A friendly update!

It's my FAVORITE time of year here in Richmond. For me, this means no grad school for a few short months, lots of evening bike rides to places like Vietnam 1 and Mexico Restaurant (I'm currently hooked on Vietnam 1's vermicelli (bun) with vegetarian eggrolls), weekend bike rides to parts beyond, hiking on belle isle, and finally being able to do things like my laundry and shower when I really need to do them (instead of when I can fit them in).

But all of this activity means a pared down makeup look. After writing four columns for Richmond.com, my traincase is getting way too full. It's hard to decide what to use! I took the guess work out of this by making a 'mini-kit' to use every day last week. It included:

Urban Decay Primer Potion (mini) - I totally drank the kool-aid with this one. It works better than any other primer I've tried, even in the heat, even after jogging. The one con is that it works a bit too well - it makes it hard to blend shades if you like to highlight and do a deeper shade in the crease. Even the tiny sample I got in my UD Urban Arsenal Palette will probably last a few more weeks with daily use. I have a fullsize ready to go!

Blinc Kiss Me mascara (mini) - a great sample I recieved from Spalook, I haven't used this product in several years so getting reacquainted with it has been nice. It is perfect for hot humid weather as well because it will NOT smear. However if it's super hot and humid you will have fallout on your cheeks because the 'tubes' it forms around your lashes need hot water to be removed. This only happened once after a long, sweaty bike ride, so I felt that the average user would never have this problem. It does take a bit of combing out to look natural and not clumpy (it's very wet when it goes on but dries quickly into the tubes). I probably wouldn't repurchase this, even if I didn't have ten other tubes of mascara going right now.

Milani Powder Blush, Luminous - sadly, discontinued but I have a nearly new one. It looks just like NARS orgasm, and I have gotten a lot of compliments that I looked 'relaxed' and 'rested' when wearing this. I'll probably work this into next week's look as well.

Neutrogena Moistureshine Tinted Lip Balm, sunny - one of my column purchases, I rated this highly but now i'm tiring of it for no good reason, so it's time to try and use up as much of it as I can. The brick-ish tint looks good with the bit of a tan I'm starting to develop (despite daily SPF use!!!). It's a lot softer than other stick lipbalms.

Ardell Lash Growth clear gel - using this to keep my brows in place. It seems to make them thicker, which is a plus since full brows are still in. May or may not repurchase this when I run out.

Biore Pore Minimizing moisturizer, SPF 15. It has powder built right in to cut down on the shinies, and SPF to cut down on the melanomas. Bonus! Also smells like watermelon.

Milani Eyeshadow Quad - this + UDPP = all day beautiful eyes.

Physician's Formula liquid eyeliner pen - I like this a lot, but probably won't repurchase when I use it up. It's still not as great as L'Oreal Lineur Intense pen for doing ultra-thin lines.

Hm...that's about it, other than the Stila concealer I sometimes dabbed on a zit near my chin. Damn post-finals stress effects!