Technically, yes, this is a makeup blog. It’s right there in the name. But I wantonly and routinely ignore that to post whatever I feel like. This, I have done since 2007. ?
That said, there is a valid beauty-related reason why you’re looking at my newly acquired pair of 20-pound dumbbells, a.k.a. “my precious,” right now.
I’d been online shopping for dumbbells for a couple months, but for completely understandable reasons they’ve been hard to find in stock, so when I spotted them on the Target website about a week ago, I pounced! Now they’re my favorite thing in the whole wide world, and since exercise makes you sweat, a.k.a. “glisten,” and that glow can also be characterized as a dewy sheen, there’s your beauty angle. ?
In a nutshell, lifting weights is tantamount to wearing highlighter.
HAHAHA!
Gosh, I really miss that HIIT class I was going to before the pandemic started… It was always so much fun! I miss the energy, my friends, and I miss all the good equipment they had at the gym. I miss being able to just grab a 35-pound dumbbell without a second thought.
But you know how it is now. We live by the pandemic code: “You do what you gotta do to make it work.”
Soooo, now I do at-home HIIT workouts on Youtube, and in the process I’ve been improvising with the small weights I already had at home, which were mismatched dumbbells and other weights cobbled together from different weight sets I inherited from El Hub and my neighbors.
The heaviest dumbbells were those large iron adjustable ones with sharp edges that kept scraping my wrists and ankles, but they’re what I had so I rolled with them while keeping my eyes peeled for something better.
Hence the aforementioned pouncing. ?
Target only had at-home shipping available, and the box they came in was a standard flimsy cardboard Target shipping box — totally inadequate to ship 40 pounds of iron. The UPS guy knocked on my door when he delivered them with a look like “um…something happened” and the weights were sitting on the ground next to him, outside of the box because it had totally ripped apart.
Just a heads up in case you buy heavy dumbbells online from Tar-ghay. They may or not make it to your house in the box!
I’m super excited about these weights, as you can tell, so I’m about to move my body girl, to quote Nina Sky. While I do that, here’s your reading for the weekend… ??
- Beauty brands are connecting with their customers in creative ways these days. Bobbi Brown, for instance, just launched a service called Makeup With Friends, which is essentially Zoom makeup lesson with a Bobbi Brown makeup artists and a few of your friends where you can ask questions and get tips. And Blushington, a beauty store with seven locations across the U.S., started doing one-on-ones with makeup artists and group makeup parties. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?
- Tips for drawing liner on hooded lids, according to Betty White’s (a.k.a. Rose Nylund’s!) makeup artist.
- The best skin care to protect against blue light from screens (like the one you’re looking at now!), according to Allure.
- Fall is normally all about lipstick, but with surgical masks everywhere, nail polish is the new fall lippie!
- Speaking of nail polish, I really want to try this quick-dry version by Nails Inc., which is supposed to dry in 45 seconds.
- Cats in space!
Love this look, especially the lip
In case you need some happy music today
This looks like so much fun.
Really enjoying these covers
What are you up to today? I hope you’re able to sneak in some time to rest and recharge. It’s important.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Believe you me, my eyes lit up when I saw your weights, too! You go and GIT AFTER IT.
I’ve been happy with my daily ashtanga yoga practice but felt like my legs were missing out on the action so I started doing leg resistance training — dead lifts, all manner of squats, weighted hip thrusts, etc. Glute health is hormonal health!!
that’s awesome! I found a yoga video I really like I’ve been trying to do at least every other day. Its my life goal to get my heels all the way down in downward dog and I figured if I practice a lot maybe I’ll eventually get there! ❤️
You can do it, Jaclyn! It’s amazing what “little and often” can do; you’ll be surprised at how steadily and easily your heels will make their way to the floor. 😉
Before I read the rest of this post here are a few resources for exercise equipment. Not sure if you know about these.
Amazon. I got my weights here. Prime member so shipping was free and they came double boxed.
https://twitter.com/CALFIRECZU/status/1299046303402348545?s=20
Rogue fitness. http://www.roguefitness.com Most comprehensive selection of workout equipment. Website is not the easiest to navigate. Prices ok. They kill you on shipping. I went in with my trainer of stuff and we split cost and shipping. Again every thing shipped came double boxed in heavy duty cardboard. Some of the kettlebells I got even came with hand holds cutout for easier handling of the box.
SPRI http://www.spri.com More expensive than Rogue. Geared more towards home workouts. Can’t remember whether shipping was expensive.
Performbetter.com – They’re having free shipping on orders over $49 for a limited time. If they’re in stock they make great resistance bands and balance equipment.
I think at this point in time my UPS guy hates me because every shipment I get is super heavy. Lol
Whoops! This is the link to the Amazon weights. Not the CalFire update.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088BJQDQ6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1
I started building my at-home gym too! I canceled my membership at Gold’s which I was really sad about because they’ve been good to me over the years. Lifting weights is definitely a part of my beauty routine! It just makes me feel better.
We finished our first week of virtual learning for my second grader. It was a really rough week as we learned the ins and outs of his computer programs and I kept his younger brother entertained while still being available to help my oldest. I was worn out by Friday! so today I treated myself to a mani pedi and eyebrow wax. I haven’t waxed my eyebrows since BC (before Covid). Feels so good to have nice brows again! I smudged a nail soon as I got into my car but still worth it. ❤️
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
I ordered a ceramic planter from Target, and it arrived with no bubble wrap, shattered in tiny pieces. I love Target, but shipping is not their jam!