Bye Felicia!

I am a make-up hoarder. Well, kind of. I really like make-up, so I tend to buy it a lot. It's like...a hobby. People ride bikes, collect comics and stamps, I collect make-up. Or I used to.

A couple of  years ago I really felt pressure to buy a lot of the new make-up items, mostly from the drugstore, in order to make sure I was trying the latest and greatest and providing my readers with reviews, swatches, etc. I had So. Much. Stuff. Too much actually. And it was really stressful to me to have all that stuff that wasn't getting used and wasn't being enjoyed.

But then over the course of the last couple of years, I realized two things:

1. Not every new product that comes out will look good on or work for me.
2. If people want reviews of every damn new product that comes out, there are already 400 bagillion blogs and videos out there with that info (I'm lookin at you YouTube).

So what does that mean?

I cleaned the shit out of my stash. I mean that literally and figuratively. If the product didn't look good on me, or wasn't something I used a lot I got rid of it. I didn't just throw it away (unless it was expired). I returned a crap ton of stuff to Sephora and Target, and gave away BAGS of make-up to friends and family (you're welcome Jen and Laurel!). And now what I have left is a stash of my most favorite and most used make-up.

This is not to say I don't still fight the urge to buy (or at least want to buy) all the new things. I just don't give in. [Note - to be clear, I NEVER actually bought ALL the new things.] I really think about whether or not I need a sixth foundation in my drawer, or another dark red lipstick in my purse. Most of the time the answer is no. I try to limit myself to picking up new items either, when something runs out that I don't already have a replacement for, OR a couple of things for each new season.

I have gotten to the point this year with make-up (and other things in my life) that if it's not working for me, then it's done. I am done hanging on to stuff that I won't use. I don't care how trendy it is or how much someone else says they love it. I am not a YouTube Beauty Guru (and that's okay - I love them, I'm just not one of them!), I don't have millions of followers and an endless supply of cash and sponsor-ships to try out every new beauty item under the sun. I am done trying to be something I am not, it's exhausting and expensive and stressful and just plain shitty. I am who I am, and I think I am pretty awesome.

Have you every had one of these "epiphany-style" moments? What was it?

Order of Application According to Mel

Hi Lovelies!

Today's post is all about the order of application. Beauty product application that is. There are so many products out there, and it can be really frustrating when you apply something and you aren't getting the end result you wanted. Part of that could be due to application error, or it may not be the right product for you. But, the order in which you apply your make-up can really make a difference in how products work with each other to give you the end look you really want.

What follows below is MY order of application. I have been wearing make-up since I was 5 (seriously, Tinkerbell make-up was the bomb), but truly wearing makeup since I was 14. My application techniques (hello foundation brush!) and the order in which I apply them has changed quite a bit in the last 20 years.

Alright, first thing's first: skincare. Wash your face, apply treatments, serums and eye cream and then moisturizer BEFORE you put any amount of makeup on your face. You should ALWAYS start with a clean face.

Next, primer. There are a ton of different face primers out there, and I will be doing a separate post on that later, but now is the time to prime. There are brightening, pore minimizing, hydrating and other types of primers out there, but generally speaking a primer is going to help your make-up last longer, and provide a sleeker canvas for your make-up.

Now it's time for foundation. This is where you really need to assess the make-up you are about to apply and take note of cream and liquid products vs. powder. In basic terms, you can layer liquids and creams on top of each other, but once you apply a powder you are done with liquid/cream. So, if you are using a liquid foundation, creamy concealer and then powder to set your make-up, the blush and bronzer all need to be powder. If you use powder foundation and concealer (ex. mineral make-up) then proceed accordingly. Does that make sense.

For me I use liquid foundation 99% of the time so I apply my foundation first. I dab on a few dots on my cheeks forehead, nose and chin. Then I use a brush to blend it all together. I apply the heavier amounts towards the middle of my face and blend out.

Next I add under-eye concealer and cover up any blemishes or spots. Applying your concealer after your foundation was weird to me as I always did it the other way around. But if you are going to spend all that time covering things up, the last thing you want to do is rub over that with something else. This has made a huge difference for me, especially in covering up blemishes.

Now I will set my concealer with a translucent powder. If I am doing powder blush and bronzer I will also apply powder to my nose, chin and forehead to keep those areas from getting shiny. If I am doing cream bronzer and blush I will wait to powder those areas until after those products are applied.

Applying cream over powder gives a cakey look that I am not in to.

Now I will contour my face. I do a little on my cheeks, nose and forehead. Then I do bronzer on my cheeks, forehead, nose and chin. Next I apply blush to the apples of my cheeks and blend back towards my hair line. And finally, I apply highlighter to the tops of my cheeks.

After that is done I move on to brows. I don't like to do my brows until after all of these steps are complete because I don't want to accidentally brush over my brows and mess that up. So I usually use a pencil or a pomade product for my brows and once those are done, its time to move on to eyes!

Eye primer is the first step in your eye shadow game. You can use concealer, a cream eye shadow or an actual eye primer. Using a primer before eye shadow will help make your shadow last longer, prevent creasing and can help colors appear brighter and truer to what they look like in the pan.

I am not going to get into application of eye shadow as that really depends on the look you are going for, but once your eye shadow is done it's time for eyeliner.

There are tons of different forms of eyeliner, powder, gel, liquid, pencil, etc. Whatever you prefer now is the time to apply it. If you are doing a liquid liner, I like to let that set a few minutes before applying mascara.

Whew, we are almost done.

Now that your eyeliner is applied and dry, you can curl your lashes if you want. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't Curling your lashes while your eyeliner is wet will likely cause the eyeliner to move or rub off onto the lash curler so that's why I recommend you wait to let it dry. And once they are curled (or not) you can apply mascara.

Do not pump your wand into the mascara tube. This will cause clumping by pushing air back into the tube and will result in your mascara clumping on your lashes and drying it out faster. So if you need more mascara on the wand swirl it gently in the tube (kind of like you are scraping the sides of the tube). One coat of mascara is generally sufficient (depending on the look you want).

Now if you wanted to, you can apply false lashes. You may need to touch up your eyeliner at this point and if you are adding lashes I always go back in with a quick coat of mascara to kind of make your lashes mesh better with the falsies.

Now that you are done with eyes and face, it's time for lips. If you are going all out, you can apply concealer over your lips to prep and prime them for lip color application.

First apply lip liner. The lip liner should either match your lip color or the color of the lipstick you are applying next. Leave the brown lip liner and light lipstick in the 90's where they belong. It's not 1994, you are not Kim Mathers, let it go. Also, do not over line your lips. Follow your natural lip line or just slightly outside of it.

Apply your lipstick straight out of the tube, or using a lip brush or your fingers (this is better for darker colors so you don't get it all over the place). And then blot. And by blot I want you to take your index finger and (in a non sexual way) stick it in your mouth and close your lips around your finger and pull your finger out. Any excess lipstick will now be on your finger and not on your teeth.

Finally if you want to add a lip gloss to the top of your lipstick you can add that now.

Good grief that's a lot of steps! For a final, final touch, you can add a make-up setting spray at the end that will set your makeup and help seal it in to last for the day.

I do not use all of these products on a daily basis, and sometimes I have even more steps if I am going all out for a really dramatic or specific (Halloween) look. It just depends.

I know it seems like a lot, but this all can really be done in 5-10 minutes once you get your routine down.

Do you have a different order of application or other tips? Leave it in the comments section below!

Summer Beauty Series: Bronzers and Tanners

[I wrote this literally a month ago almost and am just posting it now]

It is officially summer as of today, and for the love of all that is holy, it is FINALLY frickin nice outside here in Minnesota. It was 80 something out today and not a cloud in the sky. So I busted out my swimsuit, SPF 55 sunscreen and hung out by my pool (yes my pool is a hard plastic kiddie pool purchased from Menards. Judge me. Go ahead.) It. was. awesome. I also took a cat nap in the hammock. Also. Awesome.

So in honor of summer I thought I would do a few summer beauty posts for you. To start off we are going to look at some of my fave bronzers for your makeup routine along with a recommendation and thoughts on self-tanner.

Bronzer. Bronzers can be an awesome thing, when done right. Bronzer is NOT the same as contouring. You can use bronzer to contour, but they are not the same function. Bronzer is something you put all over your face in the spots where the sunlight would naturally hit your face (forhead, cheeks, tip of your nose, etc.), and it warms up your complexion. Contouring is something you do to create shadows on your face that will slim it down and play down larger features. There are several great bronzers you can use for contouring as well as bronzing. Note: If you are going to use a bronzer to do contouring with you have to make sure it's matte. You do NOT want to contour your face with something that has shimmer in it. Trust me.

(clock-wise from top are the E.L.F. blush countour duo, Sonia Kashuk cream bronzer, theBalm's Bahama Mama - this is really dark so I prefer to use this for contouring, I am too pale to use this as an actual bronzer, and Physicians Formula Bronzer)

Some of my fave bronzers for all over your face are:

(Left to Right: Physician's Formula Bronzer in medium, Too Faced Leopard Bronzer and Sonia Kashuk cream bronzer)

Self-Tanner. Okay so we've all seen those people who make you think "Is she part oompa-loompa, or is that self tanner?" Maybe you've been her, maybe she lives on your block. You don't want to be her. But at the same time you don't want to rock the Casper the Ghost look in the summer time.

I have two self-tanners that I actually like and use fairly consistently.

(okay this is really pissing me off. I take the picture the right way and then it uploads side ways. No matter how many times I re-save it and save-as it, the damn thing is still sideways.)

The first one is the St. Tropez bronzing mousse AND the mitt. The mitt is the key. It seriously helps you spread the tanner evenly over your body to include the elbows, knees and ankle/foot area that can be a magnet for all extra product you get on your hand. And speaking of hands, the mitt helps you avoid orangey/brown tan hands. One bottle of this mousse will last me a season and I usually toss the mitt when the bottle is empty and buy both brand new next summer.

For me personally I only apply this about three times a week, but depending on the level of bronze you are trying to achieve you may want to use it more. Of course you have to wait for it to dry before getting dressed and I would avoid swimming or any sweaty activity for the first 24 hours or this will run and streak. Also, speaking from personal experience, do NOT put this on right before bed and climb onto your white sheets. There will be a bronzy outline all over your bedding in the morning and it most likely will not come out.

A little more affordable and accessible is the Jergens Natural Glow lotion. You can buy this at your local Target/Walmart and they do have a face lotion option as well. This works great, but be advised it starts to look weird when you stop using it and the "tan" fades.

What are some of your fave tanners or bronzers?