Quick Tip for the Occasional Breakout

Almost every girl is guilty of the mini/massive freakout pre, during and post breakout. We've all been there; you can feel it coming. At the first signs your heart starts to race, you rack your brain for every tip and trick you learned years ago from scouring those beauty bible teen magazines. But, it's inevitable... Mount Kilimanjaro is about to sprout out of your face in the form of the least sexy zit ever. Great. 

We've all been there. Everyone gets a pimple, I mean everyone. If you've never had a zit you haven't lived. The occasional breakout, that everyone gets, doesn't mean that you have acne prone skin. 

My quick tip for you today is that if you get the occasional zit don't dry your entire face out. 

Do not go running to an entire acne system, do not start scrubbing your skin off and for heavens sake do not start skipping your moisturizer. This has an adverse affect and causes your skin to overcompensate and produce more oil, therefore leading to more acne and flakey skin. That's really not cute. Your best bet is to spot treat the pesky pimple at night, something like a sulfur spot treatment works wonders. You can also do a weekly exfoliating treatment that features salicylic acid or a weekly detoxifying mask. Finally, please be sure to use a moisturizer, this won't break you out but rather balance your skin and help to calm it down. 

I hope this tip helped a bit for anyone who gets the occasional breakout and tries to scrub their face off to get rid of it.

Xoxo,

Haley 

The It Primer

I, Haley, am a believer in primers. I feel like they make a difference in my skin and I think when I go without a primer my foundation slides right off my skin. But that's just me, no shame. Since I practically throw my money at any primer that boats to be amazing I had to try out the It Cosmetics "Feel The Moment" primer. And whoa mama, I'm "feelin" it. I have no shame in being cheesy either. 

This primer claims to be a sensory awakening primer-serum hybrid that provides perfectly poreless, hydrated and airbrushed like skin. Apparently they're "feelin" themselves too, those are some pretty big claims It Cosmetics.  

And after trying it out for a week and a half, I gotta say, I like it. This primer is different; it has a serum like texture and does in fact add an extra layer of hydration to your skin. "Feel the Moment" is made with a ton of different skin helping/loving ingredients, thus making it anti-aging too. While it doesn't make me look airbrushed it does help with my pores and I'm "feelin" it y'all. I'm "feelin" it. 

If you have dry, flakey or aging skin I would highly recommend this primer; it feels amazing on the skin, really helps to minimize pores and has a relaxing herbal aroma to it. Although, if you have oily skin stay far far far away from this product. It will be entirely too heavy and will not help to mattify your skin or hold foundation. 

I hope this little review helped some of my fellow primer lovers out there! Let me know if you have any primers you love or if you think they even work. 

Xoxo,

Haley 

Love at first Bite

Hello you lovely bunch! Today I'm bringing you a stunner of a lipstick. Excuse me, not just a lipstick, an entire lip product line. It was love at first application, or shall I say love at first Bite. 

Yes, pun intended. Like love at first sight, ya get it? Yes, I laughed at my self. 

 Bite Beauty is a natural lip care company that makes products that are actually healthy enough to eat, they use food grade quality ingredients. Whaaat, amazing, I know! Also, most products have resveratrol in them, the same antioxidant that is in a glass of red wine. What?! So it's anti-aging too? Insane. While Bite is all natural it offers an incredible product lineup, from lip sticks to lip creams, to amazing lip treatments. 

This lipstick pictured above is the Luminous Creme Lipstick in Granache, and it is spectacular. The product is creamy, nourishing, highly pigmented and has some serious lasting power. The color I chose is a particularly radiant orchid-esque shade, and if you're not sure what that looks like think of a blend between a bright purple and pink. It took me quite awhile to pick this shade, they have a TON of color options in all different formulas.   

While I only own one Bite product (for now) I would highly recommend their lipsticks, it truly was love at first Bite.  On my to buy list is their Agave Lip Mask, Cashmere Lip Cream, Whipped Cherry Lip Scrub and their Honey Lip Lacquers. I'm lucky enough that where I work carries Bite so I've gotten to play with it quite a lot and it is impressive! 

Next time you're in the market for any lip products go give Bite some love, you won't be sorry you did!

Xoxo,

Haley 

All About Brushes

Brushes are a necessity to any makeup wearer, while quality brushes are an investment for any avid makeup wearing lass or lad. That being said choosing the right brush can be a headache, there are so many on the market that I've decided to share my favorites and some quick tips about choosing the right brush for you. 

Quick Brush Tips: 

1. Synthetic v. Natural bristles: Synthetic bristle brushes are typically used for cream or liquid products as they do not absorb as much of the product, making them easier to keep clean and they are also less likely to be damaged from heavy usage.  Natural bristle brushes tend to be a bit fluffier and work amazing for powder products because the bristles have a bit more movement, although the bristles will adsorb product faster and need to be washed frequently. 
2. Dense v Fluffy: Dense bristles or ones that are "more tightly packed" will give you more pigment payoff or fuller coverage. While the fluffier the brush the less pigmented the application will be, this is why most eyeshadow and blush brushes are fluffy so that they give you a soft application. 
3. Tapered v Flat: Any tapered brush (one that has a slight point at the end) will give you a more precise application of product while a flattop brush will apply coverage in larger area's rather than a specific place. 
4. Quality doesn't mean expensive! Real Techniques and Sigma brushes are wonderful affordable tools that out preform brushes that cost twice as much. 
5. Washing your brushes is important, but make sure when you wash your brushes you point the bristles down away from the water so that the glue does't get wet causing the brush to shed.  

My Favorites: 

From left to right 

Sigma Small Contour F05: I love this brush for blending in my bronzer, it's quite small so it's perfect for getting right under the cheek bone to contour with.

Sigma Tapered Blending E35: This brush is wonderful to get right in the crease and blend out shadows. 

Sigma Blending E25: This brush is a well known babe to any makeup lover. It is a dupe for the MAC 217 and is simply a dream for blending out shadows all over the lid and in the crease. 

Sephora PRO Precision Smudge 29: I absolutely love this brush for smudging out liner to get a smokey effect, as well as smudge my eyeshadow on my lower lash line. It's a beaut, really! 

Sigma Flat Definer E15: This brush is great for giving any look a precise edge. I specifically use it to trace my brows with a lighter concealer, the flat edge is perfect for this. 

Real Techniques Blush Brush: Hello fluffy, this brush is so soft and fluffy it's like a cloud, I love to use this pink handled gem for my setting powder as well as my blush. 

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush: I adore the brush for foundation, it is so dense that it gives any foundation a flawless application. This is probably my favorite brush that I own, I use it every day! 

EcoTools: There is no name on the brush for what kind it is but I use it to pack on eyeshadow, it gives a nice even application and costs only a few bucks. Talk about cheap and cheerful. 

Sephora Must-have angled liner brush 90: This brush is from Sephora's more affordable "classics" line, I use this angled brush for my brow powder. It is such a fine tipped angled brush that provides excellent control. 

There are so many different types of brushes that have different uses and so on and so forth that I could do multiple posts about brushes. Let me know your favorite brushes and if there are any I should try out! 

Xoxo, 

Haley 

     

S.S 5

Happy Sunday Funday! 

I skipped my Sunday Stunners post last week because there wasn't too much I was loving. But here we are, yet another Sunday. This weeks stunners were...

Photo 1: Salon Perfect nail polish in the color Perfectly Peach, this is a cheap and cheerful one. It breaks the bank a whopping $1, incredibly expensive. I know. Next, we have Deborah Lippmann's glittery goodness in the color Stronger. Beautiful, yet a total beeyotch to get off. And finally the Nars lippie in the shade MayFlower. Hello holy grail. 

Photo 2: I like to call this one baby Dior plays in a field of rose petals. How classy, how demure, how enchanting. In all honesty this little buddy was given to me as a sample and I've been using it every day this week. Not my fav but I don't hate it. 

Photo 3: Hullo smexy smelling candle. This Tobacco & Patchouli scent is a total babe. It's a scent unlike any other, if you're near an Urban Outfitters stop by and give it whiff.  On a serious note what the heck is patchouli and is this why the cancel smells so delightful? 

Photo 4: The Beauty Blender, ahhh the infamous BB. I must admit I recently have fallen head over heels for the pink egg looking thing. It blends in foundation and concealer like a dream, making it look totally natural. It really is worth the hype. 

I hope you lovely people are having a simply splendid Sunday, please do let me know if you've been loving anything this week!

Xoxo, 

Haley   

Melon.

The sun is finally shining again and you know what that means! Bright lips. Bold lips. Fun Lips. 

Today I bring you the melon lip, its fun and bright. A double whammy. What more could you want? Besides a never ending supply of Oreos and Peanut Butter.. 

Back to the point, this particular color is none other than Aurora from Rimmel London's Show Off Lip Lacquers and I find it truly wonderful. It is affordable, long wearing, moisturizing and a beautiful color.  What a champion, Aurora. You go girl! 

On my face: 

nars sheer glow foundation in santa fe. smashbox bb cream for eyes in light. benefit bronzer in hoola. benefit blush in coralista. urban decay all nighter setting spray. 

Melon is such a funny word, the more you say it the weirder is sounds. Excuse me while I go say melon fifty more times like a creep. Toodles. 

Xoxo,

Haley 

The Best in Class

I recently did a post concerning my least used products; so I wanted to counter that somewhat negative ramble with a post about my most loved babies. These are products I use pretty much every time I do my makeup, no matter what look I'm going for these are my go to. They complete any look and haven't failed me thus far. Have I professed my love enough yet?!

MAC Mineralized Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle: This is my every day highlight, it looks gorgeous over any blush and is stunner stand alone product too! It gives you a soft, lit from within glow. You can also use this on the inner corner of your eye to give you a bright eyed effect. 

Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Concealer: This lovely little twist up concealer is what I use for a cream highlighter on my cheek bones, chin and forehead. Like the name says it's a dream. 

Make Up For Ever Mat Bronzer in 40: I use this mat bronzer as my powder contour, it never looks chalky or too orange. An added bonus, I've had this since november and haven't even made a dent in it!

MAC Paint Pot in Soft Ochre: This beaut is what I use for my eye primer to prevent creasing and increase shadow pigmentation. It gets the job done and I would recommend it if you have issues with for shadow staying put. 

Lancome Cils Booster Xl: This is Lancome's lash primer, it is a white potion that you coat your lashes with prior to mascara to give you mega volume and length. I absolutely love it!     

I hope you lovely people are having a splendid Wednesday or hump day, as some like to call it! Is there any products that you use everyday, no matter what? 

Xoxo, 

Haley