Saturday, March 22, 2014

When these first came out, I absolutely loved them and my little collection grew possibly because I was living in the states when they came out & they are much more affordable down there.  It can range from $15-$20 in Canada vs $10-$15 in the states and they often have BOGO type promos so you can easily pick these guys up for less $10 in the US.  Yeah living in Canada sucks for the wallet some times.  These are medium - high coverage which was great for my acne ridden skin and I feel that it looks better and better throughout the day.  It almost becomes skin like the longer you wear it and I want to look natural despite wearing makeup to achieve that look.  I find it's best to apply with your hands first and then finish with a beauty blender or a brush.

As you can see early tan matches my skin the best however I kept buying other shapes of getting a perfect match.  Such is the quest for the perfect foundation.  So I have these big tubs of 320 Warm Golden & 330 True Beige that I've been using for contour in hopes of finishing them in about 10 years.  I don't like to waste money since I do enough of that with my shopping.  I find 340 Caramel is my perfect contour shade & would repurchase.  For overall foundation I think I am falling out of love with these guys because I can't seem to find that perfect match.  I think once the summer is here & I have a tan, early tan will come back into my rotation.

The one con that I see lots of people complain about is the packaging and I would have to agree.  These guys come in heavy glass jars but what I do is move them into little sample jars which make them perfect for travelling and going through those security checks.  I almost prefer these over liquid for travelling because the whipped like consistency ensures they never really fall out of the jar.

From left to right, 320 Warm Gold, 330 True Beige, 320 Natural Tan, 340 Caramel, 400 Early Tan



From left to right, 320 Warm Gold, 330 True Beige, 320 Natural Tan, 340 Caramel, 400 Early Tan

Thursday, March 13, 2014

I am not much of a coffee drinker.  But I love me my lattes.  Recently I was listening to the Bro-rista Coffee Culture podcast from the Stuff Mom Never Told ladies and it was totally on the money, for me at least.  I don't like straight coffee or espresso or whatnot but I love my sugar syrup ladden drinks from starbucks.  I guess that makes me a girl?  My absolute favorite would be a Creme Brulee Latte that I've only ever seen on the menu in Starbucks Japan but the Caramel Brulee Latte that they have in North America during the holidays comes in a close second.  My regular go to drink is their Cinnamon Dolce Latte, tall with non-fat milk and no whip cream.

I have a starbucks lattee almost every work day (Mon-Fri) and how do I rationalize spending $4.15/day on coffee when I can spend half of that at Timmies?  I buy discounted gift cards online to pay for my purchases bringing the average cost of that latte down to ~$3.60.  I am a member of the my starbucks rewards program where every 12 drinks you buy gets you a free one.  Based on my buying habbits, that brings the cost of my latte down to ~$3.25.  I check my starbucks app to see if there are any promo codes out there I can take advantage of.  Finally I walk to work almost every single day which would be a little over $5 every day I would spend on transportation.  That last part is just me telling myself what I need to so I can sleep better at night but hey $3.25 isn't so bad.  There was a time when I was even ordering short drinks so it would work out to be slightly cheaper but now that I am working, I get the talls.  I am movin' on up as they say...