Easy Snow Day Makeup

  We've had a good amount of snow fall lately, and I LOVE it! I love the cold, snow, hot coffee, and especially the look that the cold gives people's faces. It makes the skin glisten and gives the nose and cheeks such a natural rosey look. 
  So the past couple days I've been off work and gone out on some snow and ice adventures with my boyfriend and his friends.  I didn't want to get too "dolled up" but I wanted to look presentable and cute of course.  I quickly used some basic essentials and did something a little different with my eye makeup. 

  For my face, I used my trusting Covergirl 3-1 Foundation in color 840.  Then my NYX concealer stick in fair. Followed by, my Covergirl smoothers pressed powder in 715, translucent medium.

  With my eyes, all I did was curl them and apply my Rimmel Glam'eyes mascara, and then used the Covergirl Flamed Out shadow pencil in color 350, Melted Caramel. This is more of a bronze color I use under my eyes to add a shimmer.  It's like doing a reverse eye shadow, leaving my eye lids naked. 

  My lips are just covered in Maybelline Color Whispers, in color 20, Mocha Muse.  I love this lipstick because it's a great nude color for me.  I have naturally dark pink lips, so in the picture it looks like a pink, but it's honestly not. 

  That's all there is to it! I apologize for my crazy hair, but I wanted to get this post up before the snow melted!

  If you like this type of post, let me know!  Have a great weekend!

BLOGLOVIN'

Simply Ageless

  Many of us want that flawless, wrinkle free, fresh skin.  Whether we are 20 years old or 60 years old we want to look as young as possible or to just simply age the best.  Well believe it or not it's not just all in those creams or serums.  You have to take care of your skin and keep it clean, moisturized, and protected from the sun.  There are a bunch of different treatments out there for you, but this is an easier and informative solution to help you with those fine lines and wrinkles. 

  My skin care routine is fairly simple but it takes care of business.  I simply wash my face in the morning, alternating days, with a face scrub like St Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub, which is 100% natural, paraben free and sulfate free or Neutrogena's Deep Clean Cream Cleanser.  Every once in awhile I will use a toner after I wash my face, if I do, it's been Neutrogena's Pore Refining Toner.  After I wash my face and/or splash my face with toner, I will moisturize it with Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer, and this also has the bonus of a SPF-15, which helps with blocking out those UV rays from the sun which can cause wrinkling. I also like this moisturizer because it helps even out my skin tone, I have fairly red cheeks, and this helps calm it down a little.  Honestly, that is all I do in the morning before applying my makeup.  At night, sometimes all I do is use Neutrogena's Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes and my moisturizer, and that gets the job done. This has been my routine for a good while now and I seem to have pretty damn good skin when it comes to having wrinkles! Granted I'm only 23...

  The key is to make sure you protect your skin the best that you can.  Every month or so, I'll give myself a facial, and use masks and tea-tree oil on harsh spots on my face to keep it clear of blemishes. The masks usually help for hydration and radiance.  You don't want to use a facial scrub everyday because it can wear down and damage the areas on your face where the skin is sensitive, therefore, causing wrinkles.  A scrub could be used every other day, or once a week if you have dry skin.  Make sure you always keep your face hydrated and use moisturizer at least twice a day and it's BEST if you use the moisturizers with at least SPF-15 in it.  And last but not least, just make sure you always clean your skin. Wash your face at least twice a day, whether it's with a cleansing towelette or cleanser, and I've always been told sleeping in your makeup makes you age faster and we don't want that!


  I am now subscribed to Bloglovin so if you want to follow me on there click the picture on the top right of my page.  You can subscribe with email on the left side of my page, and with any email! You don't have to have a gmail account to subscribe! And as always, let me know what you'd like to learn or hear more about! 

Baby Lips Dr. Rescue- Review

  Now I'm sure everyone is aware of Maybelline's Baby Lips, the tinted lip balm.  It became popular back in 2012 and now has a new "medicated" version called Baby Lips Dr. Rescue Medicated Lip Balm.  I just wanted today's post to be a review of this product.  I was going to go over something a different topic, but this specific one just seems to keep popping up for me and I figured I'd go ahead and let you know what I think about it and other great chap sticks.

  To be blunt, the Dr. Rescue version of this lip balm is not all that great.  I do believe it was just a big hype, come fall and winter, and marketed for people to just buy something that is more "medicated" than their original balms.  I like the original tinted Baby Lips because they actually work.  I originally bought this new Dr. Rescue balm a few months back because my lips this winter are unbelievably dry.  I thought I would try it because I do enjoy the regular Baby Lips.  When I first wore it, it had a highly menthol-like smell.  I put it on and at first the color just seemed weird.  When I rubbed my lips together the tint, or pigment, just stuck to the dry part of my lips and the rest of the color didn't even stay, it was very liquid-like and loose on the rest of my lips.  The color that I bought was the "Peach" color.  I wanted something more nude to wear, but when I put it on, it was highly pigmented and like I said before, just stuck, altogether, very awkwardly.  On a brighter note, the original Baby Lips products works great, the texture of the lip balm and even the pigment of the colors work and look unbelievable.

  Other products that I recommend for very chapped lips this year is Burt's Bees chap stick, Chapstick, the original chap stick, Blistex, and Soft Lips.  These have all been around for a good while but still, in my opinion, work the best.  A good tip is to put chap stick on before you go to bed and you'll wake up with extremely soft, voluptuous lips in the morning.  Another thing that you can do, and a cheap way to exfoliate your lips, is to just use your toothbrush in the morning after brushing your teeth and gently, in circular motions, massage your lips with it for a few seconds.  This helps get rid of any dead skin on your lips and makes them feel extremely smooth.  You can also do this at night before bed, prior to putting on your favorite chap stick, or even Vaseline. This is a great alternative if you don't have the money to get those fancy lip scrubs.

  Don't forget to put your email in the box on the upper left hand side to subscribe to me and receive emails for when I update, and leave me a comment or message me on Facebook on any other topics you want to hear about in the future.  Also, let me know if this review is helpful and if you would like to hear more of these.  I like to hear feedback on what is interesting and what is helpful, so I know what to do in the future.  Again, I have a good amount of topics ready and I'm excited to share them with you!!

Makeup Essentials

  "Essential" makeup is what I feel like I almost cannot leave the house without putting on my face.  Below are just a few of the things I wear on a daily basis, but it's what I usually  can't leave the house without using a little of.

  Foundation.  Now we all know that foundation, or a tinted moisturizer, is the base and "foundation" of any makeup.  This evens out the skin tone, covers up hyper pigmentation, and blemishes.  My favorite foundation that I have been obsessed with over the past few months is Covergirl's 3 in 1 foundation.  This contains a primer, concealer, and foundation all in one.  It works amazingly in covering the skin evenly, leaving little to no steaks, and lasts FOREVER.  It even works great for oily, dry and combination skin and it feels so light!  I like foundations that are more of a cream/liquid consistency, rather than liquid or powder, simply because I feel like the coverage is best.  I rarely have to touch my face up during the day with this foundation, and I work some long days.  
  Now, to apply it, I will sometimes use my fingers, which are the BEST tools to use, and sometimes I'll use my flat top kabuki brush.  This type of brush I find works best than any other tool, other than my fingers, to apply.  It never streaks like it would when I would use my small stipple brush, and it is super soft and gentle on the skin. 

  Concealer. Some people may or may not need concealer.  I use it after foundation, rather than before like most people, only because I use it to retouch, especially because my foundation already does a lot of the concealing itself.  I used to put it on before the foundation but I always felt that when I applied my foundation it basically wiped off my concealer and I found myself putting it on again.  This being said, I find it so much easier to apply the concealer afterwards.  The results are far more greater.  For this, I use Covergirl's concealer stick or the NYX concealer stick.  I use it in a similar color to my foundation; but you can also use a lighter color, as well as, the matching color, to use under your eyes if you have bags, or if you just want to give yourself more of an "awake" look. 

  To apply concealer I feel that a sponge is your best option.  I use a knock-off beauty blender sponge from Target to push the concealer into my skin.  It's the best way to blend it too.
  Eyeliner or Mascara.  Now this is probably not an essential for a lot of people, but it is for me.  If you know me well, you know that I am always rocking a 'cat eye' or 'winged' eyeliner.  I love it!  But some days, when I'm not feeling taking the time to draw it on, or if it's just a chill day and doing some simple errands, or I don't feel like looking edgy all day, I'll just curl my lashes and use mascara.  My favorite eyeliner, and it is definitely by far my all time favorite, is the Revlon Colorstay Liquid Eyeliner.  I have been using this eyeliner for YEARS and find that it lasts the longest throughout the day, doesn't smudge, and has such an easy applicator it'll make you want to draw that eyeliner on for days.  As far as mascara goes, I don't have too much of a preference.  At this moment, I am using Rimmel's Glam'Eyes Mascara, which I have used a few times before and I love.....and before that I used Covergirl's Lash Blast Fusion Mascara, which worked really well and visibly extended my lashes.

  Lips. Depending on the day and my mood, depends on what I wear on my lips.  But I always feel like one should wear something!  Whether it be chap stick, lip gloss, or a lipstick, the lips just don't look right completely naked.  I could go on forever on my favorite products for this section, so I'll save that for another time.  

  All of the products mentioned above I usually can just pick up at Target and CVS.  The most expensive I would say would be the foundation, but it is definitely worth it.  The most I have seen it for is $10. Which is awesome!

  If you haven't noticed you can now follow me by email and there is a section you can add yours in on the left side!  So follow me to know when my next post will be!

Welcome!

  As a pretty recent college graduate, I work a full time job and pay the majority of my bills myself, excluding my phone bill and my car, which was a graduation present.  That said, I am still looking for my dream job and the money that I currently make mostly goes towards my bills, after that I still have food and gas to pay for and then get a little bit of extra money for myself.  Now lets get this straight, I am a girl, so I love to spend a lot of my money on clothes and beauty products, it's an obsession; but because I don't have all that money to drop on $80 foundation, a $30 eye liner or a $40 astringent. I hop on down to Ulta, Target, or even CVS to get the best drug store brand that works best for me.  That's what I want this blog to be about. 
  Makeup and skincare items that are affordable, yet what I feel has the best quality for coverage, durability on long days, and just what overall works the best.  Now, even though I am going to post a good amount of facts about products, and techniques, this blog is mostly about my opinion and what works best for me. They can work for other people, but even the information that I give can be very helpful for anyone!

Background...
  I have always had a passion for makeup and beauty products but I especially became interested into trying different things, a few years ago.  I started watching YouTube videos on makeup tutorials.  Funny thing is, the first one I really watched was Pixiwoo, a duo team of sisters, and makeup artists from London, that did a makeup tutorial on drag makeup.  I loved all the detail and the transformation of the makeup and how creative it was.  So I spent hours watching these girls, with amazing accents, show different videos on how to do things from everyday makeup, celebrity makeup, and special effects makeup.  After awhile, I searched and found a bunch of different beauty vlogs, video blogs, that really interested me.  I love seeing how different people, around the world, and with different skin types use their makeup.  Zoella, Ingrid, and Kandee Johnson, just to name a few, are the vlogs on YouTube that I still watch today.  I experiment with my makeup everyday and always use and try different techniques that I watch or read about.

  I am excited to start this new journey with my writing and I appreciate everyone interested in following me!  Leave a comment, message, or email me in things that you would like to read and learn about.  I have a good amount of things in mind and can't wait to share them with you.  I plan to post every week or every other week. 

  Thank you!

--Ashley