cliche blogger beauty post

Beauty post! It has been a while! Caution: lots of links ahead.

I pride myself in my ability to get ready for the day in under ten minutes and my basic go-to style is the simple and natural look. Since my last beauty post I have been using some products that I have fallen in love with and you know me, I like to share the wealth! So here you go ladies, from my bathroom counter to yours…

Acure brightening facial scrub  -  stuff is organic, b-t-dub. It’s sea kelp + chlorella and it smells DEEElightful in this super natural seaweed-y way. I lovvveee this stuff. (I’ve got me some super duper sensitive skin so I only use this once a week in the shower.)

Trestique mini color and smudge shadow crayon  -  Holy bananas. I like this most because it’s simple. I hate eye shadow, always have aside from a short lived love affair with blues and greens and purples in college. This crayon is the fastest, man. I just swipe it over my eyelids a bit and VUALA! (I have it in 'tibetan ivory'.)

e.l.f. mineral infused faceprimer  - now really listen up because this is important: it has to be the purple one! The other e.l.f. primers aren’t so great, especially that pink one because it smells like your grandma. Your grandma is sweet, sure, but do you want to smell like her? The second best is the green one if you have to go with second best, which I sometimes do because target seems to run outta the stuff pretty fast. Also, I have it down to a science: this primer lasts me exactly three weeks. So you might be like oh snap, only six dollars! But keep in mind that it doesn’t have much in it. They use the same mind trickery that potato chip manufacturers use, you know the one with the huge bag but then you open it and it’s less than half of the way full?? Anyway, that would bother me and all except for the fact that it is THE BEST PRIMER that I have ever used, so I give.

e.l.f. flawless finish foundation  -  same brand as above but luckily this one is truly giving you quite the bang for your buck! One little pump of this stuff covers my whole face so it lasts me a good few months if not more. That’s for six bucks! Best deal, I know. Now things to remember: this is the square bottle. I once tried the other one in the oval bottle and it wasn’t my favorite. This is a thick coverage too, which I personally love, but if you’re not into the thick coverage then their bb cream is much lighter and I like it mucho bueno also. (my foundation is 'sand'.)

(for you valley folk: you can’t buy e.l.f. anywhere here, I get mine at target since it’s next door to my mom’s house in centerville. You might try online. I’ve seen it sometimes at old navy but it’s a good three dollars more expensive there than at target! Lame sauce, I know.)

Ogx biotin and collagen shampoo and conditioner – this stuff kind of changed my life. The first night I used it, I woke up in the morning like this and I was like WHAT THE WHAT!? One of the stipulations with this shampoo is that it makes my hair a little more fly-ey. I know that’s not a word, yes. Frizzy? Anyway, the cure for this is to rinse the shampoo in hot water and the conditioner in cold water, I have found this to help immensely with the frizz! Otherwise this stuff is the cats pajamas I tell you. It smells delightful and it gives my hair this wavy curl and boost. I wash my hair once a week, at night. I fall asleep on it damp and wake up and go. As the week goes on I brush my hair every day, and in the mornings I spray in some good ol’ dry shampoo. I try not to use much product because it really weighs my hair down.

(I buy this from smith’s market, but I’ve also seen it at target.)

(I’ve also tried the ogx coconut milk shampoo and the teatree conditioner. These smell fabulous and work well! But I love the boost and natural wave I get with the biotin much better. Just fyi.)

Tanwise self tanner  - twelve dollars a bottle cheap! I have found tanner to be a necessity if I want to feel prettier and skinnier. I love having a little glow on me. So here’s my drill: I always use gloves to apply this, and I always put on lotion first before applying the tan. I've only seen the dark mousse (did I mention, I use the mousse!) and I find it’s too dark on me unless I mix it over top of my lotion. I apply to my face and neck about every other day or so, and I apply full body once a week (the night I wash my hair). I’ve used this for so long now that my process of application is super fast! Hardly takes me any time at all! I always apply at night and let it air dry, and then wash my face the morning after before applying my makeup. (PS I only wash my face with a splash of water and coconut oil!)

Another new thing I have been loving is adding one drop of cedarwood oil to my moisturizer at night. I'm trying to clear up some acne and dry skin that's breaking out along my jawline (thank you change of seasons...) Cedarwood is pretty magical (it's extracted through steam distillation from wood pieces of a cedar wood tree)  but also be prepared for a very strong and earthy scent when you use it.

And to wrap this crap up: I’m still a FIRM BELIEVER in the one and only covergirl lashblast mascara unless I have my lash extensions on, which is always the way to go but also, finding the time for that every three weeks is pretty impossible for me these days. And I’m still using this lancome eyeliner pencil in black coffee which lasts me forrreevvveerrr because I am super stingy on my liner application. (In fact, when I have lash extensions, I don't use eyeliner at all!)

ALSO, if it's a night out on the town or a special event, I use my same quick and easy routine but I swipe on some lipstick to pop. My favorites are this, this and this.



And there you have it kittens! Beauty routine two thousand fifteen, over and out!


xoxo