-to-moderate pimple and inflammation. Solawave Bye Acne: 3 Minute Blue + Red Light Acne Treatment Solawave box: exterior viewSolawave box: interior viewSolawave: size references