The Clunkster

Beauty

LUSH's Scrubee Body Butter and Exfoliant

Beauty, Beauty Review, Cruelty-FreeKristenComment

The first time I had heard about LUSH’s Scrubee was in the summer of 2016, while interning at a small publication called Latin Glam. My job was to write short articles about trending topics, and on that particular day, the Internet was abuzz (haha!) over LUSH bringing back its limited-edition Scrubee as a member of its permanent lineup. 

First introduced as a Mother’s Day special, the Scrubee is the cutest little bee that’s also an awesome body exfoliant. It’s the perfect balance of ingredients that buff the skin but also moisturize. The exfoliator stripes of the Scrubee are made of ground almonds and coconut shell, while the moisturizing stripes balance the roughness with honey, cocoa butter, and shea butter. The formula is designed to melt into the skin (and it definitely does. Don’t leave it in the sun! Sincerely, someone who should’ve known better). 

After reading about the apparent cult favorite, I added it to my Christmas list, and I’ve never turned back. I completely understand the hype, and actually think it’s a bit underrated! Using the Scrubee is truly luxurious. Like a bee, it’s small but mighty. It fits in the palm of your hand, but sloughs away all those dead skin cells and bad vibes. After a lot of injuries and bug bites, I’ve been paying special attention to healing my copious leg scars, and the Scrubee has been super helpful: gentle, but effective. My scars are already fading after about three months of using the Scrubbee consistently. 

But this wouldn’t be a Clunkster review without mentioning the smell: it’s amazing. Like a powder-y fresh mix of honey and mild coconut that makes using a little bee on my skin intentional and caring. You already know it’s already at the top of this year’s list.

Stupid Cupid

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The Clunkster Cupid Makeup.jpg

Dear Reader, it’s been a while! Alas, I’ll spare you the details: work, tired, no time. Great, we’re all caught up! 

In the midst of this work, tired, no time cycle, I’ve somehow managed to become reacquainted with a single creative bone in my body for one whole day! Of course, I had to take advantage. What you see here is the result of a lot of time and even more glitter. Introducing, Cupid! 

I’ve been quite open about my distaste for certain holidays before, but Valentine’s Day is not one of them! I freakin’ love Valentine’s Day. My parents always went out of their way to make sure I knew that Valentine’s Day wasn’t just about romantic love, but family love, friend love, self love, pet love, and love in general. Since I’m everyone’s token optimist, I’m pretty much legally mandated to celebrate this holiday to the fullest.
But I realized that I’ve actually never done a Valentine’s Day look! And people in the makeup community (am I a part of the makeup community?) often overlook everyone’s favorite loverboy. 

So I had a good think about Cupid. I usually view him as sassy, clever, and mischievous. Does glitter fit into that anywhere? Yes. All of it. 

And so the next several hours were full of making Tik Toks and trying not to pop out of this costume that was entirely too tight on me (thanks quarantine!). And I gotta say, I’m pretty damn proud! What do you guys think? 

"Oh, I'm Eve!"

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A while back, I posted my cosplay of Ella Lopez from Lucifer. Well, I’m back with another! 

Caution, slight spoilers ahead! 

When Eve joined the cast of Lucifer, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t very into it. I thought the current cast was perfect and didn’t need any additions. But after the first episode with Eve, I was kind of hooked on her character. It may be an unpopular opinion, but I love Lucifer and Eve together, while I’m not the biggest fan of Deckerstar. Feel free to discuss in the comments :) 

Eve brought a breath of fresh air to the show, and it gave me a new perspective on Eve from the Bible, which is one of my favorite things about the show. There were so many characters and storylines that really made me think about the stories I grew up learning at school and in Church. 

Obviously, Lucifer takes a lot of liberty with their storylines. But in a really odd way, I found myself identifying with Eve as an underestimated, powerful woman. There were a couple monologues she gave that had me really emotional. 

So, I decided to cosplay Eve! I figured it would be pretty simple: I had the long brown hair and a similar white dress from her first scene. I made a Tik Tok that I’m pretty proud of (check it out at @kriiistenn soon!) along with these pictures that took a billion shots. But it was 100% worth it! What do you think? 

Spooky Scary Skeleton: Part II

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People of the Internet, you knew I couldn’t get through this Halloween season without creating another skeleton look, right? My entire life is peppered with skeletons year-round. How could you think I wouldn’t celebrate to the extent of my abilities during a time in which skeletons are extra acceptable? 

This look is a little different than my look last year, but I’m not sure which I like better! What do you think?

The Lovely Miss Ella Lopez

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During quarantine, I found a new favorite show: Lucifer on Netflix! I had seen people talking about it a lot, and I was unsure of what to watch one night, so I decided to give it a try. I became obsessed

The show is about the Devil taking a vacation from Hell to Los Angeles. He meets a detective named Chloe, and they start solving murders together. Lucifer doesn’t hide the fact that he’s the Devil. In fact, he’s known for never lying. 

Every character, mortal and immortal, is extremely complex. The storylines are creative and fascinating, with stories and characters woven in from the Bible. I can’t get enough! When I read that Season 6 will be the last, I almost started crying. I guess all good things must come to an end.

One of my favorite characters in the show is forensic scientist Ella Lopez. Even though she has a pretty morbid job, she’s always in a great mood. She’s optimistic, caring, funny, and protective. And she kicks ass at her job. Seriously, everyone at the LAPD would be lost without her. 

While I was watching the show one night, I realized that Aimee Garcia and I have pretty similar features. I decided that Ella would be the perfect cosplay! 

Ella is known for her witty graphic tees (while I’m quite the opposite), so I ordered this Heavy Metal shirt she wears off Amazon (to be honest, I actually really like it). I wore a light jacket like she does and grabbed some blue gloves. Thankfully, I have more than enough due to the pandemic.

I tried a completely different hairstyle: a high pony with some hair left out in the front. My friends at The Introvert Room said I looked great in it, but I think that style belongs to Miss Lopez. I did some light makeup, put on my cross necklace, and perfected my side smile.

Overall, I am SO happy with how this look came out. Lucifer fans, what do you think?!