Egg Masks Are A Summer Essential For Your Oily Skin Problems

(Left to Right: Too Cool For School Egg Mousse Pack, Egg, Tony Moly Egg Pore Tightening Cooling Pack)

If you thought eggs were only good for making your daily breakfast then you’re sadly missing out. Egg whites have been used for years for their skincare properties and recently have been popping up in korean and non-korean beauty products as well. What’s great about them is that egg whites have albumin in them, which is an excellent protein that can tighten pores and clear blackheads. Don’t be too quick to ditch the egg yolks just yet. They contain protein, fatty acids, vitamins and lipids, which are super moisturizing for both your skin and hair. After seeing so many of these egg-filled ingredients pop up on the market over the past few months, I decided why not indulge in the latest trend. What I found was that eggs are great for my skincare needs especially during the summer. My skin likes to have a mind of its own whenever this especially humid season comes near. It becomes more unpredictable and not even the most mattifying primers can help my excessive oil in my time of need. Luckily, these egg products that were proven to be useful in the most trying time of year for my skin.

Pore Minimizer

I was pretty excited when I tried out the Tony Moly Egg Pore Tightening Cooling Pack ($12.00 at ulta.com) because anything that can shrink these massive pores is welcome. After applying the white whipped mousse onto my face, a little goes a long way, the mask hardened immediately. I didn’t feel too much of a cooling sensation, but the tightening feeling of the product was very real. It almost felt like clay hardened onto my skin, which was due to the kaolin that is listed as the second ingredient in the mask. I was thoroughly impressed with the results this mask delivered. When I washed it off, I could immediately could see how much my pores have shrunk, which means less oil production for me! It received extra bonus points because my skin didn’t become dry and flaky after removal. It was actually pretty soft and supple, which is something that I usually don't experience after using mattifying products

Hydrator

Just because I have oily skin doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be using moisturizing masks. It’s actually imperative for me to use some sort of hydrating treatment since I’m mainly using products that will inhibit oil production on my face. This can actually lead to dry skin, which can lead to the excess oil production that is trying to compensate for the moisture that was absorbed. The Too Cool For School Egg Mousse Pack ($20.00 at sephora.com) is great for those days when I notice that my skin is a little dull and dry. It works in as little as five minutes and I could immediately see a more brighter and smoother complexion thanks to their egg yolk and egg white mixture.

Blackhead Eraser

If you’re tired of those pesky blackheads and want to get rid of them stat, then look no more further than inside the egg carton in your fridge. Egg whites are the perfect 10 minute spot treatment to keep those pimples at bay. They’re filled with vitamins and protein that are great at stopping acne in its’ tracks. Just be sure to use a toner after washing the mask off your face to get rid of any excess egg off your face that your hands missed!

Saturday Swatch: Spring Time Love with Lorac Love, Lust & Lace

Last weekend, I went to the mall with my friends and I guess you can say I got a little carried away and went on a spending spree. Once you see me take a basket or bag that is stacked on top of each other at the entrance of the store, you know I mean business. I can literally spend three hours at Ulta surveying only one quarter of the store because I want to make sure that I don’t miss a thing while shopping. Anyways, there's a Nordstrom Rack in the mall that I went to and I always love finding high end skincare and makeup products for a discounted value. While I was doing my usual browsing I came across the LORAC Love, Lust & Lace Full Face Collection that contained the Love, Lust & Lace Eyeshadow Palette, Front of the Line PRO Eye Pencil in Black, Cobra Mascara and Alter Ego Lip Gloss in Stunner and Harlot and it was selling for a modest price of $24.97 (the original price was $42).

SOLD!

I've never tried LORAC’s products before, but I’ve heard a lot of great things about. The main thing that really sold me out of everything in the collection was the palette and it sure didn’t disappoint when I ripped open the box barely five minutes after we walked out the store. I’m definitely more of a neutrals girl, so I was instantly hooked.  The only thing that wasn’t really neutral was Devotion, which is this dark blue shimmery color. It definitely made me curious to see what it would look like on me because I feel as though that blue is definitely a hard color to pull off for most people and it kind of reminds me of 80s beauty and I was just not about that life. However, it’s becoming trendier in recent months and I actually did a tutorial recreating Lupita Nyong’o’s Star Wars red carpet look where she wore this really beautiful pigmented metallic blue lip color with this blue eyeliner and eyeshadow. I thought it was an interesting color to put in a palette that was more conservative side, but I think that the color will definitely will work well with the others.

Top to Bottom: Love, Crush, Amore, Lust, Devotion, Infatuation and Lace

When I first did the swatches of the palette I never realized how pigmented and rich these colors were. I was definitely in awe and had Drake’s Hold On We’re Going Home playing in my head while taking this photo. The only color that's pretty hard to see is Lace, but that’s because it’s really closer to my skin tone and I didn’t want to brighten up the photo too much because it would definitely affect the colors of the other swatches, which I didn’t want. When I do take photos of my products I try to make sure that the colors are as true to what you see in the palette. I always hated when I saw photos of a lipstick color or foundation color on Instagram and then be disappointed that it wasn’t the true color that I saw.

I will have to say out of all of them, Crush, Amore, and Lust are my favorite ones. Crush is a gold tone, but more on the pale amber side. It’s definitely unlike my other gold eyeshadows where it’s clearly a rich shimmery gold shade. But, this one is more on the subtle side for everyday wear. Amore is a beautiful copper tone, which is going to be a bit tricky to wear since I dyed my hair and the color looks similar to the palette. But, I may definitely try definitely try to smoke it out with Infatuation to see how that would look like. Lust has a mixture of pale silver and gold tones which is definitely a shade that would work as an everyday shadow. The color is diversive enough to be worn with anything you wear, which is great for days when you’re in a rush, but want any eye popping color.

Overall I’m fully satisfied with this purchase and I’m really impressed with this beautiful palette. Now excuse me while I go act like a 12 year old girl and play with my new goodies.

Saturday Swatch: All Glowed Up

So, I’m a little bit late to the highlighter game. I only recently nailed contouring this past December and already thought that my highlight and contour was already on point. I didn’t think I needed an extra highlighter at all. If anything, I would just go into my Naked 2 palette and take one of the shimmery pink shadows and dust it along my cheekbones. I just never thought it was necessary. But, then I saw this Instagram video of Kamila Bravo using the Benefit High Beam liquid highlighter and every preconceived notion I had about highlighters became completely irrelevant. I’ve never seen someone’s skin glow as prominently as her’s did after she put it on. I mean just look at that execution.

Top: BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal. Bottom: Benefit High Beam Liquid Face Highlighter)

Of course after watching that magic happen, I skipped over to Sephora and I bought it on the spot. The Benefit High Beam Liquid Face Highlighter is a beautiful pink liquid highlighter that leaves this beautiful icy silvery glow after blending it in. I would have to say that less is more if you're going to use this highlighter especially if your skin is deep like mine since it could make you a little bit ashy. I think it blends a little bit easier and gives a more natural finish if you use a damp beauty blender. When I first used it all I could remember was wondering why and how did I ever underestimate the power of highlighters? It gave me the Victoria Secret Angel glow. I was hooked.

I’ve been hearing a lot buzz surrounding BECCA’s highlighters, specifically the Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop. I did a swatch of it in the store and thought it was a beautiful color, but I found myself more drawn to Opal. It wasn’t until I went home to try it on that I immediately understood what the hype was about. BECCA’s highlighters are extremely pigmented and rich so again, less is more in this situation. But, my goodness. When I swiped this on my nose and cheekbones with an angled brush, I just wanted to cover my whole face with it and walk around snapping selfies of my skin’s glow. Of course, I probably would never do that because I would look like a vampire from Twilight, but you get what I’m saying.  I really loved the golden tone for this one because I have golden undertones in my skin, so it really complimented my complexion really well.

Needless to say, both of these highlighters will do wonders for your complexion and really take your makeup (and selfies) to the next level.

Do you have any products that changed the game for you?

The Review: Is the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation Worth the Hype?

Foundation hunting is by far one of the hardest and the most frustrating shopping experiences I’ve ever endured. I’ve always had to take matters into my own hands and match myself based on YouTube personalities whose complexions are similar to mine since my experiences being matched at the mall has been well…disappointing. I was always matched to a foundation that either made me look orange or way too light for my skin tone. Over the past few years through trial and error, I noticed that I can achieve a more seamless complexion by using two foundations: one for the lighter areas in the center of my face and another for areas that are bit darker.

I saw a review of the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation on The Cut in February saying that it was the foundation of the year. It was written by one of my favorite beauty editors who I’ve been following for a while when she was a beauty blogger and have always trusted her judgement. So, that was already one check in my book. I went to Charlotte Tilbury's site and saw that one of my favorite YouTubers, Jenny Jenkins, was a model that Charlotte Tilbury tested the foundation on in a tutorial. Another check. With all of the information I gathered, I placed my order and received the package about two weeks ago. 

The foundation comes in 15 shades and retails at $44 (plus tax and shipping) at CharlotteTilbury.com. I ordered mine in 11 Dark. What drew me to the foundation was the integration of the skincare properties that was infused in the makeup. I'm a huge product junkie and love the ones that can do it all at once. The main ingredients it has is mushroom extract that tightens the skin giving it a firm finish, hyaluronic acid to plump up and hydrate the skin, vitamin c to fight free radicals and reduce dark spots and sunscreen to protect your skin from UV rays. 

I originally applied this foundation with a flat brush, but realized that a buffing brush was better since I wanted to achieve a more full coverage look. In addition, I use a sunscreen before applying the foundation that is SPF 30. I understand that the foundation already has sunscreen in it, but I usually don’t rely on the sun protection in foundations since the amount you put on your skin isn't enough to  give you the full protection your skin needs from the UV Rays. 

The foundation is definitely buildable, but wasn’t enough to cover my dark spots, so I had to use a concealer for a little bit more coverage. BUT, it's virtually weightless and felt as though I had on a fresh layer of skin, which is probably the reason why my dark spots didn't get completely covered up. It has a slightly watery consistency, which is different from the full coverage foundations I’ve used in the past, which tend to feel heavier. It gave my skin a seamless, dewy glow leaving me with an airbrushed finish. In terms of its' wearability, I've worn it for over eight hours and it stayed in place ever time with minimal touch ups. Of course, using a pressed powder after applying your makeup is ideal to prevent oiliness and to keep it in place. 

The ONLY Lip Scrub and Lip Balm You Need For Moisturized Lips

I feel as though I have almost tried every drugstore lip balm on the market right now. No matter what I couldn’t get rid of the dryness that haunted my lips. Every time when I tried a new product it was another disappointment and I threw it in a bag with the rest of the rejected cosmetics that I swore myself off of thinking that there was no hope until this past Friday when I went to Lush. I’m going to be honest, I only heard about Lush only recently which was shocking to me because I’m always surfing the internet learning about what are the latest products on the market. So the fact that I didn’t recognize the name until one of my friends brought it up last year was a bit embarrassing to me. I did some shopping on Friday in the city to shop the sales that were currently going on at my favorite stores. Feeling confident after leaving with my Cookie Lyon fur vest that I bought at Zara for $39.99 (originally $99.99), I strutted down the street feeling victorious with my recent purchase and noticed that Lush was across the street. My mom deposited money for books on my debit card the day before, so of course I rationally thought that it wouldn’t hurt to spend another $60 of the money since I didn’t really plan on purchasing some of the books anyway because most of my teachers referred to them in the PowerPoint, which they posted online.

I walked into the store and it was magical. I thought the bath bubble sculptures were food for a second and almost ate them until I read the fine print. It was a heaven that I would wish upon all beauty lovers in the world. I now understood the hype. A bubbly sales associate showed me the Mint Julips Lip Scrub (that’s edible by the way) and Lip Service Lip Balm, which was one of their sellers. The lip scrub comes in a small round jar that where lip scrub is almost packed down. It feels like it’s solidified, but the castor sugar on top is very loose which isn’t a surprise considering that’s characteristic of very fine sugar. The peppermint smell instantly sold me before I even tried out the scrub. After dipping my finger into the scrub and rubbing it on lips, I found the scrub to be not super irritating or too rough that would irritate my lips. The very fine texture of the sugar was gentle enough to exfoliate my lips without stripping it too harshly. The lip balm comes in a small circular container and smells almost like skittles to me. It literally melted into my lips and felt so buttery. There is shea butter and cocoa butter in the balm, which is probably one of the reasons why my lips feels so hydrated. On a whim I said why not and bought both the scrub and balm to use in conjunction before putting on my lipstick. I have never used a lip balm that lasted for so long. Yesterday, I put the lip balm on before my lipstick at 8:45am and at 6:30pm without touching up it still felt softer than ever (there was also a blizzard outside and the temperature was 17 degrees and I was extremely impressed that it held up through that mess). Also, I only touched up my lipstick once yesterday, which is another perk that came with this amazing balm.

Overall, I am throughly impressed by the formulas of both the scrub and balm. It’s all natural meaning that there isn’t any petroleum in it which I believe what was the ingredient in the other lip balms that I used that made my lips look so dry. I never thought that I would see the day that the disappointment is over…at least for my dry lips concerns. I placed them with the rest of the products on my beauty shrine and put my lip balm filled reject bag away and pumped my fist in the air like Judd Nelson did at the end of The Breakfast Club.

via GIPHY

Product Review: Simple Micellar Cleansing Water

I don’t know about you all, but I am all for finding a great buy when it comes to drugstore cosmetic brands. I mean who wouldn’t want to find an effective, moderately priced serum or moisturizer? One night, after getting one of my food cravings for a belVita breakfast bar, I decided to drive to my local CVS to go see if I can buy a box.

Now if anyone knows me, you know that I can't enter the store without being sucked into skincare aisle. It’s like a magnetic pull that I just can’t seem to avoid like seeing a shirtless picture of Drake, I need to go check it out.

(You can see what I mean).

As I was scanning through the familiar brands, my eye immediately landed on the new Simple Micellar Water that I have seen beauty gurus rave about on Instagram. If you aren’t already familiar with this product, it is essentially a liquid solution that is able to remove dirt and makeup from your face so well that you don't even have to wash your face after. Being that it was so well received, I decided to buy it to see if it lived up to my expectations.

I wear a full coverage foundation for my uneven skintone and hyperpigmentation as well as under eye concealer for dark circles. I was hoping that this would remove my makeup a little bit better than my Neutrogena face wipes as my foundation is so thick.

The cleansing water did have a refreshing feeling, but it took about four cotton pads for me to remove my makeup. After it looked like I wiped off a good amount of it, I used my Clairsonic to see how well it actually did and this was the result:

So, it’s clear that this product is not ideal for those who wear full coverage makeup. It is probably more suitable for lighter foundations, tinted moisturizers, or those who simply do not wear makeup on a daily basis. Although this product claims to be a good substitute to washing your face, I think that it's still important to use a cleanser after to make sure you remove all the dirt and makeup to prevent clogged pores.

Grade: C+