Beauty, Fashion, Recipes, DIY Projects, and More: All for the Busy and Budgeted.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Tuesday Morning

So, on Tuesday morning I woke up early; my hope was to get ready for school and leave in time to get a protein shake on my way to class. Since I was up early, I decided to document, well, every step of my getting-ready.

I skipped my shower. "Why?" You may ask. I was awake early enough in the morning to do so, but, well, to be frank I just didn't feel like it. I started with my makeup:


I had PB&J Oatmeal and Water for breakfast, while watching The Daily Show. Also, I try and take Biotin every morning--it helps strengthen and repair hair and nails, plus, it apparently helps protect against yeast infections. So, with that appealing reference... here's the basic recipe for the oatmeal I made:
Bring just under 1 cup vanilla almond milk to a boil.
Stir in 1/2 cup instant oats.
Keep stirring until thick. 
Depending on your oats, it can take anywhere from 1-7 minutes.
Move the oatmeal from a saucepan into a bowl.
Add 1 tbsp peanut butter and 1 tbsp grape jelly.
Stir. Eat. It's delicious.


For the base of my face, I used Clindamycin Phosphate Lotion as my moisturizer. Then, I used Smashbox Photo Finish Primer. Now, you may remember from my last couple blogs/vlogs that I've been loving my Dr. Brandt Pores No More Primer. Well, it's really expensive, so I've been trying out some other primers, too. I got this one in a Smashbox Photo Finish sample kit, which also included a bb cream and a finishing powder. The primer is nice, but... I still prefer the Dr. Brandt. (If only it weren't so darn expensive!) Then, for my concealer I used... my ALMAY Clear Complexion Concealer. It's my favorite blemish/redness concealer, but I realized that it doesn't do much for concealing dark under eye spots.


I've reached the only-a-very-little-bit-left stage of my ALMAY Smart Shade Mousse. So, I used my Covergirl Clean Liquid Foundation for Sensitive Skin as my base foundation. But, as I had spent most of Monday night crying, I had puffiness and under-eye circles to try and conceal, so I tried using my Smart Shade Mousse for that. As you can see, it wasn't super effective. 

Now, for years I haven't bothered with blush or bronzer, but, I recently got interested when I watched some tutorials. (My youtube friend, Katie Sierra's Daily Face tutorial, for example.) So, I dug out my Bare Mineral's Warmth and Bare Mineral's Blush in Kiss. I applied the warmth bronzer just under my cheek bones and then dusted the blush on the apples of my cheeks. As these are darker powders, I applied them before my finishing powder. So, anyway, I finished the look with my ALMAY Smart Shade Loose Finishing Powder


For my eyes, I used L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Iced Latte all over my lids. Then, I used a shimmery black powder from my e.l.f. Eyeshadow Palette, with a narrow brush, I applied it like eyeliner along two-thirds of my upper lash line, avoiding the corners of my eyes. 

Okay! On to hair!


For my hair, I brushed out my crazy messy waves. Then, I flipped my hair upside down, and pulled it into a high ponytail. Then, I braided my high ponytail. In my final step, I wrapped the braid into a bun and held it together with bobby pins.


Clothes and such. So, my outfit of the day was...
  • Shirt: hannahisawful on etsy, $19.99
  • Cream Cardigan: Goodwill, $3.98
  • Gold Cardigan: Target, $14.98
  • Fake Pants: Target, $10.98
  • Knee Highs: Target, $5.00
  • Owl Necklace: Amazon, $0.98+s&h
  • Headband: Walmart, $4.88
  • (You can't see them, but I'm also wearing...) Boots: Payless, $50.00

Other random stuff. I used some Dove Deodorant and Victoria's Secret Body Mist for, you know, not stinking purposes. Then, I brushed my teeth with Be Vanilla Mint Toothpaste... (side note: I think I'm going to write up a review of this sometime). Then, I used my new Baby Lips Dr. Rescue Chapstick... I might review this one, too. And I topped my lips off with my absolute favorite NYX Matte Color Lip Cream in Tokyo. 

So, here is my Tuesday look from start to finish:


...I wish I had a better picture for the "after" because the lighting was a little wonky. But, oh well. Such is life, right?

Unfortunately, I got in my car at 8:25 which is exactly when I need to leave for my Tuesday class and therefore couldn't stop by the Whistlestop for a protein shake, less I wanted to risk being that girl who shows up "ten minutes late with Starbucks" (I mean, not Starbucks, but that's the meme, right?). But, then traffic was so bad I was fifteen minutes late to class anyway, so... basically I should have gone to Whistlestop anyway because there was nothing I could have done to get to class on time. 




Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Get Ready With Me: Wishing for Spring

Here in the Midwest, we've started off March with extremely cold weather. When we get into this season of "will the weather ever get warm???" impatience, I tend to get, well, impatient. So! Today I modeled my look after that excited/impatient/anxious for Spring feeling.


What's that? You want to recreate this lovely spring-inspired look? Well, then... Come along and get ready with me. (The snarky bit of me is currently criticizing the cheesy bit of me for that transition.)

Okay, to start off with... MAKEUP!


So, what I used was...
Okay, so, start off with your regular old bare face. 


Yikes, look at all that acne and discoloration! So, then I moisturized my face (I use Clindamycin Phosphate Lotion which came from a dermatologist, so... whatever you use is fine). Then, I waited about five minutes before priming my face with the Dr. Brandt's "pores no more" Pore Refiner and covered up splotches/discolorations/acne with the ALMAY Clear Complexion Concealer. 


Okay! So, I think I mentioned in my Feels Like Spring Purple Makeup Look Tutorial... I don't really remember what I named it... Blogpost, I really really like the Dr. Brandt "pores no more" that came with my February Birchbox but it's expensive so I'm looking for a dupe. I did buy the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser, but it's slimy and less effective. And I am going to take Taylor's advice and try out Benefit's Porefessional. But do you see the transformation of my face just by adding the "pores no more" and concealer? Seriously, that's like, someone with nice-ish skin going makeup-less. 

Which is to say, I'm thinking that the "pores no more" might be worth the splurge. Assuming Benefit's Porefessional isn't this kick-ass. 

Okay, after about 5-10 minutes after applying the primer and concealer, I added my Covergirl Clean Liquid Foundation for Sensitive Skin, which is a new liquid foundation I'm trying and... I'm probably going to keep looking around because it's kind of thin for my liking. I mean, it's fine, for now, but... I'm going to keep looking. Then, after another 5-10 minutes, I finished my face with the ALMAY Smart Shade Finishing Powder. 

I didn't use blush or bronzer today because, to be honest, I'm still experimenting with it and don't want to go to school without a look I've completely worked out. 

Now, just like last time, I used the bits of time while I was letting my face sit to do other important things. Like, my hair and my eye makeup. 

Right, well, I didn't just drop my hair down from the towel and throw on a bow and have it look like that, but this is really going to be more about my makeup than my hair, so... I pretty much just tossed in some hair-managing oil and a bit of mousse to maintain my curls a bit and then slapped on a bow. So, I didn't just drop my hair down from the towel and throw on a bow, but if you want to believe that illusion, I'll take it. It's not terribly far off.

So, for my eye makeup. Pretty basically, I coated my lids in the bareMinerals "Ice Queen" eyeshadow and then coated my eyelashes in Rimmel London Volume Accelerator. Then I looked like this...


Ah, lovely, yes? Okay, so, then I applied my ChapStick Hydration Lock chapstick, which is nice. Like, it smells nice and feels nice and is just a really nice chapstick. And I topped my lips off with my NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Prague which I LOVE. Seriously, I think I love it just as much as I love my NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Tokyo. I am 10/10 a NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream fan. (I talked about this in my February Favorites video, but these are probably the best lipsticks I've ever used. I mean, at least for me, because most other lipsticks get super splotchy and faded on my lips really quickly.) 

Anyway, before I show you the final product, we should talk about one more thing... my nails. I don't usually do my nails because it's not my forte, it's time consuming, I usually mess them up as soon as I finish them, and I tend to peel them off within a day. BUT I did my nails last night, and they looked pretty good...


I did a pretty basic pink base coat, then I added some light purple polkadots, and then topped them off with a transparent purple top coat. 

Also, side note, by the time I started writing this blog, I had peeled them all off. So, you know. 

Anyway! Finished look time: 


Awe, pretty, right? (I 110% do not know how to write this sort of blogpost, how obvious is that? Terribly obvious or only sort of kind of obvious?)