June Favorites

This month there are a few products that I've been especially enjoying. As it is June and the weather in Newfoundland is periodically warm and summer-like, I've been sporting more minimal makeup looks. Though this is not to say that I've been kicking it neutral, I've been thoroughly enjoying pops of bright and perky colors to the lips and cheeks for a fresh and pretty look. Here's the line up that made the top of my list for this month:

URBAN DECAY NAKED SKIN ULTRA DEFINITION FOUNDATION
This little wonder had graced last month's favorites and has continued to impress me ever since. Recently my skin has become more dry and dehydrated and this foundation now lasts all day on my skin even without the amazing Urban Decay Setting Spray or a setting powder. I love that it has a very skin-like finish that still manages to have that healthy glow while still letting my freckles peek through. Check out my original review here.

CLINIQUE SUPER CITY BLOCK DAILY FACE PROTECTOR
I'm nuts about SPF (and specifically about preventing wrinkles) and Clinique really out-did themselves on this one. I love this moisturizer on it's own and under makeup. I have yet to get a sun burn while wearing the impressive factor 40 and have not had any skin issues (breakouts, irritation, etc) since using it. Another bonus it that it helps control oil which comes in handy for really hot days.

WET N WILD BRULEE EYESHADOW
I love a good matte eye shadow, especially when it comes at an insanely affordable price point. I reach for this little number on a daily basis and it has become my most used single eye shadow. Wet n Wild have amazing quality eye shadows and this one is the perfect neutral cream that can be paired with virtually any other color.

MAYBELLINE COLOR ELIXIR IN RADIANT RASPBERRY
Unfortunately this was a limited edition product from Maybelline's Bleached Neons collection. If you still see it kicking around in the displays I would highly recommend picking it up. I love that this is the fusion between a lipstick and lip gloss that feels incredibly hydrating and wears down to a pretty stain on the lips. The color itself is a beautiful rich pink with a touch of coral. This has been my go to product for work as it can last long enough in between breaks before I need to reapply again.

LANCOME ROUGE IN LOVE GLOSS IN 312
It's the perfect peachy nude for days when I don't want to wear a bright lip. The formula of these glosses is the best I have come across and I think they are worth the investment if you are someone who enjoys wearing gloss. What more can I say?

THE BODY SHOP BODY SORBET IN MANGO
My most recent post reviewed this delicious product that I want to smother myself in every day. Check out my review here. It's like no other body lotion I've ever tried and it's the perfect product for summer.

TAZO TEA ZEN GREEN TEA
My favorite green tea ever. I've been sucking this down in an attempt to cut down on my coffee consumption and I absolutely adore it. I'd recommend ordering a cup at Starbucks to test it out before purchasing a box of tea bags.

What have you been adoring this month? Let me know your most used products in the last month.

Thanks for reading.

A Strange and Beautiful Thing: The Body Shop Body Sorbet

Don't you love sweaty thighs sticking together while you walk on a hot summer's day? Ah, how glamorous to be a woman. Yes, this is too much information but it's reality and it drives me crazy to no avail... until now. I have found a product that helps my thighs from sticking together in the hot sun... at least for a few hours.

I came across this new release from The Body Shop a few weeks ago. The Body Shop Body Sorbets are a new formula that smell and feel like rubbing a smoothie all over your body yet dries to a powder finish. That's right, it moisturizes the skin and makes you smell like fruit but leaves a smooth and silky powdered feel on the skin. Another bonus about this product is that if you store it in your fridge, it feels amazing to smooth onto skin after a hot shower on a hot day. If you are the type of person who gets easily overheated in the shower, this is an absolute god-send. And if I haven't convinced you of it yet, this can be applied to minor sun burns to help cool and soothe the skin. Oh yeah, and it helps your thighs from sticking together when wearing skirts/dresses/shorts (which is probably one of the most annoying things ever). Need I say more?

Basically, this is the perfect summer moisturizer for me. This puppy has taken up permanent residence in my fridge and I will be repurchasing the second it runs out. I don't understand what sort of science was involved in making a completely non greasy moisturizer that actually hydrates the skin, but I'm thoroughly impressed with the formula. Not to mention, the mango scent is divine and smells good enough to eat (it also comes in strawberry, satsuma orange, moringa flower and pink grapefruit scents).

Have you tried The Body Shop Body Sorbets?

Thanks for reading.

How to Use Pressed Pigments

Have you ever been amazed by the beauty that is pressed pigments? As a makeup addict, I really adore trying new makeup but I often get intimidated by products that confuse me. There was a time when I had no idea how to use pressed pigments, but I have figured out a technique that is insanely quick and easy. Honestly, anyone can do this. If you have fingers, you can do this. Here's my quick and easy tip for applying pressed pigments as an all over eye shadow for a simple, pretty look:

STEP ONE:  Apply an eye primer. This step isn't completely necessary, but I find that most eye shadows will crease on me unless I use a primer underneath. This also gives the powder something to cling to.

STEP TWO: Dip your finger into the pressed pigment as pictured above.

STEP THREE: Pat the product all over the lid for a shimmery wash of color. Use a patting motion rather than a rubbing motion to ensure the product doesn't fall down onto the face. And that's it!

So that's a super simple technique for using pressed pigments. I love the L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadows for this job, but there are tons of brands that make the same type of product. If you wish to add pressed pigments to a smokey eye look, make sure to apply the pressed pigment last and apply over the top of your eye shadow with your finger where you would like the product to be. Brushes can be used to apply pressed pigments, but in my experience they result in a messy and patchy look. Sometimes your fingers are better than any brush!

How do you like to apply pressed pigments? Please let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

The Graveyard Shift: Beauty Tips for the Morning After

This is a post for all of those hard working shift workers out there. As a nurse, I have worked many a night shift and most nurses have to work overnight from time to time. After returning home from a night shift, you are (hopefully) heading to sleep while the rest of the world is just starting the day. Having to drag yourself out of bed can be pure misery and making yourself presentable is often the last thing you want to do. Through much trial and error, here are some tips that have worked for me when I look and feel completely exhausted. The goal of post-night shift makeup is to look less tired and the best way to do that is use minimal products for maximum impact. Keeping it simple with perky skin, flushed cheeks, black mascara and strategically placed glowiness will help fake that eight hour sleep look that we all long for. Here are my top tips for a post night shift refresh:

• Moisturize- Working in a hospital setting often caused dehydrated skin from air conditioning and dry air. Before you apply makeup, it is critical to moisturize to prevent the dreaded cake face. 
• Deflating Puffy Eyes- This is the time where refrigerated eye cream, eye rollerballs or cold metal spoons come in handy to help deflate puffy, tired eyes. 
• Light Base- The lighter the base, the better your skin will look. If you have good skin, I would highly recommend a tinted moisturizer or BB cream to mimic dewy, healthy skin. If you cannot part with foundation, I would recommend a foundation with a little bit of glowyness to it. A matte, heavy foundation will make your skin look more dragged out and tired. My favorite tinted moisturizer is the NARS Radiant Tinted Moisturizer and my favorite satin-finish foundation is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation. 
• Glowy Primer- My favorite primer ever, the L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer is fantastic for adding some life back into your face. Any sort of luminizer will help reflect light from your face and help make you look more awake. 
• Conceal those Bags- Using a light, but pigmented concealer is one of the best ways to disguise tired eyes. I absolutely adore the Maybelline Age Rewind Undereye Circle Eraser for covering the bluest of undereye bags. Make sure to use a thin layer to avoid looking cakey. Yellow toned concealers are best for concealing dark bags.
• Flushed Cheeks- A pretty flush of blush on the cheeks really helps to make you look more lively and less tired. I personally love pink blush to brighten up the complexion and add some color back into your face. One of my favorite blushes for this is the Joe Fresh Cream Blush in Blossom. 
• Go Easy on the Powder- I would recommend using powder sparingly. An overpowdered face makes you look cakey and more tired. If possible, stick to applying powder to the T-zone. 
• Simple Eye Makeup- A shimmery gold or champagne eyeshadow is bascially all you need to brighten up the eye area. Applying a nude eye liner to the waterline will help combat red eyes. A coat of black mascara also helps to open up the eyes. If you cannot go without eyeliner, stick to lining just the upper lid. 
• Lip Balm- Keep your lips moisturized with a simple lip balm. Tinted balms (such as the Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm) help to keep your lips moisturized and add a sheer pop of color to the lips. 

What are your tips to look more lively after a night shift? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading. 

Subtle Ombre: Two Toned Lips

Happy Sunday ladies and gents! Today I'm going to talk about a new trend that I have been sporting, the ombre lip! I know that you are sick of hearing about the ombre trend by now, but I think this is a nifty little trick to not only make your lips appear fuller, but also add some interest to an otherwise solid lip color. If you find it hard to see the difference between the two colors in the above pictures, it's because lipsticks blend so nicely together, even when the colors appear very different in the tube. As the title suggests, this is a subtle take on the ombre trend that produces very pouty and plump looking lips. It's incredibly quick and simple to do, all you need is two lipsticks that are similar colors with one lighter than the other. For instance, I chose a light peach paired with a pinky coral, a neutral red with an orange and a bright rosy pink paired with a pale pink. There is an endless number of combinations that can be used for this trend and I encourage you to get creative! Here's how I did it:

STEP ONE: Apply the darkest color all over the lips.

STEP TWO: Apply the lighter color just to the center of the lips (both top and bottom lips).

STEP THREE: Rub lips together to blend the colors together. 

Voila! A super simple lip look that anybody can do. Again, this is not an obvious lip ombre, but it certainly looks pretty and adds visual interest to the lips. 

Have you tried two-toned lips? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks for reading. 

For those who would like to know the lipstick combos used above:

-Lancome Rouge in Love # 340B + MAC Ravishing

-Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Turn On + Lancome Color Design in Pale Lip

-Rouge Dior in #941 Rouge Cannage + Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Timanfaya

        

The Best Dry Shampoo

When dry shampoo first hit the drugstore scene, I was all over it. And then I was disappointed, again and again. I loved the idea of dry shampoo but couldn't seem to find "the one". Every other dry shampoo that has come near my head has resulted in weighed down, chalky, and sometimes even wet looking hair. Until this little beauty came into my life and forever changed it.

For those of you who are confused by the purpose of dry shampoo, it is not necessarily equivalent to the traditional shampoo and conditioning experience that you would carry out in the shower, but a great way to freshen up your hair when it starts to get greasy (attractive, I know). I don't wash my hair every day, but I love to use dry shampoo on the days when I don't wash my hair, to absorb oil at the roots and help give my hair some beachy texture and volume. Dry shampoo can also be used on clean hair for the purpose of adding some grit and texture to clean hair that would otherwise lay flat.

What I love about the Dove Fresh Care Dry Shampoo:

• It smells amazing, very similar to Dove shampoos but perhaps more fruity. The scent manages to stick into my hair all day but isn't strong or overpowering. 
• Instead of using clay like most traditional dry shampoos, corn starch is instead used to soak up oils on the scalp. For girls with fine hair, this means that we can freshen up our roots without having them weighed down or look like baby powder was dumped on our heads. 
• A bottle lasts forever. I use mine nearly every day (since I rarely wash my hair) and I get at least six months out of a can.
• It is budget friendly, coming in at around $6 dollars a can. 
• It is the only product I can use to create big hair with my fine, limp locks. 
• It seems impossible to apply too much. Very user friendly. 

If you are a user of dry shampoo or if you are looking for a way to freshen up your hair in between washes, I would highly recommend checking out this product the next time you hit the drugstore. I'm obsessed and I don't think I can be without it. It's a product I have repurchased three times over, if that's any indication.

Have you tried the Dove Fresh Care Dry Shampoo? What is your favorite dry shampoo?

Thanks for reading.

Makeup Look: Fresh Pinks for Spring

If you haven't figured it out yet, I've had a total change of heart about pink makeup this spring. After banging on about pretty, fresh pinks for the past couple weeks, I thought it would be helpful to showcase one of the many ways that I like to wear the bright pink trend that is oh so fabulous for sunny days. Pink is such a versatile color and there is a shade out there for everyone. I think this look is nice for a day shopping with your friends or even worn on a night out. This makeup look is super simple, using light grey shimmery eyeshadows for subtle definition and black liner for a cat eye flick. Lashings of mascara was applied to the top lashes only for a very dolly look. Pink cream blush was used across the apples of the cheeks and blended up towards the temples to sculpt the face and the look was finished off with a bright pink gloss.

Today I used three new products that I have been really loving. Two affordable drugstore products and one splurge! The Joe Fresh Cream Blush in Blossom is an insanely affordable and impressive cream blush. I like this blush for the fact that it doesn't have a dewy finish and also doesn't have a powder finish. I love that it has that non-greasy creamy texture that just melts into the skin without highlighting uneven skin texture or imperfections (and no shimmer!). The blush is super pigmented so I would recommend going easy with it on the first application. Another bonus is that it lasts all day on the cheeks without budging. It is a drugstore blush that seriously brings it for a very reasonable $8 at Dominion (Not to mention that it rivals my favorite cream blush, the Stila Convertible Colors).

The next drugstore product that has made it's way into my collections is the Maybelline Color Elixir in Hibiscus Haven, a punchy purple-toned bright pink. I've heard a few rave reviews floating around Youtube about this little drugstore lippie and I am so happy I picked this up! It's definitely not the type of color I would normally be drawn to but I really like the way it looks against my pale skin without being too in your face. In the look above, I used a lip liner underneath to tone down the neon-ness of the gloss and I think it makes the color even more wearable for daytime.

Finally, I broke down and purchased a decent liquid liner pen. The Stila Stay All Day Water Proof Liquid Liner in Intense Black is probably the best liquid liner I have ever used. The super thin tip makes it easy to make a subtle flick but also allows the precision to build it up to a hefty line if desired. As the lengthy product name states, it stays all day and does not move. I like to think of this product as liquid liner for dummies, which is a dream for liquid liner noobs like myself. If you are someone who wears liquid liner on a daily basis or a few times a week, I think it's definitely worth the splurge.

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE: Too Faced Primed and Poreless Primer, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation, Maybelline Dark Circle Corrector (for under eye area), Vichy Dermablend Foundation Stick (used as high coverage concealer for spots/scars), Clarins Ever Matte Powder. 

EYES: Dior 5 Couleures Palette in Grege, Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Liner in Intense Black and Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes Mascara.

CHEEKS: Joe Fresh Cream Blush in Blossom.

LIPS: Rimmel Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Lip Liner in Rose Quartz and Maybelline Color Elixir in Hibiscus Haven. 

How do you like to incorporate pink into your makeup looks? Will you be trying out bright pinks this spring?

Thanks for reading.

May Favorites

May has been such a busy month for me and I'm happy that we are now in the month of June. In the past few weeks I have started a new job, convocated from university and turned 23 years old. I've been really enjoying doing my makeup in the past month, mostly due to the fact that my skin seems to be calming down after a series of breakouts but also because of the sunshine that seems to be showing itself to St. John's from time to time. Many of the products in my favorites are new purchases but there are a few old re-discovered favorites hanging in there as well. Here's the lineup for the month of May:

URBAN DECAY NAKED SKIN FOUNDATION (SHADE 1.0)
If you haven't seen my first impressions of this foundation, you can read about it here. I gave it a rave review but had issues with the foundation wearing off my face before the day was through. After purchasing my next favorite, I've fallen completely in love with the foundation. It really does look like skin and it never looks cakey. I think this is a perfect foundation for spring and summer because it is light-weight on the skin while giving you a semi-matte finish for warmer days. The Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation is definitely my favorite foundation at the moment.

URBAN DECAY ALL NIGHTER MAKEUP SETTING SPRAY
This is my first setting spray that I have used. Somehow I missed the memo that setting sprays are the best product ever. I don't know why it took me so long to purchase the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray but I am completely hooked and I don't think I can go without it again. I purchased this to help my Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation last longer on my skin and my makeup literally looks freshly applied by the end of the day. This not only helps face makeup stay put but also helps to set eye makeup for at least 16 hours. I also love that this helps to take that powdery finish off the skin and make your makeup mingle with the skin harmoniously. I would highly recommend this product to anybody who wears makeup.

RIMMEL MATCH PERFECTION CONCEALER
In an attempt to use up some concealers in my stash, I've went back to this old favorite. After using up my Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, I've definitely fallen out of love with it and it seems to cake up around my eyes. I love that the Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer is super light weight and sinks into the skin under my eyes to conceal and brighten my under-eye circles. I think this is the old packaging but the new packaging looks quite similar.

URBAN DECAY REVOLUTION LIPSTICK IN TURN ON
I've already raved about this lipstick in the past month (read here), so I won't bore you with a repeat mini-review. I have already deemed this beautiful lipstick as holy grail status and I've been wearing it for most of the month. I'm definitely loving the look of fresh pinks this spring.

JOSIE MARAN COCONUT WATERCOLOR CHEEK GELEE
There was a lot of hype around this blush when it was first released and I got sucked into the hype and purchased it about a year ago. I wasn't keen on this blush at first, but I've recently found a way to make it work on my skin and I am in love with the formula. It's not quite a cream blush, more of a gel blush that I like to use with my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. I like to apply it by putting a small dot of blush on each cheek and blending it in with the brush for a super fresh and natural flushed color to the cheeks. I love this blush when worn with pink lipsticks. So pretty!

TVAL DEEP CLEANSING OIL WITH MANDARIN AND CEDAR
I've been using this cleansing oil for about a month and I have seen such a difference in my skin. It manages to remove every bit of makeup from my face while keeping it hydrated and soothed. It has a very earthy scent that I actually really enjoy. I love that this cleansing oil is thicker than other oils I have tried, making it easier to rub into the skin (whereas other cleansing oils run out between my fingers before I have a chance to apply to the skin). I use this oil every night to double cleanse and I will definitely be repurchasing as soon as my small bottle runs out. TVAL is a local shop on Water Street in St. John's and can also be purchased through their website here.

TVAL OIL FREE LOTION WITH STRAWBERRIES AND 2% SALICYLIC ACID
Another TVAL skin care favorite this month! I love this lotion for day time and night time use. Between the cleansing oil and this moisturizer, I believe these products have helped to clear up my skin significantly. I love this lotion because it fights acne without drying out the skin. It's light weight and hydrating with the pleasant scent of strawberries. It creates a great base for makeup and I have not had any new breakouts since I've started using it. I'm totally hooked on this moisturizer and love the very reasonable price point. Check it out at their beautiful shop or order through their website here.

So that's the line up of fantastic products that were well loved over the past month. What have you been loving this month? Please let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.