Project Make A Dent 2015 and Project 10 Pan Finale

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! It may just be too much excitement, but on top of one more sleep til' Christmas, today I'm sharing the finale of my Project Make A Dent 2015, started twelve months ago, and Project 10 Pan 2015, which I started in July (click for intro). Are you ready to see some make-up empties?

You might be thinking that I got beyond bored with all my products after working on them for such a long time and was more than ready to move on to something else. And on one hand, that's true; I have definitely been neglecting most of my make-up stash, and I'm happy to go back to some things I haven't played with in a while. But on the other hand, I got weirdly attached to the products I've been panning, and as I was setting them aside to be recycled, I almost felt a little sad. As you'll see in a moment, not all of my products are completely used up - but since all of them are quite old by now, I promised myself I'll be tossing them by the end of the year. Having them all lined up to go in the trash almost made me go back on that promise, although it really is time to say goodbye!

Progress of Project MAD at the third update, 9 months in.

Let's start with my Project Make A Dent. As you may remember, the goal of this challenge is not necessarily to use everything up to the last smithereen, but rather to put a good dent in your products. Well, I certainly did that! If you'd like to see what my chosen items looked like in January, click here. In this post, I wanted to show you how much progress I made in the past three months, so I'm comparing with the photo from the end of September.

Project MAD Finale, 12 months in.

A little reminder: the products I have finished at the second update in June (click!) were Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Rockstar, Make Up For Ever HD Powder mini, Michael Todd Creme Glace lipgloss in Natural, Revlon Superlustrous Lipgloss in Coral Reef and Face Atelier Ultra Foundation in Porcelain. By the end of September, I have not used up any new items. As of now, I have one more product that's completely gone: the Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Monte Carlo. The four remaining items that are not used up all the way are the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze, Stila Convertible Color in Lillium, Sephora Nano Eyeliner in Nuage, and Inglot Gel Lipstick no. 58. All of them show quite a bit of progress and I've been using them nearly every time I wore make-up, with the exception of that Nano eyeliner, which was so bad I kinda gave up on it shortly after the third update.

Products at the halfway update, 3 months into the Project.

As for my Project 10 Pan I started 6 months ago, I have some nice progress to report as well. At my halfway update in September (click!), I have finished two items: Buxom Full-On Lip Shine in Dolly and the Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait. Since then, I have used up four more products: Estee Lauder Double Wear Light Foundation in Intensity 1, both of my Orly mini polishes in Gumdrop and Rage (the bottles are not completely empty, but the polishes are too thick to use now), and Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in Copper Glow (I can't sharpen it anymore). I have also hit major pan on the MAC Pressed Blot Powder, and used up quite a bit of Covergirl Jumbo Gloss Balm in Watermelon Twist and Revlon Colorstay Foundation for Combination/ Oily Skin; my marks were a bit off on that one when I started so there's been more progress than what you see from my sharpie lines. The one product that I didn't get to use a whole lot was the Elf Mineral Lipstick in Rosy Raisin, which broke off at the base of the bullet and couldn't be salvaged - so while it's not gone, it needs to be thrown out anyway.

Project Finale, 6 months in.

Overall, I'm really happy with my results. 6 finished products out of 10 in Project MAD, and 6 out of 10 in P10P. Like I mentioned above, all of the products I've been working on this year are exiting my stash, no matter if they're entirely used up or have a bit left, because I feel that they're too old now to stay - with the exception of my MAC Blot Powder, which is quite old but I can't detect any changes in color, texture or scent from when I first purchased it. To sum up, that's 19 majorly used products on their way out; that's a lot!

Final progress on my liquid products marked with a sharpie.

I've really enjoyed panning this year and I'm very satisified with my small achievement. Looking at my progress, some of you may think I wasn't really committed to my products, and maybe if I really stuck to using them day in and day out, more would be finished by now. That's not really true though; I've used these products about 98% of the time I wore make-up (which is not daily, by the way). Take that Stila cream blush, for example - it's a mini that had a tiny bit of pan showing to begin with, and at the end of twelve months of use, it's still a far way from being used up. But I have been using it ALL THE TIME - I think that just goes to show that I use very small amounts of products when I apply my make-up. So I do know that I gave my items as much attention as I possibly could, and I can't expect more from myself than that. How are your projects going, dear readers? Are they drawing to a close too, or continuing into the New Year? I already have a new Project planned for 2016, so stay tuned for my intro in just a few days...

The Only Lip Gloss I've Ever Repurchased: Buxom Dolly

How often do you guys happen to repurchase the exact same lip product? I have to admit that I'm usually very fickle with my make-up; by the time I actually manage to use something completely up, which is not very often, I'm usually ready to move on to something different. But Buxom Full-On Lip Cream in Dolly ($19 for 0.14 oz) is my first exception to the rule - I just couldn't get enough of it.

Well, okay, I guess I'm stretching the truth a tiny bit here - I had a mini of the Lip Shine in Dolly (reviewed here) that I somewhat recently finished as part of my Project 10 Pan; Buxom's Lip Shines have varying degrees of subtle shimmer to full-on glitter, but forunately the Dolly shade had just a whisper of tiny gold dust. I also own a different Lip Cream in the shade Cherry Flip, reviewed here, which is a favorite in the summer. So I sort of combined the two favorites when I decided to purchase the Lip Cream in Dolly, which has the same gorgeous hue as the one I used up but without the shimmer.

I've discussed my feelings about the Lip Cream formula in detail in my review of Cherry Flip, and some more when I reviewed the Lip Shine in Dolly - I think both the cream and the shimmer finishes on these Buxom glosses are the same formula, albeit if you chose to purchase a Lip Shine with chunkier glitter, your experience may vary. And while regrettably I don't have anything left in my tube of the shimmery Dolly to compare with the creamy Dolly, from memory it's the exact same shade but with one tiny difference: the Lip Shine in Dolly had also a bit more of a translucent jelly finish, the Lip Cream is slightly more milky. However, once on the lips, I can't really tell a difference.

Dolly is my perfect lip perfecting gloss: the cushiony texture softens the look of vertical lip lines and dryness, while the subtle mauve shade evens out my lips' pigmentation. It's very close to my natural lip color, which makes it ideal for effortless daytime looks. It's also one of few lip gloss formulas that stay on my lips for a reasonable time, all the while feeling comfortable and moisturizing. In general, I'm not a fan of tingly plumping formulas, but I would say that Buxom glosses are more cooling than anything else, which I certainly appreciate more in the summer than in the winter, but overall don't mind all that much.

I don't have another lip gloss shade that's close to Dolly - as you can see, NYX Mega Shine in Beige is positively baby pink next to it. Out of my lipsticks, Suqqu Creamy Glow Moist in no. 3 Fuyuzakura is quite similar, but a little lighter once on the lips. Maybelline Color Sensational in Warm Me Up is darker and warmer.

L-R: Buxom Lip Cream in Cherry Flip, Buxom Lip Cream in Dolly, NYX Mega Shine in Beige, Maybelline Warm Me Up, Suqqu Creamy Glow Moist no. 3

I will be honest with you and admit that it took a lot of my willpower not to purchase one of those larger sets of Buxom's mini glosses that Sephora releases every Holiday season. I've contemplated their smaller set with two glosses and a Bold Gel lipstick, but upon swatching it in store, I decided that the Lip Shine in Gabby was way too glittery for me. I'm quite happy that I settled on Dolly in the end, because I know for sure I'll reach for it again and again, and I'm glad to have a tried and true gloss I can rely on. What is your favorite everyday lip gloss? Do you wear the same one again and again, or do you frequently rotate the ones in your stash?

Final Beauty Empties of 2015

Since we're flying home for the holidays, I'm writing my final empties round-up for 2015 a couple weeks early - but I also don't think I would have completely used up any more products before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, so it doesn't change things much. I think my usage was quite consistent for the last quarter of this year, and similarly to the previous update, I decided to toss some half-used and/or expired items as well.

Let's start with make-up this time, just to keep you on your toes ;) In the comments to my previous empties post, Neo suggested that she would like to see the tosses separated from the products that are completely used up. I took that suggestion to heart, but I have to say that when it comes to make-up, it can be a bit difficult to establish the line between empty/ no longer usable and somewhat used/ decided to throw out. I tried though - let's start with the tosses:

Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral SPF30 (expired; scratchy brush, orange-tinted powder that looked heavy on the skin), Maybelline Baby Lips SPF15 (expired, dried out my lips), Fyrinnae Pyxie Epoxy (started to make shadows adhere unevenly to the skin; overall good for making pigments pop, but too much hassle to use)
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Concealer (half-used but had it for too long now; mini review here), Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Visual Kei (I've had it for too long; review and swatches here), NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Garnet (color changed; nice product but I'm not into pigmented glosses any more).
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too):  Inglot Cream Blush no. 88 (scent changed; great cream to powder formula at a good price point).

Now for the make-up that I did use all up or at least used to the point where it was no longer serviceable (too dry/ thick to apply).
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: LORAC Front of the Line PRO liquid eyeliner in Black (reviewed here)
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Anastasia Beverly Hills Lash Genius (waterproof mascara topcoat - liked the option of making any mascara waterproof, but truth be told forgot the extra step most of the time), Benefit Stay Flawless 15-Hour Primer (a good but not outstanding face primer)
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): Mally Beauty Volumizing Mascara in Black (review), Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 (review), NYC In a New York Minute Nail Polish in Manhattan (discontinued, swatched here; used up 2/3 of the bottle before it got too thick)

As for skincare, I did pretty good on my minis/ deluxe samples, and finally finished some products I've been working on for a really long time. The Paula's Choice RESIST sunscreen and Jurlique serum are about 2/3 used up, but I had to toss them as they're now expired.
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Pearl Exfoliator (reviewed here; did absolutely nothing apart from leaving my face covered in large glitter particles - WTF?), SK-II Facial Treatment Essence* (review), Andalou Naturals Blue Geranium Creamy Clay Mask (the product itself was fine, but the packaging sucked - couldn't get any mask out of the tube no matter how hard I squeezed, which is why it's cut open).
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Jurlique Herbal Recovery Serum* (reviewed here), Paula's Choice RESIST Superlight Sunscreen SPF 30 (review), Reviva Labs Microdermabrasion Pomegranate Scrub* (review; very effective but prefer dissolving scrubs), NUDE Omega Treatment Oil, Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Eye Cream
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Rosewater Mask (review), Andalou Naturals Probiotic + C Renewal Cream (review); funny how Andalou made it both to my least and most favorite products' lists :)

Bath and body products: you can clearly see the colder season has started from the number of hand creams I've finished. Mr helped me on the shower gel and shower oil front, and Soap & Glory body washes (both this one and Clean On Me) are his favorites. I know.
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: Reviva Labs Seaweed Soap* (unfortunately, too drying, and didn't enjoy the scent)
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve (not all that super duper ultimately moisturizing, actually), Boots Botanics Bath Soak in Rebalance, First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream* (again, not moisturizing enough for my hands), Neosalus prescription barrier cream (effective, but not OTC and VERY expensive)
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): Soap and Glory Rich and Foamous Body Wash, Nivea Natural Shower Oil (good drugstore alternative to L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil but unavailable in the US), Lush Massage Bar in Soft Coeur

Haircare - finally finished some lingering bottles from my shower and bathroom cabinet! It takes me an inordinately long time to finish my hair products.
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: Nivea Intense Repair Shampoo (passed on to me by my mother in law; the shampoo contains SLS, which I may be sensitive to, makes my hair quite greasy by second day, and I disliked the scent - smells almost like hair dye), Kenra Platinum Finishing Spray (too wet, the nozzle didn't work well, too strong of a hold for me)
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Goldwell Rich Repair Hair Mask (great mask, but I don't really need hair masks on my smooth fine hair), MoroccanOil Clarifying Shampoo (again, great product but I'm questioning the need for it - further explanation in this post)
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): OGX Coconut Water Conditioner, Batiste Dry Shampoo in the Blush scent (already repurchased in the Classic scent - to be honest, I get whatever scent is the cheapest online)

And just a few foil samples/ one use sachets this time.
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: Koh Gen Do Makeup Base SPF 15 (sad to say, but this makes my skin look ashy and contains fine glitter particles)
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: The Face Shop Hand Sheet Mask (great concept, but didn't really make much of a difference to my hands), Japanese Vitamin C Mask (sorry, don't remember the brand - it was a gwp), Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask (I'm glad I had this sample as I was really interested in purchasing the full size; however, after trying it, I concluded it's a nice product, but not worth the price tag for me).
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): Aura Cacia Meditating Cedarwood Mineral Bath (this was probably my third packet; possibly my favorite scent out of all Aura Cacia's bath salts)

And that's it! Well, okay, I forgot to include a mini of Pureology's volumizing hair mist (wouldn't purchase the full size), and one of my serums run out literally the day after I took shots of all my trash, so I guess it will have to be included in the next post. I'm glad to have all of these products done & dusted and to move on to some other back-up stuff in my stash. As you may remember, I'm attempting not to purchase ANY new skincare products for all of 2016, both for the face and body, so I'm just really focusing on clearing out what I've accumulated so far. What was your favorite product that you've recently finished? I think out of all of my beauty trash, I'm sad to see my NYC Nail Polish in Manhattan go, but I have so many other similar shades that it's a bit silly to feel that way, to be honest.

Disclaimer: Products marked with an asterix (*) were received complimentary for testing purposes from the brands or won in an official giveaway. All opinions are 100% honest and unbiased, no matter if the products featured were purchased with my own monies or provided as free press samples. Thank you for reading!

Holiday Party Glow: Anastasia Beverly Hills Illuminator in Starlight

I'm really sticking to that wishlist, you guys, and it's working for me - all of my purchases so far have been great successes, knock on wood! One of those is Anastasia Beverly Hills Illuminator in Starlight ($28 for 0.32 oz/ 9 g), a beautiful powder highlight in the 'gelee'/ MAC Extra Dimension type of formula. I'd never had a powder product with that texture before, so I was excited to play around with Anastasia's version.

I was also right to wait it out and see if Anastasia's own website would have any Black Friday/ Cyber Monday deals on this product, and while the sale wasn't super amazing, I managed to get my Starlight plus their A23 Highlighter brush (pictured) in a set for $26 with free shipping. I'm not going to review the brush right now - first impressions are that it isn't anything special - but still, the combo was just a little bit cheaper than the full price of one Illuminator.

I've read somewhere that the Illuminator's packaging looks cheap and doesn't go well with the rest of Anastasia's make-up line, but I don't really find any problems with it. Sure, it's just black plastic, but it seems sturdy and comes with a large mirror inside the compact.

Word on the street is that the pretty art deco-inspired embossing on the powder was chosen not just for visual impact, but for how increases powder pick-up on the brush. Hmm, maybe - I haven't really noticed anything different about that, but then again I normally use a very soft highlighter brush (Zoeva 105 Luxe Highlight, here) that allows me to precisely control the amount of product on the bristles. Either way, I think it's a beautiful design that adds a special something something to this highlighter.

Now, as for the gelee formula... I guess if I wasn't told before that it was a special type of formulation, I probably wouldn't have noticed all that much - sorry. The product is pressed quite firmy in the pan, which I like as it diminishes the amount of fly-away dust all over the compact like in the other two powder highlighters in my stash. Despite that firmness, it's easy to pick up quite a bit on the brush, and it's nicely pigmented - definitely not sheer, but not fully opaque either (that would be terrible for a luminizing product, don't you think?). Anastasia's Illuminator has a nice slip to it as well, which makes blending out a breeze - it definitely feels creamier/ less dry than my two baked highlighters, shown below for comparison.

The other significant difference between Anastasia's powder highlighter and the other two that I own is that the Illuminator has a lot more, well, glow to it. It's more reflective, and when applied heavily, can even verge on that metallic/ wet look that I usually avoid. However, it doesn't exaggerate pores too much, and it's quite easy to sheer out for daytime, so I'm happy to at least have the option of a heavier highlight if I want - it'd be really pretty for a Holiday party look, for example.

As for the shade, Starlight is the perfect highlight for fair to light skintones. I've heard it described two ways - either as a very pale white gold, or as a very pale pink, which seemed quite confusing to me; is it warm or cool-toned then? Well, it's a little bit of both. In artificial lighting, it definitely has more of that white gold iridescence, but in daylight, I see more of the baby pink, so I believe it's a white gold/ pale pink duochrome on a white base. Either way, I would describe its tone as neutral, so it should suit a variety of lighter skintones - it also compliments just about any blush shade. Compared to my other highlighters, Laura Mercier Baked Powder in Highlight 01 (click) is more champagne/ beige, while Makeup Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter in Radiant Lights (click) is significantly darker and more peachy pink. I'm sorry these swatches are not more visible, but truth be told all three of these products are rather close to my skintone.

L-R: (far left) Anastasia Beverly Hills Illuminator in Starlight blended out, then swatched heavily, Laura Mercier Baked Highlight 01, Makeup Revolution Baked Vivid Highlighter in Radiant Lights

I took a whole bunch of face shots to try and show you Starlight in action, but I think winter afternoon light isn't bright enough to pick up on the glow - the only thing it managed to pick up on was my dry and flaky skin (I also didn't apply the Illuminator heavily on my cheeks because I was heading out to work). You can see it concentrated more in the inner corners of my eyes, but uhm, yeah - well I guess this picture shows that you really can apply this highlighter more sheer and subtle for daytime.

Anastasia's Starlight rounds up my powder highlighter collection very nicely, and I'm happy that I pulled the trigger on it. I really love all three of the luminizing powders I now have in my stash, and I don't think I'll be adding another one any time soon - I feel that three is a really good number to have some variety but still be able to regularly use all of them. What was the last powder highlighter that you've bought? How many do you have in your stash?

Vanity Tour: My Current Make-up Collection and Storage

I've been spending a lot of time lately talking about downsizing, simplifying, editing and curating my capsule make-up collection, but so far I haven't actually had the guts to show you what my current beauty stash looks like - maybe because, uhm, I wouldn't actually consider it a capsule. Just like my wardrobe, it isn't a capsule in terms of only having a small number of pieces you wear over and over again; although I kinda do that anyway by committing to the products in my Project Pans. I'm absolutely aware that my stash is way bigger than what an average woman would need to make her face up, because you know, I used to be that average, non-beauty obsessed woman with just a single make-up bag to house all of her product - imagine that!

However, make-up is my passion, and I get excited when I have an above average amount of products to rotate and play with - but what I'm trying to achieve is ensuring that every single item in my stash is loved and used on at least a somewhat regular basis. If it's not, I need to pass it on; I guess that's how I would define the goal for my capsule collection, which is a constant work in progress. I figured that it could be helpful to show you exactly how much I have (well, visually - I'm still not ready to do a numerical inventory), and how I store it, and maybe show you my collection again in a year's time. So, are you ready to virtually tour my vanity?

The vanity table itself is a popular IKEA Malm model I purchased around 4 years ago, and it's held up reasonably well - although the bottom of my drawer warped under the weight of things I was storing in it, and I have to be very careful with it now. The little chest of drawers on top is also from IKEA from around 6 years ago, I believe it's been discontinued. The plastic drawers under the table are from The Container Store, but I don't keep any make-up products there; I use them for back-up skincare, as shown in this post, nail polish (would you like to see that in a future post?), and my husband's out of season shoes, lol. The only two things I keep out on my counter is a simple mirror (again, IKEA) and my daily brush cup.

Let's start with the large drawer, since it mostly houses products I use on a daily basis - my biweekly/ monthly make-up basket, if you will. Anyone who's ever owned one of these IKEA vanities knows that this drawer has a VERY significant drawback - it only opens about halfway, which means that accessing the back of the drawer is a *tad* difficult (which is also why I had to take out this entire drawer and lay it on my bed to be able to show you the contents more clearly). I use the back portion to store rarely reached for things: my silver and gold jewelry, extra brushes I'm not using currently (I like storing them flat in a drawer as they get a lot less dusty than in a cup),  back-up/ not yet opened make-up (I'm working on emptying that box entirely and freeing some space there), and lastly some costume jewelry - all of the clear acrylic organizers are from The Container Store.

In the front of the drawer starting on the left, I store all of my lipsticks upright, roughly organized by color families, as well as a TATCHA box full of fat lip crayons and a few lip liners - well, the Guerlain space tampon doesn't fit into my lipstick organizer, so it's in there too. Next, we have cotton buds, Avene Thermal Water Spray to dampen brushes or mist my face, and my daily essentials in a little box; these are mostly products from my Project Make A Dent/ Project 10 Pan.

Next, I put aside some space in my jewelry organizers to display some more of my make-up stash: all of my pencil eyeliners, and some vertically organized compacts I'm currently using; a few powder blushes, a bronzer, a highlighter, the YSL Blur Perfector. The smaller compartments help to separate the lipsticks I'm using now. The last compartment on the left that's not filled with costume jewelry is meant mostly for smaller eyeshadow palettes I'm playing with at the moment. And that's everything in my vanity drawer!

Moving swiftly along to the small chest of drawers on the counter, it has three narrow drawers on top and two wider drawers in the middle and on the bottom. The top left drawer houses all of my lipglosses, liquid lipsticks/ stains and lip balms in the back. The small middle drawer has single eyeshadows towards the back, but mostly eyeshadow quads, quints and two bareMinerals READY 8.0 palettes, organized vertically. I've put all of my cream eyeshadows, both in glass pots and sticks, in the top right drawer, as well as random bits and bobs like eyelash glue, sharpeners, Inglot Duraline and eye primer samples.

The wider middle drawer houses face products: foundations, BB creams, face primers, setting powders and highlighters mostly in the box on the left, cream and powder blushes and bronzers on the right - I've shown you this drawer more close-up in my Addicted to Blush Tag post here. I organized all of my larger eyeshadow palettes (both pre-made and freeform like Z-Palettes) in the bottom drawer; you can see all of my eyeshadow palettes in more detail in this post, although I've since downsized some of the palettes shown there.

Phew! Well, I guess this post isn't quite as long as I was expecting, though it's certainly quite picture-heavy. Looking at the photos, my drawers seem a bit cluttered, but day-to-day and for my personal use, I find this set-up very practical and easy to navigate. Please let me know if you have any questions, or if you've spotted something you'd like me to discuss in more detail in a separate post - I'd be happy to oblige. I have to admit that I'm quite satisfied with my stash right now; I'm planning to use up some more products in the next year, but there are also things on my wishlist I would like to try, so I'm not sure how much further I can reduce my stash without giving or throwing stuff away - and I don't really want to declutter anymore, at least not to the extent I've been doing it this year. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse at my make-up collection and storage, and let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Getting Into The Christmas Spirit

Happy Saint Nicholas Day! In case you didn't know, today is the feast day of St. Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian bishop with a reputation for secret gift-giving such as slipping coins into the boots of the poor. Growing up in Poland, I used to put my winter booties out for Saint Mikolaj on the night of December 5th, hoping to find toys in them the next morning (and yes, I would still get my bigger presents on Christmas Eve - it's a win win, am I right?). So I guess this little coincidence now allows me to shamelessly talk about the holidays with you and share what's been on my mind lately.

Christmas is my favorite holiday, like it is for probably 98% of Christians. I have a special fondness for things associated with it, and I'm not really apologetic about it - there's so much hate and sadness in our world that I can't help but feel grateful for those little joys Christmas usually brings me. Twinkling lights. The smell of cold and winter in the air. Baking shortbread star cookies. The feel of fir and spruce branches in my hands. Even the gaudy decorations and glittery baubles. It's fun!

But this year, I'm not really feeling it *shrugs*. I believe it's a whole combination of feelings I've been experiencing lately, and I wish that maybe by naming, stripping them bare and sending them out in the world like itinerant snowflakes, I can get rid of some of my Holiday blues. Shall we try?

Regardless of those superficial moments of festive joy I've mentioned above, Christmas is the happiest time of the year for me because of my family. As some of you may know, me and my husband emigrated to North America over 6 years ago, and all of our family and most of our friends live in Poland. We go home for the holidays every year, and due to my husband's limited time off work and the cost of airfare it's the only time of the year we travel to Poland (although most years, we also see our immediate family when they visit us here in the US during summer months).

At any rate - I don't know about you guys, but my family is pretty high on my life's priority list. This combined with how rarely we get to see them makes Christmas extra special for me. And I'm not saying this year I'm not excited and looking forward to being with our loved ones - but I guess this year more than in the past I feel that our time together is just so limited. Unfortunately, parting doesn't get easier with practice, and every year when time comes to say goodbye for another six months or more, I'm simply heartbroken. I can't seem to be able to shake that feeling this past couple of weeks, and I don't want to think about our Christmas trip's end before it's even begun, but that's precisely what I'm doing.

Another big factor that's been adding to my Christmas ennui is, well... excess. You've surely noticed I've been talking quite a bit about minimalism on the blog this year, not because it's trendy but because many of its ideas are really resonating with me. For someone wishing to simplify their life, the Holiday season seems to be all about things that you must have and that you must do. Shopping for gifts, and shopping holiday sales. Buying the tree and tree trinkets, decorating the house. Christmas party obligations and associated stresses - hair, outfit, hostess gifts. Cooking and baking up a storm. That's a lot of things we may feel forced to do, without reflecting on their value in our lives.

I would say that compared to a standard American family (if such a mythical beast even exists), me and my husband have always been pretty minimalist when it comes to celebrating the season - partly because we can easily simplify as we're spending the holiday overseas. We don't put up a Christmas tree; it'd be a shame to have it go to waste when we're not home for two weeks. I don't decorate our home much, because we live in a small apartment and don't have the space for all the extra stuff. We usually go to one semi-formal holiday party, and we don't keep a large circle of friends we would feel obligated to entertain. I don't even send out holiday cards. I'm the beauty blogger who stole Christmas, am I not?

Yet even the small number of Christmas preparations give me very ambivalent feels. On one hand, I feel incredibly grateful to have the means to purchase nice gifts for everyone in my family. But on the other... I kinda wish we would skip the whole gift exchange. There's 12 people on my list, no kids. It has somehow transpired over the years that I always buy more than one gift for each person - more like two or three. That's at least 30 (?!) different things I'm having to carefully plan and research, purchase in advance, transport in my check-in luggage to Poland, wrap and place under the tree. It takes a lot of time, effort and energy - and money, of course. But what worries me the most is that in the end, I'm really not sure how useful or enjoyable these presents will be for my recipients. As for me, when it comes to surprise gifts, I've come to feel more apprehensive than excited when it's time to open the boxes under the tree, because I HATE receiving unwanted things and feeling ungrateful and wasteful as a result. And for the things that I've requested from my wishlist... I could just as well purchase them myself, couldn't I? It's really starting to feel like the whole gift thing isn't really worth it - for me.

Before you judge me as a bit extreme, I should tell you that I do believe it's okay to live a little during the holiday season. I think we should be feeling thrilled about Christmas indulgences, precisely because they're not strictly necessary. It's so much fun to experience things that are over and beyond - that's what makes them extra special, and we're all very priviledged to have that. Maybe it doesn't sound very minimalist to say that anticipating excess can make us happier, but, well, it's true - and I think that as long as we don't make ourselves feel completely overwhelmed and stressed out, it's all good.

So how am I attempting to fight the blues and get into that Christmas spirit? Well, now that I'm 95% done with buying gifts, I did decide to go ahead and purchase a few new clothing items for myself during Cyber Monday sales (I've never shopped Black Friday in store, but I did work retail on Black Friday one year, and it wasn't pretty). Some pieces will replace somewhat worn out staples (a few warm long-sleeved tops, a set of pjs), some are just for fun (a casual jersey dress) - and I'm looking forward to wearing them during the Holidays.

I'd also been contemplating the best way to inject a little bit of Christmas decor into our place, and I was inspired partly by my mom, partly by my fall-themed pumpkin centerpiece shown here, to put together this little arrangement for our living room window sill - it's my version of decorating the mantelpiece when you don't own a fireplace. I decorate our window with fairy lights every December, but this year I shopped around and purchased a bunch of these fir? or spruce? branches for a whopping sum of $2 at a nearby florist. Greenpoint, I tell you - and speaking Polish to Polish shopkeepers doesn't hurt either :) The branches smell absolutely incredible, and since they're just, well, branches, they can be easily composted at the end of the season without having to store another thing in the closet. I laid them out on our sill, added some baubles I had in my stash from that one year we did put up a tree, and voila! A touch of minimalist Holiday cheer.

Other things on my list include baking festive cookies, listening to Ella Fitzgerald's holiday album (well, okay, I'm also partial to some Buble), typing out emails to friends all over the world I usually have trouble keeping in touch with, gorging on tangerines and maybe even watching a seasonal movie or two (please leave your favorites in the comments below!). I also borrowed an easy Christmassy read from my local library - they always set up seasonal displays for kids, but I guess this time they were nice enough to put together a little corner for adults too. Christmas-time mystery seems to be a thing, and I like it. So... are you guys feeling the Christmas spirit already, or are you trying to fight the blues like me? What are you looking forward to the most during the season? I'd love to hear from you!

Make-up Investment Piece: Surratt Artistique Cheek Brush Review

I did it - I bought one thing and one thing only from the latest Sephora VIB sale, and it's this Surratt Artistique Cheek Brush ($115 each). When I first laid my grubby little fingers on Surratt's brushes last year at their launch (read my initial thoughts here), I was the most impressed with the large Powder brush and it's smaller companion, the Cheek Brush. I have a thing for blush brushes, and Surratt's version with its silky soft bristles and cute pom-pom shape beckoned to me from the counter. BUT! But. This beauty comes at a price.

It's easy to see the reason behind investing in quality versus quantity when it comes to your possessions, but I find it's another thing entirely to actually act upon it. In the past, I would have never dreamt of spending over a hundred bucks for any make-up product or tool; I'd be thinking, 'how life-changing would it have to be to justify the price tag?'. Truth is, very few things in life are game-changers, and I personally wouldn't classify anything make-up related among them. However, I do see the value in supporting genuine craftsmanship, something that's becoming rarer and rarer these days - so I bought this beautiful handmade Japanese brush, and it gives me joy to use it every day. Was it necessary? No. If you'd hate to part with your hard-earned money for just this one little object and later nit-pick why the brush isn't the most perfect tool in all of creation, don't do it. It's not worth it.

As soon as you hold the box with your precious Surratt brush, you can see and feel where your money has gone: there's minute attention to detail and luxurious elegance in the presentation of this brush. I know some of you would probably rather pay a lower price and just get the brush, but that's never an option with high-end make-up, is it? In the past, after a few months of procrastinating the painful decision, I tossed the box that my Medium Smokey Eye Brush (review) came in, but now I kinda regret it - I could have used it for jewelry (the length would be perfect for bracelets or necklaces), or to organize make-up in my narrow drawers, like I did with this box. You can also see I've reused some boxes from my TATCHA skincare; they too are too pretty to discard.

But, back to the Cheek Brush. Do I even need to comment on how amazingly soft Surratt's brushes are to the touch? I believe the bristles are grey squirrel, and like most Japanese-made brushes, they haven't been cut to create the brush's shape but hand-selected instead, so the hairs taper down and feel even softer on the skin. If you've never seen Surratt's brushes in person, the handles are a bit on the shorter side, which I like for applying make-up on myself. The glittering ombre detail at the end of the handle has stood the test of time on my other Surratt brush through a year of use and brush laundry.

Another important fact you need to know about this brush is that's it's SMALL.  I have included a photo of it resting in my hand for size reference - I hope that you can see that it's without a doubt rather diminutive for a blush brush. If you're a fan of something like Real Techniques Blush Brush, the Surratt is not for you. If, however, your face and features are on the small side and you like to be able to carefully control your blush placement, this is a fantastic specimen.

I didn't have any other blush brushes similar in size or shape to compare, because the Surratt Cheek Brush is in fact closer in size to my highlighter/ contour brushes - a little larger and denser, but still. You can see here that the domed shape is comparable to the Real Techniques Contour Brush, but the Surratt has longer bristles (= more flexibility) and doesn't fluff out as much. It does become a bit rounder as you use it (it's freshly washed in my photos) but definitely not enough to try to 'stipple' your powders on. Compared to the Zoeva 105 Luxe Highlight, there's no taper to Surratt's bristles, and there's definitely a lot more bristles packed in the ferrule.

I've been using this brush for close to two weeks now and I do enjoy how it applies my blush. The density of the Cheek Brush allows it to pick up quite a bit of pigment from the pan, but it's flexible enough to blend everything out seamlessly. I usually use one side to place the powder on my cheeks, and then I swirl it around using the head to diffuse it around the edges. The first time I used it I was surprised to see two hairs stuck to my cheek, but I believe it must have been just some loose hairs left over from the manufacturing process as I haven't noticed any shedding since - also, no shedding on my Smokey Eye Brush.

L-R: Surratt Cheek Brush (squirrel), Zoeva 105 Luxe Highlight (goat), Real Techniques Contour Brush (synthetic)

I'm very happy with this brush, and I'm glad I decided to splurge on it during the VIB sale (I'm also glad to see Surratt sold at Sephora, although Kar Yi (here's a link to her review of Surratt's angled Sculpting Brush) told me it's difficult to get any sense of his brushes' feel in Sephora store displays - much easier to play with the fluffies at Barney's). I can see this blush becoming a daily staple, be it for blush, highlighter or more precise setting powder placement. What have you picked up during recent sale events? What is your favorite brush to use for powder blushes?