Everyday Red Lips

I was always that kind of girl who thought red lipstick would look horrible on her. I have very fair skin and light hair so red lips would be too bold for me. This Christmas, part of my boyfriend's gift was a make-up kit with lipsticks, lip glosses and eye shadows. The lipsticks were dark colored and the lip glosses as well. I was scared but at the same time it was the perfect time for me to try something bold and let go of my red fear, and I kind of loved it! I think you can wear a red lipstick everyday as long as it's the right shade for you and your eye make-up looks very simple and natural. On the two pictures above I have no make-up on, only the lipstick and lipgloss.

 To achieved this natural red lip I only used these three products: 

1. Labello Cherry Lipbalm
2. Red satin lipstick
3.  Red Lipgloss

This is my own way to get that natural red lip for an everyday look. A lot of people do it differently, but you'll have to do what it's the best way for your skin. These are not expensive brand products, you don't need a MAC or Chanel lipstick to get that perfect red lip.These were the three steps I did:

First I applied a red tinted lip balm to my lips so they stay moisturized yet slightly tinted with a subtle red shimmery color. I used a Labello (Nivea) one, but you can use wherever you have on your collection already.

Once the lipbalm sinked a little into my lips, I applied the red lipstick. This is a satin finished red lipstick with subtle cool/pink undertones. Warm/orange undertones would not suit my skin. As you can see, I didn't overdo it because it would look too harsh.

The final step is to apply a red lip gloss for that shimmery and mirror like finish. You could not use the lip-gloss if you wanted to, but I think a hint of glossiness would be perfect for a cute red lip.

For an everyday look, you shouldn't wear super dark eye make up or even blush. I would just stick to mascara and a black eyeliner on your top or bottom lid and a shimmery subtle blush.

There are a lot of blonde and pale celebrities who rock red lipstick on the red carpet, those were the ones I took inspiration from, because they look gorgeous! It makes me realize who pathetic I was for being so afraid of red colors on my lips...

 Do you often rock a red lip as well or are you afraid of that bold color like I was? (:

2010 Favorite Products!

1. Xen-Tan Mist Intense
2. Magic Peeling Glove
3. Lush H' Suan Wen Hua
4. Pantene Aqua Light Mist
5. Lush Angels on Bare skin
6. Lush Ultra Bland
7. Uriage moisturizer
8. Maybelline Dream satin liquid mousse
9. Benefit One Hot Minute
10. MAC Mineralized Skin finish in Perfect Topping
11. MAC Feline Eye Khol 

Hi Ladies! It's the end of 2010 (thank God) so I thought I would do my favorite products of the year! This year I found some really good products that I use a lot and love. Some of them I didn't mention before and others I already did a rave about them, so let's begin!

Body Care Products 

1. Xen-Tan Mist Intense - I'm a really pale person that burns very easily under the sun, so before I get a cute bronzed color I get red like a lobster, and it isn't attractive at all I must say. Over the years I've tried a lot of bronzers that were blotchy and orange, not this one. The application it's smooth and the color it's gorgeous! It lasts a week on me, and it fades beautifully, I used it throughout this whole summer, definitely a favorite! Well done Xen-Tan!

2. Magic Peeling Glove - You have heard me talk about this product before, and I still will. This changed my skin for better and it's a product that I'll always use. Check out my review about it here.

Hair Care Products

3. Lush H' Suan Wen Hua Hair Treatment - I tried this product in the summer as well and was amazed by the first application. It really "feeds" your hair amazing ingredients for healthy and shiny hair. If you want to read my review about it click here.

4. Pantene Aqua Light Hair Mist - I actually love the whole Aqua light line, but this is definitely my favorite product from pantene. You can use it on your dry hair and it ill give you shine and a smooth feel to your hair, amazing stuff! If you want to read my rave about the whole line click here.

Facial Care Products

5. Lush Angels on Bare skin cleanser - I can actually say that this is the best cleanser for my skin that I have ever tried. I have combination skin and it balances my oily/ dry skin perfectly. I will do a review about this soon, because this cleanser really is an Angel for my sensitive skin.
6. Lush Ultra Bland cleanser - I use this product to remove my make up at night, and it's a must! Removes everything without being rough on your skin and without leaving any residue. While I was on accutane this was the only make-up remover that didn't sting my skin. 
7. Uriage Hyséac moisturizer - I already talked about this product on my previous post. If you have acne prone skin you should have this in your routine every day, it helped me a lot with my acne and dark spots.

Make-up Products

 

8. Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid foundation - For me, this is the best drugstore foundation that I have ever tried. Beautiful air brushed satin finish and long lasting. It photographs beautifully. I'm going to rock a tan this New Year's Party and will be rocking this foundation as well, so my pictures look awesome! You can see me review about this foundation here.
9.Benefit One Hot Minute Powder - I use this everyday as a bronzer. It has beautiful rose gold shimmer to it, which makes it soft and subtle for fair skinned girls like me. It also looks gorgeous on top of any blush. I definitely recommend this for any pale girl who just wants a sun kissed glow.
10. MAC Perfect Topping MSF - I use this as a highlight and it's just gorgeous. This was a limited edition MSF but I think you can still buy it from ebay, and I'm sure MAC will re-promote it! Here's a close up of the color:

11. MAC Feline Eye Khol - This is the blackest eye liner you can find! Love the really dark color for my eyes, because I really look like a feline when I wear this on my eyes, wish it didn't smudge so much though!

And these were my favorites product finds this year. I'm really happy because I found such good products tha I know I will be using them forever (: xoxo*

How I got rid of my acne and scaring

(Click on the image to see it bigger please. Note that in the before pictures, I was wearing Revlon Colorstay foundation, they were really red and uglier than in those pictures,  these were the only ones I couldn't find that I didn't delete)

Disclaimer: The products I'm about to show you worked for my skin. These were products prescribed to me by a dermatologist.I'm only showing you what I did and how it worked. I'm not a doctor or anything, so you have to be careful while using anything harsh for your skin and always follow the instructions.

So now that all the introductions and disclaimers are made I can start to write about my dreadful and horrible acne experience.

I just turned 21, and it was only last year (by this time) that I had acne, before then I always had perfect skin. I have really sensitive fair skin, any pimple that I would have would show off like crazy because I'm so pale and my skin it's so thin. After I turned 20 years old last year I started having little bumps on my chin that weren't normal, I thought it was because of stress with college and everything so I didn't do anything. By the time December came I was stuck in home for three weeks because I couldn't get out of my house... I had huge acne all over my chin, they were big pimples that were all infected and gross. My family were really preoccupied because it was really bad and they never saw my skin like that, and because I was so fair it was the first thing you would notice on me.I tried everything on the market and every natural remedies I could find, and nothing. It just wouldn't go away.. I failed classes at college because I couldn't go to the exams looking like that. It seems really vain of me but they would be bloody and itchy all the time and I couldn't take it. 

I wouldn't go to the doctors because I knew they would prescribe me something harsh for my body and I just didn't want to deal with it. The side effects could be awful and I didn't want to deal with them... so I just waited. By the time February came I still have them but they weren't so bad, but still I was left with scaring that was impossible to hide. I just gave up and made an appointment at a dermatologist at the end of March and it was the best thing I ever done for my skin and me. 

She prescribe me what I was fearful of.... Accutane which in Portugal has another name but it's the exactly same thing. She said that I had to use two products everyday while taking my medication 3 times a week only in low doses because my acne wasn't that severe at that time already. 

1. Accutane
2. Uriage Hyséac AHA moisturizer
3. Kétrel creme

Accutane- (Prescription only) This is the strongest medication you can take for acne. And has many possible side effects that aren't so good and a lot of people can't take this. You have to be followed by your doctor while using this, especially in high doses, for me it wasn't necessary because I was only taking them 3 times a week. This will basically dry you out of all the moisture you have on your body. Not kidding. While using this I had dry skin and dry hair. This medication will also peel your skin. My skin started to peel off after the third pill I took. It wasn't super bad but you're going to have to warn the people around you that you're on medication that's why you have skin dripping all over your face ahaha My lips were all chapped and bruised, especially on the corners so use a ton of lips balms and Vaseline on your lips and it will disappear. Also, you HAVE to use sun protection and cannot exfoliate or wax while on this treatment. I was on Accutane for 4 months and my skin it's clear. Months latter, my skin stopped being dry and now I have combination skin. You have to have a doctor prescription to take this medication so I would recommend you to go to a dermatologist and talk about your problem.

Uriage Hyséac AHA moisturizer- I have been using this since April and it's the best moisturizer I have ever used. From the first application you'll see results. Your skin won't be matte and dull, but this will give you a healthy glow while not drying out your skin and killing all the acne. This is the perfect base for make-up. I'm taking a break from it because my skin it's getting used to it unfortunately! You can by this moisturizer and the cleanser at any pharmacy.

As I said before, I was left with a lot of scaring. I wish I could show you how bad it was. Even Revlon Colorstay foundation couldn't cover those red scars on my chin. My dermatologist even said that it was pretty bad, and it might never come off... only if I used this next product everyday for 16 weeks. 

Kétrel Creme- This little creme only costs 2€ at the pharmacy but it was the best thing that happened to me!!!! This was the product that completely vanished my acne scars. And no, it doesn't lighten them, it removes them forever. This creme has a form of retinol on it called tretinoin A this is the key ingredient that will help you to erase your scars. So even if you don't have this creme, you can talk to your doctor or even in your pharmacy and get a creme with this ingredient. I had to use this every night on my problem area, after the first week your skin will be really raw and irritated but it's normal, after a week it will pass. You just have to stick to it and get through it because the final result will be perfect. I used this EVERY night for 3 months and after the first one they were already almost gone. I used during the day sun screen every time I stepped out of my house because if you don't, then they will become worse, so USE A SUN SCREEN!

I stopped my treatment in July so for two months I didn't exfoliate or waxed any part of my body. Even though I wasn't using the kétrel or medication you have to wait a while so your skin can recuperate and get back to normal.

   4.  Magic Peeling Glove -  (I have made a review about this before click here to go there) After you skin gets back to normal, you'll have huge pores still and maybe a pimple here and there, so you need to exfoliate your skin really good to keep the results, and this glove helped me a lot with that, if I have a tiny pimple, I use this two times and there's no scar left, plus it doesn't irritate or dry out my sensitive skin, it's not harsh at all. You can check out my review about it to know more about this glove.

And that's it! I know how horrible acne can be and how can it destroy someone's self esteem. I went through hell trying to get rid of it with all these cleansers and moisturizers that did nothing! If you have severe acne, you have to know that it isn't a simple cleanser that will help you because the problem it's within you. Maybe you're stressed, maybe you're not eating right or maybe it's just hormones or genetics! It can be anything, but I advise you to go to the dermatologist because they know what they are talking about and will discuss with you the possible cures. But if you have only some pimples then don't worry, the right cleanser, moisturizer, exfoliator and make-up will do the trick. I still have some pimples here and there, but they are not all red and gross now and they don't leave a mark because I found something that works.

If you have any questions or want to share your experiences with acne and scaring with me, feel free to comment or email me, I love earring your thoughts and answer to your questions, and if you're dealing with acne right now, be strong and know that there is a cure, just go to the doctors and find out what you can do to improve your skin (:

How to chose the right foundation for your skin

I know that it gets confusing when you walk into a make-up store and see all these bottles of foundations lined up and you have to chose one for you. Some people just  try it on their hand to see if the color matches their skin and just buy it. But it's not as simple as that. For me, foundation is as important as a good skin care routine. I don't care if you have the most beautiful eye make-up in the world, if your base it's all blotchy and patchy, your whole look it's ruined.

A lot of people who are starting with make-up don't know the basics to a good foundation, even people who wore make-up for years still don't got it right, so in this post I'm going to try and help all of you that still find foundations confusing. I hope this helps! 

Know your Skin Type: You have to acknowledge your skin type and use the right skin care products for it, so your skin gets balanced. This will make your skin in perfect condition to apply  foundation. There's different kinds of foundations for every skin type so a person with very oily skin can't use the same as a person with dry skin, it won't work.

If you have Normal Skin - You are a lucky person and can get away with most of the various foundations out there. But be smart, if you have normal skin it means that you don't need a lot of coverage because you don't have imperfections to hide, so even a tinted moisturizer would be perfect for you. You can try liquid, powder or mineral foundations, but still, stay away from oil or water based formulas because your skin can get oily throughout the day.
Nars Sheer Glow ($42) would be a great choice for foundation if you have Normal skin, it has coverage but it doesn't make you look oily like many sheer foundations and the coverage it's just perfect.  Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse would be a great cheap alternative to the Nars one, it's one of my favorites. The Laura Mercier Mineral Powder foundation it's perfect for Normal skin types because it's not a matte powder, but a dewy one, plus it has a lot of great ingredients that are wonderful for your skin.

If you have Acne prone and Oily Skin - I wouldn't say that you have to stay away from liquid foundations but most of them would not look great on you. A matte oil free liquid foundation would be great to control the oils and cover the acne or scaring. Powder foundations would be perfect as well, but some of them don't have the same level of coverage as the liquid ones, but nothing that a good concealer would not resolve.
Revlon Colorstay it's a staple for people with acne prone skin because it covers and stays put for a lot of hours, for me, it's a must have for anyone with this type of skin, plus it's cheap. The MAC Studio Fix Fluid it's perfect for oily skin as well, it has a matte finish and medium to full coverage. It's best to finish up your foundation with a powder, because it will control the oils throughout the day so MAC Mineralized Skin Finish Natural would be a great choice as well.If you want a powder foundation you can go for the Everyday Minerals rage or Bare Minerals foundations, they have great choices of colors and types of formulas for oily skin.

If you have Dry Skin - I would stay away from powder foundations, they will make your skin look flacky and they will not give you the moister that you need. If you don't have a lot of imperfection, a tinted moisturizer would be great, it will give you coverage and hydrate your skin at the same time. Cream or gel based foundation would be great on your skin as well, as long as you moderate the amount of it because it can cake up. The Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer can give you a light coverage and a sheen to your skin, so it won't look dull and blotchy. Revlon Colorstay for Dry skin it's a great foundation if you want full coverage, it won't make you look totally matte but won't make you look shiny. Studio Sculpt foundation from MAC it's a gel based formula that is long lasting and can give you a subtle glow, perfect for dry skin.

 

If you have Combination Skin- I have this type of skin, and the key it's a good moisturizer or primer before the application of the foundation. You can pretty much wear the same type of foundation as a normal skin type, but you need to control your oily/dry parts. I have an oily t-zone, so I have to make sure that I prime my t-zone with a good primer. You have to follow the same rules as the Normal skin types, but don't forget a moisturizer or primer that will balance your skin.

2- Know Your Skin Undertone: This step it's really important as well. Your foundation shade has to match the color of your skin. You have to know your undertone, if you have a yellow, pink or neutral undertone to your skin. There are a lot of ways to find your true undertone, but sometimes it's really hard, especially if you are a neutral, like me. 

Other thing is, a lot of people match the foundation to their face skin tone, but a lot of people have a paler face than the rest of their bodies, so I always match my foundations to my body and not my face, so when I apply it it's all blended and natural, you won't know I have foundation on. 

When picking a foundation online, you will see in the descriptions of the shade a lot of "light with yellow undertones", "dark with pink undertones" that's why it's important to know your undertones. If you can test the foundation on your skin, then try to match it to your body (like your neck or cleavage).

If you know your skin type and undertone than you can choose the right type of formula and shade for your face. For me, these things is what you really need to know for that perfect base. Foundation it's really important. Anyone has perfect skin, and we need to protect it. I don't think you need to wear foundation everyday, but if you wear foundation it will actually protect your skin from pollution and dirt, you will see what I'm talking about when you remove your make-up at night.

Choosing the right foundation it's not a hard thing that only make-up artist know. In the end of the day, you are the one that has to know your skin, and once you do it, then you can make some smart choices about the make-up it's best for you. 

I hope this was helpful to you, these are my opinions, I'm not an expert, but I already had dry skin when I was on accutane, I had oily skin in my teens and now I have combination oily skin so I've been there. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! xoxo* 

Do You Have a Fragrance that Describes You?

As women, we all (or most of us) love to wear fragrances as much as we love to wear some fashionable clothes. I'm that kind of girl that when I forget to wear my fragrance I feel naked and weird.
I have a lot of perfume, well, not anymore because I'm trying to finish up some fragrances and only have to ones I really enjoy wearing, so I used to have a lot of perfume, because it was fragrances that I bought out of a spare moment, in weeks I would get sick of the smell, plus some of them didn't feel like me.
Some of us prefer sweet scents, others floral, others fruity and floral etc Usually we like the scents  that suits us best at some point of our lives or even we wear the same for the rest of them...

In my teenage years I loved the sweet vanilla perfumes, I wore the infamous Britney Spears Fantasy throughout my three high school years, then on my two first years at University I wore Jessica Simpson Fancy everyday and it's a sweet vanilla scent as well. Now I can't stand those two perfumes, and I don't think they represent me at all anymore. Since the beginning of this year I've been loving floral, earthy and musky scents with a hint of sweet notes. At this point of my life, fragrances like that would represent me and my state of mind.

Christina Aguilera signature fragrance is the one that suits me best right now. Even the bottle says it all. The first time I used it I felt really good and it kind of gave me luck? :P
My boyfriend and some friends even commented on the scent and how it suits me so well, so when you and other people have the same opinion.... it's a keeper!

Top Notes: Tangerine, fruit sorbet and blackcurrant tea.
Heart Notes: Jasmine, peony and plum.
Base Notes: Musk, amber and vanilla.

It's a fruity/floral musky scent with a hint of creamy vanilla as a base note. On my skin when dried down, I definitely feel the amber and the blackcurrant strongly. This fragrance really makes me feel like me (: It's a strong fragrance, nothing that will suit a teen I think, maybe more mature women on their 20's or above! She has other fragrances that are my favorites as well, but this one, is the one that in the last year touched me the most.

Most people talk down celebrity perfumes, I feel like I identify the most with them because there's a story behind them, and there's a personality that we can relate to it, that's my opinion.You all know I'm a BIG Xtina fan since I was 9, but never thought her scents would suit me so well... I have this little bottle since last year and I'm trying to save it... It's really hard to get one of these, even online... And with my project pan, I only wear this on especial occasions (Last time I wore it was on my bday October 27th), I can wait to finish all the perfumes that I'm not so interested in and start wearing my signature ones every day and night!

So I want to know if you have any signature perfume? Any fragrance that you love and think that it describes you at this moment of your life? Or maybe you're not a fragrance freak like me... either way I want to know!