If you’re one of my girlfriends and have come over, chances are I’ve convinced you to let me put some kind of makeup on you. Whether it’s putting on falsies (and gluing your eyelids together by accident LOL) or a simple tip on under eye concealer, I’m always excited to try makeup on different faces. Loretta asked me to do her makeup for a wedding she was going to this weekend - OBVS I was more than willing.

I knew I wanted to keep the look natural and light since it was for a wedding. Plus I find that when a person doesn’t wear make up normally, heavy makeup doesn’t suit them (she usually doesn’t wear anything except for maybe a swipe of eyeliner). So I got some helpers to come over Saturday morning and the makeover began! (Thanks Isan and Nini!)

Here is the before…

In progress...


And after!

 

Face

Products used:

• Foundation - L’Oreal True Match Lumi foundation in N3 
• Setting powder – Maybelline Dream Matte powder in medium
• Eye primer – Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden 
• Eyebrows – ELF eyebrow kit in medium 
• Eyeshadow – Urban Decay Naked palette 
• Sin (lid) 
• Naked (in the crease) 
• Toasted (outer corner) 
• Hustle (outer corner)
• Virgin (brow bone)
• Eyeliner – Lancome Artliner in black
• Eyelashes – Model 21 #19 
• Contour – NYC bronzer in Sunny 
• Blush – MAC blush in Melba 
• Highlight – Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Luminous Light
• Lipstick – Maybelline ColourSensational in Pink Please
• Lipgloss – MAC Cremesheen Glass in Boy Bait 

 

Hair

Tool used:

• Plugged In - 1” curling wand 

Products used:

• TREsemme - heat tamer spray
• Got2b – 2sexy voluptuous volume hairspray 

 Nails done, hair done, everything diddd ;)  She looked fab!

“Woah, what happened to your [insert red marked body part here]?” Dermatographia folks, that’s what happened.

Whenever there’s slight abrasion to my skin, it turns red. When I scratch with normal-high pressure, it turns red and then raises like a hive. The marks will disappear within about half an hour.

I’m all for spontaneity except for when it’s a random skin condition. For the past 5-ish years, I’ve had to take Reactine every day or else I’d get insanely itchy. I really have no clue what triggered it. If I had to rate the degree of itchiness on a scale from 1-10 (1 being kinda ticklish and 10 being infected mosquito bite) I would say 15. It would be SO itchy that if I restrained from scratching, I would twitch but if I continued scratching it would get itchier. This is like beneath the skin-level itch – you know that feeling you get if someone slaps you really hard and then it stings but kinda itches under your skin? It’s kinda like that but intensified.

So I go to the doctor and he says there’s no way to cure it and proceeds to tell me I should continue taking Reactine everyday. Then I go to a traditional Chinese medicine doctor who prescribed a concoction that should never be fed to people with taste buds. This didn’t help at all, but to be fair I didn’t consistently drink it for months like the doc had recommended. I just couldn’t!  Long story short, I still don’t know how to treat dermatographia.

So if you ever see me and I have random red blotches or marks on my face/neck/arms/legs, you’ll know what that’s about. If anyone knows how to get rid of it, please let me know!

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How I wear makeup is totally based on my mood.  For the most part, I’ll be wearing minimal/no makeup (because aint nobody got time every morning to go all out). But then I’ll have days where I’m wearing a full face, just because. Either way, I’m most likely using some of these products.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer

– I know this product is old news but it’s definitely my go-to concealer. It’s good for lazy people because you just need to click, swipe, pat and you’re done.  You don’t need to worry about squeezing out too much product or using a brush. I use shade medium.

Urban Decay Naked palette

– Easy for everyday (I use the shade Naked) or for a night out (I usually use Sin, Smog, Darkhorse, and Creep).

Elf Eyebrow Kit

– eyebrows make a huge difference! I fill mine in with just the powder from this kit. I find that the wax is too heavy for everyday. I have the shade medium – it comes in light, medium, dark, and ash.

Maybelline the Rocket Volum’ Express mascara

– all mascaras I get need to be waterproof, otherwise they just fall down and never hold a curl. The biggest compliment I’ve ever received on my eyelashes was when someone asked me if I was wearing falsies and I was just wearing this mascara! Ok this may not be a big deal to anyone but it was to me since mine are naturally sparse and point straight down.

NYC bronzer in “Sunny”

– inexpensive, nice tone, and blends well. I’ve gone through a ton of these and will keep repurchasing.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in “Soft and Gentle”

– great to use as a highlighter for a nice glow. Plus this will last forever since I only use a tiny amount of it on 3 small spots of my face (tops of cheek bones and bridge of nose).

Then to take all that lovely makeup off… I use Kirkland face wipes from Costco (they’re inexpensive and get the job done) and Neutrogena Oil-Free eye make-up remover. I actually only use the Neutrogena makeup remover if I’m wearing mascara or heavy eye makeup.

It's a small list and I don't have a favourite in every category - that's because I haven't really found one that I can call my favourite yet! The hunt continues...

Lately my skin has been acting up so I’ve been testing out different masks. So far, this one has been the most effective. Turmeric powder is an Indian spice and is used for many things when it comes to beauty. In Indian tradition, brides use this to soften and lighten their skin before the Mehndi ceremony. Benefits that caught my attention were ones that treat:

• Acne
• Skin pigmentation
• Eczema

Immediately after using this mask I found that it smoothed out my skin. If you ever have a zit that makes it hurt to make facial expressions, try this out - it helped alleviate major breakouts. An added bonus was that it helped with darkness under the eye area. I’m stressing the word “help” because it’s not a magical potion that eliminates all pimples and dark spots.

I saw recipes for facemasks that required a lot of ingredients I don’t have at home. I really didn’t want to go out and buy a ton of random spices/powders I knew I wouldn’t ever use. I noticed that a majority of them included milk or yogurt so I decided to keep it simple and test out the credibility of turmeric as unmasked as possible. Here's how to make a basic turmeric mask.

What you’ll need:

1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. plain yogurt
A paper towel

What to do:

1. Mix the turmeric powder and yogurt in a small dish
2. Either dab it on blemishes/dark spots or smooth across entire face
3. Leave on for 20 minutes, then wash off with warm water and dry with a paper towel

Word of warning, it does stain so make sure you use a paper towel to dry off your face. Your face will also be temporarily stained but after you wash it with a good cleanser it’ll come off. Also, if you just got your nails did then I'd recommend using gloves to apply the mask.

This past winter, my skin had gotten super dry. My hands got so bad that the skin on my palm and thumb were starting to split open and bleed. So I tried slathering on lotions, eczema creams, Vaseline, Polysporin, and it would heal it for maybe a week. But the next week, the same areas would split open again.

I then turned to coconut oil (which I had originally bought to use as a hair mask). There are a ton of beauty benefits when it comes to coconut oil, some of which include:

• Hair softener 
• Natural makeup remover 
• Moisturizer 
• Easily absorbed oil 

I honestly don’t like it as a makeup remover because after using it to take off eye makeup, I felt like I had dirty goggles on – my vision was blurry from the oil for a good 20 minutes (is this just me?). Anyway, I did find the oil moisturizing for my skin so I tried applying it like a hand lotion. It didn't really help my severe dry patches but figured if I could soak in this oil overnight, it would be more effective. People had recommended wearing gloves over the oil but the rubber gloves I have at home have a powdery lining and I really wasn’t trying to form a paste overnight. SO my solution was to stick my hands in plastic bags (the kind you use for produce at the grocery store).  I was concerned about it slipping off throughout the night, and then a light bulb went off as I saw hair ties sitting on my table…

So here is how to do a deep moisturizing hand mask.

What you’ll need:
2 plastic bags (produce bags from the grocery store)
1 teaspoon coconut oil (organic, virgin, cold-pressed)
2 hair ties

 

What to do:

1. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, so you’ll need to microwave it in a small dish for about 20 seconds (or until it’s an oil consistency) It might be kinda hot after you take it out of the microwave, so dip your finger in it to test the temperature
2. Once it’s not going to give you a third degree burn, DRENCH YOUR HANDS WITH THIS STUFF (seriously, get right in there). Massage oil into your hands
3. Place each glistening hand into a plastic bag
4. Slip a hair tie over the bags and leave on your wrist to secure the bag onto your hands. Now you’re ready for your beauty rest
5. Wake up with awesomely smooth hands 

I saw immediate results using this hand mask and within 2 uses, my cuts and dry patches healed. Not too shabby!