17 June 2014

Skincare Routine

Hello!
So, I've just recently figured out my favorite skincare routine. For a while I was using different cleansers but nothing that really stuck. I've used the L'Oreal Go 360 Clean Deep Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin for a couple of years now (while buying others also throughout that time). I kept using the L'Oreal one but I've never really felt like it did an amazing job cleaning my skin. I've recently found my favorite products and they have definitely been leaving my skin with a deep clean feel.

In the mornings I keep my cleansing routine quite simple. I like to use the Neutrogena Deep Clean Facial Cleanser for normal to oily skin. I only just purchased this not too long ago but I feel like this gel like cleanser really does the trick. On the bottle it claims to leave the skin feeling clean, soft and smooth, without clogging pores. I use this in the mornings with the scrub that comes with the L'Oreal 360 Deep Clean.



At night I tend to spend just a bit more time on my skin. I got the Clarisonic Mia 2 for my birthday a while back and I've been loving it! I really don't know why I never thought of getting it sooner. It has two buttons on it. One to turn it on and the other to control the speed. The speed settings are high and low, I tend to use the low setting because my skin is sensitive. The Clarisonic Mia 2 is set to cleanse for 1 minute; It beeps after 20 seconds for your forehead, 20 seconds for your nose and chin, and 10 seconds for each cheek, then it turns off automatically after that minute is over. The Clarisonic Mia 2 also came with a Refreshing Gel Cleanser which is what I use at night. I'm almost done with it but when I am, I'll just use my Neutrogena cleanser with the Clarisonic. Once I'm done cleansing my face I apply the Proactiv Blackhead Dissolving Gel. It's kind of like a deep clean for your pores and when you've finished, the appearance of your pores has shrunk (It did for me). I tend to use this product sparingly, at most twice a week and it does such an amazing job. My skin is left feeling super clean and soft.





Once I dry my face I apply toner. I'm not one for toners really; I've never really been the one to just go out and get myself one. I was given the L'Oreal Hydrafresh toner and decided to give it a try. It certainly does what the bottle claims and that's to "refresh in a splash". I would like to finish the bottle but I think it'll try out different toners instead of purchasing this one for myself. Until then, I will continue to use it after washing my face in the morning and at night.



This routine has really worked for me and I'm going to stick to it for a while. It's what works best with my skin and I love the results at the end. Hope you are able to find this post helpful. Let me know what your skin care routine is.

Thanks for reading!

Jay

02 June 2014

Favorite Makeup Brushes

So in my opinion, I feel you don't need the most expensive make up brushes to get the results that you want when it comes to the application of your make up. I want to let you know of some of my favorite brushes that do just the job for me that you can easily buy. The make up brush brands that I use are from a lower price such as E.L.F (eyeslipsface) to the one that's a bit more in price from Sigma.

I put my foundation on with E.L.F's powder brush. I love using this brush to apply my foundation. It's a flat top that blends in your makeup beautifully. It's also very durable! I've had this brush for years and I've yet to have bristles fall from it. Best part - it's only 3 bucks! That's a steal for the quality of this brush. This really is my go - to brush when it comes to my foundation. Very dependable. Next we'll move onto E.L.F's Small Stipple Brush. Now this brush has two sets of layered bristles which leaves a great application. I know some use this for foundation, but I use it to apply blush. I haven't had it long but from what I've used of it, its a great brush. This brush also retails for $3. The last brush I use from this brand is called E.L.F's Small Angled Brush. I don't know what I did without this brush! I use it to do my eye brows and I love it! My brows are not the best but they're a lot better than they used to be now that I use this brush. As I'm sure you've guessed, this brush was $3. Such great deals!





The next brand is Eco Tools. I love Eco Tools' brushes. They are made of natural material. I actually have been meaning to go get more of this brand of brushes. I have the Eco Tools Bamboo Powder Brush. I used to use this brush for - well applying powder! Recently I've just been using it to apply my bronzer with. It does a beautiful job of application and blending the product out to get that flawless look. These brushes cost a bit more than E.L.F brushes. This one in particular cost $7.79. Completely worth it. My next brush from this brand is Eco Tools Bamboo Bronzer Brush. This brush is quite dense so I don't use it for bronzer. I use it with powder if I need to set it in place or to just blend what I need together. This brush cost $9.99. The bristles on Eco Tools brushes are so soft and gentle for your face and have yet to shed out as well.




Now for Real Techniques. I know these are raved about a lot because this brand is from the makeup artists Sam and Nic Chapman. Also known as Pixiwoo on Youtube. I bought the starter set, which I got a while ago and I've still been using it for my everyday makeup. Checking on their website, this set retails for $18 but it does come with 5 brushes. My favorite from the set and the ones I use everyday are the Deluxe Crease Brush, and the Base Shadow Brush. The Deluxe Crease Brush is a super soft, dense, dome brush that is made for contouring (What it claims on the website). I use this brush for setting my concealer under my eyes. It's the perfect size to smooth out that concealer. The next brush is the Base Shadow Brush. This is the perfect flat shader brush to apply eye shadow with. It's not as dense as others I've seen but that just makes it that much better to blend it out a bit as well.




Last but not least is my Tapered Blending E40 brush by Sigma. This brush just blends all those eye shadows seamlessly together to achieve that perfect look. This brush alone cost $14 from the SigmaBeauty website. The brush does cost more than the others individually but it does a great job of just smoking out the shadow and blending any harsh lines. The brushes that you receive from Sigma always come with a little note card of instructions on how to take care of it. I may have taken care of it wrong or this might happen to others with the same brush but these bristles do shed. Every once in a while I get that dreaded bristle just sat on my face. I can look past those pesky fly away bristles because of how well this brush works.



Those are a few of my favorite brushes. I certainly enjoy them and would absolutely buy them again if necessary. Also, I definitely recommend them! They're a lot cheaper than the individual brushes you get from Mac and work just as good!

I found the prices of them on different sites such as eyeslipsface, walgreens, realtechniques, and sigmabeauty. I did however buy E.L.F at target, Eco Tools at walgreens, Real Techniques at Ulta and I bought the Sigma brush off their website SigmaBeauty. If you have any questions please feel free to ask and I would try and answer them to the best of my ability! These are of course just my own opinion on a few of my favorite brushes.

Tell me some brushes you use that you love!
Thanks for reading!

Jay