My Winter Skincare Must Haves

My skin always gets a little drier in the winter months, but this year it just FREAKED out for some reason. I've never had such dry skin in my life (mainly on my face).

I had to change 2 main things in my makeup/skincare regimen: my cleanser and my foundation.

I was using the Cerave Hydrating Cleanser, which worked well for my skin in the summer (it get's dehydrated a lot), and MAC Pro Longwear foundation. My skin was starting to get very dry when it started getting cold, but once I switched from my Revlon Colorstay foundation to MAC Pro Longwear, my skin was very unhappy.

But on the bright side, I think I found the products that make my winter skin happy!

1. Mario Badescu Facial Spray- I've been using this since the summer, and it just works wonders. I only use night cream every other day, and in between days I just spray my face with this before I go to bed. I learned this trick on Youtube: If your skin gets little flakies on it throughout the day, take a makeup brush (stippling, powder, foundation, or whatever), spray a little makeup setting spray on it, and brush it over the flakey part. It won't get rid of the problem completely, but it will temporarily make the flakes less noticeable.

2. Body Moisturizer- The rest of my skin also gets pretty dry in the winter, so I make sure to moisturize after I get out of the shower because the hot water tends to dry out my skin more. My favorite is the Secret Wonderland scent from Bath and Body Works!

3. Mario Badescu Collagen Moisturizer- I got this as a sample when I filled out the skin care analysis questionairre on the Mario Badescu website, and I bought the full size of it when there was a Mario Badescu Hautelook sale. This is probably one of my favorite moisturizers because it doesn't make my skin too greasy, absorbs quickly, and has an spf of 15. It also works well for me in the summer and winter so I don't have to switch moisturizers (like I did for facial cleanser).

4. Yes to Carrots Nourishing Cleanser and Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser- I had used this before but I stopped using it during the summer because my skin didn't need the extra moisture like it does in the winter. This was the main thing that saved my skin, the only dry parts I have no are around my nose and above my eyebrows, as I do year round. I am in LOVE with this cleanser during the cold months. I also bought the exfoliating cleanser to use a few time a week just to get rid of any dead skin cells.

5. A good lip butter/balm- My lips need a little extra attention in the winter time. I always keep a chapstick, lip butter, lip balm, etc., with me when I'm out and apply it when they start to feel dry. I also apply before bed and when I wake up in the morning. I have so many different ones I use I can't even choose a favorite, haha :)

6. A lip scrub- This is especially important to get all of the dead skin off your lips. If you are applying lip balm to your lips but don't get rid of the dead skin cells, the lip balm won't do much. There are tons of DIY lip scrubs you could do, but I'm kind of lazy and I use Sara Happ's the Lip Scrub.

7. Revlon Colorstay Foundation- Since I couldn't afford to get the foundation I wanted (Vapour Organic Beauty foundation), I switched back to my Revlon Colorstay for normal/dry skin. It was a lot nicer to my skin than the MAC Pro Longwear was, I'll have to use that one in the summer instead.

Well that's all of my winter skincare items. Well not all of them but the most important ones :) Does your skin get dry in the winter? What helps you keep it hydrated and healthy?

Products and Brands for Halloween Makeup

As you can probably tell from all of my Halloween related posts, I'm pretty freaking excited for Halloween this year! It's a few days after my 18th birthday and I actually did not wait until the last minute to get a costume and makeup this year. I found a few specific brands and products that you might want to check out if you're looking for some good makeup items, whether you're being a scary zombie or a pretty fairy.

1. L'Oreal HiP

As I said in a previous post, I'm being an alien this year, and I needed to find a lot of metallic and glittery silver makeup. I bought a silver eyeliner and one of their metallic shadow duos (in Platinum, if you were wondering). I was actually VERY impressed by both of these items. They are incredibly pigmented. The eyeshadow is exactly the opaque, metallic silver that I was looking for and the eyeliner is creamy and applies so easily. I haven't tried any other products from this line, but if they are up to par with these 2 then I would recommend checking them out.

Just a side note, I tested the eyeshadow before I got in the shower (no primer) and when I got out of the shower there was still a very nice amount of color and shadow on my eye.

2. NYX and LA Splash Glitter

This was also another "first" purchase from both of these brands (I got the Glitter on the Go by NYX and the Body/Face Glitter from LA Splash). Both of these products can be used on your face, body hair, nails, and anywhere else you want, and you get a very nice amount of product for a cheap price. I can't speak for the other glittery products from these brands though, because I haven't tried them. But if you're like me and you don't wear glitter a lot, these are great because they have a huge variety of colors and are very affordable. Just make sure you have a good glitter adhesive or primer (LA Splash has a really good one that's a lot cheaper than the Two Faced Glitter Glue, and from what I've read it works better too!).

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3. Liquid latex (eyelash adhesive) and/or toilet paper

This is good if you are doing any sort of injury or zombie makeup. You can either just spread some liquid latex on your skin and kind of pick it apart and go over it with makeup, or apply the liquid latex to your skin, apply toilet paper over that, and then apply makeup on top of it all. Good makeup would be flesh tone makeup so it doesn't look like you just have toilet paper stuck to your face, fake blood, dark red lipstick, dark blue or purple eyeshadow (bruises), or food coloring.

4. Tape

Regular scotch tape or whatever you have at home will do. This is good if you need to do any sort of sharp or precise lines anywhere on your face. I used this trick a few years ago when I wanted a really dramatic, drawn up sharp cat eye look. It's pretty fierce.

5. Fishnet Stockings

I'm considering using these for my makeup but I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do yet. This can be used to create the effect of scales. All you have to do is cut a portion of the fishnet off, and spread it over wherever you want the scales to be. The only thing is, you can't pick up the stockings once you've started and place them again, because it would be extremely difficult to get all of those lined up perfectly. This would be especially good for a mermaid, alien, snake, or fish type of costume.

Example: (no, it's not me. she's gorgeous though!)

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I promise I'll start doing non Halloween related posts soon, haha. I'm just too excited :) What are your Halloween plans?

Lovely Links Halloween Edition

Halloween is quickly approaching! I'm almost done with my costume, I just need to find a shirt to wear (I'm going as an alien by the way). Here are some helpful links to inspire you and help you prepare!

Having trouble getting into the Halloween spirit? Here are 8 ways to help you out.

21 Gross Halloween Recipes if you are throwing a party!

Transform your house into a spooky haunted house.

Another fun party idea: throw a pumpkin carving party!

Check out these awesome Halloween makeup tutorials: Audrey Hepburn, mermaid, alien, Nicki Minaj, and Maleficent.

Well that's it for now. I have all of next week off from work so hopefully I'll get some good posts in! Hope you all have a great rest of the week :)

Stressed out!

Life is really stressing me out right now. I think this is one of those posts that I'm using to vent with, so feel free not to read it, hehe.

The biggest thing that's stressing me right now: COLLEGE APPLICATIONS! Oh my gosh, I feel so overwhelmed filling these things out. And I haven't even taken the SAT yet! I feel like I'm kind of running out of time. I know there is always the option of taking a year off, which I feel might not be a bad idea, but I don't really have anything to do for a year except for work at my current job. Our school expects us to apply to at least 3 colleges by November 1st and I haven't even submitted one application yet. I've started them, but I haven't finished yet.

School is also pretty stressful. Physics is absolutely killing me this year, it makes NO sense to me at all, no matter how much I go for extra help or study. Hopefully that won't hurt me too much though.

And then of course there's work and all that fun stuff. On the bright side, my birthday is in a few weeks :D

Sorry for the random rant, I just had to do it, haha. If you've been stressed lately, feel free to vent in the comments. I know it feels good to let it out, so go for it!

Halloween Inspiration: Where's Waldo?

I got the inspiration for this costume inspiration (hehe) from my mom, who needs a more toned down costume for work. Most costumes you will find at a Halloween store are probably not appropriate to wear to work or school or if you just aren't comfortable wearing anything too flashy.

This costume is easy to create because you may already have some of the items in your closet, or you can reuse them on a regular basis if you have to buy new items. You're makeup can also be very neutral and easy, so you probably won't have to buy any new makeup for this either. This is perfect for work, if you don't want to spend a lot on a costume, or if you don't feel like going all out this Halloween!

Once again, let me know if you have any good costume ideas or what you are going to be this year :) Also, if you have a pet, do you dress your pet up for Halloween? If so, as what?

Halloween Inspiration: Robot/Alien

When I first started creating this, my intention was to create an alien costume (not you're typical ugly green alien either), but the more I looked at it the more it looks like a robot. So, take this however you see it. I am personally going to be an alien this year, wearing a costume somewhat similar to this :)

click the picture for product info

Tip: if you want to look more alien-esque rather than a robot, try to do some cool effects with your makeup. Check out this video tutorial for some ideas.

You could also try to find some green clothes instead of silver, but while I was shopping silver was MUCH easier to find.

Check back soon for some more Halloween costume ideas! :) Let me know if you have a suggestion or let me know what you are going to be this year!