What it does: Hydrates eyes and diminishes fine lines.
Active Ingredients: Hyaluronic Acid, Collagen, and Apple Essence.
Verdict: First of all, these eye masks are incredibly cute. Who doesn’t love Hello Kitty, right? Secondly, these eye masks are made in Korea, and when it comes to skincare, Korea knows what’s up. These eye masks did what they promised to do, and that is it left my eye area feeling very hydrated and refreshed. I highly recommend this if you’re dealing with eye bags or need a pick me up. The only con about this eye mask is that I prefer gel ones and these are sheet masks.
Price: $4.99
Where To Buy It: Target, World Market, and Sephora
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What It Is: A brightening and depuffing eye cream.
What It Does: Brightens, depuffs, and hydrates the eye area.
Active Ingredients: Vitamin C, Niacinamide, Peptides, and green caffeine.
Verdict: First things first, I loved the consistency of this cream. It’s not too thick and not too thin either. But I also wouldn’t necessarily call it a gel, as it is more of a cream. Now, I have no delusions that this cream would solve my dark eye circles because mine are hereditary, but I do like that it kind of helped (or at least they weren’t as noticeable). Apart from this, the cream is very hydrating and you wake up feeling your eye area is nourished and refreshed. I’ve only been using it at night, so I don’t know how it holds up beneath makeup. Although, since it isn’t greasy, I’d venture that it would do well under concealer. I’ve been wanting to try out Glow Recipe products and was excited that Ipsy had this in their Glam Icon Box this month. I did like this eye cream but overall I wasn’t obsessed with it, but for the price point it is a good investment.
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What It Is: A retinol and Vitamin-C-infused moisturizer that visibly smooths, hydrates, and brightens for radiant, refreshed skin.
What It Does: Resurfaces, firms, and brightens skin during sleep.
Active Ingredients: Retinol, Vitamin-C, and Wild Gooseberry Extract
Verdict: I’m a big fan of Kate Somerville skincare products because not only are they effective but have some of the best ingredients for your skin. This moisturizer is no different. From the very first moment that I applied this I was in LOVE. The texture is rich and hydrating but also lightweight and not greasy. I saw results within a few days where small dark spots from previous blemishes visibly vanished and helped even out my skintone. I know it’s on the pricier side, but at the same time, it’s very effective and you only need a dime-size amount for your whole face. I highly recommend adding this moisturizer as a step in your night time skincare routine.
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What It Is: A mascara that weightlessly lifts, lengthens, curls, and adds subtle volume for the most natural-looking lashes.
What It Does: Curls and lengthens.
Active Ingredients: Four vegan waxes wrap each lash for precise definition and weightless volume.
Verdict: Let me preface this by stating that I’m extremely picky when it comes to mascaras. Did this mascara perform the way it should’ve? Absolutely. It did curl and add lots of volume to my lashes, which I cannot deny, however, there were some things I wasn’t completely sold off on. First of all, the formula felt really dry – as in the mascara itself didn’t feel wet, so trying to maneuver the wand through the lashes wasn’t that easy, even because the wand’s bristles were the classic type and not spiky, so there were more instances of clumping. So, yes, I liked how my lashes looked overall with this mascara but the application wasn’t as satisfying because the formula felt so dry and not hydrated at all. If you’re going to purchase mascara from Milk, I would recommend their Kush, mascara instead. I think that one is infinitely better.
Price: $28
Where To Buy It: Sephora, Milk.com, and Ulta
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What It Is: Ultra-concentrated blend of 11 peptides Serum.
What It Does: Hydrates, soothes, and resurfaces skin.
Active Ingredients: Snow Mushroom Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium PCA, and 11 peptides.
Verdict: This serum helps hydrate and restore glow to your skin. If you have enlarged pores (as I do because of oily skin), it helps minimize them, along with fine lines, and sun damage. This serum is a miracle worker and really leaves your skin feeling well-hydrated and fully restored. I used it for a week and already saw results. I use it right after toner, on my face and neck area, and I’ve noticed quite a difference! I’ve always been a fan of Drunk Elephant skincare items but hadn’t had a chance to try this out, till it was in one of my Ipsy Glam Bag X items. Your skin will no longer be uneven or dull, and since I hate wearing foundation, this serum really helps with having your skin look glowy without makeup. I also loved the packaging, because it has a twist top that really helps with not having bacteria get into your product nor do you have to worry about product spillage if you’re traveling!
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What It Is: A hydrating and moisturizing face cream that helps plump up the skin.
Active Ingredients: Bakuchiol, Malachite, Ceramides, and Hyaluronic Acid
Verdict: This moisturizer is everything I love and look for in a moisturizer – it’s nourishing and thick without it being greasy. I use this at night and I tend to gravitate towards moisturizers that don’t quickly disappear after a few seconds. A little goes a long way and I recommend using this for the face and neck as it really helps plump up the skin without weighing it down. I have oily skin and this moisturizer was perfect – drier skin would definitely benefit from this one too.
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As much as 2020 was difficult, and however much I stated 2021 felt tougher, I think that 2022 topped it off. Emotionally speaking it was a tough year for me, but there were some good things that did come out of 2022, and that was mostly writing-related (which I’m really happy about).
2022 GOALS & WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED
My goals for 2022 were to publish my short story collection VICIOUS TRADITIONS: TALES OF TERROR & THE GROTESQUE (which I did). I wanted to write another feature screenplay, which I did, but it was the pilot for CRUSH. I wanted to find publishers for I WANT CANDY (which I did, the novella will be released in September 2023 with D&T Publishing) and GIRL THAT YOU FEAR (which I did, the novel will be released this month with Black Bed Sheet Books). I did find a home for “The Unconventional Tea Party,” as it appeared on the Down the Rabbit Hole podcast on Spotify & will appear in the Stephen King inspired anthology I’m putting together entitled, Hush, Don’t Wake the Monster.
The only goals that I didn’t accomplish in 2022 was to be able to sell Terror! to a producer and finish writing my thriller LA DOLCE VITA.
Extra accomplishments were: My screenplay Terror! was Quarter-Finalist, my pilot screenplay Crush was also Quarter-Finalist, and my short screenplay The Violinist was Finalist, and my short screenplay Baby Teeth got accepted in the Sarah of Horror Film Festival and was also nominated for Best Screenplay.
2023 GOALS
*Write a horror feature screenplay.
*Write a play.
*Complete novella I’m currently working on.
*Complete rough draft of my novelization of Crush.
*Edit my novel, WICKED GAME and find a publisher for it.
*Read at least 50 books (I only read 45 this past year).
*Post more frequently on Instagram.
*Try to merge my author site with this blog site so that it’s all one website.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR?
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MAC has always made some excellent limited edition cosmetics, either inspired by fictional icons or real ones, and their collections have never disappointed. Whitney Houston is the newest icon to finally get a limited collection for, and just in time for her biopic that came out on Friday, I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
I was a huuuuuge Whitney Houston fan when I was little, so much so, that the first album I ever bought was Whitney Houston’s Whitney album that had the hit I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) and Where Do Broken Hearts Go. I know that her later life was littered with personal struggles and her death was tragic, however, I like to remember how she was best, beautiful, upbeat, and with a voice of an angel.
That being said, the moment I realized MAC launched this collection I knew I had to get my hands on a couple of items. I decided to go for the lipsticks (there are four shades in all but I purchased two).
Nippy’s Rose Lipstick looked prettier in the tube than it did on me (at least that’s how I feel about it). It’s a frosty pink, but with a slight blue/violet tint (at least that’s how it looks on my ultra pale lips). I like how it feels and it does last well and it isn’t drying, but I don’t know if I’m a huge fan of the actual shade for me.
Nippy’s Moody Nude Lipstick is a brownie pink nude, which is the sorta nude I prefer, plus it’s creamy, so the lipstick is soft and nourishing. It won’t last all day and will need touch ups, especially if you eat and does leave lipstick marks on cups, but overall I’m very happy with the shade and this is one that I would wear on most days.
The other two lipstick shades they had were red shades, and they look absolutely beautiful. The only reason I didn’t purchase them is because I have many red shades and wanted to try out some new pink and nude shades instead.
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What It Is: This SquishKit 2 contains: 3 x Cheeky Cherry Masks, 1 x Flower Power Acne Patch Pack, 1 x Jelly Lip Gloss, 1 x Hair Bobble, 1 x Squish Pouch, & 1 x Postcard.
Makeup-free & chilling with Cheeky Cherry Mask
Review for Cheeky Cherry Masks:
First of all, just look at the cuteness! Also, these feel amazing and although Charli Howard (model and founder of this amazing brand!) claims you can reuse them up to 3 times – I was only able to use my eye masks twice. However, maybe if you keep yours on for the recommended 20 minutes you may get three uses out of this, but I loved how much these masks felt that I didn’t want to remove them, so I kept them on for an hour. I personally don’t have an issue with puffiness but I do think the serum was soothing and smoothed out any fine lines from my perpetual lack of sleep. So I do recommend these if you need to look fresh-faced right away, plus these eye masks come down to your cheeks so if you have puffiness there, it also tackles that.
Look at that shine! Experience the incredible softness that is Jelly Lip Gloss!
Review for Jelly Lip Gloss:
Charli told me in a comment that this lipgloss was underrated and definitely NOT sticky, so I was eager to try it out. But I also took that comment with a grain of salt, as I’ve always been let down by glosses in the past, even ones claiming to be not sticky, ultimately were still tacky. I’m happy to state that I was most definitely proven wrong meaning that YES THIS GLOSS ISN’T STICKY in any shape or form. First of all, this gloss feels more like an emollient cloud of softness on your lips, much like a rich lip balm. But the best part is that this gloss has shine for days! Finally, a gloss that manages to give incredible shine without the stickiness that 99.9% of the glosses I’ve ever tried had. You’re gonna want this if you’ve always been a gloss lover but hated the feel of gloss, now you can have the best of both worlds.
Why Choose Squish: Cruelty-free, vegan, and female-owned company
Ed Note: I wasn’t able to review the Flower Power Acne Patch Pack cause fortunately I haven’t had any pimples in the past month, so I’ll write a review as soon as I have one! But can we admire how incredibly adorable these patches are though? I can’t wait to try them!
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What It Is: A detoxifying eye cream that helps visibly plump and tighten, fill fine lines, and restore clarity to tired eyes.
Active Ingredients: Rose and Vegan Collagen
Verdict: I love how this eye cream feels both applying the cream and how it feels on my skin. This is why I’m conflicted – I love how it makes my skin feel – it dries fast – and yet I don’t feel like it hydrates as much as it should. Maybe it’s best suited for humid summers when you need a lighter cream, but as far as dry winters go, I don’t feel that it’s as hydrating as maybe one needs for this time of year. However, I do love how luxurious it feels and will probably use it during the warmer season for sure.
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The Inkblotters 