makeup

What's in my Makeup Bag? | Everyday Makeup #3

12:46 PM

Taking this picture took nine years. After I got all my products all sorted out neatly, I put my foot on the table (I was standing on a chair) for stability and all the round products rolled out off place. It was irritating.


Sonia Kashuk Radiant Tinted Moisturizer | NYX Born to Glow Liquid Illuminator in Gleam | NYX HD Photogenic Concealer in Medium | Sonia Kashuk Undetectable Pressed Powder | e.l.f. Eyebrow Kit in Medium | Sonia Kashuk Brow Definer in Haze | No7 Lash & Brow Perfector | Pixi Extra Eye Bright Liner | Sonia Kashuk Pearlescence Cream Shadow in Moonstone | Boots Botanics Eyeshadow Quad in 30 Golden Brown | NYX Eyeshadow Base in Skintone | NYX Slide On Liner in Brown Perfection | Sonia Kashuk Chic Luminosity Highlighting Stick in Shimmering Sands | Sonia Kashuk Creme Blush in Blossom | NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in San Paulo | Sephora Cream Lip Stain in Strawberry Kisses | NYX Butter Lipstick in Little Suzie

I'm not the biggest fan of wearing bases. I have a fear of transferring products, and in my mind foundations are always associated with transferring. However, I do like to go through all my products and since I work in an air conditioned building, I'm okay with wearing a base product. Right now I'm mixing a tinted moisturizer and a liquid highlighter together to create a lit-from-within glow. I like the naturally radiant finish that these two products give together. Since there's barely any coverage, I also like to go in with concealer around my nose, chin, and undereyes. I then set everything with a weightless powder.

I always try to get my brows done as quickly as possible, so if I'm not wearing any foundation or TM I go straight to brows. I always fear I'm running out of time and brows are most important to me. Anyways, using an angled liner brush I'll sculpt out the arch and underside with a tinted brow gel and then fill in the rest with a pencil. Before applying brow gel to set them in I will highlight with a pinky-nude shade, right under the arch, and then gel them in. 

Now that my eyebrows are sorted out, I can relax and move onto the eyes. These days I either do nothing or do it all. When I'm doing it all I prep by putting an eye base on the corners of my eyes, as the NYX one tends to crease with oil but prevents product from settling into corners. Then I like to pop Moonstone, which is an icy taupe, all over the lids. Then I like to run the shimmery brown from the quad on my lashlines. Then, I like to highlight the inner corners with the  bottom left shade. I then draw on a kitten eye (baby cat eye liner, get it?)  with a brown eyeliner. And there are eyes finished.

We're almost at the end. Stick with me! I like to highlight first; I'm not sure why. But I swipe onto the high points of my cheekbones, a little bit on the nose bridge, and a dab on the Cupid's Bow and blend out with my finger. After that I like to pop on a bit of blush just for a little bit of color. 

And finally, lipstick. Depending on what I'm doing and how long I'll be doing it, I'll pick a shade from one of the lovely three colors I use. 

Thanks for sticking with it, that was quite a bit haha. Have a good day!

routine

Everyday Makeup #2

4:27 PM

Hi, everyone! I'm back today with an everyday makeup post. I did one of these a couple months ago and I really like reading them (a good snoop around somebody's daily products is always satisfying to me), so I thought I'd do another one. I don't have a picture of my face, apologies - I already took off my makeup today.


Note the organized mess!


I've been focusing a lot on my base these days. My face has been a little red lately, so I've been using a base. My poison is the Sonia Kashuk Radiant Tinted Moisturizer, which is a lightweight, comfortable to wear base that cancels out redness and also gives you a very healthy, well, radiant complexion. Depending on how I feel and how red my nose looks, I'll use either the Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer or the NYX HD Photogenic Concealer. These are dabbed and buffed into the corners of my nose and the scars on my chin. After that, I use the Garnier Anti-Dark Circle Eyeroller under my eyes to brighten and bounce away dark circles. I set the concealers with the powder from the concealer palette.


I like a bit of a healthy glow, so I pop on a light pink blush from The Face Shop and and my favorite Sonia Kashuk Chic Luminosity Highlighter Stick. These two together are a great combo, they give me a very bright complexion.


Eyebrows are the most important thing to me. I love me some eyebrows, I ALWAYS do them. Many days I only leave the house with my brows. I simply fill in the sparse areas with the Sonia Kashuk Brow Definer (love this guy) and set them with the No7 Lash & Brow Perfector, which is looking a little gross at this point. This brow duo is great, the color lasts all day and my brows don't look all wonky and sticking out wrong.


I pop on a tiny bit eyeliner, very close to my lashline just for some subtle definition. I love pencil eyeliner, but they don't give you the razor-thin lines that the Physicians Formula Eye Booster Eyeliner can. Then I toss the Clinique Chubby Stick in Super Strawberry in my bag and put it on in the car because at this point I'm usually late.

That's all for today! Thanks for reading! Let me know what your daily products are.

routine

Beauty Basics | Skincare 101

5:46 PM



I like to remind people of the basics. The three most important beauty rules are to stay hydrated, happy, and put on sunscreen. But that's not the point of this post.


I think a lot of people are confused by all the products we have nowadays. There's so many, can you blame them? Serum, lotion, toner, moisturizer, night cream, spot treatment, etc. I'm going to take you through the basics of skincare.

Step number one: determine your skin type. Dry, normal, oily, combination, acne prone, and sensitive are the major skin types. This is going to help you through the rest of your routine.

Step number two: once you know your skin type, follow the three basic skin regimen rules: cleanse, tone, moisturize.

I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent here about toner (sometimes called a lotion). Technically. This step isn't needed. A toner is basically meant to get the last traces of dirt, oil and makeup off your face (NOT remove makeup, your cleanser or makeup remover should do that!!) and balance the pH of your skin after the cleanser. However, some people say you must have it in your skincare routine. I have a toner, but do whatever makes you comfortable.

Step number three: stick to the routine! It takes your skin quite a while to get used to a product (30ish days) , so don't be surprised if the skin doesn't agree with at first. Give it some time. If it doesn't clear up, stop using the product. Obviously, stop using the product if there's a major reaction shortly after you start using it.

That's basically it. Everything else (serums, spot treatments, night creams, emulsions, etc) are optional and not something you have to incorporate into your routines.

Okay people, thanks for reading!

Beauty

Everyday makeup!

7:27 PM

Hey there. Thought I'd show you my everyday makeup routine, if I'm even wearing makeup.


I always start with my undereye concealer. The one I'm currently using is the Garnier Anti-Dark Circle Eye Roller, and I'm not sure what shade this is as there was only one color when I purchased it. I roll onto my dark ring and draw a triangular shape from there to the tip of my nostril and blend out with my off-brand beauty blender.

Then I dot the Sonia Kashuk Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Beige evenly all over my face and blend out with my fingers, or my off brand beauty blender.

Following that, I dab some L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable Crayon Concealer in Light/Medium W4-5 on any acne, scars, or hyperpigmentation on my face and blend out with my fingers.

The next step is is to add a light wash of color onto my eyelids. I've been really loving the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Inked in Pink, it's part of the Metals line, which may or may not be made permanent.

Then I sweep the No7 Maximum Volume Mascara onto my lashes. Crap mascara for volume, length, or definition (meaning all you really want in a mascara) but good for a natural look.

The last step is to dab the Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm in Rosy Red onto my lips for a natural red lip. Read my review of this product here.

That's it. I have a pretty simple routine. Thanks for reading!

Beauty

Skincare Routine

5:48 PM

Hey everyone, thought I'd bring you a skincare routine.

To my, skincare is the most important part of a beauty routine. Good skin makes me feel confident. I'm not 100% satisfied with my routine right now, but I'm pretty happy with it. We get along well.

Some background on my skin - it's normal/dry, and a little dull. I don't usually break out, but I do get the occasional blemish. I think my routine is pretty simple, and I try not to use too many products on my face. A lot of people have different products that they use at night and day, but not me.

Morning
Splash face with cold water. Pat dry.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Eye Cream - about $10
Dab a bit of Neutrogena Healthy Skin Eye Cream underneath my eyes and up to my browbones
Nivea Soft - about $5
Neutrogena Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer SPF 50 with helioplex - $13
Massage Nivea Soft onto face, sometimes mixed with Neutrogena Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer SPF 50 if I'm spending more than ten minutes outside.
Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller - $12
Roll Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller underneath eyes and up to browbone
Mederma Scar Gel - $19
Scar cream with Mederma Scar Treatment. Probably not supposed to be used on the face, but oh well.
C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve - $5.50 at Bath and Body Works
Put a copious amount of lip balm on

Like I said, a lot of my night and day items correlate. You'll find the same basic products.

Night
Pond's Deep Cleansing Cleanser - purchased in Taiwan. Not sure where you can get it in America.
Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub - $8 for the big bottle
Not sure what to call this other than face brush - purchased in Japan for 100 yen. You can get them at Sephora for six bucks a pop.
Wash face with Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub (every other day) and Pond's Deep Cleansing Mud Cleanser (when I don't use the foaming scrub). I like to use the little face brush with the Pond's.
Neutrogena Alcohol-Free Toner - around $7
Pour a little toner onto my hands and gently pat onto face. I'm using the Neutrogena Alcohol-Free Toner right now. It smells nice.

Moisturize with Neutrogena Eye Cream and Nivea Soft again

Burt's Bees Herbal Blemish Stick - $7
Apply Burt's Bees Herbal Blemish Stick to any problem areas. I popped out the unhygienic rollerball and dip a dampened cotton swab into the bottle instead.

Exfoliate lips with a DIY scrub I made out of Vaseline and sugar

Apply generous amounts of lip balm and slather Vaseline over.

I like to give myself a mini facial while putting on my moisturizer by pressing on the high points of my cheekbones and my browbones and, making L shapes with my hands, moving from the center of my face out (I do this from the top of my cheekbones, the middle, and then my jawline).

Twice a week, I give myself a facial by slathering on moisturizer and lying a hot towel on my face until it cools, which I repeat twice.

Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask - $16 for the 1.7 oz tube
Twice a week as well, I use an overnight mask on my particularly dry areas (high points of cheekbones, t-zone and eyebrows). Right now I'm using a little sample size of Origins Drink Up  Intensive Overnight Mask. Love it.
Petal Fresh Aloe & Cucumber Facial Peel Off Masque - purchased in Taiwan but $5 on Ebay
Sometimes I forget, but I try to use a mask at least once a week. I'm using a peel-off mask right now, the Petal Fresh Botanics Aloe and Cucumber Facial Peel Off Masque. I got this in Taiwan, so I'm not sure where you can get it in the states.

So that's it, guys. Thanks for reading! I appreciate it.

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Hi there, I'm Emily. It's nice to meet you. I'm a beauty blogger who also happens to be very interested in photography/film. Chat with me, let's be friends!