New feature alert! Dear Wendy readers are some of the most intelligent, stylish, super cool people around (it’s a proven fact), so when a commenter suggested I create a regular feature for them to recommend some of their favorite products, it was a no-brainer. Today we hear from Morgan, who is in her early 20s and lives in Baltimore with her boyfriend of over four years. She’s a huge sports fan (Go, Ravens!) and enjoys drinking wine, cooking, and spending way too much money at Sephora. She has a wonderfully insane cat who enjoys sleeping on her and chasing her around the house. Here are some of her current favorite products:
1. OPI Matte nail topcoat
I recently ordered this topcoat because I’m super into the matte nail trend right now. Usually my nails are shiny and sparkly (case in point: they are currently metallic gold), but I really love how matte nails look, and I like this topcoat because it turns any nail polish you already have into the matte trend. I’m a pretty big matte makeup fan in general.
This is the best primer in the world. It goes on super nice, it doesn’t make my face feel weird and shiny the way some primers do, and I come home from work and you can still tell I put on blush that morning, which is a really exciting thing for me because I’m really pale and need all the help in the long-lasting artificial color department that I can get.
I own this skillet in the slightly smaller size, and I’m coveting this larger version right now. They get hot so evenly and they look really pretty sitting on your stove. Mine is just a little small, so this one would be absolutely perfect. Warning: if you have no wrist strength like I do, you will only be able to use this when someone stronger is home to lift it.
4. My favorite book, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
This is my absolute favorite book. It’s sort of an alternate history type book, if England had a history of magic and magicians. It’s beautifully written and the author creates such a rich world and such well-developed characters. It’s really long but worth it, I promise!
5. The greatest soft makeup brushes ever
I discovered these Teddy Bear brushes this past December while making impulse purchases at Sephora, and I will never ever use anything else on my face again. They are as soft as a chinchilla, and I’m running out of adjectives to describe how wonderful these are. I’ve only had mine for a few months, obviously, but they’ve held up really well so far, and I’m obsessed.
Thanks, Morgan!
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GatorGirl March 13, 2014, 1:00 pm
I’m so intrigued by this matte top coat nail polish. I didn’t know that was a thing.
theattack March 13, 2014, 1:11 pm
Me too. I want it! How are you feeling, GG?
GatorGirl March 13, 2014, 1:14 pm
Like death. Not really though. I can’t shake this stuffy nose/foggy feeling and it’s getting REALLY old. I’d rather be just sick sick you know? Thanks for asking 🙂
theattack March 13, 2014, 1:18 pm
Awh, I’m sorry. 🙁 Can you knock yourself out for a few hours a day? That always makes me feel a little better.
GatorGirl March 13, 2014, 1:28 pm
My goal this weekend is to sleep for more hours than I’m awake! Unfortunately I have to work both jobs today and tomorrow, but me and my pillow had a hot date this weekend.
Amy March 13, 2014, 1:19 pm
I didn’t know it was a trend either. Now I’m so excited to be on the cutting edge of the new trend! I love DW recommendations.
And I love all things Le Creuset – I wish I were rich – I’d have a whole kitchen filled with Le Creuset!
GatorGirl March 13, 2014, 1:30 pm
I have this thing
and it is amazing!! I really want to get one of their skillets but I don’t have the funds to spring for it yet.
.
All Clad is my favorite stainless steel set. They are incredible.
Banana March 13, 2014, 2:53 pm
I pine for Le Creuset as well. I do have several pieces of non-LC cast iron cookware, though, and sometimes I wonder if the difference in quality is that great (though I’d buy LC if I had enough money anyway because I love how it all looks). I have several non-enameled cast iron skillets, and a cast iron dutch oven, that I picked up inexpensively here and there on sale or at thrift stores, and when they’re well-kept and seasoned, they really get the job done.
theattack March 13, 2014, 1:17 pm
I’m glad to see some make up ideas, because I really have no idea about any make up. One of my goals this year is to learn how to apply make up, so this is helpful.
Copa March 13, 2014, 1:23 pm
Search “emilynoel83” on YouTube for makeup tutorials! She is a former news anchor who started a YouTube “beauty channel” that is now her full-time job. She has tons of videos of tutorials and product reviews for all budgets, and since was a broadcast journalist, she’s articulate.
theattack March 13, 2014, 1:24 pm
Ooo thanks a lot, Copa!
Ella_ March 13, 2014, 4:39 pm
Lisa Eldridge is another woman who does youtube makeup tutorials that are really helpful and easy to follow. She is a professional makeup artist who does magazines and has lots of celebrity clients, but she seems so nice. Love her!
Kate March 13, 2014, 1:39 pm
Primer is really life-changing. Eye-shadow primer first and foremost – it really does keep everything in place all day or all night or whatever. But face primer too, and it comes in so many formulations for different needs. I tried the recommended one in a sample and really liked it. I use a similar one by Benefit, The Porefessional, which really smoothes things out and makes pores disappear, in addition to keeping your makeup from disappearing. They also have primers for oil control, redness control, all kinds of things.
I found a blog called Beautygala recently that I like a lot too… It’s not video tutorials, it’s just this chick who posts daily and creates different looks on herself and tells you how to do it, and does product reviews too. There are lots of sites like that out there, but one reason I like hers is because she comes across more “real.”
Banana March 13, 2014, 2:49 pm
So far I’ve only tried Clinique’s makeup primer, which I normally just dab onto my eyelids before eye makeup. If I put it on over moisturizer, I just feel like I have too much gunk on my face. Am I putting on too much, or should I just try another product? I’ll probably use up what I have, but I’m going on a makeup odyssey this year — I want to try a lot of nicer brands than what I normally use, until I find ones that work for me. So far, I really love the Clinique moisturizers, but not really their makeup.
Copa March 13, 2014, 3:52 pm
After years of trying make-up products all over the map in terms of price/prestige — drugstore and “high end” — I’ve found that I actually prefer mostly drugstore products with few exceptions. Clinique make-up has so far been some of my least favorite make-up I’ve ever tried. 🙁
If you’re looking for a good eye primer, I actually really like one that cost about $5 by Wet ‘n’ Wild (the one from Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas’s collection). For me, it works just as well as what I’ve tried from Sephora. For face primer, I like Smashbox. It’s not terribly cheap, but it lasts for a long time and I don’t find it heavy at all. I once paid the extra $2 to get the green Smashbox primer thinking it really WOULD diminish the reddish tones to my skin, but think that was a waste of $2.
Ella_ March 13, 2014, 4:36 pm
The Nyx eyeshadow primer ) is really good and doesn’t feel greasy, but you also only need a tiny amount so maybe you’re putting too much on? For face primer, I like Maybelline Baby Skin (even though the name is super creepy) but it seems like primers are something that everyone’s opinions on differ, so I would just get some samples from Sephora and see what you think!
Morgan March 13, 2014, 7:01 pm
It definitely should not feel gunky. I definitely second trying a couple of different ones. Before the Two Faced I tried a Bare minerals primer which I did not like at all, but which my mother swears by. Different faces like different things. Eye shadow primer is also a game changer. I just use the ninety nine cents little tube from target, but it feels like everyone else on the planet swears by the Urban Decay one Shannon recommended last week.
Kate March 13, 2014, 2:56 pm
I guess which one you buy would depend on your skin needs, but no, it shouldn’t feel gunky or noticeable over moisturizer. I’ve used the Too Faced one, one called The Present by Philosophy (I’d check theirs out if I were you, I think), and this Benefit one, and none of them felt noticeable. That said, I do layer on more products than I used to… A serum, an eye cream, a moisturizer with SPF, THEN a primer… but it’s fine.
katie March 13, 2014, 2:57 pm
about cast iron being heavy- dont worry about the handle and just use oven mitts.