My Morning Skincare Routine

Aloha! I thought now would be a good time to write about my current skincare routine because my skin is better than it's been in a very long time. It's nowhere near perfect, I still get a few spots here and there, but still my skin hasn't been this smooth and clear in years. To start us off, I'll tell you a bit about my skin type. I have combination skin, meaning I'm oily in some areas, but very dry in others. I typically get quite a few hormonal spots, but I've mainly been battling my acne scarring for the past few years. So now you have a bit of insight into how my face likes to function.

Some of these products I've been using for over a year, but the newest additions to my skincare routine are what I believe have made a difference! I start off by dragging myself out of bed and into the bathroom where I start with my Philosophy Purity One Step Cleanser. I splash some water onto my face and then rub a dime size to a quarter size amount of the cleanser onto my skin for a minute and then rinse off. I pat my skin dry and then I take one of the Nip + Fab Glycolic Acid Pads and run it gently all over my face. The glycolic acid gently exfoliates the skin by removing dead skin cells along with any impurities that the cleanser may have missed. This is one of the new awesome items that I was referring to earlier. For months I had a problem with little bumps all over my forehead and a bit on my cheeks and my esthetician suggested a chemical exfoliant. The Nip + Fab pads completely got rid of the bumps after a week of daily use and they're amazing because they don't break the bank.

I sort of flap my hands at my face to dry off what's left from the pad without removing the magical stuff and then I move on to my serum which may surprise some of you. Every other day, I use the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum by taking about a pump and massaging it into the skin and a bit down my neck. The label clearly says night repair (and in next week's post you'll see I do, indeed, use it at night as well), but ViviannaDoesMakeup mentioned how she uses it in the morning as well as night, so I figured if she can, I can! I've found that this serum has helped immensely with my acne scarring. I wish I had a before picture to compare to an after picture to show all of you, but you'll just have to trust me. 😋 I finish off my routine with my all time favorite daytime moisturizer, Cetaphil Oil Control Moisturizer. It's moisturizing enough to hydrate my dry areas, but combats the oil in my t-zone at the same time. It also goes under makeup very well and I'm just absolutely in love with the stuff. This is probably my third bottle of it!

Let me know if you've tried any of these products and how they work for and also feel free to leave any recommendations you have in the comment section below! All the best! xx

1 Year Anniversary and Swatches on Swatches on Swatches!

Hello! So the 13th was my 1 year anniversary of this blog! I would just like to say thank you to all of you for sticking with me this long and putting up with my ramblings and my hiatuses. :P I'm hoping to work much harder on this blog for its second year and I hope you'll all stay for the ride!

Now, the rest of this post is not going to be anything special about the year, but the other night I went a bit swatch crazy with all the make up in my "most used make up" make up bag and decided to take pictures of all of them so that I would remember exactly what everything looks like on. I used my iPhone as I didn't think this would go anywhere, but I decided to post it all up because I'd rather not have a bunch of swatches taking up space on my laptop. Please forgive the quality, but these pictures are more of a reminder for me than anything else. Lol

From top: Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer, Sheer Cover Base Perfector Primer,
Rimmel Fix & Perfect Primer, and L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer

(Blended in)
From top: L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer, Rimmel Fix & Perfect Primer,
Sheer Cover Base Perfector Primer, and Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer

From left: Rimmel BB Cream in Medium/Dark, Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream in Medium/Deep,
MAC Mineralize Moisture Foundation in NC35, MAC Face and Body in C4,
L'Oreal True Match Mineral Makeup in Nude Beige W3/460,
and L'Oreal Hydra Perfect Translucent Powder

(Blended in)
From top: Rimmel BB Cream in Medium/Dark, Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream in Medium/Deep,

MAC Mineralize Moisture Foundation in NC35, MAC Face and Body in C4, 

L'Oreal True Match Mineral Makeup in Nude Beige W3/460, 

and L'Oreal Hydra Perfect Translucent Powder

The first 6 from the left are various different blemish and under eye concealers, that I can't put an order to. :P
Makeover Essentials Shimmer Powder Brush in Bronze, Milani Multitasker Face Powder in
06 Medium Tan, Sonia Kashuk Bronzer Blush Duo in 53 Glow, NYX
Rouge Cream Blush in Hot Pink, MAC MSF in Stereo Rose,
and Maybelline Master Bronze in Weekend Bronze

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Stick in 355 Coconut

From left: e.l.f. Lip Lock Pencil, Estee Lauder Shimmer Gloss in Praline Paradise,
and Urban Decay Lipstick in 69

From left: Covergirl Pencil Eyeliner in Brown (guestimation since the pencil's half gone lol),
Cynthia Rowley Silver Pencil, Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof in Black,
Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof in Nude, and L'Oreal Infallible
The Super Slim in Black/Noir

From left: Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe, L'Oreal Infallible in Amber Rush, NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder
in Dark Brown/Brown, Maybelline Expertwear in Earthly Taupe, and NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Sparkle Nude

Wet N Wild Color Icon from top: Browbone, Base, Definer, Eyelid, and Crease

Chanel Les 4 Ombres in Raffinement from left: bottom right corner, bottom left corner, top right corner, and top
left corner

Estee Lauder Deluxe Pure Color Eye Shadow Compact from left: Summer Linen, Amazing Grey, Amethyst Spark, Flirty
Lilac, Purple Passion, Tempting Mocha, Berry Burst, Smoky Ember, and Peacock Blue

Continued from left: Tranquil Moon, Nude Fresco, Ivy Envy, Chocolate Bliss, Ivory Slipper, Sandbar Beige, Hot
Cinnamon, and Riviera Rose

NYX The "All I've Ever Wanted" Box - 1st row from the bottom right to left

2nd row right to left

3rd row right to left

4th row right to left

5th row right to left

6th row right to left

7th row right to left

8th row right to left

9th row right to left

Bottom Tier from top: Top two face powders, left upper face powder, top left corner blush, bottom left corner blush, top right corner blush, and bottom right corner blush

From left: Top row left to right and bottom row left to right

December Favorites

Now, I know it's a bit early to be posting my December favorites, but I'm actually leaving for Vegas with some friends tomorrow and I won't be posting much whilst I'm there. Also, some of these have been my favorites since November as well, but I wanted to wait until I got my camera to photograph them. :) All of the products below are very, very affordable so if you see anything you like, I really do suggest giving it a go. Without further a do, here are my December favorites.

(Orders of lip products and swatches)
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush, Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry,
Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick in 10, e.l.f. Lip Lock Pencil

I love the balm stain because even when the berry color fades, there's still a pink tint on the lips so there's still some color there. Black Cherry is absolutely amazing! I've worn it almost everyday since October. Zoella posted a blogspot where she had her YSL Rouge Pur lipstick and I wanted to find a similar shade and found this! I pleasantly surprised to see in her current favorites video from last month that this is the lipstick she chose for her YSL dupe. :) The Kate Moss was the perfect bright red lip if I didn't want to go to dark. Lastly, I came across this at Target and since I wear a lot of lipsticks, I thought I'd give it a go and it really does work quite well! I put on before my lipstick and it makes transfer from my lips to other things pretty much non-existent! :)

Real Techniques Buffing Brush and Contour Brush

These are by far the best brushes I've owned (granted, I haven't owned very many brushes lol)! There obviously very well known in the beauty world and I was excited to give them a go. The buffing brush is perfect for flawless foundation and concealer application and the contour brush is, as you'd expect, the perfect size for contouring. I also use it to apply powder.

L'Oreal Hydra Perfect Perfecting Loose Powder in Translucent 

I was previously using the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder and I had heard so many amazing things about it that I was quite disappointed to find that I had to keep re-applying it every 15 minutes and I think it sort of enhanced my oily spots. I was on the hunt for a new translucent setting powder and found this and it is absolutely what I was looking for! It lasts for hours and hours, it keeps my shiny-ness at bay without making me look dull, and there's loads of it so it'll last for ages!

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in Sand

 As some of you may know, I never used to wear foundation. I always just used a BB cream and maybe some concealer. However, unfortunately my skin hasn't been looking its best the past few months so I thought I'd venture into foundation. Many YouTube beauty gurus that I love (ie. Tanya Burr, Zoe Sugg, etc) have said many good things about this foundation and I am pleased to say that I love it as well! I'd say it's a medium coverage, but can be buildable, and it covers all my spots and things really well without even using a concealer. What I really love is that it's not drying; I've got some dry patches thanks to these winter months and this doesn't highlight them at all. Love this stuff!

Maybelline Fit Me Blush in Deep Coral

 When I first got this blush several months ago, I wasn't a huge fan of it. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't as pigmented as I'd hoped. However, I rediscovered it this month and I'm absolutely loving it! I don't know if the brush I was using wasn't picking up the product or what, but this month I'm loving it! Now that I wear foundation, my naturally rosy cheeks get covered up so I've been reaching for this to add some color back into my face! I'd actually like to go to the store and look at the rest of their color range as well. :)

Maybelline The Falsies Volume Express

I feel like there's not too much I can say about this as pretty much every YouTube beauty guru and beauty bloggers have already raved about it! I will say this; I have quite short lashes (practically invisible), but this does the job of making them stand out a bit more quite well! 

L'Oreal 12hr Infallible The Super Slim Liquid Eyeliner in Black

 I'm in love with this eyeliner! It's easy to use, it stays put, there's none of the fuss that I had with gel liners and it's pigmentation is pretty good! Simple as, it's amazing!

Estee Lauder Pure Color Deluxe EyeShadow Compact

(The colors I used most out of the palette) Top left - Smoky Ember, Top Right - Berry Burst,
Bottom Left - Sandbar Beige, Bottom Right - Hot Cinnamon

This is a beautiful palette that I was given by my mom and it's the one item on here that is a bit on the higher end, but it's such amazing quality! All the colors are beautiful, are highly pigmented, and blend incredibly well, but the four colors that I used the most this month are the four pictured above! My go to eye shadow palette at the moment. :)

Moroccan Sea Salt Spray - This sea salt spray does everything you'd expect it to, it adds texture and volume and it smells amazing! The one down-side I found is that it does make my hair have a bit of a weird paper-y feeling. I love it none the less, but I am on the hunt for another one. Any suggestions? :)

Tresemme Tres Two Spray - This is a quality hairspray! It holds volume and curls so well without making my hair crunchy or sticky. I curled my hair for a night out last week and fell asleep and my curls were still there in the morning.

Tresemme 24 Hour Body Foaming Mousse - This adds the perfect amount of volume for me without being greasy. Since I have straight hair, it is quite easy for it to appear flat, but when I apply this right before I blow dry upside down, my hair has a lot more life than it used to! For the price, you can't go wrong! Highly recommend. :)

Tresemme Keratin Smooth Heat Protection - Not much to say about this other than it does what it says it will and it smells amazing. Leaves my hair so smooth!

Moroccan Moisture Miracle Argan Oil - I use this after I get out of the shower when my hair is still damp and it leaves my hair so shiny and smooth! There really is a noticeable difference after using this for a few days. A plus? It smells amazing!

I've never done a monthly favorites post, so please feel free to leave any suggestions in the comments and if you have recommendations of any products you think I'll like, leave those as well! Hope you're all fantastic! What have you been loving this month? Xx

My Most Worn Tag by Zoella :)

I thought this was a cool idea when I saw Zoe's post from ages ago the other day and since she said anyone that would like to take part could, I thought I'd go for it. :)

Nail Polish

I was given this Milani Nail Lacquer in Garnet Gems by my sister a while ago and it's been my favorite thing to have on my nails, no matter what season it is. :) I obviously have plenty of other nail polishes that I love, but this is definitely my go to. And the green bottle on the right is Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Gel Nail Fortifier and it is literally the best base and top coat! As a base, it helps any polish last longer and as a top, it makes my nails so shiny with nail polish or not! 

Lipstick

 My Estee Lauder in Barely Nude cream lipstick is perfect for me. :) It has a very cream consistency and isn't overly glossy. The best part of this lipstick is that because I have fairly dark skin, regular nudes are too light for me, but this nude matches my skin tone perfectly.

Perfume

 I'm very, very picky about perfumes so when I found the Michael Kors "Very Hollywood" a few years ago, I was so excited! Unfortunately, by the time I had gotten around to purchasing a new bottle, I couldn't find it anywhere! This bottle, however, is a similar scent and it is Michael Kors "Eau de Parfum Spray" and it does the job I think. It's a very fresh, floral scent, but is by no means overpowering (unless you spray on the entire bottle lol). As much as I love this, I would quite like to find "Very Hollywood" again now that I think about it.

Make Up

Again, I was given this Maybelline Dream Fresh BB 8-in-1 Beauty Balm Skin Perfecter by my sister and I'm obsessed! It's my perfect color and it's just enough coverage, as I don't like to wear foundation very much. What I really love is that it doesn't dry out my dry spots, in fact it keeps them moisturized, and it does't make my oily spots worse. 

I know, this is a super cheep-y product, but hey, isn't that kind of a plus? :) My Elf Translucent Matifying Powder is a godsend, not even joking. In combination with my BB cream, it makes me perfectly matte, but still healthy looking. I know some people might prefer a dewier finish, but besides my few dry spots, I'm already oily so matte products are preferred for me. 

Rings

So I just bought this ring with Dalton (who helped me pay for it, thanks Dalt :)) about two weeks ago, but it's already a part of me. Lol It has barely left my hand! We were at a place called The Lab just shopping around for a dress for me and there was an adorable little cart/boutique thing that had so many amazing hand-made pieces that I had to come away with something! I absolutely love this ring because it's different than most rings I've seen in say H&M or Forever 21 and the artist who made it takes old, vintage broaches and turns them into rings! Love it! And it looks amazing when sunlight hits it. :)

This ring is from Forever 21 and originally it had white roses on it. I actually had two more (which both had the roses broken off as well), but one of them was lost a long time ago and the other I left with a very dear friend of mine. I've pretty much always worn it everyday (oddly, more so after the roses broke off), but ever since I left the other with my friend, I just can't seem to leave the house without mine. I suppose it just makes me feel a bit closer to him, wherever he is. I miss you loads Casey. <3

 Jacket

Once again, I bought this with Dalton about two weeks ago and I'm obsessed! I wear it literally whenever I can. Lol I've been wanting a camo jacket ever since last summer and just haven't been able to afford one or find one that fits properly and in Crossroads, I found this jacket in the men's section! I promise, on me it doesn't look like a men's jacket (I got Dalton's seal of approval! Lol)! It's by a company called The Berrics and I've never heard of them before, but I'm so glad I have now. :)

Dress

And last, but not least, the dress from Urban Outfitters that Dalton bought me at the Lab. :) I actually have a picture up of me wearing it in my OOTD that I posted a few days ago. Just like the two other items from The Lab, I've only had this for two weeks, but I absolutely love it! I've wanted a maxi dress for ages and this one is such good quality! So soft and so light-weight and flowy! And the best part, it was on sale for $30! Quite the bargain! I'm sure Dalton's wallet was happy that he didn't have to splash out too, too much. Lol

So there are my most worn items or things that are pretty much just now a staple of who I am. :)