5-Minute Face: RMS Beauty

1. Start with your RMS Un-Cover Up and apply with (clean!) fingertips to face.

2. Use a super fluffy brush and dip into your favorite bronzer.

3. Use the tip of the brush and apply in the hollows of your cheeks and blend well upwards toward your temples.

4. Use the same fluffy brush and dip into your favorite blush..Tap off excess!

5. Apply to apples of cheeks. Smile!!

6. Tap on RMS Beauty Living Luminizer to cheekbones for the perfect highlight.

7. Add a little lippy, and you're done!

Un-Cover Up // Luminizer // setting powder(opt.)//bronzer//mascara//blush//lippy//fluffy brush

xx

e

Bake-a-thon

As much as I love fashion and beauty, I also love food. Baking in particular, maybe its because growing up my mom was always baking up a storm! Same with my grandmother. The wonderful smells from the kitchen would seep into the whole house just tempting my palate. Every so often I will get into this phase and bake, bake, bake. And it happened when I found this recipe on this blog. I wanted to bake everything I saw! I even made a folder under my tabs called 'Must Bake!'. So needless to say I made the B'day Cake Batter Bars then the cookies seen below. The frosting in between is the recipe for Sprinkles buttercream icing....yum
Happy Saturday!

The Trip

I went on an overnight business trip Tuesday to the beautiful St. Simons Island! I will fill you in on details later, but here are some shots I managed to take on the less than 24 hr trip.

{ My airplane outfit..details on my Instagram }

{ New international terminal at ATL airport! }

{ baby Varsity at the airport }

{ St. Simons Sweets all homemade yum }

{ Our flight back was delayed..good thing I had my Sept issue }

{ one dozen hot Krispy Kremes }

xx

e

Tutorial: Tarte Maracuja Blush and Glow

Today I am going to show you how I apply my Tarte blush and glow! This product is the best if you are traveling or are in a rush in the morning! In the photos I have already applied my foundation, setting powder, and some light bronzer. Get the Blush and Glow HERE! Use this code "FFAUG" through August 6th, 2012 to get 30% all Tarte products for the Friends and Family sale!!


Here is my step by step tutorial for this product:

1. Start by applying the cheek tint directly to the apples of your cheeks

2. Use your ring finger to blend the cheek color

3. A little blurry, but dot the luminizer on top of your cheek bones, then blend

4. And there you have it! Add some mascara and you're done

Hope you all enjoyed this!

xx

e

Skincare Fave: Indie Lee

I am very, very picky about what I put on my skin. I know that everything that goes on our skin gets absorbed into our bloodstream (think about all those chemicals and cancer causing ingredients in your favorite brands like MAC, MUFE, Dior, Chanel etc!). That's why I am so anal about natural cosmetics and natural skin care! It's just about being informed.

Here's where Indie Lee comes in. I read this amazing article almost a year ago and I just had to see what she is about as well as what her brand is about. Here is a snippet of her story from her website:

"I’m Indie lee. On Earth Day 2009, I was given a new life — I awoke from brain surgery to discover that a potentially fatal tumor had been successfully removed. Having learned that environmental toxins may have been the culprit, I began devoting myself to making all natural beauty products from the finest ingredients across the globe. Remember, what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it. We also need to nurture our soul to let our inner beauty shine through. Life should be lived to its fullest, one moment at a time."


I was inspired by her strength and eagerness to create such an amazing line. I have spoken back and forth with her quite a few times on Twitter and she is truly an inspiration! Now this is a skin care company I would love to work for.


The Products

I purchased each of these on Hautelook about 6 months ago! And I still have a ton in each of them. I am so pleased by the quality and delicious smells!

The Cleanser

I LOVE this cleanser so much! I use it only at night on days I wear makeup to remove the makeup before my other cleanser. Usually, I recommend a creamy cleanser to remove makeup, but this one does it better than other creamy ones I've tried! Now I've used this for many months now and it is still almost half full!

If you have normal/dry skin types you could just use this morning and night, but since I have combo/acne prone I use a different cleanser with salicylic or tea tree in it.

Let's talk about the scent! Oh my it is delicious! The first time I used it I was stunned at how amazing it smelled, like fresh, ripe strawberries! It didn't smell artificial at all, and I hate when products go overboard on nasty artificial ingredients. I will definitely repurchase this when I run out because I love it so much!

Shop all Indie Lee Cleansers HERE!

Ingredients: 

100% Natural: Purified Water, Decyl Glucoside, Disodium, Coco- Glucoside Citrate, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Xanthan Gum, Strawberry Oil, Lycopene, Phenoxythenol*, Ethylhexyglycerin * *Derived from natural sources

The Eye Balm

The eye balm is another amazing product I purchased. You can't really beat an eye product with just 4 ingredients! I only use this product at night, I just find that it tends to take a little while to sink in and sometimes I just don't have the time to wait that long in the a.m.! I love the first ingredient Calendula Oil because it is very healing and has an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It soothes dry skin and calms redness. But I also love the scent!! Anyone who knows me knows my favorite scent in the whole world is lavender! This product has definitely helped with under eye circles and puffiness when I wake up.

I apply this product with my ring finger only. I always make sure to wash my hand before touching any potted products like this and before touching my face period. I just swirl my finger around and glide under and around my eyes!

Find the Eye Balm HERE!

It really is a balm!

When warmed up on fingertips it instantly melts!

Ingredients:

100 % Natural: Calendula Oil, Beeswax, Magnifera Indica (mango) Seed Butter and Lavandula Angustifolia (lavender) Oil

Shop all Indie Lee Balms HERE!

All in all, I highly recommend these products. I can't wait to purchase more from Indie!

It always makes me feel better when I purchase product from a small business or a wonderful person such as Indie, rather than some huge "popular" brand that tests on animals in some crazy country (ahem, Estee Lauder, Mary Kay & Avon I'm talking to you!!!).

xx

e

Summer-ize Your Skin Care Routine

Just like we take the layers off in the summer, we need to do the same with our skin care! This is mucho important. In the summer we're sweating more, and usually tend to have oilier skin. I am going to show you some of the products I use on my face in the summertime.

 Cleanser: It's very important in the summer to lighten up your cleanser! Use one with tea tree or salicylic acid to keep your oil at bay. I use this one year round because I have combo/acne prone skin! I got this huge bottle on Vitacost for a very good deal.

Toner: This is a must year round, but a toner with moisturizing and balancing ingredients is great for the summer. Some people forget we need to re-balance our skin after cleansing! And this is how you do it!

Moisturizer: Crucial and very important! One thing I don't understand is why people with oilier skin don't want to use moisturizer!! Oily skin needs moisturizer as much as dry skin, here's why. When people with oily/combo skin don't use a moisturizer, its like telling your oil glands to go into overdrive to produce MORE oil!! But more on that in another post. I just found the amazing organic brand Acure Organics, and let me tell you I'm obsessed! Its organic AND such a good price point! A good oil control facial moisturizer is crucial for a summer skin care routine to keep it all balanced. 

Mechanical Exfoliation

In the summer (and year round too!) exfoliation is key to glowing, beautiful skin! I use my Clarisonic Mia at night to help remove the excess dirt and debris that my cleanser can miss. I also use the sensitive skin head so it does not irritate my skin. If you are more sensitive maybe do this two or three times a week. Once you get a Clarisonic, you can never go back!

Chemical Exfoliation

Also important is chemical exfoliation. It goes deeper into the layers and provides an anti-aging effect too. These extra strength may be too much for some people, they also have a regular one which I used for 3 or so months before I started on the extra strength. It has helped with my post inflammatory hyperpigmentation too. BUT when using this you must pair it with a sunscreen during the day. Also, use this 2 step system at night, not in the morning! Your cells repair and turn over much faster when we are sleeping.

Sunscreen: The MOST important summer skin care staple! I got it for a discount on this website. It is a complete mineral block and it does not smell like sunscreen at all! I put this on before applying my makeup and let it sink in for 5 or so minutes. Using sunscreen everyday for me is a total must year round, but I make sure to never get lazy in the summer. It has the coolest gel like consistency and it semi mattifies after sinking in. This is the best sunblock I've ever used.

If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask!

xx

e

Makeup Musts: My Everyday Look

Day to day, I pretty much wear the same staple makeup items. I am pretty low key when it comes to my makeup look. My philosophy is "quality over quantity". When I watch these girls on YouTube do makeup collection videos, I can't believe how much crap they have (and never use). It was almost appalling! I like to have really good, staple pieces in my collection. Now granted, this is only a few of my favorite everyday items (I don't wear all of them at once!). So here goes the peek into my makeup bag...

{ Kate Spade Makeup Bag- similar }

{ RMS Beauty Living Luminizer- the.best.highlighter.ever.

{ Physicians Formula Bamboo Wear Bronzer- a subtle, natural glow }

{ Tarte Maracuja Blush and Glow- 2 in one! The blush is beautiful as well as the highlight }

{ Vapour Mezmerize Shimmer Eye Color in Sugar- the perfect everyday shade for your lid }

{ Tarte SmolderEyes Liner in brown- super easy to smudge to create a day time smoke out }

{ Youngblood Mineral Radiance Creme Powder Foundation- only on the spots I need it on

{ Jane Iredale Amazing Base- love this on light days & it's SPF 20 }

{ Tarte Lip Tint in Perky- perfect baby pink }

{ Korres Lip Butter in Pomegranate- another perfect, everyday coral }

{ The All Natural Face vegan lip gloss Peppermint Stick- glossy pink lips! }

Like I said before, these are just some of my favorites I regularly reach for. I am very minimalistic when it comes to cosmetics, but I love trying new ones. Especially if they are natural or organic! More beauty to come :)

xx

e