This month has gotten away from me. Despite having two weeks off work, or maybe exactly for that reason, I feel like March lasted about 10 days. Accordingly, I don’t have too many favorites this month. But as to not break my sweet little streak, I shall present you my few March favorites!
March Favorites: Beauty
Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Concealer
I don’t know the first thing about concealers, to be honest. Hence why I don’t tend to use them. Whenever I get one (as a gift with purchase, for example) I put it on whatever spot I want to hide, blend it in, and it completely vanishes. The spot however, is very clearly visible still. If you have any help/tips for me, do let me know! The one area I do use concealer whenever I do my make up though is underneath the eyes. Fortunately I don’t have dark circles under the eyes, but I still like to brighten that area, as one does. The problem with a lot of concealers: They are too thick, and as there’s a lot of movement around the eyes, they can crease quite badly. And that’s not a cute look either.
This month I discovered the new Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Concealer, which is specially made to go under the eyes. I got the shade XX. And I’m delighted to say that it does in fact not crease. There was a bit of a learning curve with it though, as I used too much product the first time round (wish the packaging was different) and also a sponge that was too wet. Both mistakes led to me looking rather pale and ghostly around the eyes, not cute. But lesson learned, give your beauty sponge a good old squeeze and don’t use too much product and you’re good to go.
A nice bonus: The concealer has SPF 25 in it, which is especially good for the sensitive skin around your eyes. I wouldn’t rely on it though, but keep using my regular SPF 50 under my make up.
Tomicca UV Gel Nail Polish
I do my own shellac manicure at home, most of the times. For one, it saves a lot of money. And also I can do it on a Sunday afternoon, when I’ve actually got some free time. Doesn’t comply with the operating times of nail salons. Anyway, I particularly liked shade 188 of the Tomicca UV nail polish set I’d gotten last year, a lovely sage-y shade (see below). They are a lot cheaper than the NeoNails or CND nail polishes, but last just as well. Just make sure you use a good base and top coat.
March Favorites: Books
The one thing I did manage to get a good amount of was reading. And podcasts, but that’s for later down the line. Excitingly, I think I’ve found the best book ever…
Fifty/Fifty by Steve Cavanagh
… or at least the best book I have read in a LONG time. Fifty/Fifty by Steve Cavanagh is the second book I’ve read from the author, and I absolutely devoured (and recommend on my Instagram) the first one. This one is about a murder case, and two sisters accusing each other of doing it. It’s written from the points of view from a view different characters, and the actual murderer (“she”) is one of them. You get little hints of information (ticks, habits, etc.) of either of the sisters, as well as from “her”. But I couldn’t figure out who of the two sisters had done it until the very end. Super thrilling and a real page turner for me!
Spare by Prince Harry
Completely different genre and not something that I would usually read, but still very much enjoyed: Spare by HRH Prince Harry. As you might know if you have read any of my other posts, I’m weirdly obsessed with the UK, the royals being no exception. So I borrowed this book from a friend and dove in. First of all I would like to say how very eloquently I think it is written. If it was actually him or a ghostwriter obviously isn’t for me to say, but I enjoyed the style it was written in very much.
But the style of writing usually isn’t why you read a book, but rather what it tells you. Especially a biography/memoir like this one. And you get a lot of juicy details. It also helped me understand a lot more why they/Prince Harry wanted to “leave” the royal family. And it kind of makes you sad for them, barely being able to do normal things like grocery shopping or going to dinner, without being photographed, yelled at, and having lies written about them in the tabloids.
March Favorites: TV Shows
You
OH MY GOODNESS, what a plot twist! If you’re telling me you saw it coming, you’re an outright liar. I certainly didn’t. Even after Joe killed Rhys and his hallucination showed up, I thought Rhys was the bad guy. I thought he had a twin brother, whom Joe just had murdered. How very wrong I was. And also sorry if you’re late to watching it and I have just spoiled it to you. Nonetheless, a fantastic finish to the season! I’m curious to see if there’s going to be another one…
Trainwreck – Woodstock ’99
If you liked the Netflix documentary on the Fore Festival, you might enjoy this one as well. It’s a three part series on the Woodstock festival that took place in New York in the Summer of 1999, in effort to revive the “peace, love, happiness” vibe of Woodstock ’69. But boy oh boy, did it have nothing to do with either peace, love, nor happiness. I had so many “Oh no” and “Bad idea” moments while watching it. And looking back, I think it’s most surprising nobody died in all that carnage. But see for yourselves (it’s on Netflix).
March Favorites: Podcasts
One of my favorite ways to keep myself entertained when traveling (which I did a lot of this month) is to listen to podcasts. And luckily, I found a new one, which means a lot of episodes to go through!
Serienkiller
That new one is a German podcast called Serienkiller. It’s based on the original American one (Serialkillers), but I once more didn’t like the way the American hosts told the story. So the German one it is, big benefit of speaking more than one language. As the name suggests, it’s about serial killers from all around the world. And I LOVE true crime. Could I ever commit such horrendous things? Absolutely not! But I do find it weirdly interesting/entertaining. And I know that I’m not the only one.
Diary of a CEO
Not a month goes by that I don’t recommend at least one episode of DOAC. This month it’s episode 225 with Gary Brecka, an expert on the topic of life insurance. That doesn’t sound very interesting at all, but once you listen to it you come to understand there is actually a way to predict how long a person has got to live. That’s great news for life insurance companies. But I too found it fascinating to listen to. Brecka has also broken down every illness known to man to one very simple formula: The absence of oxygen. If that doesn’t make sense to you now, just listen to this episode!
March Favorites: Everything Else
It has been an eventful month for me, to say the least. Here are the highlights:
- I went on my first ever holiday (the trip to Salzburg) all by myself and I absolutely loved it. Just doing whatever I wanted to do, whenever I wanted it, without having to run my plans by anybody else – amazing. It was only a 5 day trip, and I did end up meeting a friend for the last 2 days, but I recharged so much during that time. 10/10 would do again.
- I also went to Mallorca with my boyfriend shortly after. The good thing about traveling with him: He wants to do exactly the same things, at exactly the same time, as me. So basically it’s like traveling on your own. But you’ve got great company. Win-Win. And Mallorca waaaay exceeded both our expectations (blogpost coming soon!), so highly recommend.
- I’ve signed the contract to my new job back home! After living in Frankfurt for 5.5 years, it’s finally time for me to move back north. Overjoyed and sad at the same time, but excited nonetheless!
- I came SO CLOSE to finishing in the Top 1000 Scaled Division of the CrossFit Open 2023! Actually ended up in 1055th place, which I would never have dreamed of, given I’ve only been doing CrossFit since May 2022. Excited to see what next year is going to bring!
Come to think of it, I do have a good amount of favorites this month… so never mind what I said earlier. As always, thank you so much for sticking round til the end, I really really appreciate you!
Lots of Love,
Lena
Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored.