March Beauty Favorites

Greetings!

Before we get into the double digits of April, I would like to share my March beauty favorites with you all.

They are the:

(1) Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette

(2) Estee Lauder blush in Poppy Passion

(3) Real Techniques Buffing Brush 

(4) Nuetrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash, Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub 

(5) CVS Oil Free Make Up Remover

(6) CVS Premium Cotton Rounds

(7) derma e Anti-Wrinkle Vitamin A & E Treatment Oil

Let us begin reviewing the beauty products first. 

The Natural Eyes Palette is awesome for creating everyday looks along with night time looks. 

Recently when I went to the Jazmine Sullivan concert I went straight from work because it was held on a week night. Therefore, I used the daytime shades during work hours and then easily updated the look with the other shades in the palette (and added some falsies) before I left for the concert for more of a night time look. 

My next March favorite is the Estee Lauder Blush in the shade Poppy. 

Thus is such a beautiful shade. When this blush is paired with the Estee Lauder double wear foundation it glides on and blends well with a really nice finish. 

Next, let me tell you about this Real Techniques Buffing Brush. 

I have found that it is awesome for applying foundation. I haven't used my (off brand) beauty blender in a long time because of this brush.  I have a couple of dark spots from some recent acne breakouts that I have been dealing with and this brush is on point with applying my foundation evenly while also yielding great coverage. The bristles are soft as well for the price. 

Moving along with the skin care. After I started breaking out during the month of February I noticed that I was no exfoliating my skin enough. Therefore, I went out to pick the Nuetrogena's Oil Free Acne Wash Foaming Scrub. 

I believe this has really done the trick, because I have not recently received any breakouts within the past couple weeks. I am extremely happy with this foaming scrub because it leaves my face feeling really clean no matter how much make-up I put on that day. 

Next product is the CVS Oil Free Makeup Remover. 

This is such an awesome formula that takes every inch of eye make up off in one swipe. On the bottle it states that it removes water proof mascara and that it is comparable to the Nuetrogena oil free eye make up remover. Moving on to the CVS Cotton Rounds, because there two go hand and in my current beauty regimen. 

These cotton rounds are dual sided, where one side is soft and the other side is strong. I love using the strong side along with my eye make up remover because I don't have to rub my eye as much as I do if I were using a soft cotton square (which is what I was using before).

My last favorite is the derma e Anti-Wrinkle Treatment with Vitamin A and E.  

I have been using this at night after my moisturizer and I believe it has been helping clear up my dark spots while also making my skin appear a little brighter.  I don't have many wrinkles, so hopefully this product is helping to prevent that as well.  

So that is it. Let me know if you have tried any of these beauty and/or skin care products?  Also, let me know if you love them, like them, or even hate them. 

Thanks for reading!!!

My Current Skin Care Routine

Happy Saturday Beauties, 

Someone asked me to share my current skin care routine and as you can see I am not a loyal to one specific brand. Believe it or not, a couple of years ago when I first had the girls (twins) I totally neglected my skin and my routine was non-existent. I got away with it then. Then about two and half years later, I had my son, and once he turned three months old I started getting all types of hormonal breakouts on my chin, the sides of my face, forehead, etc. So this is when I had to incorporate foundation in order to cover up all of my dark spots. I then did some research on skin care and found some ideas on how to eliminate acne. So below you will find the steps I take for my current skin care routine

  Now, I used to sell Mary Kay and I still have a couple of old items that I still use, which you can tell from the packaging, lol. But they still work so, why not?

Step 1: Make-Up Remover Towlettes - I am currently using The Forever Young Cucumber 30-Count Facial Make-Up Wipes ($12.03 @ Overstock). However I bought these at T.J. Maxx for $1.99. This is why I rummage through the T.J. Maxx and Marshall beauty sections, because you will find great things.  This is my first step because I remove all of the make-up before cleansing my face.  

Step 2: Cleansing – I am currently using the Cetaphil Cleanser ($15.98), because it is gentle and I exfoliate my skin by using the Diva Darling ($6.75 @ Amazon).  However, I purchased the one below from Marshalls (and please excuse the stain from my foundation). I love this cloth. It is a micro-fiber cloth that really exfoliates the skin. When I first bought it I was skeptical, but after using it I was extremely impressed.  If you don't want to go out and find this or purchase it online, you can just purchase a brand new micro-fiber cloth (that you clean with) and only use it on your face and you will receive the same results.  

Step 3: Mask (once a week) - Formula 10.0.6 Pores Be Pure Skin-Clarifying Mud Mask , $5.99

Pores Be Pure is a skin-refining mask with berry boosters that work on clogged pores. The strawberry and rosemary within the formula help to eliminate impurities, while the yarrow clarifies skin for instant complexion perfection.  This is a great mask for the price it smells like strawberries. It makes my skin feel really clean.  I found this at my local Ulta.

Step 4: Toner - I use the Neutrogena Alcohol-Free Toner ($7.99), and I use this just to remove the remaining traces of foundation that may still be on my face, however, ever since I started using the Diva Darling Diva Dryer on my face I haven't been seeing any remaining traces of make-up which is great. The purpose of toner is to gently remove impurities while maintaining the natural moisture of the skin since it is alcohol free.   Ever since I incorporated a toner into my routine I have seen less breakouts. 

Step 5: Eye Cream - I am currently using the MaryKay Eye Firming Cream ($32.00) and when I don't use it I can tell the difference in my under eye area because there are more lines and creases. This eye cream work really well.  It is now called the Time Wise Eye Firming Cream. I guess you can tell how old this is because of the packaging. 

Step 6: Serum - Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector ($47.50 @ Amazon)

I believe this is $49.50 on the Clinique website, however I purchased this bottle from the Cosmetics Company from the Tanger Outlet's at the National Harbor for $37.50.  I don't mind paying this amount for dark spot corrector's because my dark spots used to be really bad.  Therefore, this stuff really works. It works better than the StriVectin-EV Get Even Brightening Serum in my opinion (that is what I had before Clinique).  I don't have any before or after pics but after using this Clinique for a month I saw a big difference in my hyper-pigmentation.  It's a great formula and I highly recommend it. I am currently running low and getting sad about it :(

Step 7: Moisturize - After I let the Clinique dark spot corrector dry I then apply my Mary Kay Enriched Moisturizer Formula ($18.00) 1 (The Formula 1 in Mary Kay is for dry skin). I love this moisturizer because it is really lightweight even though its for dry skin.  

Step 8 (Finally!): Primer (before I apply my foundation in the morning) - The Benefit POREfessional Primer, $31.00. 

I bought this for my wedding day make up so that my foundation would go on smoothly and last all day and this definitely did the trick.  The packaging states that is minimizes the appearance of pores. When I put this on it my skin feels like velvet.  

That's it, not much right? 

Here is my face after following the steps above.  

As you can see I still have a dark spot that I am working on, on my forehead, and this came from me picking at a bump. Why did I do that? I don't know. The next one I get I'm going to try my best not to pick it.  

Let me know what your must haves are within your current skin care routine. I would love to know. 

Thanks for reading!!!

Courtney :)