Spa days are bloody essential.

 

 

Everyone needs a day to unwind and pamper themselves in one way or another. The way I pamper myself is to actually pamper myself. I bartend part time and the long hours on my feet really takes a toll on my body. There’s nothing better than a hot bath, iced green tea and a foot massage (from my imaginary boyfriend) to make me feel completely rejuvenated after a long day behind the bar. In the photo above are the products I used yesterday on my day off: YES to Cucumbers Calming Facial Mask, Lush Phoenix Rising Bath Bomb, Burt’s Bees Honey & Shea Body Butter and Weleda Wild Rose Day Cream.

YES to Cucumbers Calming Facial Mask: This cooling gel mask is perfect after a long day. It soothes and hydrates leaving your skin feel refreshed. I had a glow after I put this on… No complaints there. The smell is lovely and the texture is silky and light. 

Lush Phoenix Rising Bath Bomb: The spicy, cinnamon scent of this bath bomb stimulates the senses and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It makes the bath water a beautiful purple color with gold glitter.  I’ll make the bold statement and say that I’ve never felt like such a goddess.

Burt’s Bees Honey & Shea Body Butter: Using this makes the experience ever so decadent. This literally smells like caramel heaven and is incredibly nourishing to the skin after a long bath. My skin feels uber supple and baby soft after I apply this. 

Weleda Wild Rose Day Cream: Because of my combination skin type, I have a few super dry patches and this cream really balances out my skin. The rose helps with redness and inflammation  as well as restores vitality to stressed skin.

 

 

Don’t forget to have “me” days. 

The Importance of Primer

Am I the only one who becomes green with envy when I see how perfect a model’s skin is? It’s absolutely disgusting how lucky some people are to have such magical genes. Wait… There’s a way to cheat? God bless America.

The way to instantly get flawless skin is primer. Whether it be primer you put on before your foundation or primer you put on your eyelids to make the shadow stick, it’s all a miracle and a half. There are a few different varieties to suit different skin types like: transparent, tinted, color correcting, hydrating, etc. Primers can improve the longevity of your foundation, control shine, prevent creasing, fill in fine lines and pores and can even prevent flakiness.

You can either apply a little squeeze or a huge dollop of primer after your moisturizer and before your makeup to meet your individual needs. As long as it has absorbed into your skin, you’ve applied the correct amount. You know your skin best. You have now set the perfect canvas for your makeup to be applied.

You’ll notice the drastic difference in the appearance of your skin. I highly recommend adding primer into your daily routine.

Much love, ladies! Thanks for reading.

How on Earth do I apply OCC Lip Tar?

How should I apply Lip Tar and have it look decent? That is the question people have been asking since this stuff came out. I’ve been using Lip Tar since Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics was a baby cult brand. Now OCC is being sold in huge stores  like Sephora and every makeup fiend knows what it is. The first Lip Tars I bought were actually out of their headquarters on the Lower East Side in New York City. I tried everything to make this look professional and precise but I found that it feathered into the tiny lines around my lips and then it dawned on me… Lip liner is the answer!

The consistency is very different from most lip colors out there and it can be a pretty hard to work with if you aren’t used to it. It’s a little bit oily and if you don’t have a steady hand you could look like the man-eating circus clowns from your childhood nightmares. The trick is to apply lip liner along the perimeter of your lips to stop the rich, beautiful color from feathering and looking uneven.

I like to use Make Up For Ever’s Lip Line Perfector in Transparaent so I don’t have to buy a million different colors for every Lip Tar or lipstick I own. I line my lips with this (it does’t have to be perfect since it’s totally invisible) and then I squeeze a tiny  bead of Lip Tar onto the little brush it comes with and I start filling in the rest of my lips starting from the outer edge going inward. Smack your lips and blot with a tissue and Voile! You’ve got a pouty, extremely pigmented kisser!

 

It’s a little bit more difficult to get darker colors to look even but you’ll get the hang of it. And don’t worry… Everyone’s lips are asymmetrical. You may have to over compensate on one side to make your lips look even. I personally don’t because it gives me a bit of a crooked smile. I’m such a deviant!

Let me know if you have questions! Mad love.

They’re Real! Push-Up Liner

Benefit Cosmetics has done it again.

 

All your winged liner, cat eye, pinup liner worries are now over. For good! It doesn’t matter if you’ve been doing winged liner for 15 years or you just attempted to perfect it today… It’s extremely hard to get it looking even and like a professional did it. I know my day is going to go amazingly well when I get my eyeliner to look flawless in the morning.

I have always loved Benefit Cosmetics and their fun product names and slogans. I think they are a top notch makeup brand that always delivers. They finally came up with an eyeliner that makes winged liner a piece of cake. The liner itself is more cakey (in a good way) and thick than your everyday liquid liner. It dries instantly so you don’t have to worry about it transferring to your upper lid if you happen to sneeze or your boyfriend comes into the bathroom to scare the living daylights out of you. It doesn’t have a felt tip or a brush tip but a rubber tip that makes application fast and simple.

When I tried it for the first time, it took a couple tries to get used to it but in the end it was worth the extra couple minutes. I’ve been using it every day now and my application is uber fast. Never has my eyeliner ever looked so professionally stunning. This is by far the best liner I’ve ever used and I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

I asked my best friend what she thought of the new Push-Up liner and she said she absolutely hated it. She said the gel is crumbly and she’s super disappointed. I have to disagree with her. If you look at this liner like a regular liquid liner, you will definitely be disappointed. I look at it like a completely different animal. There is nothing like this and it’s the first of it’s kind. It does take some getting used to but once you’ve gotten the hang of it, it’s all up hill from there and I promise you there will be no regrets.

 

Have an amazing day, loves!

The difference between BB cream & CC cream

 

Because I’m a Beauty Insider and a VIB at Sephora, I get a ton a sample products. I spent so much money in there one day, I got almost $20 worth of free product. I have a giant bucket wear I throw all my samples into and often times, they get lost in the abyss of beauty products and are never seen again.  One sample stood out to me because of the name: Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream. What on God’s green Earth is BB Cream? And why must I try it? What will they think of next? I tried it out when I got home (I had a hot date that night), and to my surprise it made my skin look like flawless porcelain. I don’t wear foundation because I don’t like the cakey feel and this stuff was completely different. Almost weightless.  I got endless compliments from my date so I knew I had to go back into Sephora to buy the full bottle.

I don’t usually wear full-coverage foundation so I was a little skeptical to wear this daily. I worried that my skin might start to break out because of my combination skin type. Good news! BB Cream stands for Blemish Balm. It’s an all-in-one serum, moisturizer, primer, foundation and SPF. If you are at all worried about foundations causing break outs, this “tinted moisturizer” is for you. You can either wear it under your regular foundation for skin clarity and extra coverage or you can wear it alone and have flawless, glowing skin! There are many brands out there for BB cream but I have found that Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream fits me best. I have ZERO complaints.

CC Cream means Color Correcting, so this includes fixing issues like age spots, rosacea, broken capillaries or scarring. It’s an all-in-one product like the BB Cream but there are different tints in this cream to counteract the discoloration some ladies have. I don’t have discoloration so I bought the Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream and tried it out on my mom who has really bad rosacea. She wears pretty heavy foundation so we used it as a primer and it worked wonders. Her redness and inflammation was totally undetectable with this on.

Again, these two creams are made by many different brands but I’ve found that these are my favorite. I’ve already added them to my professional kit and plan on using them for weddings an such. Do you have any favorite brands for BB or CC Creams?

 

Have a rockin’ day, y’all.

Why You Should Be Putting Green Tea On Your Skin

Everyone knows that green tea is amazing for you. Whether you ingest it or put it on your body topically, it works wonders. Somehow even the words ‘green tea’ screams healthy. Yes, I am drinking a huge green tea latte as I’m writing this.

 

 

 

Green tea reduces the signs of aging drastically and has anti-carcinogenic effects with antioxidants known as EGCG. It reduces the breakdown of collagen and even protects the skin from UV rays. Using green tea long term on your skin will give you life long results which you’ll be able to see within a few weeks. Look for brands like Boscia, Ole Henrikson, Caudalie and Jurlique.

Have an amazing day beauties and make sure to have a cup of green tea today!

Smoking is great for your skin! Just kidding.

Believe me, I think I look like a total bad ass having a cigarette hanging out of my mouth just as much as the next person. However, I’m going to weigh the pros and cons (mostly cons) of smoking since it will make you look a thousand years old by the time you’re thirty-five. Most people have smoked a cigarette or two in their lives if not tens of thousands. This includes vaporizers and e-cigs that are popping up everywhere.

Smoking causes irreversible damage to your skin causing accelerated aging. People that have been smoking for ten years have noticeable signs of aging. This includes the dreaded crows feet, lip lines, laugh lines and uneven skin tone. Puffing on those death sticks causes the blood vessels to narrow which in turn reduces the amount of oxygen and nutrients your skins receives. You’ll end up with deep wrinkles, leathery skin and a yellowish skin tone. Pursing your lips or squinting when you get smoke in your eyes also adds stress to your skin that contributes to sagging, lifeless skin. Scientists have found that aging also occurs in the neck, chest and even inner arms!

Let’s be honest. There are ZERO pros to smoking so let’s ditch the smokes and cheers to beautiful, healthy skin for the rest of our lives!

The Importance of Exfoliation

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m addicted to facial scrubs, peel off masks and my Clarisonic Cleansing Brush. My skin feels baby soft after I exfoliate  and I won’t have it any other way! You can’t make me! Everyone and their mother knows that routine exfoliation is essential to beautifully radiant skin. Exfoliating increases circulation, sloughs off dead skin cells and increases the cell turnover rate which in turn, combats premature aging. In addition to improving skin tone and smoothing your skin’s texture, exfoliation helps reduce the chance of breakouts due to pore clogging build up.

Grab you’re non-fat dirty chai latte and settle into your chair. I’m going to explain the two different types of exfoliation: mechanical and chemical.

Mechanical Exfoliation: This type of exfoliation is when dead skin cells are rubbed off with an abrasive. I’m sure a few things popped into your head like a rabbit out a hole but I’ll give you some examples. Microdermabrasion, facial scrubs and a handy-dandy Clarisonic brush are brilliant ways to exfoliate your skin mechanically. Look for a facial scrub that has jojoba beads so it can be used daily without being too harsh or irritating. There is such thing as over-exfoliating so don’t go gung-ho and rip up your face like nobody’s business. Over-exfolating mechanically can create micro tears in your skin and cause redness, inflammation and aging. One scrub to steer clear of is drug store apricot scrubs.

Chemical Exfoliation: Exfoliating with acids is vital to healthy skin as well. This includes acids like enzymes, alphahydroxy acids (AHAs) and betahydroxy acids (BHAS) which break down the glue-like substance that holds all the cells together. Cells are sloughed off much easier when chemical exfoliation is done. You can find acids that help with exfoliation in many different masks and peels. As you start a routine of chemical exfoliation, you’ll realize how smooth radiant, and clear your skin can be. You’ll also notice how your pores start to disappear! AHAs are a collection of compounds found in food products like lactic acid (from milk), citric acid (from citrus fruits), glycolic acid (from sugar cane), to name a few. The most common BHA is salicylic acid and is more powerful and aggressive than any AHA. BHAs are soluble in oil as opposed to AHAs which are soluble only in water. 

Our skin cells renew every 28 to 45 days and that process slows down with age. Why not delay aging and exfoliate safely and more often! You’ll be bowing down to your exfoliating products once you start a regimen and I promise you’ll see a beautiful difference.

Thanks for reading babes. Have a great day!

Product Review: NYX Cosmetics Blush

I always had trouble making blush look natural and effortless. I found that more often than not, I would have neon pink streaks across my cheek bones. Because of this debacle, I usually opted out of incorporating blush into my makeup routine. In a couple years, I’ve learned a lot about how to apply blush and which colors flatter my skin tone. I’ve also learned which blushes are high quality and which ones are worth throwing off your fire escape. I found this NYX blush and decided to try it.

Pigmentation: The color I bought this in is Dusty Rose which is exactly what it sounds like; a bronzy rose color. It has a little bit of shimmer to it and the pigmentation is pretty concentrated for a blush. A little goes a long way so no need to pack this stuff on thick (unless you’re into the 80’s prom queen look). This blush gave me a flattering flush and my skin looks fabulously radiant. I imagine this color would be great for any skin tone.

Wearability: Throughout the day, this product didn’t move on my skin at all. I only had to apply it once and it still looked brilliant. Even when I had been working a full eight grueling hours, I still looked fresh as a daisy. This is great news because I definitely wasn’t feeling like one.

Packaging: The container is very clean cut and simple. The top is easy to pop open and fits in the palm of your hand for easy application.

Price: 5 dollars and smile!

The Verdict: I would recommend this blush to anyone. It is highly pigmented and blends like a high quality blush that’s $40+. The price is a no-brainer. The most beautiful part about this blush is that it makes me look and feel beautiful, healthy and glowing!

 

MAC The Simpsons Color Collection!

“On the occasion of their 25th anniversary, M•A•C celebrates everyone’s favourite animated family, The Simpsons, with a vivacious colour collection that can only be described in one word: Eeeeexcellent. Débuts this fall.”

You can be sure that I will be camped out in front of my neighborhood MAC store this fall.