Overcoming Winter beauty challenges


Winter months in Kansas can throw makeup-lovers for a loop. No longer are we exposed to warm weather and have hydrated, dewy skin, but now we have to deal with cold air and dryness. The combination of cold air outside and dry heat inside can make our skin look dull and dry and can make makeup application more difficult. Today, I want to share my tips and tricks to conquer those winter makeup mishaps and also share a few budget-friendly products than can make a big difference in your winter skin care routine.



Foundation changes:


In the winter, I stay away from any powder foundations I have and strictly use only liquid, more hydrating foundations. Unless you’re still extremely oily in the winter time, stay away from any foundation that’s super matte in finish. It’s harder to achieve a dewy, hydrated look to your skin during cold days, so that’s the goal. My winter favorite foundations are BB or CC creams, because they seem much more hydrating than normal foundations. My current favorite is the L’Oreal True Match Lumi Cushion foundation. Also, if you’re using a brush to apply your foundation, dryness may be more visible. Switch up your application and invest in a beauty sponge, such as the Beauty Blender, or (my favorite) the Real Techniques miracle complexion sponge. Sponges give a much more dewy appearance to the skin and make foundation look more natural on the skin.



Facial oil is your best friend:

If you’re still having trouble with your liquid foundation clinging to dry patches, try adding a few drops of beauty oil to your foundation. My all-time favorite moisturizing facial oil is the Boots Botanics Organic facial oil. Facial oil can be a huge winter skin life saver, and I highly recommend finding one that suits your skin type. Putting on a small layer of facial oil on before your moisturizer can give the skin that extra boost of hydration it needs.

Also, remember that exfoliating your skin is important, even in the winter. Exfoliation will remove any dead skin cells, getting rid of those unsightly dry patches and allowing for a smooth foundation application. I usually exfoliate two or three times a week. In the winter, it’s extra important to intensely hydrate after exfoliation. Try adding a couple drops of your facial oil to your moisturizer for quick hydration, or for a more intense hydration treatment, rub some unrefined coconut oil onto your skin.

Facial sprays:

Another huge helper for foundation that looks cakey or powdery is a facial spray. Many brands have sprays for the face, but facial sprays have different purposes. Some sprays are meant for priming the face before makeup application, others are used to help prolong makeup application, and others are meant to add hydration or provide skin care benefits. Although all sprays will usually help provide a more natural look to makeup, a more hydrating spray can really make a huge difference in the look of your makeup during cold days. My favorite is the Mario Badescu facial spray with aloe, herb and rosewater because not only does it feel wonderfully refreshing on the skin, but it also makes my makeup look much more natural, taking away the powdery look.
Mac Fix+ is also a popular facial spray, but I actually prefer the Mario Badescu spray. 

Tip: After putting on all of your facial powders (foundation, blush, bronzer, etc.) hold the bottle a few inches away from your face and spray two to three times. The spray will take a minute or so to dry and will eliminate a cakey looking face.

Liquid highlighter for that glow:

Since we can’t rely on a sun-kissed tan to make us glow, we have to rely on products to make us look hydrated and glowy. I don’t know about you, but highlighting my face is my favorite part of my makeup application. Highlighting brings certain features forward and can make the face look radiant. In the winter, mixing in a liquid highlighter like the L’Oreal True Match Lumi Liquid Glow Illuminator with your foundation can add a subtle, natural-looking glow to the face and get rid of any dullness. Making a mixture of foundation and highlighter is a great, easy way to achieve a bit of a glow in the winter. 

 Liquid highlighter can also be used on its own on the tops of the cheekbones, bridge of the nose, above the eyebrows, and on the Cupid ’s bow. Adding highlighter to these areas will also bring dimension to the face and provide a healthy-looking complexion. Powder highlighter can also be used in these areas of the face, but liquid highlighters will look more natural and will not emphasize any dryness on the face.

Tip: If you’re foundation is slightly drying, mix it with your facial lotion to create your own tinted moisturizer. Sometimes, I will make a mixture of liquid highlighter, foundation and moisturizer to create my perfect winter-ready concoction.
















What's missing from your makeup routine?

Let’s talk about something that may be missing from your makeup routine, but can make a huge difference in your overall look. 

Eyebrows. Yes, eyebrows. Did you know that filling in your eyebrows can make your makeup look more professional and put together? In my opinion, this often-forgotten makeup step, makes the biggest, and best, difference to any makeup look.


Having a good hair day can boost my confidence and make my look feel complete. However, while many women take the time to do their hair, some don’t take the few extra minutes to add some extra definition to their eyebrows.

Eyebrows frame the face and can make your makeup look go from pretty, to well balanced and put together.

The sculpted and defined eyebrow, which began with the 50s pin up look, reappeared and took off just the past few years and escalated with the release of many, new eyebrow products.

On the high end makeup spectrum, Anastasia Beverly Hills is queen of the eyebrow world with her famous eyebrow pencils, brushes, powders, and other brow products. Just within the past year, however, drugstore brands have released many eyebrow products that even rival Anastasia’s products. Check out the eyebrow products created by NYX cosmetics to see some exact dupes for hyped-up Anastasia products.

Some people may prefer brow powders (you can even use eyeshadow for this), some prefer pomades, which hold in eyebrow hairs into place well, and others may like eyebrow pencils to create realistic hair strokes. I suggest using a powder or pencil for those who are just experimenting with your brows or just want a light fill-in. 

Whatever you use, practice filling out the shape of your brow a few times because it may take a few tries to get the shape that you want. I like to create a line along the bottom of my brow and then fill in upwards until my brows looks uniform and more prominent.
Quick tip: if you have dark hair, opt for a brow color that’s slightly lighter than your hair color. If you have light hair, go a little darker with your eyebrow pencil.

Not only can filling in your eyebrows make your face look more put together, it also compliments any eye shadow you use because it creates a frame for your eyeshadow. After doing your eyebrows, put a light/white eyeshadow under your brow to highlight the brow bone and complete the brow look. If you get a little messy with your eyebrow products, use some of your concealer to clean up any mistakes.

There are many different ways and products you can use to sculpt out or lightly fill in those lovely eyebrows of yours. The goal is to fill in those sparse, or hairless areas of the eyebrows to make them look uniform and add definition to the eye area. Keep practicing until those eyebrows are on fleek! 

Fall Favorites Tag!



So, all week I've opened up my YouTube subscriptions page to see video after video about this fall favorites tag that the makeup queen herself, Jacyln Hill, created. If you don't know what I'm talking about, YouTuber Jacyln Hill made up her own questions all about the wonderfulness that is the fall season and tagged other YouTubers to answer the same questions. Although I'm no makeup YouTube guru, I thought these questions were so fun and I encourage you all to let me know your answers to the tag.
Let's do this.
First question is what's your favorite candle in the fall. 

Here comes the expected rant about Bath and Body Work's fall candle releases! You knew it was coming.

 My favorite fall candle has to be the BBW pumpkin pie candle. I love how it smells spicy and sweet at the same time and it's one of those candles that smells up your whole house, or apartment in my case. Straying from the typical BBW candles, I wanted to also mention another candle I recently found and have been burning. My mom and I have become obsessed with the Swan Creek candles that we recently found at Scheels. These candles are super strong and yummy! When I'm not burning pumpkin pie, I'm burning my Swan Creek candle in wedding cake. Add a hot cup of coffee and you've got the perfect fall ambiance. Heck yeah.

Favorite Lip Color

I'm a die hard nude lip kind of gal, but I've been trying to get out of my comfort zone and try some darker colors. Fall is the perfect time to experiment with your makeup, especially lip colors. My favorite fall lip color is a lippie stix from Colourpop. I can't stop raving about these lippie stix, but they're $5 and so dang good. Can't stop, won't stop! 
Drumroll please...
My favorite fall lipstick is Colourpop's lippie stix ($5) in the color Flawless. It's the perfect dupe for MAC's infamous lipstick in rebel. It's that super flattering, plum color that looks great on everyone. I like this formula better than the MAC one because it's longer lasting and doesn't move around or get on my teeth as easily. 

Favorite Drink

Pumpkin spice latte. Is there anything better? I may or may not be drinking one as I type this sentence. 

Favorite Blush 

I love putting on blush. It just makes your face look alive. Since I'm pretty fair and my skin begins to resemble paper the deeper we get into the colder months, I like a blush that isn't too deep or pigmented. My favorite is hands down Benefit's Dallas blush ($28). It's almost one of those bronzer/blush combos for my fair-skinned homies, but it's such a beautiful, unique, dusty-rose color that gives the perfect color to my cheeks. If I'm in a hurry, I'll dust this all over the outside perimeters of my face because it has a bronzy undertone. It pairs great with deeper lip colors. 

Favorite Clothing Item

Cardigans! I'm pretty sure my family knows it's the fall season when my black and tan cardigan appears again. Cardigans just make every outfit look put together and they're so cozy and comfy. I love that I can take it off if I get a little toasty as well. My all-time favorite cardigan is from Express. I also usually get my cardigans from Target and Old Navy. 

Favorite Fall Movie/Favorite Fall TV Show

Hmmm... I'm not someone who watches the same movie over and over, so I couldn't think of my favorite fall movie. However, I love all the fall TV shows that come around in the fall time. My all time favorite is Scandal - who doesn't want to be Olivia Pope? I also love Empire, Arrow, Reign, Sleepy Hollow, and The Walking Dead. Sleepy Hollow is perfect to watch during the fall since it's Halloween/fall themed, so is The Walking Dead because, well.. zombies. 

Favorite Thanksgiving Food

Noodles! My mom makes the best homemade noodles. Add some noodles on some mashed potatoes and I'm a happy camper. Now I'm hungry! 

Favorite Halloween Costume

Pocahontas!

Brands to know, try and love! Colourpop Cosmetics



I want to start doing a couple of reoccurring series on my blog. These topics I will revisit and rewrite about from time to time and add on to the series.

Today’s spotlight brand is Colourpop Cosmetics, a recent, online only brand that got started in Los Angeles, California.
 
Let’s dive into this series I’ve named: Brands to know, try, and love. This series is all about branching out of your makeup rut and trying some new products from brands that you may not see on your typical drugstore shelf or Sephora counters. Of course, I’ll just be talking about some brands that I’ve tried and products that I’ve purchased that I’ve fallen in love with and want to share about with you all.


They’ve gained a lot of love lately and many prominent YouTubers have been talking about their products. This brand blew up fast because of their super cheap prices, good quality and super sparkly eyeshadows. Colourpop started out just producing shimmer-packed eyeshadows, but now have evolved into creating lipsticks, liquid lipsticks, blushes, highlighters, matte eyeshadows and bronzers. Although I don’t own every type of product they have, I own quite a few and find that my favorite
products are their lipsticks, or lippie stix. I also own a couple highlighters, a liquid lipstick, and many eyeshadows that I use on a regular basis.

I feel confident while recommending these products to you makeup junkies and newbies out there because Colourpop’s products are fun, they have a large range, and they’re inexpensive (most items are $5) they’re made in the U.S.A and are cruelty-free.


Eyeshadows in "On the Rocks," "Game Face," and "Animal"
This brand stays fun and hip with their innovative products and fun product names. One of their most recent releases is a lipstick set called “Back to Cool.” Not only are the names different from many brands, their products are as well. The formula of all the powder products are a strange gel to powder like formula and are best applied with your fingertips. I enjoy popping a shimmery Colourpop eyeshadow in the center of my eyelid, with my finger, to top off any look.

If you’re a budget babe, maybe head to Colourpop’s website and try a few, fun products out for yourself. Let me know what you think about your purchases!
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