I worked out hard for an hour at the crack of dawn, then showered in water hot enough to melt bones, AND THEN I gallivanted for an entire day wearing black cat-colored PERVERSION Waterproof Fine-Point liquid liner Eye Pen by Urban Decay, and not once did I look in the mirror and think, “Ew, gross… I should probably take this off.”
I’m now 100% convinced that I could enter my final resting pyramid (with all of my kitty companions, of course), explore the afterworld for 2,000 years, and then be discovered with my cat eye flicks shiny, glossy, pitch black and totally intact. Yes, this liner is that serious.
First, I should say that I’m a Clinique liquid liner fan through and through because of how easy it is to draw crisp edges with their flexible pen tip. I also love that their formula isn’t too runny and goes exactly where I want it to go. IMO, it’s the overall best liquid liner around, but I think UD PERVERSION is very nearly equally great. It matches Clinique’s iconic status, and it’s just as easy to use, but the final look has even more oomph. It’s blacker than Clinique’s, too, with a high shine finish vs. Clinique’s demi-matte, so it draws attention in a way Clinique’s does not.
Interestingly, both of them are also $22.
UD’s dries quicker, so you don’t have quite as much time to fix wonky wings, although you can always correct them with a Q-tip dipped in an oil-based remover, of course, or do what I do, which is just say, “Eff it” and go with it, man. Not everything’s gotta be Insta-perfect, and most of the time nobody’s gonna notice anyway, unless your wings are, like, totally perpendicular, LOL!
All told, I’d recommend the Clinique one if you want a subtle black liquid liner that’s totally foolproof, and the UD one if you want to make a bolder statement.
Either way, though, you can’t go wrong.
BOMB bread at Trader Joe’s
Now that’s a phrase I never thought I’d type, since almost all of the sliced bread I’ve ever gotten from TJ’s (with the exception of the brioche) has been nothing short of tragic.
Their Organic Sliced Whole Wheat Bread is totally worth ALL THE CARBS. The thick, melt-in-your-mouth slices taste homemade and yeasty. No sad cardboard bread here. This bread is delicious right out of the bag or toasted.
This morning I toasted it and smeared it with creamy peanut butter and sliced bananas, and HOT DAYUM if my mouth isn’t watering just thinking about it…
Don’t forget to stretch!
I’m not naturally a bendy person, so I’ll happily skip stretching, but I’m trying to do it more often because when I force myself to stretch a few times a week, my back, booty and hips feel better and hurt less.
Anywho…one of my goals this week is to stretch for 20 minutes at least three times, and stretching videos like this one for tight hips make the time go by quickly. I did this video last night before bed and woke up feeling like an entirely new person.
Gonna do it again tonight!
Are you good about stretching?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Thank you for sharing about the bread. I just moved next to a Trader Joe’s so I will have to check it out. I hate that cardboard taste and have been looking for a good wheat bread. Also I love Sydney Cummings videos and usually do one of her workouts every morning. What do you do for your actual workout?
Hi Michelle,
You’re so lucky to live next to a TJ’s! I’d be there every day. (Seriously.) I do a lot of different types of workouts because I like to mix it up. A couple days a week I’ll take a HIIT class at the gym, and on the weekend I’ll do a long run outside. I live next to a bunch of hills so that keeps it interesting. Then the rest of the week, I’ll do YouTube workouts. Lately I do Sydney’s full body workouts, either with bodyweight only or with weights. The bodyweight ones are KILLER! Her plyo workouts are fun, too. Have you tried any of those?
I do her HIIT full body ones but I will have to check out the Plyo ones. Thanks for the reply! 🙂
Her HIIT full body ones are brutal, especially the 30-minute classes. They go by so fast and I’m dripping in sweat at the end. Do you keep a full set of weights at home? If you do I’m so jealous!
Yes I do her 30 min HIIT and I am dripping too! It’s gross but feels good. Lol, no I am a wimp with weights. Or perhaps a better way to describe it would be cop-out. I have 4’s and 8’s and most of the time stick to the 4’s. I do want to buy a couple more sets but we’ll see if I ever go through with it. 🙂
The sweat is next level and no joke! I love how it just flies by so fast though. The quick recovery time is both a blessing and a curse, LOL. So back in the day I was a runner and cardio junkie and I would never, ever workout out with weights until I met my husband, who was/is a fitness enthusiast. Once I started doing it though I got totally hooked, and now I’d much rather do a compound weight workout (one that incorporates multiple muscle groups, like doing lunges and bicep curls at the same time, for example). Weights are sooooooo effective and you get a lot of bang for your buck! If you’re doing weights now, even if they’re light, you can most certainly work your way up!
Oh, I almost forgot to mention, her mini band workouts are AWESOME.
Yes I love her booty band workouts! Painful but good. I know I need to push myself with weights I am just in denial but thanks for the encouragement. 🙂
You’re not the only one in denial. I gotta bump mine up eventually too at home, I just keep putting off buying them because I know they’ll just make everything that much harder. ? I’ve actually thought about joining her Sydney Squad for the nutritional help. It seems like you learn a lot and even kinda seems fun (in that torturous but wonderful way).
If by stretching, you mean yoga, yes, every single day.
Thanks for the liquid liner recommendation. I really think Urban Decay rocks. I have some of their non-liquid liners, can’t think of the name right now, in gold and a teal and maybe a navy? Really love that brand. Rocking UD’s Naked on my lips right now.
UD does exceptional long-wearing makeup. Their glitters, too, stand out!
I’ve tossed every liquid liner I’ve ever bought, including the spendy Tom Ford one. Just don’t use them often enough to get the hang of drawing with it and then they dry out. Then there is the super hooded, droopy corner eyelids I have which make a cat eye just impossible.
I’ve never had TJ’s bread. Lately I’ve been popping in on my walk home from the gym (the two are a block and a half apart) and buying myself cut flowers. I got a bunch of peonies this week and I think this will be the last week they show up at TJ’s.
On a sad note, I dropped my T3 dryer this morning and now it’s making a funny noise on the cold setting. Sigh. That thing is ancient. Not sure I can afford to replace it at full price. Here’s praying to the sale gods that one of the models will be offered during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.
I almost snorted over your tragic TJ’s bread comment. HAHA! I can’t get on the whole wheat train but I’m glad you found a good one!