Unfortunately all the staples of my beauty regimen have been taken away and discontinued which makes me so mad! So I've had to find replacements, return products of disappointment, and explore other avenues (or aisles,if you will).
These are the products that I use:I'm in no way trying to sell these products or gain commission off of them. These are simply what I've found that suit my personal preferences.
Foundation:I've battled with acne for a very long time and for years I've used the same foundation: L'Oreal True Match Foundation:
I've loved this product
so much for so long; not only for it's great reviews and consumer-friendly price ($8), but also because it just works and looks good on my skin (conceals, light-weight, covers red spots).
I have extremely oily skin so L'Oreal was perfect for the first two hours or so, but after a few hours or wear I began to look like a grease monkey. I had to constantly blot the excess oils off and keep tissues in my purse. So I went to Walmart a couple months ago, determined to try something different. It was then that I bought Neutrogena's Skin Clearing Foundation ($12). I loved it because it was not only oil-free, but it contained Salicylic Acid .5% which fights against acne.
Moisturizer:To balance my skin's oils, I use a witch hazel moisturizer on my skin before I apply the foundation so I won't over-dry my skin and cause damage.
"Moisturizer?" You ask. "On OILY skin?!"
Yes! Just because you have oily skin doesn't mean you don't need moisturizer. I damaged my skin using organic tea tree oil and benzoyl peroxide (5%) on my skin, stripping my face of its natural oil (killing good white cells) which made my skin over-produce the oil. It's kind of a vicious cycle...
Anyways, I use Humphrey's Witch Hazel Cream ($12), which contains aloe to soothe the skin, witch hazel to tone and tighten pores and starch to soak up all the excess oils. Leaving you with perfect, and healthy looking skin.
Powder:I use Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Loose Powder Foundation. It's not the best, or the worse, but it suites its purpose.
Lips: (one of the most frustrating issues for me is to find the best and most effective remedy for my dry/chapped lips. This is what I've found to cure that, plus add a little pizzazz
)
My all-time favorite is a pearl lip tint from Soft Lips. You can get it at nearly every Walmart check-out line for about $2. It's so beautiful, and so sheer. I use a very pearly pink, but they have them in other shades as well:
I just recently got a new lip color from MAC 'cause my other one got stolen. It was beautiful; from Lady Gaga's new MAC collection: ($14.50)
This is the new one I got, Cherish from MAC, and I really like it; more so than the Lady Gaga one actually.
To moisturize my lips, giving them a silky finish, I use
Soft Candy Jumbo Vanilla Buttercream lip gloss. It is AMAZING. I've tried
every.thing for my dry/cracked lips and this is my miracle balm. I use it everyday and it is the best thing ever. I HIGHLY recommend it. It's kind of expensive ($8) but since it's JUMBO...it lasts forever and you don't need to smear on a ton.
Eyes:For my eyeshadow, I've bought so. many. different shades. I spent $170 on eye shadows at MAC and returned every single one of them 'cause after I put them on I noticed there really wasn't much of a difference from what I had been using years prior, and it made me sick thinking about what that money could be used for elsewhere.
My ultimate, all-time, number one favorite eye shadow *ever* is by Wet 'n' Wild -- the Sandcastle palette. I've never found anything that glides on so smoothly, lasts all day/night, contains EIGHT different colors and is extremely cheap. (only $3!)
I bought the Naked palette from Urban Decay recently, after hearing about it last year. And I really like it. It's nowhere near as rich as the Wet 'n' Wild palette, though, but it's still beautiful.
Macara: There are so many different kinds of mascaras out there, promising to do wonders for your lashes, but the honest truth is that the crap inside the marcara tube isn't as important as the wand you use to apply it with. I'm sure there are hundreds of great mascara's out there, but my absolute favorite is Original Voluminous by L'Oreal Paris. ($5)
Here are a few of the different kinds of brushes available:
I haven't tried them all, but I have tried the furthest one on the right, the yellow one in the middle and the furthest one on the left, and the one that gave me the most defined, lustrous lashes was the one on the far left. The other two I mentioned can be found in the CoverGirl Last Blast tube. In my humble opinion they were horrible and they made a mess of my lashes. I'm sure others would swear by that brand, but not me. They didn't do anything but make me frustrated with my lashes; I almost wanted to cut them off they were so screwed up.
Blush:For the longest time I've always used a deep bronzy color for my blush. Hard Candy's Glow All The Way - Infused with 24-Carat Gold Bronzer: ($8)
Then I got more into pinks and used L'Oreal Paris' True Match Natural Blush in Soft Rose: ($10)
Then went even
PINKER and bought MAC's Mineralized blush in Dainty. ($22)
The one I've settled in with using now is a creme blush by MAC in Brit Wit: ($19.50)
I love the plum tones in it. It's hard to find a blush that blends well with my red/purple hair color but this one does the trick. It also mixes beautifully with Shell, a creme highlighter by MAC.
And finally, to clean off all of these heavenly products, I used to wash my face with all sorts of cleansers, but so much of them are harsh and create more problems in the future. They strip your face of your natural oils and create more problems in the future. It's hardly worth it.
If you strip your face of all those oil you don't have to worry about greasy skin, right? Wrong. Your body will produce even MORE oil to compensate for what's being stripped away. What's the solution? Wash your face with a mild, all natural soap. I use a honey bee soap with 100% natural ingredients. It balances your skin, evens texture and leaves it feeling clean and fresh:
Even commercialized products are going more natural these days so it's not as difficult to find natural products as it used to be. I know Neutrogena has a new line of facial products out that are free of parabens, sodium laureth sulfates, etc. You can also go to your local Whole Foods; they have a massive amount of natural soaps, facial cleansers, makeup, and body washes. But they're expensive. You can actually make your own stuff for cheaper...
Here are a few random things I use for my face.
Moroccan Red Clay for detoxifying the skin: ($7 health food store)
My trusty
Benzoyl Peroxide to gently remove excess oils without over-drying or doing any damage to the skin: (favorite product in the whole world) ($5 at Walmart)
Witch Hazel: ($3 at Target)
The predominant benefit of witch hazel is its astringent and anti-inflammatory properties. It's used in cosmetic lotions and creams to remove excess oil and dirt, and tighten facial skin. It treats acne, psoriasis, and eczema.
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