Friday Finds: Blush and BB Cream

Friday, May 30, 2014

Happy Friday!!! The happiest day all week! 

It's especially happy for me because I've purchased a few new things that I am going to share with you in a post (that will probably be repeated, hence the alliterative name) called 'Friday Finds!"

These are just a few beauty related things I've bought recently that I want to share!



  1. Benefit's Rockateur Blush - Now I know this blush is pricey ($28) and I think that there are other, more affordable blushes out there that are just as pretty, but I've had my eye on Rockateur for months now. Everytime I'm in Sephora or Ulta, I go by and brush some across my cheeks in envy. So I decided to take the plunge and buy it. I'm very pleased because I know this will last me a long time and the color is stunning! As you can see above, it's deep and shimmery and peachy and pink and just lovely!
  2. To pair with my fancy new blush I got the Real Techniques Blush Brush - I am a HUGE fan of Real Techniques and when my (not so good quality) blush brush fell apart a few days ago, I went straight for my favorite brush brand. I absolutely love this brush. Using it is easy and product goes on flawlessly. And to top it off, it's really affordable. This brush only put me back $9.
  3. Maybelline's Dream Fresh BB Cream - I love this BB cream. In fact, this is a repurchase, as I ran out of my last bottle. It's light, smooth, and feels great on my skin. I don't use foundation regularly but it's nice to have some light coverage all over to even out my skin tone and this does the trick!
  4. Next is another Maybelline winner, the Instant Age Rewind Under Eye Concealer. -This should come as no surprise, as this is my favorite under eye, dark circle concealer out there. It's cheap, lasts forever, and comes in tons of shades as well as a brightener. This is my third or fourth repurchase of this awesome product!
  5. To verge away from makeup, I picked up the Pantene Smooth Lisse Argan Oil Serum. - This stuff is magic. It's a more affordable version of Moroccan Oil's Argan Oil - which I have used and liked a lot - but it's cheaper, less greasy in my hair and smells awesome. This stuff lasts me a long time as you don't really need much (only a  small squeeze or two into the ends of your hair) and it's only $8 bucks. Plus, you get more for that $8 bucks - whereas with Moroccan Oil you get a much smaller container for more money! 


These 5 products are some of my old favorites and soon to be new favorites and all totally worth buying. I hope you guys enjoyed seeing some of my friday finds and I would encourage everyone to check out some of these because they're all really great - and mostly affordable!

Have a great weekend!

xo Emily

How To: Fake A Good Night's Sleep! (Part 1)

Monday, May 26, 2014

Hey guys! Hope you all have had a good nights sleep.....unlike me.

Today is the start of a few blog posts I'm going to do all centered around How To: Fake A Good Night's Sleep! As a college student, I am often going to bed way too late and even have to pull a few all nighters every once and awhile. Basically, because of my bad sleeping habits, I've accrued quite a few tips and tricks in order to get through my day when I haven't had enough sleep! 

So for today's Part 1 of How To: Fake A Good Night's Sleep! blog post series, I'm join to show you tips for your skincare and makeup today. These will not only look awake, feel awake, and get some of the same benefits of sleep without actually sleeping!

So let's get to it!!! My day started around 8:00 AM after I (unfortunately) pulled an all-nighter. Maybe it was the combination of sleeping in and too much caffeine, but I just could not fall asleep last night :( 


Let's begin! So as you can see above, I've got a bare face and pretty impressive under eye circles that are such a lovely shade of purple! So let's do something about it!

As soon as you are ready to start your day after your short sleep (or lack of sleep), here are a few tips I've got for starting out your skincare for the day!

1. Drink 1 or 2 whole glasses of water as soon you wake up (it will replenish your skin, giving your skin moisture and nutrients it needs - especially since it lost those in the night)
2. Take a cold shower - the cold will make your skin and you awake! 
3. Use a coffee scrub or a face cleanser with bursting bubbles (like clean and clear's morning burst cleanser - it'll wake you and your skin up)
4. Use a face wipe or cleanser with cucumbers like the wipes below (or cucumber slices themselves) - they help depuff tired eyes and skin


Now that we've showered, cleansed our face, and moisturized it, it's time to get to our makeup! The first thing I used was the Garnier Anti-Puff Eye Roller to get rid of pesky under eye puffiness! Then I primed my face with the L'Oreal Magic Lumi primer in order make me look a little less pale and a little more alive.

For foundation, it's better to go with a light, BB cream when you're without sleep so I used this one by Garnier.



Now time to tackle those HORRIBLE dark circles. Now that they've de-puffed as much as they will, I'm going to go in with Maybelline's Age Rewind to cover up the purple and then in with the brightener shade on my forehead, nose, cupid's bow, and cheek bones to detract from my circles. Because I got no sleep, I went in with another brightener/concealer this time by Collection.

I set my under eye foundation with a yellow eyeshadow. Yellow eyeshadow is perfect for fighting dark discoloration, like from lack of sleep under your eyes. The rest of my face was lightly set with a pressed, matte powder.



My finished foundation and concealer is above and as you can see, I have taken care of my  under eye circles! But, I now look especially pale and washed out so I'm going to need to add bronzer, blush, and an illuminating highlight.


I used the N.Y.C. sunny bronzer on my cheek bones, temples, down my nose, and on my jaw because I really needed a natural, sunny warmth back in my face! Then, I just used a simple peach blush on the apples of my cheek to warm me up further. To finish off my face makeup, I used the Sephora brand highlighting powder on the high points of my face.

And voila, color is back in my face!


My last step is my eyes! When you haven't had a lot of sleep, you should not be wearing dark eye makeup, only light shades. So I went in with champagne pink all over my lid and then used my sunny bronzer as a shadow in the crease. I finished with white eyeliner on my bottom waterline and inner tear duct to brighten everything up! 


Look how not - dead I look!


My final step in my How To: Fake A Good Night's Sleep (makeup edition), is LIPSTICK! This is important when you want to detract from sleepiness. It brings the eye down, away from said circles.


I used Revlon's Pink Velvet Creme Lipstick which is just a beautiful soft and creamy lipstick, right between a red and pink shade!


And here we have the finished look!!! Not bad for someone who hadn't slept the night before and had some pretty SEXY under eye circles!




 

I hope this blog post helped with faking your skincare and makeup when you haven't had any or much sleep. These steps are really really easy and are tried and true tips from yours truly (I have a lot of experience in lack of sleep) so I think these will make a huge difference!!

Hope you all enjoyed the post! Now go take a nap! 

xo Emily



 (Do y'all like my shirt?)











Today's Face Tuesday: An Everyday Summer Makeup Look

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Today's Face: Tuesday 
My Everyday Summer Makeup Look

In today's makeup post, I'm showing you my go-to summer makeup look. Since it's hot and humid out during the summer, this look is really simple, light and perfect for sticky weather. 

The Before Look 

Again, like in my other makeup looks, I start with moisturizer and primer and then foundation and concealer. For today, since I want my complexion glowing, I'm using the L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer which basically makes your face shiny and glowy (which is perfect for this look). Next, I went in with the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream instead of full foundation because BB cream is much lighter on the skin, has lower coverage, and contains sunscreen which is absolutely perfect for sunny, summer weather. 

My face post-BB Cream

Face Thingies!

Next, I went in with my Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Under Eye Concealer and covered my (cute as heck) under eye circles. I then went in with the same concealer but in the 'brightener' tone and popped that on my t-zone, upper lip, and under eye area just to brighten up my look.


I used the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer and brightener for my under-eyes

My pressed powder, blush, and bronzer that were used in this look

 Next, I use just a TINY bit of Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder to set my BB cream and concealer. I used enough to keep the concealer staying all day but not too much so that I would lose the glow from the primer and BB cream so that I would keep that summer glow. To brighten and color up my face, I used my e.l.f. studio contouring blush and bronzing palette in the color St. Lucia. I absolutely adore this palette not only because it's $3.00(!!!!!!!!!) but also because it's beautiful! So using that, I gently bronzed my face, cheeks, and temples and then blushed up the apples of my cheek.

 Now for eyebrows!!! I've been trying out the Milani EasyBrow to fill in and shape my brows. It's a really affordable product and is easy to apply! I'm loving it so far. 


To do my brows, I first use the spoolie side of the EasyBrow to shape and tame the caterpillars. Then I use the other side of the brush to actually fill in the brows so that they don't have any gaps in color. After that, I go in with a dark brown eyeshadow to just smooth it out and finish with my Sonia Kashuk Brow Gel to set it all!

Here's the look with my brows done up!

It's time for my eyes! Because I want the look to be subtle, sweet, and summery, I'm using a light pink/champagne eyeshadow all over my lid. It's shimmery and soft which is perfect. To darken up the look and give it dimension, I used brown in the crease and just blended that out. Instead of a harsh eyeliner, I took that same brown eyeshadow and just lined my upper lid slightly.


Lastly, I used Benefit's They're Real and Maybelline Pumped Up Colossal Volume Mascaras and made my lashes really dark and pretty.



To finish, I made sure my lips were coated in Chapstick and then I went in with a peachy blush and gave my lips a little bit of sparkle using it.

The finished look:


Hope you all enjoyed this look!!!

xo Emily

I LOVE AMERICA!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Hello everyone! 

I hope you all have had a good week so far, hopefully enjoying the nice weather!

My week and weekend have been absolutely fantastic. Over the weekend my sister moved to Washington D.C. and I came with her, helping her move into her new (amazing) apartment and get all settled in. 

D.C. is one of my favorite places. It's incredibly beautiful, historic, and I feel just a bit more patriotic as I walk down the street with the Washington Monument looming in the distance. Making the trip from New York to D.C., I appreciate the Capital even more. Everything in Washington is insanely clean. I mean it. It's spotless and I have never been so happy to see a sidewalk free of Starbucks napkins and assorted bits of trash more than now. The D.C. metro is the penthouse suite at the Four Seasons in comparison to the Motel 6 rooms that are the New York's Subway in this comparison. (I still love New York but the subway and the cleanliness leaves something to be desired)

In addition to swooning over the metro, I explored D.C.( albeit mostly as a tourist) since it had been years since I'd last been. We arrived on Saturday night, moved my sisters things into her apartment and then conked out. On Sunday, we moved my sisters roommate into the apartment and then lounged around until we went out for dinner at Boundary Stone, a local place with some good food. I had the honey hot wings which were absolutely delicious!

After dinner, me and my sister walked down the National Mall to look at the monuments, which were lit up and looked stunning in the dark.


A view of the Lincoln Memorial from the WWII Memorial

One of my favorite monuments ever is the World War II Memorial which is kind of mind-blowing to be near. First off, it's absolutely gorgeous. It has a huge fountain in the middle with steps where you can sit surrounding it. Around it are towers (50 of them each with a name of state on it. At the top of the towers are huge ribboned wreaths. (festive!) 



I always have to get a picture in front of my state for obvious reasons. 

Missouri Pride!!!!
Here is my picture from like 5 years ago haha!!
From there, we walked to the Lincoln Memorial and standing on the steps of the Memorial looking at the World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol in the distance, was truly beautiful.
Lincoln




The next day my sister and I did a lot of walking and a lot of touristy things (when on vacay right?) and we started with breakfast at The Diner which was delicious. From there, we went to The American History Museum where I got to swoon over the first ladies' dresses.

Michelle's inauguration dress....she's so beautiful

Then we walked from the Museum to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial which sits at the top of the Tidal Basin. There were paddle boats at the Basin as well which was so cool. (We almost got one but then remembered we would have to put a little effort into paddling)



Had to get a shot in front of it..... I'm wearing a top from Francesca's, a long cardigan from Forever 21, and capris. 


Our final stop was the White House which I literally am unable to resist visiting because it's the most MAGICAL place on earth. 


It's SO beautiful..... I can't believe it's real.


Of course I had to get pictures on both sides. 


Here's the actual West Wing [SHRIEKS], I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Barack or Jed Bartlet but alas, I did not. Most people don't actually know that this is the West Wing and as my sister said, "This is the actual exciting part!!". I agree! 

That's it for the pictures but let me just say I had a WONDERFUL time visiting D.C. again and I encourage everyone and their mother, neighbor, brother, and cousin to sometime visit D.C. I'm going back this summer to see my sister and I am already looking forward to it.

Have a wonderful day, all!
xo
Emily






May Madness!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Hello All!!!!

A very happy May to everyone!!!! (Especially to you J.T.)

I'm very excited that it's finally May especially since the weather in New York has been absolutely atrocious! For the past month it's been in the lower 40's and 50's and my pasty legs need some sun! 

In order to egg on the weather into maybe something a little nicer, I decided to make a May playlist full of some fun, perfect for Spring tunes that maybe you might enjoy too! I've always loved making playlists for every mood, occasion, season, and in this case; month! So feel free to clicky click to listen to Mayday :)


Hope everyone has a good May....hopefully full of sunshine..

xo
Emily