Cosmo Cherry Kisses Volume 1

Succession makes you root for people you would normally metaphorically throw rocks at, and I'm okay with that—but I'm also not okay with that!

Succession Review, Glossier Black Cherry Balm Dotcom Universal Salve, Fenty Beauty Fuchsia Flex Universal Lip Luminizer,  Classic Soft Skin Moleskine mini journal, Black Secrets Threshold notebook, Chiffon Jumbo Scrunchie from Free People, Apple Music, Danessa Myricks Beauty Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder, The Lip Bar Set The Tone Finishing Powder,  Mouth Cloud Soft Matte Lip Cream, Half Magic Beauty Eye shadow single, Lifestyle by Lisa.

If Kendall doesn't win this ridiculous family takeover, I'll riot but also burn down the company because fuck Waystar Royco! This show has me on edge, and for no good reason. Maybe it's the constant strategy pulling people apart, the way every episode makes me create a solid argument for each sibling being crowned King, or the visual aesthetic of the show looking so good; whatever the top reason is, I am obsessed! Right now, I am on season three and rooting for Kendall to follow through. I love a good underdog story, and I think he has the best case given that he has taken the business seriously, done the training, understands the company, and has a plan to take Waystar Royco into the future. To be clear, I think Shiv would have a more ethical, liberal, and diverse organization. Unfortunately, she wants to take over Waystar Royco, which is antithetical to everything I just listed. Sure, they may have a few people of color working there and some women, but ultimately, Waystar is a glorified boys club that is rotten to the core. Given my current knowledge of the show, there is no radical transformation of the organization from my perspective. To be clear, while I am still hoping Kendall takes over the company, I am not naive enough to believe that he is some radical feminist who supports all people. He is a self-aware scumbag, a rich asshole who is deeply hated and struggles with addiction issues most likely tied to childhood trauma. Kendall throws people away once they no longer serve him, he is willing to be complicit in murder, he lacks boundaries with Rava, and BARELY watches his kids. While he is standing strong now, I know something will happen with the family in about two episodes, which sets him back. With all that being said, at least he knows he is an asshole on all levels. Meanwhile, Roman and Shiv still cling to the thin fantasy of being good people (which makes them think that they are better than their brother). Everyone on the show is a self-serving asshole to some degree, and some characters are better at acknowledging that than others. 

I like Shiv! Yes, she is selfish, a bitch, and kinda a know it all, but she is incredibly smart with a natural talent for strategy! I thoroughly enjoy the moments when she is working in politics because you get to see a behind-the-scenes look at what happens with our elected officials. And, YES, I know the show is fictional, but the writers did their research, and I will leave it at that. Shiv does as the men do, and sometimes, she and Kendall are two sides of the same coin. If she had been born a boy, there would be no need for the show. Not only is she the most competent sibling, but she is also the most likable and the most truth-worthy. Logan doubts her too much, and while Shiv can jump the gun, so to speak, that is largely due to her father dismissing her and using her as a pawn. He dangles the crown in her face, just within reach, so that Shiv thinks there is an actual chance. Then, once she gets too close, Logan crushes her spirit. I almost don't want Shiv to take over because I want her to start a brand-new company that is infinitely better and less toxic than Waystar Royco. Lastly, as cliche as it is,  I think we should have more complex women characters like her. Also, I need her blue bathing suit from season two right now! 

Roman is all right. There is so much complexity behind his faux bravado that over the seasons we get little glimpses of, and I love those moments. He has been branded a fuck up and a moron his entire life, and nothing that he does can ever measure up to Kendall. Despite his multiple attempts to prove himself as a worthy competitor, Roman is living in his older brother's shadow and can't find a way out to save his life. I often think about the dog cage storyline when I am not watching the show and Roman being shipped off because he was the weakest of the four children. From what I know now, he seems to be on the receiving end of most of the physical abuse from Logan and has intimacy issues (as all the siblings do). He can be very creative, and like Kendall, I do not believe he would transform WayStar into an inclusive and welcoming organization radically. Though I do think with the right team behind him, Roman has the capacity to shin in his own way. 

Also, Conor is Conor. Overall, I liked the show so much, and I am glad I gave it a second chance. 

Now, I will go into some products I have been loving over the last few months. 

Firstly, I would like to highlight the Glossier Black Cherry Balm Dotcom Universal Salve. After using this for several weeks, I find it hard to go back to regular chapstick. I love the color on me, and while I always think these types of products can be more pigmented for deeper, darker skin tones, I still enjoy this lip salve. For myself, the product is not sticky and not too thick. The only other color I would buy outside of Black Cherry is Strawberry, which seems to be the second most pigmented for my skin tone. In all honesty, once the Black cherry shade is gone, my motivation for buying this product will decrease significantly. Every company should be making products that provide the same color payoff for lighter skin tones as with darker ones. Also, having the Black Cherry shade be a limited edition color does not make sense as it has the most pigmentation for darker skin tones. Regardless of my criticism, I recommend Glossier Black Cherry Balm Dotcom Universal  Salve because it does leave my lips feeling softer, and I think it is worth the $16 price tag. (Also, I think this would be a fabulous product for the winter weather due to the thickness of the formula). 

The next product I want to rave about is the Fenty Beauty Fuchsia Flex Universal Lip Luminizer ($22). This product is incredible! It made me reconsider my whole stance on lip gloss. I am typically a lipstick lover (pun intended) and hardly wear any gloss or chapstick shade unless I am at home. The Fuchsia Flex Universal Lip Luminizer is a beautiful shade, and the shimmer after the gloss has worn off is stunning. My initial thoughts after wearing the product was that this would go off at a club or night party under the neon lights. Hell, it would even be a fantastic shade during the summer at a day party or even a jazz club at night with warm lighting! The color payoff is beautiful, and it adds such a pop to any lip combination I try.  The only MINIMAL criticism I could have is that the product is thicker, so if you prefer a runnier formula, only use a little at a time. Other than that, I cannot stress enough how beautiful this shade is, and if you are looking for a new gloss, I highly recommend this one. 

I also want to highlight the Classic Soft Skin Moleskine mini journal I have been using since last year ($19.95). I know a lot of people like to have notes on their phones, but I have always loved handwriting my ideas or thoughts. I take notes all the time, and I like to keep small journals in my purse so that I can take notes wherever I go. Plus, I have been out of phone storage for years, so mini journals are the best way to jot down information while traveling. I like the Moleskine notebook because of how soft the cover is and the quality of the paper, which is top-tier. I got my notebook during a sale last winter; otherwise, I would have gone for a less expensive option. Regardless of the higher price, I am happy with my purchase, and it was worth it. I know Moleskine is more expensive, so an alternative that I love is the Black Secrets Threshold notebook from Target. That notebook is around the same size as the Moleskine one, and you get a large amount of sheets in it as well. Plus, it is only $4 on average.

The next item I would like to highlight is the Chiffon Jumbo Scrunchie from Free People. Last December, I got a silk press for the first time, and I loved the result. Previously, I was wearing braids for over three years on and off that I did myself. While I appreciated the freedom that came from braids, I got tired of the look. I also got tired of installing braids every three months, only to hate their look midway through the period before I refreshed them. Plus, I felt that I was pulling on my hair too much, even though a core reason as to why I started doing my own braids was because every hairdresser I went to always made my braids too tight and heavy. Also, the cost of getting regular braids that were only decent half the time was getting out of control. The last protective style I got professionally done cost me close to $250 and the results were lackluster at best. All of those reasons led me to try a silk press and break my no-heat rule, which I had kept up since middle school. To start with, I loved the initial result of the silk press and haircut! My stylist did an excellent job, and I appreciate how much time she took to pour life back into my hair. (surprisingly, I had minimal, if any, breakage, which was a bonus as I was ridiculously worried I had irreversibly damaged my hair- I was being over dramatic). After two days, I realized how much maintenance goes into managing a silk press, and I was instantly annoyed at myself for my decision. (😂) No one told me to get a silk press in the first place, and I should have done more research on the aftercare. Anyway, once my hair started to revert back, as I didn't know how to wrap it properly, I knew I had to find a solution quickly! This led me to look for cute hair accessories that I could wear to limit the amount of heat my hair experienced. Hence, the Chiffon Jumbo Scrunchie from Free People ( $18).

To begin with, the scrunchie is, unfortunately, ​​100% polyester, which sucks because I know FP can afford to create a scrunchie with 100% natural fiber that is of quality. Outside of the product composition, I would say that the scrunchie feels very substantive and well-made. I have used it several times over the last two months, even washed it, and it still feels fantastic. I know two months is not a long period of time, but trust me, I have bought hair accessories or beauty products that have fallen apart as soon as I have used them. I think the scrunchie is cute for everyday looks, and it adds volume to my buns. Plus, I feel like it makes me look as though I put a lot of effort into my hair when I haven't. I wish they had more colors available and, of course, made an option with more sustainable materials. If I remember correctly, I will circle back towards the end of the year to recap if the scrunchie is still worth it. However, as of right now,  I would recommend this product. 

The product I recommend is Apple Music, which is wild, but as someone who has been a Spotify lover, I believe Apple Music may have taken over my heart. Now, the fact that I can listen to podcasts on Spotify is a massive deal to me, mainly because I do not like the Apple podcast app. The Apple podcast app auto-downloads every podcast episode, which is deeply annoying to me for whatever reason. I want the option to control what downloads are available for the onset, and while I know you can do this, I want the feature to be more seamless. The Apple auto-download feature needs to be more straightforward for opting out or undoing previous downloads for episodes you no longer want as well. For the most part, I wish more services allowed people to Opt-in as opposed to Opt-out from features in general. Something that I like about Spotify is that over the years they have become more relaxed about people uploading edits to songs that are not official releases (I assume this is due to TikTok and at-home mash-up songs becoming viral everyday along with record labels wanting to capitalize off of that virality). I also like that Spotify will recommend concerts near me from artists I like on my homepage. Granted, I have never tried this feature before, so I do not know what the purchasing experience is like though presumably it would link you to Ticketmaster.

However, some downsides to Spotify are that the home page has periods of being awful and then periods where it is fine. What I mean by that is, for a long time, random podcasts with people I have shown no interest in would appear on my homepage (usually people who Spotify is backing- like Alex Cooper, Alix Earle, etc). These videos would automatically play, and as a result, the algorithm would recommend more random people/podcasts to me based on that engagement. This feature will disappear and reappear for me- I assume Spotify has heard feedback from thousands of other people who equally do not like this. It's as if no one learned from Apple randomly downloading U2 albums to everyone's account years ago, and then people rightly voiced being pissed about that decision. The sleep timer feature on Spotify should be updated to include more time intervals coupled with an option to turn off once whatever is in your queue is done playing. I have yet to use Apple Music's sleep timer, so I can not judge it yet, though I assume it is similar to Spotify. With that being said, I like how easy Apple Music allows for me to add songs to playlists and my song queue, I also appreciate the overall aesthetic of the app (much better than Spotify visually) and I like that music videos are embedded in artists profiles. I will probably still use Spotify but for now I am locked in with Apple.

The final couple of products are related to beauty. 

The next item I have been loving is the Danessa Myricks Beauty Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder ($36.00). If you do not know, Danessa Myricks Beauty was founded by industry pioneer Danessa Myricks with the intention of dreaming of a world where beauty is ALWAYS a safe space, where everyone is included, and where products are phenomenal! This brand is living up to that standard on every level! I am obsessed with Danessa Myricks Beauty because the quality of the products are top tier and unlike other brands an inclusive mindset is embedded in the DNA of the company. If you are uninterested in anything I have listed, please consider buying this Blurring Balm Powder. A little goes a long way and if you are oily, like myself, it pairs wonderfully with my The Lip Bar SET THE TONE FINISHING POWDER ($13)! The Blurring Balm is immaculate! It is perfect for so many people as it is easy to use and has a buildable formula. I am not the best at makeup, and while I have made it a priority to update my makeup techniques from the ones I learned in the 2010s, this product is an easy gateway to getting better at makeup application. It is beginner-friendly, has a consistent payoff, and I imagine it is perfect for makeup Pros who actually know what they are doing. The balm is so lightweight yet buildable and feels great on the skin. I would imagine in the summer with a setting spray and powder this would last you all day as well! If you are a no-makeup person, I recommend this product because it can give you an everyday effortless look. I know $36 can be a higher upfront cost than other brands, but it is completely worth it! I wish I had tried it sooner!

The last two products are from Half Magic Beauty. I have been eyeing this brand since I found out about it while Euphoria was airing. Half Magic is the brand of Emmy Award-winning makeup artists for HBO's Euphoria Donni (Doniella) Davy! This brand high-key, has the best lip product on the market right now, and it is called the MOUTH CLOUD Soft Matte Lip Cream ($21.00). This product is so soft and buttery. It also leaves such a lovely color payoff! To be completely transparent, I layer my lip products with a liner, outer color, middle color, and then a gloss at some point throughout the day. Therefore, I haven't fully used this product on its own. With that being said, I still think this product is impressive, and while I wish there were more shades for deeper, darker skin tones to use without needing a liner, I still recommend the shade Edward's Fantasy- Red Wine. 

The following product I recommend by Half Magic Beauty is their Eye shadow singles in every color ($13). I love the texture of this product, and unlike the South lip creams, the eyeshadows have several, if not all, shades that would look fabulous on all skin tones. I also love the packaging because it is made out of recyclable materials that are very compact and lightweight. If you are someone who cares about sustainability, and want eyeshadows that are perfect for traveling with wild shades, then check out this brand. 

Thank you so much for reading the first installment of Cosmo Cherry Kisses! This will be a weekly recap of everything and anything that is speaking to me! I hope you enjoyed and see ya next week!

Song highlight of the week! 

Lifestyle from Lisa of BlackPink on Alter Ego, her first solo artist debut album!