Everyday Essentials

When it comes to doing my makeup everyday I like to keep it simple, but because I am an over organized woman, I always bring extra bits and pieces for a just in case scenario in my makeup bag.

My everyday essentials would have to be complexion products, foundation, concealer, powder and blush are a must for me personally. I’m sure everyone has Kylie Jenner on Snapchat (she has the coolest life ever!) she sometimes posts makeup or skin tutorials and lets everyone know exactly what she uses. Ofcourse I was one of those people who immediately went out and bought what she used, which was the Urban Decay One and Done. This product is like a tinted moisturizer with great skin care benefits that gives a nice sheer, luminous coverage that looks like your skin but better. It has peptides, vitamins and moisturizing ingredients that are meant to firm and make your skin look more radiant over time.

 

If I have squeezed a pimple or need more coverage, I then grab either my Too Faced Born This Way concealer or Bare Minerals powder concealer, or both if I have something that needs heavy duty coverage! Born this way is nice and hydrating, so really great for under eyes and over flaky pimples that have been squeezed. The Bare Minerals powder concealer is made for the under eyes but works really well to cover blemishes as well.

 

I have always loved the Mac Studio Fix powder. It smooths out your skin and gives more coverage to any base so that is why I love using this with a tinted moisturizer for the perfect amount of effortless coverage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For blush I don’t believe there is a better brand than Hourglass. Their Ambient Lighting blushes are stunning and give luminosity to the skin with one swipe. They are also beautiful as eye shadows, which is what I use them for as well if I need a little extra colour. My personal favourites are ‘Mood Exposure‘ and ‘Dim Infusion‘.

Honorable mentions for my essentials are my Hourglass Arch pencil in ‘Blonde’, Urban Decay Brow Tamer in clear, Too Faced Shadow Insurance (in case I decide to wear blush as eye shadow), Bare Minerals Prime Time, Maybelline Great Lash mascara, Stila Stay All Day liquid liner, Real Techniques setting brush, Bare Minerals tapered brush and Hourglass Surreal Light palette from last year.

Send help! There is no more space for skin care!

So by now I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone around me that I’m a lover of all things makeup, but did you know I am also an avid skin care hoarder??? Well now you know! I thought I would start this post by quickly stating that no, I do not use every single one of these products on my face and body every single day. That would be crazy now wouldn’t it!

I’ve got pretty combination skin (says everybody ever!) I break out pretty regularly, have an oily gross t-zone, normal boring cheeks, you get the jizz. If this sounds exactly like your skin then read on and if not read on anyway.

For Cleansing: One thing that took me almost to long to realize is that oily skin and oil cleansers are a match made in heaven. Like, legit lifesaving! I’ve tried a few on the market but my favourite right now is the Shu Uemura Pore Refining Oil Cleanser. The pink packaging is aesthetically pleasing but the real show stopper is how clean you feel after you finishing washing with this cleanser.

I like to pop the cleanser onto my dry skin (makeup still on) massage it all over including my eyes and lips, then rinse my clarisonic with warm water and start cleansing the oil into my skin. Oil and oil mix but water and oil detract each other, so for oily skin this is the most thorough cleanse for you and for dry skin this will help balance out the oil in your skin too.

For Double Cleansing: If I’m particularly cake faced I will double cleanse with Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip. Its a foaming clay cleanser that helps to minimize the appearance of pores and also helps balance oily skin. Smells heavenly and keeps breakouts at bay!

For Toning: Once I’m done cleansing I like to wipe my face over with Bioderma. I know I know, Bioderma is traditional used to take of makeup but I really like to tone with it. If you haven’t tried it yet you definitely should. It feels like the perfect prep step for moisturizer.

For Moisture: At the moment I spray my face with La Roche Posay Thermal Mineral Water before moisturizing but sometimes I like to use Mario Badescu Rose water Spray (it just depends on the day or mainly my mood). While my face is still damp from the spray I then apply my moisturizer. I really do love the Dr Dennis Gross Hylauronic Moisture Cushion, its an oil free, light weight moisturizer that feels so soothing on the skin. Right now I am adding 2-3 drops of rosehip oil to my moisturizer to help with uneven skin tone and I’m finding it to be awesome for just that!

For Spots: I recently fell back inlove with the Mario Badescu Drying lotion because I now realized you need to use it on the spot without moisturizer otherwise it doesn’t really penetrate the way its meant to, oops.

 

Skin Care Routine

I have used a tonne of different skin care products over my 20 odd years and finally I feel like I am happy with what I am using. Shockingly enough the products I have been using at the moment are the cheapest out of everything that I have tried.

I am on medication for my regular breakouts so the Dermatologist recommended using Cetaphil. It is a gentle cleanser and will not irritate my skin and works well in conjunction with the medication. Three bottles later and I’m still happy as ever with this product. I find that It dries up any breakouts that I get and for the price it is a great cleanser.

I have always mixed Bio Oil into any moisturizer I apply before bed as I find that it helps with evening out my skin tone as well as making my skin ultra soft. In stead of using a normal moisturizer I now use Model Co Luxory Facial Oil mixed with the Bio Oil. I love the smell of this product as well as it’s many natural ingredients that help with aging and reduce scaring.

I used to apply fake tan religiously every week until I eventually ruined all of my sheets by turning them a nice tie dye of orange and white. I love having white sheets on my bed and being in Australia in Summer its inevitable that white sheets will be stained if you apply fake tan before bed. I’ve recently started using Bondi Sands Gradual Tanning Milk after seeing so many people raving about it and much prefer to use this instead of my usual Le Tan Fast Tan Dark Foam. This Gradual Tanner smells like coconuts, moisturizes my body and does not leave any marks on my sheets oddly enough.

 

My Love Affair With Lush’s Skin Care Line

   Hey there everyone,
I had given up hope in finding a perfect skin care line that would banish my break outs for good, that was until I found this perfect cleanser ever by Lush Cosmetics. My Skin has never felt so good!

I have wasted so much money on skin care products over the years. I have past used Proactive, Clinique, Dermalogica, ASAP and I swear nearly every drug store brand cleansers, and have noticed dry/irritated skin if not no results. I walked past the Queen Street Lush store while running early to work one day and stopped in. The lovely staff that work at that particular Lush were so welcoming and genuinely interested in helping with my skin dilemmas that I knew I was in the right hands. Definitely my idea of beauty professionals.

They gave me testers for their Dark Angels cleanser and their Angels on Bare Skin cleanser, as well as a zit zapping spot treatment called Grease Lightning (which sure did live up to it’s name). Both cleansers are more like a clay/paste then a liquid and are in black recyclable tubs (if you bring 5 black tubs back to the store you get a free mask!) Not only are all Lush’s products handmade with ethnically sourced ingredients but they also against any animal testing too! http://www.lush.com.au/shop/info/9/animal-testing

Once using the Dark Angels cleanser my skin instantly felt softer but after 3 days of use my skin was visibly clearer. The black heads on my nose were clear and the little bumps on my forehead that I hated were noticeably reduced. Also, if you like the smell of licorice you’ll love this cleanser, I tired so hard not to eat it! I didn’t think there was another cleanser that could top how I felt about Dark Angels till I used Angels on Bare Skin. http://www.lush.com.au/shop/product/product/path/224_159/id/266/face-cleansers-dark-angels-cleanser

Once I tested the Angels on Bare Skin cleanser I was shocked at the immediate results. I have a few blemish marks on my forehead and chin from passed pimples and this cleanser just evened out my skin tone and reduced the redness of those marks. It really did live up to the hype of being Lush’s number one cleanser. Angel on Bare Skin also smelt of beautiful lavender and rose (not as delicious as Dark Angels but still a desirable smell!) http://www.lush.com.au/shop/product/product/path/224_159/id/103/face-cleansers-angels-on-bare-skin-cleanser

I also used the spot treatment (Grease Lightning) with both cleansers and noticed that over night any minor breakouts I did have were dried out by the next morning. It’s Incredible! a little goes a long way with this tea tree, which hazel and aloe vera gel and I would highly recommend this to people with any sorts of breakouts. http://www.lush.com.au/shop/product/product/path/224_159/id/621/face-cleansers-grease-lightning

Once my samples were out I immediately bought the 100g full size products. They are one of the cheapest beauty buys I have found at only $16.95 for each cleanser and $13.95 for the spot clearing gel. I don’t think I will be buying any other cleansers for a while. I really do love Lush!

Jess xx