For the month of December we will be participating in the #30DaysofDecluttering Challenge. This challenge is inspired by Jenn Rogers, a Youtuber who is currently living in Korea and completed this challenge via Instagram. We both have decluttered a lot of clothes and books but it’s time to tackle other items. Our goal is to get rid of at least one item a day either from home or work and we’ll try our best to keep track of everything.

Here are the first items we are decluttering…

Saudia’s Day 1 Declutter - 2 ruffled blouses

There was a time when I was really into ruffled blouses. I don’t remember when exactly I got these or from where, but it’s safe to assume that it was many years ago and probably from Sears or Macys. These are 2 things I definitely haven’t worn in over a year and I’m not even sure they still fit. Definitely time to go.

Jess’ Day 1 Declutter - Patterned Trench coat from Vertigo

I actually still remember when I purchased this product. It was at a trunk sale and I didn’t even know how expensive Vertigo items were but I got this coat for a bargain. I’ve had it since early 2007 so it’s been almost 10 years and I haven’t used it in the last 3 years. I’ve had it dry cleaned but for some reason the cuffs are just looking really grubby and not in good condition anymore. I also found that it falls a little shorter than where I like my trench coat to fall so it’s time for me to say goodbye. 

We will post daily updates of what we are decluttering on our Instagram @booksbeautyconfidential. We will be doing a midway check post on Day 15 and a final wrap up post on Day 30. We hope that you’ll take on the challenge with us and use #30DaysofDecluttering!

-Saudia and Jess

Glossier: OMG I FINALLY DID IT

Well I did it. I finally bought makeup that was not from the drugstore and not only that, but I bought a brand with a cult-like following. That’s right folks, I got some Glossier goodies. 

After the discount plus tax my total came up to $53.08

My makeup and skin care routine has always been bare bones. Because frugality runs in my blood (thanks, mom!) I could never bring myself to pay more than $10 for any given product. Hell, I get my Cetaphil moisturizer from Costco! One brand that I’ve found pretty interesting is Glossier. It’s founded by Emily Weiss... I hear she was on The Hills or something. Anyways, Emily was on The Hills, started a fashion/beauty blog then created this line of makeup and skin care. I’ve great things about the Glossier line from people I know and in my quest to make my routine a little more mature, I decided to take advantage of their Cyber Monday sale.

On Cyber Monday all Glossier products were 20% off and they also offered free shipping. I ended up getting a lipstick, skin tint and concealer. Let me tell you, shopping for me is a PROCESS whether it’s in-store or online. So as I’m adding items to my cart I’m thinking “do I really want to spend $50 on this stuff?” Then I remembered that the foundation I’ve been putting off buying is $50… I was definitely getting anxious as I entered my CC info, but once I placed that order I was ELATED. OMG I DID IT I BOUGHT MAKEUP FROM SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN WALMART.

Of course after all of this I started questioning whether or not I got the right shade. I ordered the shade “dark” for the skin tint and concealer. The matching thing on the website matched me as medium, but the model using dark seemed to be closer to my skin tone. Anyways, I’m not too worried about that because this stuff is supposed to melt into your skin. We’ll see how that goes.

Stay tuned for the big reveal when my products get here - it’ll be my first beauty haul! (A haul can be just 3 products, right? heh) Thanks for reading and don’t forget to subscribe and follow up on social media!

-Saudia

Beauty Wish List

With the roughly million+ beauty lists on the internet dedicated to “products that work” or “products worth your money,” it’s pretty easy to want to just walk into Sephora and buy the entire store. That combined with prime holiday shopping season made it seem like a good time to share some of the beauty products that have made it onto our holiday wish list!

Jess’ Beauty Wish List

Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint

Oh Glossier… this cult beauty product have been in both of our wish list for a few months now maybe it’s about time for us to give this a try.  I’m still not sure what shade I should get (medium? dark?) so if anyone has tried it and has a suggestion let me know.

Dr. Gowoonsesang Brightening Peeling Gel

Thanks buzzfeed readers for making it out of stock and raising the price. This has been in my list for awhile. Even though I have a combination oily skin I do have some stubborn dry patches and hyperpigmentation. I also have sensitive skin which makes this product ideal.

Clarisonic Mia 2
I’ve been putting off getting the clarisonic but I think it’s about time. I’m not getting any younger and even though I love my Muji and Origins and manual facial brushes I’m ready for an upgrade.


Skinfood Black Sugar Mask In addition to this list I have another long list of Korean Beauty Favorites that I want to get but I am trying to pace myself. I remember buying this when I was abroad a long time ago and before amazon or sites like Jolse it’s difficult to buy any asian beauty brands and even then it was significantly more expensive.

Shiseido Eyelash Curler

Again this is another product that I very much need but have put off. I’ve realized that finding a good eyelash curler is like finding a good pair of jeans. I’ve done a lot of research and I think this might be the best fit for my eyes.

Saudia’s Beauty Wish List

Glossier Matte Lipstick

Lip products are hands down my favorite thing to use. I learned about Glossier recently and their matte lipstick is marketed as something that can offer either a tint or full color. They also say you don’t have to use lip liner with it, which makes me want it even more. At $18 it’s a little expensive for me, but hey that’s why this is a wish list.

Dr. Gowoonsesang Brightening Peeling Gel

I learned about this gel from Buzzfeed (sorry, Jess.) I have a bit of an addictive relationship to face scrubs, so you can say I love a good exfoliation. This obsession  leads me to over exfoliate, which isn’t good. So when I learned about this Dr. G peeling gel I was immediately interested because it seems like a gentler way to take care of my habit.

Lancôme Teint Idole Foundation

I’ve already written about this foundation in a previous post, so I won’t go into much detail. Foundation is one of things I really like to use, but it’s so hard to find a good one. I got a sample of this at Sephora a few months ago and absolutely love it.

That’s it for our beauty wish lists. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates and may you also be able to afford your favorite beauty products!

-Jess & Saudia

Foundation Find: Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24H Long Wear Foundation

Hi. Welcome back. Happy to have you here. As you saw in my last post, I just got off of a 3 month makeup-free streak. Well summer is over and the weather is cooler, which means I can tolerate foundation on my face again!

A while back Jess and I did a post on our everyday makeup and at the time I was using a drugstore foundation - Neutrogena Skin Clearing Liquid Makeup Tan 120. When I was using this foundation my skin was really oily and I thought “oh crap, I have REALLY oily skin!” When I stopped wearing makeup I learned that my skin is actually pretty normal, if not a little dry, and that the foundation was causing me to produce more oil. So when I decided to wear makeup again in the fall I also decided it was time to find a better foundation.

I’ve always been against spending a boatload of money on makeup products. I never believed that expensive products were actually better than drugstore. But after my oily skin/not oily skin fiasco I decided to actually do some research and see if there was a difference in a more expensive product. I follow a couple beauty vloggers on YouTube with darker skin tones and started watching their videos religious. One of my favorites is Jackie Aina and in a couple of videos she had really positive things to say about Lancôme foundation for darker skin tones. After seeing her positive reviews on Lancôme I decided I wanted to give it a try.

When Jess visited me a few weeks ago we went to Sephora* and I got a sample of  Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24H Long Wear Foundation in the color 430 Bisque C. So a few things: this was my first time getting color matched at Sephora and I was matched as a cool tone. I always believed that brown skinned girls were just naturally warm toned, so I was skeptical. The foundation looked like a perfect match in the store, but with all the lighting I decided it was best to try this out during a normal day. I got a sample and decided I would try this out during a workday.

Fast forward 2 weeks (because I’m lazy) and I’ve tried this foundation on 2 days at work and am in LOVE.

Pros:

• It takes very little foundation to get full coverage. At first I used the amount I usually use with the drugstore foundation and it was way too much. I thought my sample would only last 2 uses and it could easily last a week.
• Long wearing. They’re not kidding with that claim. This foundation lasts all day and doesn’t budge. The other night I wore it to a dinner and it had been raining all day. I had to stand in the rain and catch a cab and was shocked to see the foundation did not smear at all.
• No oily mess. I wore this foundation from 8am-12am on Friday with a little bit of powder and did not blot once. When I got home I was a little oily, but not enough to look crazy. My drugstore foundation would have me oily after just an hour of wear and I would have to take constant bathroom breaks at work to blot.
• It matches my skin tone perfectly. Lancôme actually has a wide variety of shades to choose from, which is perfect for humans because we’re all so diverse.

Cons:

• It’s expensive. $47 for 1oz of foundation. My heart hurts.
• That’s the only con. I can’t think of anymore.

The next step is to now purchase the foundation. I still have a few days of product left, so I’m in no rush, but I still need to buy it. Before I would dread putting on foundation because I knew it meant a day of blotting and then deep scrubs to make sure it was all gone. Now I’m kind of looking forward to it because this foundation is light, easy to take off at night, and looks great!

-Saudia

*Getting color matched and a sample from Sephora was intimidating, but Jess was with me and helped a lot. Look out for her post on finding a foundation match!

What I've learned going 3 months makeup-free

Dark circle corrector, foundation, concealer. That was my winter and spring routine, then summer happened. It was just too hot to have any makeup on no matter how many products people recommended that were light enough for the heat. After visiting Jess for a few days at the start of summer and not wearing makeup that entire weekend, I decided to go makeup-free. What I didn’t expect was that I would enjoy it so much and end up not wearing makeup for the entire summer. Here’s what I learned during those 3 months:

It took a surprisingly short time to get over the self-consciousness. I was nervous to go to work with no makeup on. I hadn’t done that in YEARS. For some reason I thought that all of a sudden people just wouldn’t notice me standing in a room or something. Looking back that was absolute nonsense. After a week or so I just forgot that I wasn’t wearing makeup and just went on with my life normally.

Makeup is expensive af, even if you only use drugstore. So I’ve always just bought drugstore makeup because it’s inexpensive. The thing is, drugstore makeup doesn’t last long so you have to repurchase it frequently. All those dollars add up. My saved dollars went to lots of coffee breaks at work.

Nobody gives a shit about what’s on your face. Seriously, they don’t. And if they do they’re nice enough not to tell you.

You don’t realize exactly how exciting eyeliner can be until you have a blank canvas. There were some days when I would look in the mirror and be so bored looking at my reflection. I was intent on not putting on any foundation or concealer, so I would shake things up with some eyeliner or lipstick on some days. Those days were SO EXCITING for me. It felt like a treat to wear eyeliner and lipstick and because I had no other makeup on those products really stood out.

Skin care can make or break this experience. When I decided to go makeup-free, I also decided to improve my skincare game. Afterall, my skin would be on display in its original glory. I made sure to wash my face everyday, exfoliate a few times a week and stay moisturized. I also tried to drink more water and eat a bit cleaner. And by a bit I mean at least one vegetable a day. That vegetable might have been potatoes on most days. The point is, if i didn’t focus more on skincare I don’t think I would have felt as comfortable without makeup as I did.

After 3 months of no makeup I’m ready to get back into the game. I won’t wear makeup everyday because I’m lazy and don’t have to, but I’d like to change it up every now and again. Stay tuned for a follow up post on my current favorite foundation and how I found it!

-Saudia

Books on books on books

As our blog name suggests, we both love books. Jessica is a speed-reader and Saudia has a long commute to work, so that results in a lot of books.

Here’s each of our current TBR list:

Saudia’s TBR

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Magician: Apprentice by Raymond Feist

Magician: Master by Raymond Feist

Jessica’s TBR

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Daughters of Fortune by Tara Hyland

The Travelers by Chris Pavone

Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston
Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade US to Buy by Martin Lindstrom

We both set an annual reading goal on Goodreads. Jessica’s goal is 50 books and Saudia’s is 40. So far we’re both on track (and slightly ahead) of the reading goal - yay! Keep up with what we are reading on Goodreads!  

 

Saudia's currently-reading shelf:

Jessica's currently-reading shelf:

 

- Saudia & Jessica

Makeup Revolution Limited Edition Hard Day Salvation Palette

If you shop at ULTA chances are you've probably seen the Makeup Revolution London stand. They have sleek looking palettes with affordable price tags. Makeup Revolution started in the UK back in 2014 and is a cruelty-free company. Their goal is to offer affordable beauty products that all skin tone can use.

In the U.S. Makeup Revolution I believe is only available through ULTA or their online store. Their  palettes are between $7 and $15, with the Hard Day Salvation palette sitting pretty at $10. Since the palette costs about half compared to the L'oreal La Palette and Maybelinne Nudes, I figured I give one of them a try.

The palette that called to me was the Hard Day Salavation Palette which has a lovely combination of neutral browns and purple shades. The top two rows holds a combination of shimmer & satin shadows while the bottom row has the 6 matte shadows.

Top 2 Rows Shimmer + Satin Shadows

  

Bottom Row - Matte

As you can see the shadows are pretty pigmented with the exception of the white matte shadow on the bottom left which is just chalky. The rest are of the matte shades are really beautiful. I think there's enough variations in colors to create different neutral/smoky looks without the shadows looking muddy. If you have oily lid, I definitely recommend using the shadows with a primer.
The Hard Day Salvation palette was a limited edition so it is no longer available at ULTA but it is available at the Makeup Revolution Store online.

Based on this palette I'm open to trying out more products from Makeup Revolution. If you have any recommendations & requests, pop them below and I will check them out!

Jess

Portland Japanese Garden

Last week I got to visit Portland, OR for the first time ever. This was a work trip, but I was able to spend an extra day and explore a bit. Since I had never been to Portland before I didn't really know what to expect. Everyone I talked to who had been there before declared undying love for the city, so my expectations were high.

via GIPHY

Overall, my trip was wonderful. I walked around the city a bit, ate at some wonderful restaurants, visited Powell's and on the last day I visited Portland Japanese Garden. The garden is what really stood out on my trip.

I learned about the Japanese Garden from looking at a map of the area. When I saw the garden on the map I thought this would be a great excursion because after walking around Portland I saw a lot of the same things I would find on the East coast: shops, shops and more shops. The garden was only a 15 minute drive from my hotel and I was able to walk back into the city when I was done.

Admission for adults is $9.50, which at first I thought was a little pricey. Then I learned that the garden is supported mainly through donations and memberships and I felt a lot better about the price. When you pull up to the garden entrance all you see is construction and a parking lot. The actual entrance where you pay admission is a 5 minute walk up a trail. For those who exercise regularly this is probably just a regular stroll. For me I felt like I was working out. I was SO glad I wore leggings and sneakers that day. After paying admission you walk into a large open space and it's like you are transported out of the city.

The Japanese Garden is 5.5 acres and has five separate garden areas. The garden is incredibly peaceful and tranquil. Even though Portland is pretty small and definitely not as busy as NYC, it was still incredible to experience this tranquility right next to a popular city. It takes about 45 minutes to walk through the entire garden. I enjoyed it so much that I walked around twice. There are signs around the garden that actually instruct you to not take phone calls. One interesting instruction was to not obstruct anyone's experience. That was really thoughtful and a nice reminder to be present and enjoy the experience.

Finding this Japanese Garden was hands down the best part of my trip to Portland. If you're ever in town definitely check it out!

-Saudia

Our Everyday Makeup Routine

Welcome to Books & Beauty Confidential! 

We are thrilled to be sharing with you our first post that we co-wrote. We’ll be collaborating on some posts and write some individually. If you don’t know what our blog is about, you can check out our “about us” page. Since this is our first post, we are testing out this co-writing situation and we’ll see how this goes and eventually work out all the kinks.  

Few things to keep in mind - we have different makeup skill levels, skin tone, skin types (combination & oily) and general interest in makeup. We both have hyper-pigmentation and blemishes we want to cover as well. 

Now that we’ve got all that out of the way, let’s jump into our everyday makeup! We’ve included our product lists at the end of this post.

Saudia's Everyday Makeup

Jess's Everyday Makeup

Saudia: My everyday makeup routine can be best described as lazy minimalist. I don’t wear all of these products each time I leave the house.

Jess: I also have to preface by saying that neither of us wears this much makeup everyday. We are fortunate that we have days where we can work from home and not wear makeup. So let’s say that everyday makeup = not scaring strangers & co-workers.  

Moisturizer

Saudia: I use Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream. The big 16oz tub that you get from Costco. I tried the Cetaphil Facial Moisturizer with SPF 50, but it left a white cast on my face that made my makeup look weird.

Jess: My favorite “holy grail” moisturizer is Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. It’s great for combo - oily skin and I can’t leave my house without it.

Eye Gel

Jess: I use a roll-on eye gel from Simple which is a great drugstore brand if you have sensitive skin. It’s a great and quick de-puffer in the morning. You can even pop it in the fridge for a few minutes to get it cooler.  

Saudia: Eye gel = Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream, right?

Face

(foundation,concealer, dark circle corrector & powder)

Jess: For the past two months I’ve been using the it Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ which has SPF 50. I’ve been using it in Medium even though I think light would be better for my winter shade but this product is expensive ($15 for the travel size). I got a few of these travel size one from a women's conference I attended and it makes my skin looks so even and flawless that I will probably invest in it once I’m out of the samples. For dark circle corrector I use the NYX Dark Circle Corrector in the Medium shade which is the salmon-y orange. I would use the Dark Circle corrector to cancel out the dark circle and then apply my regular concealer which is the Maybelline Fit me on top of it to brightens and also to cover any red patches or blemishes.  I would finish it at the end after I do the rest of my makeup with the Rimmel Stay Matte powder in Transparent.  

Saudia: After I moisturize I follow up with the NYX Dark Circle Concealer Correcteur + Black Radiance True Complexion Under Eye Corrector & Concealer. Sometimes I only use the Black Radiance concealer and sometimes I use both, depends on how late I stayed up the previous night. Once that’s done then I use either Neutrogena SkinClearing foundation OR L’Oreal True Match Compact Makeup. TBH, I have no idea what “Compact Makeup” is or how you’re supposed to use it. All I know is that it’s less coverage than liquid foundation and it feels super light. I never use both products together. The last thing I do is add some Rimmel Stay Matte powder to my t-zone to help combat shine. I also use it to set the corrector under my eyes.

Highlighting, Contouring & Blush

Jess: When we started planning for this post I mentioned to Saudia that I do contour on the days that I wear makeup and she was shocked. I didn’t use to contour a lot just because a lot of contour products are too shimmery and oxidizes orange on my face but since I got the e.l.f. contour cream palette,it’s been life changing. What do I love more than the contour palette? It’s probably my Illuminating palette which is also from e.l.f. This is a great, cheap alternative to the Ambient Lighting Palette from Hourglass which is $62 and I just love how the $6 e.l.f. palette looks and apply on my face. Lastly, the blush I’ve been trying to use up is the e.l.f HD blush in Headliner.

Saudia: I prefer to have a one-dimensional look. That lazy minimalist life...

Eyes

Jess: I don’t know why you (Saudia) don’t have a mascara on this list. I started wearing mascara only after I saw you wearing it. Anywho, the palette that I’ve been using the Makeup Revolution Hard Day Palette from ULTA. It has a great mix of matte, satin and shimmery shadows. I use Revlon Colorstay eyeliner in black and the only mascara that works on my tiny, wispy lashes- Covergirl The Super Sizer.  

Saudia: I wake literally the last minute possible in order to catch the train. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Sometimes I put on some eyeliner when I get to the office. That’s usually once every 2 months. Not frequent enough to include on this list :D

Lips

Saudia: Chapstick and lipstick are my must-have lip products. I am constantly reapplying chapstick because I hate it when my lips feel dry. I use ChapIce, which can be found at Walmart. A 2-pack is less than $1 - you can’t go wrong. My go-to lipstick these days is from Make Up Forever in the shade Rouge Artist Natural. I actually got this lipstick from Jess and I absolutely love it. It’s just the right amount of color so I don’t look too made up.

Jess: When I started editing the photo I realized I forgot to include my lip products. I’ve been using it so much that it’s actually in my purse. The two that I’ve been wearing a lot is the Revlon Matte Balm in Sultry and e.l.f Studio Matte in Scarlet Night which is the perfect dark purple shade. The Makeup Forever lipstick that Saudia mentioned I have one as well and I have to just say that it’s a really great nude lipstick for any skin tone.

Final Thoughts

Saudia: I don’t wear all of these products at the same time on any given day The two I wear religiously are Cetaphil and chapstick. I like to stick to one face product (foundation or makeup compact) and sometimes I skip the under eye corrector. I continue to harass Jess about different products and will eventually start trying out different things. For now, this routine works well for me.

Jess: This is a lot less face product than what I would wear in warmer weather (primer, settings pray,etc) but every time I leave my house makeup or no makeup I always have some kind of SPF on my face. I’m glad that my love of makeup is rubbing off a little bit (although minuscule) on Saudia.

Thanks so much for reading and don’t forget to subscribe to get our posts right in your inbox!

-Jess & Saudia

Saudia’s Product List:
Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream

NYX Dark Circle Corrector in Dark

Black Radiance True Complexion Under Eye Corrector & Concealer in CA8006

Neutrogena Skin Clearing Foundation in Tan 120

L’Oreal True Match Compact makeup in W3 Nude Beige

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in 004 Sandstorm

ChapIce chapstick

Make Up Forever - Professional Paris in Rouge Artist Natural

Jess’ Product List

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel

Simple Revitalizing Eye Roll On

it Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ in Medium

NYX Dark Circle Corrector in Medium

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 20/Sand Sable

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in 001/Transparent

e.l.f. Illuminating Palette

e.l.f. Cream Contour Palette

e.l.f. HD Blush in Headliner

e.l.f. Shadow Lock Eyelid Primer

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Makeup Revolution Hard Day Palette

Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner in 201 Black/Noir

Covergirl The Super Sizer Mascara

Revlon Colorburst Matte in Sultry
e.l.f. Studio Matte in Scarlet Night