Here’s my beauty balance finale for this month, it’s a good one! Last update I had 16 items leaving my collection over what entered.

I did purchase some things, I got some Deciem products at the slow sale.

Just 4 items. I am eager to give them a try when my current products are finished.

That brings me down to 12 leaving over what entered.

I can easily bring that back up to 16 with just my finished hair products this month. I liked each of these items. I am trying to move away from the moroccan oil dry texture spray, so I’ll be working through two others instead in the upcoming months. Everything else I’d happily repurchase in the future.

Spoiler, this’ll bring me to 24 items leaving my collection over what entered it this month.

The trestique mascara I am giving Miss Butterfly. It transfers badly for me, as is the case with almost anything that isn’t waterproof. I finished the it cosmetics eyebrow pencil a month earlier than I expected, I am thrilled with that! I finished another elf lip exfoliator and I won’t be repurchasing. This one all the exfoliating action got used up before early and it was a much stiffer formula. It’s too inconsistent for me to count on. I finished The Ordinary Buffet serum. I like it but I prefer other serums. I finished a briogeo roscaro product, this one was a heat protectant.

The Alien perfume I’d purchase. I love it. I really want to own it. I have far too many other perfume samples to do so, but it’s on a list to pick up someday in the future. The benefit porefessional is useful but I don’t seek it out. And, the bum bum cream I ended up loving but would not purchase due to the price.

As for the foil packet style items-I got a chance to try the urban decay stay naked foundation, I won’t need to purchase. The seed scalp and root mask is something I do want to purchase as a full size someday, I loved that product! The Wella volume boost didn’t really do anything special, and the Hask shampoo didn’t blow me away either.

I am fortunate that I managed to move 24 items out before December, and that was my overall goal. I have an advent calendar coming in, and that’s 24 new items. That being said, I’ll wait to balance that at the very end of the month since I suspect I’ll give most of that calendar to Miss Butterfly once it’s done. I also did shop the sales, so I have some items coming in that way as well.

That’s it for November, see you in December!

It’s another moment for a beauty balance post. At the end of October, I was doing very well with my beauty balance. I had 15 items leaving my collection over what entered it.

I did make a purchase, I purchased a toner, something alcohol-free and hydrating, as my skin is definitely reacting to the change in weather. And then in an effort to find a texture spray I like as much as the moroccan oil one, I purchased a couple texture sprays.

The toner is from Kiehl’s and I am enjoying it so far.

The two texture sprays I am counting right now are from Kenra and Sexy Hair. The one from Kyn is not at all what I am looking for and I already gave it to Miss Butterfly.

I have tried both the Kenra and the Sexy Hair product and I like them both quite well, so I do think I have found a few options that work for me. I may also continue to explore, hoping for even less expensive items. But, my major goal was to move away from making additional sephora purchases. Ulta’s points system is so much better that I am always hoping to purchase there instead.

So, that’s 3 items in.

Here’s what I’ve got leaving my collection.

The CeraVe cleanser is one that I keep in the shower for use for Miss Butterfly and me both. We really like it, and I find it to be the perfect morning cleanser when I am just needing the fresh start of a clean face, rather than trying to remove the remains of makeup and a cleansing balm.

The Briogeo conditioner is going to Miss Butterfly, as I do not need it. Once she finishes this one, she’ll have finished up my stash of conditioners and we’ll have to purchase new.

I finished up a perfume sample, this was the atelier vanille insensee. I liked it quite a lot but also this was what I was wearing when I developed my cold so it can go far on the back burner for now, as I am associating it with getting sick.

And finally, I finished up my Mad Hippie vitamin c serum. I don’t feel like this was something special that I need to repurchase. It’s a lovely serum and feels great on the face but I don’t need it.

3 products in but 4 products out leaves me at 16 products out over what came in. I am pretty happy about that!

I did avail myself of deciem’s slow November sale, so I do have a few skincare products on their way to me. After that, I’ve no real plans for any makeup or skincare purchases, so that’ll probably be my last incoming beauty for the month.

Due to the time change over the weekend, I was up extra early on Monday morning. Despite having made sure to stay up later so that I could adjust my schedule, I woke up before 5. This is no huge surprise, I’m a morning person and sometimes trying to sleep in is not an option.

As such, I ended up with a little extra time to mess around with makeup. I pulled out the JH Morphe palette, now singles. I decided I wanted a forest green outer corner and a gold/bronze shimmer on the lid. Now, never one to be able to make a winged liner, I knew I couldn’t attempt that on a work morning without looking ridiculous. I missed the boat with winged liner I think. If I’d learned when I was young and kept at it over the years, maybe I would have learned to work with my hooded eyes, and then aging skin. Now it feels kind of hopeless.

So, I thought about what I could do to create a similar effect, and I ended up with something pretty simple. I used concealer to make a rather harsh line in the same area I’d place a wing if I were trying to do that. I figured if it looked weird, no worries, it was early enough to buff that line back out.

I dunno, it looks kinda wing-like and smokey. It was fun to have time to experiment, but I would definitely love it if my schedule adjusted again so I don’t have as much time in the morning. 🙂

Miss Butterfly is kind of getting too old for trick-or-treating. Nevertheless, she wanted to go back to the neighborhood she grew up in to spend time with her friends there. She had told me that she wouldn’t dress up this year, just go with the youngest daughter to make sure she got to do as much trick-or-treating as she wanted while her older sisters were doing their own thing.

At the last minute though, she decided to pull out her BH take me back to brazil palette and do a clown look. She didn’t have much time, so she didn’t get very far. Not far enough even to mess around with a lip look. But, she did get some eye work done, and I thought it looked pretty cool. I gave her a good spritz of urban decay all nighter setting spray and she was off! The look actually looked better and better as the evening wore on.

Here’s her photo, mid-eye roll because mom takes photos.

I really appreciated her blending skills. Would have been fun to spend more time on it.