The Highs of Being Low

I'm quite the fan of not having to do anything. This mostly applies in my beauty routine. In fact, as I'm writing this I can't remember the last time I blow dried my hair. To me, faces look better when they look like they're wearing...well, nothing. Au' Naturale that is. A dreamy creamy glowing face, smidge of liner and lashes and some lip balm is what you'll find me wearing. It's quite ironic I am always putting on dramatic eye looks and trying all this makeup out when I actually like to feel like I'm wearing nothing at all.  I like my morning routines to exceed nothing over fifteen minutes, hair included. Why, you ask? To give me that much more time to sleep of course! And anyway, the trends have proven that 'low maintenance is the new high maintenance'.

Hair
I have the weirdest wavy in the back, straight in the front hair. It's pretty thick and there's about a ton of it in one square inch. Not to mention it tangles into a rats nest way too easily. So when it comes to styling, anything I want that doesn't come naturally takes eons. I wash it with whatever shampoo / conditioner is in my reach, which is most frequently Pantene Pro.V. Because it's so tangly all the time I use a leave-in-treatment, which is Pantene also. I towel dry it and throw some texturizing spray in there. If I have a little more time I'll do everything previously mentioned plus drying it incompletely with a diffuser to the point where it's mostly dry but sort of wet. This creates a nice messy thing when it's completely dried.

Face / Skin
As I've gotten older my skin has seemed to turn on me. I've got a few blemishes here and there but it's nothing to get all fussed over. My main concern is providing my face with enough moisture and protection. In the evenings, I massage EVOO onto my face concentrating most on the really dry parts (for a tutorial on my evening face routine click here). Once a week I exfoliate with a homemade potion (you can find here). This keeps my skin cells fresh and rejuvenated. As for blemishes, I treat them with e.l.f.'s Zit Zapper. It's basically just a solution of salicylic acid to dry things out. After using this stuff, I need moisturizer. Lately, I've been using Aveeno Positively Radiant with SPF 15 but I'm on the market for something better. Something I'm absolutely loving and will be needing back ups of is Victoria's Secret Rockin' Body Luminous Perfecting Body Cream, it's a sort of tinted moisturizer for your body. It leaves an amazing glow sheen to wherever you apply it, just make sure it's dry before you get dressed or you'll get it on whatever you're wearing..not cute. I swear by this stuff, I recently went to Las Vegas where it was about 90° everyday, most definitely shorts weather, it was right when spring began so my legs hadn't seen the sun in quite some time, I rubbed this stuff all over and they looked ahhhhh-mazing!

Makeup
I'm obsessed with Maybelline's Fit me! Foundation at the moment, my color is 220. It's a touch darker than my natural skin but once summer really kicks in it will all even out. I apply this using the stippling technique with a MAC 187 Duo Fibre Brush. I put some highlight on my cheek bones and down the bridge of my nose for a glow. As for the eyes, I'll either put Clinique's Cream Eye Shaper in Black Diamond on my upper and lower waterlines. Or, use Wet'n'Wild's Mega Liner on my top lashline and finish it off with a little flick for a discrete cat eye. I'm a neutral addict. I have so many eye shadows and they're just about all in the same color scheme. Flesh, beige, bronze, and browns of all kinds. Here and there I'll throw a wash of cover over my lids and in the corners of my eyes to brighten and open things up. I'm a bit of an extremist I will admit, it's either I like things in such minimal amounts it's hardly acceptable to say they're there or I really use them. This method is used when choosing which lashes I'm in the mood for. If I'm being a minimalist for the moment I use Maybelline Full n Soft in a brown black just to coat them for a little volume. If not this, I pack on Maybelline Volum' Express The Falsies in the blackest black I can get my hands on. I coat until my indulgence in sufficed. Yes, it gets a little clumpy, but I like it that way. This seems like a lot, but when you've been doing one of about four morning routines everyday for as long as you can remember, it happens in less than ten minutes every time. I'll put some lip balm on, colored or clear whatever I'm in the mood for (usually clear, or a nudey pink). I do wear gloss and lipstick sometimes, but I absolutely despise when my hair sticks to my lips. It drives me mad, so I'd rather not deal with it. And I like to freely give kisses to my lovely significant other without him looking at me, then my lips, then me again, with that 'I love you, but that stuff looks sticky and hard to get off me' face. I'll finish everything off with some MAC Fix + just to seal it all in and I'm out the door.

Current Obsessions

• Right now I'm using Wet'n'Wilds Walking On Eggshells Eye Palette frequently.  The browbone highlight is to.die.for. 
• Wet'n'Wilds Mega Liner in black is the best liquid liner for me and the price makes it all the more appealing.
• No lie, my favorite chapstick is Chapstick in the original 'flavor'. It enhances my natural lip color and treats them so nicely.

And that's it! To be honest, I like what I like cause it works. It really is that simple. (:

XOX,

- Mj