Faves + Fails May 2026

Things I’m LOVING recently!

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It’s the end of May which means it’s time for my spring faves and fails! I put up my last faves and fails video at the end of March and in that time I put up seven more videos. First was Amazon’s big spring sale, then the next week was Sephora’s spring sale, and while the sales are over I do have some faves from those videos. I put up my spring lookbook, which I’m so happy I got a chance to make because there’s a lot of really great outfits in there. After that, I did a new makeup try on and wear test followed by my diet and exercise routine for 2026. Finally, I did a foundation Friday type video and then my mineral sunscreen testing video for 2026. This post serves as a roundup of the best and worst from all these videos, but if you missed any of those, you can check them out using the links below.

Amazon Big Spring Sale
Sephora Spring Sale
Spring Lookbook
Makeup Try On & Wear Test

2026 Diet & Exercise Routine
Foundation Friday
Mineral Sunscreen Testing 2026

LOOKBOOK OUTFITS

OUTFIT 1

The top seller from the entire lookbook and one of my favorites was the Green/Pink V Pattern Sweater Vest. I modeled it in green in the lookbook, but it also comes in a really pretty hot pink that I also purchased. This is just such a perfect spring/summer top, especially when styled with the Off-White Patch Pocket Pants and Mary Jane Espadrilles. It’s a lightweight sweatery knit material and it comes in so many beautiful colors, making it both comfortable and versatile. Because of it’s boxy shape, this top can be styled in so many different ways – it can be fully tucked, french tucked, worn with a belt, or even just untucked. The price point on it is very affordable as well.

OUTFIT 2

A little bit more of a dressy item that was a favorite from the lookbook is the Satin Leopard Skirt. This skirt is so pretty and so inexpensive without looking cheap. What I really love about this skirt is it’s fully lined. You don’t see every bump and ripple of your skin, you don’t see panty lines, and you don’t have to wear shape-wear under it. It’s a beautiful pull-on skirt that comes in lots of different colors. I styled the skirt with a Black Top with Gold Accent and a Wide Stretchy Belt and I love the whole outfit for a night out or a special event.

OUTFIT 3

Everything in this next outfit was a top seller in the lookbook. Starting off with the Pink Short Sleeve Sweater, this is a cotton cashmere material and overall a beautiful quality sweater. It has a dolman, elbow length sleeve, which I know a lot of people like, and the price point is great on this sweater. The pants that I’m wearing with it are the White Patch Pocket Pants that are cropped with the cutest patch pockets on the front. Finally, the shoe that I have it on is the Clear Strap Sandals, which was also the top selling shoe of the entire video. This is such a cute slide on kitten heel that comes in lots of different colors.

OUTFIT 4

This last outfit wasn’t necessarily a best seller, but it was my personal favorite in the entire lookbook. This outfit is centered around the Dark Wash Patch Pocket Jeans that I bought last fall and absolutely love. These are my top jeans to wear when I really want to look and feel like a million bucks. I styles the jeans with a Leopard Silk Cami and White Blazer. The cami is a washable stretch silk that is so comfortable to wear. The blazer I love so much and I think it really pulls this whole look together. I would say on the blazer to size down if you want it more fitted because it is fairly oversized.

SUNSCREENS

Healthy Skin Lab Protect SPF 50

My current holy grail is the Healthy Skin Lab Protect SPF 50. It’s so nice and moisturizing on the skin, and it plays so well under makeup. When you watch makeup tutorials on YouTube, they’re always telling you to prep your skin really, really well. I find there’s no better skin prep than this sunscreen because if you have dry skin it’s going to give you that moisture that your skin is lacking. It also gives you a nice surface with a little bit of a tint to it so you don’t have to apply as much makeup. Makeup sits beautifully over this and wears just like it would in its own. Since this one is so hydrating, I don’t recommend it for everyone, especially people with combo to oily skin.

Kopari Bright As Day SPF 50

If you are someone with combo to oily skin or prefer something that dries down and sets, I recommend the Kopari Bright As Day SPF 50. That is a beautiful tinted mineral sunscreen that is very lightweight, so much so that you put it on and it’s set. It’s such an easy sunscreen to just put on and you’re ready to go for the day. This was the winner from last year’s mineral sunscreen testing video and I love this sunscreen so much.

CeraVe Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50

In this years video I unfortunately didn’t find a sunscreen that topped the previous two, but if you’re looking for something that’s less expensive, this year’s sort of winner might work for you. That is the CeraVe Invisible Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50, which is pretty affordable at $16.99 for 1.62 ounces. It’s a nice sunscreen with a new type of zinc that gives much less of a white cast on the skin. This one has that CeraVa type formulation with the ceramides, niocinamide, and hyaluronic acid; all those good things that you need to keep your skin hydrated. If wearing this without makeup, I would recommend it to someone who is a little bit paler than me because there is still a very slight white cast, however it can definitely be covered up with makeup.

*^{CeraVe Invisible Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50}*

Merit Tinted Mineral Sunscreen SPF 45

There was another mineral sunscreen that I tested that I didn’t include in the video, and I think it would have been the winner, so I’m kicking myself for not having it in there. That is the Merit Uniform Tinted Mineral Sunscreen SPF 45 which is a great standalone sunscreen for when you don’t want to put makeup on but still have a little coverage, tint, and glow. It comes in a bunch of different shades and I wear it in the shade 22. It also has 15% zinc oxide which is another huge plus in my book.

*^{Merit Uniform Tinted Mineral Sunscreen SPF 45}*

Supergoop SPF 40 Lip Balm

The last sunscreen product that I wanted to mention is the Supergoop Glow Gloss SPF 40 Lip Balm. Most of the SPF lip balms taste terrible, feel terrible, and dry out your lips. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I tried this lip balm and found that it had none of those attributes. I got it in the pink peppermint color/flavor, and while it did have a peppermint scent to it, it doesn’t really taste like anything which is great. It’s very easy to apply, feels good on, and gives the lips the slightest wash of color. I think this is an absolutely beautiful product to protect your lips from the sun.

MAKEUP

Mature Beauty Eyeliners

A great new find in makeup was the release of the Mature Beauty Eyeliners from my friend Gabby at Glamgirl. She started her brand with these eyeliners and I bought three of them. I got them in the shades black, champagne bronze, and steel gray. These eyeliners are very creamy, easy to apply, and blendable. The awesome thing about these is that each one comes with a thin, angled brush on the other end, making it so easy to create a wing. They stay workable for a minute, but then once they set, they stay in place. For me, they’re not the greatest in the waterline, but they are great for above and below your lashes. These aren’t going to be no budge, waterproof eyeliners, but they’re still great eyeliners and I think the shades they come in are just the prettiest colors.

Eyeshadow Palettes

Next I wanted to share a couple of very petite, but very nice eyeshadow palettes. The first one is the Anastasia Haze Palette, which I reviewed in the Makeup Try On & Wear Test video. This is a gorgeous little palette with nine pans of color. I love all the shades in here and used it in that video to create a beautiful eye look. There was a little bit of a fail with this palette because the eyeshadow is very powdery and I ended up with a lot of fallout under my eyes. So, whenever I use this, I have to remember to put my eyeshadow on before I put on my face makeup. Overall, this is still more of a fave than a fail because of how pretty and versatile the colors are.

The other little palette is the Natasha Denona Luxe Glam Quad Palette in the color ‘cool’ and it only has four shades. I wish this palette had as many pans as the previous palette because there wasn’t any fall out with this formula. It’s creamy and blendable without that loose glitter, which I think is what tends to cause fallout. Even with just four shades, this palette is just gorgeous and perfect for summer. This is also great for travel because of how small and compact the packaging is. So, if you love a very small palette without a lot going on, this could be right up your alley.

Catrice Soft Blur Matte Setting Powder

I’ve been on the hunt for a new setting powder and it felt like my prayers were answered when Catrice sent me their Soft Blur Matte Setting Powder. It is fantastic and I think it’s my new holy grail setting powder. It blurs your pores and under eye crinkles, it keeps oil from coming through, and it takes the shine off your makeup. If you don’t like super shiny makeup or you have super greasy sunscreen, putting on a little bit of this setting powder is the way to go. It comes in 5 shades and I use it in the shade light. It’s also sold at a really great price point for such an amazing setting powder.

FRAGRANCE

One of the more popular videos from this spring was my Sephora Spring Sale video, and in that video I bought a product that was so unlike me which was a new fragrance. I’m usually very picky with fragrance, but I was in the store and randomly decided to smell the Kayali Maldives in a Bottle perfume, and it was like smelling summer. This smells really tropical, like a fruity and floral citrus, which is the kind of scent that I really love. I’ve found this to be one of the few fragrance that actually lasts on me, so I’ve not only been wearing it a lot, but I’ve also been getting so many compliments on it.

WORKOUT GEAR

Sports Bras

The first thing I want to share in the workout category is my favorite Zip-Front Sports Bra because you don’t have to pull it over your head. The zip front is great for when I am hot and sweaty, I can actually get the thing off at the end of my workout. While there’s a lot of similar sports bras out there, I was specifically looking for one that offers a lot of support because my workouts on my rebounder involve a lot of jumping. I wanted to feel really secure and locked in place, and this bra gives me that. Normally I would have to layer two separate sports bras to get that kind of support. It comes in regular bra sizes, which makes it easy to determine what size to order. This sports bra comes in multicolored and solid color options, has adjustable straps in the back, and it’s actually cute.

*^{Zip-Front Sports Bra (Solid Colors)}*

As a 63, almost 64, I’ve noticed that even in my favorite sports bras my skin is bubbling over the edges. I feel like after years as a sun worshiper and even more generally as I age, my body skin has finally just given up on staying in place. So I’ll put on a sports bra and I’ll have just bunches of skin bubbling under the armpits or over the back. Luckily, I found the greatest Halter Style Sports Bra that doesn’t give me any loose skin bubbles. This isn’t going to be something for high activity workouts, but if you’re just riding a bike or lifting weights this is a great sports bra that looks so good on. It’s so flattering on and comes in a bunch of great colors, so I really love this one.

Knee Brace

The other workout item I have been so happy with is my new knee brace. Prior to this one, I always had the sleeve kind that you just pull on, and those knee braces are so tight, leave marks, and are so difficult to put on and take off, especially after a sweaty workout. I really like that this knee brace comes flat and wraps around your knee with sturdy velcro straps. I can put it on top of my leggings and I can take it off right when I’m finished working out. While it does come in sizes, each one is completely adjustable to your leg size. These kinds of knee braces really work well and give my knees all the support they need. They also have anti-slip strips on the inside, so there is no sliding around or bunching up, making them super comfortable. Since I starting wearing these, I’ve noticed I have much less knee pain after I work out and during the workout as well. So, if you can benefit from a knee brace, I highly recommend these.

THE FAILS

IT Cosmetics Do It All Face Balm

The main product that I was testing in the Makeup Try On & Wear Test video was the IT Cosmetics Do It All Sheer Tint Face Balm. This was pretty good going on, but really did not stand up to the test of time. There was also a very similar formulation to this from L’Oreal that used to be my favorite tinted balm. They took that one off the market like two years ago and then they re-released it under the IT Cosmetics name. This is pretty similar, but to me it wasn’t as good and also it’s almost three times the price. So I’m like why would I want to pay three times the price for something that used to be $10 and is not as good as the original formula.

Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Blur Concealer

Also, in that video, I tried the new Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Blur Concealer. This was a real fail and I did not like it one bit. This was so settled in my wrinkles and just magnified my eye creases. It made my under eyes feel so dry and and looked so cracked and cakey. I was so disappointed, I was really hoping that this would be pretty good, but it was atrocious and got worse and worse as they wear test went on.

THANK YOU!

I hope you found this blog post informative and helpful and that you enjoyed my Faves and Fails May 2026 video! You can shop all the products from this blog post, as well as my outfit, makeup, and jewelry from the video using the links below. I also have some great discount codes for you, so don’t miss out on those. I can’t wait to see what new faves and fails arise in the year to come!

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