Happy Friday! Welcome back to The Weekend Edition. A series where I share a grab-bag of ideas for your weekend ahead. Think of it as a little dose of joy to kick-off your (long) weekend!

In today’s post, you’ll find:

• a mini haul of all the beauty products I recently ordered from YesStyle
• a delightful new YA book that’s perfect for these dog days of summer
• a must-watch movie on Netflix
• the most popular travel destinations for Labor Day Weekend

🛍 My recent YesStyle shopping spree – YesStyle is an online beauty store with a massive selection of K-beauty brands. You could easily spend hours scrolling the site. Honestly, it can be a little overwhelming at first. I recommend doing a little research about which products/brands you want to try and create a list before you start shopping. One thing to note is the shipping times can be a little all over the place. The first time I ordered from YesStyle, it took over a month for my package to arrive. However, this time around, my shipment was delivered in a week.

While browsing the site, I had one thing on my mind, glass skin! I wanted products that would give me glossy, juicy, and supple skin. So the first item I added to my cart was the Anua Heartleaf 77% Clear Pads, an exfoliating toner pad that’s saturated in the good stuff like PHAs and Heartleaf extract to help gently remove dead skin cells while soothing and reducing enlarged pores. If you pop open the lid, you’ll find the cutest pair of tweezers nesting in the cap that is used to pick up each pad. 🥺 It’s thoughtful and innovative details like that, that gets me excited to try new products! 

To continue on with the glass skin theme, I added two new serums: Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum: Propolis + Niacinamide and Anua 10% Niacinamide + 4% Tranexamic Acid Serum. I recently started using the Beauty of Joseon serum in my morning routine, and oh, she glows! This serum paired on top of Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum is the ultimate glowy skin combo. 

I couldn’t resist picking up the Skin & Lab Bakuchiol Eye Serum after reading all the positive reviews. My under eye area can be quite reactive to certain products, so I thought bakuchiol would be a more gentle alternative than retinol. 

As a proud lip balm tester extraordinaire, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to test out some popular Asian beauty lip products. The first one I added to my cart was the Mude Bare Shine Lip Mask, which is very similar (in both look and feel) to the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. I also couldn’t pass up on the DHC Lip Cream, which had the prettiest peach packaging and a slim bullet that is compact enough to toss into any size bag. 

I wasn’t planning on buying any makeup products, but then I came across the brand MilleFee, and their incredibly beautiful packaging, I had to try some of their products. I went with one of their eyeshadow palettes. This one is inspired by Claude Monet’s Water Lilies and features 6 different shades – 4 shimmers and 2 mattes. Then I got another art inspired product: MilleFee Angel Gradation Blushes 03. This one is inspired by Jean Honoré Fragonard’s Love the Sentinel painting from 1773. 

I’ll report back with a more detail review of each product after I’ve had time to fully test them out!

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​​📚 The Ballad of Darcy & Russell by Morgan Matson – Darcy Milligan is on her way back home to LA from the Silverspun Music Festival (“the Coachella of Nevada!”), when the bus breaks down and leaves her stranded at a Nevada bus station until morning. To make matters worse, her phone is dying, she has no cash, and she is leaving for college tomorrow night. Darcy’s convinced nothing good can come from this night…but then she meets Russell. A cute, funny, aspiring musical theater writer who also needs to charge his phone. In a tension-filled, love-at-first-sight moment, Darcy can’t help but wonder if this is the magical moment she’s always been waiting for where she meets the right guy and everything falls into place. Over the course of one fateful night, Darcy and Russell get to know each other as they face emotional circumstances and have to ask themselves can you really know someone after only a handful of hours? Filled with quippy dialogue, funny jokes, and so many puns, this book is the perfect end-of-summer read.

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🎥 Hit Man on Netflix – a psychology professor who works undercover with the local police department by pretending to be a hit man finds himself in dangerous territory when he breaks protocol to help a desperate woman, who wants to leave her abusive husband, and ends up falling for her. A subtle first-rate comedy with superb acting (this might be Glen Powell’s best work), a compelling plot, and incredible filmmaking (it’s directed and co-written by Richard Linklater). Starring Glen Powell (who also co-wrote it!), Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, and Retta this movie is full of rich character development, absurd personas, and a sizzling romance.

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📝 Top Labor Day Travel Trends of 2024 – Labor Day usually signifies the end of summer, which means a lot people (myself included) celebrate the long weekend by going on one last hurrah before the final days of the season. According to AAA, Alaska cruises, European cities, and other popular touristy cities top the list of the most desired destinations this year. My getaway this weekend will not be as lavish as an Alaskan cruise, but I am looking forward to the Airbnb we’ll be renting near Ashville where we can unplug for a view days, take in the fresh mountain air, and soak in a hot tub.

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Thanks for reading!

I hope you have a wonderful long weekend. Do you have anything fun planned?

Coming up next on The Chapman Chronicles – a new column I’m starting called “On My Radar.” I can’t wait to share more with you soon! In the meantime, why don’t you subscribe to my blog so you never miss a post.