Tag Archives: beauty

DIY Makeup Brush Cleaner

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Materials:

  • 2 cups of warm water
  • 1 tablespoon of dish soap (I use Dawn)
  • 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar
  • A glass

Directions:

Mix the above ingredients into a glass. I start with the warm water, so I don’t get an overwhelming amount of bubbles in the final mixture.

Once mixed, add your makeup brushes (brush-side down obviously) and let sit. I usually let mine sit for about 20 minutes.

At the end of the 20 minutes, I swirl around each individual brush in the mixture before removing it from the glass. Next I place each brush under a running faucet (warm water).

After each brush is fully rinsed and the water is running clear, I lay them down on a clean towel or washcloth to let air dry.

I’ve used this process time and time again. It works great and is very inexpensive.

Give it a try and let me know what you think or if you have a brush cleaner that you love and adore, please share below! 

Happy cleaning!! 🤗

NYX Banana HD Finishing Powder

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NYX knocks it out of the park again with their HD Finishing Powders!! After having such a long-standing commitment to my Lancôme Dual Finish powder, it was really hard for me to try another powder. How was I possibly going to like something quite as much as my current powder?! 

Well, over the last week I have been slowly using the NYX HD Finishing Powder in shade Banana (using the baking method) while doing my makeup, and I LOVE it! I am very pale, and I was extremely worried that I may literally be the shade of a banana after using this, but it couldn’t have looked more flattering. The finish was soft matte and the texture didn’t feel cakey or thick. 

The NYX website describes this powder as a lightweight translucent finishing powder that helps soften the appearance of fine lines and pores and that this silky pressed powder has a fresh matte finish. Based on my experiences using it – it lives up to its description.

The powder comes in a variety of three shades: Mint Green, Banana, and Translucent White. With a price point of $10, I would strongly suggest trying this little treasure out.

Powder on! 😉

Derma Rolling

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Or more commonly known as micro needling involves rolling a derma roller, which has hundreds of tiny needles, over the skin to stimulate collagen and elastin production.

Many use it on their face and/or lips to reduce wrinkles and acne scars, to diminish stretch marks, and to plump lips. The tiny punctures made by derma roller activates the skins natural healing mechanisms and acts as a catalyst to rejuvenate and renew skin.

So far, I have used my derma roller twice. While I can not speak on the effectiveness quite yet, I can comment on the pain and/or uncomfortability of regular use.

On a scale of 1 to 10 on the pain scale… It is definitely no higher than a 1. You will feel a slight irritation after use, but again it is minimal. I would equate it to the feeling your skin has when you’ve got a bit too much sun. 

One huge recommendation would be to only use this treatment in the evening. Your face or body with be noticeably pinkened after use. No blood, just again like you had a little too much sun.

I do have to say that the process is kind of relaxing and therapeutic in a lot of ways, and I will continue the treatments so I can speak to their effectiveness. But to those of you who are reluctant to try because of pain or disfigurement, be rest assured that you don’t need those fears any longer.

If there is anyone out there that has had more long term use of using a derma roller and you’d like to share your experiences and/or tips, please feel free to comment below. 

Thanks for reading 🙂

Essie Nail Polish – Ballet Slippers

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I know I’ve sang the praises of Essie nail polish before, but in the honor of Spring and of all things in a beautiful blushing shade of pink I wanted to do a special post on the new color I recently added to my Essie collection. Ballet Slippers is GORGEOUS!!!! It is a beautiful neutral shade that looks good with everything. Definitely my new favorite shade.

If you haven’t tried any of Essie’s products, please do! If you’d like to hear me rave more about Essie, please see my previous blog post.

Essie Nail Polish | All Things Adored

http://allthingsadored.net/2016/02/01/essie-nail-polish/ 

Happy Nail-Polishing!! 🙂

Cosmetic Glitter!

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I love sparkles! So with the abundant amount of cosmetic glitters available now on the market, I am a happy girl!

The two brands I have tried recently are NYX and Glitter Injections. Both come as a loose glitter, however Glitter Injecions has a line on pressed glitters which look AMAZING. I have them on my list as one of the next products I want to try.

The NYX Brilliant Glitters are made for the face or body and come in twelve different shades. They are available online and at Ulta for $6.00 each.

Glitter Injections loose glitter comes in a few different sizes and come in virtually any color you can think of. They have a wide selection of chunky and specialty glitters as well.

What cosmetic glitters are your favorites? Let me know, cause one can never have too much glitter. ✨😊✨

Photo Information: NYX Brillant Glitters in Blue, Red, Violet, and Rose.

Lime Crime Velvetines

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Liquid lipsticks are here to stay and one of my more recent discoveries has been Lime Crime’s Velvetines line. 

These velvety rich lip colors go on smoothly and dry to a nice matte finish. The color is long lasting and stays put.

The shade “Beet It” (pictured above) is a beautiful deep berry color. It is undoubtedly one of my new favorite colors.

22 shades from classic colors to the bold and unique. Prices range from $16 to $20 depending on the color and they are cruelty free and vegan.

Photo Information: Lime Crime Velvetines in shade Beet It.

 

DIY Lip Scrub

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With the weird weather we’ve been having lately in Southern California, I decided to take advantage of one of the rainy days and make myself some lip scrub. 

You can find a ton of DIY recipes on Pinterest for these, varying in tastes, aromas, textures, etc. 

I opted to concoct my own recipe because I didn’t want to have a bunch of leftovers. So this recipe (below) will probably make you enough lip scrub for approximately 4-5 applications.

First let me mention that this lip scrub is completely edible, smells amazing – kind of somewhere between an Orange Dreamcicle and an Orange Julius, and it leaves your lips feeling soft and exfoliated afterwards.

The Ingredients:

  • 2 teaspoons of organic cane sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon of grapeseed oil
  • 3-4 drops of vanilla extract
  • 3-4 drops of orange extract

The Process: 

  • Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.

Once you’ve got your ingredients all blended together, simply apply a small to liberal amount to your lips and rub in a circular motion for about 1-2 minutes. Afterwards either rinse off excess or lick the rest of it off your lips 🙂

Substitutions can be used for the sugar, depending on how course or fine you prefer the grain to be. Some other options include brown sugar, or sugar in the raw. The cane sugar I used falls in the middle in terms of grain size.

Happy scrubbing!! 🙂

If anyone tries it out, please share your experience in the comments below. Or if you have a lip scrub recipe you’d like to share please do so below as well. Thanks!

Burt’s Bees Lip Balm

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Most days you’ll find my makeup fully done, but there are always those days (call it lazy, call it my alarm could not wake me up, etc.), whatever the case my be; there are days when mascara and lip balm is about all I walk out the door with. On those days Burt’s Bees Lip Balm is the sweet little treasure of my existence. 

My experience using Burt’s Bees products have nothing short of glorious and I would highly recommend them to anyone, and have! Which is how this post idea even came about.

Back track to a few days ago when I was having a conversation with one of my friends after seeing her pull out a tube of Chapstick.

When I asked her why she was using Chapstick, her reply was because her lips were dry. I then asked her if she had ever read the ingredients on her Chapstick tube. It was here I found out that she hadn’t read the label, and did not know that Chapstick contains alcohol (which drys out your skin thereby requiring her to use even more Chapstick). 

I thought this was common knowledge, she then said she had no idea and that I should write a blog entry on the topic.

I quickly ran over to Target and picked her up a Burt’s Bees Lip Balm to replace her Chapstick because friends don’t let friends have dry, cracked lips! 🙂

Sexy Hair – Blonde Shampoo and Conditioner

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A few weeks ago I finally got around to trying Sexy Hair‘s Blonde Bombshell shampoo and conditioner… And WOW! 

As I mentioned in a previous post, my usual hair care routine involves washing with a cleansing conditioner, and following up with a deep conditioner – which I still do. But sometimes I really miss the sensation of a good frothy lather that cleansing conditioners simply do not provide… Here steps in Sexy Hair!

The Blonde Bombshell line is sulfate-free (which is HUGE in keeping your hair moisturized and looking healthy). The fragrance of both the shampoo and conditioner is lovely! It reminds me of a sophisticated powdery smell, not like baby powder, but like the kind of powder you’d want to use as an adult… I don’t know if that’s what chamomile, honey and quinoa smells like when combined together, but it’s a unique and clean pretty smell.

 

Happy shampooing! 🙂

NYX Baked Eyeshadows

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Not too long ago I reviewed the Baked Blushes from NYX, and based on how much I loved them due to their versatility and color payoff I have been wanting to try the line of baked shadows. Well that day is here! 🙂

As with the baked blushes, the baked shadows can be applied wet or dry. The dry application has a lighter, watercolor effect, whereas the wet application has a more dramatic, pigmented and shimmery effect.

The baked blushes come in 33 colors and at $6 a piece one could build quite an eyeshadow arsenal. I used all four of the above photographed shades on the look created below, and they blended beautifully together. I will definitely be returning to Ulta to stock up on some other shades.

 Photo Information: NYX Baked Shadows in shades (clockwise) – Blue Dream, Lavish, Moonbeam, and Ghetto Gold.