Pale Products and More

Lately I don't use anything except cream products. Powders just feel so heavy and annoying, especially now that its getting to 95 degrees mid morning, and the AC in the drive through at my work is usually broken, lmao. I usually use my Nudestix Bondi Bae Brzoner (review here), but I wanted to try something new, which led me to the Rms Beauty Burti Bronzer.

It retails for $28 for .20 oz., to compare to other cream bronzers; the Too Faced Bronzed Peach Melting Powder is $30 for .44 oz., and the Nudestix All Over Face Color are $30 for .25 oz. It claims to give you a glowing sunkissed look with a radiant finish. The swatch scared me as it does look pretty warm toned, but I find it doesn't look too orangey on the skin. As with all RMS Beauty products, it has a makeup-y smell that I'm not a huge fan of. Its not as prominent as the Uncover Foundation so that's a plus.


I apply this with my Real Techniques sponge, dipping directly into the product and blending it. I find that it blends easier with swiping motions vs the tradition dabbing. I have only worn this with my Nudestix Tinted Blur Stix, but I assume this application would not work on a heavier coverage foundation as it would slide the foundation around too much. For my purposes though, it works well.



This does give a very natural, sunkissed look. I was very surprised that it works on my skin tone. I agree it definitely has a radiant finish that I think makes the skin look very healthy. It lasts about 6-8 hours, as cream products don't have the longevity powders do. I find that it rubs off quite quickly when I'm working as I wear a drive thru headset. When I'm not working though, it does last well, unless I rub my face. Powdering it with a translucent powder does make it last a bit better, but takes away a bit of the glow.


Overall its a very flattering shade for me that is easy to apply and wears well. The only slight negative is longevity, but its to be expected. I can definitely see myself repurchasing.

Ah Biore Aqua Rich Watery Essence...the iconic sunscreen that is a lot of people's first dip into Asian skincare. I'm not special, and when I first got into Asian beauty I immediately scrambled to purchase a sunscreen after realizing in horror the damaging years I had gone unprotected. This frantic search brought me to cult favorite Biore Watery Essence, as it was all the rage on the Asian Beauty subreddit at the time.

If you don't know anything about Asian sunscreens, they are formulated with a different rating system than their Western counterparts. To be frank I can't break it all down and explain it in depth, I just know that the higher the PA rating is, the better (he current highest rating is ++++. So you'll see SPF listed on these sunscreens followed by the PA rating that will look like PA++++.

The other big difference between Asian and Western sunscreens is the cosmetic factor- Western sunscreens are sticky and gloopy and white and just a general mess, while Asian ones dry down to matte, satin, or dewy finishes and sink into your skin and leave no white cast. They are able to do that with the use of chemical sun filters vs physical ones. And again, I'm not the right person to ask about what all this means, but luckily google is free and there are very many helpful links for you out there. Now that the basics are out of the way onto the product...

This retails for varying prices depending on where you get it but I took a quick glance and saw prices ranges from $8-$15. Oop one more thing about Asian sunscreens in general, they are small compared to what we are used to. These aren't your 12 hour beach day trip sunscreens, and if you use them as such I'm assuming you'll 1) go through several tubes and 2) burn to a crisp. That's because with chemical filters in order to properly continue getting the right amount of coverage, you need to reapply every 2 hours of sun exposure. This works well if you are using this as a casual commuting sunscreen where you are only in the sun to and from your car etc, but as for direct sun exposure I would not opt for this product. All that being said this is 50g, so like...fits in your hand comfortably, as you can see from the pictures.


Okay as far as the texture/scent/initial thoughts on the product it is a slightly runny, thinner consistency that smells a bit lemony and fresh. It does contain alcohol so if you are sensitive to that (I know a lot of people have issues with this for that reason), stay away! I do not find this to be drying whatsoever.


Damn I guess there's another bit of general info I need to drop- you will only get the advertised protection if you apply enough sunscreen. "enough" translates to a quarter teaspoon (roughly two fingers worth of product I believe), and its actually quite a bit. The picture shown above is about two fingers worth dotted on, and I usually add a bit more with a second layer on my high areas that are more exposed to the sun.

right after application

I like to apply it using Fiddy's method of applying then patting in with a cushion puff (I'm referring to Fiddysnails on ig, reddit, and anywhere else she has an internet presence, she is a goddess among skincare queens). If I just apply this with my hands it feels like a lot of product and feels a bit uncomfortable, but applying it with a puff does not have that effect. There's controversy among the skincare people over whether or not you need to have a "wait time" for your sunscreen to "activate" so to speak, but personally I prefer waiting 30 minutes before applying any makeup, otherwise my makeup pills and I just feel pretty heavy. After 30 minutes though there is no issue and my face doesn't feel heavy anymore.

after 30 minutes

When I don't wear makeup I find that this gives my face a very slight glow and dries down to a soft matte borderline satin finish. It leaves my skin feeling soft, but I can usually feel it a little bit when I touch my face even after it has completely dried down. I don't find it oil controlling or anything, although it does have a slight, slight pore covering effect for about the first hour (if I'm not wearing makeup after an hour my pores look normal). This wears okay under makeup, but it can pill if I apply my makeup before waiting 30 mins, or just sometimes at random.

Overall this is a good product that I have repurchased twice (I fell off the sunscreen wagon several times but I'm back on in full force!). I think it was a good first step into Asian sunscreens, but I don't think I'll be repurchasing again, as I want to try others.

So, as I mentioned in my Lena Cup review, my periods have been super light lately. This led me to seriously look into other options because I could no longer comfortably use my cup. I decided to try some period underwear. If you're unfamiliar with it, its underwear that has some sort of absorbent crotchto replace or to be worn as a back up for tampons or cups. There's a ton of brands and after a bunch of research I decided to try the brand PantyProp.

PantyProp feature an absorbent cotton gusset (nicer word for crotch I guess) and claim to give security, comfort, leak free protection, as well as not have any bumps that can be seen through pants. Its important to note this is a claim the company makes...you'll see why I'm saying this. They also feature a mesh thing that is to hope pads in place if you want to wear pads in addition to the undies. This was not a factor in my decision as I wasn't going to be wearing pads.

front

back

I opted for the Hipster version that claims to be low rise and full coverage. Now I wanted to mention that I do wear thongs 90% of the time, but I went into this knowing I was obviously not going to be wearing a thong, and I did normally wear non thongs on my period. They are $19.99 for a single pair (I got the black version), I had ordered a 4 pack that is no longer listed on the site for $64, plus about $8 shipping.

bunching up

Right off the bat I wasn't that happy with them. Pulling them out of the box you can see a thick padding in the crotch. The padding also goes pretty far in the back which can be helpful to those that bleed in that direction, but I usually need more coverage in the front. When I put them on my disappointment continued- they are absolutely not low rise, and come up a lot higher than any of my underwear be it thongs, boyshorts, bikinis, etc (I'm wearing high waisted leggings in the picture with them). The padding in the back makes it look and feel like a diaper, and the padding in the front doesn't sit smooth on the crotch, but instead bunches up (see above pic for example). Its also slightly uncomfortable due to the mesh pad holder thing, and I find they can wiggle their way out of the crotch lining and kind of stick out between my thighs. I tried these with several pants and you could see the butt padding in all of them. I only wore these when I could wear a big shirt to cover my butt.

mesh pad holder thing

They do absorb enough though. Like I said my period is very light right now so I can't really say if they work well for normal to heavy periods, but they work for my flow without feeling damp or worrying I'll leak through. That being said all the other negatives don't really make it worth it for me to wear these during the day.

I've found that the only use I get out of these is wearing them at night. For that they're fine. But wearing them during the day is a no go. I definitely would not repurchase and I wish I had only gotten one pair instead of getting the three pack, but you live and learn. If you are interested in period panties I do have a review coming on another brand (spoiler: I like them much better than these!) so keep watching!

So...I have had my eyebrows waxed twice in my life, and that's all the waxing experience I have. I have extremely pale skin prone to showing every little bump, red mark, you name it. Pair that with moderately sensitive skin in my pits and my bikini area and well, it's not pretty. Growing up I was always extremely self conscious about the black dots all over my armpits even on my first day post shave. Same thing with my bikini area, so I'm actually surprised it took me this long to take the plunge. I was fed up and decided to go all in with a Brazilian. This post is going to be detailed and talk about all the things I was hoping all the posts I read on Brazilians before going said. This post will also contain my armpit waxing experience as well. Apologies for the wall of text, there's not many pictures I could break it up with, lmao.

The waxing bar I went to used soft wax just fyi. Starting with prepping, I followed the instructions on the website of the waxing bar I was planning to go to, and let my hair grow 3-4 weeks (or like 5-7 but I digress). I wanted to mention that I have plucked my bikini area before so I was aware of just how sensitive it is to that kind of hair removal, although by no means am I used to it at all.

Just so everyone knows, I accidentally drank an iced coffee the morning of my appointment, although you are supposed to avoid caffeine the day of. I also didn't have any of the recommended ibuprofen to take 30 minutes beforehand. It was also a little less than a week before my period was going to come, and its recommended to not get waxed near your period. So I'm basically going into this in the worst way possible.

Now I was nervous about several things, those being: sweating/smelling down there/armpit sweat after the wax was done (I get mad anxious sweats), pain, awkwardness. And I'll be getting into all that!

When I got there my waxing specialist brought me into the room and let me know we would be doing the underarms first. I laid down on the table sort of like a doctors table and got my shirt up around my neck, with my arms out of the sleeves. She had me raise one of my arms and hold my boob away from the armpit with my other hand, to get the skin taut. She applied the wax in small sections, applying a muslin cloth, pressing down in the direction of hair growth, then ripping it away against the direction of growth, and immediately pressing firmly on the area with her hand. It stung for about a second as it was ripped off, but I would call it mild to moderate stinging at worst. The area closer to my boobs/the middle of my armpit hurt more than the top but not a significant amount. I wasn't really worried about the pain on my pits, and rightfully so.

Once the pits were done she left the room so I could take my pants and undies off, and she also informed me there were unscented baby wipes to "freshen up", god bless. So that ticks one of my worry boxes. She came back in and starting talking about the procedure and that since it was my first Brazilian it was for sure going to hurt, etc etc. She did my bikini line first, which honestly was comparable to my armpits as far as pain, maybe a little sharper. Once we started on the front area (pubic mound but I hate that fucking term), the pain was getting there. At this point she had me breathe in as she pressed the wax with the cloth, then sharply breathe out as she ripped. The pressing afterwards really helped here. The labia were as painful as the top, I'd call it moderate to light high. It definitely wasn't a pleasant feeling, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. So pain overall? Not fun, but not the worst. Check.

Once we were done with the front/labia, she had me lift both my knees up to my chest (or one at a time I just preferred both) to do the "back". This part was a piece of cake, hurt even less than pits, wouldn't even say it hurt.

The entire time we were talking casually, lighthearted things about her work, vacations, etc. It felt very natural and I'm literally the most awkward person when it comes to small talk, so that's saying something. It actually didn't feel weird to be bottom down naked either. Felt like when you're at the gyno, but more welcoming and nice.

I was really tense and sweating during the Brazilian, luckily I didn't sweat enough for my pits to stink, as she had wiped off my deo before we began. Another plus was that when she left the room for me to get dressed, I could apply deo before I left just in case (deo review on what I used coming soon!), so that ticks off my last worry box.

I did have slight bleeding since it was my first time, but that's to be expected. My crotch felt super warm for about 15 minutes afterwards, and both areas stung just a teeny tiny bit for the same amount of time. For the first couple hours afterwards my skin was inflammed and red, but that subdued by that night. I was a bit tacky from the wax residue for the first day or so, and I was definitely sore for about 1 to 2 days. I was more sore in my pits, weirdly enough. I think that was because I had to return to work the next day when its advised not to sweat for 24 hours following the wax.

At about four days after I was noticing a teeny tiny but of regrowth in my pits, but not all over in the same way hair grows back after you shave, just like two or three hairs scattered around. Its been about two week since my appointment, and at one week there was hair growing back (in my pits more so), but its for sure growing in sparser. You couldn't even see the hairs unless you were up close, whereas with shaving you can see the hair from far away like a day after. Now at two weeks there is definitely noticable hair, but it is still sparser for sure. I wasn't expecting to stay hairless for weeks, as it was my very first time getting waxed the follicles are still strong and all that.

Overall I had a positive experience and I do plan on getting waxed again. The pain was moderate but definitely tolerable, and so far I'm impressed by the results, especially on the Brazilian. I'm excited to see the results from continued waxing.

Summer in Florida means 90+ degrees at like 9am. Its truly something else. My face was feeling so heavy and weighed down and my sunscreen was taking ages to dry, so I decided its finally time to switch it up a bit. (You can see my last skincare post here, holy shit its from over a year ago!). I actually still use most of the same products.

The significant changes I've made for the summer are doing the "7 skins method" which is applying a toner 7 (give or take) times to really boost the hydration of the skin. It leaves the skin hydrated while not being sticky or weighing it down with heavy creams. I've also swapped out any heavier creams in lieu of lighter ones.(I forgot to include sunscreens in my pic oh well)

AM Routine 

• Cleanser: Cosrx Low pH Daily cleanser OR Cosrx Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser (I only apply cleanser to my t zone in the morning, and rinse the rest of my face with water only)
• Hydrating Toner: Hada Labo Gokujyun Lotion in Moist (I do 3-7 skins of this depending on how much time I have/how my skin is feeling) 
• Light Moisturizer: Goodal Moisture Barrier Liquid Light (I previously listed this as an essence but it really isn't one. Its almost a thicker toner? I'm not sure what to classify it as. I usually do 1 or 2 skins of this)
• Medium Moisturizer: Goodal Moisture Barrier Liquid (one layer only, usually)
• Sunscreen: Biore Watery Essence/Can Make Mermaid Skin Gel (for face) Skin Aqua Super Moisture Gel SPF 50+ PA++++ (for body)

Awhile ago I picked up several Nudestix products and one of them was the All Over Face Color Matte in the shade Bondi Bae. I was leaning towards cream products more often and had wanted to get a bronzer that wouldn't be too orange, as I find most powder bronzers are. The premise of this product being variations of "nude" was very promising.

This retails for $30 for .25 oz., while the Milk Makeup Bronzer goes for $24 for 1 oz., and the Nars The Multiple are $39 for .50 oz (if you get the regular ones), and .26 oz (if you get the matte one, what the fuck? idk if this is wrong but that's what is listed on Sephora). This is supposed to be long wearing and have a soft matte finish.

It is described as a "bronzed nude". I find that if I over apply this can look ever so slightly orangey, but not if I go in with a light hand. It does have a soft matte finish, and sets down so that you don't have to worry about it rubbing off. That said, it is a cream product so it does not wear as long as powders, but it does wear longer than creams that don't set down.



It gives a natural looking bronze to my skin. I find the best way to apply it is to dab the stick directly onto my sponge, then pat the product onto my face. Applying directly to the face results in a harsher line that is harder to blend.



I really do like this product. 9 times out of 10 these days I'm wearing cream products, and this is definitely an every day product for me. It applies easy, wears well throughout the day, and is overall very flattering, which is hard to find in a bronzer for my skin tone.  As of right now I will definitely repurchase when I run out.

When Milk released this I knew I wanted to try it. Its gimmicky and all that, but hey...I still wanted to try it. I was hesitant to buy the full size without knowing how I felt about it, so lucky for me Sephora was doing deluxe samples with a code or something.

The full size retails for $24 for .34 oz. Its got cannabis oil for nourishment, "heart shaped fibers" (whatever that means), and is supposed to give a clump free, intense black finish. Its supposed to be very voluminous. The packaging (of the full size) is like.....really nice. Its so luxurious feeling!

I always wipe my mascara wands off on the rim of the bottle, as well as usually wiping the tip of on a paper towel, so I did the same when applying this. I found that with one coat my lashes were coated much more than with one coat of other mascaras. I do a couple of layers depending on how my lashes are looking.

applied to left eye

It does not clump and does give a lot of volume! My coworker even mentioned how voluminous my lashes looked without me even bringing it up. The thing I really like about this is that if I get any smudges on my eye lid, they wipe away without leaving any smears. I have long lashes naturally, so I always get a little bit of smudging when applying. This mascara doesn't ruin the shadow look when I wipe it off, which is a big thing for me. I find this lasts all day and does not smudge or flake. Oh and its really easy to remove with cleansing oil, it all comes off which I find is rare with mascaras unless I really scrub my eyes.

left only

both eyes applied

I actually was really pleasantly surprised by this, it gives great volume and length, doesn't smudge or flake, is all around great. I'm planning on buying the full version when I run out. Its pretty much everything I want in a mascara!