October 2014 Favorites

October 2014 FavoritesOctober 2014 Favorites
1. Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade, $18 / 2. Clarisonic Mia2, $150 /
3. Sensationail Gel Polish – Midnight Rendezvous, $9 / 4. Nivea Sensitive Body Wash, $5 /
5. Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick $6 / 6. Ponds Luminous Finish BB+, $11

We are well over three-quarters of the way through 2014. Holiday season is descending upon us…but in the meantime, here are my October 2014 Favorites.

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Weekend Trip Skincare

Happy Halloween, everyone! Unfortunately, I do not have some badass/beautiful/weird Halloween makeup to share with you today. Perhaps some year.

In tune with Wednesday’s post, I figured I’d share my weekend trip skincare, too.

Spoilers: there isn’t much to share. It doesn’t really differ from my regular skincare.

Weekend Trip SkincareWeekend Trip Skincare

I’ll be bringing:

  • Ponds Luminous Finish Makeup Remover Wipes
    I use the Original wipes, this came with my most recent pack as a, “Hey, try me!” thing…
    So I’m trying them!
  • Clarisonic Mia2.
    Yeah, I caved a while ago and got one. I didn’t share? Don’t worry, I will.
  • Wee Purity Cleanser.
    A little goes such.a.long.way. I normally use Cetaphil Gentle, but I don’t have a wee bottle of it.
  • Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil Light

Each of these items is compact and travel-friendly (including my Clarisonic Mia 2 which has a clamshell case). Though I do have a lot of skincare stuff at home, this is what I’m constantly using.

You’ll notice my weekend trip skincare list did not include sunscreen – but that is because my Ponds BB+ cream contains it, so I don’t want/need an extra (plus, I’m finding a lot of facial sunscreens break me out anyhow). I won’t be doing anything in the days prior to cause additional sensitivity (use of AHA products, aggressive exfoliation).

Simple, straightforward, not a twelve-thousand product routine. What about your weekend trip skincare – is it more involved? Or do you just wing it and hope whatever soap the hotel has will be kind enough to your face? Or are you like me and haven’t been on a trip in ages and can’t really say?

September 2014 Favorites

September 2014 Favorites

September 2014 Favorites
1. MAC Lipstick – Brave $16 / 2. Sonia Kashuk Brush Cleaner $8 /
3. Clinique Almost Lipstick – Black Honey, $16 / 4. CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, $14 /
5. Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick – Divine Wine, $6

I didn’t think much of it during the month, but looking back – my September 2014 Favorites were pretty lippy!

Details after the jump.

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DIY Lip Scrub

In light of my post the other day about my new almost-favorite probably-too-dark-for-me matte lipstick and the fact that autumn tends to bring around more matte or matte-ish lips anyway, I figured this was timely and appropriate. Not that lip care is inappropriate at any time, but YOU KNOW.

As much as pricey lip exfoliants may entice (looking at you, Bite Beauty Whipped Cherry Lip Scrub or Fresh Sugar Lip Polish), they really aren’t worth it unless you’re that hung-up on branding for something that just whisks away dead skin from your lips. Using chemical exfoliants isn’t a good idea for our lips, so these (just like what I’m going to show you in a moment) are sugar-based scrubs. Check out the ingredient list on both – Bite’s is a nice blend of oils…and sugar, and Fresh’s has a bunch of oils as well as some less-familiar chemical components (not to scare you – chemicals are not always bad. Do your research, as always). Why pay $18-23 for something that is basically oil and sugar? I wish I could channel Sam from Batalash Beauty when I say that it is crazy (crasy! By the way, go check out their blog and YouTube channel. They’re hilarious and damn good artists to boot).

001

You need:

  • A container with a lid
  • Coconut Oil
  • Honey
  • Olive Oil or Almond Oil (not pictured because derp)
  • White or Brown Sugar
  • bonus points if you sub it out for something grainier like Sugar in the Raw
  • Vanilla Extract (artificial is OK)
  • Mixing utensil
  • Optional mixing bowl if you want to make an unreasonably huge batch

Spoon your sugars into your container – I like to do two parts white sugar to one part brown sugar, but 1:1 would be fine, too. Combine them well.

002

Squeeze in some honey… I started on the conservative side with it because I didn’t want this to wind up too sticky:

003

Add your olive or almond oil. You can use both if you want, but I just went with one.

004

Then mix it up…

006

Add your vanilla extract, mix again.

007

Add a dollop of coconut oil, ideally solid.

005

GENTLY combine with the existing mixture, you don’t want to wind up with liquid.

008

Transfer it to your storage container if you didn’t mix it there, then chill for 15 minutes. Now you can use it, just scoop out a bit and apply to lips, rubbing in circles. The oils will allow to sugar to move with ease and will hydrate your lips. If you want to apply lipstick right away, pat them dry afterwards – oil isn’t the best base for a lipstick, after all.

009

The beauty of this recipe is that it is so simple and very adaptable. Hate vanilla? You’re crazy, but the good news is that you can sub in any flavoring you please. Dig orange? Go for it. Hell, zest an orange into it. Want cherry without dropping $18 on Bite’s scrub (I mean, that’s a tub of Dipbrow. More than a MAC Lipstick. Come on)? Visit your baking aisle and pick up some cherry flavoring. Very easy. Not a fan of how olive oil makes this taste? Use an oil with a subtler flavor.

Your lip scrub should be stored in the fridge and can be kept for two weeks.

Do you have any neat DIY beauty recipes?

Worth it? Aztec Healing Clay

Have you heard of it? If you haven’t, that isn’t surprising. If you have, you’re probably a product hipster or other beauty blogger. Aztec Healing Clay is one of those that I get excited to write about because it is under-advertised, not crazy-hyped, but is crazy-good as a deep treatment to help clear out your pores from any ilk that may be hiding within. Gross, but we all know that’s what clay masks are for.

Observe:

Aztec Healing Clay

Aztec Healing Clay

Here’s how to do the thing. Let’s start off with what you need:

Aztec Healing Clay Mask

  • Aztec Healing Clay – You can get it from Amazon for about $14. One pound will last you an absurdly long time
  • Apple Cider Vinegar (bonus points if raw) or Water
  • A non-metal mixing vessel – important! It can be glass, plastic, ceramic, wood, etc – but no metal, please! Bowls and cups are fine
  • A plastic spoon (remember, no metal!) or other utensil to mix with. I use a wooden tongue depressor to mix and even sometimes apply
    •  Usually, though, I apply with a flat foundation brush
  • Gloves (optional)

The unassuming little jar with silly graphics saying it is Aztec Healing Clay. It is a clay mask, but not in an oft-used format; when you open the jar, it is full of … what?

Aztec Healing Clay - Opened

Greenish powder. Aztec Healing Clay is calcium bentonite clay – and Aztec Secret gets theirs from Death Valley, California. Be careful to open in an area that is easy to clean, such as over a sink. The clay powder is very fine and gets all over the damn place very easily. It is an all-natural, single-ingredient, cruelty-free skincare product – how awesome is that? The real beauty of this product is its versatility – although it is a clay mask, it is usable by people with multiple skin types. It isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach; you just change what liquid you mix with the Aztec Healing Clay powder to suit your needs.

I, for example, use Apple Cider Vinegar (ideally, you should use raw ACV, but I don’t keep that on hand and did not want to make a special trip for it.) because my skin is normal/combination t-zone and not sensitive. If you are dry or sensitive, though, you might want to try this with water initially to gauge your skin’s reaction.

Measure equal parts Aztec Healing Clay…

Aztec Healing Clay

And Apple Cider Vinegar (or water)…

Aztec Healing Clay

Into the cup. One tablespoon of each is more than enough to do your whole face and, for me, my neck. You will notice it fizz a little as the vinegar reacts (normal). Quickly and thoroughly mix into a paste…

Aztec Healing Clay

…and then realize it is too thick and spash a little more ACV in.Aztec Healing Clay

If you’re using gloves, put on a glove, scoop some out, and apply it to your face like you would any other clay mask; avoid the eyes, coat everything else. If you went the tongue-depressor, scoop some of the Aztec Healing Clay paste out onto your tool and smooth into your face. This is definitely going to feel like you’re troweling mortar onto your face, but that’s okay – that’s what it should feel like. If you went the brush route, do the same thing – it will feel a little more luxurious than troweling mortar, though. The product itself suggests a layer of clay 1/8″ to 1/4″ thick; the latter is ludicrous to me (go get a ruler, check exactly how thick 1/4″ is. report back. yeah.) but 1/8″ is reasonable.

Aztec Healing Clay

Let it dry, let it dryyyy… sensitive folks, wait ten minutes to twelve minutes and rinse with warm water. Otherwise, 15-20 will do the trick. While the Aztec Healing Clay dries (especially if you go with the longer duration) your face is going to get uncomfortably tight. That is normal and okay – my advice is to avoid making facial expressions while waiting. You may also feel a warming or pulsating sensation – also normal, nothing to fret over. Woo circulation!

Once it is time, fetch thyself a washcloth – one you don’t feel particularly attached to in case it stains. Run some warm water, splash it on your face and then soak the washcloth. You will now have to scrub the Aztec Healing Clay off (no, it does not just rinse off as much as they would like to tell you that is the case). Be patient and go gently – your skin will feel tight from the mask, so rub in little circles, not zig-zagging all over your face tugging it from here to there. Rinse the washcloth off as needed and continue until your face is green bentonite mortar-clay free!

Your skin will likely be a little pink or red. Don’t be alarmed (of course, if you are having an actual reaction you should know that and seek treatment accordingly. I am not a medical professional!) if it is, the mask just got the circulation in your face going. It will subside – mine usually goes away within a half hour, but I’ve heard some people have needed longer. To be on the safe side, you could do this Aztec Healing Clay treatment the evening and give your skin overnight to return to its usual coloring. Slap on your moisturizer of choice (do not skip this! your skin will be thirsty!) and enjoy your very clean, firm, and radiant skin. To heck with a pore strip; this thing demolishes any sebaceous filaments or blackheads you may have.

For as inexpensive as Aztec Healing Clay is and with how awesome it performs, it is really a Holy Grail item when it comes to skincare and is definitely worth it. I switch it up sometimes, but this is definitely a staple in my skincare routine. I personally use this once every week to two weeks depending on how my skin feels…and it has been all the better for it.

Once you’ve gotten used to how to use Aztec Healing Clay, you can check out their (ancient-looking) website for some other skincare recipes!

August 2014 Favorites

August 2014 Favorites August 2014 Favorites
1. KvD Autograph Eye Pencil, $10 / 2. Sephora Eyeshadow $3-9 / 3. Aztec Healing Clay Mask, $8
4. Goody Ouchless Ribbon Elastics, $4 / 5. Menda Twist-Lock Pump Bottle, $9

2014 is passing very quickly, but I think July and August went by the quickest of all for me because a lot of what was on my metaphorical plate was executed and came to pass. A little emo that summer is effectively over (and I only got to go swimming once) but I am so excited to get a break from that, and I hope to focus on the blog a bit more.

But enough about that, you came here to read about my August 2014 Favorites!

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