I'm Actually Back

I'm Actually Back This Time + An Update on Life

Hello, everyone! I know it's been quite a while, and I'd like to apologize for that as well as offer an explanation. I did mean to come back when I posted my last "I'm Back" post, but life doesn't always go as planned. Since then I've had some more health issues as well as quite a few unexpected stressful life events. I love this blog but I simply didn't have the energy to update it, so I made the choice to take a break as mental health is very important to me. I definitely thought I would be back sooner, but I've had a few things happen in my family life that set me back in my recovery. I'm still pretty out of it, so I'm going to be changing some things about how I run this blog.

Changes:

• I'll only be posting three times a week for now - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. In the future I do plan to go back to every weekday but for now that's just not something I can handle. This will be starting next week, on Monday Oct. 31st.
• Any sort of series such as project pans won't be continuing since it's been so long. This includes the Erin Condren stickers I said I'd be doing, since I've lost interest in that and just don't have the time or energy as of now.
• Every once in a while I may post a short life update or rambly post on something I find interesting. They won't be counted as one of the three weekly posts, so they'll go up on the weekend, a Tuesday, or a Thursday.
• I'm going to be updating the layout of the blog a bit, probably adding some new pages if I can figure it out such as an About Me and a place to find me on social media. If anybody has any suggestions, feel free to comment, e-mail me at makeupwithmaggie773@gmail.com, or message me on my Instagram which is @makeupwithmaggie773.
• Suggestions! Although I did take suggestions for posts and content before, I never made it very clear how or where to do so. You can suggest things using the same methods I listed in the fourth bullet point, and I will be trying to find another easy, clear way for you to use.

It's good to be back, I missed this blog and the interaction I had with readers. I wanted to come back on September 3rd, which would have been this blog's first birthday, but life just didn't allow it. I've been looking into getting a real camera to take pictures for posts with - I'm still using the built-in camera on my iPhone 6, which isn't bad (I remember when I got my first phone in 2011, a Pantech Ease, and thought that it had good camera quality - technology progresses so fast now!) but still not as good as I'd like. I appreciate anybody who's stuck around all this time and/or kept following my Instagram for updates all this time, I would totally understand if you hadn't but I'm so glad you did.

Products I Want To Use Up Update

Products I Want To Use Up In 2016 Update Two

I'm doing pretty well this month, considering that I've been sick a lot! I haven't had the chance to wear much makeup but I still think I'll be able to reach all of my goals by the end of the year. I'm not sick anymore so I'll be feeling up to wearing makeup a lot more in the next month than I was last month. I'm really surprised by how well I'm doing on the lipstick - although it may not look like a whole lot of progress, it's enough that with regular wear I should be able to use it up easily within the year. The category I'm most worried about right now is eyeliner because eyeliner is the thing I'm most likely to skip in the mornings when I'm running low on time or just don't feel like wearing it, so I'll be making a change to that category that I will explain when I get to that category.

Lip Balm

My goal was to use up five lip balms this year, and I'm already on my fifth! I finished the BlamTastic one and I'm onto the one from Palmer's. I was nearly done with a BabyLips Electro one, but I realized that it might be causing an allergic reaction, so I'm taking a break from that for now. The Palmer's lip balm is rolled up as far as it will go in this picture, so you can see there's not a whole lot left. I just started it the other day, so I guess it's one that gets used up really fast.

Lipstick

I wanted to use up one full-size lipstick this year, and I have officially chosen my first-ever MAC lipstick, which is in the shade Brave. It's a pretty pinky-nude that has a gorgeous satin finish. I chose this one not only because I absolutely love the color on me, but because it wears comfortably. These two reasons combined mean I won't get bored or sick of wearing it regularly over a long period of time, or at least that's what I'm hoping. I really can't see myself ever growing tired of such an amazing color, though! I just got a couple new MAC lipsticks, so I compared the progress on this one to a brand-new one, and I have made a bit of progress. I am confident that with a bit more regular use, I can totally use this up by the end of the year.

Foundation

The Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless was my favorite foundation for a while, so I currently have two of them. Now I only like it when i apply it with a dampened sponge and I have to be careful how I powder it because of some dry patches I magically developed. Since I doubt those will magically go away the way they magically appeared, I'm trying to get one of these foundations out of my collection as on of the two foundations I want to use up this year. I think I'm about halfway done with this one, and the other one is totally full.

Body Spray

I wanted to use up one body spray this year, and I'm trying to use up my Bath & BodyWorks Twisted Peppermint because I love it and I constantly want to smell like it. I don't have a picture because it was downstairs and I'm upstairs and lazy, but I haven't made much progress due to being sick anyways. I may not use it up entirely this year, but if I get over halfway done then I'll be happy.

Powder

This year, my goal is to use up two face powders, and I'm currently maybe two thirds of the way through my first one, which is the NYX HD Studio Finishing Powder. It's a very lightweight translucent powder that I use to set my entire face. I would assume it has flashback, but I haven't experienced it because I never have flash photos taken of me. I really want to try the RCMA No Color powder but last time I checked it was sold out ever and I'm also waiting to use one powder up before I get it.

Eyeliner

The original goal I had set for eyeliners I had set was six, but I've changed it to three because six just isn't realistic anymore. I use these two on my waterline sometimes, and the white one as an eyeshadow base when I really want a color to pop. The black one doesn't roll back down once you roll it up so I can't tell my progress, so I guess it'll just be a pleasant surprise when it's done. I've also decided to include brow pencils in this category because they're basically waxy eyeliners.

Body Butter

My goal for body butter/lotion is three, and I've used up one and am on my second. This is a mini of the coconut body butter from the Body Shop. I used up the shea butter one, but I've barely used this one at all because I've been forgetting. I still think three is doable, though.

Nail Polish

I'm nearly done with this polish! My goal was only one, and although I could realistically use up four or five this year, I'm not going to extend my goal in this category. The reasoning behind this whole project is getting excess items out of my collection, and I don't feel I have excess nail polish because I just did a declutter of all my old polishes, so now I only have color that are both something I would wear and something less than two years old. As for how much progress I've made, I now have to tilt the bottle to get any polish on the brush. I would just call it done, but I really like this color and I haven't gotten another one yet. Once I either get my hands on a backup or absolutely can't use it anymore, I'll call it done.

Shower Gel

I've got about a quarter of one of my Paris Amour shower gels from Bath & BodyWorks left, so I should be done with that soon. After that I want to focus on my Lush shower gel that I forget the name of right now. I think it was a holiday scent, though. It's an incredibly sweet scent that you really have to be in the mood for to enjoy, so it's harder to use up, and a little goes a long way. My goal for the year is two shower gels.

Lip Butter

Look at all the progress on my Nivea lip butter! I've been really good about using this nearly every night before bed, so it's going super well. My goal in this category is just one, and I think that's a good goal since they take me a while.

Lip Scrub

The progress on my lip scrub hasn't been quite as great, but I can still use it up within the year. My goal in this category is also just one. I find store-bought lip scrubs unnecessary since I can make ones that are just as good at home from coconut oil and sugar. I do enjoy this one, though, and it's only a dollar from ShopMissA if you don't want to make your own.

Eyeshadow

I hit pan on Salted Caramel in the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette! The next shadow I'm focusing on is Champagne Truffle in the same palette. I only use it as a browbone and inner corner highlight, but I tend to use a dense brush that picks up a lot of product and pack a lot on. I already have a good sized dent in it, so I should be hitting pan soon.

Lip Gloss

The last category is lip glosses, which I want to use up two of. We will see how that goes. I may only use up one, but that's okay, because I've been stopping myself from buying glosses anyways. I want to focus on this Buxom Full-On Lip Polish in Margaret because I think it goes well with my MAC lipstick in Brave.

Products I Want To Use Up Update

Products I Want To Use Up In 2016 Update One

About a month ago I posted a list of products I wanted to use up in 2016, and I think I've been making really good progress! I wanted to bring an update at the end of every month, so here it is!

Lip Balm

I wanted to finish five lip balms this year, but I may end up shooting for ten or fifteen - I've already used up two, and I'm near the end of the third! I've found that Lip Smackers go pretty fast because they're really soft and you can pile a lot on at once, but they wear off pretty fast so you end up reapplying more often. This has led to me finishing one and nearly finishing another within two or three weeks. The Blamtastic Skins one went pretty fast as well, since it was really thin. I really enjoyed that one so I bought another one from that brand in a different flavor to try out.

Lipstick

I want to use up one full size lipstick this year, and I think it's doable, except I have yet to choose one. I've been using Brave by MAC a lot, so I may choose that one, but I love it a lot and don't want to see it go. But because I love it so much, I want to wear it a lot, so I have a bit of a dilemma. I think I'll end up choosing it, though, so that it gets good use.

Foundation

I technically finished one foundation, but there was only one or two uses left in it in the first place, so I'm not counting it. I'm thinking of going for one of my Fit Me foundations, since I have two of them right now and I'm not crazy about them anymore.

Body Spray

I've been using one of Bath and Body Works' holiday scents a ton, even though it's no longer the holidays - Twisted Peppermint. I absolutely love it and I use it nearly every day, so it shouldn't be a challenge to finish, but I may get sick of it so we'll see. It smells like peppermint with a hint of vanilla and I absolutely love that.

Powder

For my first powder, I'm going for this translucent one from NYX. I want to try the RCMA no color powder, but I want to finish two other powders first since I don't want to accumulate too many. This one was pretty much full when I started so I want to get through it. There's not a huge amount of product so it should be pretty easy.

Eyeliner

I haven't targeted any eyeliners yet, which probably isn't good since I wanted to finish six. I'm including any form of eyeliner, though, and I think I'll include brow pencils in this category if I start having difficulty finishing eyeliners.

Body Butter

I'm almost done with the first of three body butters! I've decided to include lotions in this category as well, since I need to use some of those up but I usually use body butter or body lotion, not both at once. I've loved this shea butter one because it's thick enough that it's really moisturizing but not so thick that it's unpleasant.

Nail Polish

I held the nail polish I want to use up this year up to a light so that it was easier to see how much was left. I've made a pretty good dent and I think it's safe to say I can use this up entirely this year. I actually really like this color, but it's only a dollar so it's easy enough to buy a new one if I miss it when it's gone - which is unlikely, since I have a ton of pink polishes.

Shower Gel

This category is a bit slow, since I don't feel the need to shower any more than I already do, and I don't use a ton of shower gel in each shower, but I've been finding ways to use my shower gels other than as shower gels. I can use them as shampoo, too, which helps me use up more, and as bubble bath if I take a bath (although that doesn't happen too often. Baths freak me out).

Lip Butter

I wanted to use up one lip butter this year, and I think that's definitely doable. I had already used this quite a bit before starting, but I think I can use this up pretty easily once I've used up all the lip balms I want to since I can use it in place of regular lip balm. This lip butter is nice but the scent is getting less fun and more annoying at this point.

Lip Scrub

This is the lip scrub I want to use up this year. I've used maybe a quarter of it up total, but some of that happened before I started this project. Still, I think using this up in a year is manageable. I use it almost every day, and I would consider repurchasing it when I'm done with this one because not only is it good, it uses ground up walnut shells as an exfoliant rather than plastic microbeads, which are bad for the environment, so I avoid those. I now make my own suger lip scrub (also environmentally friendly!), so I doubt I will end up repurchasing it, but I would think about it.

Eyeshadow

I want to hit pan on ten eyeshadow pans this year, but that looks like it might not happen since I still have to hit pan on one. I've been using this one - Salted Caramel in the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette - every day and this is my dent so far. I like it as a warm crease shade.

Lip Gloss

I may abandon this category altogether unless I start regularly using lip gloss all of the sudden. I just never end up using gloss.