About Face| Barely There Beauty

I love the freedom of easy makeup days. Usually Sundays for me. Most of the time I don't bother at all. I like to give my skin the day off if I can but, whether I'm running out for coffee or to run errands there is a small arsenal of products I refer to so I can be out the door in under five minutes.

The best part?

You can apply the whole routine with just your fingers.

Ugly Pretty Colors

One thing Autumn trends tend to bring about is the presence of "ugly pretty colors." You know the pea soup and baby poop green shades. 

Things that only ever seem pretty when the air is clear and crisp and all of the scenery is blustery and warm.

I don't know quite what it is about this time of year but it makes me want mustard nails. 

In honor of the season let's match our nails to the wilting foliage! 

The Replacements|The Bathroom Counter

Now that I have my own bathroom I get really excited about things like candles and hand soap. Especially when they match.

I was at my local Target and making a beeline to repurchase my favorite Mrs. Meyers Hand Soap Scent-Radish (Yes I know I'm the only one.) when low and behold it is not in stock. 

Lame.

After a quick sniff of all of the other hand soap options (I flirted briefly with something from J.R. Watkins.) I settled on the Mrs Meyer's Basil scent and after a few days getting used to it I thought I would commit to the matching candle for a couple weeks. Just to hold on to the warm fresh summer feelings for a little bit longer. 

I will say the Basil scent doesn't quite out do my Radish-y favorite but it will be nice for a while. 

As far as the candle is concerned.

Mr Meyer's seems to do a nice candle with good throw but...the Vineyard Hills Natural Candle I had before this in Mandarin Lavender puts the Mrs. Meyers to shame. 

If you can find these (mine came from Target) They are only a few bucks and are perfect for small spaces that need a little something extra.

I realize that this isn't a strictly beauty related post but I know I can't be the only one who looks forward to re-upping the bathroom counter must haves.

Am I?

Confession: Beauty MInis

Now with holiday value sets in full swing at places like Sephora and Ulta I thought it would be a good time to share my thoughts on all of the minis the can accumulate around this time of year.

Do you actually use your mini products?

I mean they're soooo cute and all but do you use them?

I have this issue where they accumulate in my collection. I set them off to the side for when I "travel"(Lately for me traveling is my parents house a whopping 2 hour journey from Queens)but then just end up bringing my full sized products with me instead. 

So lets weigh some pro's and cons and see what minis are good and what minis are collection cluttering evil.

Capsule Wardrobe|Beauty Tools

When it comes to the beauty industry every you turn around there is a new tool or a new gadget that claims to make you beautiful in a fraction of the time.

There is seemingly no gimmick stone left unturned when marketing beauty to men and women.

It really is not that complicated. 

I think there are really only a few things I think everyone needs to put together a nicely groomed look on a day to day basis and they do not have to be expensive or electronic or from an infomercial. 

The Spectrum: Olive

One of the not so neutral neutral makeup shades to reach for when the weather starts to cool (or anytime really) is an olive green. 

Hits of color mixed with a sprinkle of gold make for a sesaonlly on point shade that is so easy to wear.

The best part? I think is a shade that comes in a really nice variety of products so no matter how you want to wear it there is a way to make it work for you.

Shopping My Stash: Autumn Edition

Now the beauty concept of shopping one's stash requires having a stash in the first place so forgive me as this post really only applies to people like me with Far.Too.Much.Makeup.

When you do find you accumulate products it isn't hard for some of them to get forgotten about in the back of a drawer somewhere. 

For this reason once a season or so I like to have a good rummage through all of my beauty hiding places and pull out all the things I once raced about that got abandoned when newer shinier things came along. 

It seems I tend to be especially guilty of this with blush products.