My Hair Care Must Have's

I'm just going to put this out there - I was not blessed in the hair department. Nope. Not one good characteristic about it. It's thin and rather lifeless and has a natural wave that is sporadic. You know, the type where it isn't consistently wavy, it just has a random wave here and a random wave there. It basically just makes you look unkempt. This means I have to take a flat iron to it on the reg...thats right daily. Because unlike many of you lucky ladies, I have to wash my hair every.single.day. If not, I'll be able to grease a squeaky door with my head. Yes, I know it's bad for my hair, but whatev's.

Anywho, for the last year or so I've been feeling pretty good about my hair and I'm pretty sure it has to do with the products I've been using. So, without further ado, here are my must have's for hair care!

Shampoo:
Aveda Color Conserve - Seeing as though I was my hair daily and I have it colored red (which is notorious for washing out quickly), I need a shampoo that will keep my color on my head and not going down the drain. This shampoo does the trick! Not only is it gentle on your hair, it also protects it from fading from the sun, water and other environmental stresses. Plus, it leaves my hair super soft and smelling yummy.

L'Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare Volume Filler Thickening Shampoo - Because I am a bit of a cheapskate, I like to only use the Aveda shampoo every other day (at $21, it is rather pricey); on the off days, I use this one. This stuff really does give my hair extra volume and makes my hair feel super clean. I really love all of the L'Oreal Advanced Haircare shampoos. I hate literally tried them all and they make my hair feel amazing and smell awesome. Plus they are affordable!

Conditioner:
Aveda Madder Root Color Conditioner - If you have red hair, you need this in your life. This conditioner is amazeballs. I like to use this every Sunday and every time I use it, it looks like I just went to the salon! It really adds color and shine back into my hair, plus it is lightweight so it doesn't weigh down my already limp locks. With this conditioner and the Color Conserve shampoo, I am able to go about two months between salon visits without major fadeout. One warning though - this stuff is literally red, so it can stain your hands, shower walls, pretty much anything it touches if you don't rinse it off.

L'Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare Total Repair 5 Damage Erasing Balm - This is a deep conditioner so I only once a week (usually Wednesdays). I'm not sure it does what it claims, which is to repair years of damage in one use, but it does seem to have helped strengthen my hair. It has also made my hair a lot less frizzy and a lot more shiny and smooth.

Heat Protectant:
Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Heat Protectant - This is literally the only heat protectant I have been able to use. In the past I had tried so many different brands, but they all weighed down my hair and left it greasy. Since this is a "dry" spray, I can spray it all over without it looking like I applied any product at all. It protects hair from heat up to 450 degrees and I also feel like it add shine and helps tame fly-aways.

Biotin Supplements:
TwinLab Biotin Dots 3000 mg - I've been taking these every morning along with my normal multi for a little over a year now and have really noticed some changes to my hair. It feels thicker and healthier and really helped when I was trying to grow the length out. For more information on how Biotin aides with hair health and growth, you can go here.

Have any questions or suggestions? Leave a comment below!

x's,

Makeup Love’s - Day 4 - Extra Touches

It’s the little things that pull a look together. Sure, you need a good base, but its the extras that make you stand out. Eye liners, eye shadows, lipsticks and lip glosses are some of those extras; they’re like the accessories of the beauty world.  

For eyeliner, Stila’s Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner takes the cake! My fave for the daily office grind is Lionfish (a dark shimmery bronze color). This shade is dark enough to bring some definition to the eye, without being as dramatic as a black liner nor as boring as a plain brown one. For more intensity, try the Smudge Stick in Stingray, which is their jet black (don’t you love their names?). These liners are great because they truly hold up all day in the waterline and on the lids and you can smudge them out before it sets, to get a smokey look. Just make sure you have some makeup remover in your beauty arsenal; you’re going to need it at the end of the day!

Eye shadows are great, don’t get me wrong, but during the work week, I’m not a fan of eye looks that take a lot of time. I like my beauty sleep, so M-F I like to keep it simple. My go-to product is actually not an eye shadow at all – it’s Benefit’s Watts Up. This highlighter can be used to bring a glow to any part of your face, but my favorite spot to use it is on the eyelids and inner corners near the tear ducts. A little dab of this and some liner and my eye makeup is donezo. It gives you a hint of color, shimmer and makes you look wide awake. For date nights I’ll normally use my Urban Decay Basics pallet. From a light shimmery color to an almost black, this pallet has got everything you need for a sultry look. If your into more vibrant colors, try out one of their other Naked pallets (one, two, three). No matter which you pick, you can’t go wrong - the shadows are so so pigmented, creamy and blendable!

Eyebrows frame your face, so it is important to keep them in shape and filled in. I’m not sure which is worse – two hairy caterpillars hanging out up there or two patchy strips! If you were blessed with full brows, you can probably skip the step of filling them in and opt for just taming them down with some brow gel (quick tip: don’t waste your money on expensive brow gels, clear mascara works just fine); however if your eyebrows resemble two mangy puppies– whether by birth or by obsessive compulsive tweezing - keep reading. The best product I have found thus far for filling in my sparse brows is Anastasia of Beverly Hills’ Brow Wiz in medium brown. The reasons behind why this magic wand works so much better than the rest, are many. For one, it comes in a very thin pencil which makes it easy to hold in your hand. For best results, use short flicking motions to fill in bare spots. This keeps you from looking like you used a permanent marker to draw them on. The product itself is also very creamy and long wearing. So not only does it goes on easily and evenly, but you also don’t have to worry about them being rubbed off during a hot make out sesh. Now that you’ve perfected those arches, flip that wand around and pop off the other top and behold the world’s best spoolie. This little brush blends like no body’s business and will help ensure your handiwork looks completely natural.

Lippies are probably my most purchased beauty items. My hubby and I do our grocery shopping at Target, so pretty much every week we’re there, I’ll throw a gloss or lipstick in the cart. I mean, its only a couple bucks, why not!? Because of this I don’t really have one fave to share, but I will say that NYX Butter Glosses and Maybelline’s Color Elixer’s rank at the top.

Well ya’ll, that wraps up my list of makeup love’s! I hope I gave you a couple new products to check out! What are some products you can’t live without? Leave a comment below and let me know, a girl can never have too much makeup…

x’s,

Makeup Love’s - Day 3 - Foundation, Blush/Bronzer and Setting Spray

Can you believe we are already on day three of this glossy adventure? Today we are finally talking about the meat and potatoes, the main event, the money sho…ok, we won’t go there. That’s right, today folks we are talking about foundation, blush, bronzer and even a setting spray (never heard of it? It’s like hairspray for your face. Keep reading).

To say I am picky about my foundation is an understatement. There is literally only ONE that I will use and have used consistently for 10+ years – bareMinerals Original Foundation in Fairly Medium and Medium Beige. I like to mix the two shades together to find the perfect match, depending how “tan” I happen to be (please note that I am using the word “tan” veeeery loosely here people!). I just can’t get used to the feeling of liquid or cream foundations. From drugstore to high-end, no matter what I try, I feel like I am wearing a mask, yuck! Sound familiar? Well bareMinerals gives great coverage while keeping the appearance and feel of natural skin; you really have to pile it on for it to look cakey. Also, for those of you who like products without harsh chemicals or fragrances, bareMinerals is au natural, with only five natural ingredients and it also has an SPF of 15.

Keeping the bareMinerals train chugging along, I am also a big fan of their blushes and bronzers. My fave blush is Fruit Cocktail, which is this vibrant hot pinky/corally color. Do not let the way it looks in the packaging scare you away! Yes it is bright, but used with a light hand it will give you just the prettiest, rosiest of cheeks. I promise you won’t look like Bobo the Clown. As for bronzers, their All-Over Face color in Faux Tan Sunlit Bronze is the way to go. Use a sweep of this in the areas the sun would naturally hit your face – forehead, temples, cheeks and chin and you’ll be looking like a sun-kissed babe in no time. You can even apply some along your chin line and down your neck to slim out your face! Both of these products blend easily and last all day, so consider touchups a thing of the past.

This last product I am going to share with you is not by bareMinerals – I know, pick your chin up off the floor. It is by Urban Decay and it’s the De-Slick Oil-Control Setting Spray. Can I just have a brief moment of silence for this glorious nectar…..if you have oily skin, you need this in your life! After I am done applying all of my face makeup, but before I apply mascara, I will spray this all over. It will go on wet but once it dries, it will lock all your hard work into place and will not let your face turn into a greased pan. Before I found this, I would have to powder or blot to keep the shine down within two hours of getting ready, but with this little baby? I can go 6+ hours! Here’s another little tip for ya – if you have extra oily skin or know you will be spending the day outside in the heat, or in dancing the night away in the club, spray some of this on your bare skin first, then apply your makeup and spray s’more. You’re welcome.  

Make sure to check back in tomorrow to catch the final fave’s included in my Makeup Love’s series! <3

x’s,

Makeup Love’s - Day 2 - Concealer

Ah, concealer. If I had to pick only one beauty item out of a line up, you’d get the rose every time. I like to use four of them - one for under the eyes, one for dark spots, one for redness and one for blemish’s. Yea, I use four. Call me high-maintenance...whatever. 

Let’s start with the peepers! I have just a bit of darkness under there and no fine lines as of yet (hallelujah genetics). My favorite concealer for this area is Benefit’s Fake Up, in light. This stuff is amazeballs. No, seriously it is. It comes in a tube similar to lipstick. In the center of the tube you have your concealer and around it is this magical moisturizing balm (we’ll call it unicorn juice), made from Vitamin E and apple seed extract. It naturally covers any dark circles while moisturizing the skin and it does.not.crease. 

Next up is Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Spot Corrector + Treatment, in light/medium. Unfortunately in my teen years, I had some nasty breakouts that left me with hyper pigmentation. I like to use this stuff to cover those areas. It does a great job of brightening them up, but it is on the runnier side, so it doesn't do well on active breakouts. The "treatment" side is a plus as well; I have seen such a difference in how these spots look since I've been using it! Out, damned spot! Out, I say! (that’s a little Shakespeare for ya. Consider yourself cultured). Oh, and did I mention its super affordable? A tube of this will only run you about eight bucks!

Redness. My number one complaint about my skin is the redness I have around my nose. Sure I've tried those green based concealers that beauty experts swear will cancel it out - and every single time I ended up looking like the Incredible Hulk. Not sure if it's my uber pale skin, or what the deal is but every time I’ve tried it, no bueno. Then my mother-in-law introduced me to It Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness. I'm pretty sure I heard angels singing the first time I put some on. It goes on like buttah! I find that a kabuki brush helps ensure the perfect finish. A little goes a long way, so you want to take it easy or you can definitely end up with cake face.

Last, but certainly not least, is a concealer for blemishes. No matter how hard we try to avoid them, the inevitable will always happen and you’ll end up with a pimple smack dab in the middle of your forehead, right before a big event. Should you find yourself in this predicament, what you want to do is run to your nearest Sephora and pick up Kat Von D’s Lock-It Tattoo Concealer (I use it in light). Originally designed to cover tattoos, this stuff makes child’s play out of even the nastiest of face volcanos. Just dab a little on, set with powder, and those little [evil] babies will be covered all day. The consistency is thick, which is great for covering up your blemishes. Because of this however, I keep it far far away from the under eye area, I find it does crease. 

Now, can you get away with using 1-2 concealers? Sure! But if you're anything like me, you like your options and these four amigos have got you covered.

x’s,

Makeup Love’s - Day 1 - Primer

To kick off the start of my new blog, I am going to share with you some of my all-time makeup fave’s and how I use ‘em! This will be a four day series, so be sure to check back in to hear about all the products. 

Living in South Florida, the high temperatures and humidity can cause what I like to call - “Instant Melt Face.” Even if you don’t live in a sauna, you know what I’m talking about to some degree - little patches of foundation wearing down, making you look like a leper. Or eye makeup running down your face until you resemble a raccoon. Both of which make you look super hot. Primer is key in preventing this from happening, it’s like the backboard of your face puzzle; it’s what helps keeps that shizz together. 

I know some of you are thinking that primers are a waste of money, since you are essentially dropping dough on something you can’t even see; but oh dear friends are you so wrong. You know how stylist always say dirty hair holds curl better? Same concept here, only the primer is your dirt. I actually like to use two - Benefit’s The Porefessional in the t-zone and bareMinerals’ Prime Time on the rest of my face. 

Don't let Melt Face happen to you.

The Porefessional will sink into every one of your stinkin pores and will fill them in so your foundation glides on smoothly over them. It will make your nose look like a baby’s bottom. And while I am sure you wouldn’t want to put your nose near a baby’s bottom, you wouldn’t hate it if it looked like one. It also mattifies the skin and minimizes redness. This is great for me, since my t-zone tends to be on the greasy side and is where I am most red.

Prime Time doesn’t really do any magic tricks (like making your pores disappear), but it does make you skin feel great and gets it ready for the rest of your makeup. Outside of my t-zone, the rest of my skin is on the drier side, so I find The Porefessional doesn’t work as well for me in those areas. Prime Time gets rid of any flakey spots and nourishes my skin with plant extracts and vitamins.  I love when makeup is actually good for my face; makes me feel like such a multi-tasker. 

Alright class, tomorrows topic - Concealer. Be sure to bring your pen and paper!

x’s,