Love It Like A Prada Backpack, April 2019

I’m not throwing out everything old with the relaunch of this blog. Some things are too good to toss! So welcome to the April edition of “Love It Like A Prada Backpack,” where I will tell you about some of the things that I have loved (not liked, or even like-liked) this month.

This could be anything! I don’t limit myself to fashion or beauty products, because A) the heart wants what it wants, and B) I actually do use a lot of other things, and have other interests and sometimes I *love* those things too!

Milk Makeup Lip + Cheek Tint in Quickie

Well obviously I’m gonna start with some makeup! I picked this up in Sephora while I was in San Francisco and it has quickly moved through the ranks of my various lip and cheek products to become the one I reach for most often these days. It looks quite dark and almost vampy in the package but it goes on lovely and sheer and wears like a plum or berry stain. It is a great easy to use product, and there some days where this is all I put on. You can blend it out or layer it up depending on the amount coverage you want, I have never found it be drying or cakey. On me it lasts quite a while on my cheeks, but definitely needs to be reapplied on the lips. It only looks like a stain. But since it is super easy to use and carry I don’t mind bringing it with me when I go out.

Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré

Alright, lets just get the beauty and skin care out of the way! This is not a new product to me, I’ve used it in the past and always remembered really liking it. I’ve recently come back to it because I felt like everything I put on my face at night left me with clogged pores in the morning. I haven’t changed up my night routine recently except for not being able to find a night a cream that I like for the warmer weather. I figured I’d give this a shot because it is a very pure and gentle moisturiser. It seems to be exactly what my skin needed! It is super hydrating but not at all heavy. It is cooling when you put it on, and sinks in quickly leaving me with super-soft skin. I also haven’t been waking up with clogged pores anymore, which makes for much nicer mornings. I am enjoying this even more than I remember from the first time, and it is probably something I will always keep in stock from now on.

Welcome To Paradise, Now Go To Hell by Chas Smith

This is hands down one of the best books I have read recently. Chas Smith is a surf journalist and this is his insider look at the extreme local and violent surf culture of Oahu’s North Shore. Surfing has always seemed like an insular world with no time for newbies, so reading this book feels like you are being let into a secret chamber. Smith writes as an insider, he is a surfer himself and has been covering the surf beat for years, yet has enough self awareness and a seemingly endless self destructive streak that allows him to comment on the world from the outside. I’d sorta like to compare him to Johnny Utah from Point Break, but I have a feeling if I did that he’d would hate me forever, and even though I don’t know him he seems cool, and I want to stay on his good side. Also the book is hilarious; if you’re still looking for your summer read, this is it.

Chemex 14″ Coffeemaker Brush

No, this is not a toilet brush, despite what everyone I show it to seems to think. It is so much better than that! My beloved Chemex may be the most important thing in our house. I hope for all your sakes that you never see me without coffee, but lets just say this coffee maker saves lives. I use it every single day, but had never quite figured out the best way to clean it. It is too narrow in the middle to get your hand in, and the standard bottle brushes I had been trying didn’t have a stiff enough handle to really get in there. I tried soaking, soap and water, soap and hot water, baking soda and vinegar and even lime scale remover (which worked, but was a hassle) and nothing did the trick. I thought that I was doomed to live with stained coffee maker for ever. But then I discovered this in Cliff’s Variety (a shop that truly has everything you didn’t know you need!) and all my problems were solved. Well this one, very specific problem was solved. The wood handle gives you the leverage you need to get your scrub on, and leaves you with a Chemex as shiny as the day you bought it. Normally I’m not into cleaning products that only clean one thing, but seeing as this is the most important device in our house, I’ll make an exception.

Well that’s it for April, see y’all in May!