Indie Makeup

It wasn't until recently I considered myself a makeup geek. It started to dawn on me when I ran out of room for lipstick and decided I couldn't buy anymore until I'd used up what I have. Then I realized I know at least one major technique. I can cash in a 500 point reward at Sephora.

I can name more than 3 indie brands. In fact, when a friend asked, I named several. How many?

Shiro

Colourpop

LA Splash

Fyrinnae

Makeup Geek

LimeCrime

Sugar Pill

I had snark for a BuzzFeed article that left off a few of my favorites. I can only testify to the first two. Shiro's shadow is amazing but the lip stuff doesn't have the staying power I'd hoped for. Colourpop's liquid lips live up to the name but so drying. The shadows are good but holy glitter Batman.

LA Splash gained some fame in 2015 with Harry Potter and Disney Princess lipstick lines. I haven't purchased any yet based on my above reason but they look fun. Fyrinnae has some gorgeous stuff. I can't wait to try their shadow and color changing lips. I've heard good things about the final 3 but haven't seen anything I got pumped for. I've heard good things about all of them.

So there you have it. I'm a bit of a makeup geek and here's a few indie brands you can try.

New 16 Books #1

January isn't even into double digits and I've bought the first of my new 16 books. Before you judge me, I was OK with this being one of my 16 from day 1.

It started when I was making an Amazon list for my birthday in a few months. A friend requested it. When I went to add the illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, it wasn't available. I got a Barnes & Noble gift card for Christmas and I knew I'd seen it in stores so I added that to the day's errands. First store didn't have it. Second store had it and held it for me. I also got to take advantage of the fact that I'm a member and saved an additional 10% for what remains of my gift card. 

While it's pretty early for me to have already made a dent in my 16, the day of errands also included trips to 2 library branches. I've got a pretty respectable library haul to burn through before the 24th. I'll keep you posted.


New 16 for 2016

1) Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

March Shopfessions

I figure it will be easier to confess my shopping indiscretions if I add them pat the end of the month. Inevitably I got some birthday gift cards and got some money from books sold during the purge.

I allowed a lot more self-indulgence since it was my birthday.

Clothes I Didn't Need
Keep Your Options Spoke Shirt - $35
(I was waiting for this grand display of snark to come in)
Exactly As It Schemes Shirt - $30
(This is something I could pull off at work with not-jeans)

Books/Comics I Didn't Need
Smut Peddler 2012 PDF - $15
(Sex positive comics? Yes, please)
Smut Peddler 2014 Paperback - $30
Templar Arizona All Four Books - $45
Barnes and Noble - $46 (Went to kill a gift card. That backfired.)

MISC Things I Didn't Need
Lip color from Shiro - $9
(Most shadows can be turned into a custom lip color)
Lip color sample from Shiro - $2
(I never much liked Justin but I did like this color)
Shiro shipping - $2.75
Look Human shipping - $3
(I got a gift card for my birthday and just paid shipping.)
Uber - $32.73
Dessa & Aby Wolf albums - $33

Charity
Green Peace - $15

That makes a grand total of $298.48 of unnecessary spending. It really stings when you see how much 'little' slips total up. Call the Uber 'unnecessary' is debatable. I'd been sick for a couple of days and didn't have the energy for all the metro and walking to get to the Night Vale show I had tickets for. Dessa and Aby Wolf were the 'weather' at Night Vale and they were excellent.

One expense I didn't add here was shopping for wedding presents. I've got 2 this year and I tackled buying off the registries early before the only thing left was a $300 Dyson vacuum. I feel like I get adult points for buying these items early. I also checked of a birthday present for someone.

I'm including charity because it's not a necessary expense but a nice one. I'm hoping to give to one of my beloved podcasts in the coming months. Support the arts and shenanigans! Now I just need to get better about supporting my wallet.

Shaving the Fat

A while back I wrote about how much more expensive women's products are compared to men's products. There was definitely a difference with body wash and shampoo. Deodorant was fairly comparable. Last week, I got to compare shave gel/foam.

As a feminist, I believe the decision to shave, not shave, and what to shave is a personal one. I know why society expects me to shave my legs and it's a BS reason but I don't like that hair fully grown out and I have an office job so I routinely shave my legs. When I ran out of shave gel, I decided to do a price comparison. Once again, big difference.

The generic bottom of the line men's shave gel was $2.04 at Target. The generic bottom of the line women's shave gel was $3.04. You might be thinking, "What's the big deal? It's only a dollar." You mean, it's only a 50% increase in price to make the bottle and gel vaguely pink. 

The bottles are also designed differently. The men's bottle is more of a top down design which I wasn't used to. Not that it made much of a difference but I wonder if it contributes to the BS price difference.

The women's shave gel has more of a sideways design. You still push down but it's not as top down oriented to get the foam out.

I wonder if it's because women have to contort themselves into ridiculous positions to shave everything the world expects us to shave. Men just sit the foam on the counter and push as needed. If you don't regularly shave your bikini line, just imagine the angles we have to twist into to remove that hair.

The Boy thinks it's an issue of supply and demand. Women have to share more square inches so we're charged more since we buy it more often. The wheels of consumerism grind on. I beat the system on this one. I'm sticking with my cheapo men's shave gel and saving my dollar.

Valentine’s Day, a Shopfession, and Ensuing Shenanigans

This weekend The Boy and I hit up the mall to find some accessories for a couple of cosplays we have coming up. I’m set but he needed a few things so we hit Hot Topic and Spencer’s. The problem of having fandoms and fitting into Hot Topic’s stock is the massive amount of temptation. I tried on several things but my pickiness lead me to narrow it down to only two items: a TARDIS skirt on clearance for $20 and Deadpool socks for regular price but DEADPOOL SOCKS! I’m wearing them right now. Since the whole store was buy one, get one half off, the whole thing was only ~$23.

Our plan was to hit the mall for lunch, The Boy’s cosplay essentials, run to the local comic book store (love you Third Eye) then go back to VA for dinner, dessert and Downton (we’re still on season 1). Just when we were ready to leave the mall, the movie theater was being evacuated and we had to take a roundabout way to get back to my car. I parked on the top level of a garage area in a way that had me consistently blocked in by the traffic gradually leaving the garage. We tried to wait it out but gave up when the same compensation car spent 25 minutes blocking me in.

Since our dinner plans were shot at this point, we call my mom and suggest killing a Groupon for a nearby Mexican place we all love. We wander the mall, I buy a bunch of clearance Rudolph’s for Toys for Tots next year, and The Boy and I sampled most of the new candy store in the mall. Heading back to the car we are shocked to notice flurries. The second we’re in the car they stop being flurries and start being real snow.

We make it to the restaurant without incident but once we’re all gather around free nachos we find out the Groupon isn’t good on holidays, including Valentine’s Day. There were only 3 tables with paying folks but we still couldn’t use our Groupon. As we sat there, we watched the snow pick-up and accumulate to over an inch by the time we left. The Boy wiped all the snow off my car and we (slowly) drove back to Virginia. We were full and tired and just wanted to watch Downton.

The Boy’s TV has to be on different feeds for cable or DVD. Despite the size of his apartment and our thorough searching, we could not find the TV remote. We finally figured out how to change the feed using the cable remote and watched some Downton. It was a good day all things considered but as far as Valentine’s Day planning went, we could not catch a break.

I almost wonder if the universe won’t let me quietly enjoy Valentine’s Day because I spent so many years actively hating it. I’ve lost the acrimony with time and I want to let The Boy enjoy it. Nothing went the way it was supposed to go but it wasn’t a bad day. I spent the day with the man I love at the home of consumerism which is really the point of Valentine’s Day.

Adjusting My Comsumption

Opting out of consumer culture is harder than I thought. I’ve got my first convention of the year coming up this weekend so I went to the grocery store to get some snacks. In addition to the veggie sticks The Boy likes, I also grabbed some sweet potato sticks to try which were not on the list. Also not on the list was the Red Lobster biscuit mix. It was on an endcap and on sale 2 for $5. Normally I can resist stuff like that but even from a box those are delicious.

My other impulse purchases were practical stuff that just didn’t make the list like tissues and dental floss. Nothing too bad but there was definitely the sense on “What did I spend all that on again?” I had dinner with my mom on Saturday and we went past Torrid and I had a hard time stopping myself from not going in and looking around. I kept reminding myself that I didn’t need anything. Logically I know my brain craves the happy chemical rush that comes with getting something new, especially for a deal. Logically understanding the craving doesn’t make the craving go away.

More than one minimalist person said that it’s hardest for the first few months and then the urge to shop and acquire fades away. I haven’t been a model citizen but both of my slips weren’t without reason. ModCloth happened because I ordered something that didn’t fit right and am waiting to exchange it. Amazon happened because I wanted free shipping and got things that weren’t just for me. At least food impulse purchases result in an experience. It’s been psychologically proven that experiences, especially with other people, are some of the happiest ways to spend your money.

Speaking of happy money, I officially own my car. It is completely paid off and 100% mine. I need to handle some paperwork but it’s mine all mine. Instead of splitting money between the car and credit card, I was able to do a big fat payment on my credit card. It was a bit higher than I’d like because I ordered a bunch of my cosplay stuff at the end of December. Let’s hope experiences and low debt make not shopping worth it.

New Year, Modified Goals

I've never been a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions. The few times I have made them they’ve royally backfired. Anytime I’ve tried something similar again, I’ve made it more general. As opposed to ‘lose 10 pounds,’ I’ve switched it to ‘eat better and exercise more.’ So my goals for 2015 are as follows:

-Pay off my credit card

-Regularly cook from healthy recipes

-Continue to make progress at the gym

-Earn back some of the savings I lost during my unemployment

-Get my retirement plan in better order

-Enact a shopping freeze

One of the first pieces of advice on almost all the minimalist websites and essays I’ve found is a shopping freeze. I'm far too impulsive on buying things I don't need and I need to get better about it.

Fundamental Rules

-If I enter a store, I must have a reason. The thing in the window is pretty is not a reason.

-I will only stay in the sections of the store where I need to be. No wandering to browse.

-Before buying something not on my list, I must ask myself “What do I need?”

-No browsing stores or websites for something to do. There are better things to do like chores I’ve been putting off or books I’m not reading.

-All items I run out of can be replaced. If I run out of mascara or fancy face wash, I can replace it. I can't, however, buy the replacement other friends.

-I must report all nonessential or replacement purchases here.

Addendums

-I know my music habit won’t go quietly since several bands I love will be dropping new music next year. Ergo, I can only download 1 album OR 10 individual songs in any given month. Any album I download must have been on my wish list for a minimum of two months or pre-ordered.

-I have a couple of conventions coming up next year. I have notoriously poor impulse control at these. To encourage better habits I need to be able to get it autographed and you’ll hear about it. I have a Zatana and Black Canary team up in hardback that the artist drew Zatana for me. Bill Willingham made a funny reference about my lack of subtlety while signing one of my comics. These are worth bending a couple of rules.

I’ve figured I’ll have to make a couple of other allowances since there are items I’m waiting to purchase.

-One or two pairs of mid-calf leggings from Torrid. They’re practical and perfect for summer.

-A couple of books that won’t be released until May and I’ve been waiting for.

-Something I’ve had my eye on to get free shipping whilst ordering The Boy’s Valentine’s Day gift.

-Any pair of rain boots I’m happy with. If I miraculously find a pair that fit, my credit card is coming out.

To help keep myself honest, I’m going to install a website blocker on my computer. Any time I try to access a website like Amazon, ThinkGeek, HerUniverse, or other retailers, it will stop or redirect me. I should be able to take it down in order to shop for other people but any time I remove a block, I must put $5 from checking into savings.

I’ve read some of what people have done and found that it gets easier the longer you do it. Rather than say this is an indefinite lifestyle change, I will be doing this until September 1st. I plan on moving toward the end of the summer so there will be inevitable expenses and necessary purchases. I'll report back about the freeze and see if I learned anything.

Music: Do You Hear What I Hear by Idina Menzel

Shower Me in Savings

One the best examples of every day sexism I've heard is how men's products are just plain cheaper. The most commonly noted items are deodorant, body wash, and shampoo. I had to run to the store last night so I thought I'd see if there was some truth to this and maybe save myself some money.

Holy flurking schnit is there a difference with body wash. The most expensive men's body wash I found was $3.99, the same price as the cheapest women's body wash. Moisturizing brands were more expensive. Dove was around $5.49 and Aveeno had products that topped $7. I usually use the 'gender neutral' Dial or Lever 2000 to avoid perfumes. Those were $4.99. WTF?

Why is the most expensive men's products the price of the cheapest women's products? Is it really that much more expensive to smell like fruit instead of Axe? Is Dove for women that much more effective?

I road tripped to visit a friend and forgot body wash so I borrowed his Irish Spring. Everyone thought I was wearing a lovely perfume and I had no allergy issues. Screw gender neutral soap. I'll take my savings to the dude side.

Deodorant was pretty comparable. Some of the men's stuff might have been a little cheaper but not by much. The stuff I would have considered using was the exact same price as the stuff I already buy. I can remain powder fresh and not feel cheated.

I didn't need shave gel or razors but I am definitely price comparing with the men's stuff before I buy those again. I use fancy salon shampoo so you're on your own for pricing that but I'm sure it's just as much of a scam.

Music: Fat Chick's Revenge by Storm Large

Underwear Under There

For some inexplicable reason, a fancy men’s underwear catalogue was delivered to my house. Apparently Under Gear thinks there a man at my house who is in need of some fancy thongs. I brought it to a gathering where several ladies (and more than a few men) were present for laughs. 

We debated the greater than average odds of certain models being Jewish, whether it was stuffed or real, and just openly ogled. There was some debate on what occasion calls for assless briefs. I’m guessing the last ones would have been needed for some of the guys on Queer as Folk.

It’s a safe bet the main shoppers are gay since all the straight men I know buy their boxer briefs three in a pack at the same place they get their deodorant and chips.

Giggling To: The War Is Over by Kelly Clarkson

Bass Pro Shopping

I went to Bass Pro Shop today. I haven’t been in one since high school. Urbanites should be warned before going into that place. Although the sign that says “Please check your guns and crossbows with customer service” may do that.

They had entire sections of the store devoted to fishing, boating, camping, and hunting. Not only did they have guns and ammo; they had high-end metal contraptions for climbing and staying in trees. There was an entire section devoted to camo-wear. I saw a guy loading a cart with deer corn. They even have a camo dog crate because you have to keep your bird dog in something. And not only did they have a massive section of the store devoted to rods and reels, they also had boats, canoes, and kayaks.

They also had some seriously cute clothes and a lot of workout wear. Most were overpriced but I’d have felt that way in Macy’s or Eddie Bauer as well. Some of the sales were decent. They also had a really good selection of athletic shoes (why I was there) and boots. They even had fresh fudge and popcorn. I was in a skirt so I couldn’t try the rock wall.

This is not your average country boy supply store. Urbanites will get an education and then buy some North Face gear. It's what we know.

The Illusion of Choice

I always knew about parent companies owning smaller companies but the smaller companies maintained control of the name and day-to-day operations. What I didn't know was how widespread it was. The option of choice between brands it growing smaller and smaller as oligopolies eat up more and more small companies. To further illustrate that concept, I give you The Illusion of Choice.

This makes things even more complicated if you personally are boycotting specific corporations due to business practices you don't agree with. If you have a grudge against Kraft for whatever reason, you now have to boycott all those smaller companies. And buying generic won't always be enough to assuage your conscience. A friend of the family had a dad who worked in a sugar plant. He said the exact same sugar that went into the Domino bag also went into the store generic bags.

Current Music: Blown Away - Carrie Underwood