All posts by Chelle

Fitness Friday: Panic Sets In (Half Marathon Training)

Fitness, Running, , , , ,
(old photo from several years ago - conveniently recycled for this post!)
(old photo from several years ago – conveniently recycled for this post!)

This will undoubtedly be an uninteresting post to many, but sometimes you have to face reality and just… put it out there.

So what’s the issue? Basically… I’ve got a half marathon in Sydney, Australia scheduled for September 17th and the longest run I’ve done in the last thirty days is 7 kilometers (this past Monday). By now I should be doing 60-80k per month and have solid lungs and muscles in place in which to complete a half marathon. But, with the condo purchase and move, and my never ending  various sicknesses (in case you missed my update video: I’ve had two colds, an eye infection and horrifically debilitating food poisoning in the last three-four weeks), my last long run was only 11k and it was on July 22nd. To say I’m panicked about this upcoming race would be an understatement.

I went back to training this past week and set about an insane plan: I’m alternating 7-8k runs with weight training and then adding in progressively longer long runs as time goes on (I’m doing 12k tonight, then 14k AND a 15k next week alongside weight training and some shorter runs, etc.). The sad thing was that given my immediate start on Monday of this past week, it meant I only had 2.5 weeks to train for a half marathon which is a rather daunting task.

Of course, I do have a solid level of fitness that has helped keep my muscles from atrophying too much during the last month where I’ve done NOTHING, but it’s still really frightening to realize you are not only sorely under trained for something, but that you’ve got very little time in which to make up an entire MONTH of training. Half the issue is that although the race isn’t until September 17th – which would lead you to believe I’ve got more time that I’ve indicated – the reality is that we leave for Bali on September 7th and there’s NO WAY I can run in Indonesia because the night time temperature is 27 degrees!

I’m mostly putting this out there so that I don’t give up. I WANT to run a half marathon in Sydney – I love that feeling of being in a different country and doing something strenuous because I get this intense feeling of catharsis caused by such a long run. But man am I nervous. I also feel like something ALWAYS happens when I train for a race – like why can’t things ever go smoothly??

So that’s where I’m at. Fingers crossed I can still walk after this half and enjoy the rest of my vacation!

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner (Review & Swatches)

Makeup, Reviews, Swatches

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner

This product isn’t new, but it’s something I had been meaning to try out ever since it was released several years ago. The tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner is a very interesting hybrid product to me: it’s got a squeezy tube like a lip gloss, it’s a gel liner (but not quite) and it’s got some kind of well-shaped contraption at the top of it!

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner
tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner

In its essence, the Tarteist Clay Paint Liner is a “waterproof cream eyeliner with a unique blending tip that is inspired by an artist’s palette”. They say cream, but I feel like it’s less viscous than that. It’s like a thicker liquid – and I would never mistake this to be a gel texture either. It’s not so liquid that it runs and spills everywhere though – more like it’s got enough thickness so that it holds in place in that well area at the tip.

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner has a tip with a well
tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner has a tip with a well

The well, in my opinion, is a genius idea. While I have traditionally liked gel pots (and really loved the tarte gel liner as well), I find that you often struggle with getting the right amount of product on your brush while also shaping the brush into my preferred flattened edge so I can get a crisp line on my lid. The well tip helps me flatten out my brush without disrupting anymore product (like I would in a pot) and I can vary just how much I get on my brush by wiping it on a clean edge.

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner with angled liner brush
tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner with angled liner brush

Rather conveniently, the Tarteist Clay Paint Liner comes with a mini angled liner brush inside the packaging. I wasn’t expecting that at all since I didn’t think the product packaging was big enough to hold a brush! So that was a nice surprise… however I’m not personally a fan of angled liner brushes, so I did resort to using one of my own straight ones for application.

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner - swatch
tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner – swatch

Swatched out you can see how the product is drying to a matte finish (it’s a bit glossy at the top where the thicker blobs are still drying). THIS IS SUCH A RELIEF FOR ME! I prefer matte black liners above anything else and I’ve been continuously annoyed that I can’t seem to find matte black waterproof liners (I’ve yet to find a gel liner that is truly waterproof). While I’d prefer this texture and feel in a pen style brush tip liner, this is the next best thing and I am so, SO happy by how matte it gets.

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner - winged liner
tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner – winged liner

On the eye, the Tarteist Clay Paint Liner is as deep and black as I could ever need! It doesn’t go watery on me, which means I get a solid line in one swipe. I also didn’t initially realize this was waterproof and was quite surprised at work one day when my eye watered and I pressed a tissue to the corner of my eye. Usually I get some liner peeling off my eye and onto the tissue – not the case this time! My liner stayed fully intact on my face and had zero transfer. Although I’ve not tested it by dunking my head in water to test the true waterproofness of the product, all I personally really need is something that will hold up to my eyes watering, and this did it!

Final Thoughts

Suffice to say – I’m a fan. The tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner is a wonderfully matte black waterproof formula that is easy to apply. If you’re a fan of gel liners (or any type of potted liner that requires a brush) I think you’ll be a fan of this one. I had no fading throughout my work day and it actually didn’t pick up a ton of my shimmery lid shade either (which can sometimes be a problem for me with hooded lids).

The tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner can be purchased at sephora.ca for $29 CAD and on sephora.com for $24 USD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post may contain affiliate links.