Product Love

I'm not really into bath and body products, I'm kind of a minimalist that way.  But I want to tell you guys about this product because I think it's really good.  

This is Lemon Cream Shea Butter by J. R. Watkins Apothecary.  This is a super thick super moisturizing cream that is great for extremely dry skin, or for using in dry places like knees and elbows.  It also comes in a formula for hands and body, which is much thinner and less greasy, and is what I use.  The consistency and quality of these products are good, but that is not why I recommend them so highly.  What is really amazing about them is the smell! This is the best smelling lotion I have ever used.  It's lemon, but not acidic irritating lemon.  If you could imagine lemon cake icing this is what it would be like, it actually smells like something you would want to eat.  And it's all natural and all that.

I think you could buy this at pretty much any American or Canadian drugstore, so next time you're there go smell this!

Outs and Outs

Lots of bloggers have been doing the "ins and outs" thing for a while now and I've been inspired, although today I would like to talk about my personal "outs" only. Since I feel like some of my most hated makeup looks are so loved by most of the bloggers I follow I thought I'd share a different opinion. My ins will follow shortly. So here they are!

forever OUTs!

1. fake tans. Ugh! This is just gross to me, so tacky. I'm not sure what it is about the fake tan that bothers me so much. I probably sound like a snob but it just seems so common and contrived to me. I love using cosmetics mostly to enhance natural beauty, so attempts at changing the colour of one's skin goes against that philosophy altogether. I just wish more people saw beauty in their own skin. Black is beautiful, brown is beautiful, and so is pale!
Fake tans are just that: Fake.

2. Bronzer. See #1.

3. Shimmery glittery makeup. I'm kind of an "all or nothing" kind of girl when it comes to shimmer. I like a pale subtly shimmer eyeshadow alone all over the lid or as a highlighter to give dimension, my favourite is Mac's shroom eyeshadow. But I would only wear shimmer on one feature at a time. On the other hand super glittery looks like this one from my favourite guru pixiwoo, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vRNJ-M0aHs&feature=channel_page, can be really nice for a special event or New Year's Eve. But medium/dark shimmery lid and crease colours like Mac's Sable or Tempting with a frost-finish highlight like Ricepaper for everyday is unflattering and somehow aging, in my opinion.

4. Nude lips. I have never understood this trend. It seems to me that one the prettiest and most flattering makeup looks is red/berry stained lips and cheeks, so i don't really get why women would want to look like they don't have lips. Someone please explain this to me.

5. Thin eyebrows. uh, harsh!

6. Cut-crease eyeshadow. I don't believe I have ever seen anyone with this in real life, only on youtube, but I think this look is a little too drag queeny for me.

7. Fake lashes. If you are otherwise doing a natural look with maybe no shadow and just liner, a few individual lashes can be quite nice and flirty. But a full set of lashes looks really fake and, like fake tan, you can always kind of tell when someone is wearing fake lashes, and that's just not cute.


So I guess that's it for right now. I'm sure I will think of a few other things to add, and I'm sorry if I just listed all of you favourite makeup looks!

My Staples

One of my favourite things to learn about someone who loves makeup is what their everyday makeup routine consists of. For some reason I find this fascinating, kind of like "what's in my purse" posts. I think I'm just a little nosy and I just love hearing what other people are doing. And you never know what you are going to learn a new little trick! So I thought I'd share what my most basic daily routine is. Although my favourite kind of makeup look is a natural look, as you will see that does not mean that I don't use a fair amount of product ;)


1. After I've cleansed and moisturized apply my primers. I use UDPP on my eyes and Smashbox Compact Anti-Shine on my t-zone. I have combination skin, so it gets oily in places, especially on the sides of my nose, so I need to apply something ot help keep my makeup from slipping off.

2. Next I use my Benefit Lemon Aid, which is supposed to be a colour correcting eyelid primer, on my eyelids and all over my face wherever there is redness. So in the middle of my forehead, around my nose and on my jawline. This product is a very creamy pale yellow colour which actually hides redness quite well, but it must be worn under foundation otherwise it will make you look ghostly white.

3. Next I use Bobbi Brown Corrector in Bisque (HG product!!!) under my eyes, which is an amazing product that everyone should have.

4. Now for foundation. I use Bobbi Brown Stick Foundation in Warm Sand 2.5, and it is a really good foundation. It's easy to use because it's in a stick, and although it's concentrated, it blends really well so you can achieve anywhere from a sheer coverage to a full coverage. They also have a really good range of colours. What I do is I swipe it directly from the stick all over my face where I think I need it, then, to achieve the most natural look possible, I dot a little more moisturizer on top of the foundation and blend them together like that into my skin.

5. Now for powder I use Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil. I don't really love this product, but since I got it with my Bare Minerals set I feel like I should use it. Maybe it's just my imagination but I feel like it turns my makeup a little orangy and powdery looking, so I only use it sparingly on my chin and jawline, which are the places that my coat collar might touch my face. It does set makeup well and foundation on the collar is just gross.

6. Right now for blush I am using Cherry Crush Lip&Cheek Stain by Stila. This is a nice product because it is a stain, it stays on the skin for a long time, and because it's a gel formula it's easier to work with than say a Benetint-type stain, which is also lovely, but will drip down your cheek if you don't blend fast enough. This product also smell amazing!

7. For highlighting right now I'm using Benefit High Beam. I put tiny dots of this on my brow bones, my tear ducts, by cheek bones and my cupid's bow. I really like the colour of this product, it's very pale pink with silver shimmer, and I like that it's not too glittery. But I have to be careful with this because if I use too much it will make my face look greasy.

8. For brows I'm using Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper in Mahogany, to groom my brows.

9. And finally I use L'Oreal Telescopic mascara in Blackest Black. I know a lot of people love this mascara and I like it fine, but it's just whatever for me. I always use a seperate lash comb in conjunction with whatever mascara I'm using because I don't tolerate any clumps at all, so I feel like it doesn't matter what mascara I use anyway.

By the time I've done all that I'm already late so for lips I'll just apply some more Cherry Crush stain with by usual Blistex over the top.

So that's it! This does look like a lot of product for one face, but with all of these used sparingly I can achieve a pretty natural look. I can tell because I do get compliments on my skin from time to time, and when I tell people I'm actually wearing a ton of makeup they are often surprised :)

What are your daily makeup routines?

Just a little about me to get started...

Hi!

Umm, this is the first blog I've ever had and I have to say it's a little weird for me to be writing this. I guess I'll just start by introducing myself to give you an idea of who I am and why I decided to start this blog. I am 24 years old, I'm Canadian, I have medium-light skin, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. I started getting into makeup quite recently actually, when I first discovered the enormous makeup community on youtube, and I was so glad I did because I now realize that I'm not alone in my makeup obsession and I am comforted by that fact. I finally decided to start my own blog because, although I follow many makeup bloggers and youtubers I haven't found anyone else out there who seems to have the same makeup style as I do. For one thing I do not own, and do not want to own, an utter shitload of makeup. Watching all my favourite youtubers and bloggers, I am often amazed and astounded by the vast amounts of products that people seem to make it their mission to amass. Now don't get me wrong, my favourite kinds of videos are haul videos and collection videos, because I really do love makeup. But I do not believe in spending hundreds or thousands (I know some of you do!) of dollars buying out every new mac collection as they crank them out, just for the sake of it.

Basically, my philosophy is that makeup is a way of enhancing natural beauty, or for creating a mood. And I find that I see too many girls out there who's makeup wears them, so to speak. So this blog will be a place for my own humble product reviews, FOTDs, makeup musings and my own tips and tricks for enhancing beauty using makeup.