Spring/Summer Make-Up Necessities: The Face

Hello fellow interweb friends!

So summer and spring is here and we all know we love to look good for all occasions, but it is still important to protect your skin while looking good! I thought I'd share with you the items that I use regularly to make sure my skin looks good, stays sun protected, and not get all gross and greasy since I have pretty oily skin during these seasons. 

First off, for spring and summer, it is vital to keep your face protected from the sun and that is why I love this Laura Mercier oil free tinted moisturizer with SPF 20 ($43); my shade is bisque and it's quite versatile and matches well with my skin on its own or with a little bit of bronzer.  I have to use oil free formulas just because my skin gets so oily that I feel like my face is melting off of me. So to prevent my face falling off, I use the Becca primer ($32) before I put on the tinted moisturizer. This is the most mattifying primer that I've used yet and it keeps my face oil-free for like about 6-8 hours, which is a lot more than most primers that claim to be mattifying out there. So I always start with these two after I wash my face. On days when I'm not doing much and just laying around, I'll just use the tinted moisturizer without the primer just because the primer is pretty expensive.

Once I have the primer and tinted moisturizer on, I will lightly go over it with a light layer of the BareMinerals matte powder foundation in "golden medium" just to give my face a little more coverage. I usually do this just to make my face look even more matte since the tinted moisturizer is liquid based, and any liquid on oily/combination skin will still give you a little bit of a shin. Once I have the powder foundation on, I will use either the "glee" All-Over-Face or the "soft matte bronzer 01" from my Estee Lauder Deluxe All-Over-Face Compact. The bronzer will give my face a little more shape, making it less round, since I do have a pretty round face. After I apply bronzer and attempt to contour, I will go over with the BareMineral Original Mineral Veil with SPF 15. The "glee" gives me a litle bit of a rosy glow, whereas the "soft matte bronzer 01" gives me more of a tanned look. I mainly go for the tanner look later in the summer when my skin gets darker and my tinted moisturizer looks a little lighter than my skin; the bronzer will help make my skin match better to my foundation once I get a little bit darker. This little trick has definitely saved me quite a bit of money since I don't have to go out and buy another foundation color just because I got tanner. Like I mentioned early, it is super important to keep your skin protected from the sun this season, so you prevent any skin discoloration from sun damage and of course, protect yourself from skin cancer. To me, the mineral veil not only keeps me matte, but when I brush it on, it softens all the bronzing and powdering, giving a natural, light, airbrushed look and not just a cakey face since I did put on a few layer of things. As for blush, I love the Bobbi Brown "Pale Pink" one and Estee Lauder's "Pink Kiss" from the same compact/palette as the bronzer. The Bobbi Brown blush looks like it would be obnoxiously pink, but it's not that bad. It gives you a very healthy, pinky/rosy look and brightens up your whole face. The Estee Lauder blush will for sure give you a more natural rosy look and this is what I used a lot at first when I started to use make up; as you can see, I've hit pan but still trying to get as much use out of it as I can because I can't seem to find this color anymore!

That was the "facial" foundation/powdering routine that I go through pretty much for all seasons and I tend to use the same products since I'm pretty simple when it comes to make up. The main point I want to share with you is that, especially for spring and summer, you need to have everything and anything with SPF because it is not fun dealing with discolored and damaged skin just because we were all too busy having fun to apply on some sun screen while trying to look pretty!

Of course, the face is not done until you get your eyes popping and a little color on your lips! So for my eyes, I love mascara! Mascara is definitely my holy grail product because it makes your eyes look alert, less tired, and gives you a little bit more spunk! Before I put on any mascara, I like to prime my lashes, just like I do with my face. My favorite lash primer is the Lancome Cils Booster XL. I haven't tried any other lash primers, so I can't compare it to much, but I definitely do not experience any of the lash primer problems like grey lashes or clumping or anything! This is definitely one of the products that I will always keep going back to. Anyways, so if you have read my blog before, you know how much I love my Laura Mercier mascara, but I may have found a new favorite! So for my birthday, I got a sample sized "They're Real" mascara from Benefit. The applicator is a little painful, but once you get the hang of it and not apply it so close to your eyes, it shouldn't be too bad. "They're Real" definitely lives up to all the hype! It for sure separates, elongates, and makes your eyes pop! And something interesting that I've noticed is that, even though Benefit does not claim that it's waterproof, this mascara is definitely water resistant. After I wash my face, I still see that my lashes are nicely curled and elongated, even though I've rubbed off all other make-up on my face.

Usually, before I put on my mascara, only on a day when I'm feeling real fancy and going out to something special or to see someone special, I will put on a little bit of eye shadow. Of course, no one should apply eye shadow without primer, and my favorite primer for that is the Urban Decay "Eyeshadow Potion Primer." This does keep my eyeshadow on nicely without creasing or any of that bad stuff. Since my face is oily, so are my lids, so I definitely need this primer to just make sure I don't look like a crazy panda clown at the end of the day! Sometimes, when I'm lazy, I will only go over my eyes with the "High Brow" from Benefit. Its main use is to highlight the brow bone, but when I'm lazy and just want to add a little color to my eyelids, I will also use it as a shadow. It is like a light powdery pink color, great for highlighting and as a base for other eyeshadow colors to go on. However, when I'm not feeling too lazy, I will actually use eyeshadow. I'm not really good at applying eyeshadow, but I will try anything. I only have one palette and it is the Stila "In the Know" palette. This is my first every eyeshadow palette, and you can definitely tell I don't use much of it since it still looks so fricken new! And as you can tell, I love looking matte and not greasy or shiny, so even my shadows are mainly matte colors. To me, these colors are super versatile. I can have day looks or night looks without being way too out of my comfort zone. My favorite thing about this palette, besides the fact that it's mainly matte, it comes with a cute little quote at the top of the mirror to go with the name/theme of it. At the top, it says "when a woman knows, she knows" from Sarah Lucero. I don't really know who she is, but I think it's so cute to add a little quote to tie together the theme of the palette. Stila has, I believe, two other palettes, and the other two have Sarah Lucero quotes on them too.

So anyways, this is how I usually do my make-up all year long, my routine, you can say. I thought I'd share it with you and share with you products that I use to help protect my skin while still attempting to look pretty. If you're like me and you want a clean, fresh, and natural look without feeling greasy and oily, you should definitely try out these products. I think the two main reasons why I keep my make-up so simple are: (1) I don't know how to apply/wear make up and (2) I already dress in such bright colors that I want to keep my face looking natural. Usually, I will pull a little bit of a color pop in my lips, but that's about it. If you want to see my most favorite lip colors to wear, then here's the post! I like making sure I look airbrush clean, so I love to find products to keep me as matte as possibly because eventually, my skin oils will give my face a more natural dewy look.

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen

Spring/Summer Make-Up Necessities: Lips Be Poppin'

Hello interweb friends!

Piggy backing off of my PREVIOUS POST, I thought I'd give you guys a little bit more of my spring/summer must-haves and always-use beauty products. I think this will be a little bit more of a multi-part series just because I have quite a bit of things to share with you! For today, I will be focusing on lip products, all the goody-goody gumdrops that will make your lips look amazing, vibrant, and fresh for the spring and summer time!

So first up is the Clinique Almost Lipstick in the color "Flirty Honey." This one is very sheer and glossy, which makes it a nice everyday wear kind of color. The cool thing about this one, each person will have a different color pay off when they put it on their lips; I think it's one of those pH changing lipstick that creates a unique color for each person who wears it. It barely adds any color, but it definitely adds just enough to keep your face and lips looking fresh and awake since it is quite glossy. Its moisturizing formulation makes it super easy to wear and you don't have to worry about putting on some kind of lip balm or chapstick underneath to prevent cracking. Pretty much, this one is kind of like a long-wear lipstick but just very sheer and individualistic while keeping your lips nice and moist at all times. Also, this line has eight different colors, so you can pretty much have 8 different, individualistic lip colors! Quite honestly, this one can be used all year round, however, I think it just goes so well with every kind of dress or boho-chic outfits that it's a definite must have for the season.

The second one I want to share with you is this one from Lancome from the "Rouge In Love" line in the color 340, "Rose Boudoir." I did do a mini review on this one on my previous haul post, but I will give you a little more in-depth on here since I mainly talked about the formulation last time. So as you can tell from the squatch on my hand, it is super pigmented and slightly glossy. The same color payoff and texture will apply when you have it on your lips. It is super long-lasting, like maybe 6 hours or a little more and you don't have to worry about it drying and cracking whatsoever. What I usually do when I put it on my lips to calm down a little bit is to add a little bit of lipbalm underneath as well as a little bit of clear-to-nude gloss after applying the lipstick. When you wear it, you can decided whether or not you want medium or full coverage just because it is so pigmented, which makes it worth every bit when you buy it! This line actually has fifteen different colors that you can pick from and each color is part of a specific group that identifies the mood/feel that the lipstick creates. The one I have here is 340M, which is part of the "Jolis Matin" which means "pretty morning." This group of colors give off a more vibrant and fresh set of colors. The "Rouge in Love" line has two other color groups and those are "Boudoir Time" (B), which is a more evening-wear line, and "Tonight is My Night" marked by (T), which is more sophisticated and deep set of colors.

Of course, in the midst of all the bright, vibrant colors, we all still need to have a nude color in our bags to keep things cool and calm! This one is Nars "Catfight" from the Semi Matte Lipstick line, which comes in 6 different colors. For this one, it is a nudish mauve color with a hint of gold shimmer, which adds a little bit of golden/bronzy look to your lips. Pretty much, it's very similar to the "Orgasm" lipsticks, just not as pink but more mauve. I decided to do a little nude color in the mix just because sometimes I want to wear bright colors, so this is just a nice balance to pull together my look when I don't want too much color in the face. This lipstick is definite a full coverage one cause its quite pigmented; even though it's nude, with one sweep, you can definitely see it on your lips. The color and feel when you put it on is very rich and creamy even though it's matte and sometimes, matte products can be kind of dry. So anyways, I love this color for pretty much any look and most of the time, I will pair this with a VERY thin layer of gloss after just because I like wearing this with dresses at night time. At night, I think adding a little it of gloss will give it more dimension. But as a day wear lipstick, just add a little bit of lip balm or chapstick underneath just to keep it looking moist; this one, compared to another matte one that I'll share later does dry up a little bit easier, so definitely keep your lips somewhat moist to prevent any kind of cracking.

This next one is actually my very first ever lipstick purchase, the days when I first started wearing make up! It is Benefit's "My Treat from their Silky Finish Lipstick line. So this one is a full-proof lipstick and perfect for starters - making it the best choice for me when I first got it. It is super glossy and moisturizing and quite pigmented. You can definitely see the color with just one swipe, but if you're like me and like a little more color, this lipstick is super buildable and when it dries, there's a little bit of a silky, satiny finish. I'm not quite sure if this specific color is still available, but the line does have over 10 different shades and all are super pretty, vibrant, and fresh, so you can't really go wrong with any specific one; I'm just a huge pink/coral color kind of person, as if you can't tell already! If you're looking for something to use on the daily over summer to add a little color while still keeping your lips moist, this is pretty much the perfect one. The only thing you'll have to do when using this is to pucker around one of your fingers and pull just cause it might get on your teeth easily since it's so moisturizing that it does run a little.

Alrighty, last but definitely not least is this Smashbox "Fuchsia Flash Matte" from the Be Legendary line. The formulation of this one is super creamy even though it's matte. It is also super pigmented, so with one swipe, you can definitely see quite a bit of color on your lips and the color on your lips is pretty true to the color of the stick. This one, at first, I didn't think will be flattering on my skin, but after trying it on I fell in love, so if you see any color that you may be hesitant about, just give it a little trip on your lips and see how it really turns out for you and then decide, nothing is worse than regretting not getting the perfect lip color! So this one is for sure much more matte than the Nars "Catfight" but yet is a lot more creamy. You don't need a balm or chapstick under to keep it from cracking; this may be because of the vitamins C and E, which are important vitamins to keep your skin nice and elastic.  This color is a show-stopper for both day and night, and it's one of those colors that will brighten up your day the minute you put it on just because it is so beautiful and vibrant! If you're not a bright pink/fuchsia/coral person like myself, no need to fret because the Be Legendary line actually has over 20 different shades, from creamy to matte, which means there is one for all of us!

Of course, I love my lipsticks just as they are when I put them on and it is also a habit of mine to put some lip balm or chapstick underneath just because I think it primes your lips just like primer for your eyes or your face, making your make-up look even better. Sometimes, when I feel a little more shiny, then I will use these glosses. As you can tell, they vary from nudes to bright-but-sheer pink. These shades are very complimentary to most lip colors, especially the ones that are more sheer or nude. The one that I use the most is the Victoria's Secret "Blush" gloss, but sadly, it has been disconnected, so this little tube is a treasure in my make-up bag for sure. As for my other most commonly used glosses, it will definitely be the Lancome Juicy Tubes. The "Dreamsicle" is the sheerest of all three and I use this with pretty much everything. It doesn't tone down the water as much as the "Blush" one but definitely adds a nice shine to everything. It looks nice on its own too when you just want to make a quick run out of the house. As for the "Miracle" one, this is a sheer pink gloss with a little bit of gold in it. I love using this with the nuder lipsticks since it does add just enough color to make the lips look natural and not too nude. This one works great with the Lancome "Rosy Boudoir" as well, pretty much any bright color, because it really brings out the bright pigmentation of the lipsticks. One of these three will always be used on my lips as the wrap-up, tie-all finishing touches, especially when I go out at night since it does keep the lip color on a little longer.

 'Tis all for now,

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen

Sephora Mini Haul

Hello fellow interweb friends!

As you can tell by the title, I kind of did a little haul at Sephora this week! Now, just a disclaimer, I only bought all this because I had an employee discount there this week because I work at the Build-a-Bear Workshop in Downtown Disney by Disneyland. It wasn't entirely an employee discount, more of a "cast member" discount that Sephora does for us people who work on Disney property twice a year; the discount wasn't much but 20% is pretty big when it comes to make-up products, especially the ones that I bought today. As all you girls know, high-end make-up products never really go on sale or get discounted at mall counters and if there are discounts, it's usually if you have some kind of membership, whether it be a credit card or reward card (VIB for Sephora) and more often than not, the discount is only like 15% or a free sample size item with purchase. In other words, 20% is like HUGE when it comes to these things, so I had to take advantage of it and get myself ready for summer, especially since I will be vacationing with my family this summer in Vietnam. 

So, first thing I picked up is the Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 20 in the color beige. I personally love tinted moisturizer, but since I have combination skin, leaning a little towards oily, I had to get the oil free one just to prevent myself from getting any potential break outs. To me, tinted moisturizer is perfect for spring/summer time make up - it's a staple product for me during spring and summer time just because I use as minimal make up as I can so I don't clog my skin but still protecting it at the same time from sun damage. So anyways, tinted moisturizer with SPF not only makes you look good without too much effort while protecting your skin, it is perfect when you want to get ready fast. For instance, during the day time, you can quickly dab it on and use a brush or blender to blend it into your face, put on some mascara, a little bit of colored lip balm, set it all together with some setting powder (in my case, I use the mineral veil from Bare Minerals), and BAM you have a semi-fully made up face withouth the hassle of putting on five different layers. Now, that's my preferred face routine for the summer when I just want to have minimal coverage, which is pretty much all the time. However, when I do want a little bit more full coverage, then I'll put on the tinted moisturizer and then quickly brush over some powder foundation. This will give you a little more coverage and then you can also add on some bronzer and blush to get a fully made-up face with all the other goodies like mascara and lipstick/gloss/stain. 

Now of couse, it is always important for me to use some kind of a primer underneath just ecause, like I mentioned earlier, my skin can get pretty oily. The primer that I got is the Becca Ever-Matte Poreless Priming Protector. This product took me a while to decide on just because it is a little bit more expensive, but I've only heard of super good reviews from various YouTube beauty gurus. At first, I was going to get my all-time favorite Bare Mineral Prime Time Oil Control primer since it's been working wonderfully for my skin, but I saw the Becca primer so I decided to try/squatch it on my hand and let it set for a while and then compared the two. The Becca one, just as its name says, gave a super matte finish without making my skin look dry or fake whereas the Bare Minerals one, though is good, didn't give as fine of a matte finish. Just because the end product of the Becca primer was better and since I have oily skin, I decided to fork out the money and get it instead of my Prime Time one. When I got home, I decided to take it out and try it with my Laura Mercier tinted mositurizer, did my usual make-up routine to try it out with my other face products to make sure the Becca primer is just as wonderful as it seems. Wow, I was pretty impressed by it once I put it on because I did not see any traces of oil on face til like maybe 5-6 hours after, and even at that point, the oils were super minimal. Not only did I noticed the difference, but my mom also noticed it too! So pretty much, though the Becca primer is more expensive, the product payoff was definitely worth it, especially since I also had a discount on it. Now, since I know it keeps my skin looking matte but still natural, I will use it a little more freely around the more oily areas of my face like the t-zones, nose, and chin. I only say this cause I used it very frugally my first time around since I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out.

So, besides those two face products, I also got a new tube of mascara, and as you can tell from the picture, it is the Laura Mercier Full Blown Volume Lash Building Mascara. Now, I am a huge mascara junky, so I've pretty much tried a variety of mascaras just to see how well they work and these have definitely been my favorite. I originally got a sample size of a Laura Mercier mascara, I can't remember which one to be exact, in my 500 VIB Perks Point from Sephora. I completely fell in love with it because it lengthened, volumized, but still kept my lashes looking natural! To me, that is huge because a lot of the ones that volumize and lengthen tend to make your lasshes look clumpy and flake off a lot, but these ones did not! Since I loved the sample sized mascara so much from Laura Mercier, I decided to get a full sized one and tried the Full Blown Volume Lash one and WOW, this one completely blew me up and I fell in love! Before, I was using an Lancome one and those are super expensive but didn't keep my lashes as natural looking, so I totally thought I hit the jackpot with this Laura Mercier one. So to pretty much summarize my excitement and love and ethusiasm for this mascara, I just got a second tube of it! To me, when I re-purchase make-up items that are a little bit more expensive means I completely and uterrly love it and cannot live with out, and that's the case with this product. 

The other product that I got is the Lancome Rouge In Love lipcolor in the shade 353. This one one is actually for my mom, but since I do love this particular lipcolor line from Lancome, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about it. So last year, for my 21st birthday, I decided to buy a new lipcolor for myself so I can use in Vegas. My birthday is in May and I love bright colors, so I was determined to find something along the lines of a coral-salmon-pinky-orange color and the only one that I fell in love with after multiple tries at the make-up counters is the Lancome Rouge In Love Lipcolor in the shade 322M (Corail In Love). These lipcolors are just amazing because they are super pigmented, moisturizing, and long-lasting! Now, if you've tried many different long-lasting lipstick/stain/gloss/etc., you guys all know, most of the time, they do not stay as hydrating as they proclaim themselves to be, but MY OH MY, these ones really do stay hydrating for a long time compared to most! Like I mentioned before, I got this for my birthday and Vegas, so I used it on my second night in Vegas to go to a night club and pretty much every other time I went out, night or day. So pretty much what I want to tell you is that after many meals, multiple drinks, sweaty clubs, typical Vegas happenings, my lipcolor still stayed on without making my lips dry and show off every nasty ridges on your lips when they are dried. Now, if you're like me and you like bright colors, you know those are the worst to have on your lips when they look dry just because it makes the lipcolor seem cheap and badly made and you just look bad in general, so for the Lancome Rouge In Love lipcolors to not do that, I think it is definitely worth the money and a must have if you want to find a good lipstick that can keep your lips looking hydrated and nicely colored. Another good thing about this line is that there are many shades, maybe over ten different shades, from nude to bright red. The shade my mom got, 353, is a slightly nude/pinkish color. It is very flattering for all ages and can be used in every season of the year, which makes it super versatile as well, so I might go back and get one for myself, but for now, I'll just "borrow" hers!

And one more thing, if you shop at Sephora and you have not signed up for the Beauty Insider membership, you need to go do it right away! There are so many perks of being a Beauty Insider because for your birthday, you get a nifty little gift! For this year, Sephora is giving away a little Benefit package and inside of it, there's a "They're Real" mascara (which I'm excited to try because the brush/applicator looks amazing and I have a feeling it will get into each and every last). And the other little trinket is the "Watt's Up" highlighter. Based on the item description, it is a soft-focus highlighter. I've never used a highlighter before so I'm kind of excited to try out this little one!

Hope you enjoyed this,

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen