Twenty Five Days of Beauty- Top Tips to Speed Up Your Morning Makeup Routine

DAY SIX OF THE TWENTY-FIVE DAYS OF BEAUTY

Top Tips to Speed Up Your Morning Makeup Routine 

1. ORGANIZATION. Allow easy access to makeup tool and brushes by laying them out in front of you. You can even go crazy and line them up in use order or by section of the face.  Keep your makeup in ONE place. It wastes time to jump from purse to purse or bathroom to bathroom to gather all your makeup products. Assign a spot where you will apply your makeup day to day, leaving all your products in that area.

2. SIMPLICITY. Work out of ONE makeup palette. Let’s be real, no one has the time to compare 4 shades of brown eye shadow for the crease from 4 different palettes. Choose a brand you like and check out their pre-matched color palettes. Or, purchase a Z-palette and shadow pans to create your own custom palette.

3. NEUTRALS. Instead of trying to match eye shadow to an outfit, choose neutral colors as they will work any time of year, day and with any outfit. Also, since no one has time to blend 4 shades of purple and green together, neutral colors tend to camouflage any blending errors or sharp lines.

4. BASICS. Stick with the basics. This is not the time to “try out that lipstick” or “try that cat eye liner”. Although experimenting with makeup is probably my favorite hobby, when you need to get out of the door, there is no time to try something new. Stick with what you know and pencil out some “ME” time to try something new. Anyways, if you are in a rush, a horrible lipstick color or smeared eyeliner is not going to start your day off right if you do not have the time to fix it.

5. MUTI-USE PRODUCTS. The greatest thing about makeup is that it does not have any rules. You can use a bronzer as an eye shadow or a blush that will also hi-light the check bones. You can use a cream blush as a lip color or the same bronzer color to contour and bronze by just using a lighter hand. There are times when I literally have 5 minutes to put on makeup. I always look for products that I can use on multiple areas of my face. For example, MAC ** is a burnt brown with red undertones blush that contains a slight shimmer. When I use this blush, I skip a hi-lighter to prevent looking like a disco ball. Also, when in a rush, I will use my bronzer on my face as well as in the crease of the eye. Not only will the bronzer deepen the crease and add dimension to the eye, the use of the same color will also tie the look together.

Until next time, 

X&O

Twenty Five Days of Beauty- Save or Splurge? L’Occitan Ultra Rich Body Cream

DAY FIVE OF THE TWENTY-FIVE DAYS OF BEAUTY

Save or Splurge? L'Occitan Ultra Rich Body Cream

If you are looking for a body lotion that feels luxurious on the skin without leaving a greasy residue behind and that moisturizes the skin without feeling waxy, then look no further.  This is by far my holy grail, best body cream I have ever used. The product is thick enough to cover and hydrate dry skin but not too thick where you can feel a layer of lotion laying on top of your skin. Best of all, you don’t have to spend 20 minutes rubbing the lotion into your skin as it immediately absorbs into the skin, feeling as though it is melting into your skin. 

Just as the name says, this lotion gives off an “ultra rich” feeling and leaves your skin moisturized for hours. The first word that comes to mind when describing the smell is, “classy”. The scent is a mix between the classic shea butter scent with a light smell of floral and powder. It’s hard to describe it as it will most likely smell slightly different on everyone. When I go out after applying the lotion, I always receive compliments on how fresh my “perfume” smells. 

I use this product on a daily basis. Following a shower, I cover my entire body with the lotion, locking in the moister as I continue to dry. In the winter months, my skin becomes extra dry and dehydrated. This is the only body lotion that will keep my skin glowing. On occasion, I will even apply a thick layer of the cream on my ankles and feet and put on socks to keep my dry feet moisturized throughout the night.

The only downside to this product is obviously the price. Although some may think it is outrageous to pay $44.00 for a tub of lotion, this product will last you a long time. It comes with 7 oz. of product and  a little goes a long way. I also noticed that whenever I used Bath and Body Works lotions or a less costly brands, my skin always felt greasy and the scent always gave me a headache. I am sorry but I do not want to smell like cucumber melon or cinnamon rolls.

This body lotion is amazing and if you are prone to dry, ashy, cracky skin in the winters, you have to pick this up! This would also make a great stocking stuffer.

Until next time, X&O

Twenty-Five Days of Beauty- High End Makeup Product Fails

DAY FOUR OF THE TWENTY-FIVE DAYS OF BEAUTY 

HIGH END MAKEUP PRODUCTS I REGRET BUYING

As a self-professed beauty junkie, I buy and test new products frequently, trying to find the best of best. However, there are times when a product just does not cut it and does not live up to their claims. This post is to not meant to trash a product or a brand. This post is to show that some products just do not and that is ok. These products may work for you and if they do, that is great; however, for me, these products were major fails.

Bare Minerals “Well Rested” Loose 

Under Eye Brightener

$19.00/0.07 oz

This product is advertised as a “mineral-based powder miracle concealer and eye shadow base.” This product, specifically the shade “Well Rested” is considered a beauty-cult favorite. Everyone was raving that this product was the perfect undereye setting powder. They claimed it was full coverage and since it is yellow-toned, it instantly will brighten the undereye.

WRONG! This product DOES NOT like my skin. I tried this powder will all types of concealers and foundations and I still end up with the same result. First, even when I tap off any excess powder from my brush, the powder sticks to the concealer immediately and does not move or blend out. When I do try to blend it out, it literally moves and removes the makeup underneath. The longer I wore this powder, my undereye gradually became more and more dry and cakey. Because of this, you could see the product building in every crease on my face.

I use this product now as an eyeshadow lid color.

MAC “Luna” Cream Color Base

$22.00/1.2 oz

When hi-lighting because a big thing over the year, my first stop for hi-lighting options was MAC. I asked for the best hi-lighting base, where I could apply a powder hi-lighter on top for a long wear. I was guaranteed that this product was everything plus more. 

Once again, WRONG! When applying a cream hi-lighting base, I either apply it with my finger by dabbing it on the highest points of my check bones or use a duo-fiber brush. This product is so thick that I could barely get any product off on my finger or brush. When I able to pick up product, the cream immediately clumped and was impossible to dab and/or blend on my skin. When I tried, it picked up and moved my makeup or applied in a 3-D clumpy effect. This also occurred when I tried to use the product as a eyeshadow base.

I no longer use this product.

Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Concealer

$25.00/ 0.58 oz

As you might be able to tell by now, I am a huge fan of Kat Von D makeup so when this concealer cam out, I was beyond excited to try it and had high hopes for it. It claims that it is a highly-pigmented, full-coverage, transfer and water resistant concealer. Sounds like the perfect concealer, right? WRONG! This product dried out my undereyes so bad that I looked as though I aged 10 years. It looked liked it created new creases in my eyes and it looked as if skin was going to peel off any second. A concealer SHOULD not be this thick. The pigmentation is great and could definitely cover any discoloration, however, the dryness it causes it not worth the money. 

I absolutely do not use this product under my eyes. The only use I found with this product is to use it to clean up my eyebrows.

Sephora Bright Set Loose Finishing Powder 

in Banana 01

$16.00/0.08 oz

I was browsing through the Sephora website and came across this powder. I immediately put it in my basket thinking that it might be an inexpensive alternative to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Banana setting powder. My excitement turned to disappointment before even using the product. The loose powder comes in a container with a shifter to control the amount of product that comes out. The shifter is three of the tiniest holes I have every seen and no product comes out now matter how hard you shake it. I literally cracked open the container and placed the powder in a another clean container I had on my vanity.

This product is horrible. This is NOT a dupe for ANY kind of banana shade setting powder. On my kin, when I applied this product, it immediately oxidized and turned dark. The powder also did not apply evenly under the eyes which always made my makeup look sloppy. 

I do not use this product at it. It sits in a drawer.

Benefit’s Fake Up Undereye Hydrating Concealer

$24.00/0.82 oz

I was intrigued when this product first came out and had high hopes. Basically this concealer has a moisturizing outer layer with the actual concealer in the middle. It claims that the concealer is enriched with vitamin E and will control creasing, hide dark circles and diffuse fine line for a smooth and natural look. 

Based on their claims, I thought this concealer was made for me as sometimes my undereyes tend to be very dry (especially in the winter). After giving this product a fair shot, testing it out for months and in different weather climate, basically this concealer did the complete opposite of its claims. 

The stick packaging was great and the product went on smoothly, however, this concealer creased on me from the start, even after immediately setting it with a powder. Since the concealer is surrounded by a layer of moisturizer the concealer is quite light, therefore, none of my underage discoloration was covered. Throughout the day, the concealer continued to look worse and worse. Even with “baking” the setting powder, using a thicker setting powder, adding more of the concealer, nothing works. 

To not waste money, I have actually tried using this as a lip balm base to give a moisturizing layer to my lips while slightly concealing the color of the lip color prior to apply a colored lip balm for everyday looks.

Twenty Five Days of Beauty- Save or Spurge? Kat Von D Lock ’N Load Makeup Setting Spray

DAY THREE OF THE TWENTY FIVE DAYS OF BEAUTY

Save or Splurge? 

Kat Von D Lock N' Load Makeup Setting Spray

I begin my day at 6:00 A.M and work 8-9 hours every day and sometimes the weekends. I do not have much time, if any, to make sure my makeup is still on and looking good. I have tried MANY setting sprays that claim to prolong the wear of your makeup and keep it looking fresh and perfect for 10 hours, 15 hours, 24 hours, etc. In a nutshell, they all failed to meet my exceptions.

Although I vowed to not waste any more money on setting sprays, I felt so compelled and interested to give the Kat Von D Lock ’N Load Makeup setting spray a shot. I have tried almost all of her products and have been very impressed by most. 

The product claims the following:

1. Weightless mist that locks down makeup for up to 16 hours

2. Film forming polymers ingratiates balance external factors such as the climate (helping prevent makeup melt-downs when hot; dehydration and cracking in the cold

3. Aloe and conditioning esters smooth and moisturize skin without a sticky or tight feeling

4. Prevents makeup from fading, sliding, caking or becoming excessively shiny

$24.00- 3.4 oz

After using this product for over a month, I would suggest that all my blog readers do two things: (1) Throw away all your setting sprays and (2) Buy this product! When I get home from a long day of work fulfilled with tons of touching, scratching, rubbing and holding my face, my makeup is still in place.

To really test this product, I went to bed on purpose with a full face of “glam” makeup after long night out. In the morning when I looked in the mirror, the makeup still looked presentable. When I looked in the mirror in the morning, my makeup still looked presentable. The eyeshadow stayed in place along with the foundation. With minor touch-ups, I could have went through the day with the makeup from the night before. (Please note that I immediately washed my face. I DEFINITELY do not suggest ever sleeping with makeup.

I use this spray after EVERY application of makeup and would definitely recommend this product for all skin types. I have oily skin, so most sprays leave a layer of oil on my skin or lock in the oil that accumulates throughout the day. Then there are sprays that make my skin feel like still glue; feeling the product with every face movement. This product controlled my oil, eliminating continuous blotting and left my skin feeling smooth and refreshed throughout the day.

I personally would not use this product throughout the day to refresh my look, although you can. For that purpose, I will continue to my MAC Fix+. If you are on the fence about this product or if you have a big occasion or long night ahead, I suggest picking up this spray. Not worrying about your makeup throughout the day or night is worth every penny of this product!

Until next time,

X&O