Ruby Beach

After our hike at Olympic National Park and the Hoh rainforest we decided to make a stop by Ruby beach since it was on the way back to my grandparents. And if this doesn't sum up weather on the Washington coast I don't know what does. If you go back and look at the sky in our hiking pictures we had clear blue skies and bright sunny day and only a few miles away it looks like this. And then after we had been here for maybe an hour it started to clear up again.

There were quite a few people here which was a little surprising. I had to spend a lot of time editing people out of these pictures because everyone's brightly colored coats really distracted from the overall look! 

We didn't stay too long because it was still about an hour and a half drive back to my grandparents house. But overall we enjoyed our time at Ruby Beach. It was nice to get out and walk around a little bit more and take some nice pictures since it had been quite a while since we had last been there. We even got to see an eagle flying overhead. The pink flowers you see below are salmonberry blossoms and the island off in the distance is Destruction Island, which features a decommissioned lighthouse.

Recent Beauty Purchases 11

1. Urban Decay Mini Naked3 Eyeshadow Palette: I opted for the mini Naked3 palette instead of the full size for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason being the price (there is no way I am paying $59 for an eyeshadow palette!) and also because the colors on the full sized palette are more brown/warm toned than the mini, which is more pink/neutral toned. 

I still thought the price was kinda high (To me at least. Although pretty average price for a Sephora palette.) I did order it during the Sephora sale last spring so that helped with the price.  

That said, I do like this palette. I prefer cool toned pinks and browns (which is surprisingly hard to find in eyeshadow palettes. They always are warm toned!) 

Anyways, it's a nice palette with a good selection of colors that I will actually use. A little goes a long ways and I've used this quite a few times and it still looks new. So it definitely will last me a while!

This would make a nice gift and it's also great for travel because it's small but also has a great selection of colors!

2. LYS Beauty Triple Fix Serum Foundation in LN6: I really like this foundation! The color is a very close match for me. I like how it wears, it has good coverage, it doesn't seem to crease or settle like a lot of other foundations I've tried. It holds up well in heat and humidity and being outside all day in the heat and humidity. It's at a good price point especially for being a "clean" foundation. I have sensitive skin and I really like that it doesn't bother my skin at all. This foundation has a lot of positive reviews on Sephora so it surprises me that it's not more popular. I would be really interested in trying other products from this brand.

3. Bumble and bumble Mini Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Primer: I wasn't sure about this after I first used it because I wasn't sure if it was doing anything but after using it and not using it I have noticed it really does leave my hair feeling softer and gives a bit more shine. I just use a few sprays on wet hair and let my hair air dry. I would say it's a good product but maybe not a great one. It's a nice product to have but not necessarily one to HAVE to have if you know what I mean.

4. Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub with Sea Salt: I really like this scrub. My scalp gets dry and itchy sometimes and I purchased this on a whim from Sephora thinking I would give it a try. I purchased the mini and use it about 1-2 times a month. You don't need a lot (a little goes a long ways) but it really helps to cleanse my scalp and remove product buildup. 

I will say it is a big difficult to use as it kind of is hard to use with long hair but I just put a little bit on the pads of my fingers and kind of gently massage my scalp with it. It just takes a little bit of figuring out how to use but I would highly recommend this if you deal with scalp dryness, itchiness, or just general product buildup.

5. Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in Brown Sugar: I was a little unsure on the color of this because the flavor I wanted (pink sugar) was sold out. And I didn't find out until later that it's a TikTok popular item, which typically turns me off of a product because everyone buys it because it's trendy and not because it actually works. 

All that to say I was actually very surprised by this. It's probably one of the only lip products I've ever used that actually seems like it does anything. I really really hate the feeling of my lips being dry so I am always willing to try different products to help. I used to really like the Bite Beauty agave lip mask but then they changed the formulation and it didn't work as well. (Apparently no one else liked it since they are no longer in business!) And I've also used the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask so many people seem to love and found it to just be okay. I definitely think the Summer Friday Lip Butter Balm is the best!

Just now looking it up it says it's supposed to be plumping but I've never noticed that. Negatives would be that it is on the higher end price point-wise and the color tint is pretty non-existent. So if you're looking for more of a tinted lip balm then this might not be for you as I really don't notice the color on me at all. But overall I really like this and would recommend it!

6. Kate McLeod Mini Daily Stone Solid Body Moisturizer: I really wasn't very impressed with this. Several people I follow on Instagram were really raving about it so I thought I would give it a try. I ordered one for my mom and I and while I'm glad I ordered the minis I was still surprised at how small they were for the price. 

The scent was okay. I didn't really like it but it wasn't particularly strong or unpleasant either. It was really greasy which I didn't like. You definitely wouldn't want to put long sleeves or pants on afterwards. It just doesn't rub in very well. Moisturizing wise it was okay. My mom has very dry skin and it didn't do anything for her and for me it worked just like any other lotion I've used. So nothing exciting. 

Also, just the actual application of a lotion bar is awkward to use. It's greasy so it very easily slips out of your hands and onto the floor which wasn't great. So this one was a no from me.

Have you tried any new products lately? Or have you tried a product that was really popular and been either surprised or disappointed with it?

Hiking in the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park

Back in April my family traveled to Washington state to visit my grandparents. February of 2020 was the last time we had been to see them so we were anxious to go back and visit! 

While we were there we wanted to do some hiking so we decided to head up to Olympic National Park. It was about a two hour drive up to Forks where we planned on eating lunch before heading out to the Hoh for our hike.

Once we arrived in Forks we made a stop at the grocery store for a couple of things, we ate lunch, stopped by the Forks sign so my sister could get a picture for her friends, and then we drove out to the Hoh rainforest. We were quite surprised upon arriving near the park at the long line to get in! There were so many people they had to do the one-car-out-one-car-in policy. We sat there for probably half an hour before getting into the park. While having to wait was a bit annoying it was nice that the park wasn't too crowded and we didn't have a problem finding a place to park. 

There are quite a few trails you can hike, the shortest of which just went kind of around the visitor center and was like a mile long. We wanted to do something longer so my sister had decided beforehand that we could do the Hoh river trail, which is just over 17 miles long. Obviously we wouldn't be hiking all of it but we thoguht we would just go as far as we felt like and we figured it would be less crowded and it certainly was. We only came across maybe 10 people. The majority of people seemed to be doing the very short trails.

I don't remember how many miles we ended up hiking. Maybe 3 or 4? We got a little bit later start to the day, lunch was a little longer than we had anticipated and then the wait to get into the park pushed us back a little time-wise, but it was still really nice to get out and go for a hike!

We were really lucky to get such nice weather. It's not often you get such beautiful weather on the Washington coast! And it was nice to get a little peek of Mount Olympus!

After our hike we stopped at a neat gift shop/outdoor store outside of the park where we were able to get a bunch of fun souvenirs, some cold drinks, national park t-shirts, and other random things.

Do you enjoy hiking?