Beauty, Health, Photos

Simplified beauty routine for Winter

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simplified-beauty-routine
I’ve simplified my beauty routine in the mornings this winter. Only because I don’t want to have dry patches on my already dry skin! So this is what I do for my dry skin in winter, as I’m feeling more parched than usual.

What I’m using:

  • Philosophy Hope In A Jar — This is a great whipped moisturizer that I received a generous sample of to try out, and blog about. I fell in love with it and bought a full sized version at Sephora last week.
  • Bobbi Brown Luminous Moisturizing Foundation — This foundation gives a light to medium coverage, which is buildable. I’m not sure if my skin is acting up or if I’m not exfoliating and moisturizing enough, but this has been wearing off my skin before the days end. It didn’t used to.
  • Sonia Kashuk concealer — My holy grail concealer and I cannot wait until Target Canada opens up so I can finally get another quad. I’ve used up the entire dark concealer and the light one I’m scraping the edges of. It’s great, since it does not crease under your eyes. It’s the only place I apply this concealer (or any other, for that matter)
  • Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash — Great mascara, I will always have an emergency back up of this and will never be without it! It’s a drier consistency which I like and it adds incredible volume and length that people think I’m wearing false eyelashes. Look!
  • Bobbi Brown Extra Eye Repair Cream — A definite indulgence for an eye cream. But that small jar shown in the photo below will last me 7 months. I’ve blogged about it before, and I’m blogging about how great it is again. It’s the first thing I put on my face (er, eyes) in the morning after washing it. Concealer blends so effortlessly on top of it. It’s such a rich, hydrating cream that I somehow cannot go without. Doesn’t burn the eyes, either.
  • Philosophy Purity Cleanser — I purchased the biggest bottle I could, last winter and I’m about half way through. It’s a gentle cleanser that removes waterproof mascara yet it never leaves my skin feeling tight or dry. I hear this is great to use on a clarisonic if you own one.

beauty-products-for-winterSpring Cleaning. That’s what I call winter-cleaning.

What are some of your favorite beauty items for winter?

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Daily, Health, Photos

Spa day: at home!

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We’re getting into the drier months now, and it’s time to focus on your skin not sucking into itself and shriveling up. Er, I mean.. it’s time to moisturize the heck out of your skin to keep having that summer glow! Right?

I’m one of the lucky ones who’ve never had major issues with their skin. I do find that my skin is a little sensitive (and reacts to certain eye creams: Warning, the following post shows a photo of me with an allergic reaction/puffy eyes) and it gets a little red, sometimes tight when I wash it with certain face washes.

I’ve been sticking to my skin care regime pretty faithfully. But for my facial wash, I now use Philosophy’s Purity cleanser, it’s gentle and I’ve never had any issues with it in the past 6 months of using it twice a day.

On a not so regular basis, I like to pamper my skin and do mud-masks and have a spa day in the comfort of my own home. I think that exfoliating your skin on a regular basis (at least once a week) is a pretty important step in anyone’s skin care routine. I’ve had this Philosophy’s micro exfoliating treatment laying around my apartment for a good 6+ months before I got the courage to use it. I won a huge beauty basket on Twitter, and this was inside. It looked intimating.

Reading the instructions scared me a little. The first step was applying the yellow jello-like goo. It was like a scrub, and I applied it all over my face (as you can see below). Then it was time for the second step – the activator. It caused a noticeable warming effect onto my skin. I was a little worried to be honest, but it didn’t burn. Just felt really warm. I left it on for the amount of time I was supposed to and washed it off with water and a wash cloth.

I can’t say I noticed a difference in my skins appearance, texture or smoothness. Perhaps one jar’s worth of this product isn’t enough to make an educated answer on how well it works for the skin. Perhaps it’s something one needs to use regularly to notice a difference.

Will I ever purchase this item myself? Probably not. It was neat while I tried it, but it didn’t wow me with results.

I am not affiliated with Philosophy, as I said I won this gift set at a Twitter party.

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Daily, Health, Photos

Makeup routine

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I wear makeup almost on a daily basis. I like how it evens out my skin tone and makes me look not-so sunburnt. I have the reverse effect of raccoon eyes meaning that I have a really white under eye area and rosy cheeks. Not to be confused with rosacea.

Shown in order, here are the products I use on my face on a daily basis. I’ll get further into it below but I don’t wear two foundations on my face each day, but just switch them out whenever I’m feeling it. Same goes for the under eye concealers, I don’t wear them on a regular basis.

After my simplified skincare routine I apply foundation. My go-to was Laura Mercier’s Moisturizing foundation until they took it off the shelves to reformulate it to a Moisture Supreme foundation which is now a thicker, greasier, heavier consistency. I have disowned that particular product but still love the brand itself. Since I have dry skin, I like to have a dewier finish rather than a matte, flat look to my face.  I’d rather look hydrated with luminous foundation than look like I haven’t exfoliated and have dry flaky dandruff like skin on my face. I’ve been using Marcelle BB Cream as my new foundation. You can see a full on routine that I blogged about here.

I am a huge fan of foundation and would purchase the most expensive bottle, if it worked for me. That is the only one item I will splurge on, because I think it is so worth while to me, personally. I recently bought the Bobbi Brown Luminous Foundation but I haven’t used it enough to say that it is my holy grail foundation that will ultimately replace Laura Mercier’s Moisturizing foundation. I’m still a little disappointed that they did discontinue my favorite foundation.

Ever since I had my weird flare up in using a certain eye cream I have been really hesitant on putting too much on my face. If I really feel the need to put under eye concealer on, I use the Bobbi Brown Corrector in the color bisque. I use the absolute smallest amount you could put on your finger. Literally a pin point and blend it in. If I have a red mark on my face from a blemish I use Laura Mercier Secret Concealer. Though I haven’t used that one in ages.

The next thing that goes on my face is one of my favorites. The bronzer. Not sure how to apply it? Here is a video I filmed on how to apply bronzer. I’m not too partial on a certain bronzer but I have gone through a few boxes of Benefit Hoola, I have also tried Laura Mercier Bronzing Pressed Powder, and next to use up will be my Vasanti Brazilian Bronzer.

I’ve been using blush lately just because I have it and I like to use different colored blushes on my cheeks to give it a varied flushed look to my skin. Right now I’m using E.L.F Blush in the color candid coral.

I don’t need to use mascara as my eyelashes are one of everyone’s favorite feature of mine. People have joked about how envious they are of me for having such long lashes. I use mascara to make them more obnoxious and volumized. My day-to-day mascara is Vasanti Long Lash mascara. It’s decent for every day wear since it’s not too in your face. It gives your lashes a nice coat and doesn’t flake and leave residue underneath your eyes at the end of the day. When I want them to look like false lashes I use my all time favorite duo which is the Makeup Forever Smokey Lash then Buxom Lash layered on top.

I know a ton of people are a fan of MAC Cosmetics, and I did a MAC makeup review back in 2009 of all the information still remains accurate in my opinion, so check that out too if you’re interested. I don’t wash my brushes daily anymore more like ever 3-4 applications.

See my skincare routine below:

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