My New Favorite Foundation

photo via Kelsey Erin Photography | bareSkin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation | bareSkin Perfecting Face Brush

I'm a huge makeup person. I own more than any one person should own. Sometimes I do make up for people, so that's my justification. I may have only had 3 makeup jobs this year… Shhhhh don't tell The Captain. When I cleansed my life of toxins and whatnot, my makeup drawers remained untouched. I'm still working to find natural brands that I like… It's a slow process, but I saw a post on bareSkin foundation via Refinery29 before it was out in stores and how it was formulated with out oil, silicone, fragrance, and parabens, I was determined to try it. When my local exchange had the whole rainbow of colors and only 1 of the patent pending magic brush left, I decided it was time for a new foundation. I was matched easily and loved the sheer application and buildable coverage.  I decided to jump in and buy the brush even though I was skeptical. Well let me say, since purchasing I've fallen even more in love with both the foundation and the brush. You need a shockingly small amount of foundation to cover your entire face. After you shake the foundation you place 1-3 drops of foundation in the well of the brush and then buff it into the skin. I don't find that I need more than that, but if I'm going out-out I might do another 2 drops over trouble spots or any extra preggo redness. I've applied it with a Real Techniques foundation brush which blends it well, but doesn't quite spread the foundation like the bareSkin brush. I really don't like fingers to apply this foundation, I think you loose the ability to spread it well. It soaks into your fingers and I think you end up needing more product.

Bottom line: LOVE IT. This stuff is pretty marvelous. It goes on light and easy, with a nice sheer coverage that can easily be built up to a medium coverage. It gives your skin a lovely airbrushed look and softens the look of blemishes and fine lines. Go buy it already!!!!

Makeup Snob

Here's the thing. I love makeup, like love-love it. I have an addiction and despite the fact that I rarely change up my makeup routine, I buy it like I'm on the verge of running out. So because of my crazy obsession I've tried a TON of products. TONS 'O' PRODUCTS! So I thought from time to time I would share my beauty findings with you! Today I wanted to talk about under eye brighteners/concealers. I've read for years about the YSL Touche Eclat brightener. I decided to try it a few weeks ago, so I tried it out. FACT: It's awesome, like seriously the 3.5 blended beautifully with my skin, I looked awake and the product was crazy natural. I decided to hold off on purchasing the 40 dollar product to see how it sat on my skin after a few hours. FACT: It lasted for the remainder of the day and continued to look perfect! I'm a huge fan...Before shelling out that kinda dough, I decided to try the also much loved Clinique airbrush concealer. At half the price I was unsure how this would stack up to the ah-mazing YSL, but color-me-impressed!!!! It is pretty great!! The formula is just as light and spreads easily over my hella dark bags. I feel like the YSL has a more seamless finish, pretty full proof, while the Clinique product requires a little more blending with your base makeup, but at half the cost the winner is definitely the Clinique Airbrush! Make sure to pat the product in and blend well with your foundation/base and for 20 bucks you will get the same result as the magical YSL. Sidenote. Drink lotsa water and you'll notice a drastic reduction in dark circles. Also, stay away from processed foods and anything super high in sodium, eat some vitamin K and lay off the caffeine!!! Kimberly Snyder, my favorite nutritionist, has a ton to say on the matter!!! Check out her site!!