HITTING PAN & FIRST EMPTIES // Ultimate Challenge Update #2

Hey!

Revolution Ultra Professional Eyeshadow “Flawless”

start: 205g // goal: use up half of palette

I’ve hit the pan in five shades, and some of them are almost finished! I’ve grown to like this palette a lot, and I’ve even learned how to use dark shimmers as crease and liner shades. It’d be lovely if I were hitting pan in any of them, but that’s a goal for the future.

 project pan 2022 

Catrice Liquid Metal eyeshadow in 060 Petrol Pan

start: 27g // goal: hit pan

I didn’t use it as much as I wanted to, but I think I might start using it on the bottom lash line. It’s dark enough to work the way I want to use it, and it’s blue enough to make my heart happy.

Rival de Loop Bronzing Powder in 01 Salted Caramel

start: 37g // goal: use it up

I used this bronzer a few times and realized how much I prefer it to other bronzers I have. The bronzer doesn’t skip or turn patchy and works just as well on bare skin as it does on foundation or concealer. I still have much to use up, so I should hurry up!

Revolution Ultra Professional Blush Palette in Golden Sugar

start: 112g // goal: pan half of palette

update #2: 109g

I’ve used these powders each time I did my makeup, and I was able to hit the pan in two of the powders. It took a while to see any progress, but now I’m close to using up the pink blush. The plum blush will be perfect for the autumn and winter months!

Wjcon (Wycon) Soft Blush N.02

start: 80g // goal: pan half of palette

update #2: 78g

After using up over half of the cream blush, I realised I’m not the biggest fan of cream blushes. Sure, they look more natural, but the ones I’ve tried are harder to apply on bare skin. (And I rarely wear anything more than a concealer.)

H&M nail polish in “u-taupe-ia”

start: 44g / 18mm // goal: use up half

I forgot to use this polish, or rather, I didn’t wear nail polish. The process of doing one’s nails takes time and effort I simply didn’t have. I’ll try using it, but I’m not a fan of how quickly it chips away.

Essence Soft Contouring Lipliner 02 Nude Painting & 08 Big Proposal 

start: 02 = 51mm, 08 = 69mm // goal: use them up

02 (beige) update #1: 50mm // update #2: 33mm DONE!

08 (pink) update #1: 68mm // update #2: 59mm

I love using these lipliners beneath a clear lip balm or mixing them with a bit of bright lipstick to tone down the lipstick’s colour. I’ve managed to use up one of the lip liners; once the other one is done, I’ll buy a few new nude lip liners! Do you have any lip liner recommendations? Feel free to leave them in the comments below!

random thin and thick red lipliners

start: thin = 37mm, thick = 52mm // goal: use them up

thin liner update #1: 31mm // update #2: 25mm DONE!

thick liner update #1: 50mm // update #2: 40mm

I used both lip liners a few times, and the core of the red lip liner fell out the last time I tried sharpening it. I won’t repurchase red lip liner as I prefer using nude shades, even when applying red lipsticks. However, I might see if RdeL Young still has those thick lip pencils in nude shades!

Catrice Kohl Kajal in 240 My Dream of Caribbean

start: 93mm // goal: use it up

update #1: 91mm // update #2: 74mm

Although I used up nearly 2 cm of the pencil, I haven’t used up as much as I wanted to. I enjoy using this pencil as a base for green and blue eyeshadow; I’d love to buy more colourful pencil liners, but I don’t know where to look. Do you have any product suggestions?

M.A.C. Satin lipstick in M.A.C. Red

start: 19g / 12mm // goal: use it up

I haven’t yet used this lipstick, but I want to as I love red lips. However, I don’t think red lips and tortoiseshell glasses are a good look for me, so I’ll need to buy some contacts.

Artdeco Lip Brilliance lipgloss in 03

start: 26g / 43mm // goal: use it up

update #1: 25g // update #2: 22g DONE!

I used up this lip gloss by taking out the stopper and applying it every time I sat by the computer. I loved its scent and texture, though the colour was too bright for a lip gloss.

L’Oréal Color Riche lipstick in Doutzen’s red 

start: 21g / 13mm // goal: use it up

I found a way to use this lipstick! I apply a bit of it on the inner part of my lips, blend it in with my fingertip, and then apply a darker brown nude on the outer parts of my lips. After smacking my lips, the colours blend together, but you can still tell there are two colours.

monthly book club 

The monthly book club has turned into a quarterly book club, though I hope to turn it into a monthly thing again. I was busy with work and life and had no time, energy or motivation for blogging, but I’m getting the hang of it now. (Watch me say or write that every time and soon realise it’s not true…)

In the past couple of months, Ralynna and I have read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Frankenstein. Next week I’ll do a proper book club post featuring our thoughts on all of these books!

♦ a book we’re reading right now ♦

For now, we’re reading Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence. It’s an old romance novel, and I must admit, the descriptions of women in particular sound quite slimy and creepy; they remind me of the older guy at a club who puts women on a pedestal but simultaneously reduces them to their reproductive organs. In all fairness, this vibe has oozed from all Lawrence’s works I’ve read, so maybe it’s his writing style.

I have shared the first book club post, which includes some info on the books and their authors and Ralynna and I’s thoughts on the novels. Feel free to hop on over there and check it out! Also, if you want to join the book club, write to me at xocaligo@gmail.com. 🙂

 30 day challenge 

For the past few months, I decided to not participate in any challenges as I was too consumed by work, but now I’m ready to challenge myself again!

challenge for august: post on social media daily

My August challenge may seem weird since most people challenge themselves by staying away from social media. However, I’m one of the people who find it easy to turn into hermits and leave society for weeks, if not months!

My goal for August is to publish daily content on social media. It’s okay to skip a day (like I did yesterday) as long as I publish something new the next day. I don’t want my posts to feel forced, but I need to get into a better routine of taking photos and uploading them to appease the algorithms and pave the way for better content. (As you can only get better at things when you do them consistently.)

In my last post, I wrote about how I want to learn TikTok videos; it’s not a part of this challenge, but it would be nice to learn how to make them. I’ve always loved videos and wanted to try making them, but I never felt confident enough to speak in videos. I think TikTok paved the way for videos where no one talks, and I want to take advantage of it!

Photo by Tofros.com from pexels.com.

resources to support Ukraine

While the war in Ukraine rages on, we can all help by donating money, food and physical items, offering safe shelter and work opportunities, and doing most other things to support the citizens of Ukraine. Every little bit counts, and now that the donations are trickling down, they are more important than ever.

These are legitimate sources, though you should do your research before donating. This is not a definitive list, and it may expand as time goes on, though it should be a decent start for those in Latvia who want to help and those who need the help.

• Helpful Latvian resources for Ukrainian refugees and those who want to help them: https://www.ukraine-latvia.com/lv in Latvian and https://www.ukraine-latvia.com/ in English.
• One of the major Latvian donation sites: https://www.ziedot.lv/
• Red Cross for Latvians: www.redcross.lv
• International Committe of the Red Cross: https://www.icrc.org/en

Note: do your research before donating to the Red Cross. Some activists recommend not donating through this organization as they’ve exhibited a questionable stance towards Russia during this war. There’s also been negative media coverage on how they use the donated money.

Good Latvian Instagram accounts to follow for fresh information, thought pieces and other things regarding the war in Ukraine are @kristine.garklava, @montatalkssecurity, @tomass.pldgvcs.

Some Ukrainian Instagram accounts who actively share things about the war in English are @kyivindependent, @olenazelenska_official, @zelenskiy_official. Many Ukrainian, Polish, and other Easter European bloggers are also actively sharing new information in regards of help within their own country, as well as war updates. Some of the accounts I follow are @stardustmine.art, @blyskitka, @karolinazebrowskax. Most trustworthy news outlets like BBC, The New York Post, The Washington Post, etc., also have Instagram accounts and share snippets of news.

For now, I’m sharing this information only in English as most my viewers know this language. Soon I will try to share this info in Latvian, too.

#QOTD: How has your summer been so far? The weather is changing here in Latvia, and my cats are shedding like crazy! I can already feel autumn in the air; it makes me happy, but I wish there were some warmer days left. (I still haven’t had a beach day, even though I live an hour away from it!)

Until later,

xoCaligo

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This is not a sponsored post; all opinions are my own. I am not being paid to promote anything.