May Favorites 2017

Hope you all had lovely May! Not much as happened for me this month. Just still keeping a positive vibe for things to come. Here's my round up of my favorites for this month.

BEAUTY

Garnier Skin Perfector BB Cream 

This has been my go to especially with the warmer weather slowly coming up. I tend to get a little bit lazy with my makeup routine when it gets hotter out, which makes sense considering you don't want to wear as much. For a bb cream, it actually provides great medium coverage and balances out skin tone without it being too heavy. It also an spf of 20 which is always ideal. It's a really great product to try if you want to coverage but not the heaviness for the summer months. If you just need a lighter application, I would suggest using a beauty blender or real techniques sponge. 

Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herb and Rosewater

I wouldn't consider this as a full on makeup setting spray, but more of a spa like refresher for the face. This provides a cooling rose scent which is great to use as a toner or even after makeup. Gives the tiniest glow to the skin and helps keep the face hydrated throughout the day. Again, I don't find this as a necessity, but it is a little refreshing "treat yourself" spray and if you have dry skin you're going to love it. It does have a rose scent so if that's not up your ally, I would steer away from this or maybe even trying their cucumber scent  instead. I could imagine these also being really handy when going to the beach too!

Sephora Collection Rouge Balm SPF 20

Not going to lie, this is probably my favorite thing I've been enjoying this month. These are wonderful. I originally got the peachy/ coral shade (03 Enchanting Blush) from Sephora gratis and I felt those type of colors were too bright for me. But this spring and summer, I kinda have been leaving my comfort zone and I've been gravitating towards them this season. Lately I've been wearing Enchanting Blush with the Too Faced peach oil in Pure Peach and pair the lips with a plum/ berry blus (right now it's been the balm in pinstripe which I LOVE) I'm not sure what has intrigued me to do this combination but I love the flushed cheeks paired with a peachy lip. The other shade I got was a basic everyday shade 07 Bashful Beige.

To quickly sum it up, these are very comfortable on the lips, smell like a sweet candy and stains the lips and gracefully fades away throughout the day. These remind me a lot of the revlon lip butters which I love for the comfort but not as shiny.  These are a definite product this summer if you're looking for the comfort and color but nothing to fuss about throughout the day. I might do a full on post of some of my favorite lip balms and tinted lip balms in the future with this in mind.

the balm Instain Blush in Pinstripe
Once again, I'm having IMATS regrets and I wish I picked up more of these. These blushes are incredible. They are pigmented, blend beautifully and last all day. I love this shade Pinstripe though. I think it's a color that will look great on all skin tones despite it being a deep plum shade. For me, it looks like a "walked in from the cold" shade which I love. I'll definitely be getting more use out of this shade when the winter months come but for now I really have been loving this paired with a coral lip. I might invest in more of these when they come back on Hautelook for 50% off. Well worth it.

Sephora Collection Wink- It Felt Liner 

It's not the most pigmented white, but I still enjoy using it and I want to try the other colors in this collection including the mint green and burnt orange. I've been enjoying this white liner so much! Definitely amps up a classic black wing and gives it a little extra to the look. I'm learning other ways in how to experiment with the white liner including polka dots since I'm just big on those for the summer months. Seriously, it's obnoxious the amount of polka dot related things I own sometimes.

REPLICA Lipstick On

I sadly do not own the full size of this. I just  have a sample from Sephora but oh my, this is wonderful. I'm trying more to explore into the world of fragrance even though I would be absolutely terrible at describing it, but there's something about this scent that makes you feel classy and has a vintage scent to it. Some people may complain that it smells too old-fashion but I personally love how feminine and classy this smells for the evening.

Sephora.com

SHOWS

Beautiful: The Carol King Musical 
It's been so long since I've seen a Broadway show and let alone, a great Broadway show. This show goes behind the story of Carol King and her success as a songwriter. I think the big take away here on why I enjoyed it show much, is because her story shows that you can overcome heartache and be successful. That you can get through any struggles that have happen despite missing what use to be. As long as you maintain the confidence in yourself, you can go far. As cliche and cheesy as that sounds, it helped me a lot to put things in perspective for me. I loved Carol King before but I've come to appreciate her, her music the songs she helped composed even more.

So here's to June hoping that all of you have a great month! Keep growing and blossoming!♥

p.s: Bare with me for some of these pictures. Still trying to get the lighting to be a bit better!

Spring/ Summer Skincare Routine

I finally have somewhat of a skincare routine since I'm so drawn to using makeup wipes or micellar water for easy access especially for late working nights. But I'm getting better sticking to a routine despite how tired I may be (this includes after maybe a couple of glasses of sangria as well)

Morning Routine:

Been very curious of the Boots Botanics line ever since I saw it at Target. So when I got a Target gift card for my birthday (by the way, probably just the best gift you can give me because I'm a Target hoarder) I decided to pick these up.

The cleanser and a new addition to my skincare routine, toner, are part of the All Bright line which contains brightening hibiscus. I really like using these two products in the morning because it does help brighten up the face before applying the rest of my products for the day. The toner also helps tighten up the pores and I feel it makes my skin feel absolutely clear of any other impurities. I don't notice any long time results with these products. I just enjoy that it gives immediate brightness to the face and cleans the skin before the start of the day.

Occasionally, if I feel the need for extra exfoliation or my face is looking extra dull and tired, I'll reach for my mini Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask. This stuff is incredible. I might even consider one day to purchase the whole tub despite it being around $58. This is a fairly quick mask and only requires you to leave it on for 3-7 minutes. There's is a bit of tingly action when you first apply it but that's the magic working (yes I said magic). When you wash this off, the skin looks even brighter and awake and focuses to reduce the appearance of aging. And of course, I have to mention the smell because I am you're typical girl that enjoys a great pumpkin scent. The scent is spot on pumpkin pie. I want pumpkin pie as I type this because food scent related products are my thing of course.

Finally, I add my Garnier Ultra-Lift  Anti-Wrinkle Firming Eye Cream in the morning and night routine. This stuff is pretty fantastic considering it's drugstore. Not too thick and not too thin of a consistently. I've definitely noticed improvement of de-puffiness around my eye area and a reduce in wrinkles over the past couple weeks with consistent use.

Nighttime Routine: 

My Conair Skin brush is my favorite for taking off all of the makeup at night but actually giving it an extra clean removing any dirt that may have accumulated as well. I pair this with my Clean and Clear Continuous Control Acne Cleanser which helps continue to keep my acne down. I have a previous blog post on both of these products here if you're interested to know more.  And always remember to to cut up your cleansers when you "think" you're done with them. There's always so much more product in there aka more of your money. For removing eye makeup, I've been using baby oil which helps to break up all of the stubborn mascara once it's massaged in. Cheap and effective. Aren't those the best products?

If some pimples do decide to just show up, I go for the Acne Free Spot Treatment Terminator 10 . Again, this is one of those products I found that you have to use at least for a night or 2, to see the the pimple diminish overtime.

I find that my skin doesn't need a night moisturizer especially with the warmer months coming up so I mostly just stick to using my eye cream. Sometimes if I want to do a little bit of R&R, I will use one of the Sephora Face Sheet Masks. There's so many to choose from but I really been loving the Avocado and Green Tea sheet masks. It helps to give the extra boosts that the skin needs and replenishes it especially after long work weeks. Plus, it just feels relaxing and cooling. Considering that these are $6 each, it's good to treat yourself and your skin once and a while. And if it's not that great of a week, you go for 2 masks a week and a bottle of red.

Finally, a intensively moisturizing lip balm is a must. Often, I will go for the Vaseline lip therapy in creme brulee but something about the spring month's is making me use the Smith's Strawberry lip balm. Both are great thick lip balms that I personally enjoy using at night.

For the quick nights when you can't be bothered with a whole routine:

I personally enjoy using the Kirkland makeup wipes (Costco brand). I like that you get 4 packs of 30 count wipes and 2 travel size with 15-count. Is it just me or makeup wipes that have an actual closing lids are just better? The wipes are definitely great to remove makeup including mascara and they aren't too drying but sometimes I find them too harsh for my skin. When that's the case, I use micellar water in particular the Sephora Triple Action Cleansing Water. I think I like using micellar water a little bit more just for the added moisture it provides to the skin whereas makeup wipes could dry out the skin.

What products do you enjoy using for the Spring? And out of curiosity what are your favorite makeup wipes and eye makeup removers? I'm always looking out to try new products for those quick nights.♥