Hey Gems!

The holidays are quickly approaching, and if you’re like me, you probably already have a list of gift ideas to get. For those that don’t quite know what to get their beauty enthusiast family or friends, keep reading to learn how easy it will be to purchase gifts for the beauty enthusiast in your life. I hope this holiday gift guide will bring joy to the beauty lover in your life!

Lancôme does it right when it comes to full-coverage foundations. I recently came across teint idole ultra wear foundation because there are nights where I would need a more long-wearing foundation. Since this foundation is full-coverage, it doesn’t feel heavy on the face. Instead, it leaves a smooth later finish. When paired with the concealer, Gems, it’s perfect. When brands release a foundation and then a concealer, I feel it works best when paired together. This combo does just that. Partnered with skin prep, this foundation and concealer duo is sure to last you hours through your day.

Moving on to the eyes department – I love an excellent natural-looking lash strip. It’s not everyday wear 25mm lashes. This lash design is natural with a bit of razzle-dazzle. Pair this lash with the dark-toned DUO lash glue, and it is sure to last and won’t leave you hanging. A trick I learned from YouTube University was to draw a line of lash glue on your eyelid where you plan to put the strip lash and put a line on the lash itself. This double layer will keep your lashes from falling off.

I love a perfect neutral-toned eyeshadow palette. I always pick this palette up when I’m doing a simple eyeshadow look. You can create eye-popping looks, and if you want to keep it simple, you can with this palette.

I know you didn’t think I would leave you hanging on what brushes to apply these products. This brush set has the right tools to apply your foundation, eyeshadow, eyebrows, concealer, highlight, contour, and more!

Check out this video where I used the foundation, concealer, eyeshadow, and lash glue mentioned in this post.

I hope you liked the products I shared with you. All products were purchased with my money, and no affiliate links were used.

Hey Gems!

Hope you all are caught up on all my previous posts, if not, get to it! Please 🙂 I’ve been stressed so badly at work that it’s starting to show on my face. I mean I would wake up to a new pimple craters. Not sure who invited them to the party, but they had to go! I would literally walk around work looking like I put too much baby oil on my forehead by mid-day. I don’t even own baby oil! Argh! Why me, I thought I had a down packed skin care routine that hadn’t failed me, till now. I thought I needed to just continue using the same products, but maybe I needed to scrub a little bit hard and pay attention more to my forehead and my cheeks, but I still saw no difference.

Research

I went on a hunt to understand which products could work for my skin and decided to introduce 3 new products! When I say these products are game changers, why hadn’t I thought of using them in the first place? Low-key, I think one of my friends uses this wash and I never thought to ask her what she though to if.

New Face Wash

I replaced my Neutrogena 3-in-1 Acne wash with Trader Joe’s Spa Face Wash with Tea Tree Oil. The first ingredient in the list is Castile soap which is also something I use on my natural hair when I want a deeper shampoo. The Castile soap really helps rid my skin of the sebum (oil) that built up over the night. The addition of tea tree oil helps as an antiseptic, germicidal, antibacterial and antifungal oil. Literally, a pimple is excess sebum (oil) and dead skin cells trapped under the skin. I’ve noticed my sebum is gradually slowing down its production. Thank God!

New Acne Cleanser

Every other night I alternate between my Mario Badescu Glycolic Acid Cleanser and this new product I picked up, Clean & Clear Continuous Control Acne Cleanser w/10% benzoyl peroxide. I’m not sure if I love this new product just yet because it doesn’t make my skin feel slick and clean rather it feels like I still have product left on my face.

New Serum

The last item on my list is the Mario Badescu Vitamin C Serum, I got this product because it was on sale at Ulta for half the price, score! It’s supposed to brighten uneven skin tone which I have around my mouth area and from the pimple scars from when I knew no better. I only use this serum every other night right before I apply moisturizer.

Morning Facial Routine

• Allow steam from shower to open my pores
• Drench skin with warm-ish water to further open pores
• Trader Joe’s Spa Face wash with Tea Tree Oil with a Foreo 
• Soak a cotton round with Thayers Witch Hazel with Rose water to tone face
• Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Mattifying Fluid

Nighttime Facial Routine

• Cleanse face with Thayers Witch Hazel with Rose water
• Drench skin with warm-ish water to open pores
• Clean & Clear Continuous Control Acne Cleanser 10% benzoyl peroxide with a Foreo 
• Soak a cotton round with Thayers Witch Hazel with Rose water to tone face
• Mario Badescu Vitamin C Serum (every other day)
• Caudalie Overnight renewal cream

I hope this helps you all with figuring out what works for your skin, if you have similar skin to me.