When Indulgences Aren't

Another one for the "things I sent back" mental pile: Guerlain Meteorites in Teint Rose.

$58 for 1.05 oz, via Sephora

I bought it after finishing the term, and because I had the $20 off Sephora coupon, and eagerly awaited its arrival. Beautiful packaging, lovely presentation, I actually really like the smell (like candied violets, which is a perfume I would never want to wear, but it's nice as a face powder), and even the fact that I didn't see much of a (okay, any) difference when wearing it didn't mute my excitement. Care to guess what did?

Yep, it broke me out. SURPRISE! To no one, ever. It may be the bismuth oxychloride, which is known for causing break-outs, or it may be some completely innocuous ingredient that no one has ever reacted badly to, ever, and ugh, wouldn't it be nice to not have insanely reactive acne-prone skin?

So back to Sephora it goes. And now I'm on the lookout for a replacement "hurray, you not only survived the term but got good grades to boot! Way to go, self!" present. I'll probably pick up something when I'm in SoCal––where I'll be for Christmas, yay! My mother and I are vacationing down there for a few days, bracketed by some time up in Portland (starting tomorrow!), and I plan to do lots of cosmetics shopping, or at least swatching, while I'm around places that actually carry a variety of brands.

Have you tried Meteorites? What did you think? Any suggestions for luxe beauty indulgences I should check out? Or places in the LA/Newport Beach area we should visit (and, more importantly, eat at)?

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder Review and Pictures

While I love my BB cream, I unfortunately do need to blot/powder after a few hours to keep it looking fresh.  This meant I had to search for a good mattifying compact that I can port around with me for those times when I'm out for longer than a couple hours.  I wanted something cheap and well-liked, so after extensive research on MUA, I had my list and I was ready to go.  Hard Candy's Welcome Matte powder got really good reviews, but it was $8, which is way more than I want to pay for a powder compact I don't plan to use too often.  Rite Aid used to carry Jane, which had a powder I wanted to try, but at least the Rite Aid near me replaced their Jane display with Rimmel (where am I supposed to get Jane now, huh?!).  I'd used Rimmel's Stay Matte powder several years ago and didn't dislike it, so I decided to give it a try.  It was cheaper than the Hard Candy at $5.69, but there are several problems with it that led me to conclude it was not only not worth bringing with me to DC, but that it wasn't worth keeping at all.

Revlon Stay Matte powder

Mattify! ULTRA

I have extremely oily skin.  If I wash my face and don't put anything on it, I am shiny within half an hour, and slick within an hour.  I was searching for a primer that would help control my oil, and came across a review for Mattify! on EDS, and after reading the reviews on MUA, I ordered the smaller size, opting for the ULTRA formulation instead of the regular or sensitive, because I figured I needed as much help as I could get.