FOTD - Valentine's Day: Sweet or Sexy

Hey everyone!

I had a crazy week due to having 4 exams in a period of two days, but that is the life of a bio major! Due to barely sleeping, trying to study for those exams, I got very sick and right now am recuperating. So since I was bored at home, I decided to do my Valentine's FOTD!

I bring to you two different looks. One is sweet and the other is a more sexy version. The main difference of the two looks is the cheeks, lips, and eyeshadow. Everything else is the same! The sweet seems to be more of a day look, whereas the sexy seems more of a night look.

Sweet                                           or                            sexy?

Sweet Look

• Face
• Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation
• Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian clay waterproof concealer
• Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles concealer
• Maybelline Shine Free Loose Powder
• Too Faced Chocolate Soleil matte bronzer
• Tarte Amazonian clay Blissful blush
• Eyes
• Covergirl Eye Enhancers Brown Smolder (for eyebrows)
• Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara (for eyebrows)
• Too Faced Romantic Eye Shadow Palette
• Kiss the Bride
• Cut the Cake
• First Dance
• Revlon Colorstay liquid eyeliner
• Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara
• Lips
• Clinique Chubby Stick - Mighty Mimosa
• Korres Cherry Full Color Gloss - Buff

Sexy Look 
*everything is the same as above except what is noted below

• Face
• Nars blush - Lovejoy
• Eyes
• Too Faced Romantic Eye Shadow Palette - *applied more heavily
• Kiss the Bride
• Cut the Cake
• First Dance
• Un-Veil 
• Lips
• L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick - Fairest Nude 

 What would you wear for Valentine's Day? Sweet or Sexy?

January Favorites!

Can't believe January is almost over!

This month, I noticed that when getting ready, these were my most reached for products, hence making them favorite!

• Sally Hansen Insta Dry Top Coat
• C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve
• Clinique Chubby Stick in Mighty Mimosa
• Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hr Blush in Splendor
• elf blush in Pink Passion

FOTD #1

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! Here is my Face of the Day numero uno! This look is typically what I wear to work. Enjoy!

Face:

• Estee Lauder "Double Wear" Stay-in-Place Liquid Foundation in 1N1 Ecru (old formulation)
• Maybelline Shine Free Loose Powder in Light - focusing on areas that tend to get oily
• Nars Laguna bronzer - underneath my cheekbones and up to frame my face by my forehead
• Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Splendor

Eyes:

• Cover Girl Perfect Point Plus Eye Pencil in Black Onyx - on upper lash line
• Too Faced Romantic Eye Shadow Palette
• Soulmates
• I Do 
• Un-Veil 
• Maybelline Lash Stiletto Mascara in Very Black
• Cover Girl Eye Enhancers in Brown Smolder - fill in eyebrows

Lips:

• Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Balm in Mighty Mimosa
• C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint in Pink Mint

2012 Sephora Buys!!!

I know it is a little late to write this, but I thought I would show you what I bought in 2012. As I bought things throughout 2012, I kept the boxes that the beauty products came in. All of these products were bought at Sephora.

Here is a close up of each product:

Benefit Coral My World included a mini CORALista blush and mini Sunbeam

 Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Sex Pot and This is Pretty!

 Korres Cherry Lip Gloss in Buff and Pink

Clinique Chubby Stick in Mighty Mimosa

Korres Lip Butter Collection Set in Pomegranate, Wild Rose, and Jasmine

Tarte 12-hr Amazonian Clay Blush in Blissful and Blushing Bride

Fresh Sugar Kisses Mini Lip Duo: This was the Sephora Beauty Insider birthday gift of 2012

Too Faced Romantic Eye Eye Shadow

Too Faced Naked Eye Eye Shadow

Origins Starting Over Eye Cream

Clinique Almost Lipstick Lipgloss/Lipstick Duo in Black Honey

Sephora Favorites: In the Glow Value Set. It included samples of blush, bronzer, and luminizer from brands like Bare Escentuals, Benefit, Laura Mercier, Lorac, Nars, Stila, Tarte, and Too Faced.

Clinique Acne Solutions

Clinique Acne Solutions Clear Skin System is a 3-step skincare system to treat and prevent acne. It claims to reduce active blemishes after two weeks of using the products.

L-R: Cleansing Foam, Clarifying Lotion, Clearing Moisturizer

Three Steps:

1. Acne Solutions Cleansing Foam, $19.50.
2. Acne Solutions Clarifying Lotion, $15.00.
3. Acne Solutions Clearing Moisturizer, $19.50

The Acne Solutions Cleansing Foam and the Clarifying Lotion both have salicylic acid, whereas the Clearing Moisturizer has benzoyl peroxide. The system recommends that the 3-steps should be used twice a day. 

I started off with doing the 3-steps twice a day, but my face began to peel and was red. So I limited the Acne Solutions Clearing Moisturizer to once a day, before bed time only. The first two weeks, my skin did clear up a bit by shrinking the size of my active breakouts, but after that, my face went back to normal. I still got a few pimples a week and it was bothering me because nothing was changing. All I got was dry skin. I also learned that the Clarifying Lotion has alcohol in its top ingredients, which caused my face to look dry, leathery, and unhealthy. 

I think this system would work great for someone who gets breakouts from clogged pores, by not removing all makeup, or getting dirt in their pores which cause bacteria to have a feast. It did not work great for me because my acne is mostly hormonal, so not much can be done. However, once the pimples surface, the system did an alright job in treating my pimples. 

Will I repurchase? No, because I will try less harsh products for my skin, that will work best for me. 

***Side note: This product may work for most people, but for me, it did not really do as it claimed. Its not a bad product, but just not best on my skin. 

Skin Care Routine

As of right now, my skin care routine consists of acne products to cleanse, tone, exfoliate, and moisturize the skin.

I have been using Clinique Acne Solutions 3-step System which includes a cleanser, a clarifying lotion (toner), and a clearing moisturizer. In addition to using that morning and evening, I use a moisturizer with SPF, an eye cream, a spot treatment, and a moisturizer for night time.


My daily routine:

Morning:

• Use Clinique Foam Cleanser
• Tone face with Clinique Clarifying Lotion
• Moisturize face with Estee Lauder DayWear Advance Multi-Protection Anti-Oxidant Creme (Oil -free) with SPF 25

Night: (before going to bed)

•  Use Clinique Foam Cleanser with the Clarisonic Mia
• Tone face with Clinique Clarifying Lotion
• Apply the Clinique Clearing Moisturizer (let it dry completely)
• Use Origins Starting Over Eye Cream with Mimosa
• Moisturize face with Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion
• If I have active breakouts, I apply Clean&Clear Persa-gel 10
• On my lips, I apply C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve

Occasionally, I will use a mask or an exfoliating scrub. I usually do each mask 1x week, and the scrub 2x a week.

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque

Formula 10.0.6 Deep Down Detox Mud Mask

St. Ives Blemish Control Apricot Scrub