I LOVE it when things like this happen.

OK, so a couple of months ago I was in Malibu with my mom, and we went into a little boutique filled with many, many things that I wanted to own but could not afford. My mom felt similarly, but nevertheless decided to try on everything in the store, so I ended up wandering around by the cash register, picking various things up and putting them back down while trying to keep my children from doing the same, and one of the things I picked up was this little rollerball perfume oil from a company I'd never heard of called "Riddle."

I couldn't put my finger on what, exactly, it smelled like, but I was instantly OBSESSED, to the point where I flagged down the woman who was standing in the corner folding $300 t-shirts to ask her about it. She had virtually no information to offer me and had seemingly never noticed it even sitting there in the shop, so I figured it was some ultra boutique-y oil made by, like, the owner's friend. It was also a little pricey ($50 for the small oil, $80 for the large), so even though I definitely thought about buying it, I managed to restrain myself and went on my (now blissfully perfume oil-ed) way.

I wouldn't call myself a "beauty blogger," per se, but I've certainly written about beauty (treatments, techniques, procedures, products, and so on) a lot over the years, including two entire YouTube shows produced by Allure (#memories).

What this means: I've tried out a lot of products - far more, I'd guess, than your average non-blogging bear. And I've liked - even loved - a lot of them. But like any human being with non-abnormal quantities of time to spend on things like makeup and skincare, there are only so many new discoveries that I actually continue using over the long-term (and on my own dime).

Read: What Do Beauty Bloggers Spend Their Own Money On?

Me and Dad | Raja Ampat, Indonesia

While on this trip to Raja Ampat and Hong Kong, I posted a lot of Instagram stories. And in response, I received a lot of comments (both IRL and online) to the effect of "you really need to wear less makeup; it makes you look old."

Which...you know...

Botox...in your neck? Yup.

If you've been reading here for awhile, you know I'm not exactly shy about discussing the various beauty procedures I've had over the years (which is why the occasional "ADMIT YOU HAD A NOSE JOB, YOU LIARRRRRRR" comment I get here makes me laugh).

Take Botox, for example: I've been getting injections above my right eyebrow to help lift my lazy eyelid into a normal-ish position for years, and I've written about it pretty extensively, to the point where the magic of SEO has made me the Official Internet Authority on eye asymmetry. (As a sidenote, I get messages nearly every day asking me whether I *really* recommend Botox as a solution for this particular issue, and I do, absolutely - with the caveat that you need to find yourself an excellent aesthetician who's familiar with this specific usage.)