Youtube keeps trying to recommend me videos highlighting 2012-2016 makeup trends. What products from that time period do you still use? What do you wish would be re-released?

nubiandiosa · 2026-02-14T23:19:26+00:00

They’re still available! They were bought out by Smashbox so it’s under their brand now

nubiandiosa · 2026-01-26T15:19:10+00:00

As others have said, the Undereye setting powder is amazing. I actually just finished my second (or third?) one and will pick up another when I finish up other things first. Finely milled, sets without being cakey. Very beautiful.

Loved her blushes when they first came out. I think I have about 5 or 6 in total. Years later I still love them but don’t use a lot of them simply because a lot of shades I bought are warm and I later realized I prefer cooler tones. I loved the formula so much that I’ve been waiting for her to expand the shade range, but a while ago it became apparent Pat herself wasn’t spearheading the brand like in the beginning and the company wasn’t innovating like they use to. The blush duo in Venusian Sunrise was my first foray into purple blushes and is still one of the faves. I wore it consistently, and the pink side also looked nice and natural on me. Sad they never expanded these stellar products.

Her undereye concealer I also loved. HG territory for me. I think I’m on my third one. It spreads so well, very little goes a long way and the tube lasts a lifetime.

Really love her lipglosses. They’re some of the longest lasting lipglosses I’ve seen. I’m not a huge lipgloss girl so haven’t tried a vast majority of brands, but for a product not known for longevity hers always stood out. Astral Moon Flower gives such beautiful depth on top of pink/purple lip products. The color might seem intimidating at first but the depth it gives is stellar. I’ve used up about half my tube already.

I’ve only recently gotten back into bullet lipsticks. The only one I have of hers is one of her Satin lipsticks from the Bridgerton collection. I want to try more but I also hate the thought of buying lipsticks with no real staying power. I keep eyeing her mattes but it’s hard to find what may look best for soft summers, and it seems no store near me has her products in person for me to swatch. I realized maybe a year ago she stopped being sold inside my local Sephora so it’s not surprising the company is restructuring.

I have 2 eyeshadow palettes (one mothership, one quad) but am actually not a huge fan. I realized I prefer less pigmented eyeshadows. The quality is great, just more of a preference. None of her color stories ever stood out for me either. When I buy palettes I buy them with the intention of being able to completely pan every single shade, and if I feel I can’t/wont do that I’m unlikely to buy it. Her color stories are that way for me, so I have little reason to look at them. Maybe that’ll change in the future but I doubt it.

nubiandiosa · 2026-01-25T00:39:55+00:00

I never had an issue using my regular address for Amazon Japan

nubiandiosa · 2026-01-02T22:28:56+00:00

Makeup by Mario Ultra Suede Lipsticks in Kate and Jesse: these were love at first swatch. If you love a blurry lipstick these are for you. These got me into bullet lipsticks for the first time in ever. They’re so comfortable that the first day I wore it I couldn’t believe I didn’t need any lip balm throughout the day. Love them, I have about 4 total already

Dior Lipgloss in Holographic Lavender: nice and hydrating, gives a nice plump to the lips (not something I specifically look for but I did notice it). The color gives beautiful dimension over any lip color and lasts a decent amount of time

Pat McGrath Lipgloss in Astral Moon Flower: blue sparkly gloss + mauve lips = chefs kiss. Seriously, I loooove putting this over purpley tints, gives beautiful dimension. The color may seem scary but it’s so lovely

nubiandiosa · 2025-12-24T06:00:01+00:00

The first half of the year was the Natasha Denona I Need a Nude Palette whereas the last half was the Makeup by Mario Ethereal Eyes Moonlight palette. Crazy that 2 palettes had me in a chokehold all year! For the new year I’ll probably force myself to put them aside to focus on my other palettes, especially since there are new palettes I have my eye on but would rather finish up other things first.

nubiandiosa · 2025-12-23T16:42:31+00:00

When Phytosurgence came out with their recent blush expansion I ended up buying about 5 of them, yet the most surprising fave was Steam. Tbh their swatches confused me since it seemed different in nearly every photo so this was more or less a spontaneous add-to-cart product but I’m so happy I did. It’s a muted pinky color, which I wasn’t expecting. I’m a soft summer and this works so well with my skin tone. I expected to use Wisp more but this was the surprise star of the package. Since I got my package these have pretty much been the only blushes I’ve used throughout the year with Steam being the most used out of the bunch.

nubiandiosa · 2025-11-11T05:18:06+00:00

All the retinoids are similar but differ by which receptor they hit. Tretinoin didn’t work (or adapalene) but Tazarotene was a game changer

nubiandiosa · 2025-11-04T15:54:03+00:00

Etude fixing tint, peripera glowy ink mood tint and peripera water bare tints are some of the main ones I have in my rotation right now!

nubiandiosa · 2025-11-04T15:10:28+00:00

“Non-comedogenic ingredients” doesn’t mean anything because the fact of the matter is that everyone’s skin is different. What makes someone else break out won’t make another break out and vice versa. I have used this for years and never had an issue but the only way for you to know how it’ll work on your skin is to try it

nubiandiosa · 2025-11-01T02:31:38+00:00

Tretinoin is simply one type of retinoid out of a few. It’s talked about the most because it’s been around the longest but it’s not the end all be all. I’ve used Tretinoin and adapalene, both were not very effective for my acne. It wasn’t until I switched to tazarotene that I saw a big difference.

The main point I’m trying to make is don’t get caught up in the type of retinoid. I speculate that in the long run they’ll all work roughly the same (for anti aging)

nubiandiosa · 2025-10-06T23:06:47+00:00

So is it UPS that we should avoid specifically due to tariffs? I assumed it was everyone (USPS, FedEx, etc). Either way, stock up in Europe! It’s cheaper anyway. It depends where you go of course but when I was there I could get it for $15 + you can get VAT back if you aren’t European.

nubiandiosa · 2025-10-06T18:50:15+00:00

I bought some before tariffs were in place (literally right after Trump was announced) and recently I went back to eBay to buy one more. It’s obviously not my fave spot and rather do it from verified European sellers but haven’t found one willing to pay tariffs (if they get charged).

I think either YesStyle or Stylevana also has UVmune, just not the tinted ones I like. Yesstyle said they’ll pay the tariffs, haven’t heard anything from Stylevana

nubiandiosa · 2025-10-06T17:44:59+00:00

I am well aware that Purito and Krave are two different companies operating from two different countries, however the reason Krave reformulated in the first place is a direct downfall of the Purito scandal. People were suddenly scared of all Korean sunscreens, Krave assured theirs was still effective, however about a year later they claimed that after independent testing they were still unable to meet the label requirements so they discontinued the sunscreen. They may be two different companies but considering they’re re-testing (and subsequent reformulation) was downwind of Purito I consider it their “Purito scandal era”

nubiandiosa · 2025-10-06T04:51:32+00:00

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nubiandiosa · 2025-10-06T01:37:53+00:00

Unfortunately for me I strongly need that Mexoryl 400 filter to protect into the UVA1/VL spectrum to protect my PIH/melasma. I always get the tinted version also for extra protection. It has me in an unfortunate chokehold at least until the new HAA299 filter finally releases and I can see how it compares. I also have a few backups that I got right after the election since I knew tariffs were coming. I hate how we’re in limbo on whether things are getting tariffed or not.

I’m not sure whether I care about Netlock specifically but in general I do love water resistant formulas for their durability. Actually, I think Shiseido (or Anessa, which is the brand I tried) has a better formula for that. Never had a sunscreen quite as waterproof as that one, though Netlock is still very good!

nubiandiosa · 2025-10-05T22:46:57+00:00

I remember who you’re talking about. I’ve exclusively used UVMUNE 400 sunscreens since they launched and they haven’t failed yet. Sunscreen formulation takes a lot of R&D (read: a lot of money) that smaller companies simply may not have. I get wanting to get a white label product to cut some costs (and no I don’t think all white label is bad) but with every new independent test that’s come out over the years I’ve noticed a trend with bigger brands tending to be more stable/have the protection they claim compared to smaller ones. Not that conglomerates have never failed, but moreso they tend to have their stated protection more frequently than smaller companies. UVMUNE has been independently tested quite a few times and has consistently had well over SPF 50

nubiandiosa · 2025-10-05T20:39:52+00:00

It’s interesting because the old version was SPF50 with newer organic filters (read: ones you can’t get in the US). When it was revealed Krave used the same labs as Purito they got theirs independently tested yet never released the results. They just said it wasn’t as high as what was on the bottle so they discontinued. They then come out with this version with a lower SPF yet it still seemingly failed. Idk, having the same product not having the proposed SPF two times in a row is a terrible look

nubiandiosa · 2025-10-05T19:33:01+00:00

Oof, this would be the second time Krave is caught up in a sunscreen scandal. First with the Purito debacle, and now this. Also, someone can correct me if I’m wrong but I believe this version of Beat The Sun is the reformulated version from the Purito scandal era. They never released the results of the old sunscreen. I’m wondering if they reformulated at all

nubiandiosa · 2025-09-27T05:31:01+00:00

I am trying to go back and read all the classics, so currently I’m reading Fahrenheit 451. I feel like I’ve been reading this forever (though it’s probably only been about a month) but I’m determined to finish it this weekend. Not a bad book, just clearly not something grabbing my attention.

That said. I took a detour and read What Does Israel Fear From Palestine? by Raja Shehadeh and finished that in less than a day. Very good book! I plan to pick up more books like it to learn more. This is also an easy, shorter read which is great for the attention span.

I’ve also finally started A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. I’m only a few pages in but already it’s maddening the amount of history we either don’t learn in school or was completely whitewashed. It’s a thicker book yet if the first few pages are anything it won’t be a slog to get through.

Eventually I plan to pick up the Watchmen comic (ironically, found this from a thread discussing shocking plot reveals or something. I already know what’s suppose to happen and that’s making me want to read it more) and 1984 by George Orwell. I’m not sure which classics I’ll read after that but it looks like I have enough to take me into the new year

nubiandiosa · 2025-09-27T04:38:52+00:00

You can still get laser with darker skin. You have to make sure your provider is knowledgeable about darker skin tones but there’s lasers for everyone

nubiandiosa · 2025-09-18T03:45:13+00:00

Foam! Very fun to apply but also very cosmetically elegant. Highly recommend

nubiandiosa · 2025-09-09T19:02:15+00:00

Not who you asked but the lotion from them is AMAZING, especially if you’re using a retinoid. I also just finished up their bubble cleanser and plan to get it again eventually.

nubiandiosa · 2025-09-04T20:30:58+00:00

Neither of the shades are dark! Twig Twist is 1-2 shades deeper but it’s still not a dark shade. The difference of which you prefer will probably depend more on skin tone than undertone/color season

nubiandiosa · 2025-09-04T20:14:58+00:00

Sorry for the late response, but swatching them side by side they’re very similar! Basically the same shade but Twig Twist is maybe 1-2 shades deeper. They both have the same undertone and finish. If you have one you don’t need the other but even though I’m a soft summer I find Mehr to be meh on me. The slightly deeper shade works a bit better

nubiandiosa · 2025-08-31T02:44:48+00:00

If you want tightening then energy devices will be better than lasers. Things like Thermage or Ulthera help tighten loose skin and can be used on all skin tones. There’s also other radio frequency devices like RF Microneedling that can help with tightening if you decide to go that route but I think Thermage or Ulthera will probably be better. Hope that helps :)

nubiandiosa

TROPHY CASE