006. Ilia Bronzer, Slow Living with Muto

and ZeroZeroZero

First, I want to give a deeper look at how and where I shop. I tend to support smaller businesses or ones with really great reward systems. I never return anything because I get a weird guilt trip thinking of a barely used item going to waste, so return policies aren't something I look for (if something doesn't work for me, I'll pass it along to family members or friends). If reward points aren't an option, I'm saving up a wishlist for sales throughout the year. Shopping has become a game of strategy for me, and nothing feels more rewarding than purchasing a brand new item at 1/3 of its cost.

You may be wondering why I listed the Ilia Bronzer at $9.95 versus the retail price of $34, and that's because this is what I got it at! I hardly ever pay for anything at full cost if I can help it. And that is for two straightforward reasons: 1. to save money, 2. it's hard to justify spending money on personal shopping whims when you're the sole earner of the household.

In the case of today's bronzer, I have one particular party to thank for it, and that's Drop (referral link: get $5 after earning your first $1 in rewards. Use code ‘xjvyp’). Aside from retailers with reward systems, I also tend to double up on rewards or cashback by using Rakuten (formerly Ebates, referral link: get $10 after your first purchase) or Drop. I have both installed as Chrome extensions (Rakuten, Drop) for desktop shopping, and both apps for mobile shopping. Rakuten tends to have higher savings from 2–10% cashback (currently offering 6% cash back at Sephora) on purchases sent back to you in the form of a check or PayPal payment. Drop uses a point system where every 1,000 points equal $1 in rewards, and you accumulate your points to redeem gift cards. They offer a wide variety, including ones from top retailers such as Amazon, Uber, Sephora, Ulta, Macy's, etc.

Since I don't subscribe to Sephora's flash 2-day shipping ($15/year), shipping is usually $5.95 for me since I'm only picking up one item each time. This time I redeemed my Drop points for a $30 Sephora gift card and purchased the new Ilia NightLite Bronzing Powder in Drawn In ($34, 0.26oz | 7.47g).

I've been drooling over this bronzer ever since it was announced. I love bronzers that are matte and either powder or dry down as a cream. I love a neutral bronzer all the more so. Because I'm pretty pale and lean olive in skin tone, if a bronzer is too red or orange, it tends to show up immediately and noticeably. That's why I always love a cooler, neutral leaning bronze. The fact that the Ilia one is in powder form and a more neutral one, I had fallen in love even before getting my hands on it (thanks to Alexa's YouTube review).

Once it arrived, I opened it immediately. The packaging is minimal: a cool, soft touch nude with a white spot glossed logo. The back has the usual information on a deeper nude sticker. This lasts 12 months once opened, the packaging is recyclable, and it's Leaping Bunny certified. I enjoy the large mirror since it will be the one I use to get ready in the mornings. I'm also pleased with how much product you get for the price (see below for comparisons. Pinch zoom if you’re on a phone)!

Performance-wise, this ticks all the boxes on my list. It's a powder, applies and blends well, is a neutral bronze, and a matte option. However, it's not a true matte (there is mica in here). It looks completely matte in the shade, but in the sunshine, it has a faint shimmer. On me, it doesn't appear glittery, but may on deeper skin tones! I have the lighter shade of the two, and Drawn In definitely won't work for deeper skin tones and may look more like a highlighter. I'm curious how the Novelty shade would work for those deeper since the Ilia swatch photo still seems too close to the model's natural skin tone. All this to say, if you're deeper than a medium, I'm not sure either will work. If you are deeper and have tried this bronzer, please comment if it's worked for you!

One last thing I want to note is Ilia's recycling program! I'm thrilled they have one to offer and a great one at that. Each month, you can mail up to 5 empty beauty products to them (any brand), and they'll recycle it through TerraCycle. Shipping is free, too, since you fill out a form for a prepaid shipping label. All you have to do is provide the box or envelope and empties, of course! It's a great way to make sure your beauty products are recycled safely and correctly, and a great way to reuse packaging from your other online orders. I'm currently waiting to finish up one more item before packing mine! Click here to start recycling.

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As the weather starts warming up here, there are many more woodland creatures that stop by our yard. Muto's schedule's been packed with bird, squirrel, and cat-watching! He's also in the office with me a lot more because the bay window gets great sun in the mornings. I had a slow morning today, listening to music, drinking coffee, and hanging out with Muto watching the birds. It makes me happy to see him so happy. Please enjoy this very short video of Muto enjoying life. No music. Just faint sounds of the day.

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Our main themes start taking form in episode two. It focuses on three across all the players: power, sacrifice, and transference.

A forerunner in episode one, power rears its majestic and well-sought-after head again in this episode. In Don Minu's case, as a man who once had power and seeks to regain his status, he's forced to live underground in hiding because that's where his power has led him. This episode has an explosive start, literally, as police detonate a C4 charge to blast through his bunker door. Luckily, moments before it exploded, Don Minu was woken by luck upon hearing some static radio interference on his walkie. A quick look at the cameras, and it's obvious the police are moving in. He puts on boots and a shirt and takes only one possession with him: a photograph of Stefano with wife and child. Though the bunker doesn't hold much, to begin with, it's clear through this choice where his priorities and heart lie.

However, in the process of escape, Don Minu fumbles at his old age, and thanks to his half blindness takes a nasty fall and breaks his left pinky. Through the pain, he emerges out of another hidden exit, ventures through the forest to a house nearby where one of his men informs him there's a message from America. We see Edward Lynwood's name in the obituary section (his message from the previous episode). As a doctor does his best to fix his finger with no anesthesia, blood gushes, and projects everywhere and Don Minu screams through the pain as the main titles come on.

We're thrown back to Edward and Emma at the restaurant on the night of the brokers and sellers meet. Edward's just been shot, and the camera's on Emma frightened, distraught, waiting for a moment between gunfire to rush over. There's no sight of blood or a bullet wound, and they manage to board a plane back to New Orleans. After a tricky and arduous return to their mansion, Edward passes in their home as Emma screams for Chris's help.

The camera cuts to Chris riding his bike down the street as he registers the EMS truck outside their house. He rushes inside, police are everywhere, and he spots Emma on the steps. She looks up, and her eyes motion upstairs. Chris runs up the steps.

It's nighttime, and Chris is lying next to Edward smoking weed on Edward's bed. Edward is dressed in a suit with Emma lying perpendicular on his other side. She says:

His last words were for you. He said it's time you got into the family business. It's time you play your part now… You can do it, Chris. Dad says, you can do it. He said you have to stop living in your sickness. You're not a sick man, Chris.

Emma removes Edward's watch and hands it to Chris, a gesture of the transference of power from father to son. Chris gets emotional and attempts to put it on his wrist but has trouble with his dexterity. He breaks down in frustration and leans over for Emma to do it. She puts the watch on him, and they hold hands over Edward as the camera cuts to a top-down aerial view of his funeral service.

In Chris' eulogy, he talks of how he was only 8, and Emma 12 when their mother's disease started showing. It went fast as they watched her forget how to walk, speak, and hold their hands. After their mother died from a "horrible journey of suffering," Edward was there for them. He taught them how to survive, pick themselves back up, and keep fighting. He ends it with a quote from Edward:

First rule kiddos, you come first and fuck the rest.

The camera cuts to an attendee in the pews, the gentleman who was with them on the ship when they purchased it in the first episode.

That evening, Emma and Chris get an unannounced visit from Stefano and one of his men after Edward's burial. Stefano says:

It's a local custom in our country. We leave doors and windows open so the soul of the person who lived here can leave. We cover the mirrors because if one of us should be reflected before the soul can leave the house, that person will die.

We already know from the previous episode that Stefano is going to betray Don Minu and take over. Driven by mission and power, Stefano approaches Chris and requests to meet directly with the sellers and that from now on, their services are no longer needed. Emma interjects that this is impossible and not how things work. Stefano insists again with Chris, and as Emma interjects again, he becomes forceful, grabbing her by the neck and ear and pushing her to the ground. He has no respect for her as a woman in the family and threatens that he doesn't want something bad to happen to good people.

The next day, Emma devises a plan of her own, and Stefano and his man unexpectedly meet her in the bar in New Orleans. Emma is sitting where Edward was in the previous episode with the same Italian liaison and the man seated from the funeral, introduced as the captain who will be delivering the shipment. She announces that Chris, her brother, Lynwood blood, son and heir of Edward, will accompany the shipment the entire way. With this, the transference of power from Edward to Chris is complete. And Stefano has no say. Game, set, match.

Later in the evening on the cargo ship, Chris's pleasant evening of music and oceanview is disturbed by a strong gust of wind. Helicopter circles above and a team of soldiers rappel down. As Chris approaches, the first soldier to land strikes him with the butt of his rifle. Everything turns into slow-motion, and our musical theme plays, the second flashback of the series begins.

We're back in the SUV pickup chase in Mexico. Our Sergeant sits in the front passenger seat; a foreshadow to the transference of power from their Commander to him (this was the Commander's seat in the previous episode). The young soldier has taken his place in the backseat behind the driver and gives him a displeased knowing look for causing him to miss his shot at the Leyra brothers.

One of the soldiers takes money from the Leyras's lawyer, who died in a SUV that was taken down. Later on in the locker room, Sergeant divvies up blood-soaked cash amongst the team. He picks up an AR and announces that everyone knows this weapon. It's the first-ever issued automatic rifle designed specifically for Mexican soldiers. As he points the gun at the young soldier, he says:

The only law that truly counts in war is that your brothers have to stay on your side, and the enemy has to face you.

The young soldier reassures Sergeant he's with him, but he doesn't want money from "the fucking narcos," and leaves. Shortly after, Sergeant is asked to see the Commander. The Commander informs him there's a spy in his squad, and he can't allow it. He orders our Sergeant to flush him out.

In the previous episode, we saw Sergeant listen to a preacher, and in this episode, we see him in civilian clothing for the first time in a church. But as he leaves, he's picked up and reports to the men (presumably narcos) that his Commander knows there's a spy amongst them, and he needs the man to sacrifice two men.

We cut to later that evening in an intimate moment with the young soldier and his pregnant girlfriend. He asks her if he wants to come to a party, but she says no. We're with him as he makes his way to the party, acknowledging different people, he's well-known and liked. He goes into the club and begins dancing. We cut to Sergeant and two men making their way to the club. Just outside, we spot one of the other soldiers on the team. As Sergeant enters the club, the rest of the team is hidden throughout, in position, and ready for whatever's coming next.

Unfortunately, when the young soldier spots our Sergeant, he motions to the two men, and both raise their guns at the soldier. Still, our Sergeant is faster and pulls out an automatic, shoots both men first, before finally shooting the young soldier. The rest of his men come and drag the bodies out as chaos ensues. He starts to play another sermon as he walks out and throws a grenade into the club.

We cut to the team on the side of a highway, tie the young soldier in chains. They wrap a sign that reads, "This will happen to all the Leyras" on his chest before throwing him over the railing. They do the same with the two other men, and their bodies swing and collide as cars below screech to a stop at the sight of it.

The team sits together back at the canteen, and one of them says that he doesn't think the young soldier would've taken a bullet for any of them so good riddance more or less. The Sergeant corrects him by stating that he did in the end. They sacrificed the young soldier for the rest of the team. Soon after, they're sent on a mission with the Commander because they've found out where the drug shipment is and must intercede.

We playback the moment Sergeant hits Chris, and the flashback ends. In the present, the Commander successfully finds which container carries the drugs, but Sergeant surprises him by saying, "this ship will maintain course, and we will be compensated." The Commander moves in anger, but Sergeant swiftly stabs him in the jugular, and the Commander bleeds out. He wipes his knife clean saying,

God knows what I'm doing.

As they make their way back to the helipad, Sergeant suggests to both the captain and Chris that they should silence their GPS and contact and change their route. He says,

May God be with you.

and the team and chopper fly out. Episode two ends.

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Thanks for reading! If you're looking for ZeroZeroZero's Episode 1 recap, it's back here in Newsletter 003. Have you tried the new Ilia bronzer? Do you like it or is there another one you prefer? And have you been enjoying any slow moments? Share them in the comments!