The temperatures were milder in September so I ventured out of my A/C bunker a few times. Overall, it was a chill month.
I visited a few museums but still not as many as I wanted. Since moving here, museums are one of my new hobbies. I went to a few drag shows and got to see Seattle’s “jift” to the world, Dina Martina. I sort of joked that wherever we live has to have a Chinatown, a Barneys and a Dina Martina show. This really narrow does where I can live.
David was out of town some, so I got to live my bachelor lifestyle. My bachelor lifestyle includes a pile of frugs, Żubrówka and ginger ale, vintage Dior Poison (he swears he’s “allergic” to it) and Barbara Stanwyck flicks.
The rest of the month was just boring work and being a grownup stuff. Health-wise, I feel better that I did. I’m still not where I’d like to be with that, but it’s an improvement.
Also, I went to Elements and you can read all about that fragrance stuff here.
Here’s some of my favorites from September:
Wearing (fragrance) – I actually didn’t wear too many fragrances in September unless I was testing them with the intention to write about on the blog. And I enjoyed trying the new stuff. Sometimes in the evening, I’d wear a rose body oil and then wear something like Chanel Misia or Malle Lipstick Rose. Oh, I have the Lipstick Rose shower gel now. It’s amazing.
Summary – I focused on new things. When I wore stuff “on my own time”, I went for my “neutrals” which are roses.
Wearing (cosmetics, etc.) – I bought way too much stuff in September. Stores like Ricky’s “#” are going to be the death of my “no-buy”. With my eye makeup this past month, I was all about Morphe Palette in 35 Koffee . It’s just basic neutrals but that’s what I wanted to pair with my darker lip colors. September was all about dark lips with shades like ColourPop Feminist (which is now discontinued, boo hoo!), MAC Viva Glam III (matte brown plum) and Lipstick Queen Berry Sinner (which is more of a brown than berry). When it came to red, I went for a “soft red” and one of my favorites, NYX Matte Lip Cream in Amsterdam (on my lips above). My complexion has been looking good so I haven’t had to wear much face stuff at all. But, I do wear a highlighter (like ColourPop Hippo or Benefit High Beam) with blush. Some of my most worn blushes have been Covergirl Cheekbones Contour in Purely Plum, Physician’s Formula Super BB Cheek & Lip Beauty Balm in Natural Peach (love this stuff as a blush, it has SPF too) and NARS Blush in Mata Hari.
Summary – I’m still not tired of minimal eye makeup paired with dark lips and shimmery cheeks.
Wearing (clothes) – It was still warm throughout September; yet, it still felt like fall. I didn’t buy any clothes but I planned my “fall costumes”. Most days I wear jeans, a James Perse t-shirt and Nikes. Since it’s been getting cooler at night, I wear a Uniqlo men’s workshirt in black. I also like to pair this with an Equipment white, silk button up tunic and black culottes with boring black oxfords.
Summary – I tried to enjoy my last month of the year of wearing less layers. But, in reality, I love layers.
Using (skincare) – My skin actually looked good and is behaving. This is a big deal for me because it was this time last year that it went to shit. I won’t take healthy skin for granted again. I kept using my regular routine but I did use more sheet masks that focused on brightening the complexion and fading discolorations. I’m also using an Olay product for the Asian market that helps to brighten. I think it’s working. Above is a pic with no face makeup, no filters.
Summary – I’ve been celebrating clear skin by not covering it up with foundation and stuff.
Eating/Drinking – I still haven’t really been feeling food because of health stuff. This is so weird for me since I love food. But, whatever. I ate a few good restaurants like Prune in the East Village and Danji in Hell’s Kitchen. Danji was so amazing. It’s modern Korean for an American audience. And then this bartender at Evelyn got me drunk on perfume inspired cocktails. The next day was really rough but I have to love NYC for running into a bartender that knew his vetivers and had opinions on the Helmut Lang reissues.
Summary – The good news is that I’m trying to be healthier. And I’m still drinking a lot of water and staying hydrated. I had a bad day but it was worth it.
Listening – Skinny Puppy and crunk jams of my school days.
Summary – Just more of my “stuck in time” jams.
Watching – I didn’t watch much of anything, like a couple of episodes of Supernatural.
Summary – I didn’t TV that much. I guess that’s good.
Reading – I didn’t read as much I wanted to. I read Kelly Link’s “Get in Trouble – Stories“. It’s a collection of post-modern short stories that struggle with the obstacles of love and self all over a lackadaisical supernatural backdrop. I’d sum up this collection as “awkward gothic” written by a woman that sure does “surreal mundane prose” very well.
Summary – I love reading and I need to do it more. Any book recs?
Wanting – I want a cool looking warm coat for winter. I want something long, oversized and boxy. And some warm boots that are waterproof. I need to prep for tri-state winters. When we moved, I got rid of basically everything. It got a little cooler and I realized that I have no clothes suitable for under 55°
Summary – Why did people ever settle in a place with such extremes? I know there are much worse climates but it’s odd to me that everyone didn’t just go to SoCal or whatever. Also, it’s weird to me that the place where the closets are the smallest is the same place where you actually need a wider variety of clothing to be comfortable throughout the year.
What were your favorites from September? Did you do anything inspiring? Go anywhere inspiring? Eat anything inspiring?
*Rose pic from freeimages.com. Nike shoe from Nike’s website. Danji pic from NYMag. Skinny Puppy pic from last.fm. Book pic from Amazon. Jessica Walsh coat from dailymail.co.uk. Nordstrom, C.O. Bigelow, Amazon, Uniqlo and drugstore.com contain affiliate links.
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I’m glad to hear that you’re feeling better health wise, being sick is rubbish.
I hear you on the great skin front, I fawn over my face when it’s having a clear/bright/plump day haha.
One day I’ll get around to placing a colourpop order, some of their eyeshadows and highlighters look so pretty.
I don’t know what my faves were in September, it was kind of a blur. Hmm I watched the Mr. Robot tv series and enjoyed it and wore a lot of sunscreen.
I recently joined a feminist book club on Facebook, so when uni finishes for the year I’ll hopefully feel inspired to catch up on reading some feminist books, I think the first one on the agenda is Damned Whores and God’s Police.
Me too.
I’m trying not to jinx it but I’m going to enjoy it while it’s not being annoying.
Oh, the ColourPop highlighters are so pretty. The eyeshadows having a learning curve. I recommend the shimmer finishes over the mattes. I ordered all mattes with my first order. They’re OK but the shimmers wow’d me.
I’ve got to start watching Mr. Robot.
I had no idea FB book clubs are a thing. That’s awesome!
Your skin looks great. I feel like even when my skin is clear (which is pretty usual), I still look super sloppy if I try to wear eye makeup and no face makeup. it looks all wrong. I have to at least wear tinted moisturizer if I’m doing other makeup, and the more eye makeup I wear, the more I feel I need heavier foundation/powder. I think it’s just my face. shrug
Book recs: I loved The Folded Clock by Heidi Julavits (nonfiction, essayistic memoir in a diary format, but out of order) and The Dud Avocado, a novel about an American in Paris being kooky/wild, very funny.
It makes sense though. Like I think it’s about texture or something. I’ve had times where if I wore eye makeup and no face makeup, it was like I was rushed out of the house. I looked strange and like “unbalanced”. Like a bare face seemed so harsh with matte or glossy lips/eyes.
Thanks so much for the book recs. These both sound great 🙂
I’m reading The Goldfinch and have been really enjoying it. I’ve been reading a lot slower than usual lately (still getting over grad school). A friend and I are counting the days until Dita Von Teese’s make up book comes out.
I LOVED The Goldfinch. In fact, since finishing it, I haven’t really found anything else that I have enjoyed as much. Well, saying that sounds dramatic. I haven’t really read many novels since finishing it.
Wait. I didn’t know she’s doing a beauty book. That’s going to be a must-read for sure!
I am super intrigued by those Olay products – fingers crossed that that aren’t too challenging to track down!
RE: Kelly Link, her stuff is super weird and I love it…along those lines you might also like Errantry by Elizabeth Hand (uncanny, inexplicable, surreal short stories).
We just returned from Portland, where I picked up a roller bottle of lvnea’s Wild in the Woods at ALTARpdx – it’s really gorgeous and rapidly becoming a favorite!
I actually found mine in the US (did see them in Hong Kong, just didn’t buy them). They were at a Middle Eastern mini-mall thing out here.
This is great. I’m so happy to have new things to read.
An Ivnea sampler has been on my list for too long. I LOVE the look of the brand. And now knowing that you like it, I really can’t put off sampling them 🙂
Since you are visiting museums, I just wanted to recommend to you the Rubin Museum, which has art of the Himalayas. It’s in Chelsea, and is actually in the old Barney’s building, so it has this amazing circular staircase in the center. Not only is the art stunning and worth visiting and revisiting, but it very quiet and peaceful there. So it is an oasis in the busyness of New York City and environs. I know a lot of people have never heard of this (even people who live in NYC, so I just wanted to tell you about this special place.
Thank you for the rec 🙂 I ended up taking my sisters there a few months ago. It’s a great museum. And like you mentioned, not many people go there. Many of the museums in NYC can be overwhelming, intimidating because of their size. Rubin isn’t. It really is zen.
I dream of a day I can go without makeup. I need to address dark spots and general dullness. Thoughts? Recommendations? I know I need to exfoliate and peel but I’d like to try something someone else has used and seen results with.
Whatever you’re doing is working. Your skin looks really, really great.
I’m going to take it while I got it. I don’t plan on it lasting long.
For me, it was addressing some health/inflammation stuff that I didn’t realize was even an issue. It’s that “inside/out” approach. And crazy enough, I found out I was lactose intolerant and stopped dairy and not only did I start feeling better, but it was like magic for my skin within just a few weeks.
Tretinoin has been great for me as far as dark spots go. I know I keep talking about Paula’s Choice but I love her chemical exfoliating products. They work for me, help so much with dry skin and dullness. I’ve tried other brands but I didn’t think they were as good as PC.And of course, find a good sunscreen. I like a few but right now I really like Coola. I use those sheet masks. I have no idea if they actually do anything. I mainly use them because they make me “chill” and try to relax for 15-30 minutes. If anything, that’s good for stress so maybe they work just not like they were intended!
Ugh, and then it’s going to start getting cooler and I get to explore all this stuff all over again…ugh. I need to stock up on some oils and some sort of creamier sunscreen. I have a feeling these NJ winters are going to cause all sorts of skin issues that I didn’t even know that I had! Oh, joy!
I’ve been taking care of everyone but me and it shows. I need to address the inside/outside stuff too. I really got off track. I’ll check out the PC stuff too.
New England winters do a number on my skin. Let’s cross our fingers and hope we both get a mild one this year.
I’ve always thought it sounded so corny “the inside/out” stuff but I believe it now. It makes a difference.
I hope I survive. I know that sounds so dramatic but I have never lived in a place with actual winters. I’m trying to be excited by it because of that…but it’s hard to find the enthusiasm for freezing temps.