In-depth Baking Tutorial

For this tutorial you're going to need flour, eggs, butter... Just kidding! We're not doing that kind of baking today, this is a beauty blog after all. We're going to be baking our faces! That's right our faces. Earlier today I wrote a review for my Airspun Loose Face Powder and I promised a tutorial on how I use this product. Let's get right into the good stuff.

The stars of today show will be Airspun Loose Face Powder, Revlon Colorstay Concealer, Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Palette, Real Techniques Contour Brush, large fluffy brush, makeup wedge, and a beauty bud (mine is by Younique).

I started this tutorial with a fresh application of my favorite foundation.

Next, I applied my Revlon Colorstay concealer in an upside down triangle under my eye. I like my concealer a few shades lighter that my skin tone to help highlight the centers of my face. You'll feel a little silly doing this but you'll get flawless results every time. With this concealer (and most) a little goes a long way. If you put too much, you'll have trouble blending it out later.

With my beauty bud, I blend out each eye until everything is seamless. It's best to dampen your beauty blender when blending out thick products; a damp beauty bud disperses the product evenly. Be sure to work out the product under your eye, you don't want it to cake up you pack on the setting powder.

Immediately after I blend out the concealer, I take my makeup wedge and pack on the Airspun powder. It looks like a lot, but this is where we get the term "baking". After you pack on the powder, leave it for five to ten minutes. This process will soak up all the oils under your eye that cause creasing. By leaving the powder to "bake" you are ensuring that your concealer will not budge or crease all day. With the edge of the beauty wedge I like to place some powder under my cheek bones to help contour my cheeks and also let that bake. While your baking, you can work on your eye shadow, etc.

After the timer goes off, in one swift motion wipe off all the excess powder with a large fluffy brush. Since the setting powder is translucent, it doesnt give me any color. I like to take my ABH Contour Kit, with my RT Contour Brush and apply the yellowish shade under my eyes just to give me some color!

Now, you're left with a flawless under eye that will last all day/night!  I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial on how to BAKE. Please follow my blog for daily Beauty Insider.

Let's Talk: Moisturizers

I have searched far and wide to bring you the best moisturizers for YOUR unique skin type. Now, I don't want to burst your wallet or anything which is why I have picked the best under $20.  Beauty does come with a price, but it doesn't have to be an arm and a leg.

Taking care of your skin is important. It's also important to make sure you're using the right products for your skin, if you don't know your skin type, I just might be able to help. 

Oily Skin

Oily Skin

• shiny
• enlarged pores around the cheeks, nose, and forehead
• more blackheads and blemishes than normal

 Dry Skin 

• scaly or flaky
• feels tight after cleansing and dry to the touch 
• dry hands and feet could be an indicator 

Aging or Sun Damaged

Sensitive Skin

• fine lines and wrinkles 
• skin can appear loose due to loss of elasticity 

Sensitive Skin 

• delicate with fine pores
• may have broken capillaries around nose and on cheeks

Combination Skin 

• most common skin type
• medium pores
• oily T-zone



Normal/Combo Skin

• blackheads around the nose

Normal Skin 

• even skin tone and texture 
• healthy glow
• small pores

 Okay, now to the good stuff! 

For my gals that have oily skin

1. Clean & Clear Acne Control Moisturizer
2. Cetaphil  Oil Control Moisturizer 
3. Burt's Bees  Natural Acne Solutions Lotion

Dry Skin

Ladies with dry skin

1. Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel-Cream for Extra-Dry Skin
2. Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion
3. Coconut oil 

Sun kissed beauties with aging or sun damaged skin

1. Olay Total Effects 7 In One Moisturizer With a Touch Of Sun 
2. Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream 
3. Eucerin Sensitive Skin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Sensitive Skin Lotion SPF 15 

Sensitive girls

1. Neutrogena Oil Free Moisture for sensitive skin
2. Yes to Cucumbers Soothing Daily Calming Moisturizer



Aging Skin

3. Eucerin Redness Relief Soothing Night Cream 

Normal/Combo skin 

1.  Yes To Carrots Daily Facial Moisturizer
2. Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream   
3. St Ives Timeless Skin Collagen Elastin Facial Moisturizer

Salon Blowout Without Leaving Your house!

Who doesn't love a full, voluminous, bouncy blow out from the salon? Let's be honest, salon prices are outrageous, that's why I'm going to show you how to give yourself the ultimate blowout without going to the salon!
 
I bought all products from Sally's Beauty Supply!
For this look, you're going to need a blow-drier with nozzle, one large boar bristle round brush, medium size ceramic round brush, detangling brush, and clips or hair-tie.

I prefer to let my hair air dry over night, but if you want to start with wet hair fresh out the shower I would recommend that you flip your hair upside down and rough dry until your hair is 85% dry.

First, I detangle my hair with a detangling brush (The Wet Brush is a great option.)

After detangling, I seperate my hair into 1-2 inch sections starting from the bottom. With my large boar bristle brush I begin to smooth out small sections at a time. Boar bristle is great for adding shine to your look, and because its so large it will add volume as well. Focus on the roots first, getting the roots smooth is important to avoid frizz. Also, roll your brush under when you are drying the ends, this will create a slight curl and will add bounce to the finished look.

I continue this process with my large round brush until my hair is completely dry and smooth. The key to this look is to smooth out your hair so you don't have to use a flat iron. I stop right at the crown of my head. This is when things get serious, and important for this look.

The top of the head is where you want the most volume and bounce. I am going to start with smoothing out my bangs. I like to take my medium size round brush and put it at the base of my bangs. Then, I over direct my bangs forward, curling the ends under. Over directing the hair creates movement and volume!

I am going to repeat the process of taking small sesctions, over directing them forward, and curling them under until all the hair has been smoothed out. I am also going to continue to use a medium (1-2 inch) ceramic barrel brush. 

Blowing out your own hair is going to take practice, lots of patience, and a ton of elbow grease. You can skip arm day at the gym after blowing out your hair! The final product is a beautiful blow out that cost you nothing.

TIPS

• Use a heat protector, my favorite is by Tresseme.

• Take your time while blowing out your hair. 

• Small sections of hair are key for smooth hair all over.

I hope you enjoy this hair tutorial! Let me know if you try it out on yourself! Please share this to anyone who loves to do their own hair. Follow my blog for more Beauty Insider everyday.

Thanksgiving Eye Look!

For the love of Thanksgiving, what're the two things women love most. Food and glamour, duh! I have created a look that I think is perfect for Thanksgiving dinner once again using my BH Cosmetics Fifth Edition Eyeshadow Palette. A chocolate crease, with a copper lid, winged out shadow and liner, and to top it off Grand Glamour lashes by Vegas Nay!

I always like to start my looks off with a base, for that I use my Maybelline Master Conceal in the shade 10 Fair. By putting a base I am ensuring the longevity of my look.

My second, most important step is to always, always, always use a transition shade. Transition shade are important because it makes blending darker shades a breeze. For my transition shade I used a light brown shadow with a small tapered blending brush. Using windsheild wiper motions, I put my transition shade into my upper crease focusing on the crease bone.

Next, using a darker brown shadow in my lower crease (right under the previous transition shade), I created a cat eye shape by slightly winging out the shadow with a large fluffy brush. This will help elongate the eyes for a subtle dramatic look. I also packed on a cream shimmer shadow with a shader brush. 

For more definition to my look, I added a beautiful copper foil eye shadow to my outer corner with a shader brush. By using a darker shade in the outer corner, I am creating dimension to this look.

Once you're finished with the lid, its time to work on the lower lash line. I smoked out the lash line with a mall shader brush and the same dark eye shadow I used on the lower crease.

Now for my favorite part, WINGED LINER. This will also help to elongate the eye also. I am using my favorite E.L.F. Cream Liner with a small angled brush.

I love to finish off a glam look with my Vegas Nay Grand Glamour lashes. These are reusable, great quality lashes at an affordable price! I bought mine at Target in the beauty section.

That's the completed look! I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave any questions or comments down below. Follow my blog for Beauty Insider everyday!

3 Step Morning Skin Care Routine!

Starting my day off refreshed with my 3 step morning routine! 

First, I like to take a hot rag and drape it on my face for about 15 seconds. This helps open up my pores so I can deep clean my skin! Then, I take my silicone scrubber (I raved about this product on a previous post!) and I put 2-3 pumps of my Cetaphil daily cleanser. This stuff is great because it doesn't dry out my skin, especially in the winter! Using my scrubber, I like to gently scrub my face in circular motions until a nice bubbly layer covers my face. Then, with my hands I like to wash off the cleanser with warm water. 

Next comes my beloved astringent! Sea Breeze is made to remove trapped oil, dirt, and makeup before they cause problems to the skin. I've been using this product for many years now, I love the clean feeling it give me. To use this product, I like to soak a cotton ball in the Sea Breeze and smooth over my face. Sea Breeze gives a cooling feeling on the face, (that's how you know its working) perfect for waking up in the morning! This product is great for deep cleaning your pores as well. You can find this product at your local drug store, Walmart, or Target. 

  

Lastly, I finish with Bare Minerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer for dry skin. The astringent can be drying which is why I like to follow up with a thick and nourishing moisturizer. This moisturizer quickly absorbs into the skin giving you a silky smooth finish to your morning routine! You can find this product at Ulta, or your local Bare Minerals store!

Tweezerman Tweezers Review

While out fixing my cracked screen at the mall, I couldn't help but notice Sephora in perfect walking distance from the kiosk. So, I drug my boyfriend to Sephora, and after a good fifteen minute stroll in Sepora I finally picked up a new pair of Tweezerman tweezers! The tweezers I got were awarded by Allure Magazine, so I knew they had to be good! 

I knew once I got home I had to review this bad boy. (I like to pluck my brows in between eyebrow threading sessions- it's been a while if you can't tell!) I've always been a fan of Tweezerman, and once I lost my other pair of tweezers I was devastated, so I could only hope these lived up to my standards. 

Let me tell ya, they did! I was able to get every stray hair, even those short, to get hairs! If you're a plucker like me, Tweezerman is they way to go. They are sharp with a nice slant that makes it easy to grasp the hairs. Check out my before and afters! 

Let me know in the comments if you've ever used Tweezerman tweezers! Follow my blog for more Beauty Insider! 

5 Ways to Exfoliate

Want clean, glowing, refreshed skin? EXFOLIATE! Exfoliating gives you a smooth canvas for lotions and potions to effortlessly absorb into your face or body. After exfoliating, you're left with smooth, plump skin. Here are my favorite ways to exfoliate! 


Facial Exfoliation 

1. Silicone Facial Brush 
You can find these at Walmart in the Beauty section, or on Amazon. I use my scrubber every day. I love it for mild exfoliation. Not only does it remove the dead skin cells, it also helps to remove all the makeup built up in your pores.

2. St Ives Blemish Control Scrub 
If you have acne prone skin, this is a great option for you! Salicylic acid is a key ingredient in this scrub. It's also a key ingredient in many acne fighting remedies. With this scrub, a little goes a long way, I use a quarter size amount for my whole face. Rub the scrub in circular motions, going in an upwards direction, this way you're fighting gravity and won't cause premature aging! 

3.  DIY Coconut Oil Exfoliating Scrub
For this scrub you will need coconut oil and pure cane sugar. Its super simple to make, I have talked about my love for this scrub in my Beauty Tip Tuesday post. Organic unrefined coconut oil is best to use for this scrub. If you are making this scrub for facial use: in a small container, mix one tablespoon of coconut oil and two teaspoons of pure can sugar. Apply gently in circular motions, in a upward direction. I promise you, your skin will feel better than ever before. 

Body Exfoliation 
  
4. Exfoliation Loofah Pads
Not only is the DIY Coconut Oil Scrub good for your face, its also great for your body! (Put a few drops of your favorite essential oil, I like lavender oil.) I like to use my DIY scrub with a loofah pad for ultimate exfoliation.  Be sure to change out your loofah every two weeks to avoid unwanted bacteria. 

5. Shaving 
Believe it or not, shaving is a great way to exfoliate your legs and arms. When you shave not only are you removing body hair, you're also taking a layer of dead skin off. That's why your legs are touch-ably soft when you are done shaving! 



Tips:

• Be sure to always use a moisturizer after any type of exfoliation treatment to prevent dry skin. 
• Don't over do it. Exfoliating is great, but there is such thing as too much. Once or twice a week is enough to give you clean, soft skin.

All questions are comments are appreciated! Follow my blog for Beauty Insider every day!

Plum Eye Look

Purples and plum eye shadows are perfect for brown eyes! I have broken down my favorite eye look into easy to follow steps. For this look I used the Fifth Edition 120 Color Eye Shadow Palette by BH Cosmetics, but this look can be used with any plum shades you like, or change out the colors to fit your look for the day.

First, I started off with a clean eye and applied a base. For my base I am using Master Conceal by Maybelline in the shade 10 Fair. I like to use this as a base because it helps my eye shadow stay all day. After I applied the concealer, I set it with a skin tone powder.
 

Next, I applied a tan eye shadow from my Fifth Edition Palette. I used a large fluffy blending brush for this step. The key is to blend until you have flawless transition and no harsh lines. It won't look like much now, but adding a transiton shade to the top of the crease bone will make blending all other shadows so much easier.

I applied a second brick tone shade into my crease. I used a smaller blending brush for more precision. Again, blend until you can blend any more! By adding a brick tone, red-brown shade I am creading dimension in the crease. 














After my transition shades were blended together, I took the darkest plum shade on my palette and applied it to the outer corner until I covered about 1/3 of my eye. Be sure to pack this color on using a patting motion to get the most pigmentation and color pay off. With the same brush (shader brush) I also applied a small amount of black to deepen the look. By the end of the tutorial, you will see that I have added more dark plum and black to make the color POP!

Next comes the middle and inner corner, for this step I used a different shader brush. I applied a lighter plum color and a cranberry color to the middle lid. For the outer corner I applied a metallic plum shade. I made sure to pack these colors on as well.  

 
Next comes the winged liner. This step is optional! If you're not comfortable with a wing, you can simply have a thin line of eyeliner, or you can skip this step all together! I used my favorite cream eyeliner by E.L.F. with a small angled brush. Since this liner is smudge proof you can even apply it to your water line with your angled brush for an even more dramatic look.

Another optional step, but one of my favorites, FALSIES! I am wearing falsies by Vegas Nay in the style Grand Glamour. These are definitley one of my favorites for a night out, or dramatic look. You can throw on your favorite pair of falsies or a few coats of your favorite mascara.

 

Once I think I'm done I like to take a step back, check my work, and make any changes necessary. I tend to add more shadow where needed, and blend in places that don't look blended enough! I hope you enjoy my complete eye look!

 

Please leave any questions or comments down below! Don't forget to follow my blog for Beauty Insider every day!