Showing posts with label Beauty Bag. Show all posts

Beauty Bag: Squeaky Clean Hair

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Filed under:
No Comments »

I was "blessed" with thick curly hair.  The grass truly is greener, because I wish daily that my hair was about 50% thinner than it is, and I would gladly sell my soul for straight hair.  Heck, I'd probably sell my soul for slightly wavy hair.  But alas, such is not my lot in life.

In order to make my hair look like I want it to, I abuse the crap out of it.  I admit it, I'm a hair torturer.  I color it frequently, and bleach it when I want highlights.  I blow dry my hair, then run a flat iron that is never set below 360* and is in fact generally closer to the maximum of 410* over it.  If I'm not careful, I end up with dry, brittle hair that breaks if you look at it funny.  And let's not even talk about the split ends.

Because of this, I tend to make sure that I purchase quality products to use on my hair.  I've tried a lot of "drugstore" brands, and many of them just don't hydrate and condition my hair like my favorites do.

After much experimentation, I fell in love with the Shampoo and Conditioner offered by Keratin.


I'm so in love with this stuff that I buy it in bulk, lol.  I get the big bottles, and then use the big bottles to refill the little bottles that I keep in my shower.


I love that the shampoo is sulfate free.  I like to dye my hair with brownish-reds (auburn, if you will) a lot, and not having sulfates in my shampoo makes the reds last that much longer in my hair.  There's nothing worse then falling in love with - and paying good money for - a hair color that is completely faded out within a couple of weeks.  The shampoo doesn't produce a lot of suds, which makes a lot of people nervous, but my hair still gets nice and clean.  When I'm shampooing, I like to amp up the cleaning power, so I'll mix my shampoo with baking soda.  My roots get so clean this way, and I never feel like I have tons of product weighing my hair down.


The Keratin Smoothing Conditioner is super hydrating, without leaving a weird film on my hair like some conditioners do.  It hydrates well, and rinses out really cleanly.  I like to wash my hair first, then smooth on my conditioner and clip it up using a claw clip.  Then I let it soak in and rinse it out at the very end of my shower.  I don't apply my conditioner to my scalp, just to the ends of my hair and my bangs.


In the winter or just after coloring my hair, when it needs some extra conditioning, I use Aveda's Restructuring Conditioner in place of the Keratin Smoothing Conditioner.  I can't use this conditioner regularly, because it's so rich that my hair will get greasy.  So I use it once every other week in the winter, and for a week after getting my hair dyed.  I love how this stuff smells.  I don't know exactly how to describe the scent, but it smells really natural, fresh, and clean.

So those are my go-to hair cleansing products.  I've been considering trying the "no -poo" recipes that I see all over Pinterest, but I'm a little nervous because of all of the heat styling that I put my hair through.  Plus, I just bought these liters of shampoo and conditioner, and Keratin products aren't inexpensive, so I think I'll hold off on that experiment for now.




Beauty Bag: Mary Kay Timewise Matte-Wear Liquid Foundation

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 10, 2013. Filed under:
No Comments »

Let's talk about good foundations, shall we?  After all, you can't build anything without a good foundation - especially not a beautiful face!!!  (I feel like I sounded like a cheesy infomercial host right there).

MAC Studio Fix

When it comes to foundation, I used to prefer a powder foundation, like MAC's Studio Fix.  I appreciated that it only took about 15 seconds to apply, and I felt like it helped absorb some of the oils from my face.  However, it never had the "full" coverage that I wanted, and some of the discoloration and flaws on my skin were still pretty visible through the MAC.

Laura Gellar Balance-n-Brighten Baked Color Correcting Foundation - say that 5 times fast

I would watch QVC at night before going to bed - and that's a whole 'nother story - and saw the Laura Gellar Baked collection.  I figured anything called "Balance and Brighten Color Correcting Foundation" would be the cure for all my troubles.  Balance?  Check.  Brighten?  Check.  Color Correcting?  Check!  The baked foundation was lovely, and I loved the way it felt going on my face.  The only problem was, even after using a primer (I got a trial of LG's Spackle to test) the foundation was gone within two hours.  Vanished.  Like a good David Copperfield trick.  I went as far as buying a second compact and brush that I carried everywhere with me, and would sneak off on breaks at work to re-apply to keep my face looking smooth.

Then I went to that fated Mary Kay Faces night, where I learned that I can not only make myself pretty, but that pretty foundation CAN actually last for more than two hours.  Enter Timewise Matte-Wear Liquid Foundation.  In Ivory 5, I might add.


I had always been nervous of liquid foundations for many reasons.  I didn't want a "dewy glow" since my face generated enough oil to "glow" like I'd just run a marathon, and I didn't want it settling in to my pores and giving me a funny blotchy look halfway through the day.  I was also nervous of the dreaded orange line - you know, the girl that's wearing the totally wrong foundation color and her jaw and neck are two totally different colors as a result?  Yeah, not my cup of tea.  

The matte-wear formula of this foundation prevented that dewy glow I had been worried about, and instead just gave me a smooth canvas of color.  I also made the decision to apply my foundation daily with a brush instead of my fingers or a sponge.  It allows me to not glob more product than I need on my face, and I find I can blend better AND get better coverage when I use my foundation brush.  I know application methods are a personal choice, and some people think I'm crazy for using the brush instead of a sponge, but after experimenting I have just found that the brush is the best method for me.


To apply my foundation, I just squeeze a bit on to the back of my hand, dab my brush in to the foundation, then apply to my face using a combination of long brush strokes and a dabbing motion, almost like I'm painting with a stencil.  My lovely friend Clarissa came over the other day to do a makeover for a contest Mary Kay is running right now, so here's the before:

Eek!  Naked face

Absolutely, positively terrifying, is it not?  Granted, the whole point of the "before" picture is to make you look pretty beat up, but I'm just downright scary without my face on.  Please understand that it is a big deal for me to post a picture of myself looking this awful on the Internet, and don't judge me too harshly.

The makeup we did on makeover day was a little darker and more dramatic than what I normally wear, so for comparison here's a picture that I took of myself the other day after putting on my face (with it's lovely foundation):


Not quite as terrifying, no?  I applied my makeup around 1:00 pm that day (the benefits of working from home - I don't need to put on makeup to go to work every morning!) and when I went to wash my face around 11:00 pm that night, my face still looked like this.  I love having a makeup that will last!

I will admit, to set my foundation and even up the color, I do put a layer of the previously mentioned Balance-n-Brighten on top of the foundation most days.  Putting a powder over the top just makes my face feel that much more "finished"

So, that's how I build a good foundation - MK primer & Timewise Foundation, with a swipe of Laura Gellar 



Beauty Bag: Tarte Concealer

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Filed under:
No Comments »

Remember those days when you didn't have to worry about dark circles under your eyes, or masking the dark spots that have appeared on your face over time (possibly from having one of the worst teen skin care habits ever: picking at pimples)?  I don't know about you, but for me those days have passed, and the only days I don't need to conceal some smudge or blemish on my face is the days I don't bother to put on makeup at all.  I'm sad to say, with a work from home job, those days are becoming much more frequent.  Which is sad for all of you who think I'm crazy to say that, because I love putting on makeup and playing with the pretty pots and brushes and seeing the (scary) before and the (decent) after.

For my concealer, I rely on Tarte's Smooth Operator Amazonian clay concealer.  It's the perfect amount of coverage, and stays on alllllllllll day long - and all night long, for that matter.


It comes in a tube like a lipstick, and swivels up just like one, too.  I use my fingers to apply it so I can get the exact amount that I want, and also so that I can warm it up a little before I apply it to the spot that needs to be concealed.  I find it blends a lot better when it's a little warm, because it's much more malleable.


I get my Tarte products from Ulta.  Here's the link to my concealer:  Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Waterproof Concealer.  I know Sephora sells Tarte as well, and I think some random places like QVC do too.  I just like Ulta because it's closest to me - hooray for convenience.  And coupons in the mail.  :)

On a side note, I'm totally ready for summer to come.  Not because I like the warm weather - I don't - but because I need it to stay light out longer!  My learning how to take pretty pictures is suffering due to lack of natural light!  

Speaking of pretty pictures...when I was tinkering to get the shots of my concealer tube just right, one of my dogs was patiently waiting for me to come fold the laundry she was pinning down, and I just happened to catch her in an adorable moment so I had to share:

This is Duchess, our 2 year old Chihuahua mix

Tell me those big brown eyes don't melt your heart a little!!  And notice, she has flawless fur, so no need for the Tarte concealer that she tried to steal from me.  

And on those random notes - that's my concealer!  And my dog.  :)


Beauty Bag: Mary Kay Primer

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 28, 2013. Filed under:
No Comments »

So when it comes to make up, for the longest time I was a bare bones kind of girl.  I would slap on some eyeliner and some mascara, swipe on some Chapstick, and I was good to go.  Boom.  Out the door.

I miss those days.

Once I hit my late teens/early twenties, my face turned in to a giant oil slick.  Any makeup that I would put on melted off within hours.  If I wanted my makeup to stay looking good, I would have to re-apply it several times throughout the day.  My pores enlarged to the size of craters, and no matter how much I cleansed and scrubbed and exfoliated they were dark and icki and just not pretty.

So I added foundation to my routine to help cover it up.  I figured that would smooth everything out and bring back the dewy look that I longed for from my teens.  Yeah.  Not so much.  I could not for the life of me figure out what I was doing wrong.

Enter Mary Kay Primer.  I went to a consultant event with my friend, and at the event I got to try out some new products that I wouldn't normally use.  The primer was one of those products, and when I first went to put it on, I'm not gonna lie, I was kind of unimpressed.  The primer is a gel formula, and when you first squeeze it out of the tube it feels kind of greasy.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I was being told to smear this oily feeling product on my face when I had already complained that my face was a giant oil manufacturing plant in the first place.

Please excuse the shadow under my nails that make them look dirty - I swear they're clean
The primer goes on feeling a little slimy, but it dries almost instantly to leave your face feeling silky smooth.  It  provides a smooth coat for your foundation to glide over and adhere to.  My makeup lasts so much longer when I use my primer.  When I go to wash my face at the end of the day, there is still foundation left there to wash off; it hasn't all melted away.  Any foundation or blush I apply actually stays on top of my skin without sinking in to those moon-sized craters I was complaining about earlier.  And my favorite part...it doesn't clog my pores at all.  The almost powder-smooth finish it dries to doesn't settle in to my pores and make me break out.  The other awesome part??  It contains an SPF 15 sunscreen.  Two thumbs up for UV protection!

If you're not currently using a primer underneath your foundation, I would seriously recommend not only using a primer, but trying out Mary Kay's amazing primer in the pretty pink tube.


If you want to learn more about Mary Kay's Foundation Primer, or are interested in trying it out for yourself, check it out here.



*** As with my other Mary Kay reviews, all opinions are mine.  I am not compensated to review the products.  I purchase all of these products with my own money, and I use them in my daily life.  If you shop with the link I provided, my friend Clarissa does receive compensation.  She's good people.  She dreams of making a career out of Mary Kay and becoming a regional director.  I wouldn't link you to her site if she wasn't legit :) ***

Beauty Bag: Mary Kay Botanicals Face Mask

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. Filed under:
No Comments »

So, way back in the day, I blogged about the skin care line that I use: Mary Kay Botanical Effects.  And when I say I wrote this post awhile ago, I do mean awhile.  Like, it's dated November 14, 2012.  So the follow up to that post is finally coming four months later.  Better late than never, right?!

The Botanical Effects line - with my favorite product up front!

In that post, I shared that there are four steps to the system, and that one of the steps is my absolute favorite beauty product ever.  As in, if I had to go away to a desert island, and I could only take one product with me this is the product I would take.  This product is the Mary Kay Botanical Effects Mask.

My bottle is getting a little empty :(

This mask is heaven.  I always had a poor opinion of masks, because I hated the smell of a certain sulfur-based mask (yes, I'm looking at you Proactiv!)  And they always dried out my face a little too much.  The MK mask is the perfect compromise.  It leaves my skin feeling so amazingly smooth.  The first few times I used it, I kept rubbing my cheeks like a crazy person, then running up to Husband and saying "Touch my face!"  Pretty sure he thought I was crazy, but he even commented how smooth my skin felt after using the mask.  It also helps clean pores...I've had a time or two where the mask seems to pull a pimple out faster, which sounds like a bad thing, but it also makes the pimple go away so much faster it's insane!  If I've got a particularly nasty pimple, I'll rub a bit on it before bed and leave it on overnight.  By morning, it's so reduced it's barely noticeable.

In the winter, when my skin is a little bit drier, I tend to use the mask about 2-3 times a week.  In summer, when I'm outside a lot and my skin gets all oily and nasty, I've used the mask as many as 5 times a week and I've never had any problems with overdrying.  Because the mask isn't filled with nasty chemicals, it doesn't bleach my towels to some unrecognizable color, either, which is a pretty big win.

Any way you squeeze it, this mask is two thumbs up, fantastic, fine holiday fun.  Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beauty Bag: Mary Kay's Botanical Effects

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 14, 2012. Filed under:
No Comments »

I cannot believe that next week is already Thanksgiving.  Where is the last part of 2012 going?  I normally volunteer to work on Thanksgiving, but since I'm out on medical leave this is the first Thanksgiving since 2007 that I'm not going to be working.  Sounds like I'm going to be having a nice relaxing day with my sister-in-law and my niece, then heading out to the early Wal-Mart sales with my mom to kick of our 5th Annual Black Friday Shopping Extravaganza.  WooHoo!!

Anyway, I've decided that I want to add a segment to my blog about what's in my beauty bag.  I've got super sensitive, oily/combination skin and I have serious issues picking out skin care and makeup that doesn't cause my skin to break out or totally dry it out, or makeup that actually lasts on my face for more than an hour and doesn't end up some giant puddle on my face that makes me resemble some grotesque-looking clown from a bad horror movie.

Obviously, the first step to good skin is a good skincare line, and man, I tried everything I could get my hands on.  I tried all of the obvious drug-store brands:  Noxzema, Neutrogena, Clearasil, Cetaphil, and Clean and Clear, just to name a few.  Most of them over-dried my skin, leaving me with that uncomfortable feeling that my skin was shrinking and too small for my face.  Then it dried and flaked and just turned everything in to a hot mess.  Noxzema and Cetaphil were nice and gentle and didn't overdry, but they didn't help with my acne, either.  I tried Proactiv, and I don't even want to talk about the dry flaky mess that my face became after two weeks on that.  Talk about nasty -- and PAINFUL!!  Even trying to put unscented moisturizer on to my face to correct the dryness caused me to cry because my skin was so dry it hurt to put anything on it.  I tried Clinique, and didn't see any results.  I went on Differin, which was fine in the summer but when my skin got drier in the winter the Differin was too strong.  So, for those keeping score at home, that's at least 9 different skin care options tried and rejected.

Enter Mary Kay's Botanical Effects Line:


I always swore that I would never be a Mary Kay person.  I always thought it was overpriced and overrated.  Enter my friend Clarissa, who about a year after I met her decided to take the plunge and become an Independent Beauty Consultant.  She was very patient with me, and listened to me rant and rave over my failed skin care routine for over a year and a half before she finally broke down and said, "Listen.  I know how you feel about MK.  But here, I have these samples of this new line of skin care from Mary Kay that's specifically designed for people with sensitive skin.  Try the samples, and if you don't like it, I won't say anything else about it."

I was running low on my current skin care product (I think I was back on the Differin right around that time) so I agreed, fully expecting to text her and say, "Yep. I was right.  Not for me."

The first step in the Botanical Effects line is the Cleanse step.


Just like a good shampoo, this cleanser doesn't get super lather-y, which means that it is not stripping away all of the natural oils from your face; it's just getting off all of the nasty stuff.  It's not overwhelmingly scented, but it doesn't smell horrific either.  I really enjoy the clean, fresh scent.

Step two is called Freshen:


It's much like a toner.  You spray it on to a cotton pad or cotton ball and wipe it on to your face (always going upwards ladies!) and it removes and excess residue and also helps minimize the appearance of pores, which is pretty crucial for me.

Step three is the oh-so-crucial Hydrate step:


This moisturizer is sooooo lightweight and fresh feeling; I love it.  It doesn't feel greasy or overwhelming or clog my pores.  My forehead is my "greasiest" part, so I only moisturize that every other day, but I'm super conscientious about making sure to dab on some in the under eye area and cheeks for sure every day since those are my areas that are tend to get driest.  Plus, who doesn't want to make sure their under-eye area is well hydrated and doesn't get any lines or bags or any of that not-so-fun stuff?

You'll notice the number 3 on all of my bottles.  I use Formula 3 which is for Combination/Oily Skin.  Formula 1 is available for Dry Skin, and Formula 2 is available for Normal Skin, so Mary Kay made sure that this amazing skin care line is available for everyone.  So here you have it, my favorite skin care line after a decade of experimentation.  Another great part is that it's really affordable.  It's comparable priced to many department store skin care lines, but lasts much longer than those bottles do because you only need a tiny little bit of each product every day.

You'll notice that I didn't review one of the products from the original picture.  That one is so amazing, it's going to get it's own special post.  I loooooooooooooooove it!


And then I had to tell Clarissa that she was right and I was wrong.  Which was painful.  I dislike being wrong.  But for a good skin care line, I'll suck it up.

If you want to learn more about this product line, please visit this Botanical Effects Product Page.  

Who thinks my pictures are getting better?  I got me a new camera.  It's pretty fancy, so I'm experimenting and trying to learn how to use it.





**P.S. - The link I included does link to my friend's page.  She does make money off of purchases from her site, but I do not.  Any opinions are my own.**

« Previous Entries