Updated Foundation Routine for Fall/Winter

"Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest."~Christian Dior

So its almost Thanksgiving and I thought it would be the perfect time for me to do a updated foundation routine. As all of you know the temperatures are dropping and our skin is losing most of its moisture. In my case, dry patches start to be a lot more noticeable. So during this time of the year I try to change up my foundation routine and skin care routine as much as possible to help keep my skin looking fresh and moisturized.

STEP ONE:

Moisturizer. You want to moisturize your skin 30 minutes before applying any type of primer to your face. This allows your skin more time to absorb the moisturizer. My current moisturizer is Origins, VitaZing SPF 15.

I love this moisturizer for various reasons. Its is an organic product that is formulated without any parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, and various other products. Not only does it moisturize my skin but it also has a sheer tint, a little more sheer than a tinted moisturizer, and it helps me look awake. The SPF is like the cherry on top. It has a scent to it that is not over powering. The scent kind of reminds me of mangoes. It smells delicious but like I mentioned before, not overpowering at all. For this a dime size or less is perfect to apply to the entire face and neck. This is good news since this product is a little pricey ($35) for the amount you receive (1.7oz). So keep in mind a little bit of this goes a long way.

STEP TWO:

Primer. Face primer is a must for everyone. A primer helps the product adhere better to the skin and it helps you use less product. Some primers brighten up colors or minimize pores. My all time favorite primer is Benefit Cosmetics, The POREfessional.

This primer is a quick fix primer. By quick fix I mean you see immediate results versus seeing the results over time. This quick fix primer helps minimize pores. I love this because I do notice the difference immediately and I do have large pores on my cheeks and nose. I apply the product in my problem areas and for the rest of my face use a different primer. You do not need to use much of this product. I recommend using this only on the problem area and using a different primer on the rest of your face. If you find this to be too much of a hassle a pea sized amount of this will cover your entire face.  It is a primer that is a little on the pricey side. It retails for $29 and its a .75oz bottle. I will say that like my moisturizer a little of this goes a long way. I had one bottle of this primer for a year before I had to repurchase a new one.

The second primer I use is Laura Mercier Foundation Primer in the Oil Free formula.

This I apply to my forehead, chin, and upper lip. I use the oil free formula because it does help control my oily skin a lot better. Once again another primer that is on the pricier side. This is $30 for a 1.75oz bottle. A good dupe for this that I have found is the Palladio Herbal Foundation Primer.

 It leaves my skin with that silky smooth finish, it is not too greasy feeling but does hydrate at the same time, and it is less than half the price ($11.99 for 1oz) of the Laura Mercier. My skin seems to be very weird I tell you. I have dry patch areas and I have oily areas. If only they would combine an give me normal skin I would be happy. A girl can dream :)

STEP THREE:

Foundation and concealer. Now this would not be an updated foundation routine if I did not change up something, right? For this cold season you want to have a more dewy foundation, specially is you have dry skin or dry patches. Matte foundations may give you a more dull flat look and if you have dry skin it make look like you have very unhealthy flaky skin. I have two foundations that I alternate with, depending on how much coverage I want. The first foundation is the Josie Maran Argan Matchmaker Serum Foundation. My color is in Light/Medium. 

There are 3 shades to pick from and the reason for that is the true skin matching technology. This is an amazing product! You apply this to your skin and start blending it in and you see it start matching your skin. It is amazing to see this in person. I feel like this foundation hydrates the dry patches and does not overly hydrate the rest of my skin. I would say this is the perfect foundation for any skin type since it knows where to hydrate the most. This is another organic product, GO GREEN! Some of the pros of this foundation are that it is paraben free, cruelty free, vegan, toxin free, and recyclable. This does have a slight scent. I cant quite describe it but it smells clean to me. This foundation does give me a dewy finish but it is not full coverage. I would say this is more of a medium coverage foundation but I don't mind this one bit. As for usage, one pump is more than enough since the product does spread out easily and evenly. This retails for $42 for a 1oz bottle. The price may be very steep for some, but the quality of the product is well worth it and the packaging is perfect as well.

The second foundation I like using is the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation. My color in this is Natural Tan.

Maran, $12.49 for 1 oz,but this foundation is also buildable to full coverage and still not look cakey. It does go on fairly easy and I do find it hydrating. I would say this is a great inexpensive foundation for this season.

I like to apply my concealer after I apply my foundation. Sometimes foundations will take care of the problem areas of the skin so concealer would be pointless then, but other times you do need to apply that little bit to that pimple or to the dark under eye circles. For concealer for this season I like using my Amazing Cosmetics, Amazing Concealer in Tan.

This is a very pigmented and concentrated concealer. I love this for blemishes and dark under eye circles. It is a liquid form so that does help it glide on a lot easier. You seriously only need to use a pin sized amount to get the perfect amount of coverage for your blemishes or dark under eye circles. This concealer is paraben free which is great. It is very pricey though. I have the travel size, which is .2oz, and I paid $28 for it. The full size is .5 oz and its $42. It does last a very long time but it is very very pricey. I highly recommend it though. 

Usually my next step would be to apply a setting powder over my foundation, but not in this case. If you have super oily skin you can apply a very light amount of powder only to the oily areas, otherwise too much powder will matte up the finish and the dewy look will be useless. So for this season I would recommend to skip it. We don't want our skin too look flat and flaky. Next you would go onto finishing the full face look with lips, cheeks, and eyes. 

This is a very simple and quick way of having a nice dewy finish to your skin and help your skin not look dull at all during this holiday season. I hope you guys enjoyed this mini update. I hope to be doing posts more often as well. Does your foundation routine change during the colder season? If so, what foundation do you use?

PRICE LIST:

*Origins, VitaZing SPF15: $35 (Sephora & Origins)

*Benefit Cosmetics, The POREfessional: $29 (Sephora & Ulta)

*Laura Mercier Foundation Primer, Oil Free: $30 (Sephora)

*Palladio, Herbal Liquid Foundation Primer: $11.99 (Ulta o& Sally Beauty Supply)

*Josie Maran Argan Matchmaker Foundation Serum: $42 (Sephora)

*Neutrogena, Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup: $11.99 (Ulta & most drugstores)

*Amazing Cosmetics, Amazing Concealer: $28-$42 (Sephora and Ulta)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

Best Brush Cleaner Ever!!!

"There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness." ~Maria Mitchell

So for all of you makeup artist out there or aspiring makeup artist you know that the most important thing that we all own, besides our cosmetics, is our tools. Our tools help us achieve the looks we want with little to no effort and hassle at all. Now like any other thing we own, our brushes need to be properly cared for. By this I mean daily cleaning and monthly deep cleaning. This may seem to some like a big hassle, but when you love what you do and want your brushes to last a lot longer it doesn't seem like a big deal anymore.

So while watching some videos on YouTube I came across a video by dulcecandy87. For those of you who do not know her, click here to see her YouTube channel. So she has a video where she is doing a review on the Sigma Dry n' Shape and she mentioned Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. I was amazed at how big the bottle was but most of all how little amount of product it took to clean 12 brushes. Needless to say I went to my local Target and found Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap in different scents and two different sizes.

Now lets talk a little bit about the scents and the sizes they have. There are 8 different scents to choose from. Pretty much a scent for everyone out there. The scents are Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Almond, Rose, Baby Mild, Citrus, Lavender, and Tea Tree Liquid Soap. I personally didn't care much for the others so I got the lavender. Also lavender is known to help you relax. So what better way to help be relaxed and stay relaxed then getting whiffs of lavender when doing your makeup. The product comes in two different sizes, 16oz and 32oz. The price may very depending on where you purchase the item and what size. I believe I paid about $8 for my 16oz bottle and it seriously still look brand new and I have had it for over 4 months.

Now onto the product itself. Lately I have been trying to get into more organic products for my face. I feel that organic products are better for our skin since we are avoiding any harsh chemicals and ingredients. With that said, yes, Dr. Bronner's Liquid Soap is organic! Win much?! It is made with no synthetic foaming agents, thickeners or preservatives. This is great to know because some foaming agents (like those found in many shampoos) are too harsh and can cause damage to the bristles (and if its a shampoo, your hair!). It is completely Biodegradable and vegetable-based, its made with Certified Fair Trade and Organic Oils, and it is multi-purpose! You can actually refill this bottle at your local Co-Op! Many many Co-Ops carry Dr. Bronner's and have refill stations for you to use. Not only is it cost effective but you are also technically recycling. What better thing than to have organic soap and save the planet at the same time!

The quality of this product is beyond amazing! You only need 2 to 3 little drops of this product into a container (any small Tupperware will do), fill it up with water (less than half way), and this is just enough to clean 12 brushes or more depending on how dirty your brushes are. The scent is not overpowering but not too subtle. You can definitely smell the lavender in the brush bristles. On top of that, the soap leaves my brushes squeaky clean and, if they are white bristles, it leaves them white and not stained. By stained I mean that sometimes we use that bright pink blush and the white bristles are stained pink, even after deep cleaning them. This soap cleans it all off and leaves the bristles like they were before using it, white.  

I really do love this product and I think it is by far my favorite deep cleaning brush cleaner. Before this  I use to use Sephora Brush Shampoo and although it had no harsh scent (or scent at all) it did take a ton of product to get a large powder brush clean and didn't completely take care of any stains left on the brushes from makeup. This product I just find to be very cost effective and it being multi purpose makes it even better. It being organic is like the cherry on top. This whole item is overall a win for me!

Thanks for reading my blog and I hope this is informative for you! I will soon do a tutorial on how I use this product to deep clean my brushes and how often you should clean your brushes to help keep them around longer. :)

RATING:

Packaging: 5/5

Product: 5/5

Quality: 5/5

Price: $8-$16 (Target. If you buy from the Co-Op I'm sure it may be more inexpensive.)

Would I buy again?: Most Defiantly

Overall: 5/5

**If you would like to read more about the ingrediants of Dr. Bronners Magic Soaps click here.**