Realistica: Realistic, budget friendly fashion advice for your everyday, extraordinary life.

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I love shoes, purses, clothes, playing with my hair. All those things that are stereotypically "girly". I also hate pearls, little white gloves, and anything else that makes me feel less than the brilliant, powerful, and all around BAMF that I am.

I've been in the theatre for over twenty years as a little bit of everything. Yes, I have welded upside down from a second story set in nothing but gauzy underwear half hour before a show opened. My fashion needs to be classic and tough. I prefer to keep my hair purple. And I run very quickly in four inch heels.

Let's make a new thing! WANT IT! Thursdays!

Anthropologie:
Why are you $120??
One day, I will own this maxi dress. Even though I don't think maxi dresses will suit me, we shall be one. One day!
I tried this dress on in the store and LOVED it. Why are you almost $200? That is too much for a "no reason, it was awesome on me!" dress. ;_;


All Saints (US):

One day, I will own all the Hunting series from this store. I like this strange dress. Same here. I long for this leather jacket! LONG! I doubt this would be warm, but isn't this coat neat?


Forever 21:
I have such a Southern soul. The instant it is slight warm out, I want ALL the strapless tube dresses. Like this one or this one.

I adore Forever 21 accessories. Adore this little turqouise bracelet. Their kooky belts amuse me to no end. And these things.

One day, little tweed shorts! Why can't you just be a tiny bit longer?


GAP and GAP owned companies:

I have been stalking this Big Buddha Bag for almost six months. One day, I will buy it when nothing else convinces me that I must buy it.

My obsession with summer sun dresses continues.


Urban Outfitters

I don't buy clothes or shoes here. I only get accessories or things for around the house. Their shoes just never meet my standards, and their clothes are made for people that do not have my size of T&A.

But I do love their accessories! Scarves. All the scarves. And hair things. Love me some hair things. I stalk them in wishlists, and when they go on sale, I POUNCE.



EXPRESS:

All the tube dresses. All of them.
Flutter my heart!
Strangely drawn to this one.

Express is my other go to place for accessories. Like this. Or this insanity.


Betsey Johnson

Whyyyy is this dress apparently crap? I want it so very much!

Impractical but floral! :D?

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I had to finally stop myself.

I kind of love online shopping.

I love fashion blogs. Love them! I love to read every day ladies (and gentlemen!) dressing every day, having fashion adventures, talking what works or does not work for them. I steal color combination or looks that I like all the time. Just like with writing, you steal the best fashion from others and make it your own. I only tried leggings because I saw so many bloggers do the side over and rave about the comfort and flexibility. Now, I am a convert!

One of the big things I see all over my favorite blogs is the embracing and reasoning for having a much smaller closet. The argument being you wear things more if you see it easily/if you don't wear it at least once a specific time period, it's not worth taking up closet space.

I just don't get behind that thought process. It's not how I roll. I entirely understand those that like a more minimalist approach to life and their stuff. It's something that I don't do, though.

I have a huge wardrobe. This is helped by the fact I have a huge, walk-in closet, but even if I didn't have that, I'd find a way to still have a huge wardrobe. I like that. It lets me feel creative. I feel like I've got enough variety for all seasons. I don't have the storage space physically put away summer things during the winter, so I just rotate my closet. No, I physically take things out of the closet, push the current season to the easy to reach right side and rotate the previous season to the ever so slightly harder to reach left side.

I sometimes go in during the weekend and build outfits. I try on different things, see what the new additions look like against old favorites. Currently, I'm trying to find things in my closet that go with three sleeveless, a little short dresses that are solid colors. I need more printed and silly cardies! And sweaters! But I am forbidden to buy any more clothes until March. Accessories and shoes, yes. New clothes, NO. I'm on a health kick! Sizes are changing! (My favorite skirt is now rather loose and requires a belt. So awesome yet sad! No one makes solid burgundy, knee length skirts any more!)

Having a big wardrobe to go through sometimes means discovering things I have forgotten I had/decided I hated for several months. Example again, my favorite solid, burgundy skirt. I used to hate it. I thought it was too conservative and couldn't return because I got it on sale. So, to the back of my closet it went! I rediscovered it when I changed careers (and needed to have other things to wear to work besides paint splattered jeans and concert T-shirts) and fell in love. Look how useful it is!

I do this with clothes: I decide they were not meeting my expectations, hate them, then as I forget that feeling of dislike, I can come back with a more neutral eye to assess a piece's usefulness in my overall wardrobe. I have a limit, of course. If I haven't worn it in a year, then maybe I need to think about getting rid of that thing (I just did a purge with just that time limit), but I always keep in mind there is stuff that can only be worn during certain seasons. I can't get away with wearing my summer sundresses as layer pieces. They just aren't designed that way: even with tights and a sweater, too light to be warm. Some of my boobie-tastic strapless dresses can't double in my work wardrobe, even with creative layering. Can I climb over a 4 and half foot tall snow drift with any dignity? Nope, can't wear it until April!

The trend of regularly rotating your closet by purging it to its bones doesn't appeal to me. Some people like it because it's a nice reset button, helps them purge and feel better about things. That's awesome! I like my stuff too much. :D I don't really trift that often, so the lose of multiple pieces wouldn't get replaced for months because of retail costs. May be on the day I have some more time to devout to thrifting, I might change my big closet ways, but I don't think so. I like large parts of variety too much.

Long time no update, I know. New job, weight change, and a wardrobe reshuffle had me pause in my online blogging fashion efforts.

I've done an ENTIRE overhaul of my make up and facial routine. It was desperately needed. Like, I hadn't done a major update since college. Ahaha, what almost three years ago? Oh, self.

So, let's do some dirty details.

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I wear make-up. I feel no shame in this. I do not feel I am giving in to The Man by doing this. Much like I never feel shame for wearing a skirt, I never feel shame or guilt for wearing foundation, glitter eyeshadow, dark eyeliner, or spending a half hour farfing about with my hair. I like what I do. I don't like seeing that big red zit on my chin when I look in the mirror, so I'm going to fix that. Some days, I feel like making my eyes look like a sunset, so I'm going to wear FOUR different eyeshadow colors. Plus glitter. I love glitter. The day I'm too old for glitter is the day I die.

This is how I roll. This is not how every one rolls. The mileage may vary. That's good! You should be yourself, not who society, your significant other, or peer pressure want you to be. This is why I have have blood red strips in my hair, a vast array of four inch heels, and a soft spot for glitter. I'm exactly the person I want to be, if still a few pounds heavier than my preferred mental image. I'm working on that, and I'm good. I blog because I want to share my adventures in self discovery in hopes other people will do the same.

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I'm a card carrying member of Sephora. I buy A LOT from them. I get lots of discounts. I'm good with that. (OMG, LIP COLOUR SAMPLE SALES?!! I NEED TEN!)

I love samples. LOVE THEM! Part of the reason I love Sephora so much. Because I normally buy two or three things every shopping trip, I get loads of deluxe size samples. I always try something different when I can get choices in my samples. Who knows what I might decide I like!

One of my favorite things to do on a weekend shopping adventure is to go test out the latest colors and products to see what works for me. That's the big thing about make up: you have try things out, waste some time and money, to figure out what works with your face and body. That's a pain in the ass, isn't it? It's taken me until now, at 26, to feel like I have a handle on my every day facial regime. That's a lot of experimentation. Ug, annoys me when I think about it, but I'm happy to have found that middle ground now.

My current regime is this for every morning I put on make up:

-Clean with daily acne scrub in the shower.
-Moisturize with cetaphil daily and olay all day (I have VERY dry skin).
-After letting my moisturizer dry for a few minutes, I put on my foundation primer and eyeshadow primer.
-I apply my concealer next: I use Dior's sculpting and smoothing concealer in beige. I can also use it on it's own without foundation, if need be, so I don't mind going a little on the expensive side with it.
-My foundation is rimmel's matte mouse foundation or boots no. 7. Both are very matte and very sheer, since I don't need a lot of coverage, but I need to even out my skin tone and hide any pimples.
-Next is any eyeshadow, eyeliner, and lip colors I might want for the day. I use a mix of Urban Decay, Lorac, indie & handmade things, and whatever tickles my fancy.
-If I feel like it, which I don't always do, I apply bronzer or blush. This is a rare thing to do outside of the summer time for me, and I haven't done it lately to the point I don't know off the top of my head what it is I use. :O!
-Seal everything with powder! I use clinique's red solutions since I have some odd pigment issues. I like it! Some days, I also seal with Model in a Bottle, a make-up setting spray.

This sounds like a huge endeavor, but I take maybe ten or fifteen minutes tops to do everything. Most days, I put on everything through my foundation and do the finishing touches on during my commute to work (I'm not driving!). Sometimes, I don't do it until I am at work.

This is a new routine that I started with my new job just a few months ago. I'm really like it! I like my skin, I am pleased with how I look at the end of the day as well as the start, and I think I look more my age. ...even with all the glitter and crazy strip hair.

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Stuff I Love and Own That You Might Like, Too

Laura Mercier - oil free primer

LOVE this stuff! I never really thought a foundation primer would help much on my face since I'm extremely oily. This stuff does wonders! I only have to touch up my powder at lunch and before going out for dinner. My make up used to famously melt off before I got to work in the morning, so I would just never apply until I was in the office. Not any more! I can do everything at home and it'll be good until lunch! Awesome.

Primers, like shoes, don't always work for every person the same way. I love Laura Mercier and can't use Smashbox, a product that I know works well for others. Just not me. If you're interested in branching out into primers, go try some products at the store. See what works, what feels good, what you like.


Urban Decay - eyeshadow primer

I use this every day, the bottle lasts forever, and it does wonders to make stuff STAY on my face. I wear loads of eyeshadow colors since I don't normally wear earrings or heavy lip colors. ...this makes sense, trust me. This makes it so I don't have to apply again all day. It STAYS. I was very, very shocked. GET THIS. In the plain skin tone, not the glitter. Try this first then branch out.


Urban Decay - eyeshadow

Own at least two of their colors. If you are questionable, try Midnight Cowboy. It's a glitter bronze that looks great on ANY skin tone. Eyeshadow and deep pigments are what Urban Decay is known for: try it, love it, go crazy.

Much like writing, the best way to learn and grow in your own style is to experiment every day. Also much like writing, if you see something awesome, you steal it, make it your own, and pretend the idea just appeared to you in a vision fully formed and entirely independent of that so-and-so you have never met.

My favorite thing is to go through fashion blogs and then stash every store they love into my bookmarks for later. If I like a particular thing they are wearing, I stalk them until they drop where they've gotten it (and curse if its been thifted!). This is a great way to expand your own your wardrobe and your ideas of where you want your style to evolve. I fully admit that What Would Emma Pillsbury Wear? has been a big inspiration on where I want my work wardrobe to go.

Here are just a few of my favorite blogs. This entry is a week late already because I kept trying to figure out WHO SHOULD I ADD?!

Blog Recs

Shabby Apple
If I could marry a store, it'd probably be Shabby Apple. Their blog is all about traveling with their designers all over the world to find inspiration, and encouraging their customers to mix and match products from OUTSIDE their own store to help find their own style.

Scholar Style Guide
I adore these ladies! The framing device is they are drafting an outfit as if it were an essay and going off from there. Academic, smart ladies, saving the world, one good outfit at a time! It pleases me on many levels.

Already Pretty
Sal gets the best shit, guys. She is rather internet famous for all the good quality stuff she can find for cheap. If she links it, it will sell out by the end of the week. There is a reason she is stalked by many sellers, both indie and main stream. I also relate to her shoe obsession on a deep and primal level.

Fashion for Nerds
Audi is a total nerd. Audi loves travel and clothes. These are the things you've got to know before you can even look at her stuff. Her tastes are not mine; she goes pretty couture and expensive, importing mostly from abroad. She also likes abstract, asymmetrical, very different sort of pieces. I respect this. I love what she puts together.

Kendi Everyday
This woman is adorably insane, and I love her. She takes mainstream items and puts them together in new ways. I love her budget skills! So adorable. I wanna be youuuu, Kendi!

I was originally planning to do cardigans, camis, and tanks all in the same entry, but I decided against it. This was also supposed to go up on Wednesday, but some students decided to combine poorly with stairs and trash cans, and my day was a little complicated.

Cardigans, while I believe are awesome, aren't for everyone. Some people don't like them, don't like how they look in them, etc etc. Instead, I put cardigans in fashion tops, and camis and tanks shall go in the basics tags. Look at me be all organized! (You should see my closet.)

Tshirts, Camis, and tanks are a basic requirement in a working woman's wardrobe. Now, when I say this, I don't mean your witty Threadless Ts with cool graphics (...I need more Threadless Ts. Damn!). I mean plain, solid colored shirts to be worn under sweaters, cardigans, low cut dresses, and so on. You can throw a bright colored cami under a neutral v-neck tshirt, pair it with some simple work pants, and ta da! Easy, casual work day outfit!

I'm rough on my under layer basics, so I don't buy expensive ones. I'm going to go through them in a year no matter how well made they are, so let's go cheap with lots of color choices! I buy my Gap shirts on sale, I get my already super cheap Forever 21 camis in a bulk many colors.

I try and get a cotton blend in my undershirts. A little something-something to give it a stretch and to keep it fitted to my torso. I've got a lovely set of curves: I wanna show the suckers off! Modal is a personal favorite because it is like cotton except has more of a stretch and keeps it shape. Plus, something that is more fitted can double as summer wear later! Double and triple duty garments are the best pieces in the wardrobe!

I also snatch up more spandex heavy blend camis when ever possible so I can also use them as long underwear under certain dresses. My affection for cute dresses that my tits can pop out of at ANY MOMENT is almost legendary by now, and I like to head that off at the pass when I wear something like that work. I'm sure the students would be entertained, but the girls must be tamed.

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Piece Rec
Gap's Favorite T-shirt
Gap's Pure Body line
Old Navy Jersey Camis
Old Navy Layer Tanks
Forever 21 Basic Camis and Tanks

Store Rec
Old Navy
Forever 21
Gap
Target
American Apparel

When I was a wee little thing, long ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I hated cardis. My mother would buy these adorable little cardigan sweater sets, lovingly dress me each morning, and by 9am, I would be mostly naked and playing "dunk the sweater!" in the mud. Obviously, I was meant to become a fashion maven.

These days, I collect cardis as if they were shoes. And I love shoes. Plain ones, floral ones, sparkly ones; long sleeve, quarter sleeve, short sleeve. I troll big box store sales for cheap cardies. If I find something I vaguely like, I pounce.

Cardis have come back into style over the last two years in a big way, and honestly, they are here to stay. A good cardigan is an investment piece. A colorful wrap sweater over a simple dress can entirely change up a look. A patterned cardi over a plain sheath dress will change the entire outfit. Brutal honesty: my go-to work outfit if I haven't planned it the night before is a cardigan over a different colored cami. No, I do not wear matching cardis and camis. It's a thing I've got.

Cardigans are also great "hide the office no-no" tops. If you're like me and trying to stretch that work wardrobe as much as possible while you're buying more high end and loved pieces, a cardigan over a string or sleeveless dress gives me dozens upon dozens more outfit choices.

I try to never be afraid with my cardigan buying habits. I recently picked up this in apple green and adore the thing. Never thought I'd like little dangly bits on my sweaters! The adventures one has during sales! I'm now thinking prints and wraps are my next adventure. Bangles might be too much for me, but we shall see!

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Let's do some recommendations! I've got a new thing I want to add to the bottom of entries: the piece recs and the shop recs. Piece recs will be pieces that I own or have gotten my hands on at some time, and these pieces have passed my approval. Shop recs are places that I shop for a particular item and recommend them to others. Sound good? Let's try this out!


Piece Recs:
Scalloped crop sweater
Ribbed knit cardi
Mollie Pointe cardi
Green Essential Cardi
Pointe Cardi
Crochet Shrug
Stretch silk cardigan
Tommy Hilfiger V-Neck


Shop Recs:
Forever 21
Old Navy
Anne Taylor Loft
Target
Macy's

One of those things that I've been wanting to do with this blog is do product recommendations. I'm picky about what I use because it needs to survive my oily, sweaty face and sometimes grueling work day. That, and it needs to fit into my budget. The whole point of realistica: realistic, budget friendly fashion advice for women finding their own style.

Aromaleigh Minerals

My sister got me on to this place. She sent me a huge collection of sample sized pigments from this place (about 30 samples in all). From the timing, I think someone was reading some certain Twilight friendly blogs, but that's a whole different story.

I wear powder, but I don't really get particularly adventurous with it because my skin is so very oily. Powder just drips off my face in an hour, no matter the weather! But I found with these little beauties, the powder no only stayed on no problem with some eye potion but was still highly saturated with color by the end of the day! SCORE!

I highly recommend the sample sized to people that are wanting to try out something different and don't want to make a huge dent in their wallet for a color that just might not work for you. It is a little hard to recommend a specific color to try: the company regularly reformulates and rebrands a color into something else entirely. I have loads of pinks, purples, glitter purples, shimmer whites, and all sorts of crazy neon colors that I haven't even gotten to try yet. I've tried just about every current line, and they all please me.

The company is doing one of their regular season clear out for new colors and lines, so now is the time to grab up some super cheap, excellent make up! Samples range from $.50 - $3.50, and they also do loads of "get even more free samples with purchase!" promos.

Good luck adventuring, and tell me what you think. :D

This essay started as a comment to someone on the vastness of the internet asking for recommendations about skin care regimens. I was rather enthusiastic with my help. I get to talk in a long monolong about make up and things to put on my face? Oh no! The humanity!

First thing is first: let's talk about me. I have combination skin. It is oil yet dry. Fun times, let me tell you! It took me until I was twenty-four to really figure out what to do with myself besides spackle on the pancake make up. What I will do this essay is recommend products I use, have been shared with me as working, other systems you might try for yourself, and intercut that with my own regiment. The thing about skin care is that you must, sadly, experiment a great deal to find what works for you.

Let's start out with a rec: In My Kit. It's a professional makeup artist that recs products that are tried and tested. I agree with him 90% of the time, too! You'd be surprised to know this, but most things in a professional make up kit cost less than six dollars. It's only the specialty things, like fake blood, latex, silicone fillers, and other things that get expensive. That and buying in bulk.

The moisturizer that I can't stop recommending is Cetaphil. It is this cheap, never advertised, drug store brand moisturizer on the bottom shelf that is the greatest make up secret ever held. This is GREAT for your skin. It moisturizes and helps heal damage. I've used this stuff for the last six months (I got convinced off it after college by a well advertised brand, silly me), and it had done WONDERS for my skin. Love it, would bathe in it if I could. I get a daily that has a SPF in it, and I wear it under my make up.

What you want in a moisturizer is that is “non-comedogenic”, meaning it does not clog your pores, petroleum free, and if you get a moisturizer with SPF, then get PABA free. Your skin gets addicted to petroleum. Did you ever notice that if you use chapstick, you have to use a great deal of it after a while? That's because it's filled with petroleum. It takes off a layer of skin, and makes your skin crave it or it dries out. PABA is compound they used to use in SPFs (and sometimes still do) that has been found to increase the chance of skin cancer. So say no to petroleum and PABA!

My other moisturizer (I need to use two because my skin can get that dry from having to use stuff on my acne) is Olay complete. I like it, it works for me, and it is within my (very small) budget. It is replaceable to me, but I haven't found anything else I like as much yet. That's a big thing about skin care, make up, and in general, fashion: if after you finish, you don't think to yourself, “That feels so great! I feel great! I look great! Let's do that again!” then it isn't worth repeating.

For cleansers, I'm a bit more fast and loose. As long as it is a cleanser, it works on my skin. I've never found much of a difference product to product, but that's a “just me” thing. Currently, I use the cleanser from Acne.org, and I like it. It lasts forever, and when you take that into account with the original cost (the package is more on the expensive side), it is worth the investment.

Moisturizers and cleansers are two of the most important things in a skin care regiment. You can just do those two steps when you travel, and it can normally be enough for the short term. Everything else is gravy to speed the process along (which, you should do. Products can take YEARS off of letting something fix itself naturally).

For other products to help with my acne, I use exfoliation, toner, and two fixers. I highly recommend the three step system: cleanser, toner, fixer. I add the exfoliation step because my skin needs it. My toner is an Estée Lauder (it is more expensive but it feels so nice on my skin!), my exfoliater is Neutragena. Again, my two fixers are from Acne.org. I love the Acne.org line. It helped so much on my skin. I use it both on my face and on my back, and it helps so much with prevention and the scaring. My back and my cheeks were horrible for an extended period of time because of an infection in my skin that took a long time to conquer. This stuff really helped with the scars that I was worried I was going to need some pretty invasive measures to fix, so this stuff has got me hook, line, and sinker.

When I'm wearing a lot of makeup, I rip out my cold cream and eye make up remover. For that, I use a tub of Ponds (I used to use the moisturizer as well, but it has petroleum in it, blast it!) and a Revlon eye make up remover before I clean my face. Yes, do it in that order! You're face will not be clean otherwise.

I love Estée Lauder and MAC, but I don't use everything they make. Some stuff just doesn't work for me. I love MAC's makeup prep & finish line (I can't live without my FIX+) but most of their stuff is not really for “every day” use. Estée Lauder, on the other hand, I only really like their foundations besides their cleansers. That's just how it goes! Just because you like a particular product from a brand, that doesn't mean you'll like everything they make.

My own make up foundation (which gets worn almost everyday) is the Cover Girl Trublend smart color. It goes on how I want, it comes off how I want, and it stays pretty clean on my face. I'm really oily, so I need to de-oil and fix the shiny spots a few times a day. That means I both blot and wear powder. Blotting is removing the oil from your face without removing your makeup. Rice paper and special facial blotting paper are available, but honestly, I use a paper towel & do a quick touch with just a tad of powder. But I use specialty powder that doesn't build up: a Ben Nye translucent powder that I stole out of my stage makeup kit. You can find it online from more specialty make up dealers, and I love it incredibly. I will never go back to any other face powder! It's my secret on the side next to my iMac husband. ...Okay, and my entire shoe collection. DON'T TELL THE PRADAS!

Everything else that goes on my face, all I can say is I try just about everything. I read my ingredient list, and if I don't like what I see, it doesn't go on my face. I don't like using a lot of silicon based things, but if it is a special occasion that requires me to look great for hours on end, you bet it is going on my face!

Silicon smooths your face, giving a flat surface to work with and sucks up the pigment you put on. Urban Decay's eyeshadow primer potion is famous for being the best and rightfully so. That stuff makes anything stick, stay, and burst with color! Urban Decay is one of the best places for eye and lip colors. Except for kohl. I love kohl, wear it constantly. The liquid bronze I wore from high school through college stopped being made recently, and I've been bereft ever since! I don't wear any other eyeliner nor mascara (everything gives me raccoon eyes). I've found that Guerlain's loose powder kohl as a close replacement, but it just isn't the same!

If you're looking for something to give you a “matte” finish (ie photoshoots, bridal, events where you want to look unrealistically perfect), Make Up For Ever's primers and mattifying primers (no, seriously!) do the trick. That's what most artists use for HD filming these days to hide the fact actors do indeed have pores. The Keromask Masking Cream is the secret stuff used to cover the giant bags under super models' eyes after spending the whole night out before a shoot. Well, that and hemorrhoid cream.

The last thing I can really say about facial things is: clean tools are a clean face. If you use your fingers, always wash your hands before touching your face. Don't share your makeup or your tools. It will break you out. You need to replace the sponges in your powder box and used to put on your foundation regularly. As in, preferably monthly, but if you can't do that, every two months. Your brushes and other facial tools need to be cleaned and/or replaced regularly as well, though not as often as your sponges. I change out my brushes every six months to a year, depending on how cheaply they are made and feel clean. You should weigh your options: if you get expensive brushes, you must clean them and maintain them, otherwise you are wasting your money. Cheap brushes work just as well, they just don't last long.

Your face is gross, bacteria breeds in your sponges, and if you don't replace them, you are putting some very nasty things on your face and into your pores. This can cause massive infections that can take a very long time (and money) to get rid of entirely. I speak from experience people: replace your tools regularly!

Something you might notice here is that I don't rec a great deal of vegan products, and most especially, Lush products. I haven't found a lot of vegan things that I can really use on myself. Which, annoying! I would love to find something! I buy many of the vegan products from Urban Decay and other brands, but there hasn't been anything that stands out to me as long lasting (it doesn't pass my oily face, walking in the wind and snow to work test). I don't recommend Lush specifically because, to be very blunt, I don't like their products. I love the idea, but I can count on one hand the products I've tried from them that work for me and people that I trust that work in the industry. The few times I've tried a variety of different products from them, my skin broke out all over, my hair did not like me any more, and it took a long time to fix the damage. To each their own, but you won't get this fashionista's seal of approval.

My closing thoughts:

It matters what you put on your face. You can use too much product, too little, and bad product to an injury to your health. Buying something because it is cheap isn't the best way to go about things: get the bang for your buck. Get good stuff that will work for you, within the budget you set for yourself, or do not get anything. When a product that I know works for me gets on the more expensive side of things, I tell myself to look at it as an investment. I don't get brand loyalty; I get product loyalty. If it works, it works. If it doesn't work anymore, it doesn't need to be in my daily routine nor do I need to waste my money on it. If it looks gross, smells gross, it is gross! Replace it! Cleans tools mean a clean face.