Bare faced | Skincare routine and favourite products

As I seem to have found an assortment of products that actually work on my skin, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you my skincare routine. I have very reactive and sensitive skin, therefore I find it very difficult to find products that don't make it angry, but are still efficient enough to get rid of and prevent acne.

I usually start my morning by swiping Bioderma over my face and neck, just to wake me up a bit and get rid of any dirt or left over night cream. This product is very effective, but very gentle; it doesn't irritate my skin at all and leaves it feeling fresh and clean.
I then use an aloe serum from the Body Shop, to protect my skin from the outside elements that could temper with it. It also helps to make my moisturizer do a better job. I then finish it off with the Body Shop's Aloe soothing moisture lotion with SPF 15. I know it's still winter, but the sun is damaging even if it's cold outside!
I feel like the combination of these three steps helps my skin stay moisturized throughout the day, and I haven't had any dry patch problems for quite a while now. Also, my make up sits on this skincare cocktail very well and does not look cakey at all.

Moving on to night time; I am faced with a much heftier challenge than in the morning, since I've now got a full face of make up to scrape off of my skin.  No worries, let's go one step at a time.
First, I whip out my trusty Bioderma again, because it is the most amazing thing to take off make up. It's not oily or greasy, but still takes away a lot of make up and grime in just a few swipes, and I personally use it to remove my eye make up and my lipstick, then wipe the rest of my face to take off the most of my foundation. Now that I am left with a semi-clean face, I hop in the shower, and use my Fresh Soy Face Cleanser. This thing is GENIUS. It smell nice and clean, it removes make up like nothing else, and it's gentle enough not to burn or irritate my skin, although I do feel a slight tingle from it sometimes. When I am truly make up free, I go on and use my St-Ives Apricot Scrub for blemish prone skin, and rub my skin gently with it (still in the shower), to get rid of any roughness or dead skin cells. I do use this almost everyday, even if you're not supposed to, but I've come to realize that my skin needs to be exfoliated often, or else I get very rough patches of dried and flaked skin, which clogs up my pores and makes me break out.
Once I'm out of the shower, I sometimes use a face mask. My current favourite one is another product from the Body Shop: the Tea Tree face mask. It smells very very strong, but not bad, and it feels cool and tingly on the skin, like you can actually feel it working its magic. It doesn't dry hard, which makes it a lot easier to rinse off, and I find it to leave my face extra clean, but not stripped.
With my face free of the mask, I then put on a combination of three products:
First, I use three or four drops of the Body Shop's vitamin e serum-in-oil and massage my face and neck, going upwards and trying not to pull or tug on my skin. Then, I mix in two or three drops of tea tree oil with a little bit of the Nuxe Crème Prodigieuse night cream. This cream is excellent for dull skin; it moisturizes so well, without feeling heavy or greasy, and I wake up to a less tired looking face, like my skin looks more plump from it. Plus, it smells of floral heavenly goodness.
Again, I massage it into my skin gently, and take this time to relax and breathe in the amazing smell.

There you have it, my complete skincare routine, from morning to night. I try to take this time, especially at night, to relax and destress, to pamper myself and give my body and mind a little break. Life can be really hectic sometimes, and taking care of yourself and having a bit of you-time, be it 10 minutes each day, really helps putting it all in perspective.

Thank you for reading :)

Links to all the products mentioned:

1. Aloe Soothing Sreum
2. Tea Tree Oil
3. Vitamin e Serum-in-Oil
4. Aloe Moisture Lotion with SPF 15
5. Nuxe Night Cream
6. Fresh Soy Face Cleanser
7. St-Ives Apricot Scrub

In my make up bag at the moment

Since I own quite a large collection of make up items that I love to pieces, but cannot use all at the same time, seeing the overwhelming pile of beauty stuff can get a little too much some times. It also means that I kept going back and forth between products and never really used anything up, which is really naughty.

The first thing I did to try and correct the situation was having a MASSIVE clear-out of my make-up stash. I got rid (gave away or threw out) of all the this that were either past the expiry date, not the right colour or formula for me, or that I just did not use anymore. It's a bit of a heart-breaking process, but trust me, you will feel so much better when it's done. It's like starting fresh even though you don't buy anything new.
With that done I still felt overwhelmed by the quantity of make-up that I had left, but I didn't want to get rid of everything either because it's like a collection to me; it's something I built and that I worked hard for.
SO! What to do now? The only solution I saw to that problem was this: hide! I began by selecting the few bits and pieces the I wanted to use on a daily basis, and made sure I still covered a broad spectrum of possibilities and needs. I than proceeded to hide away all the rest of the make-up in a not-too-accessible drawer, so that I would be less tempted to go get something from there.

The idea here was to fit everything I could need in a single make-up bag so that I would not have to dig through a huge pile of stuff every morning to do my face. Also, I'm moving around a lot, and having everything readily preped in a make up bag makes life on-the-go much easier. And, on top of all that, it will probably help me finish up my products before moving on to the next one, and will consequently help me save a bit of money too!

Here, you can see everything that made it into the make up bag:

1. Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 Hours foundation in Light Ivory

2. Maybeline Falsies Big Eyes mascara in Rebel Black

3. Smash box Photo Finish primer

4. Maybeline 24 Hours Color Tatto in Tough As Taupe

5. Anastasia Dip Brow pomade in Taupe

6. Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC20

7. Benefit GimmeBrow gel in Medium Deep

8. Mac quad: Satin Taupe, Orb, Mythology, Vex

9. Rimmer Stay Matte powder in Transparent

10. The Body Shop Honey bronzer in n°3

11. Mac blush in Style

12. Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks in 107 and 17

13. Revlon Super Lustrious lipstick in Sultry Samba

14. Mac lipsticks in Syrup and Please Me

15. Tools: Zoeva 317 Winged Liner and 127 Luxe Sheer Cheek

Sephora Shader and eyelash curlers

Anabelle A-10, Quo Blush brush, Unknown pencil brush

E.L.F brow brush, Beauty Blender

Thank you for reading :)

My goals for 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

With 2015 freshly out of the oven, I thought I would share some of the goals I've set myself for the new year. Even though new year's resolutions are usually not kept, I think it's important to make them, even if they just make us feel like we have somewhere to go and something to hope for. Setting goals is what makes us go further in life and makes us grow into the person we want to become. With that said, here are my goals for the coming year:

1. Read more

Reading is SO important. To me, reading is like really good food and exercise for the brain. It makes us learn, helps us be more creative and opens our mind to new ways of thinking and seeing the world. 

My reading goal for this year is to ALWAYS be reading a book. As soon as I finish one, I will pick another one up, and try to read at least 7 or 8 books in 2015.

2. Work harder in school

I've always been the kid in school who did not really need to study to have good grades. I count myself very lucky for that, but since I'm now in University, and since I now love what I do in school (I never liked school, and so I wasn't very motivated until Uni), I feel like I want to put more effort into my school work. I don't necessarily want better grades, because grades are kind of subjective in the design field, but I want to know that I did everything I could. Also, I want to learn more things and be more knowledgeable about the field I'm in. I want to be able to participate in conversations and answer questions in class. Basically, I want to take every learning opportunity that is thrown my way, whether it be reading, listening, watching or doing something myself.

3. Keep up with the news

Speaking of learning opportunities, I want to start following the news more closely. I never did because I don't really understand that type of stuff. But, seeing as I'm growing up and becoming an adult (scary, isn't it?) I feel like it is my job to know what is going on around the world and how it impacts the life of people, especially because, I think, it will grandly help me become a better designer in the future. 

4. Save money

Like I said, I am slowly becoming an adult, therefore I want to start putting money aside for later on in my life. I already started doing it, and I am very proud of what I've accomplished so far, but I want to take it up a notch. This year, I want to cut down on the spending. Actually, I want to buy smarter. I realized that I prefer buying less, but of better quality, so this is what I want to do: I want to research what I buy before spending money on it, and make sure it is something that will last me a long time. Buying less, buying smarter, and put money aside.

5. Move out

Being a 22 year-old full-time student, I still live with my parents. I started working as a hostess this summer, and I am still doing it and loving it. I've never worked during a school year before, but so far, so good, and like I said, I started putting money aside. The reason I want to move out is very simple: I want to feel like I live in my own place, and not in my parents house. I want to be responsable, and know how life works basically.  I feel like it's the next step I need to take in my life, and I am very excited about it!

6. Keep up my blog

I love my blog, even though it's still very small. I want to make it grow as much as I can and turn it into a hobby, into something that I do on a regular bases. I love blogs in general, and I love the whole universe they are in. A blog is like your own little personal place on the internet where you can share thoughts, feelings, anything really. I want to take care of my blog, and post more regularly on here.

There you have it! My goals for 2015. I am really motivated to make them happen, and I think I will display them in one way or another for me to be reminded of them everyday.

I hope this inspired some of you to set your own goals for the new year. Get motivated and make your life what you want it to be!

Thank you for reading :)

How to re-purpose empty containers

If you are a bit of a beauty addict like me, you probably like having everything neatly organized. Now, my only problem is finding containers and different ways to put away and organize all of my treasures, mostly because I don't like hiding things in drawers or putting them in normal plastic containers. 

Following that train of thought, here are some ideas on how to re-purpose empty containers and jars in order to keep your beauty stash stylishly organized.

Use an empty candle container to keep your skincare organized on your bathroom counter

Or an empty jam jar to hold your make up brushes

Pour your mouthwash in an old drink bottle to make it look fancier (and use it with a tiny tea cup)

  Finally, another candle container to hold your most worn lipsticks

I hope this inspired some of you!

Thank you for reading :)

The perfect summer scent

With summer just around the corner, it was time for me to update my fragrances. I love rich and spicy scents for the winter, but in the warmer months I prefer sporting more light and fresh fragrances.

Another thing I also love is not breaking the bank when purchasing body products and perfume, and for that I can thank Bath and Bodyworks for their endless variety of heavenly smelling products. My favorite scent from them for this winter was Twilight Woods; it's a very sophisticated, soft and spicy smell, but stil perfect for day to day wear.

That being said, I wanted something more summer appropriate for the months to come, so I decided to pay a visit to my local Bath and Bodyworks to see what summery smells they had. After a very long deliberation with my mom, who also wanted something fresh smelling for the summer, I finally caved in and got a set of the Coconut Lime Breeze products. I bought the shower gel, the body cream, and the body spray.

This smells like a vacation by the beach. It is just perfect to make you feel fresh, pretty and on holiday. The shower gel contains shea and vitamin e, so it doesn't make my skin feel dry, and topping it off with the body cream makes it feel even better. The cream contains milk protein, rice bran oil and acai berry extract; this makes it very moisturizing, yet it sinks into the skin quickly, not leaving you feeling sticky and gross, which is always a plus. Finally, the body spray, being lighter than an actual perfume, leaves just enough of the good scent for the hot summer days to come.

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it gave you some ideas to update your summer scent,
talk to you soon!


LovelyMary
xox

My everyday makeup look

Hello everyone! Today, I decided to share with you my everyday makeup routine. Being a university student means I have to get up very early in the morning (5:45 -_-), BUT that does not mean that I will go to school bare-faced; I still want to have a play with my makeup. Here are the products I use to go from a sleepy head to a somewhat put together design student:

Make Up For Ever HD primer, #0
Mac Prep + Prime Vibrancy Eye Primer
Benefit Erase Paste, #1 Fair

Make Up For Ever Face and Body Liquid Make Up, #20

Mac Mineralize loose foundation, Light

Mac Cork eyeshadow, for my eyebrows

Maybeline Great Lash mascara, transparent (to set my eyebrows)

Too Face Shadow Insurance eye primer

Nars eyeshadow duo, Kuala Lumpur
Pixi endless silky eye pencil, #2 BlackBlue

Stila stay all day waterproof liquid eyeliner, intense black or midnight

Lancôme Hypnose Drama mascara, black

Nars blush, Super Orgasm

Rimmel Color Rush Long Lasting Intense Colour Balm, #100 Give me a cuddle

I know this seems like an insane amount of products to be handling this early in the morning, but it's really not too bad to be honest. Since I regularly have very long school days, I like to make sure my makeup will stay in place up until I take it off at night. This is why I use a lot of primers and powder, to set everything. Like I said, it seems like a lot, but once you've mastered it, it becomes very easy. 

Hope this inspired some of you, 

LovelyMary

xox

Review: They're Real mascara by Benefit

Let's face it: I was not blessed with super long, doll-like eyelashes. Therefore, I'm always on the hunt for THE mascara. I had a lot of good ones in the past (Maybeline's Great Lash, Yves Rocher's Sexy Pulp, Rimmel's Scandaleyes Flex, Make Up For Ever's Aqua Smocky Lash and Sephora's Outrageous Volume are all very very good), but my most recent purchase really lives up to my lash fantasies.

I recently went to Sephora and treated myself to the Benefit Primping with the Stars kit. It comes in a little book-like box and includes many mini-sized products that I so far really like. The one I really want to talk about, though, is the They're Real mascara. As soon as I applied it, my eyes went "BOOM". This mascara gives you volume and length without any clumping, and it's so easy to apply. It has a plastic applicator with little spikes all around it, witch grab each lash and help define them as well as fan them out. The brush also has little spikes on the tip, so you can get to your inner and outer lashes very easily. I tried it on my bottom lashes as well and it works great: no clumps, no panda eyes, just perfectly defined lashes. It basically makes my eyes appear wider and more awake, and makes my lashes look fuller and longer, yet very natural.

If you want to try it out, but feel like the full size is a bit expensive, you can get it in a smaller size for cheaper, either on it's own, or in the kit for 38$.

I hope this helped you, see you soon!

LovelyMary
xox