Emily Johnson

Hey, wanna drop under ten bucks on a sponge? You’ll thank me later if you do! The new Morphe To the Point Dual-Sided Powder Puff is a six dollar dual-sided sponge that I swear to you will change your concealer game (and maybe your face one too!). I think I got my hands on this rather early as I ran across the new Morphe relaunch Brush Collection at Ulta the first week of January and I’m pretty sure my store put them out early as I hadn’t heard much about them but now influencers are starting to promote and review the line.

As for the To the Point Dual-Sided Powder Puff it was included in a $20 set I purchased that’s called the Morphe Conceal & Set Trio. The set includes two full-size brushes which are the M163 Paddle Powder Brush, the M135 Slanted Concealer Brush (exclusive to the set), and the trust To the Point Dual-Sided Powder Puff. All three items are incredible and the set is WELL worth picking up. However, recently the To the Point Dual-Sided Powder Puff popped up online for six bucks as an individual purchase and I ended up buying two more of these. I LOVE this little sponge. Allow me to explain why.

Ok, remember how much I loved and adored the Real Techniques Miracle 2-In-1 Dual Sided Powder Puff which P.S. is also under ten bucks ($6.49!)? It’s still one of my favs but I have a feeling that Morphe’s version is absolutely going to take it’s place. It’s basically the same concept and idea of that sponge however, it’s much smaller and the shape is much better for working under my eyes.

The puff has two different sides one of which is a traditional powder puff side which is great to work with powders or baking. The other side features a Beauty Blender-like texture that works great with creams or liquids. This side is actually the one that pressed concealer under eyes to a perfectly smooth, flawless finish! I use it with my favorite concealer and it works to blend out and smooth my concealer flawlessly under my eyes. The opposite is ideal for baking however, I have finer lines and I find baking can be overkill. It has a diamond head so I can pick up just a small amount of powder to apply directly into the corner of my eyes to brighten up my eye area. P.S. The strap is reversible so you can switch it to either side of the puff which comes in handy as I like pressing my concealer in when using this and the strap makes it easy to secure it to my pointer finger.

Seriously, for six bucks this is SO worth picking up. Especially if you use pigmented concealers like Tarte Shape Tape as it works like a dream with creamy, more pigmented concealers to create smooth, even coverage under eyes. And hey, if you don’t use it for concealer that’s fine! It’ll work great with your favorite BB Creams and foundation as well and of course, you can set them with the opposite side.

Money well spent! Thanks Morphe this is a winner for me and will remain a staple in my routine!

Where to buy

Ulta

It’s Ash Wednesday friends and the times for laissez les bons temps rouler is over. Fat Tuesday has come and gone and your time for sinning is over. You’ve had since February 17th to get all your sinning in. Time to repent!

But wait before we do let’s Let The Good Times Roll for one final day with this Lush Let the Good Times Roll Gift. Trust me, as a gourmand girlie, you need to sin with this one.

Years ago I fell in love with the Lush Let the Good Times Cleanser and I always hoped they might one day introduce other products scented like it. And they did! We got a Lush Let the Good Times Roll Body Spray a few years ago.

Don’t let Lush’s description fool you. They call it a kettle corn fragrance, and sure, it does sort of smell like sugary popcorn initially, but as it dries down, it becomes more of a cozier caramel vanilla. It smells like Midway at the carnival: caramel, popcorn, funnel cake, vanilla, and that little bit of kettle corn in the background. It smells like cake and popcorn smashed together into the perfect warm, cozy gourmand.  It smells delicious!

I blame Tiktok for all the viral moments Lush is having lately. I also, blame it for the fact Lush is taking notice of the scents we like as look at all the beautiful Sticky Dates products we now have! Lush did the same for Let the Good Times Roll but sadly, it’s limited to this little gift set. So, you can still get a full-size Let the Good Times Roll Body Spray however, if you want access to a matching Let the Good Times Roll Shower Gel and Body Lotion you’ll have to grab it in this little set.

The Lush Let the Good Times Roll Gift is $50 bucks and it includes exclusive privileges’ to the Let The Good Times Roll Body Lotion and Let The Good Times Roll Shower Gel. Plus you’ll get a Let The Good Times Roll Body Spray too perfect for layering up so you smell like yummy cake and sugary popcorn all day! You’ll get 3.3 oz bottles of each product. Added bonus there’s a coupon inside for 10% off your next Lush Store purchase. I wish it can be used online but hey, 10% if awesome!

I’m hoping that Lush will say how much we love this scent and introduce larger sizes of shower gel and body lotion in the future. Go on and be sinful and buy this one! The Lush Let the Good Times Roll Gift Set is available now.

Where to buy

Lush

Picture it. It’s Spring 2014 and Clinique does something unexpectedly wonderful by dropping a really cute and brand new blush in our laps called Cheek Pop. These adorable daisy imprinted blushes launched in four shades and a had a dense surface that had a smooth, flawless blend on cheeks. Later on in Spring 2015 they gifted us with brand new shades of Cheek Pop and we even got a shimmer finish version in 2022 called Cheek Pop Pearl Blush.

These blushes had me in a chokehold. I have every single shade they ever made and until this day I still love and use them. I even hit pan on two shades, which for me, is impressive and re-purchased them since. In-between all of that from time to time Clinique would introduce a trio palette that contained three shades like the Clinique Cheek Pop On The Glow Trio. This was always a joy because those palette had three full-size shades.

Do you remember these blushes? Did you still love them? If so, Clinique is revising them for a Spring fling with a new Good to Glow Highlighter and Blush Palette! I imagine if you already have most of the shades this palette probably won’t be a must buy. But if you never tried them before now would be a good time to indulge! The palette comes with two Cheek Pop Powder Blush shades in Blush Pop and Black Honey Pop plus you get a Cheek Pop Highlighter in Gold Celebration Pop. It’s crazy to me the palettes used to be under $30 ($29.50 to be exact) and are now $45 each. That being said, the quality still remains as great as ever on these blushes and I’m glad they haven’t completely disappeared off the radar as so many products have the past few years. If you’re a fan of the Cheek Pop Blush formula perhaps the Clinique Good to Glow Highlighter and Blush Palette will get added to your Spring wish list.

The Clinique Good to Glow Highlighter and Blush Palette is available now!

Where to buy

Ulta

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Have you ever watched an unboxing video? Back in the day I used to do haul posts! Of course, this pre-dates youTube and Tiktok. Doing a haul post consisted of opening a bunch of boxes and posting pictures of what you got. This was the height of beauty technology! A haul post was super interesting. Nowadays an unboxing video particularly a beauty unboxing video consists of thousands and thousands worth of makeup and beauty and it’s all filmed showcasing dozens and dozens of boxes. Typically Tiktok videos are fairly short so you’ll get an influencer opening like 50 or more boxes in under six minutes where as a youTuber can prolong it and make it last for half an hour or more.

I’m a big fan of Kaitlyn Johnson. She’s a college girl slash influencer who makes videos about beauty, food, and just daily life. She’s a joy to watch since she’s so humble and very sweet. She does these rather cute quick Tiktoks of herself unboxing PR. I think what’s appealing about her unboxings is the fact she never once forgets to Thank the brand who sent it. Every box she opens she’ll showcase the item quickly and proceed to say, “Thank you “insert brand name here”. I think it can be a rarity to see someone being so polite about PR.

Do I like watching unboxing videos?

The answer would be no, aside from Kaitlyn’s content. As much as I love makeup especially lots of makeup and new makeup it’s not so exciting watching a huge unboxing video. If you get one big box of Sephora you hauled and proceed to do a haul video about it you’ll absolutely capture my eye and I’ll watch your video.

However, if you do one of those shock style videos or Tiktoks where you’re unboxing $100,000 worth of beauty and tossing it over your shoulder with each new box you open I probably won’t watch it. Those videos give me anxiety and I feel overwhelmed watching them. I’m being utterly serious! Watching someone unbox a few boxes can be fun but watching someone unbox hundreds of boxes can be really overwhelming. I start biting my fingernails in concern where it’ll all be stored, will it go bad, will they use it all? My brain starts working 200 miles a minute as I watch these videos. What’s worst is when they start tearing things open and toss it over their shoulder which is pretty much a rage bait type of technique a lot of influencers and Tiktokers use.

So, that’s a nope for me and watching huge unboxing videos! I don’t really like that content. How about you? Do they keep your attention? Do you love seeing massive beauty unboxings? Do share!

It’s that time again, kids! Sol de Janeiro’s latest fragrances are about to drop! We’re getting three new Sol de Janeiro Fragrances for Summer 2025 called Flor Mistica, Aqua Mistica, and Danca Mistica. Don’t send out the rapid Sol de Janeiro fans (I happen to be one) to throw rocks at me but I’m not sure I need these. I feel a little underwhelmed by their LE fragrances which later become permanent ones. I’ll absolutely smell them but I’m not sure if I’ll run to get them. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE Sol de Janeiro but I think I appreciate their original Cheirosa ’62 fragrance and Cheirosa ’71 but some of the newer scents not so much. I do recall the original three limited-edition Summer launches had me very excited but I started getting a bit overwhelmed when they kept doing them and saying how limited they were only for some of them to either get renamed and relaunched like Rio Radiance or to just get a second run like the Summer 2024 Scents which got a second release during the Holidays. I’m also, really hate falling in love with these and only have them available in the smaller 3.04 oz sizes. I hope they do offer them in the larger bottles. I know I’m such a negative Nancy but I’m not sure if I need more of these. I just feel like the OG scents were so good and some of the newer ones not as great. But we’ll see…! Summer is around the corner and these will drop soon so who knows maybe I’ll need them!

Let’s take a look!

Sol de Janeiro Flor Mistica
Top notes: orange blossom, coconut water
Heart notes: flamingo flower, brazilian gardenia, white rose petals
Base notes: lush palm leaf, golden musk

Sol de Janeiro Agua Mística Eau de Parfum
Top notes: neroli, tangerine, white pineapple
Heart notes: peony, jasmine petals
Base notes: white cedarwood, salty skin accord

Sol de Janeiro Danca Mística
Top notes: fig, champagne accord
Heart notes: lily of the valley, white orris, anjou pear
Base notes: sandalwood, amber drops, vanilla

I don’t have an official date for the Sol de Janeiro Summer 2025 Fragrances but I’m hearing they’ll drop soon! Do you want them?

Where to buy

Sephora Sol de Janeiro Ulta

Hello, friends! It’s been a while. I miss you all! We’re still traveling and I’m loving it but I miss my very, very early mornings spent plotting and planning the posts I do for the blog and of course, I miss talking to all of you! I just told my boyfriend earlier today I find such comfort in blogging! It’s my safe space where I can come to get away from the chaos of the world. I sure do hope you’re doing ok over there! Feel free to tell me what’s going on with your life lately! I’m all ears!

We haven’t done a love list in a while shall we do one today?

I refuse the buy makeup in Europe. It’s just way too pricy (I wish I can say the same for perfume! That I can’t resist purchasing while I’m here!). However, being abroad doesn’t mean I can’t buy makeup and have it sitting for me when I do get home. I had some Ulta points to splurge so I dropped them on the new Natasha Denona Bloom Eyeshadow Palette. Never in my life did I not need such a palette. I seriously feel like I can dupe all these shades! It’s giving Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette circa 2016 but I’m here for it. You know why? Because it’s inspired by the Bloom Face Glow Palette which is my ride or die. I ADORE that palette. It’s the golden peach palette of my dreams! And the shades in this new Bloom Eyeshadow Palette are inspired by it. Yes, please. I’ll take it! A few folks on Reddit showed the palette in natural like and I must say it’s stunning! Truly a gorgeous selection of beautiful shimmering golds and peaches. Did anyone fall in love with it? I can’t be alone!

My love list today also goes out to Experiment Beauty! Thank you for believing in me enough to trust me with your latest launch. I’m currently a full-time Lab Rat for Experiment Beauty as I’m testing out their newest product. You know how much I LOVE Super Satty and Buffer Jelly Barrier Boosting Oil-Gel. Sadly, I can’t share what it is I’m testing but I promise it’s awesome! My skin is loving it. This is Experiment Beauty’s 5th launch and it’s going to be a very, very good companion pieace to their two big skincare stars. I’ll tell you more soon…! You can sign up now to be alerted when it comes out!

And finally last but not least can we just give some love to Baron Chen? It’s been a while you beautiful boy. I started re-watching Bromance on the many plane trips I’ve been on the past few weeks (I always sort of struggle sleeping on a plane so I end up binging Chinese or Korean Dramas) and I forgot how much I loved it the first time I watched it. Some of the scenes are over the top absurd like when the main character jumps between buildings to save his co-star whom he’s only known for like a week. There’s a bunch of blubbering and crying and they both carry on like they’ve known each other for years but it’s an oddly sweet moment. And there are a ton more where that came from. This is a gender bender series so the hero doesn’t realize he’s falling in love with a girl as he believes she’s a boy. There is SO much skinship in this drama it just makes you go “AWWWWWWWWWWWW!” with every scene. The hand holding, the touching noses, the head butts, ugh…! It’s just so much cute! I can’t stand it. If you’re a Bii fan girl he’s in this series as well and has his own little spinoff secondary love story. It’s not as good as the main characters but Bii is always swoon anyway you can get him so double your pleasure there! Added bonus he does some of the soundtrack! I miss Baron. He sort of fall off my drama radar after Bromance. It was his big hooray and after that nothing of interest. He was in Fated to Love you but he was a secondary character. I think he’s currently in a historical drama but I haven’t watched it. He deserves a spot on my love list today for keeping me entertained on long flights! Thank you, good Sir!

The latest Bath and Body Works Perfume has launched just in time for Spring 2025. Bath and Body Works Sweetest Song Perfume is a sweet fragrance that has notes of blush raspberries, sugar crystals and whipped musk. I’m pretty excited about this as I adored Perfect in Pink which was the Holiday 2024 Fragrance that’s now permanent. It’s such a delightful girlie scent with notes of cherries, pink camellia and whipped almond crème. I got the full-size bottle during the Holidays and don’t regret it. It’s such a happy scent! I highly recommend trying it if you haven’t already! I was pretty sure the next perfume Bath and Body Works did would be a floral so I’m happy that Sweetest Songs is more a sweet scent. I can do without another Gingham Fragrance launch! I’ve had my fill of those.

At the moment Bath and Body Works Sweetest Song is in preview mode and available in a mini perfume spray on sale for $8. They also have it available in PocketBac Hand Sanitizer and Hand Cream but according to Bath and Body Works Instagrammers we are getting a full-size fragrance bottle of the Sweetest Song very soon. It looks like it’ll come in a gorgeous box just like Perfect in Pink did with a full-size mirror in the inside of the box. Lately, Bath and Body Works has really been going all out with their fragrance drops. That being said, it’ll also be sort of expensive as I’m hearing reports of $74.95 and that’s pretty insane considering the lasting time on these EDPs. I was sort of shy about dropping $69 on Pretty in Pink so I waited for a good sale to grab it. I’m not so sure how I feel about $75 bucks for this latest scent. Things have really gotten out of control lately with these huge price increases on products. It’s downright shocking at times! I can’t see myself paying $75 for a Bath and Body Works Perfume. I’d rather just get something higher-end for that price. That being said they often have sales and awesome coupons which is always helpful but it still never ceases to surprise me when I see the retail price on items lately.

You can get your early sneak peek of Bath and Body Works Sweetest Song now on their website.

Where to buy

Bath and Body Works

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Did you make any resolutions? We’re well into 2025 and I’m pretty sure most if not all of us made some sort of resolution that we either stuck to or broke already. When the start of the 1st is upon us we suddenly have this urge to lose weight, eat healthier, organize our closest and our lives, throw out clothes or stuff we’ve been hoarding, and just make a fresh start of it for the grand old New Year. And of course, as a skincare and makeup lover some of my resolutions end up having to do with beauty in some way, shape, or form. I think one the biggest beauty resolutions I tend to make around the New Year is to refresh my skincare routine. And of course, with Spring on the horizon a lot of my richer more hydrating products will be pushed to the side and I’ll be embracing some new options as the weather warms up and I’m not in need of as nearly as much moisture as I was slathering on my face during the Winter. Sometimes the start of Spring is just as important as the New Year. It’s a great to reboot and start fresh! It’s also, a great time to refresh and rotate our current skincare or try something new!

Dermstore recently approached me and said hey, want to try something new? And I was up for it. I always have time to refresh my skincare especially with Spring on the horizon!

I shop a lot of my skincare from Dermstore since they always have really good sales not to mention a huge variety of brands. They aren’t really my go to for makeup but when it comes to skincare they are one of my top five retailers! That’s not to say they don’t have a lot of everything! Makeup, skincare, haircare, body care, you name it. It’s def a one stop shop over there. But I tend to migrate towards the skincare department when I shop Dermstore. I typically don’t accept sponsored posts like this but considering I like the retailer I decided why not?

One of the brands I wanted to try more of was Dermalogica. Is anyone really, really influenced by Dermalogica lately? I feel like all of Tiktok is using the Daily Microfoliant Exfoliator or the Daily Microfoliant Exfoliator. I am so easily influenced as I purchased the Daily Superfoliant Exfoliator a few months ago after seeing so many Tiktokers going on about it!

These exfoliants seem to have a rather huge cult-following. I ended up going with the Daily Superfoliant Exfoliator was it was best suited to my skin. It was appealing because it reminded me of the powder cleansers from Japan I so dearly loved several years ago. Yes, it’s a powder. Wet your face, pour a little into your hands, mix with water, form a paste, and apply to your skin! It produces a gently lather and acts to gently exfoliate your skin. This isn’t a harsh scrub which is what gives it part of its name, “Daily” as it is gentle enough to use daily without stripping or drying skin out. I can only use a grainer physical once sometimes twice a week if I’m lucky. If I try using them more than that I just feel like I’m overdoing things and making my skin terribly dry. Not he case with this formula. I can use it daily with no issues. It isn’t an instant result formula for me. If I use a grainy scrub I can see how brighter and smoother my skin is right after use. This is more a gradual type of thing. If use it everyday by the end of the week I notice how much smoother and brighter my skin is. If I stop using it for a few days I can see my skin get a bit duller as my dry skin sets in. So, it’s def something you want to include in your daily routine.

I am so weak for the Dermalogica Pre-Cleanse Cleansing Oil. This was another purchase I made many, many months ago before I ever agreed to do this post. Full disclosure I really don’t love it smells like lavender. I’m also, not super thrilled with some of the ingredients. But I love this formula. I feel like cleansing oil is somehow a dying skincare product outside of Asia. Remember a few years ago everyone was doing a cleansing oil and suddenly that stopped. I found so many great formulas to love stateside and many were discontinued. It feels like the US market is just lacking a selection of cleansing oil. But I can probably set aside my search because I actually do like the Pre-Cleanse Cleansing Oil but please, Dermalogica, if you’re listening, can you do a fragrance-free version one day? Why do I like it? It’s just the perfect consistency. Not to thin, extra runny, not drying, and rinses clean away. I think the biggest plus is the fact it can easily be used as the first step in your cleanse as I never felt like I was stripping my skin by following up with another product after my initial cleanse using this. It really removes pretty much all my makeup on the first go and rinses clean away.

But this is stuff I’ve tried before. The whole point of this post was to try something new. So, what did I pick up from Dermalogica I haven’t tried before? I went with the Dermalogica Skin Resurfacing Cleanser and the Dermalogica Sound Sleep Cocoon. Are these any good? I haven’t dove in with these yet but I’ll share more as soon as I try them! I’m big on extra moisture so I love a sleep mask after applying all my other PM skincare! The Sound Sleep Cocoon is a hydrating gel-cream formula for dehydrated skin! Totally my skin! But it does contain lavender, which again, I’m not keen on. If you’ve tried it let me know if it worked for you! I’ll update you after I give it a whirl!

As for the Skin Resurfacing Cleanser it seems a great match for the Pre-Cleanse Cleansing Oil. I thought it would be grainy but it’s actually more cream cleanser with a very low lather. It’s supposed to exfoliate as it cleanses so we’ll see how it goes! I need to test it further before I decide my final thoughts! Right now, I know it’s working out nicely with the cleansing oil! Have you tried this one? Is there anything else I need to try from Dermalogica? Do share!

You can shop Dermalogica and all your fav skincare, haircare, and more at Dermstore! Let me know what you tend to haul from Dermstore!

Where to buy

Nordstrom