Todays Face: Summer Skin

If you can't tell, I've become a little bit of a makeup addict. I'm always thinking about ways of perfecting things and color schemes. And I'm totally not one of those people who keeps all their beauty secrets to themselves, I think everyone should be given the opportunity to gain knowledge and I'm more than willing to share mine! I've been on a search to create the perfect summer glow, I'm really not one into the matte looks, and I've finally found something that satisfies me!

I've starting using some new products (the reviews for them can be found here). Although my skin is less than perfect at the moment (I'm in the process of fixing this) this new makeup regimen I've found is giving me the best results I've had so far. Be for warned, I like a really, and I mean really  dewy glowing face. So, if you're skin is oily you'll probably want to skip a step or two (I'll note which ones).

• Cleanse and pat dry (don't wipe) face. 
• Apply Dermologica or Skinceuticals moisturizer (any moisturizer you've found works for you will do). Let Soak into skin for a couple minutes.
• Massage whatever sunscreen you like, I use Banana Boat Sun Wear Faces SPF 30. It's oil free and has all this other good stuff for your skin. LOVE. *oily skin can just apply the sunscreen only, leaving out the other moisturizer.
• Apply two (2) parts Maybelline Fit Me Foundation in 220 with one (1) part Revlon Colorstay in 240, and one (1) part illuminating lotion (Skinceuticals Emollience is the one I use) *oily skin, skip the lotion mix. Apply a layer with Real Techniques Foundation Brush (review coming soon). 
• Pick up M.A.C. Cream Colour Base in Pearl with fingers and pat onto apples of cheeks and cheek bones. You'll also want to give this a little bit of time to melt into your skin for a more natural finish.
• Lightly dust a peachy blush with shimmer from your cheeks swept up to a little past the outside of the eye and a little into the hollows of the face, I used M.A.C. Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Springsheen. 
• Apply M.A.C. Cream Colour Base in Pearl again down the bridge of nose, inner corners of eyes, and browbones. If you want even more glow you can pop it over where you first applied it as well. (this is okay to do over a powder blush, you just have to make sure to set everything when finished, I'll get to how I do that) 
• Using a powder brush, apply a mineral bronzer to the hollows of the face, temples, jaw bone, and anywhere else you'd like a veil of color.
• Set everything with a powder like Fit Me Pressed Powder in 220.
• Spray all over face with Fix + for a fresh finish and to really set the makeup (if you're more on the oily side, skip this step and use a setting powder). 
• Put a couple coats of Maybelline Full'n'Soft mascara, I used soft brown. 

And there you have it, summer fresh! If you have any other questions about this look or any of my other looks, just ask! (; I love getting comments!

XOX,

- Mj

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

DIY Exfoliating Scrub

Since I've gotten older my skin has become more of a hassle to work with. My face can get really dry and flaky and putting make-up on usually makes it show more. Sometimes, when I put lotion on it won't even get rid of the dryness because of the flakes, the lotion will settle in the cracks of the flakes and I'll have white bordered dry spots, lovely I know. So, I've recently taken interest in DIY ( do-it-yourself ) projects and thought this would be a perfect and simple beginner DIY task. I'm going to make an exfoliation scrub for my face and lips ( those are really dry and peel almost non-stop too ) only using sugar and extra virgin olive oil. Here's my step by step process...

This is what I started with, an end of the day flaky face with make-up

1. Apply warm water to a cloth and dampen your face, or you can just use your hands. ( but you will need a cloth / towel for the end steps ).

2. Take the extra virgin olive oil and apply it all over your face ( lips too in my case ) so that you create a nice layer.

I put my oil in a little on the go container so I could reuse it.

3. Smooth the sugar wherever you need it, paying extra attention to the most dry areas. Now, rub in circular motions gently for 20-30 seconds. FYI: Be delicate with your skin, especially around the eyes, if you rub too hard that gentle skin can irritate very easily, so be nice.

Again, I put my sugar in a tupperware container so I could have it all handy for next time.

4. Rinse your face with warm water to get all of the sugar off. The oil is a little more difficult to remove because as we all know water and oil do not mix, this is where your cloth or towel comes in. Make sure that it's dampened with warm water ( I emphasize warm water because hot will dry you out even more and cold is a little harsh ) and gentley remove the rest of the oil from your face.

5. Repeat once a week for a smooth, healthy, flake free face!

Here was my end result, I know you can't tell from the first photo but today was a really dry day for me, my nose and forehead were very flaky and dry and got even worse after applying make-up. After this exfoliating treatment, I couldn't even see the flakes or dry patches! It really worked and it was all from products I got out of the kitchen. I love when you find great things that work well AND are inexpensive. I definitely recommend this, and even for those of you who aren't as dry as I am, this is great for just a refreshing scrub that makes your face silky smooth. Let me know how it worked for you if you try it!

XOX,

- Mj