Lookin' Good: Face Masks

There are few things I relish more than a day on the couch with a glass of wine, a good movie and a face mask.

It sounds silly and a little self indulgent, and it is, but I don't mind. I mean, why should a girl turn down a little self indulgence once in a while? 

I like to slather on a mask, plop down for some TV and just SIT. 

Then I wash it all off, take a washcloth with hot water and slap that on my face for a minute, then smooth on some vitamin E cream and call it a day. 

I have some favorite masks. I have combination skin, so mine are mostly in the clean-out-those-pores verity. 

My favorites are Freeman's Clay Mask with Avocado and Oatmeal, Freeman's Anti-Stress Mask, Origin's Clear Improvement and Soap & Glory's Fab Pore (which I talked about here as well- what can I say; I'm a fan!)

What about you guys? What are your favorite masks/ ways to indulge?

A Nail Update

SO as you may remember, I bite my nails.

Well, used to.

See over the past few months,  I've really been trying to kick the habit this time.


Here are the fruits of my labor!

I stuck to keeping my nails painted for about two weeks, then started to leave them bare. I also use Booda Butter on them every day (thanks to my amazing cousin)! It has all kinds of oils and butters that melt into your nails and take them from limp, sad flaky nails to Titan nails of victory. ANd when you've been biting your nails for 20 years, they need all the help they can get.

So I've made it this far, and I promise to keep checking in and showing you my favorite polishes and nail looks- hopefully that'll keep me on the straight and narrow (biting-wise)

What about you guys? Do you have any special nail remedies or products?

Lookin' Good: Red Lips

It's winter now.

This means one thing: Red lips time.

Maybe it's the dramatic weather, or the creaminess of my complexion this time of year (due to the lack of sun,) but something about winter makes me long for a red lip. I feel more put together with one.
And pulling out a crimson tube for touch ups is possibly the best part of being a girl.

I have a few favorites.

My favorites are MAC Lipstick in Russian Red, Benefit Benetint Lip Balm and Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet lipstick in L'Exquise.

Today is a Chanel kind of day, you know?

Then again... what days aren't?


What's you're favorite winter lipstick?

Lookin' Good: Travel Kit

Traveling has been a huge part of my summer. As a result, I've gotten pretty good at piecing out the products and bits I need in my tool kit (or makeup bag- potato, potato). Let's take a peek:

 Let's start with the brushes. All I bring is my fluffy powder brush, a blush brush, eyeliner brush, and concealer brush. Basically, my blendyest brushes. Bringing your best tools really does add an element of comfort to traveling (if your'e me, that is). I also always bring tweezers for that errant eyebrow hair or that unforeseen splinter.


I find that keeping it clean on vacation is best; you never know how tan you'll get or how humid it really will be, so why risk bringing buckets of face products? At the end of the day, you're on vacation. So you win no matter what.

Face products are fairly straight forward: just the favorites. I bring my Chanel foundation, Chanel bronzer and Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick for all my facial needs.

face pretties- bronzer, foundation and shimmer brick

The foundation, Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua Ultra-Light Skin Perfecting Makeup, is deliciously light and smells fantastic. you only need a drop or two for your entire face. Their Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronzing Powder is equally lovely. I have the lightest color,  Desert Coral, so I can use it all year around no matter how pale I get. It's finely milled, so it blends well with blushes or just into my cheeks for a glow. Blush-wise, I love my Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Nectar. Its the perfect parts color and shimmer, making me look awake and cheerful, not painted. I've been using my shimmer brick for six or seven years and it's always been the right choice.

eyeliners and eyeshadow

As for eye makeup, I've gotten this down to a science. I bring my two favorite eyeliners and one eyeshadow. Boom. My eyeliners are  both from the Sephora Collection. One is their Kohl Waterproof eyeliner, which is one of my all-time favorite eye pencils. It really lasts and has a creamy texture an deep, dark pigment which I love. When I wear black eyeliner, I want it to be super dark, inky black, not that sad graying black you sometimes see. My other favorite is their Smoky Cream Liner, which comes in a little pot. I use this brush from e.l.f to apply it. It goes on smooth as can be. I'm still practicing with the brush, and on good days I can get a fantastic, liquid-looking cat eye and go full-Joan Holloway.

The eyeshadow is a particularly victorious find. It's Bare Escentuals High Shine Eyecolor in Golden Sand, which comes in a little tube with a sponge applicator. I love it because it travels great with no spillage. Plus, it blends fantastically and can be made more dramatic with layering taking me from day to night in a swipe. So it becomes the best travel or commute option I've fount to date. Oh, and the color is really pretty!

Last, but far from least, perfume. I always bring a bottle. This time, Chanel No. 19 Poudre, which is fresh and fantastic and smells great with that coconut/ sunscreen smell of vacation.

So there you have it- I'm ready to go anywhere now!

chanel

Lookin' Good: Products!

I love products.
I just... love them.
Sephora is my happy place.
Seriously, I get really quiet and calm among the creamy pots and tubes, the soft bristles, the wafts of scents. You know that scene in Amelie when she sticks her hand in the barrel of grains? Sephora is my barrel of grains. It's like yoga without any sweating.
Anywho, over the past decade, I have tested and futzed and perfected my skincare routine. So here are my favorites:

The Tools
My Clerisonic: Love it. It's an investment, for sure, but it's been 100% worth it. I'm an exfoliating enthusiast, so having a brush that lets me feel scrubbed and buffed every day is heavenly. And it makes me feel fancy, which is always a plus.

My Eyelash Curler: I used to have one of those fancy-pants Shu Uemura eyelash curers, but it always pinched my eyes. So I grabbed this one at some Walgreens or Target or something for $4 and it works GREAT. I do pine for one of the Chanel ones- I'm such a sucker for those C's.


The Lotions
I don't have skin that looks dry, but it is. It's that horrible itchy dry that plagues you in the middle of a meeting or when you're wearing tight jeans. I'v invested in the $40 tiny, super fancy bottles of lotion with very little success. But I found three me-priced ones that I LOVE:

Vitamin E Cream: I get the huge tubs at the drugstore. After I shower I slather it on and let it soak in. My skin sucks it up like halloween candy.

That Nivea Q10 Stuff: the firming lotions don't actually firm much up. All they really do is moisturize your skin so it plumps up and LOOKS firmer. So I guess it does work. I love this one because it smells great, soaks in nicely and laaaaasts.

Lush Sympathy for the Skin: It smells amazing. It lasts all day. It comes in a pretty tub. SOLD.

The Face Routine

My skin is... temperamental. It doesn't like moisturizers or most face washes. But it does love the proactive stuff, so I go with it and use that three piece kit thingy. In addition, I've found my favorite little bits:

Soap & Glory the Fab Pore: obSESSED with this stuff. you only need a little bit. You rub it in, then do the dishes or sort the laundry and scrub it off. The result is glory happy clean clean clean skin.

Origins Modern Friction: The best exfoliator, period. And I have actually tried them all. I got this one from my cousin two or three years ago and I've never looked back. You only need a teeny bit, and you can make it more gentle with a touch of water. I like to scuba it on and then go to town with my Clerisonic. Afterwards, my skin is so soft and glows like a happy baby.

Biore Nose Strips: Love these things. Is there anything more satisfying than pulling these things off and being grossed out by them? I say no.

Eye Cream: I get a little tub of the Eucerin cream once a year and use it under my eyes at night. Then in the morning I use Cinique All About Eyes Rich. Between the two, my makeup slides on nicely and my skin feels happy.

Lookin' Good: Pedicure Colors

Pedicures are very important to me.
In my mind, they are one of the most satisfying spa treatment anyone can have done. And the results are soft feet and pretty toes. Theres just no down side to that.

As you know from my post about my nails, The pedi is where I let my little toe-shaped freak flags fly. I love getting new com ors and painting my little piggies till they sparkle! Since I'm in the process of moving, I can't really allow myself to indulge in buying a whole bunch of new colors the way I'd like to. But a girl can dream, can't she? Here are some of my favorites:

Lookin' Good: Mascara

I have big eyes, which is great. I love playing them up, which is even greater. My favorite way is to go dramatic with the lashes. I always have something on my lashes, even if I skip the rest of my makeup. It's amazing
My go-to is mascara, but there's a lot to be said for a set of false lashes. Here are my favorites and some tips:

Mascaras:
Covergirl Lash Blast Fusion: My everyday mascara. I love this one because it coats your lashes but isn't too heavy so it doesn't ruin your curl. It adds tons of volume- my favorite- and comes in a nice inky black. It's also hard to beat the price, so replacing it every three months (which you should definitely be doing,) isn't a problem.



Benefit Bad Gal Lash: This one is defiantly gives me my favorite look. The downside of having such intensity and drama is that, at the end of the day, it's stubborn as hell. It's pretty much impossible not to wake up with some raccoon action. The price also makes this one more of a reach, but if you can swing it and are better about washing your face when you get home than I am, it's a winner. 


Tips:

• Blast your eyelash curler with your blow dryer for a couple seconds, then use it to curl your lashes while it's still warm. 
• When applying mascara, be sure to start as close to your eye as possible. 
• As you move the wand up the lashes, wiggle it back and forth to coat all sides of the lashes. 
• Flip the wand so it's perpendicular to your lashes to get the outer corners.
• Don't let your mascara dry all the way between coats- that leads to clumps!
• Instead of an eyelash comb, wipe off your mascara wand on a tissue and use that to separate your lashes and get rid of any clumps 

Then, you just bat those lashes to your hearts content. Happy fluttering!

Lookin' Good: Nail Time

I recently stopped biting my nails (for now...) and let me just say, I've grown accustomed to them.

see? look how long they are! (yes, this is long for me)

But I've also become absurdly stubborn as to what colors they are painted. I've become the overly strict father in [insert any 90's teen movie here]. I only like them either:
1) burgundy
           OR
2) french manicured up.

That is IT.
NO trendy halter tops or crazy parties for THESE nails.



But they do end up with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. So it ends up being a win.

But when it comes to pedicures... well, let's just say they're the rebellious, outsider/'loser' daughter who really sticks it to society with her creativity. These are the nails that get to show up to prom all prettied up after being an ugly duckling for the first 45 minutes of the movie; they're the ones who end up with Heath Ledger or Freddy Prinze Jr. Lucky bastards.

But this is not about winners and losers; its about pretty nails. And two sisters who, after looking harder at themselves, can find common ground and truly love each other while conveniently finding ridiculously handsome boyfriends.

Or it's about my nails.

spoiler: its about my nails.