What cosmetics do I like and Why

My ranking for makeup categories from favorite to meh are:

1. Brushes
2. Blushes
3. Eyeshadows
4. Foundation
5. Powder
6. Highlighter
7. Bronzer, Contour, and Eyebrows

Let's work backwords.

 #7 Bronzer, Contour, and Eyebrows

My skintone doesn't change with the season and I do not frequently change my hair color. So I strive to only own one product from each category. I also find those categories to be so boring. I don't see the appeal of owning various bronzer and contour products nor do I understand people who are "obsessed" with them to the point of owning multiples items. For eyebrows, I just fill mine in with eyeshadows, so I'm okay with that and keep doing my eyebrows that way!

#6 Highlighter

The really shiny-finish highlighter don't look flattering on my face structure. I wish figured this out sooner so I wouldn't have accumulated so much of them *sigh* I find the ones that are more subtle in finish suit me more, and have to be a goldish-champagne color. 

#5 Powder.

I mean, if it works for dry skin and doesn't look cakey, I like it. 

#4 Foundation.

Once I found the foundation that is extremely close OR exact match, I just stick with it. I do recommend getting match to a makeup artist brand, like MAC cosmetics or Make Up For Ever. They've been in the makeup artistry for a long time, so I'm confident to say that you'll find your match. I will admit, I am envious of people who are able to find their match in the drugstore range. I'm really bad at shade matching myself.

#3 Eyeshadows

I like to collect colorand put color on my eyelids. Duochrome finish is my favorite eyeshadow finish.

#2 Blushes

Oh, this is my first love to color. If there's one thing I do every day, is to apply blush on my face, with or without foundation. It just perks up my tired face and just lifts my mood. I own all the blush colors that possible suit me. That's how much I love blushes!

#1 Brushes

Brushes can have so much shape variety and they could last forever! Some are so soft that there are some brushes that I just use to rub my face. The variety, longevity, and the softness just reels me in and it's really hard for me to walk away from brush sales.

I'm not interested at all the new cosmetic releases. How come?

During 2020, all the cosmetic retailers bombarded the consumers with sales with discounts that weren't typically offered. Usually the sales, excluding Black Friday discounts from this comparision, is usually 10% - 30% off. During 2020, the discount for cosmetics were easily offered from 25% - 50% off. Wow. The sales were frequent as well, so it wasn't hard "to catch" the next one from the same brand, we just probably wait at most a month before the next sale starts.

When I saw that, that was when I thought to finally purchase some items that I was considering for a long time. Seeing the items go for 40% off, I thought it was the opportunity to finally get them.

I bought luxury eyeshadows. My goodness, I'm glad I have them because once they came into my possession, the desire for wanting more makeup just vanished.

I found the answers for "Are [luxury eyeshadows] worth the cost," and "What are [luxury eyeshadows] like," and that's what made me go "Yea, I'm good. Time to start using and enjoy what I have!"

That's how I stopped being tempted in new releases. I've accumulated so much eyeshadow that I can dupe the new palettes, even if the colors aren't exact. I'm all good.

Now to find a way to not be tempted by all the brushes =-=

Just buy the item you've been eyeing for more than a year

It'll be cheaper in the long run if you just purchase the item you've been eyeing for more than a year.

Usually, the money spent on the alternative and going "what if" would exceed the cost of the originally desired item.

Bars, Liquid, Spot cleaners: Which one to use.

 Answer: Depends how many brushes and what kind of brushes that need to be cleaned. 

Just remember, I'm writing this from my experience with various brush cleaners. Ultimately, it all comes down to your decision.

 

Cleansing Bars and Bar Soap:

Pros:

• If you just need to consistently need to clean one or a few brushes at a time
• Last a long time
  
• Easy to store

Cons:

• Not all cleansing bars do a good job at cleaning brushes.

 Personal Experience:

    I prefer to use brush cleansing bars on my brushes because it gets the job done much more efficiently. I bought a cleansing bar specifically formulate just for natural hair brushes, the Hakuhodo soap, and I currently have Beauty Blender's Charcoal Solid and Juno&co "Clean Up You Act" solid cleansing bar to use on my synthetic brushes.

I have had success with using any bar soap, like Dr Bronner's castille bar soap and Ivory bar soap, but it takes longer to rinse and to clean my foundation brushes. However, I know that I have hard water, so the bars started leaving residue on all my brushes, and slowly drying out my natural hair brushes.

Personal Favorite: Hakuhodo Soap (solely for natural hair brushes)

Liquid soaps (I'm mainly talking about Castille soap):

 Pros:

• Ideally use to wash a whole bunch of brushes at a time
• Lasts a long time
  

Cons:

• May not rinse will depending on how hard your water is 
• Can easily use too much. Must dilute!
  

Personal Experience:

    When I first started wearing makeup, I used Dr Bronner's Liquid castille soap in peppermint to was my synthetic brushes. It worked really well! But when I unknowingly purchased a natural-hair brush, the diluted castille soap concoction really dried it out. 

   A note that I've never tried using Dawn dish soap to wash my brushes.

 Personal Favorite: Dawn Dishwashing Dish Soap

 

Spot Cleaners:

Pros:

• Extremely convenient
• Very good for switching colors 
• Prolongs when you have to deep clean the brushes

Cons:

• Not effective on brushes that were used with cream products
• Contains alcohol, so it'll eventually damage your natural hair brushes 
• Still have to deep clean your brushes

 Personal Experience:

    I would recommend getting this if you like to play with makeup or like to switch up your looks on the daily basis. I've used the Cinema Secrets Makeup Brush Cleaner Pro and it's really effective on fluffy brushes, like crease brushes. I had to use alot of it to get foundation and concealer out of my brushes. I would never use these on my natural hair brushes since spot cleaners contain alcohol.

Personal Favorite: None. 

 What is deep cleaning? It's washing your brushes with cleaning bar or soap, and water. Spot cleaners usually have a conditioning agent in them, so it'll eventually affect your brushes performance. Because of that, that's why we still need to deep clean our brushes. But it does extend how often we have to do it!

About Eri aka Rambling Thoughts

 

Hi guys,

I'm Eri.

My blog, Rambling Thoughts, is a text-based blog that will be about my journey with cosmetics, as an user. I particularly enjoy brushes and eyeshadows. I also have copious amount of skincare that I enjoy smothering on myself. I'm hoping to make this blog a resource for cosmetics items, and a motivation for panning and/or rotating one's makeup, just to get the most joy out of it.

Aside from the fun stuff, there will posts about my relationship with shopping to cope with my frustration, my sadness, and other negative energy. I'm not sure if it would be consider an addiction since I was never diagnosed, my health insurance doesn't cover mental health therapy.

I hope my journey will be some form of entertainment for you, or a form of solace to you.

 Best,

Eri