Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Morning Sunshine!

As a follow-up to my night routine, I decided to share my morning routine.  I do not wash my face in the morning.  I know some people do, and fankly I never really understood why you would assuming you have cleansed completely the night before.  What are these people doing at night?????  Rolling around in the mud?  Gettin all sweaty?  Well I guess all this could be true............however not for me!  Love ya hubby!

Anyway, after the potty and teeth brushed, this is what I do:


1. Press cold water onto my eyes.  My 2 biggest concerns in the morning are puffy eyes and making my makeup last all day.  The cold water on my eyes cleans out any goop, and wakes me up.
2. Apply Philosophy Eyes Wide Open under eyes to help the de-puffing process.
3. Lip balm to help lips stay hydrated under lippies (currently Korres lip butter glaze)
4. Moisturize, Clinique Even Better - on the fence with this, may not provide enough moisture to last through the day.
5. Eye Cream - using sample of Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Cream, really like this and lasts throughout the day.
6. Treat and Prime - CoverFx Hydrating Primer.  Holy Grail product!

Have a great day!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

A good night's sleep...........

When the weather turns cold (it is currently 17 deg F, feels like 9 deg brrrrrrrrrr), my focus tends to shift from color to skincare.  Though I am always trying to make my eyes bigger and nose less red, my biggest concern is skincare.  See, I have a confession:  I am a picker.  When my skin is dry and flaky, people, it is Party-time!  Pick, pick, pick.....

So to try to prevent my face from becoming a landscape of spots, flakes, and dry patches, I try to exfoliate and moisturize as much as possible.  Here is my night-time routine:


1. Remove eye makeup with Sonia Kashuk eye makeup remover and 2 cotton rounds.
2. Use a Cleansing Oil (currently Mac) to remove the rest of makeup, wipe it off with hot, wet wash cloth
3. Exfoliate with Clarisonic Mia 2 and a face cleanser (trying to run through my samples, will review during an empties post).  I do this 2-3 times per week.  For the other nights, I just use a cleanser and hot wash cloth.
4. Treatment - focus is primarily on brown spots (damn baby oil and sun when I was a teenager) and eveness/tone.  Thankfully, wrinkles and fine lines are not a big issue yet (or at least I do not care enough about those that I do have).  Using up samples, currently Chanel
5. Moisturize with Josie Maran Argan Oil.  I use about 5 drops for my face/neck.  I think the directions say 2-3 drops, but maybe my face is drier/larger than the average persons.
6. Apply current lip balm and smush lips together (Korres Lip Butter Glaze, may be drying out my lips, will use 1 more night and then decide).

Ta da!
 Night night!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

TAG - 4 or More

One of the tags that is going around right now is 4 or More.  Essentially what it is: look at all your products and determine what products you have 4 or more of.  The thought is that if you 4+ of them, you must really like them.  The caveat is that it cannot be products that you bought in a multi-set (of which there are a TON out right now due to the holiday collections).

So I took a dive into my drawers and cabinets and this is what I found - very easy to see that I LOVE lip and eye stuff:
Revlon and Chanel - both ends of the spectrum!

For lips, I love Revlon lippies: lip butters, balm stains, and glosses.

At the other end of the spectrum is my Chanel Rouge Coco Shines - best combo of balm, color, and gloss ever!

For eyes:
 


Love me some liners........
 I love quads.  I just find them so convenient for travel. I have several palettes, but there is just something about a gorgeous quad that I find hard to resist.  From the pic above, again Chanel has my heart, followed by the Mac quads that I can customize.  The singles below the quads are from Burberry (who just released some new quads......I must resist) and they are just fab!

Next pic shows my fave drugstore shadows - NYX.  Smooth, buttery and super pigmented.  I need to use a light hand with the dark colors or I look like I got punched in the face.  Mac Paint Pots follow as a terrific base for covering up my multi-colored lids and helping the shadow stay put.  I need to make sure to use a very thin layer, or they do not set and end up creasing.

Liners - I love eyeliners.  Faves are pencils from Stila and Bobbi Brown.  These are waterproof (more like resistant), but smudgeable for a short time so you can avoid the 80's harsh line (oh come on we've all been there).  I am not too adventurous when it comes to colors, mainly sticking with brown and black.  But I love buying the olives, purples, deep navy........I just do not end up using them very often.

So that is it, not too terribly bad.  I have alot of other products but have not really hit the magic 4 yet for others.  I love these products and still have to resist picking up more of them (hoarder much?) especially when there are holiday sets with 5 liners for only $32 (hate you Stila!).

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Loving.........ILY Couture Statement Necklace & DEAL

Courtesy of Michelle Money (from some reality show that I cannot remember and never saw), I bought a few of these Statement Necklaces from  ILY COUTURE

There is a great deal going on until 11/19, when buying one (or more) of these you can enter code MONEY and get it for $15 (reg $49!).  I ordered 3 more this week for Xmas gifts and love this deal.  They are bold and not for the faint-hearted!

Though I never saw her in a reality show, I do subscribe to her channel on YouTube: MMandLShow

She and her friend Laura are so funny.  Most of the time I think that they have had a few glasses of wine before filming and it makes me wish I was there in the kitchen swilling right along with them.

Taaaa Daaaaaa........Empties #1

Woot woot!  I have empties!  I realize that I started this blog to focus on reducing my cosmetics, but as we know from my last post, I am not really hitting my stride (ahem - discipline) yet.  But I need to feel like I am accomplishing something, and just seeing all these items headed for the recycle bin makes me feel sooooo productive.

Empties #1!!!!!!!!
The majority of these are completely empty.  However there are a couple items that I am tossing because they smell/look funny, and we all know that ain't a good thing when applying to your face/body.

So here are the items and quick thoughts on them:

Bliss Lemon + Sage Body Butter (super sized) - never again will I get such a large size!  Yes I know economically it makes more sense, but when you have the attention span of a gnat and want to move on, the never-ending size drives you bonkers!  That said, good hydration, love the scent - BUY

Kiehl's Rosa Arctica Eye Balm (sample) - love, just wish I had less eye creams so I could purchase right now - def BUY

Eve Lom Cleanser (sample) - Blech!  Hate the smell and consistency, felt like I was spreading super-thick Vaseline on my my face and the muslin cloth it came with was crap - NO BUY

Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes - my basic make-up wipe.  I do feel like I need to rinse my face after I use these, but I get a huge amount for little money at Costco.  Not totally in love, but will keep buying them - BUY

Chantecaille Nano Gold Energizing Eye Cream (sample) - holy schlamoley, this stuff costs $265 full sized!  Good thing I liked the Kiehls stuff better - NO BUY

Fekkai PrX Reparatives Shampoo/Conditioner (samples) - eh, ok?  I am not a hair goddess and I only wash my hair 2-3 times/week.  As long as it is clean, smells decent, and doesn't (unintentionally) turn my hair hot pink, I am ok with it.  Probably would not make special effort to buy it - NO BUY

 Befine Night Cream with Cocoa, Millet, and Rice Bran (deluxe sample) - good basic cream.  Used it this summer when it was humid and did not slide right off.  Better stuff out there. Not enough hydration for cold winters - NO BUY

Clairol Colorseal Conditioning Gloss - this came with my hair dye and I actually like it as an intensive conditioner.  I do not know if they sell it alone, but this tube lasts me a while and I have back-ups already.  However, this is due to the fact that my hair grows pretty fast and I have to do my grey roots pretty frequently, bummer - BUY

Origins Vita-Zing SPF 15 - bwaaaaahhhhhh, so sad I am done with this.  I held firm during the various F&F sales and did not repurchase this, but it was hard.  Love this stuff and will re-buy as soon as I get through my other SPF stuff - BUY

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 5.5 (sample) - coverage was good, did not cake or build-up on my skin - BUY

Lucy B's Roll-on Perfume Oils (samples/ Birchbox) - love fragrance oils, just seem to linger longer on my skin than typical perfumes - BUY

Heaven's Alchemy Fragrance Oil in New York - have had this in my travel bag for so long I cannot remember where I got it. eh - NO BUY

Josie Maran Argan Oil  - HG moisturizer especially for winter - BUY

L'Occitane Honey & Lemon Foaming jelly (deluze sample) - delish scent, just need a little to get lots of foam - BUY

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potuion (old packaging) - works terrific, but I did not finish since the paint (?) on the package started flaking off and getting on my lids.  Have a couple samples in new packaging, assuming performance is same - BUY

Giorgio Armani Regenessence Rejuvenating Eye Balm (sample) - little bit went a long way, only used it for a little time so could not see any difference.  Still like Kiehls above better - NO BUY

Alfred Sung Shi roller perfume - used to love this scent, have had it for YEARS and the scent has changed so I am tossing it.  Do not need any new scents - NO BUY

Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse Foundation - bought this last year, color texture, and application was fab.  However, brought this out again for winter and there is a layer of greasy oxidized stuff on top.  Yuck - NO BUY

Chantecaille Foaming Cleanser (sample) - it was ok, felt a little grainy and am not sure if it was supposed to. Eh - NO BUY

Skin79 Super BB Cream (sample) - used mostly this summer, decent coverage, but it did wash me out a bit. - NO BUY

Trish McEvoy Precious Pink Jasmine (sample) - really liked this, but it is pretty light and more likely to wear it for spring/summer - BUY

CoverFx Brite Prep Primer (deluxe sample) - this has some luminizing properties and I really liked it.  Need to get through all my back-ups - BUY

Whew - that was actually quite a bit!  I have a few more items that I am on the tail-end of and may not wait so long for #2.  I am glad that I getting through these (especially all the samples) so I can focus on what I really like and in which I am willing to invest.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Confession...........

I suck.

As you may know, the Sephora Friends&Family sale is going on.  And the Beauty.com F&F.  And the Banana Republic F&F sale.  And eyeslipsface.com (ELF Cosmetics).  Holy crap people!  What is a person just starting "rehab" supposed to do?????  Well, I'll tell ya.......

RELAPSE! 

FALL OFF THE WAGON!

DRINK FROM THE POISON WELL OF DISCOUNTS!

I started off so well.  Bought 3 items from Beauty.com, 3 items from Sephora.com.  A crap-load from ELF because it was so darn cheap.  And I used EBates, so I earned cash back.  See how fiscally-responsible I am ?????

Then decided to meet K at Sephora "just to browse" and because she wanted to use my discount.  I am such a great friend, that I am willing to meet her there, just to help her out. 

Like crack, people.......

Ya know those mini-baskets that are there to help you?  Did you know that you can pack so much in there that your arm feels like it is going to fall off?  Well yeah you can!

And I have GUILT!  But not enough that I want to return anything just yet.  There is 1 item that I am on the fence about, so I may return it.  And of course I am thinking that I will return it and get something else because, you know, the money is already spent.

I have issues.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Current 10 Faves!

Hellllooooooo!  It has been a few days 'cuz life is just gettin' crazy!  I have a new boss at my "real" job and trying to get to know him and vice versa has been sooooo mentally draining.  No desire whatsoever to come home and blog.

BUT, I did put together my Current 10 Faves that I have been using and loving.  Again, not sure this will be a monthly thing, but just felt like doing it!


Look at me being fancy with Instagram!  I rock!

Top 10
1. ELF Golden Bronzer - just pure shimmery goodness
2. Chantecaille HD pressed powder - softens those wrinkles that are starting to pop
3. Korres Lip Butter in Guava - smooth night moves baby!
4. Kiehls Rosa Arctica eye balm - sample size, thinking full size when I can
5. CoverFx Skin Prep Primer - treatment, hydration, and primer in 1 product
6. Origins Vita-zing - just about out of this moisturizer, bummed I have so many others I have to get through
7. Real Techniques Setting Brush - perfect size for setting concealer under eyes, around nose, chin
8. Beauty Bleander sponge - not sure why it took me sooooo long to love this, have had it for months
9. Chanel Blush in 02 Rose Bronze - the smell, the sheen, feel so pretty when I use it
10. Smashbox trio in Proof Sheet - hey look neutral eyeshadows, I am so NOT surprised!

Monday, November 5, 2012

My first gig - here comes the bride!

My friend S's wedding was on Saturday and I did the make-up for the bride, 4 bridemaids, mother of bride, 1 junior bridesmaid, 2 sisters-in-law, and 3 flower girls.  Grand total of 12 people!  I started at 7:30am and finished at 3pm.  The ceremony started at 3:30 and I skipped it b/c I needed a shower and a nap!  I was able to rally, so Hubs and I had a "hot" wedding date!

The reception was at 6:30 and all ladies still looked great - so proud of my first paying gig!  There was one mishap with K's false lashes: her contacts were bugging her, she kept messing with them and one lash was 1/2 off.  Thankfully it was after pics and I was able to fix her up before the reception.  I did ask the photog to take some headshots so I can start building a portfolio.  I am still on the fence on how much effort I will put in to building this business.  Already having a full-time job, being a wife, and mom to 2 young kids takes time and tons of energy.  Thankfully, Hubs is soooooo supportive!

Here is pic of me doing one of the BMs:


And of a few us from the Chicago Book Club:


It was a beautiful wedding reception.  Very classy and personal and I feel very honored to have been asked to participate - thanks S!