Faves + Fails | Hot Tools, New Makeup, Micro-Infusion System

Things I tried & loved… or NOT!

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I did a roundup of all the things that I loved and didn’t love so much that I tried either in a video or behind the scenes over the last few months. I’ve got a bunch of faves and a couple of fails for you that I’ve split into 5 categories: household items, clothes, hair styling tools, makeup, and skincare.

HOUSEHOLD

Humidifiers

My first household items that have been absolute favorites over the last couple of months are my whole house and whole room humidifiers. Living in New England means cold winters, dry air, and even drier skin. One of the best things I’ve ever done for my winter skin was getting a big humidifier for my great room and then a separate one for my bedroom. Ideally, the humidity inside the home should be in the 40-50% range and these humidifiers help achieve that!

For the whole house I use a 6-Gallon Humidifier and I just love it so much. It’s so quiet and within a day brought the humidity level in my house up from about 20% to about 40%. The sleek design and white finish goes well with my decor and looks nicer than most other humidifiers on the market.

In my bedroom I have a smaller 4-Gallon Evaporative Humidifier. It keeps the air in my bedroom so nice and humidified that while I’m sleeping my skin does not dry out during the night. It works perfectly for just one room and it brings the ambient humidity up in the room to about 40 to 45%.

Throw Blankets

My second favorites in household items are going to be a couple of throw blankets. I’ve talked about one of them before and that is the Ribbed Faux-Fur Throw Blanket. I love this blanket because it is so soft and plush while still looking so luxe and elegant. It’s a double layer blanket with the outer side being a really pretty ribbed faux fur and the other side is a really warm, soft fleece. This blanket retails for $45 and is a dupe for the Lola Blanket, which I didn’t have until my friend, Lisa J from BK Beauty, so kindly gifted it to me!

*^{Ribbed Faux-Fur Throw Blanket in Cream White}*

The Lola Blanket is truly the softest blanket I have ever felt and has this super soft ribbing on both sides. The material is both heavy and stretchy, so when you wrap the Lola Blanket around yourself it really feels like a nice, warm hug. This blanket is significantly more expensive though, with a price point of $275 for a 50 x 60 inch blanket. Both blankets are really great, so I figured I’d compare the two incase anyone is in the market for a really nice faux fur throw.

CLOTHES

FAVES

My first clothing fave is the Linen Crop Jacket that I featured in my Quince Try-On Video. This is the cutest little jacket, it has the styling of a denim jacket and two pockets in the front. It’s 100% European linen, so it’s really lightweight and also isn’t lined. I was just in Florida visiting the folks and this jacket was perfect for going out in the evening and went well with everything I packed.

The next item of clothing that I really love are the Stretch Flare Leg Pants also from Quince. A few years ago I fell in love with the Spanx pants, which are beautiful pants, but they’re $168. These Stretch Flare Leg Pants are definitely a dupe for those Spanx pants. The fabric is really nice and stretchy, and does a great job lifting the booty and smoothing the tummy. Overall they’re just so flattering and beautiful, and retail for just about $45.

*^{Ultra-Stretch Ponte Flare Leg Pants}*

I recently did a little shopping at Nordstrom and found this beautiful pair of Arles Pants. They’re made of 100% all natural fibers, 70% cotton and 30% linen. They have a wide leg, a couple of pleats in the front, and some nice pockets. These pants are fully lined with a fitted waistband and just look so great on.

*^{Arles Pleated Cotton Wide Leg Pants}*

FAIL

There was one item from the Quince video that I was less than happy with, and that was the Linen Pleated Trouser. These pants aren’t a full fail because they were fully lined and had a great price point for 100% linen at just $52. My problem with them was the fit, they have an elastic waist, which isn’t the most flattering. I also feel like these gave me a little bit of a diaper butt, which is why I put these as a fail.

*^{100% European Linen Pleated Trouser}*

HAIR TOOLS

FAVES

The first hair styling tool is the TYMO Airflow, it’s a 2-in-1 straightener and curling iron. I’ve been using this to curl my hair since right before the holidays and I really like it because it gives me more of a natural looking wave than a tight curl. It’s dual voltage, so it’s perfect for if you’re traveling, regardless of if it’s local or international. The second hair tool is the Wavytalk Thermal Brush, which is a hot curling brush. I use it on days when I let my hair air dry and it’s super frizzy. I just run this through my hair and it leaves my hair looking sleek and shiny with a little bend at the end.

*^{TYMO Airflow 2-in-1 Curling/Flat Iron}*

*^{Wavytalk Blowout Ionic Thermal Brush}*

FAIL

The hair tool that was a fail was the TYMO Hair Straightener Brush. This is a hot brush so it doesn’t blow out any air, it just heats up. I let my hair air dry so it was super frizzy, then ran this brush through, and it didn’t do a darn thing to my hair. I think the reason is because it’s just brushing through the hair, so it doesn’t get any tension on the hair to really flatten it out. This for me was just a plain old fail.

MAKEUP

FOUNDATIONS

Over the last couple of months I’ve tried two foundations and both of them were winners. The NYX Make Them Wonder Foundation and the Clinique Vitamin Makeup Foundation. I tried these each in a one-day wear test and they both wore really, really well. I wore the NYX Make Them Wonder Foundation for a 10-hour wear test and it was beautiful the entire day. It barely showed any signs of wear and had only settled into wrinkles the tiniest bit. This is medium to full buildable coverage foundation, so if that’s what you’re looking for, this is an excellent foundation. I wear it in shade 15 Buff which I feel is a really great shade match for me.

*^{Clinique Clinical Vitamin Makeup}* *^Foundation*

For a more sheer coverage moment, I really like the Clinique Vitamin Makeup Foundation. I wore it for a 9-hour wear test and while it didn’t look worn off it did settle into wrinkles a bit. However, over the last couple of weeks, I have been wearing this foundation quite a lot because it’s a much more natural look. I really like the way it looks in natural light and in super bright sunshine. As an added bonus the Clinique Vitamin Makeup Foundation is also SPF 45. I have this foundation in shade Light Medium Cool 1, and it’s another great shade match for me.

LIPSTICKS

A long time favorite of mine is the Super Lustrous Satin Lipstick by Revlon. I love this lipstick because it doesn’t need a lip liner and doesn’t run up into your lip wrinkles. It stays put and doesn’t leave my lips feeling dry and uncomfortable. The shades I have this in are Tulip, which is a pretty pink, and Cashmere, which is a classic nude. While I like both shades separately, I sometimes apply tulip and then put cashmere over it and I really like that combo.

*^{YSL Loveshine Plumping Lip Oil Gloss}*

I am just over the moon when it comes to the next fave makeup product on the list. It’s the YSL Plumping Lip Oil Gloss and from the first use, I absolutely loved it. It has a big oversized doe foot applicator and smells like fresh watermelon. This lip oil leaves a really beautiful sheen on the lips without being overly shiny, sticky, or goopy. It comes in 12 shades and I got mine in the shade 44 Nude Lavalliere, which is a really nice shade of pink. I can’t say that it is super plumping, but I feel like that nice sheen makes the lips look a little bit plumper and it does have the tingling feeling I look for in a plumper.

MASCARA

My next fave makeup product is the L’Oreal Extensionist Mascara. This mascara advertises that it will make your lashes look up to 5 mm closer to your brows. I had never heard of measuring the distance from the lashes to the brows, so I was definitely skeptical of this product at first. But let me just say after applying just one coat, wow! I didn’t measure the distance between my lashes and brows, but this mascara definitely gave my lashes a lot of extra length. This mascara is very pretty and I really like how long it makes my lashes look.

EYESHADOW

Recently I’ve been really loving the Ulta Eye Shadow Sticks, they come in 20 shades and I have the shades Beige Pls, In A Nutshell, and You Rock. I use the medium shade, Beige Pls, to carve out my crease and disguise my sagging hood / any puffiness. Then I use In A Nutshell, a pale colored shimmer, on my eyelid to bring it out more. Finally, I use the darker shade, You Rock, to define the outer corner of my eye and make a little wing.

*^{Ulta Eye Shadow Stick –}*
*^{In A Nutshell}*

*^{Ulta Eye Shadow Stick –}*
*^{You Rock!}*

I also use You Rock as top eyeliner and in my lower waterline, which gives me a more subtle liner look that I enjoy over a really dark lower waterline. All three of these shades are really pretty and I like that this product comes in both mattes and shimmers. These are great if you don’t want to spend a ton of time on eyeshadow but still want to do an eye makeup look.

SKINCARE

This next product I can’t say if it’s a fave or a fail just yet because there’s a possibility the fail here is me and my camera. I previously asked what you wanted to see me review in skincare and the Qure Micro-Infusion System was one of the top things that people were curious about. It comes with six vials of serum, a pre-treatment sanitizer spray, and six of the micro-needling devices. All you do is twist the micro-needling device onto the vial of serum, turn it upside down, and then you proceed to poke it into your skin. I’ve used it for 6 weeks now and while I tried to take before pictures they are all slightly out of focus. So, you can’t really tell what’s going on and unfortunately, while I did want to try this for you guys and do some before and after pictures, I failed.

For the three times I used the Qure Micro-Infusion System, I don’t really see that big of a difference in my skin. I know for sure that I didn’t enjoy poking my face with the micro-needles. My face got so red after each application and it hurt a bit, especially on the forehead and around the eyes. I also did not enjoy the feel of the serum and felt like it wasn’t being fully delivered into my skin by the needles. As part of the system I had to pause my regular skincare for a couple days before and a couple days after each application, which I found inconvenient. So, overall a fail both on my part and for the product.

THANK YOU!

I hope you found this blog post informative and helpful and that you enjoyed my March 2026 Faves & Fails video! You can shop all my fave products, and the fails, as well as my outfit, jewelry, and makeup from the video using the links below. I also have some great discount codes for you, so don’t miss out on those. I’m planning on doing a video on lip plumpers to see which ones actually plump your lips, which ones are comfortable, and which ones are drying. Let me know what your favorite lip plumper is so I can get it to try in that video!

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