My Makeup Routine

Okay, so be gentle.


I'm not a makeup girl.  I own a lot of eyeshadow palettes, pigments, singles, and almost every 24/7 pencil by Urban Decay (eyeliner)... but when it comes to foundation?  Forget it.  I have pretty red skin (been asked several times if I have rosacea) that's also pretty dry.  I've tried 4 different kinds of "green" primer but I always feel like I look like the Hulk afterwards.  (For reference, I've tried Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Foundation Primer in Color Adjust, Make Up For Ever HD Microperfecting Primer in 1 Green, FusionBeauty Prime Results Anti-Redness Primer, & Pur Minerals Correcting Primer-Green.)


Before I even started wearing makeup, the only thing I'd put on was Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera gel.  Yep.  When I realized that it was making my skin look like it was peeling off during the day, I moved to Saint Ives facial moisturizer.  While it did the job of moisturizing, I was still left with very red skin.


My most recent trip to Sephora was also my determination to cover my red skin without looking like the Hulk, or cakey, or oily.  It took three associates and several brands before we finally found that this combination worked best for me.


First Aid Beauty Anti-Redness Serum - $34 for 1.7 oz
-One pump into the palm of my hand, apply to the entire face.


Sephora Collection Pro Foundation Airbrush #55 - $34
-This was the brush recommended to me for the rest of my makeup application.  I haven't had any bristle fall out from this brush and it does bounce back to its original fluffiness after washing.


Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer SPF 15 - $52 for 1 oz
-One pump on the back of my hand, applied with the Airbrush starting in the t-zone and working over the face in small circles.


Hourglass Illusion Tinted Moisturizer Oil Free SPF 15 in Ivory - $55 for 1 oz
-One pump on the back of my hand, applied with the Airbrush starting in the t-zone and working over the face in small circles.  Tap the brush only in areas that need extra coverage.


Hourglass Oxygen Foundation Mineral Powder in No. 2 - $46 for 0.46 oz
-Sweep Airbrush over powder, apply to cheeks, t-zone and chin.


Now for the results, right?


Here is my before, freshly showered, nothing on my face at all.

You can see how I have red cheeks and chin, a blemish on the right side of my mouth and freckles across my nose and cheeks.

After - my skin tone has been evened out without appearing overly cakey.  The blemish is less noticible and the freckles and redness are mostly covered.


The associates had suggested a cheek stain but I just wasn't ready for that yet.  It does kind of leave my face void of color but I tend to add eyeshadow/liner/mascara and some type of lip color or gloss.  Either way, I'm very happy that the redness is less apparent without me looking green!

Del Sol Sassy

While I was in San Antonio last month, on a segway tour (oh yes), I found out that there is a Del Sol store right in front of the Alamo.  I decided that I couldn't leave without going in and getting my first color changing polishes from this lovely little company.  


They were have a sale at the time of 3 polishes for $25 (I believe was the deal), so I picked my three and received a cute Texas gift box set packaging.  This is Sassy, which my boyfriend picked out.  It starts out as a light pink and then is supposed to change to an orange color.  Del Sol is very careful to point out on their website that the colors you experience may very depending on the UV-Index of the sun, the number of coats you apply and the temperature.  They do say they will replace the polish if it's not what you like.  I chose a relatively warm day to check out this polish.


I did not use a base or top coat and this is 4 layers of polish.

First this is the color in the shade.  You can see that even with 4 coats, you can still see my VNL on most nails.  It's a light pink with a gold almost shimmer over the nail.

Then I got in the sun and let the sun do its stuff.  While my bottle did not go as orange as shown on Del Sol's website, there is a definitely difference in the color.

I also grabbed one last picture in the shade before the color cooled down.  It's definitely a nice novelty item!


Del Sol may be ordered online for $10 a bottle with free shipping on orders over $50.  You can also find stores with their Store Locator.  For social media, Del Sol has a Twitter, a YouTube channel, a Google+ page and a Facebook page.

Sinful Colors Wish

Please enjoy the following press release from Sinful Colors!

SINFUL COLORS HOLIDAY 2011 - WISH

Bells are jingling, snow is glistening and merry tunes abound: It's the season of shimmer (aka: the holidays) and glamour, of course. And your nails deserve a little gift and loving too. Welcome the SinfulColors holiday 2011 collection, Wish, which delights and excites. The collection takes classic colors - like red, green, silver and blue - and kicks them up a notch to be fashion-forward and festive to ring in 2012.


The complete SinfulColors Wish collection for holiday 2011 includes:

Five gem-inspired shades of polish:
OUT OF THIS WORLD: a perfect silver with swirls of glimmer
MIDNIGHT BLUE: a bold, bright twist on navy
SUGAR SUGAR: a candy cane, red-hot tint
DADDY'S GIRL: a deep purple with a drizzle of shimmer and glitter
LAST CHANCE: an emerald with depth and allure


Two metallic shades of nail art:
FLOWER GIRL: a bronzy gold with tons of sparkle
FASHIONISTA: a glitter-laden pewter


SinfulColors surpasses the masses with more than 150 amazing shades of nail polish, including the above-mentioned shades. All hues are available for $1.99 at major drug and mass-market stores nationwide, by calling 1-800-448-0763 or online at www.walgreens.com.

No-Miss Country Christmas

Christmas is coming up fast - today my boyfriend said "Let's get a tree!".  I was kind of happy with my little tinsel tabletop tree, but maybe I need to get into the spirit and invest in a nice 6' to sit in the living room.  Maybe.  To help get me in the mood, I figured I'd bring out No-Miss nail polish in Country Christmas - a festive red and green glitter in a clear base.


I used a base coat of CND Stickey, 2 coats of polish and a top of CND Air Dry.  For white I used CND Brilliant White and for black I used nubar Noir.

For just 2 coats, this does cover well!  I don't prefer it on the bare nail or really over black but absolutely love this color over a white.

Same story in the shade.  Over black the colors just don't pop as well to me as they do over white.

Finally indoors with the flash.  If you're looking for a nice red and green microglitter, this is a great one to have.  There isn't any filler colors (silver/gold/blue) which I like and the glitter is a fine cut so it's not too big.  Removal wasn't terrible using the foil method which apparently I need to add a little tutorial for my non-nail polish loving friends who look at me like I have two heads when I say "Just use the foil method."  Coming soon!

No-Miss can be found in several health food stores like Whole Foods or purchased on their website for $7.95.  You can follow No-Miss on Twitter or like them on Facebook as well.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

CND Sheer 24K Sparkle

The complimentary "effects" in The Look 2011 by CND is Sheer 24K Sparkle.  It's a nice gold flakie in a gold base.


I decided to try this look over Dark Amethyst, Midnight Sapphire, CND Brilliant White and nubar Noir.  One coat of the effect was used on each swatch.

Here in the sun you can see that it's a bit hard to see this effect properly.  The sun really washes the color out which is sad because it's a nice color!

The shade is much better.  I love this gold because it goes perfectly for both my high school and college alma maters (black and gold for high school, blue and gold for college).  Over white, however, this color doesn't work at all.

Finally indoors with the flash - again this color doesn't stand out as well as it should.  It almost gets lost over the purple as well which is sad because the colors do compliment each other well.  I'm still very in love with the effects line - from the way it changes the colors to the opacity of the polish itself!  Pair it with CND Stickey and CND Air Dry and you definitely have a winner!


CND is available for $9 per colour, and $11 per effect and you can find locations to buy here.

TransDesign and Head2ToeBeauty has the colours for $4.50 and effects for $5.50.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.