Loving the Sunshine and Still Loving Your Skin

     The birds are singing and the bees are humming.  I love this time of year.  Especially where I live because in the next few months it is going start feeling like we are living in someones mouth.  Great visual right?  I wish I was being sarcastic.  

      With the lovely weather means that I am spending almost everyday outside.  I am loving watching my kids play in the grass, water, and thinking that rocks are the best things ever.  It is also mean I am in the sunshine almost everyday.  

     Don't get me wrong, our bodies need Vitamin D.  We have become so afraid of the big ball of fire in the sky.  It is true that to much of anything is not good for you.  So why not learn how to have it all.  Loving the sunshine while still loving your skin.    

    These are things that I do almost every time I am out side for longer then 30 minutes at a time.  These are things that keep my skin glowing and helps prevent wrinkles etching deeper into my skin.

1.  Face Moisturizer with SPF already in it.  Let me tell you how wonderful it is that we don't have to put on 20 layers of lotion on our face if we don't want to.  There are still some face moisturizer that don't have the SPF in them if you are someone who doesn't mind that.  For someone like me, two in one will usually win.

I am a big fan of this brand because it does a great job of keeping my skin feeling moisturized with out it feeling oily.

2.  Regular sun screen.  I don't always use this.  If I know I am only going to be outside for less then 30 minutes, I let my skin absorb the Vitamin D that it needs so badly.  If I am any longer then that I use a sun screen spray, lotion, or stick, that will spread evenly  over my skin and give me the protection that I need. 

This stuff does the trick.  It comes in a 3 pack a Costco for pretty cheap.  Sun screen saves lives and you have to pay out the nose for it most of the time.  I also like it because it is not heavy and easy to reapply if needed. 

3. A Hat.  Let say you are going to your kids baseball game and you know that you are going to be there for about 6 hours because, lets be honest, it's baseball.  Invest in a hat.  A hat is great because you don't have to keep applying unwanted sunscreen to your face, It also keeps your ears and scalp from being burned.  I always, always forget to put sunscreen in those areas when I am out somewhere and then later on regret it when I am talking to someone, scratching my head, and giant flakes are falling on my shoulders.  Trust me, the hat is worth avoiding that.  Go to a store and find one that you don't hate yourself in. 

I have a big round face.  So to say that I don't hate myself in this hat is a big deal. 

4.  Sunglasses.   CROWS FEET is a real problem for a lot of women!  Put on some sun glasses and it will slow those birds down.

Ross is my go to place for cheap sunglasses.  I am one who either looses them constantly. I also have children who decides that I am done with them and breaks them in half.

5.  Water bottle.  Find a cute cup or water bottle that you don't mind making your accessories because putting moisture in our bodies when it is sunny and hot out is just as important as putting it on..  

I have so many different kinds of reusable cups and water bottles that  I could  call it a "problem."  

     Those are my tips for being able to keep your skin looking healthy/young, and still being about to go outside and enjoy the sun.

Remember readers, I might be a jack of this trade, but I am a master of none.

Natalie

Baring it All...

      I did something that I haven't done in a long long time.  I decided to not wear make up for the entire week. Dun Dun Dun!  

     My face has been super unpredictable the last couple of weeks due to , weather change, stress, and those all to lovely hormones.  My face would be clear and blemish free one day, and then be dry, peeling, and broken out the next. Make up was just making my skin look worse.  That was when I made the choice to give my skin a break.  

     I didn't use any powders, concealers, or gloss.  The only thing I would put on was my moisturizer with spf in it, and chap stick. 

     At first I was so self conscience about my skin. It looked like constellations were forming on my for head.  I was so aware of all my flaws, that I knew everyone else would be too.  Then it hit me one day after I ran into a girlfriend of mine at the store. She didn't have any make up on either because she had just come from the gym.  She felt like she needed to explain to me why she looked the way she did, when in reality, I didn't even notice.  That is when I realized something, Who the heck cares?!

     My friend was so worried about her own flaws that she didn't even notice that I had Mt. Saint Helen going on my forehead.  I was the only one who even gave a crap about my skin looking the way it did.  No one else seemed to notice my dark circles, red dry cheeks, and patchy skin.   I was so worried that everyone was going to be staring at all my flaws that I didn't think about how they were worried about their own.  
    
     My skin needed a break.  It was telling me so clearly. I needed to stop fighting it and just let it be. I am so happy I did, even though I still have pimples and dark circles,  it is so much better then what it was. 

      It is important that we let our skin have fresh air, and sunlight.  Look at your skin closely and see what it is trying to tell you.  Sometimes we just need to bare it all to make our skin happy again. 

Remember readers, I may be a jack of this trade, but I am a master of none.

                                                                               Natalie

Express Yourself...

     This post is all about eye brows.  Making your eye brows stand out is a trend that isn't going anywhere for awhile.  It is a fun easy way to be Bold without being Bright.  If your not into making a statement with lip stick, then Express Yourself with your eye brows.

This trend is also great for those of you who thought that tweezers were your friend and turned out to stab you in the back in the end.  It help hides the fact that you only have a couple of hairs left at the tail end of your brow. It gives you back what those tweezers took away.

     I am going to be honest, I was terrified of this trend.   I normally just get my brows threaded and then leave them alone.  I then decided if I was going to do this blog right then I needed to try things that I am not that comfortable with.  So that is what I did.  I went on Pintrest.com and learned all that I could about filling in and shaping my eye brows.

     Let me tell you, it wasn't as scary as I thought.  There are many ways to do them.  I just picked which way worked best for me.  

     There are 3 main ways to do your brows.  They are: Brow Pencil/Pen, Brow Gel, and Brow Powder.  Every brand from drug store to Over the counter make-up brands have one or one of these options.  If you are buying more expensive brand, where there are people at the store who can help you out, ASK for help!  That is what they are getting paid for.  

     I found that the powder worked best for me.  It was easier for me to start off lighter and add color if I wanted to make them darker.  

     I did learn that the three different options had one one thing in common.  That one thing is an EYE BROW BRUSH.  It helps you to do clean lines under and above your brow, and also helps spread the color throughout the brows.  

This is an angel/brow brush.  It is used to help smooth out pencil eye liner and to do your eye brows.  This is from E.L.F.  It cost me $3.  I love E.L.F.  They are a great for a non professional make up artist like myself.  

     I recommend for the first little bit, while getting used to doing your brows, is to keep things simple.

     

     You just need to take the angle brush and pick a color that is a little darker then your natural brow color already is. Never go lighter!    Just imagine the brow brush is a crayon and your brows are the image in a coloring book.  Stay in the lines and keep it clean and simple.  When you get better at coloring you can use a more advanced technique. 

    Over the last several days I did my eye brows three different ways.   I wanted to show how eye brows really are the masters of our facial expressions.   Which is why this trend is so fantastic. 

Day one: I did my natural brow. Meaning that I didn't put any color on them and just brushed them down and added a little bit of watered down gel.  

Day two:  I wanted to be more dramatic with the brows.  I went a little darker with the color to match closer to my brown roots then the blond in my hair.  

     
Day three:  I did a lighter brown powder to go better with the blond in my hair.  

     Don't be afraid to try it out for yourself.  Try out all different ways till you find the one that works for you.  Make up is all about trial and error.  That is what makes it fun!

Remember readers, I may be a jack of this trade, but I am a master of none. 

Pouty and Kissable...

     Lets just get this out in the open.  Lips are in, have been for awhile, and they are not sitting in the corner anymore!  

     I know, lipstick can be scary.  I used to think so too.  Let me tell you that it is not as scary as I thought.  There are so many options, not just in colors, but in ways to wear it as well.  You can go bright, glossy, matte, stain, and so on and so on.  I don't think I am doing a good job at making it any less scary.  

  Let me do this.  I will share 5 things about lipstick/lip gloss that I have learned over the years.  I will be honest,  lipstick can take a lot of trial and error.  Don't let that stop you.  

     1.  I avoid brown and frosted colored lipstick/lip gloss like no tomorrow.  The two main reasons being those color can yellow your teeth, and age you.  If you don't believe me look at pictures of women from the early 90's-00's. When you wears these kinds of colors, some women even combined them, it tells everyone what decade you learned to do your make up.  No one wants that. At least I think no one wants that.
Don't worry!  Good news for those of you who are clinging to their brown lipstick, there are options out there for you.  

     This is Cover Girl satin lip color called Adore.   The reason this is an exception to the No Brown rule is because its main base color is red.  This is the modern way to get away with brown.  The two main reasons being that red helps avoid making your teeth look like you had them soaking in coffee over night, and most importantly, it is MODERN!  

  

I just adore Adore from Cover Girl.

    

 For those of you who love the frost, switch to a gloss.  It is the modern way to make you lips sparkle and shine.

    

 2.  If you want to feel sexy go glossy and dark.  This is such a fun trend.  It is a great way to make your teeth look like you just had them bleached and make your lips look fuller and pouty.  

This is one of my all time favorites right now.  Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain.  Color is called Parisian.

     Parisian is more of a dark red and purple mixed together. A Wine color if you will. It is also a color stain!  Even if the gloss wears off the color will still be there.  If I want them glossy again I just add clear lip gloss. It saves me from using more of the color and having to buy it sooner then I have to. I also love how it make my lips look fuller then they really are.  Fuller lips is never a bad thing in my book.

     3.  Matte is back.  We all love gloss.  It is an easy way to look like you tried without any effort.  Let me tell you that Matte lips are in ladies and it is fun.  Matte lips are a great way to wear a crazy bright color while keeping things casual.  The matte colors also tend to last longer through the day as well.  I am okay with not having to keep reapplying color to my lips every hour.

    This is M.n (Me now) Long Lasting lip gloss. (There is no gloss to it.)  Color 25.  I got this off of the Wish App for a $1 plus $1 in shipping. You can't beat that. 

     I love this matte lip stick.  Especially this color.  Berry colors are in for spring and summer 2016.  That means pink based colors and not so much red based.  This is a fun new way to update your look.  The berry look also gives your face a fresh of breath air look. (If that makes any since.)  

     4.  One of the greatest inventions in make up are Make up Pallets. It is a way for you to try different colors and to find out what works for you without breaking the bank.  Did you know that they had them for lip colors as well?  They have them in the different kinds of bases.  Reds, pinks, browns, and purples are usually standard when it comes base colors in lipstick/lip glosses. 

This Pallet is from Y-Cid Make up from the Wish App.  The color pallet is called Rosy Pink. 

     This is a tinted lip gloss pallet.  Tinted lip gloss is great for those who want to look natural.  Honestly people how many women do you know with nude lips.  Nude is more unnatural then pinks.  Most women have some kind of pink or red hue to there natural lips  color already.  The tinted gloss just enhances them.

     5.  Find a color that makes you feel beautiful and flirty for those special occasions and date nights.  Any time I go out with my hubby I do simple make up and a bright fun color on my lips.  I am not sure why, but I always feel more confident and sexy, which in the end, is how I want my husband to see me.  

This color is another M.n lip gloss color 28.  Pretty much it is Fire Engine Red and I love it!

     I love this color so much.  It makes my teeth look whiter, my smile bigger, and just makes me feel sassy.  Being a mom of two little ones,  I deserve to have a little sassy in my life. 

     Well that is it.  Those are my 5 basic rules for lipstick.  Don't be afraid anymore. Go out there and find the color that makes you feel like the best version of you. 

Like I always say readers, I might be a jack of this trade, but I am a master of none. 

Natalie