Old Spice Moisturize body wash (CVS)
I wanted a body wash that wasn’t too pricey or girly-smelling (am I the only woman who hates the smell of lavender?) and this provided it. It smells mostly like shea butter and something else I can’t put my finger on, and it’s not super-hydrating but it’s not drying either.
The Ordinary granactive retinoid 2% in squalene & Hand Chemistry retin-oil body oil (Deciem) – I’ve been wanting to try both of these for a while and when they came back in stock I snapped them up. The granactive retinoid is supposed to be less drying than retinol and comes in an oily squalene base in a dropper bottle. I really like it – it’s doing something but isn’t irritating. It is very liquid so it’s hard to control somewhat. The retin-oil comes in a bottle with a shaker top and is in a mostly sunflower oil base. I’ve been using it every couple days on my hands and chest. These two products are very similar and you could probably use one for both purposes if you wanted, but neither is super pricey anyway.
Elf hydrating camo concealer (fair beige) & Wet & Wild megalast incognito concealer (fair beige) (Target) – I heard good things about both these new concealers and I agree, they’re really good. The Elf one is more expensive with a bigger container, and is thicker, more like a foundation. In fact, on wearing-a-mask-all-day days, I’ve been using it on my forehead and any visible blemishes as my only makeup. The W&W is more liquid and I prefer it around my eyes as it doesn’t settle in lines. It reminds me a lot of the Nars radiant creamy concealer which had been my go-to for around-eye concealing, but it’s about a tenth the price, which is pretty awesome.
InStyler rotating iron
I got this in an after-Christmas sale and wanted to try it out extensively before writing a review. It’s basically a cross between a flat iron and a curling iron – one side has a heated plate surrounded by brush bristles, and the other side is a rotating metal barrel. You squeeze the two sides together with your hair in-between, which straightens your hair. You can switch the direction that the barrel rotates so you can hold it however you want. I expected this to be mostly entertaining and not really that helpful, but it’s actually really great. I have a lot of wavy hair, and I rarely bother to blow out my hair straight, because it’s such a tedious and long process. This allows me to get a mostly straight and smoothed out look in a fraction of the time that a blowout or flat ironing would take. You still need to section it for best results, but I can get through my whole head in 5-10 minutes, depending on how particular I’m feeling. I still use the Revlon air brush if I’m dealing with wet hair, but for dry hair, the InStyler is now my go-to.
