Feeling FRESH AND SWEATY for Summer

Sometimes getting yourself ready for a new season is really painful. And I mean like eyes burning and contacts falling apart in your face as sweat, sunscreen, primer, and foundation streams into your eyes while burning your tear ducts and searing your sight. So. I've learned a few things. One, gently and I mean gently dab just a little sunscreen around your eyes but don't go crazy. You could skip it all together and have sun glasses glued to your face, but those slide of my sweaty nose in the humid heat.

This took me all of 5 minutes to apply.

And soon I'll be off to find something to soothe the rumbling tummy of a hungry kiddo on a Saturday morning.

Face: Dr Jart + Premium BB Cream, SPF 45
Concealer: Shiseido Concealer for Circles in Ivory
Lips: Maybelline Moisture Extreme SPF 15 in Wine on Ice
Brows: ELF Eyebrow Kit in Dark
Lashes: L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion in Blackest Black

Before photo without lip product.

After photo with just a dab of the lipstick mixed with lip balm.

Face Saver

I know I have a ton of face wash left from a variety of brands, but I received this tiny sample tube of Chanel anti-pollution face wash, and realized it has SAVED me from the pollution aggravation of this city. It works better I think than the korean face mask from the Face Shop. One wash reduces the redness of my pimples and dries them out completely, it also makes the bumps on my skin smaller. I finally found it on Nordstrom website for $45 and I'm going to purchase it when I finish all my other bottles of face wash. It doubles as a make up remover and a tiny amount lathers very well and makes many smooth bubbles.

I literally think its priced way too high but nothing I've tried has ever been this perfect for my skin.

I just wanted to share this with you in case you were interested in finding a new face wash for your skin too. 

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/chanel-gel-purete-rinse-off-foaming-gel-cleanser-purity-anti-pollution/2994405

Emergency Makeup DIY

So I have a few more weeks until I get started at my new job. Back in the spring, I had a small melt-down, and freaked out about my life. To calm myself down, I got crafty, and brainstormed how I could streamline my morning routine and have a backup I could chuck in my bag that would basically "save the day" aka "save face".

Materials:
Pointed Nail File
Eyeshadows
Blush
Business Cards
ELF Translucent Powder Compact
Heat Source
Pin
Utility Knife
Old Business cards
Toothpick

First I used a variety of methods to heat the glue in these original drugstore makeup cases, and peeled the metal pans out of the item. The glue melts but it's very hard to remove and can stain your desk so be careful. Sometimes I would use a needle to pry it out, other times I tried to cut the glue with string, other times I would use my nail file, and other times it would pop out easily by picking with my nails/finger.

Popping the plastic out of the ELF Translucent Powder Compact ($3 on www.eyeslipsface.com) was done with a knife. As you can see, the dish is slightly curved, so you'll need to glue in some cut up business cards or cardboard (3-4 is enough) to flatten out this area.

Now, with the softened glue on the back of the pans, you can just stick them onto the business card back as you like, positioning them to all fit. Included in my final "emergency makeup kit", I have a highlighter powder, dark peach spice blush powder, some Maybelline "Wine on Ice" lipstick, and some assorted Covergirl/Almay Eyeshadows.

The rose colored lipstick was placed in a emptied Wet n Wild eyeshadow pan, I used a toothpick to pick off some lipstick, and melted it in the pan so it would be easy to apply with a finger. I can use this as a creme blush or a lipstick.

In my purse I plan on chucking a pack of makeup wipes, a tube of mascara, this DIY compact, eyeshadow brush, and mini-blush brush. The mini blush brush will be one of those little ones that usually come with makeup products. Brands like Covergirl, Wet n Wild, Estee Lauder, Neutrogena, etc, often do this.

So what do you think? Would this compact work for you?

Lists and Money

I enjoy digging around online trying to find the easiest, simplest, fastest ways to apply minimal makeup. Why is that? Well I am moving on to a big girl job this fall and I've got to work on my five minute makeup face, and perhaps even 3 minute makeup face.

So this will be a post that will be a work in progress for now, until I expand my list, and my ideas. I'll also be adding pictures, and hopefully before/after shots of me providing examples of what you can do with like 5 or less products.

(Everyday/Mom/Office Makeup Routines)

The Minimum Basic (3 Min Face):
1) Foundation
2) Blush
3) Mascara
4) Lip Product - Any kind of gloss, lipstick, tinted lip balm is cool.


The Essential Basic (3.5 Min Face):
1) Foundation
2) Blush
3) Mascara
4) Lip Product
5) Pressed Powder - to set the face and combat day shine

The Basic (4 Min Face):
1) Foundation
2) Blush
3) Mascara
4) Lip Product
5) Powder 

6) Eye brow pencil

The Better-Than-Basic (5 Min Face):
1) Foundation
2) Blush
3) Mascara
4) Lip Product
5) Powder - to set the face

6) Eye brow pencil- to fill in sparse patches and give shape

7) Black Pencil Eyeliner

The Long-Work-Day-Basic (6 Min Face):

1) Foundation
2) Blush
3) Mascara
4) Lip Product
5) Powder 

6) Eye brow pencil

7) Black Pencil Eyeliner

8) Face primer - to make that makeup LAST until midnight, and to minimize pores

As you can see none of these faces require anything more than your fingers to apply, unless of course you use powder products in the form of blush or setting/pressed/loose powder. Then a large blush/face brush would be good enough.

One important thing to note is the lack of concealer and eyeshadow in my lists above. I personally love eyeshadow very much, and I know that concealer is a big deal for a lot of people, but in order to carve the makeup looks down to the minimum possible number of steps, I had to have some items do double duty. Foundation, a full coverage one, set with a tinted powder, and on relatively healthy skin, should be enough. Eyeshadow is a hassle to apply unless you go for a sweep with your fingers. I find that a bright shimmery shadow on me however, makes my eyes look small, as I need to darken/define my crease to really open them up.

These routines also does not take into account the time it takes to put on sunscreen moisturizer, contacts, or getting dressed so it's not a total "get out the door" tutorial. However, it's as close as I can get. 

The last of the makeup looks is for any of you gals out there who work beyond 9-5, I'm talking 9-midnight young paralegals, bankers, financial analysts, consultants, etc. All of the products I named above can be stashed away into a relatively light makeup bag for easy travel. Throw in some makeup wipes, a colorful lipstick, and some party earrings, and you're good for any last minute happy-hour/work-party/dinner events. (This is if you even get to leave the desk to go to any of those those.)

On to the lips thing though, I do recommend you stick with sheer, cream, natural, nude shades. I would try to avoid shimmer unless it's very subtle. One lip product I initially hated but learned to love was Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait. But I've also purchased (but not yet tested) Wet n Wild's Matte Lipstick in Bare it All.

Let's Talk Money
In terms of budget, in order to keep it to the bare minimum, and to make it affordable to all I'm going to suggest places/prices for a lot of the products, and they are all drugstore or even dollar store. That way, if you live in a god-forsaken place like New York City where your soul, security deposit, and paycheck all go towards maintaining your windowless room's rent.... you can still make it work.

Foundation: $3-5
Rimmel Stay Matte Mousse Foundation is $5 regular price at the drugstore, you can get it on sale now at Ulta for $3.99
Wet n Wild Creme Tube Foundation is $3-4 at drugstore.com, I've used it and it doesn't smell great, but the coverage is decent and it's creamy/moisturizing

Lip Product: $1-2
Seriously just go to the dollar store/drugstore.com and grab an LA Colors lipstick (below it's in the color Caramel Creme). Rave blogger reviews online. Or stop by Big Lots and find some Maybelline ones on clearance for $1.50. Gloss, tinted lip balm, lip chubby pencil, anything will do.

Blush: $3
Dollar store blush unless it's name brand is typically powdery and low pigment. Either use a sheer pink frosty lipstick as a creme blush or get the Wet n Wild blush in Heather Silk for $2.99. It's pigmented and the pan is huge. Can't go wrong, so don't doubt me. Heather Silk has no shimmers but I personally prefer the Pearlescent Pink.
E.L.F. cosmetics also has a blush and bronzer duo in St. Lucia that is often touted as a Nars Dupe (it's not), but the bronzer is deep and pigmented, and the peachy blush is sheer so you can swipe sweep to your hearts content.

Mascara: $3-4
You can get it at the dollar store but I've read sometimes duds smell like chemicals and the tube is tiny. Rimmel WOW lash mascara is $4 and L'oreal Voluminous Mascara (various sub-types) are found often at Big Lots for $3.50-$4.00. Jordana Best Lash Extreme Mascara is also a blogger favorite for only $3.

Blush/Powder Brush: $1

There's a decent one at the dollar store/Target/online from the brand E.L.F.'s Essential line.

I got the pictures from www.drugstore.com just to show you what the product looks like.


And there you have it, a minimal, work-appropriate, travel friendly, fast, easy $10 makeup look.

DVD DIY Flimsy Makeup Palette

For a flimsy, but still useable DIY Makeup Palette that is big enough to hold many depotted items, I turned to an old DVD case I had lying around and hacked it up with a box cutting knife. Things learned: It's really hard to hack plastic and I was sweating. It's really easy to accidentally slice through the clear film that you wanted to keep so the palette looks pretty. Do not use water soluble no-name-no-brand glue you found on the floor of a community art room to glue your depotted pans. Pans will fall, makeup will shatter, powder will go everywhere, and then you will need lots of isopropyl alcohol to press that back into the pan. You may cry a little. The never settling perpetually melty and sticky clear glue that is standard on the back of every depotted pan can dependably be reused indefinitely. If that provided glue sticks to your desk, you're screwed as it never comes off ever. Do not believe online Pinterest lies about how rubbing alcohol or peanut butter gets it off. It never goes away but will smear and attract dust for eternity.

In the end, I turned to a small cardboard jewelry gift box to hold my depotted messes until I could properly get my hands on some high quality water soluble Elmer's glue, hot glue gun, or super glue to properly attached my depotted eyeshadows. This is not recommended as a portable palette, just some way to keep all your depotted items together so you can happily toss away the plastic drugstore packaging.

Observe, friends.

Emerald Elf Peepers

One of my best friends gifted me an eyes lips face 150 piece eye shadow palette in December of 2013. I was wary of the pigmentation of the bright array of colors but am happy to report that with a primer, such as Urban Decay Primer Potion or even the elf eyelid primer, most of the colors shine bright and true. The consistency is powdery, but the matte true green really shines.

The black winged eyeliner is also by elf, and is $1 available here. The pigmentation is dark, but as you reach the end of the product, it begins to clump up, and dry up. Newly opened, it's great and lasts about 6 months, if you use it sparingly, and not daily, like me.

To purchase the same palette, click here.

The Boyfriend (Guy) Beauty Test by Shaaanxo

Shannon Harris, above, one of my favorite beauty bloggers of all time, posted this video on Youtube on testing a guy's beauty knowledge. She is from New Zealand, has her own beauty brushes line, XO Beauty, and has been a video guru for such a long time! Check her out! Anyways, I decided to try out her Beauty Test on a poor unsuspecting guinea pig below.

How my guy friend scored:

1) 8

2) 0

3) 0

4) 0 and 0 – foundation brush, eyeliner brush

5) 0

6) 1

7) 1

8) 0

9) 1

10) 0

11) "You put this on your cheeks?" 0 elf HD setting powder

"Well it says here you put it on before you makeup, so is this eyelid primer?" 0 Clinique redness solutions primer 

HE GOT TO READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS

12) 9

20 points

I have been doing makeup for about 2 years seriously, and I think he did a good job, though I did sneak him a point when he mentioned "Naked", which is not technically a brand, but it is a line within Urban Decay. Surprisingly he also named "Victoria's Secret" and "Forever21" as makeup lines, which as a store, they do carry. 

For the outer v, he ran his fingers along an upside down V on the sides of his nose.

That's not even a V, more like a Lambda or an A?