Checking In From Nordstrom Rack: Incognito Sun Hats, Beauty Throwbacks, the Cutest Li’l Makeup Minis and More

I swear I’m underneath this hat somewhere!

Yesterday I went to the dentist for a regularly scheduled teeth cleaning, and even though I love my dentist to bits (she’s so good at soothing ‘fraidy cat patients like, ahem, yours truly), I still get big feeeeelings whenever I have to go in. Seriously, childhood dental trauma… That sh*t stays with you for a long time!

My self-soothing habit is to stop by a store right after any and every dental appointment to browse, and so yesterday I headed to “The Rack” (otherwise known as Nordstrom Rack) to see what was up.

I went in looking for a specific thing, a sun hat, because I figure if I’m going all in with the sun protection, I gotta go all the way, but you know…homegirl got distracted in the beauty section (more on this in a second).

So, hats. I found quite a few, and the most promising one was this wide-brimmed hat by San Diego Hat Company. I think it’s pretty cute, and I like how the brim covers my face so my cheeks are completely shaded. You can also adjust it to make it more or less snug on your head.

It was the only hat with a UPF 50 rating, too.

I didn’t get it, though, because it’s not packable, and I really want one I can fold down and take with me when we go camping. Plus, it doesn’t have a chin cord, and I can just see it flying off my head into the great unknown on a very windy day.

I still might go back for it if 1) I’m still thinking about it in a week, and 2) if it’s still there.

Oh, and another note about this hat — it was the only one with a wide brim that didn’t block my vision! The other hats I tried on had these very jaunty dips in the brim, which were cute…but completely useless, because I could only see when I lifted my head up at the right angle.

(I’m thinking I might have just talked myself into getting it.)

Speaking of packable hats…I thought this display near the hats was some kind of household decoration (like a candle holder or maybe a liquid scent diffuser?) at first, but alas, no! It’s a HUGE visor that wraps up!

My grandma (and all of the older Filipino ladies I knew) used to rock big visors like this back in the day, ha ha ha. Although I can appreciate how travel-friendly this hat is, I’m not quite ready to embrace my inner granny just yet.

It didn’t take long for me to wander into the beauty section because it’s adjacent to the hats, and even though the shelves appeared as though scavengers had picked over the last gristly bits of bone, there were enough things to induce a few beauty flashback moments, starting with this cute mini-size Caboodle…

While it’s not very useful in terms of actual portability and practicality (I would just throw my stuff in a makeup bag, ma), it sure is adorable.

Speaking of minis, there were also a handful of mini makeup items from Laura Mercier and MAC…

I had throwback memories of beauty in the early Aughts when I saw these industrial-sized bottles of DevaCurl products, Philosophy (Purity Made Simple, my ride-or-die back in the day) and Neutrogena.

Remember how something by Mario Badescu was in, like, every other magazine back then? You couldn’t open Allure or Glamour or Real Simple for that matter without a Mario Badescu shout-out.

Not beauty-related, but I saw these cute pieces of jewelry with flowers that looked like mini art! If I wasn’t in the midst of purging clothes and accessories, I would’ve picked up a necklace.

Right after that I saw my favorite DKNY bra in the lingerie section, in several colors and sizes. I’m now kicking myself for not grabbing at least the nude and the black one and having the patience to stand in the line (and there’s ALWAYS a line).

I seem to have a maximum time limit on how long I can tolerate standing inside The Rack… It’s the chaos — at a certain point my (bra) cup runneth over and I gotta get out of there, so I bolted.

Anywho, that’s what’s been going on here on this end. 😊

What’s new with you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! 🤗