Summer Makeup Essentials

Hello! I hope everyone had a good week. Schools is almost done, so the kids are very hyper and anxious for summer. Today I wanted to share a few of my favorite makeup products for summer.

Face- I like to keep my face makeup lighter in the summer. BB Creams are a nice way to give your face a light coverage. These BB Creams also have SPF in it which is nice if you are going to be out in the sun for a short time. I would use a heavier sun screen though if you are planning on being outside longer.
I also like to use a nice highlighter, especially in the summer. I lean more towards matte foundations and using a highlighter to give a nice glow. The one pictured is the Betty Lou-Manizer by The Balm. Lastly, for blush my favorite color to use is coral. It looks especially nice with a little bit of a tan.
Eyes- I like to keep my eye nice and bright with a simple eye look. When I am not using a neutral color, I like to wear gold and bronze tones on my lids. I normally use a brown gel eyeliner to line my top lid because it is less harsh than black. The gel eyeliner by Maybelline is my favorite one to use. Using an inner corner highlight and a white or tan eyeliner on the bottom water line will brighten your eyes and make them pop.
Lips- Coral makeup screams summer to me. The coral lipstick pictured is called Coral Blossom by Tarte. I have also been loving this light, bubble gum pink balm by Revlon. It is one of the Colorbursh Matte Balms in the color Elusive.
Nails- Lastly, I wanted to include a few nail polish colors. Summer is the perfect time to wear bright, colorful polishes. These are the Neon Collection by China Glaze. If you would like to see a post with some nail polish ideas for summer let me know in the comment section.

What are your summer makeup favorites?
Thanks for reading!

Tips to Clearer Skin- How I Cleared my Skin

Hello! It has been such a long time since my last post. Even though life has been pretty busy, I am trying my best to get posts up more frequently. I am trying to get a schedule down with planned posts so if there are any post recommendations please let me know in the comment section. Today I wanted to share a few tips to clearer skin. My skin has never been too bad, but most of the time it wasn't completely clear either. I always seemed to have a small breakout on my forehead.

1. Find a face cleanser that works for your skin. I have tried quite a few cleansers over the years and I had issues with many of them drying my face out. Or, they would work for a while and my skin would clear up, then they would stop working as well for me. Right now, I am on my second tube of First Aid Beauty's Face Cleanser and it works really well for my skin. I did a full review of this product here. It is a gentle cleanser which makes it nice to use for both day and night.
2. Use a good moisturizer. My skin is quite oily, so using a night moisturizer is something that I often neglected. For the day time, I use a light, oil-free moisturizer from the brand Simple, and for night, I use First Aid Beauty's Ultra Repair Cream. I can see a noticeable difference when I use a night time moisturizer and when I don't.
3. Clear skin starts from within. Make sure to watch what you eat and to drink lots water. Water provides moisture and helps the body eliminate toxins. I have been trying my best to drink more water and less pop. Hopefully I can completely quite drinking pop, but I'm not quite there yet.
4. Clean your makeup brushes weekly. I am not the best at this, but  I have been trying to clean my makeup brushes more often. I also make sure to clean my beauty blender daily. Brushes hold on to old makeup and bacteria which can lead to breakouts.
5. Protect your skin and use sunscreen whenever you plan on going outside.

I know that there are many other ways to help clear up your skin, but these are the things that I have been doing and seeing benefits from. I try to keep my routine simple and not use too many products. Every once in a while I will use a facial mask, but it isn't something I regularly use. The products I mentioned are what is working for my skin at the moment. I went through a lot of trial and error with products though, so my advice is to try things until you find something that works. Don't try too many new products in a short time though because it may take your skin a few weeks to adjust.

What are your best skin care tips?

Thanks for reading!

Covergirl Super Size by Lashblast Mascara and Covergirl Intensify Me Eyeliner Review

Hello! I hope everyone had a great weekend! My was a pretty laid back one for the most part. We went to see the Avengers Friday night, which was pretty good. We had a magnitude 4.2 earthquake on Saturday which was completely unexpected and weird. We don't typically have them in Michigan, so this was the first time we felt one. Today I wanted to share a couple things I received from Influenster by Covergirl.
I got The Super Size Mascara by Lashblast and the Intensify Me! Liquid Eyeliner by Lashblast. I was excited to try these products out, because Lashblast is my favorite drugstore mascara I have ever tried.

The Mascara comes in a nice packaging. The tube is quite a bit thicker than a lot of other mascaras and the wand is long and skinny. The wand is made with some shorter bristles to deliver maximum mascara, and longer bristles to comb through the lashes. To apply the directions say to start at the base of your lashes and twirl or rotate the wand as you go.
I was completely impressed with the way this mascara made my lashes look. I have fairly long lashes and go for a mascara that volumizes over lengthens and this mascara gives an incredible amount of volume and a bit of length. It separates the lashes nicely, but if you are not careful, it can clump. When that happens though, I just run the wand through my lashes a couple more times and it works them out. 2 coats of this mascara, then I am good to go. If you are looking for a mascara that is on the natural side, then this one is not for you, but if you are looking for a more dramatic mascara, I would recommend trying this one out.

The Intensify Me Liquid Eyeliner also has a nice packaging. It has a grip where you are suppose to hold the product when applying it. The felt tip is flat but wide, so it gives you control of the thickness of the application. While I didn't mind using this product, I am more of a gel eyeliner gal. I like the more matte look of the gel, and I feel like I have more control of the application. I am not as comfortable applying the liquid eyeliner, so it was a little sloppy the first few times I tried it. To fix it up though, I used a matte black eye shadow with an angled eyeliner brush to go over it. Not only does that fix up any minor mistake I have made with the liquid eyeliner, but it helps the eyeliner stay on longer. It also makes the liner more matte, which I like. I think that this would be a good product to try if you like liquid eyeliners, although it might be difficult to do a cat eye with it. I probably won't purchase this one after I am done.

I hope these reviews were helpful. If you received these in a Voxbox, what did you think of the products?
Thanks for reading!