Indie Makeup Gift, Cherry Blossoms, and more
1. Flyte.70: this new indie beauty brand reached out to me and kindly gifted me some products! I first heard of Flyte.70 on Fat Mascara and it sounded intriguing. This brand offers a curated collection of easy-to-apply products that enhance natural beauty rather than mask it. As an almost-44-year-old, I really appreciate that the brand focuses on rejecting ageism; us 30+ folks are often overlooked and undervalued in the beauty space.* Flyte.70 is Leaping Bunny certified (cruelty-free), vegan, gluten-free, and is working toward sustainability by using recyclable shipping and packaging materials as well as 30% post-consumer recycled content in their product packaging. So far I’m really enjoying these products! Stay tuned for more of my thoughts on them.
2. Pink Cherry Blossoms: peak bloom for the trees at the Tidal Basin is over, but the pink cherry blossom trees are popping! I don’t recall the pink trees blooming so much later than the white ones, but it’s lovely to experience a second peak bloom. While the white blooms are pretty, I do like the pink ones even more!
3. Art in Bloom: every year, artists paint these beautiful, large cherry blossom sculptures that DC places in different spots around town. I found this gorgeous piece down in Navy Yard while running an errand yesterday morning. The piece is called Refresh, Renew, Rebloom by Melissa Ragos, Maria Luz Roa, Natalie Cox, Gonzalo Rodriguez and Darrah Wills. Love it!
4. Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Luxury Palette: I was pleasantly surprised to receive this palette complimentary via Influenster! I’m a fan of CT’s Pillow Talk lipstick, but I have yet to try any of her eyeshadow palettes. I have not played around with these pretty shades just yet, but watch my Instagram for a post about the palette once I’ve had an opportunity to create some looks with it!
5. A People’s History of the United States: I bought this nearly 700-page book by Howard Zinn in 2020 and began reading it last year. To be honest, the book was slow going for me in the beginning so I set it aside. I finally picked it back up and felt such a sense of accomplishment when I finished it. The book tells the history of the U.S. from the perspective of the average citizen and covers a lot of ground that traditional history curriculums don’t. There’s a fair amount of discussion about labor unions and wars, which aren’t the most interesting topics to me, but I learned quite a bit. The book was originally published in 1980 and has been (much more briefly) updated up until 9/11. Many issues plaguing the U.S. in the past are still highly relevant today. I can see why it’s a classic.
*I recently received an influencer survey from a beauty brand that I like. They noted that they’ll be sending out products for testing and trials. The email said they were looking for influencers between the ages of 18-34. EXCUSE ME? I find that offensive. The second you turn 35, apparently you don’t matter anymore to some brands. I filled the survey out anyway, and input my correct age bracket. So we’ll see if they bother to send me anything.
