Almay Smart Shade CC Cream

Besides working as a musician, I also work at a bakery.  I work at the ungodly hour of 5:30AM, and I'm definitely not in the mood at 5AM to put on foundation let alone a full face of makeup.  I started using Almay Smart Shade CC Cream in Light/Medium to hide some of my redness.  It's perfect for my early mornings.  I just smooth is onto my face with my hands and head out the door.  The color is slightly lighter than my natural skintone, but it's not very noticeable.  I think had I gotten the medium color it would have been to dark.  As for breakouts, I feel like I did get a few small breakouts on my forehead, but I'm not sure if it's from the CC Cream or just because of the hot weather.  I do have to use a setting powder or a mattifying powder because I end up looking pretty shiny around my T-Zone.

It's a pretty good product, but I might not repurchase it again.  I think I might have to keep searching for a better CC Cream, if one even exists.  Does anyone have a favorite CC cream that they use?  What about a good BB cream?

LUSH I Love Juicy Shampoo

I have the worst hair ever.  My scalp gets extremely oily.  It gets so oily to the point where I'll take my shower in the morning, wash my hair, and by the end of the day my hair looks dirty again.  No shampoo was able to deep clean my hair...until I started using LUSH's hair products.  My particular favorite is I Love Juicy.  It was made for people like me.  It's a clarifying shampoo so it really deep cleans your hair and scalp.  It is made with mango, papaya, kiwi, and pineapple juices.  The enzymes in these juices help to break down the oiliness.  It also gives the shampoo a lovely smell.  The SA described it to me as a "fruit salad in a bottle."  And she was absolutely right!  I also love the play on words.  The name of the shampoo is a play on the show I Love Lucy, but I'm sure you already figured that out.  This is not recommended for people with normal to dry hair or even people with a slightly oily scalp.  It will dry your hair out, which is something only a person with an excessively oily scalp would want.  A little goes a long way!  I bought the largest bottle about 6 months ago and I'm just getting through half of it, but then again I have very short hair so maybe that's why.

Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Primrose

I just want to get this out there now, I DID NOT pick this color up because the name reminded me of the Hunger Games.  I don't like the Hunger Games.  I picked this shade out because I actually like the color.  It's a gorgeous, neutral dusty pink.  It's like a "my lips but better" shade.  It's neutral enough to wear during the day, yet it's bright enough that it could be worn out at night.  It's smooth and creamy and has vitamins C and E added to it.  The color lasted a good while with some lip primer underneath it.  And I love that it didn't dry out my lips.  I'm definitely looking forward to purchasing more shades from Smashbox!

Buffy Body Butter

I have the driest skin on the planet.  I'll put lotion on, it'll soak in but about an hour later my skin will feel dry once again.  My legs are worst of all.  My mom tells me I have "gator skin".  It gets frustrating.  I decided to get  Buffy (formerly Buffy the Backside Slayer) because it's exfoliating as well as moisturizing.  While the exfoliating is great on the lower half of my body, it's not as great on my upper half.  I feel it's a little too harsh.  The first time I used it I had scratches all over my arms, stomach, and chest.  I was pretty gentle around those areas too.  I'm going to continue using it on my lower half, but I may try Aqua Mirablis on my upper half since I heard that it's less abrasive.  Another thing to watch for is a greasy feeling after you use it.  Personally I don't mind it, but it may be off-putting to some.

To use Buffy, you want to wet the bar in the bath or in the shower and rub onto the skin in a circular motion.  Make sure to keep the bar out of the water when not in use because it will melt!  Store in a cool place.

If you have very dry skin, this is a must have product.  If not, the best product to try would probably be Aqua Mirabilis or You Snap The Whip.

Buffy Body Butter

Nails of the Week: OPI Don't Talk Bach To Me

Don't Talk Bach To Me is a favorite of mine, not only because the name is a play on the Bach name (I'm pretty sure they had Johann Sebastian in mind when they made this since he is the better known of the Bach family.  His five sons were also composers).  I also like the color.  It's a really nice light mustard color with green undertones and a fine shimmer.  It's reminiscent of Fiercely Fiona from the Shrek Collection but definitely more muted. I needed 3 coats to get a nice opaque look.  2 coats didn't cut it, it looked streaky and you could still see the nail in some parts.  Dry time took a little longer because of the extra coat.  As with all OPI nail polishes, I LOVE the brush. I have small nails, but the brush is just big enough that I can almost coat the nail in one stroke without making a huge mess.

Don't Talk Bach To Me is part of the Germany Collection and is a must to check out!

L'Oreal Voluminous False Fiber Lashes

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I usually don't care for L'Oreal waterproof mascara. It is incredibly hard to take off your lashes.  I mean, you could be stuck with it on for days. Unfortunately, because my eyes tear because of my allergies, regular mascara is not an option or I would try it (I can only get away with wearing a regular formula by Benefit). I heard some good things about L'Oreal's Voluminous False Fiber Lashes and thought, what the hell? Might as well try it.

I was surprised by the formula. It wasn't as dry as some of the other waterproof mascaras.  The bristles are thick and pretty stiff.  The tip of the wand is small and is good to get the inside corner lashes.  There are also an abundance of nylon and rayon fibers inside the formula. This is the same material that is used to make actual false lashes.

It's not my favorite mascara but I don't hate it either.  I did see a difference in the way my lashes looked.  They were definitely longer.  I also liked that it doesn't clump, well, on me at least.  The biggest upside is that it wasn't as hard to remove as some of the previous L'Oreal mascaras that I've tried.

Maintaining Ultra Soft Lips

 

Soft, kissable lips is on every woman's wish list (I know it's on mine!).  Getting these soft lips has never been easier. There are a number of exfoliators and balm that help to achieve this.  Let me show you what I use:

There are a number of different ways that you can exfoliate your lips.  You can use a wet washcloth or toothbrush and brush away the dry skin.  You can also make your own sugar scrub.  You can either mix olive oil and sugar or honey and sugar.  You can even mix all 3!  Since I don't have a ton of time to concoct my own scrub, I've been using a few lip scrubs by LUSH: Mint Julips and Popcorn.

Mint Julips is my absolute favorite scrub.  I mean, I've been using it for years.  It tastes like mint chocolate ice cream.  I love the way the mint makes my lips feel afterwards.

Popcorn is another favorite of mine.  It used to be available only during the holiday season, but due to popular demand, it is now available year round.  I like that this tastes sweet, yet salty like kettle corn tastes. Another reason I love these lip scrubs is because they are completely edible!  You clean it off your lips by licking off the excess.

Nails of the Week: Wet n Wild Megalast in I Need a Refresh-Mint

I love this nail polish!  Even my friend who doesn't wear nail polish likes this color. It's a beautiful greenish blue color with a jelly like finish.  I don't know if it was the batch I got, but it seems bluer than a lot of the swatches that I've seen online, seems like robin's egg blue.  I really like the brush. It's a wide "manicurve pro brush."  It does get every single inch of the nail which is nice. It took two coats to get a nice opaque color. Definitely let the first coat dry completely before you put the second coat on.  I was in a rush the first time and didn't let the first coat dry and the second coat went on weird.  It almost felt as if it were taking off the first coat with each stroke.

From what I've seen from other swatches, it looks like this may be a dupe for China Glaze's For Audrey with some very slight differences.  I don't own For Audrey so I can't really confirm that.  What do you guys think? 

E.L.F. Essential Lipsticks

Eyes Lips Face has a nice line of lipsticks that are only $1.  They are very pigmented for the price.  They are also pretty moisturizing.  There are 12 lipsticks in the collection.  You can't even get one high end lipstick for $12, meanwhile you can get the whole collection for $12.  The one huge problem I have with the collection though is that all the colors (except for Captivating) are all in the same color family so they all look very similar to one another.  Because of this, I only got three colors.  I tried to get three colors that weren't too similar to each other.  I ended up getting Voodoo, Gypsy, and Nostalgia.

Voodoo is a reddish brown shade

Gypsy is a raspberry pink

Nostalgic is a pale, pinky nude

These are pretty good lipsticks, especially for the price.  I just really wish they would come out with more colors that are not so pinkish.  Maybe a nice mauve or even a coral would be lovely.

LUSH Ocean Salt

Ocean Salt is my Holy Grail face scrub.  I absolutely LOVE the way my face feels after using this.  I love the smell also.  It smells like a delicious margarita! The main ingredients in this scrub are avocado, coconut oil, lime infused vodka, and sea salt.  It is great for oily/combination skin, but I would not recommend this for people with dry skin.  I do have to warn you that it's pretty abrasive, so if you don't like or aren't used to that type of scrub, it's not for you.  It's really important to stir the scrub before you first use it so that you can mix in the larger grains of sea salt.  It's a bit expensive, but I find it a big staple in my skincare regimine as it keeps my skin nice and clear.  I like to use it in the shower after I wash with my Cetaphil.  I highly recommend this product!

Nails of the Week: Sinful Colors Let's Meet

I never thought I would ever wear a shade like this, but to be honest I love it.  It's the perfect summertime shade.  I's a nice bright sunshine yellow with golden shimmer.  The wear is not bad with a top coat.  It took 3 coats to get a nice opaque look.  It has lasted a full week so far with minor chipping.  Sinful Color polishes are hit or miss with me. Some shades are great and do last on the nails. Other shades chip, even after a few hours (even with a good top coat on). This is definitely one of their better shades. Great for the beach or a nice night out!

My Inglot Eyeshadow Palette (Still in Progress)

I've heard so much about Inglot Cosmetics and its Freedom System from many beauty bloggers and vloggers that I just had to try it for myself.  Basically, the Freedom System is where you buy the empty palette and fill it with different pans.  It can be done with eyeshadow, eyebrows, lip and face products.  As far as eyeshadow goes, you can get either round pans or square pans.  The round shadow palettes come in 3, 5, and 10.  The square pan palettes come in 2, 4, 5, and 10.  I chose to get the square eyeshadows because it seemed like there was more product per pan.

The 10 pan palette was a great investment at $16.  Each eyeshadow was $6 except the 2 Rainbow on the bottom which were $8.  The square eyeshadows hold anywhere from .08 to .11 oz. worth of product.  The Rainbow shadows are .10 oz.  The one thing I find extremely annoying is that they don't name their shadows.  They're identified by numbers and finish.  Here are the shadow I have (so far) in my palette:

152: Shine. Silvery taupe with a shimmery finish. From the Noble Collection
440: Pearl.  Cool tone  pinkish lilac
445: Pearl. Light orchid (my favorite)
71: AMC. Medium plum with shimmer
439: Pearl. Jewel-toned violet

114R is one of the Rainbow eyeshadows.  It is matte purple and has a light, medium, and dark shadow.

109 is another one of their Rainbow eyeshadows.  It is matte green and again has a light, medium, and dark shadow.

Inglot's shadows have AMAZING pigmentation!  They also apply like a dream.  Each shadow is very affordable as well as the palette itself.  It is comparable to MAC but is,  in my opinion, better.  A large MAC Pro Palette is $18.  That doesn't include the insert that you have to buy with it.  The 15 eyeshadow insert is $9.  Then each eyeshadow is $12 and it's only for .05 oz.!  If you live in the tri-state area, shipping is great but a little pricey.  I live in NY and I got my package within a few days since it ships from there warehouse in Chelsea.  I've heard that shipping is a little crazy as you ship further out.

Inglot Freedom System

Healthy Eating: Mediterranean Salmon Salad

So I've been eating healthy/clean eating as much as I can. However, I find it hard to find recipes that are quick and simple to fit my extremely busy schedule. I found  one very easy salmon recipe that only takes 10 minutes max to make. 

• 1/2 cup (2.5 oz.) boneless, skinless salmon
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons diced olives
• 1 teaspoon minced red onion
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon rinsed and chopped capers

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Serves 1.

You can deviate from the recipe if you want to.  I like to add a bit more capers and red onion to the mix.

Happy (healthy) eating!

Freeman Feeling Beautiful Face Masks

Freeman is a brand of super affordable face masks.  They  make all different kinds of masks.  They make: clay, peel-off, brightening and polishing masks.  My two favorite masks are the Dead Sea Minerals Anti-Stress Mask and the Pomegranate Revealing Peel-Off Mask.

The Dead Sea Minerals Anti-Stress Mask uses both Bentonite and Kaolin clay.  Clay masks are absolutely wonderful for people with extremely oily skin or combination skin (such as myself).  The mask itself is thick and creamy and is easy to spread on the face. It's also a very pretty aquamarine color.  The mask takes about 10-15 minutes to dry, depending on how much of the mask you slather on your face.  Honestly, you don not need to put a ton on your face.  A thin layer will work just as well as a thick layer, and you're really only wasting product as the excess product just sits on the face doing nothing.  Then just rinse the mask off.  Be careful though.  There have been a few times when I thought the mask stained my face blue.  IT WILL COME OFF.  I find that any staining will come off with cotton pad soaked in toner.  My face feels über refreshed after this mask.

The Pomegranate Revealing Peel-Off Mask contains acai, goji, pomegranate, mango, mangosteen, cranberry, noni, and blueberry.  These ingredients are high in antioxidants.  This mask is to help purge to pores of all the gunk that accumulates in there.  It is a thick jelly consistency that has a faint purple tint to it. I find it hard to spread on my face.  Again, the package says to leave the mask on and let dry for 10-15 minutes.  I feel this mask takes a little longer than 15 minutes to completely dry.  If you don't let it dry completely, it will not peel off correctly.  Once dried, it should be easy to peel off.  For me, this mask hurts a little to take off because it gets so stuck to my skin.  It almost feels like you're taking one big pore strip fro off your face.  But it's worth the benefits, because my skin feels very fresh and clean afterwards.

I like to use each mask once a week.  I like to use the Dead Sea Minerals Mask in the middle of the week to calm my face.  I like to use the Pomegranate Peel-Off at the end of the week to detoxify my pores.  These are great products and I'm actually looking forward to trying more Freeman Beauty Masks in the future!