recent favorites and mehs

hi guys! it's been a while since i did an actual standalone favorites post, hasn't it? anyway, i skipped out last month, but i wanted to share a few things that i've been loving recently and may have forgotten to post about (whether at all or as a favorite). ~Lin-chan ^.~
makeup

tonic, zeal, pencil, liquid

1. sigma zeal -- i kind of wish this wasn't a loose pigment. only because i'm almost anti-loose pigment. that aside, this is a really nice color. it's one of those duochrome brown blue types of shades. 
2. urban decay eyeshadow in tonic -- this is such a pretty color! it's super unicorn-y purpley-blue. >w< i've worn a lot on the lid recently with a relatively neutral look, and it's really pretty!
3. tarte tartiest double take eyeliner -- i really like this for travel purposes. it's a felt tip liquid liner on one side, and a super black retractable pencil on the other. it's funny because when i first got this, i didn't realize it was dual ended, and i only noticed the liquid side...which makes no sense because the cap for it is straight like a bottom, and not curved like the other lid. anyway. the liquid side is a really nice matte black, and the pencil stays really well all day in the waterline.

random

1. lsu pj's -- sam's had these pj sets for like $17, and who could pass that up? anyway, please ignore the balled up comforter and random junk on the floor of our room there.. this photo was actually me trying it on and asking my mom if she wanted one or not, lol. anyway, these are super comfy and soft!
2. lsu jersey -- sam's $20, can't beat it! we had a quarterly party at office this week, and so management wanted us to dress in sports fan attire. anyway, i couldn't find any of my shirts, so i decided to get this jersey because it was cute and inexpensive.

not pictured

1. banana bread (click for recipe in my recipes folder) -- so, sam's again. we buy bananas at sam's and don't always finish them. but they're so cheap there, so why not? anyway, for the past several weeks, i've made banana nut bread with any remaining bananas we've had and even brought a loaf to work. so yummy and easy to make!
2. original ruffles chips & onion dip -- such a good combo! for the onion dip, combine 1 pack of lipton onion soup with 16oz sour cream, and done! such a fatty but yum snack!
3. stardew valley -- i think i briefly talked about this in whichever months' post i actually got the game (during the steam summer sale...?). anyway i have mixed feelings about this game. while i liked the game in that it was like the harvest moon and rune factory series, there were issues i kind of had with it.. 
1. the controls were a bit weird, and i'm not used to playing PC games and using keys as the controls. it was awkward and hard for me to remember which letter meant what. i also don't really play the xbox 360 that often, so getting used to that controller (usb'd to my laptop) but once i figured it out, i enjoyed playing that way.
2. basically the idea is to get a tooon of stuff accomplished by the end of year 2 for 'grandpa' to give you an awesome rating and that is basically the end of the storyline. you can still play beyond fixing the community center and retry to get a better rating from grandpa, but aside from that it's whatever. and i kind of stopped playing early to mid-year 3, after getting married with two kids and completing the community center, without grandpa's blessing.
3. i wasn't huge on the farming aspect of the game. for example, you'd plow one square and plant one seed there. and your farm (pending which location you pick, i picked the standard farm) is massive and you will never ever get all of it completely filled. i did like that tools could be leveled up, but you had to get metal and money to upgrade them. i liked that the barn and coop could be upgraded and there were a ton of animals to choose from, but feeding them was annoying. you could either buy a tooon of fodder, or get grass starters which could be planted, spread out, and then cut. but grass only had a 50% chance of becoming actual fodder? it was weird, who's got time for that?! i did like the 'alchemy' type aspect of it. you could go into the menu and create random items, like sprinklers and makers. omg sprinklers save so much time!
4. i did like being able to unlock stuff by fixing the community center. and having near daily quests available to gain friendship with the townsfolk. i also liked the rune factory-esque mining gameplay where you can fight monsters who'd occasionally dropped stuff. i do like that relationships with the single people in town was more open, so you could be straight or gay with any character, and either have biological children (who don't do anything..) or adopt them, per your orientation. i think it kind of sucks though that the townsfolk don't get married to each other and remain single for ever and ever though. so once you're with someone that's kinda it. i also read on the wiki that you can somehow get rid of your kids, get divorced, erase the ex spouse's memory, and get remarried... pretty interesting for this type of game, lol!

mehs

1. covergirl total tease mascara -- i did not understand this mascara. moreso the wand than the formula. the formula is what you'd expect from covergirl really, but the wand... i think my biggest issue was the mini brush thing on the end. i'd always feel like it'd catch on my lower lashes while i'm trying to paint on my upper ones or my cheeks. it was super awkward to work with, and because only one side of each edge had bristles, i couldn't roll the wand as i was using it.
2. ulta aromatherapy shower tablets in eucalyptus & sage -- i really liked the verbena & lemongrass one but this one, it's a pass. i'm not sure if it's because the scent of this is not as strong or what. but i could barely smell it.