Reaching Out

I finally got to see my psych today. Since I've got insurance for the next couple of months, she decided it would be worthwhile to try one more medication: venlafaxine (Effexor). I'm a little worried about the "may cause drowsiness" warning, but hopefully it won't be like the bupropion and make me squirrely.

I've been having trouble concentrating, and yesterday, I finally turned off my laptop, turned on my Forest app, and really got down to work. Probably has more to do with this deadline bearing down on me for this review than actual motivation, but I found I kind of like it. Maybe I'll do like Aviya and have some sort of technology-free sabbath day.

I went to Back to the Grind to get some more work done. Their hot chocolate is about as sweet as I remember. I also had a bagel with cream cheese.

Worked until 12.30, when Utty called me to remind me we had a lunch!! Gah. I really need to write these things down. I went home, dropped off my backpack, and grabbed my curry, and went to her place. After that, we went to campus, where I said hi to some people, and then went to the farmer's market on the campus, and said hello to the Dissertation Soap booth. We chatted a bit more about making things with our hands, and how good it feels, how sane it keeps us to create something in a few hours that we can touch. It reminded me that I've got a box of fabric to get through.

Got home, called Rite Aid, and they prepped my prescription for me, so off I went.

I browsed the makeup section looking for some foundation I liked, but didn't see anything I felt worth spending money on. I think, if I get enough work done tomorrow, I'll go to Sephora. Assuming I can scrounge up the change, because my student ID no longer works for the bus T_T

So there's this thread on Pandagon about a rather douche-y list made by some dude who thinks he's funny on "10 Things Guys Wish You Knew". My first reaction was, "if guys wanted us to know why the hell don't they just fucking say so?" Anyways, the discussion eventually got hardboiled into a debate on the (de)merits of makeup.

( And here are my thoughts on it. )

Today, I got my brows done for the first time in a while... I've been having trouble filling in my brows because they'd look overdone and too thick, and I didn't want to go to Sykea again, because I don't really like how my brows turn out after I leave... something about the way my brows look after that bugged me - too thin, a bit too unnatural. Granted, brow-shaping is rarely natural, but still.

So today, I went to Key Lime Pie to get my brows done in preparation for tomorrow and Monday's shoots.

And I LOVE it! I got a funky bump, probably in reaction to something she used, which was like a mosquito bite, but it's gone now, but the bottomline is, my brow is really nicely shaped now, and it looks *gasp* natural!

And it's $10 cheaper than going to Sykea! Yay!

While I'm still talking about making myself look beautiful, I stopped into Shopper's on Spring Garden the other day - holy crap!! The cosmetics section got way bigger and beautiful! They've brought in brands I've never been able to find in Halifax! SMASHBOX! Bare Minerals! OMG! I can tell I'm going to go broke in there someday. I asked about the renovations, and it'll apparently be all done by February. The pharmacy will be upstairs, and there'll be a glass elevator. Geez! Talk about a classy classy drugstore...

When girls begin using makeup, it all tends to accumulate after a while - several foundations, several eyeshadow types, lipsticks... I've got a makeup case that's quickly running out of space, to the point that I've started using a shelf next to me for lipsticks instead.

Anyways, I started using concealer a few months ago, and went to MAC cosmetics for something to cover the dark circles under my eyes. I've had these dark circles since childhood, and there's nothing I've done that could help - it's not from sleeping too much or too little. It's also genetics working against me. So far, they've never gone darker, but they're still noticeable for me, so I had to find something to lighten them up. The cosmeticians at MAC suggested a concealer to help with puffiness, and I came away with a concealer to try out. I've used it off and on, but after a few tries, especially in daylight, I realized that it just didn't look so good - MAC is usually designed for white people with a certain tint to their skins... it looked orange-y on my skin instead, since my skin's Asian with a yellow undertone.

Last week or so I went to Shopper's, and I picked out a Maybelline concealer stick - my regular foundation is a Maybelline, so I thought it would make sense to get a concealer stick to match. I asked the cosmetician if the colour I picked looked good on me, and he said, "you want a better concealer?"

There're two better brands for concealer, it seems: Lancome and Revlon. Lancome is a bit more expensive, but it's the best of the lot. Revlon is cheaper, but almost as good. Tommy (the guy at the cosmetics counter... he comes off as one of those stereotypical "fashion-conscious gays") took just one look at me and said, "I have the perfect colour for you."

And gosh, he did. The girls at MAC had to experiment with a few colours, but Tommy was right on the dot with something that matched my skintone wonderfully and definitely lightened my dark circles up to match my skintone soooo much better. I was extremely happy with it, but it was still $30! I was on my budget watch!

I left that day feeling kinda bummed. It's hard to find someone who's good with products to be able to tell me what looks good on me right off, but I still resolved to get it sometime.

So anyway, I ended up going to Shopper's again on Friday - with my ex, as I mentioned. The girl working that day (Sam) taught me the trick to checking for Optimum points and tried out the different colours on me. I know for a lot of people the colour might not matter, but matching the concealer to the skintone is fairly important. After working with a medium colour that browned out my gray circles, I really wanted something lighter.

Tommy had used a medium bisque, and when Sam worked with me, she tried the different colours as well. I ended up getting a Light Bisque colour, slightly lighter than my skintone but I felt it blended so much better since I was going for a light skintone.

(I also have all four Revlon Lip Stainers now.)

I'm glad I found something without going through a whole slew of product, and this is definitely something I'm going to be using a LOT. For those curious, it's Lancome's Effacernes Waterproof Protective Undereye Concealer. Retail price of CAD$29.

Am I going to use the MAC concealer again? Hard to say since this new one works so much better. But then, that's what makeup does... accumulates.