Simply Summer

Hello fellow interweb friends!

To follow up on my last blog with my Ipsy July Glam Bag, I thought I'd post up a look I created using some of my most favorite products from the bag and a few of my own everyday favorites! Here's the look guys!

As you know, I love wearing as little to no make-up as possible, so that's pretty much what this look is with a little bit more color to give my face a bright, summer touch! It's perfect for a day at the beach or the pool, maybe even a Disneyland Date with your friends because it is super light weight and protect your skin from the sun. I love this look because it looks so effortless and natural that you can't even tell you put time and energy to do something with your face! The only thing I added was a pop of color onto my lips. I used the Pop Beauty Pouty Crayon in fuchsia flirt because it's the one that came in my Ipsy bag, but you can use any color you'd like. 

Check out my video if you want to see what I really did with my face?!?! Hahaha, and of course, check out Ipsy if you'd like to get your own bag of goody-goody gumdrops every month!

Until next time,

Uyen

Girl, You Pretty, Don't Fret!

Hello fellow interweb friends!

So I should be studying for a chemistry test that I will have in less than an hour and a half, but I thought, what the heck, I had to get this out there because I think it is very important to be supportive of other girls. You probably think this is so hypocritical of me to write this post since all of my posts this week has been about make-up and ways to make myself look better, but that is not the case, I promise! The purpose of this post is to, for lack of better terms, raise awareness/promote girl empowerment/confidence. I know a lot of girls are very uncomfortable to go out and about and show their bare, naked face with no make up because they feel like there is some kind of flaw with their look with out the layers on top of it. We all know and have friends that are like this, and sometimes, we feel the same way, I know I do, but that is not the case! I honestly do think that the less make-up girls wear, the more natural, more down to earth, and pretty they are! I'm not saying that I'm pretty or beautiful or anything of that sort, but if you know me in real life, you know I go out with no make up at all times; maybe on a lucky day, I will have on a little bit of make up but still looking very natural. To show you I am completely comfortable with how I look without make up, I will share with you pictures of me with no make up on, taken today, no filters or editors (besides the app used to put together the collage), and let me tell you, today is probably the worst day to see me without make-up on because I'm overly stressed and haven't slept very much lately, so here goes, hopefully, I won't scare you off with my super weird face!

So this top picture is the better side of me without make-up on! What I mean by better is that I actually have my hair down, not necessarily brushed/combed! This is what my friends and family see everyday (and there are some really good looking guys at my school), even the people at work and all the hottie-patotties going to Disneyland! But in reality, on a super day-to-day basis and for my super close friends on Snapchat, I usually look like the bottom picture with that crazy bun, weird faces all over the place, and completely no make-up at all! Even if I Snapchat the guy I'm crushing on or my best friend, I do not mind looking like the way I am without make-up because at the end of the day, make-up can only make you look pretty for so long. Once you take off that make-up, you should be proud and happy of what you look like because there are people out there who has to live without make-up, who was born with less fortunate features that they cannot control or cover up with make up!

For me, for a while, I was a little pressured to put on some make-up to make myself look more "presentable" because that's what girls around me were doing. It is pretty insane how much girls around you can influence your views about yourself because I remember, this girl I knew said something the lines of, thank goodness for make-up and how easy it is to learn or else some of the girls we know are still going to look just as bad as they did a few years ago. That was when I took a step back and realize, wow, I might be one of those "not so good looking" girls sh was talking about and I got pretty sad and offended, but at the same time, I realized I was only wearing make-up because that's what these girls wanted me to do, not necessarily what I wanted to see myself as. It's true, sometimes, it is to look nice and put on a little something to bring out your favorite features, but it is also just as fine to let your face be in its natural form! 

To me, the main reasons why girls are so dependent on make-up and try so hard to avoid their natural face nowadays is because they were exposed to the idea of looking perfect through make-up way too young in their lives. I know I didn't start wearing make-up until senior year of high school, specifically prom, and didn't really have much make-up knowledge until college. Even now, fours years into college, I still don't know that much about make-up besides the basics! Because girls are exposed early on and they get access to make-up early on, they start using it earlier, which means they become obsessed with this "perfect" face look at a much younger age. Since this tends to happen during their teenage years, when they are most impressionable, they stop noticing their real, natural face, and become too accustomed to their made-up faces, which is why, as they get older, they have to have their layers and layers in order to feel like they are ready to step out of their room! 

Of course, these are only my opinions and I don't mean to come off as "preachy" or anything like that, but I have some amazingly beautiful girlfriends around me who are stuck in that phase where they feel like they need to have their make-up on in order to go out, but to me, when I see them get ready, before all the layers, I think they are just as pretty as when they do put on the make up! From one girl to another, from one person to another, I think it's important that we help empower and appreciate each other for the person that we are without all of the other products out there that supposedly make us look better. I'm a huge believe in the idea of "looking good, feeling good, and doing good," but that does not mean you have to put on five million layers (sorry for the exaggeration but you get my drift) in order to look good! It can start with something as little as wearing your favorite shirt or earrings that can make you feel pretty, without having to put on the layers! If anything, the more make-up you wear, the longer you use make-up, the more discolored and damaged your skin gets, which ultimately, makes you even more dependent, so why not lay off the foundations and concealers and let your own skin, your natural beauty process do its thing and keep you looking natural and beautiful at its own pace! Make-up is like anorexia to your face, so why not do the healthier option of using it in moderation (which is like eating healthy and exercising) to keep yourself looking youthful and beautiful!

I apologize if I offend anyone or sound hypocritical in this post, but I just wanted to share with all you girls out there that you are pretty without all the make-up and concealers! And hopefully, you'll still like to read my posts after this! This does not mean I want to ban make-up, it just means I hope and wish that we all can appreciate our natural looks without feeling the pressure to hide behind layers and layers of stuff, cause that's all it is, stuff that we can live without.

So let's make a little pact to start wearing less and less make up together? And also give compliments to friends we know more often so we can all learn to love ourselves and our natural beauty more?

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen

Skin Care Necessities

Hello fellow interweb friends!

So being a girl, I have a whole lot of skin issues and body image problems, which is never fun, but thank goodness, there are products out there that an help/improve my problems and issues! First is my face! My main problem is the black heads on my face. I have quite a bit of black heads, which automatically darkens my face and make it look not as bright as it is. My black heads mainly gather around my nose and chin. Those areas not only darken, but it leaves some kind of a shadow on my face, making other areas look darker than what it actually is. I started using Origins "Clear Improvement" charcoal mask. I usually put this on 2-3 times a week, depending how much make-up I wear during the week. The more I wear, the more I'll use the mask just because it does a very good job unclogging my pores and clearing up my skin. 

Usually, after I use this, I will use Origins' "GinZing" moisturizer as well.The GinZing moisturizer has all natural ingredients, just like all other Origins products. The one thing I really appreciate about this one is it does not leave my skin feeling oily or heavy at all! To me, it's like I slathered loads of water on it. My face feels nice and fresh when I put it on after the mask, and when I wake up in the morning, my face just feels nice and smooth! So right now, I'm only using a mini sample pot just because I wasn't sure if my skin will react well to the moisturizer, but now that I know my skin loves it, I will be going back soon to get a full sized one. And of course, who can forget about the lips, definitely not me! So after I put on my moisturizer, I also put a bit of my Dior "Creme De Rose" on and leave it over night. This lip balm, though expensive, really does the job! It leaves my lips feeling soft an smooth all day long! I usually only need to put it on once a day and my lips already feel amazing, so imagine the wonderful results after masking it all night?!?!

Another one of Origins' mask that I thoroughly enjoy is the "Drink Up Intensive Mask." This one, in spring and summer, I will only use once a week just to replenish the moisture in my skin since I am out in the sun a lot and probably use a lot of make up. If you read my previous post, you know I have a bit of oily skin, but still, there are dry spots and after I use a lot of make up during the week, I definitely feel my skin getting a little weird. This mask is perfect to use once a week just to get the nutrients and natural oils back in my skin to replenish it. I use it once a week because I have oilier skin, but for those who have drier skin, I would suggest doing it twice a week. You definitely feel a difference when you wake up in the morning, especially since this is a leave-on mask and you can just wipe it off in the morning when you get ready. Once again, I'm using a small sample pot to try it out on my skin, but I am for sure getting this in a full sized one to use at home but also a travel sized one for when I go to Vietnam. I definitely do not enjoy the gross, dried-out feeling of my skin when I'm sitting on the plane for 18 hours straight, so this shall keep my skin feeling nice and smooth and moist!

So besides bad facial skin, I also have bad body skin! Even though I've never had kids or gain major amounts of weight, I deal with stretch mark problems. It is definitely not the most pleasant problem to deal with, especially since I'm barely 20 something with no kids and all the girls my age are looking nice and smooth in their two-pieced bathing suits! I've learned to embrace my stretch-marks, or my "life-stripes" as I'd like to call them, making it sound ferocious like tiger stripes. Still, I want to minimize the stripes appearance, so I use Palmer's "Tummy Butter" and then also later on lotion specialized for stretch marks. I usually put these one everyday after I shower, but before doing so, I make sure I exfoliate my tummy area well so that all the moisture and cocoa/shea butter and vitamin E can soak in to give me the best results possible! These products aren't like MIRACLE WORKERS, so I'm not expecting all my stripes to go away, but I definitely see improvements. All I can ask for is to lighten my stripes, so I don't feel like a complete fatty next to all these smoothed-skin-skinny girls in the summer! Since I know my body and my issues, you will rarely catch me in a two-pieced bathing suit because of this, but I still enjoy one-piecers that have a little cut-out and what not, so I am definitely appreciating these Palmer products that are making my skin look a little better in my bathing suits!

So of course, it is important to keep your body completely moisturized, so I never miss a day of lotioning my skin after I shower! And hand creme and foot creme are a must too just because no one wants flaky/cracked/dried out hands and feet, especially during the summer time when we're all out and about in our sandals and flip flops!

That's pretty much how I deal with my body issues, still working on the mental issues, but hey, a girl can only do so much at a time right?!?! If you guys have any other suggestions for stretch marks or my "life-stripes" please do share!

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen

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