I started making this iced tea for my husband a couple of months ago and it has become a staple in our house. He is a person that only really drinks water, Red Bull, and Pepsi. He was looking for a drink that still had some caffeine and sweetness but was a healthier option to having a second Red Bull.
I consider this a recipe remix because I add one regular tea bag to it for the depth of color and to soften the flavor of the green tea. In my opinion, green tea takes getting used to and since he doesn’t drink green tea, I thought easing into that flavor would be smart.
Ingredients:
6 green tea bags
1 black tea bag
1/4 cup honey
2 cups hot water (175°)
4 cups cold water
Method:
Heat water to 175° (if you don’t have temperature control, boil and let cool for about 3 minutes)
Brew tea for 3 minutes
Squeeze excess water from tea bags
Add honey and stir until dissolved
Add 4 cups cold water
Refrigerate until cold
I know it’s not groundbreaking, but it really surprised me that my husband likes it so much given that he either drinks something super sweet or water. So to see him like something that is in between the two extremes seemed like a recipe worth sharing.
Let me know if you give it a try.
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Disclaimer: I purchased all products featured with my own money. For my full disclosure policy, click here.
If you follow the beauty industry closely, then you know that new releases are happening all the time. So let’s discuss what new products are on my radar this week
e.l.f. x Jkissa Fur-Ever Eyeshadow Brush Set, $25.00: When it comes to affordable brushes e.l.f. has some of the best. This caught my eye because I don’t have a lot of experience with the e.l.f eyeshadow brushes and this set has me curious. I do like the face brushes I have from the brand, but I’ve only used one of their eye brushes and that was years ago. So far the reviews I’ve seen have been positive.
Fenty Beauty Slip Shine Sheer Shiny Lipstick, $22.00: I’m a fan of tinted lip balms especially on days when I only want to do my brows and wear a little something on the lips. The brand is promising sheer color, shine, and moisture. I can’t fully tell, but it looks like every shade has some shimmer in it, even if it is not overt. I don’t typically like that in a lip product because it often feels gritty and sticks around on the lips even after the color has worn off. There are a few products that have shimmer particles that aren’t an issue, but I find that harder to come by. In concept, I would think that these will be similar to the Maybelline Shine Compulsion Lipsticks ($5.98 – $7.99) and the L’oreal Colour Riche Shine Lipsticks ($7.18 – $10.99), both of which I think are great products. If you don’t know, Ulta Beauty has the highest prices for drugstore cosmetics. So that is why I gave such a wide price range for the two drugstore lipsticks. Walmart and Target have the best prices on drugstore makeup.
The packaging of this palette is really nicely done. The Palette feels sturdy and it has a good quality mirror. The double-ended brush that comes with the palette is the same great quality that you’ve come to expect from Sigma Brushes. The palette overall is a little thick, but that is what allows the brush to have a space to sit inside the palette, so it doesn’t bother me.
Sigma Cor-de-Rosa Palette
Update October 21, 2025: I was shocked to recently notice that Sigma’s 14-pan eyeshadow palettes are now clocking in at $65. Back in 2020, the price was $49. When the Sigma Cool Neutrals Palettewas released in April 2024, it was $52. Now, they are suddenly at $65. Everything is getting more expensive, but this price jump is worse than most I’ve seen. This is one of the 14-pan palettes that comes with a double-sided brush (E58 Diffused Crease and E54 medium Sweeper), which does add to its cost; however, that was already included in these palettes when they were cheaper. There are a lot of reasons to continue buying Sigma eyeshadows. They are cruelty-free, talc-free, and I’m pretty sure their cosmetics were clean beauty before people were calling it clean beauty. I also often enjoy their color selections for eyeshadows; they appeal to me, and more often than not work well for my olive undertone better than other brands. However, the formula has never been good enough for me to recommend it unless it was on sale for 40% off. And this was back when they were $49, meaning I only recommended others purchase them for about $29.40 before tax. Now that they are $65, they would have to be over 50% off to get close to that price. Let’s say this price increase annoys you as much as it does me, but you still want to purchase Sigma eyeshadows. They do still have good sales. I don’t see them doing 40% sales as much as they used to. Now, 30% off is the more standard discount. I have seen higher percentages when they are clearing out old inventory of limited edition collections or discontinued items. They also go on sale at Macy’s, Nordstrom, and JCPenney, so if you are still interested in the brand, I’d keep an eye on those stores.
UPDATE October 21, 2021: In my experience, the Sigma formula is really great for those who like applying shimmer shades with their fingers and prefer a buildable matte eyeshadow. If you are someone who likes super-saturated colors or only likes to apply eyeshadow with brushes, I think these may miss the mark. For a more detailed breakdown, click here and check out my updated Sigma Eyeshadow Palette Review.
My early impressions of this palette are good for the most part. The shimmers I have tried seem to be smoothing on the lid, but I haven’t had the opportunity to try Belle of the Ball or Sunsprite yet, which have more sparkles running through them.
L to R: Belle of the ball, Veranda, Sunsprite, Damask
The mattes are powdery and have some excess powder that is kicked up when you dip a brush in the pan. The lighter-toned mattes I’ve used so far (Hybrid and Apricot) did take some building up, which surprised me. When I was using this palette, I primed my eyes with the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base in the original version. I do find that the Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow Primer can intensify the color of shadows more than the NARS primer, so I’m going to try this palette with that next.
L to R: Shakespeare, Apricot, High Society
Since the mattes are a looser formula, a lot of product picks up on the brush fairly quickly. I didn’t have any issues with blending or fallout, but I just expected more punch from apricot and hybrid when I used them.
The Summer 2020 Bronzer Collection from Mac Cosmetics has finally made its way to retailers other than Ulta Beauty. I talk a little about the collection in one of my Window Shopping Wednesday Posts and once the collection got to the Mac website I decided to purchase some items.
MAC Bronzer Collection, Summer 2020
This is a limited edition release, so if you are interested in any items I’d look into them where ever Mac products are sold. If you only want one item, I would suggest trying the Mac Cosmetics website and Nordstrom first, since they both offer free shipping on any order. As of February 3, 2022, the only place I’ve seen the bronzer in stock is at QVC and that is in the shade Beige-ing Beauty. The Sand Tropez shadow is still available on the MAC website in the Goodbye’s section.
I’ve been wearing this foundation since 2014, and I have always found it challenging to find information specific to dry/sensitive skin and see swatches of the shades. So, I wanted to update my thoughts on the Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation on this blog.
Wearing Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Foundation in 4W4 Hazel
Depending on the time of year, I go back and forth between shades 5W1 Bronze and 5W2 Rich Caramel. Sometime in 2019, Estee Lauder began releasing new shades, and they created 5W1.5 Cinnamon. Since it seemed to fall in between my shades, I was hoping I could use that shade and get away with it all year. I was disappointed to find out that 5W1.5 cinnamon actually reads darker on me than shade 5W2 Rich Caramel, but it also looks less orange. I am pretty sure that means the undertone of 5W1.5 is better for me, but I have to use 5W1 in the center of my face or I look darker than my body. I think I can get away with it alone, but I feel like I look more like myself, only using 5W1.5 on the perimeter of my face. The brand has since added even more shades, bringing the total number of shades to 56. So, it will still be challenging, but it is a great shade range that likely has something for most people.
WHAT IS THE FINISH, COVERAGE, AND WEAR TIME?
This foundation has a matte finish and is very long-wearing on me. It does have a reputation for being long-wearing across skin types, but there are always exceptions, so keep that I have dry skin. I do not believe it suits my dry skin without some manipulation. Despite the matte finish, the minimal, if any, transfer is unmatched in my experience. The only other foundation I’ve used that I felt was transfer-proof was the now discontinued Covergirl Queen 3 in 1 foundation. I personally prefer to prep my skin as needed to benefit from the transfer-proof nature of the foundation. This starts off looking a little dry, but after about an hour, it starts to look better (still matte, but not dry), and it keeps looking that way until I remove it.
Estee Lauder Double Wear is a medium coverage foundation that can be built up to full coverage. If you apply 1 light layer, you will get medium coverage. Even if you want full coverage, I would still suggest applying this in light layers and only building coverage where you need it. Since the formula is matte, it dries quicker than a luminous or satin foundation, so you want to work quickly or in sections. You can mix this formula with moisturizer or a primer to make it a sheer to light coverage, but this can darken the color of the foundation. If you want to wear it sheered out in this way but have a public-facing job or an event, I would recommend testing it out on a day you aren’t leaving the house just in case it darkens too much for your preference.
Coloured Raine partnered up with the Power, a Starz television show, to release this beautiful collection. It originally launched in September 2019, but they still have inventory that is currently 50% off. I really think they did an excellent job with the packaging and color story. This collection didn’t seem to get as much love as their Queen of Hearts Palette or single eyeshadows seem to get.
Coloured Raine x Power Highlighter/Blush Duo in Call the Shots and Eyeshadow Palette
If you follow the beauty industry closely, then you know that new releases are happening all the time. So let’s discuss what new products are on my radar this week.
Tarte Shape Tape Shaping Eyeshadow Palette, $22.00: Playing off the popularity of their bestselling concealer, Tarte has designed this palette to help you “shade, shape, & lift.” It is a nice color story, very on-brand for Tarte. I’ve had good experiences with the functionality of Tarte’s eyeshadow formulas in the past. The metallic single shades they released years ago now, did irritate my eyes but they were very nice quality. Their Pro to go palette is also quite nice but it does contain fragrance and that always makes me nervous about possible irritation due to my sensitive skin. I expect this palette will have the same quality I’ve come to expect from Tarte, so it is definitely worth looking into if you like neutral shades.
Dermablend Cover Care Full Coverage Concealer, $28.00: From what I understand Dermablend is an industry leader when it comes to covering tattoos and more intense discoloration. Dermablend says this concealer is full coverage, gives a soft matte finish, and promises to be transfer-resistant. For me, anything claiming to be transfer-resistant immediately gets my attention. I’ve also kept an eye on what Dermablend has been releasing for quite some time. Dermablend Cover Creme was my first experience with makeup bought at a makeup counter when I was a senior in high school. I don’t actually remember if I had a need for that much coverage at that age. I suspect it may have had more to do with limited shade ranges that were more common at the time.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Bronzer in Tan, $55.00: If you follow the beauty community on Youtube, then you have definitely seen this product in your feed in the past couple of weeks. I am typically drawn in by the Charlott Tilbury brand, she seems to make great products that are highly reviewed and the packaging is always beautiful. This bronzer comes in 4 shades and despite the jumps between shades, it seems to have a buildable formula that is working across a lot of skin tones. This bronzer is oversized at 16 grams and the compact is refillable. The refills are supposed to be priced at $39.00. So whenever you manage to finish the product, you would just buy a refill pan. I haven’t seen any information on exactly what date the refills will be released, but with 16 grams of product, they have a while to figure that part out.
If you caught my post about MAC’s new release of eyeshadows back in March, then you know I was on the fence about trying anything else from the collection. MAC sent me four eyeshadows, and I was able to try them out ahead of the official launch. I decided not to purchase any of the matte or frost finishes, but wanted to try out the new Dazzleshadow Extreme formula. I chose the shade incinerated because it looked similar to Mac antique,d which I wanted to replace anyway because it is old. I took the swatch photos at two slightly different angles so you can see how the shade shifts depending on the way the light hits it.
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Update October 2, 2025: Today, MAC released a new **Dazzle Collection, which rebranded the Dazzleshadow Extreme formula. The new ones are labeled “Eye Shadow [Metallic]” and some of the old Dazzleshadow shades are there, but the formula is different. The new formula doesn’t have talc in the ingredient list.
MAC Dazzleshadow Extreme Incinerated
MAC describes incinerated as a brown with red pearl. When I swatch this it reminds me of Makeup Geek Foiled Shadows but with a slightly less emollient/creamy texture. That is where that comparison ends.
Nikki From HR 