The Big Black Swatch & Shade Post

This post is in lieu of a finish to the Juvia's Place review. No need to go on beating that dead horse. In the meantime (and since even being the hermit I am, this lockdown is crazy) I thought I would do a swatch post that includes the 2 new Juvia shades.

It's nice that a lot of the established cosmetic brands are adding shades for "deeper" skin tones. New brands seem to be popping up all the time (like Juvia's Place). Still, finding an affordable and appropriate shade of foundation is tough for a lot of us. I know ladies of all races and colors who have almost as hard a time as I do in trying to find something that works with their peach- or olive-hued tones. If you can't pull off one of the basic shades - porcelain, ivory, buff, light, tan, medium, "deep", chocolate, almond, or some variation of "toast" - then you have to be the Indiana Jones of the makeup world.

These are some arm and face swatches of all the shades I have lying around. I throw nothing out so I have stuff from 4 years ago. Don't judge me!

Just so you know:

• I photographed my leg in the natural light of my home. (ceiling and floor lamps)
• I applied a light primer and nothing else other than the moisturizer I already had on  
• I did not apply any other powders or setting products
• I used a makeup spatula to apply (cleaning after each use)
• I ran a line of the Nars shade along the top so you can compare it to each of the other shades.

These are the ones taken a couple of minutes after applying all the swatches:

sorry for the bad cropping
see names and shades below

It's easy to see that the Khartoum, Ebony, Mali, and Bronze 8 shades are ones I can work best with. The others can be used, I suppose, for highlighting, contouring, and blending to lighten or darken other shades.

This is after I lay a paper towel over them and did a light blotting:

You can barely tell the Nars from my skin. Perfect.

This is after I have let the makeup rest and completely set for about 5 minutes

I tried to keep the camera the same distance away but there could be some variation. You get the idea though.

By the way, this is the wonderful primer I used. It was sent as a full-size sample (yay) from Tryspree and I will be buying more when I am finished with the jar.

Hard Candy Primer Balm

If you are always on the lookout for shades in "deep" tones, here are some that I have considered. With a couple of exceptions, they are affordably priced and seem to come in a good variety of deep shades. And, since I was only looking at shades, you would have to judge for yourself how good they are as far as wear and staying power. The links are to where I found the item and not always the brand site.

Black OpalTrue Color

NYXBorn to Glow

MaybellineFit Me

MilaniConceal & Perfect

 

e.l.f.Flawless Finish

I did notice that Target carries quite a range of brands with diverse shades. Also, the site has a "foundation guide" to help locate suitable brands on their site with your shade range.

Actually, once I started searching, I found quite a few brands with "deep" shade choices. You have probably heard of most, but I think at least a couple will be new for you.

Here are some with prices in the mid to higher range - depending on what your budget is. I'm too tired to do links for all of them but hit up Google.

• Uoma Beauty (totally new to me)
• Fenty (Rhianna's gig so I won't bother with it. Personal bias.)
• Il Mikiage (see this a lot on social media platforms)
• ColourPop (I've seen this on Influenster)
• Black Up (I had one of their foundations in a near-matching shade for my skin. Good foundation as long as you get a match.)
• Urban Decay
• Nars (of course)
• Becca 
• Marc Jacobs (who knew?)

• Lancome (love theirs but it's pricey for me at around $45)
• Hue Noir (another totally new one for me)
• MAC
• Makeup Forever
• Black Radiance (of course)
• Flori Roberts (I used to love their Gold perfume but it's no longer made)

The name of the last one I want to mention gives me the creeps but I love that they seem to have a wide range of shades. It's called Flesh Beauty. See what I mean? Anyway... The prices are mid-range ($32 for a foundation) but they offer free shipping. If you sign up for their mailing list, you get a discount on your first order. 

Believe it or not, there are more I could have listed but I got tired.

Hope this helped.

Peace
--Free

Shopping Helps While Quarantined

My best friend and I are natural hermits. When this COVID thing really got hot and everyone around us started the "social distancing" trend (we do love trends, don't we?), the two of us laughed and called them amateurs!

from elbruno.com

I imagine that the idea of being quarantined is pretty stressful for most people. Listen, I was made for this time. I am someone who lives as if everything outside the doors of my home is just waiting to attack me.

I am sort of a 'herma-phobe'. I mean, I'm not extreme about germs or anything but I really am wary of other people spreading their colds and viruses to me. I so easily catch everything that makes me sniffle, sneeze, cough, or go into full-on body-aches. I am already dealing with this nasty sarcoidosis so I don't need to catch any other health issues. Plus, I have hermit tendencies.

Last week, when my neighbors and family were starting to take more notice of which stores ship or deliver, they were checking with me. I know where to get my prescriptions, toiletries, groceries, and cosmetics without ever going past the door to pick up my mail. And, no, Amazon is not the only game in town.

I am going to share a little condensed information with those of you who don't read my blog on a regular basis. For more details, you will have to use the search bar at the top of this blog. Don't you wish you'd paid a little more attention now? Ha!

Here are the places I use to shop from home:

• Amazon (of course), for non-perishables, household stuffs, and all other courtesy-of-billionaire Bezo-supplied goods. Until Trader Joes and other Prime-Pantry suppliers start delivering dairy and meat, I can't use them but you might be able to. Check the Amazon full directory. By the way, Amazon has a cool Prime Wardrobe deal on certain items of clothing and accessories. I've used it once but the free returns were done via UPS drop-off. I don't drive so Amazon arranged a free UPS pick-up for me. I don't know if they would make a habit of that. I was told I could do free returns via Kohl's drop-off. That's better but, still, no car.
• Hyvee and Aldi's for perishable groceries because they deliver in my area. I use Instacart because I pay the monthly membership for free delivery on orders of $30+; I can go directly to Hyvee online for more variety via Aisles Online but the delivery and fees are upwards of $10 and they won't split the annual $99 membership into monthly payments.
• Speaking of Instacart - depending on your location, you might be able to shop from several stores. Hyvee, Aldi, Target, and Petsmart are available to my hick zip code. Target's offerings there are slim and it's better to go directly to their site (see below). Maybe more will be added because of this COVID situation?
• Dollar General is a new discovery for me and I love it. I personally like to get all my "ethnic" hair care goods from them but there are some good deals on lots of DG stuff. Shipping is reasonable and not too slow although the tracking sucks and using the website is weird (I couldn't even set up an account!) I prefer using the app (here you go, iPhone users, though I've never used that one) because it's better a set up than the website.
• Target is not a place I regularly shop (too highbrow! Haha) but I like checking out the site. I get my Target beauty box every now and again. 
  
• Walgreens is currently doing free shipping with no minimum. I don't know when that started or how long that will last. I might have to check them out for my cosmetics and such.
• Walmart is where I get anything that's cheaper than what I can find on Amazon. I have to do some work comparing but it's worth it. Shipping is free on orders $35+. Searching and sorting what is available to ship-to-home is sort of a pain. Also, prices tend to be a little higher than in-store or store-pickup. By the way, you can even order your contacts from Walmart Vision.
• RiteAid is not a place I have ever shopped in person or online but I see they have the same $35+ thing as Walmart. The other day, I saw the FREESHIP being used but I don't know if it's still good.
• I happen to use a local pharmacy that does free delivery of my prescriptions. That's a service that other pharmacies might provide.

Shopping online is the norm for me. I get over-anxious around even middling-size groups of people and shoppers can be the worst. For some of you, though, this new kind of protective living is overwhelming. I happen to think that we are being set-up to accept this as the "new normal" so you might have to get used to it.

By the way, I do NOT understand the hoarding of toilet paper but because other people are, might I suggest getting a cheap little portable bidet. I did and I can't wait till I can get one actually installed on the toilet.

Don't you wonder if this is going to be the way things remain? I do. And I bet the retailers are going to figure out how to make it work. I would not be surprised if shopping, working, learning, and socializing is about to become more of an online thing than it ever has been.

I will update this with any new information I get about retailers cutting us some online slack. Hopefully, more of them will go easy on the shipping fees and return policies.

Peace

--Free

A List of my Favorite Products 2021

 NOTE: You might want to skip to the bottom

and just check out the photos. This 

post is kinda... long!

I don't think I have done this for a while. The lists I share on Amazon are not something the get a lot of views. I forget they are even there sometimes. But I wanted to think about some of the many products I blog about and pick some stand-out favorites. Here goes. (By the way, photos are just randomly placed throughout.)

Hair & Beauty

• Honey Hydrate. I trashed it in a review, then fell in love with it. It's not cheap but it's worth every penny.
• Taliah Waajid's Intense Moisture & Coconut Milk Leave-In Conditioner. Like the Honey Hydrate, it has the power to soften the crunchiest hair. I like to use it as a twisting cream after a fresh wash.
• Joah Beauty makeup brushes. I might actually use brushes over silicone blenders after using these angel-kiss tools. I got to sample the large brush and the blender brush and, yeah.
• Blistex Conditioning Lip Serum. This is the best lip product I have that's also very affordable.
• Neutrogena Hydra Boost Lip Treatment. It's one of those really effective products that you only have to use every now and then, so that makes it affordable. I think it's the hyaluronic acid that smoothed my old-age lips!
• Dermalogica Melting Moisture Mask is a product I got to sample & would probably have to skip a few meals to afford. HOWEVER... this stuff is amazing. Like some of the other products on this list, I have to use this sparingly because it works that well.
• Dashing Diva Gloss Ultra Shine Gel Manicure. I don't like going to salon manicures - they are too expensive for a regular treat - but I love pretty nails. I wore the nail wraps from this inexpensive kit for probably 15 days.I could have gone for longer but the edges on a couple were lifting and snagging my hair when I was styling it. I'm getting more sets and plan to have cute nails more often!
• I'm going to include a couple of fragrances here: Angel Nova by Mugler is just... divine. Eros by Versace made me want to be in love. Then there is Gorgeous! by Michael Kors which is more playfully sexy. They are from the samples I get in the mail from Macy's on a regular basis. 
• The Tangle Teezer. Oh. My. Goodness. My nappy hair loves this brush/detangler. Best thing that's happened to my hair in a while.
• Making Cosmetics makes a few things I heart. Their Almond, Apricot and Nourishing Oil are must-have-arounds. 

Home - Kitchen - Pantry - Office

• The Lemon Poundcake scented oil from Candle Science will probably forever be a favorite. I had to give up the Iced Lemon Sugar Cookies wax melts because the price got stupid. When I found the Lemon Poundcake, I stopped missing the ILSC melts. 
• I love, love, LOVE my Bissell Bagless. It's almost 3 years old and still a workhorse.
• My Electric Kettle is life. I got the cute gooseneck one & I use that thing at least 3 times a day - more now that I am drinking instant coffee.
• The Brother HL-2300D that I have had since 2016 and dragged from Alaska to Iowa to Alaska and back here to Iowa. That thing uses cheap toner and cheap paper and just never stops.
• My Echo Smart Pen that I still use and love, love, love. For someone with my memory issues, it's sometimes a real lifesaver.
• The Instant Pot. You know what it is.
• Cascara Tea. I need to drink it more often but it makes me feel great. It's full of antioxidants.
• My first food sealer just keeps going and going. I hate the 2nd and more fancy one I got.
• The set of cast iron I never want to be without. I am still thrilled with the Dutch Oven/Skillet combo.
• Cavender's All-Purpose Greek Seasoning is right up there with my Lawry's Seasoned Salt. The Cavender's is actually better because their low-sodium version tastes better than low-sodium Lawry's.
• Of course, I am going to add the Beaumont and Nescafe instant coffees.
• Banquet Fried Chicken. If you don't want to fry chicken but you want it crispy & seasoned, this is it. Plus, you can fix one piece at a time.

Vape Products

• Since my Smok Veneno gave up the game a while back (poor thing just gave out one day!), I rely on my Sigelei Shikra. It didn't start as a fave but the tank is the main thing in a vape and this one uses my Voopoo UForce tank.
• I just discovered the best Juul-like disposable ever: Simple Sticks. I only tried Peach and Mango Freeze. They can keep the Mango but that Peach is a juicy gem.

So, in your face, Oprah. You don't have to be rich and have rich tastes to have a nice list of favorites.

I'm sure I could add a few more things but I wanted to stick with the real highlights. If I wanted to be silly, I would add the Banquet Chicken I've been craving lately. KFC lost me when they wanted about 20 bucks for an 8-piece bucket. Banquet not only is more affordable, it tastes better and I can cook one piece at a time. Girl, bye.

Some of the things on these lists were given to me as samples to try. You all really need to hop on the samples wagon. Use an email address separate from your main one and sign up. My free Macy's sample fragrances are such a mood-lifter. Also, some places online let you get to try luxury-priced items that you might otherwise skip. The Dermalogica is something I probably would never have looked twice at. Now it's going on my Birthday & Christmas Beg lists for my family! The Diva nail wraps were in my cheapo Walmart Beauty Box. Do you know how excited I am that I can spend less than 10 bucks and 10 minutes to end up with a really pretty manicure? And no messy brushes involved? I'm on that.

Photos of all the ones I might 

or might not

have been too lazy

to categorize!

Better than ~gasp~ Aussie Moist

The most awesome primer

                                                                        

                                                                                                                 

Fresca - the non-diet-tasting
diet soda

Best nappy hairbrush

                                                                                                  

The dream bread
machine

Must-have cast iron
Dutch oven/skillet combo

Milk for single people

Best honey EVER

If you are gonna drink
it black, this is the one

too pricey but so 
worth it

 

Smells like You

Yes, chile, yes

My shade match

Never clean up 
a pot's boil-over again

Cascara Coffee

 

I will never pay for a salon manicure again

Last but never least is my sugar bear. I can never do a "favorites" list without the most important, all-time, numba one:

This is all of my heart!

Next, I will do a list of my favorite online shops (and tell you why they made the list).

Peace

--Free

**UPDATE** Quick Note About Camille Rose Naturals Honey Hydrate

 About 7 months or so ago, I kind of bashed on Camille Rose Naturals Honey Hydrate and had to backtrack. I mean, I was kind of brutal when I wrote reviews on sites like Amazon, Walmart, and Target. And here on the blog, I was mean, mean, mean.

Then...

I fell in love with the stuff. I had to do an update on the blog and all those reviews I posted. Honey Hydrate saved my hair from some serious self-inflicted damage. Not that my hair damaged itself but... well, you should know what I mean.

Anyway.

I wanted to do an update to share another wonderful way to use the product. I don't know why I thought of it, but I have been hydrating just my scalp and roots with Hydrate. Amazing.

I was trying to love my grays but...
time to cover those bad boys

Don't know why my ends
need trimming again

One thing I have found is that, even when my hair is not dried out, my scalp tends to be. Always. I use oils and other products but I think I have been one-siding the care of my hair. I have tended to worry about the ends more. I trim and moisturize and baby them. Meanwhile, my scalp has not been holding a lot of moisture. That gets worse as I get older.

What I have started doing is using some biotin oil on my scalp and using some Honey Hydrate as well.

I don't know yet how the biotin is working for health and growth so I'll have to come back to that. What I can tell already is that the Honey Hydrate is doing a great job of keeping my scalp super, well, hydrated. The roots of my hair are soft and I'm not seeing breakage there. 

I can't wait to keep up this routine for another month or two so I can see if it's helping as much as I think. When I did my twists the other night, my hair was easier to separate at the root. It was less tangled and fragile-feeling. After having the twists in for 3 days, they are not dried out at the tops and I love that they aren't staying bunched up at the root when I remove my sleep bonnet.

Been rocking these for 
a minute now!

So, yeah. As I have said in the past, Honey Hydrate can be a bit much for all-over use unless you are trying to heal some serious damage. It provides so much moisture that it discourages curl hold and definition. However, that deep moisture is just what my scalp and roots have been needing. Apparently.

I will, of course, be doing a follow-up post with some After photos that might show length retention.

Peace 

--Free

**REVIEW** Dashing Diva Nail Strips

 Do you ever look at other people's pretty manicures and wish your nails could be that cute? Do you also hate the idea of sitting for a manicure? Or paying so much for one? That's a ✓ ✓ and ✓ for me.

Currently, I can't afford to spend money on things like mani-pedis. And I never have liked the process of going to a salon, sitting and waiting, and - even when I could afford it - paying for someone to paint my nails.

I like having the part done where my nails get cleaned, clipped, and pampered. I just was never that thrilled with the paint job. One of my nieces has some kind of acrylic or something painted over her natural nail. She gets a regular paint job and her hands always look nice. The thing is, I'm not sure she can stop having them done regularly. I don't even know what her natural nails look like.

Whatever.

What I do like is having cute nails. I like having a nice look to the polish or even a little low-key flair to them. And now I have found a way to have all that without busting my tiny budget. Look how cute my nails are looking:

I messed up the thumb!

This was my fave & 1st set

Granted, they could be a little neater but that's on me. I did this myself in about 10 minutes. I bet if I took another 5 minutes, they would be neater, right? I'm getting better though.

This is 1 that I added to when they 
started to wear on the tips

At any rate, I love, love, ❤ these Dashing Diva nail strips.

Caught a sale of 6 & 7 bucks so...

I got the first set in my Walmart Beauty Box. They were the last thing I tried because I thought at first that they were press-on nails. I am not a fan of anything hard and press-on for nails. I haven't done fake nails since I was in my teens or early 20's and one popped off at an inappropriate time. (Is there an appropriate time for a nail to go flying across a cafe?)

After I tried everything else in the beauty box, I finally glanced at the Dashing Diva kit. I wanted to see if it was something I could pass along to someone else. That's when I noticed that they weren't fake nails but a "gel manicure".

Hmmm...

When I opened them up and realized that they are, basically, strips of polish that you shape to your own nails, well... What???

The strips are very thin, as you can see from this one that I removed after about 12 days. And, they would have lasted longer but I wanted to try another set!

Once I tried the first set of Dashing Diva, I went over to price them on Amazon. Ridiculous. They are cheaper and the variety is better on the Dashing Diva site. The site also has a Diva Squad and if you sign up, you get discounts.

By the way, when I was on Amazon, I thought I would look for a different brand. I saw these Salon Effects from Sally Hansen...

More pricey & not near as cute

... and, since I usually like all things Sally Hansen, I gave them a try. Big mistake. I liked nothing about them. The design is cute on the product page but the actual color of them is so white that it was as if I was wearing White Out on my nails. The design would have been great on a toned-down background.

Just a bad product design
& hard to use

Also, they are harder to apply to and remove from the nail. They are so thin that a couple of them tore while I was removing them from the backing, then when I tried removing them from my nails, it was like removing sticky paint. I ended up having to use polish remover. Such a mess. Never again, Sally Hansen, never again. I will stick with Dashing Diva.

If you go to the Dashing Diva site, keep in mind that there are categories. I have only ever tried the manicures and in the "gloss". There are categories for press-on nails, nail art, a kids' section, etc. Also, you might want to do combos. Just watch the menu. A cool thing is that shipping is free with orders over 15 bucks. Not bad.

NOTE: Although this is not a sponsored post, if you do go over to the site, you can share the credit by using my referral code Just saying. And then you can get a referral code to share with your friends.

The nail strips have been lasting about 12 17 days for me. They would last longer if I wore gloves when I washed dishes. To be honest, even the ones I have removed were only showing wear at the tips and were still pretty cute. At first, I was being pretty low-key with them but I want to get more adventurous. The next set I'm wearing is going to be the Rose Sparkle design:

So, yeah. If you like the idea of having a cute manicure without going broke (or going out), this might be an option. Another nice thing about it is that it's a prompt to take care of your nails. Every time I use a set, I take the time to show a little TLC to my cuticles and give my nails a quick grooming. 

Now I have to go over to the Dashing Diva site look at some of the nail art!

Peace

--Free

P.S.: Forgot to add photos of the sticker art that came

I like 2 design packs
so I got 2 each

Every sticker is tiny & separate.
The 2 small heart on the ends are my favorite 

Fear & Fragility in the Age of COVID

 This has been a heck of a week. I go out to dinner - me, the hermit queen. I go out ONE TIME... 

So I went out with my family for a bit of dinner last Friday and it was nice. The place we went to was taking all the safety measures - lots of distance between tables, staff wearing masks, the whole bit. Plus, there were only 2 parties in the entire place. My family of 3 was at a table on one side of the large dining room and another, larger party was on the other. In between serving us, we never saw the staff.

We had a decent lunch and it was fun to be chatting and hanging out where we didn't have to clear away or wash dishes. Afterward, we went for a little drive around the lake. Then I went home. I was out of my apartment for less than 2 hours. Maybe an hour and 40 minutes. It was just enough time to enjoy my family and not too much for my anxiety to kick in.

That was Friday afternoon. By Saturday evening, I wasn't feeling great. I felt hot and dried out, then cold and clammy. The skin on my belly felt so hot at one point, it scared me. I never get fevers. I think I had one once when I was in the hospital with sarcoidosis.  

I had been feeling so icky that I had put my computer on the bed so I could do my Bible reading without getting up. I stopped everything and ordered a thermometer online.

And then I slept. I think I must have slept from that Saturday off and on until my family called to see if I was coming to dinner at their house. They hadn't gotten my message about not feeling well. And that is scary. Scary to think that my messages were getting missed. Great. So no Easter dinner with the family for me.  I had cold medicine in an emergency kit so I took some and carried bottled water, a roll of tissue and some baby wipes back to bed with me.

I slept through the usual family text messages we send for holidays. When I missed one from Arizona, one of my brothers there called to check on me. I was feeling better. Must have been all the sleep. 

After lectures about COVID and vaccines from my worried brother, I went back to sleep. And I slept clean through until Monday around 10 when the mailman knocked. My thermometer was here. And I wasn't feeling so great. 

Other than my sarcoid and the meds I take for it, I don't get super sick. I get every cold that comes within a hundred yards of our town but I don't get sick the way I felt sick this time. The hot-dry-cold-clammy-chilled-burning up.... That worried me but I knew I hadn't lost my sense of taste because I was sure tasting the cough drops I had.  I was too wiped out to Google for COVID symptoms. 

I waited for the thermometer to arrive and when it did, I was grateful it was easy to figure out. It's simple and easy to read. I was in no mood for figuring things out.

From the memory function, I know that my temp ran from 98.1 to 99.6 to an even 100. And, as I said, I don't get fevers. I don't think I've ever gotten past 98.5.

At the time, I didn't appreciate the helpful frowny-face that the thermometer displays for high temps. It was still smiling at above 98 but started scowling for 100 degrees.

This is the thing about living alone. You get used to dealing with your anxiety and nerves on your own on a daily basis. I have felt unwell and not worried before because I knew what was wrong and I knew it would pass. I get slightly ill once a week from meds. I sometimes have problems with my balance. I know what to do in those cases. Drink plenty of fluids for the weekly sickness and when I get unsteady on my feet, I sit or lay down for long periods. No big. But this... This was like a regular old nasty flu bug.

Me: no unusual shortness of breath & no coughing

I didn't want to worry my family so I just kept telling them that I had a bad cold and was resting up. But at one point, I scared myself when I couldn't come out of the chills. I texted my SIL that I would go to the clinic if I didn't feel better soon.

Spoiler: I survived. I started feeling better this morning. I was able to get up and make toast and tea. I still don't have the energy to trust standing in the shower (as badly as I need one!) but I have been up and on my feet. I took out my trash. I just ordered some things from the store - soup, bread, peanut butter, more cold meds, and some coconut water to help re-hydrate. I'm still staying extra-isolated. I don't want to come in contact with anyone for at least another couple of weeks. Just in case. I'm not seeing my family and when I get groceries, I have the delivery left outside my door. Just. In. Case. From what I understand, 20 days is a safe period of isolation. No problem here.

I'm just ranting a little here. I guess I want to commiserate with all my other Living Single singles. Now that we are living in the age of this superbug virus, life feels a little more fragile. Or at least it does for me.

Just so you all know, I am not afraid of dying. I think I've said that here before. Being dead doesn't bother me because I won't stay dead. It's the whole "getting dead" part that doesn't sound fun.

Anyway.

I am back. I think. While I am isolating, I have plenty of backed-up reviews to do. I have been saving things up for a couple of months so... 

For now, I am happy to be able to sit up and focus on something other than feeling icky.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I am publishing this post a few days after writing it. I had one day when the fatigue came back for a brief visit. Now I am back to my usual run-of-the-mill fatigue and, boy, I won't complain about it so much anymore!