2021 / 2022: finish one race, start another journey

Posted on Sunday, at bought • 3217 views

I tend to be less of a “year in review” person than many other folks. I don’t have a list of all the books I read last year, or a list of my favorite items I bought in 2021, or plans for any low-buy or no-buy in 2022. I am less focused on a series of goals, and more interested in a series of journeys.

For the past six years I’ve tried to have a “theme” each year. It started in 2015/2016 with reviews and swatches of all of the older BE kits that I had. Next, in 2016 when the Buxom Lip Polish collection was revamped, I swatched and reviewed all 52 of the new shades. In 2018/2019, I did a 12-month shop-my-stash with my Sleek palettes. (That was kind of fun - I’m thinking of doing something similar this year, but with my Makeup Revolution Forever Flawless palettes. Anyone interested in playing along?)

In 2020, I showcased a Color Club nail polish every week - usually an older shade. Last year, I went looking for a mascara primer that would help colored mascaras adhere to my lashes so that the color would actually be visible (after testing almost a dozen different ones, Milani Cosmetics’ The Violet One is my current go-to!). This year, I’ll be showcasing my older, previously-unreviewed Zoya nail polishes, one every other week. I may add that monthly Forever Flawless looks as a second one.

With the covid pandemic going into its third year, it’s kind of hard to know if people will be able to visibly rock a bold lip or chiseled cheek in 2022. I keep wearing makeup even though I’m WFH, but that’s because it’s more something that I enjoy and don’t always feel super-comfortable wearing to work. Now, though? I only use the built-in laptop video camera, my work team can’t see my makeup, so I wear the bolder colors and the purple blush that I love. (I work in tech, but I’m not a programmer, so I’ve been cautious about appearing to wear any makeup at most contracts.) I’ve also been wearing flakies and glitter regularly, because that’s a mood-lifter (and, again…it can’t really be seen on the work webcam.)

2021 / 2022: finish one race, start another journey

I did buy more palettes in 2020 and 2021 than I have previously, but for the most part I still prefer to buy loose-powder makeup. It just works better for me: it’s easy to put together looks using colors from different vendors and years; and since they’re inert, they are less likely to provide bacteria a home, and so thus have a longer shelf life. As someone who’s had several “false starts” with makeup in the past, I prefer having things that will be perfectly usable and safe even in 10, 15, or 20 years.

I have previously played with the idea of starting a YouTube channel, but held back because it just seemed (to me) to be more work than it was worth. This year, I think I’m actually going to start it, but it will mostly be to advertise my new Patreon. I like having the ability to build a smaller audience and really share quality stuff with them…but keep out the abrasives and the abusives. I don’t expect that this Patreon will help me much financially. It’s just a nice way to get a tiny bit of income while giving those followers some exclusives that I don’t care to post publicly, like my drawing, poetry, short fiction, and art.

I’ve been coloring for a long time, but I’ve mostly used markers. I’ve gotten into colored pencils, and bought a few budget sets and a few more expensive sets - thank goodness there were already so many reviews available, I was able to more easily see the pencils demoed and make my choices of which sets to buy and which to bypass! I am going to be receiving a different curated set of 20 pencils every month through 2022 and 2023, so that’s going to be a nice regular chance to play.

As I said, I don’t really have goals for each year, but I do have tasks that I want to do or at least start.

Last year I reorganized all of my eyeshadows by vendor, and this coming year I hope to organize them further, by collection. For my Bare Escentuals eyeshadows, that might not work too well because of all the three-color kits that I have, but for my indie vendors where I’ll generally buy half the items in a 10+ eye color collection, that will be easier for me to find the shadows that I want and to use older shadows more. Along with this, I have about 600 eyeshadows that I need to rephotograph and swatch - these shadows survived my one great declutter, but I last photographed them for the site before 2012, when I was working with a 4-megapixel camera.

I also reorganized my Zoya polishes by year and collection, to help me rediscover my older colors. I’d like to do the same thing with my Color Club and CND polishes. (My indie polishes, I’m just going to sort by vendor for now.)

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