Angel of Mine Creamy Baby Oil

I haven't posted in quite some time! I was standing on my bed to hang this poster, and foolishly decided to jump down instead of stepping off carefully...needless to say, I've been nursing an injured ankle for a few weeks, which hasn't left much energy for even manis!

I've said in the past that dollar stores can be a beauty treasure trove, and Angel of Mine Creamy Baby Oil proves it again! It comes from Dollar Tree, one of the few remaining dollar stores where everything is actually a dollar. It's a light-to-medium moisturizer; it's rich enough to take care of flaky skin on my hands, but not rich enough for cuticles. It absorbs really quickly, which is hard to find in something so moisturizing. The scent is a little more grown-up than traditional baby oil, with a definite note of sandalwood, but not overpowering; I like to use this to seal my AmLactin/cover up the urea smell on days when my perfume is floriental instead of fruity.

The only thing I don't like about it is the very liquid texture---sort of a thin gel/crème---however, it's called "creamy baby oil," not "baby oil crème," so I can't seriously complain. I've learned not to get distracted after dispensing into my hand, though, as it tends to end up on the floor...but even if I do, it's only US$1 for that awfully cute 10-oz. bottle!

TMNT 2012 is awesome

I've been getting very into this series lately, and with moments like this, how could I not?

I'll probably end up posting more animated GIFs pics in general from the series here since Blogger will host larger files than Tumblr, but I'll confine them to this post. Also, if you want to check out my brand-spankin'-new Tumblr (which is so far all about TMNT2012), it's here: radiumcandy.tumblr.com

I promise actual beauty content soon, but my last manicure was a catastrophe (Milani Enchantment), and I've been busy with the Mass Effect series after *finally* replacing my XBOX 360. If anyone in the polish community saw my nails right now, I'd be banned from MUA and have my blog deleted.

A little Monday miscellany

This is how I store my lipcolor, which is the only makeup I wear on a daily basis. I've tried keeping drawers or even cases well-organized, but I find that this is the easiest system to decide what I want, grab it, and go...although the truth is that I'm so lazy and absentminded in the morning that I usually set out everything the night before, anyway. I even put the ice for my iced coffee or tea in my water bottle and in the freezer, since I drop more ice than I put in the bottle if I try to do it in the morning. I'm a night owl!

My new Havaianas - Slim Animal in Gray. I really can't stand wearing closed-toed shoes, so I live in Havaianas for 3/4 of the year here in Texas. They're much more supportive and comfortable than other flip flops, even in the same price range. I actually have a bum ankle, but can stand comfortably for hours in my Havaianas. Fortunately, my office is totally laissez-faire about how I dress, allowing for both my Havaianas and my love of flashy nail polish.

 Can you believe she's still alive after just over a month? I should rename her GladOS.

Suave Professionals Rosemary + Mint Conditioner

I have great hair naturally. I'm also extremely modest.

Really, though: my hair doesn't need much help to be shampoo-commercial worthy. The trickiest part is dealing with the thickness - if it's moisturizing enough for the dryer outer layers, it tends to exacerbate my already oily scalp. If it gets my scalp clean, it tends to dry out my hair. You get the idea.

Suave Professionals Rosemary + Mint Conditioner has been my hair's favorite thing for a good two years or so now. It's just the right texture (not too thick, not too watery) to easily work through my hair without having to use half the bottle in one sitting. Even if I rinse out every trace, it leaves my hair smooth and nearly effortless to detangle. It never leaves buildup or causes greasiness, never breaks out my scalp or back, even when I use it for several days in a row. It smells like wonderful herbal mint, and gives my scalp a light tingly feeling. It's dirt cheap, about US$3 for the biggest bottle (36 oz, I believe). Even the packaging is my favorite kind, an upside-down squeeze tube.

I have this vague frisson that it's going to be discontinued now.

Here, check out my awesome earbuds. I love anything with radiohazard symbols, especially bright blue ones. Yeah, this pic is from last Christmas - we're kinda redneck, but not that redneck.

No comment.

RIP Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras, and Carl Young

Yeah, this is a beauty blog, but I have other interests. One of them is science, and among the sciences, meteorology is one of my favorites.

Engineer, scientist, and veteran storm chaser Tim Samaras, his son Paul Samaras, and chase partner Carl Young were among those killed in Friday's F3 Oklahoma tornado. As an armchair enthusiast, I never knew Mr. Samaras personally, but he had a reputation as a very careful storm chaser who put the lives of his crew before chasing. He wasn't a chaser for glory or money: his chase team, called Twistex, sought to deploy instruments in the path of tornadoes to gather data. We currently understand very little about what makes some thunderstorms produce tornadoes and not others; their work may eventually make it possible to warn people much further ahead of time and save lives.

 (Tim Samaras - image via NatGeo)

Simply put, Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras, and Carl Young died in the hope that you and I might survive some black and stormy day in the future. They died doing what they love and for what they believe in: science, and the pursuit of nature's beauty. I am so grateful.

(Now I'm going to go wibble for a long time. This is the first time a storm chaser has been killed by a tornado out in the field, and if someone as careful as Tim Samaras can find himself on the fatally wrong end of a tornado, no storm chaser is safe. Well, no one is safe, really. I knew that viscerally all along, but this really cements it. It won't stop me from chasing my dream of seeing a tornado in person, though.)

Sontaya the Orchid

This is a beauty blog, so allow me to show you something beautiful:

I turned 30 yesterday, and this was my grandmother's gift. I love orchids, but I have something of a black thumb, so I'd probably never buy one for myself. Her name is Sontaya (a Thai name meaning 'twilight', no relation to the vampires), and she's some species of Dendrobium Phalaenopsis. See the new buds and vine escaping the pot? I'd say she's pretty healthy. Here's to hoping I can be a decent gardener for once.

Yes, I'm the kind of person who names plants. I talk to them, too.

I did make a big birthday polish haul; the pièce de résistance being Chanel Shanghai Red, a polish I've wanted since 2009. Expect actual content soon!