My Current Foundation

Hey again!


Lately I've been feeling very down and out and although I know the reasons behind it, I just can't seem to lift myself out of this horrible state. Hence, I've really been battling to write something good enough to post so I'm sorry in advance.


We all have difficulty finding the perfect foundation... right? Please tell me that it's not just me?
Anyway, since the beginning of the year I've tried a couple of different foundations to find one that works for me and my skin. A very kind sales assistant at a drugstore gave me a couple of samples to try since I wanted to try lots of different kinds of foundation before picking my favourite.

Let's start with the foundations that I tried but didn't love (FOR MY SKIN) but may work for people with different skin types! (Note: I have really oily skin.)

5. REVLON AGE DEFYING FOUNDATION

This foundation was in my mom's makeup bag which is kinda really the only reason I tried it. My reason for not loving it as much as my mom does: it's too moisturising. Since I have oily skin, that's a bad thing because it practically disappears on my skin, it's so sheer; and it makes my skin even shinier - NOT GOOD. 

4. ALMAY SMART SHADE FOUNDATION

I was so intrigued by this product's claims that I just had to try it. This foundation comes out of the tube as a white cream, like a moisturiser, and actually changes colour as you massage it into your skin to match your skin tone. It's SO cool! I really like this product and I wish that it worked for my skin but it also leaves my skin so shiny that I can't wear it for very long without having to touch up. If you have normal skin, you have to try this!

3. RIMMEL STAY MATTE FOUNDATION

I'm sure you can all guess why I would be drawn to this foundation. The name of this product literally calls to me. Having only used this product once, I probably don't have the authority to give much of an opinion. But I'm going to tell you what I can anyway. The only time I used this product was on a day when I didn't have time to touch up but it did stay put for a good 4 hours before it started to slide off my face. 

2.  ESSENCE STAY ALL DAY FOUNDATION

Well. Well, well, well. What a product. It actually does STAY ALL DAY. I've worn this product so often and it stays for hours and hours. Perhaps not exactly 16 hours, but it certainly stays for practically the whole day. I put this on before 7am and only have to touch it up by 3pm. Plus, it's such full coverage and really, really buildable. The reason it's only my second favourite is because the colour range is fairly limited. 

So finally, the foundation that I am currently using:

1. RIMMEL MATCH PERFECTION FOUNDATION

At the moment this is my favourite foundation because it has everything that I'm looking for right now. I would say that the coverage is light to medium but so extremely buildable that it could be full coverage if you really needed it to be. The finish is very natural-looking, not too matte and not too dewy and works wonderfully for my skin. I really would recommend this to anybody who has a similar skin type to me. 

I would really love to try the RIMMEL WAKE ME UP FOUNDATION because of all the beauty bloggers that rave about that, but unfortunately I haven't been able to find it anywhere yet. I don't think it's available in South Africa.

What is your current favourite foundation? Let me know on twitter or in the comments down below.
Chat soon!
xoxo

From Cracked To Kissable

Happy Tuesday!


Possibly the worst part about winter where I live (other than the FREEZINGNESS obviously) is the fact that we have a dry climate during the cold months.
In other words: dry, brittle, static hair; dry skin; dry, brittle nails; dry mouths and noses; and dry lips.
I just cannot stand waking up during the night and the back of my throat feels like sandpaper when I inhale or my lips are so dry that they start to crack.


Let me repeat that: I HATE HAVING DRY LIPS. The obsessive trait in me means that when I was in high school, I actually became addicted to lip balm. Yes, that is possible. Although one does not really become addicted to the balm itself, it's possible to become addicted to the feeling of moisturised, soft lips and thus you apply it more often which in turn causes your lips to stop producing their own moisture and so you apply more and the cycle continues.

http://www.lifemartini.com/simple-home-remedies-for-chapped-lips/

Dry lips means that your lipstick will sink into fine lines on your lips and even flake off in extreme cases. Not sexy. Also, no one wants to kiss dry, cracked lips - yuck!!
So here's how you can prevent it...
There are hundreds of lip-exfoliating products for sale (just google it) but it's SO much easier and cheaper than that!

I found this wonderful DIY post on this blog to make your own lip exfoliator in less than three simple steps:

http://blog.modcloth.com/2011/10/28/hey-sugar-a-diy-lip-exfoliator-sweet-enough-to-eat/

If that is still not easy enough for you or you forgot about your big date tonight and need a quick fix then I can't make it any easier than this ONE STEP. 

Before you brush your teeth, run your soft, dry toothbrush over your lips a couple of times to get rid of the dry skin. Don't scrub your lips to pieces, 3 or 4 gentle brushes should do it!

Always be sure to apply a lip balm or Vaseline to exfoliated lips to keep them mosturised and soft throughout the day!

Don't let the winter get to your lips!

I hope the rest of your week is fabulous

Chat soon, xxx

Deep Conditioning Masks

Hi again!


It's been about a week and I'm already so over winter, I'm trying not to wish my life away but can summer come back now please??

I miss the 8pm sunsets in Langebaan - December 2012

I was going to say something about the seasons affecting your hair, but honestly our hair always needs a little bit of TLC because whether it's the summer sun and chlorine or the dry winter, it's damaging your hair anyway...

So if you want to treat your hair and protect it from whichever season it's about to endure, THIS IS FOR YOU!

(So far it has taken me more than an hour to write those few sentences because I keep getting caught up stalking celebrities on twitter, if you're wondering about how functional I am.) 

(And there was just loads of thunder and it's not supposed to rain here in winter. Weird.)

Anyway. I am REALLY lazy when it comes to looking after my hair; I hardly ever straighten or curl it and I NEVER blow dry it so it is naturally quite healthy - my quick disclaimer - so keeping it in good condition is not difficult for me and I only have one tip that I swear by:

DEEP CONDITIONING HAIR MASKS. 

I don't use them all that often because I don't want my hair to become dependent on them and only lock moisture in when I've used the mask so once every two or three weeks is sufficient for me. If your hair is really dry and brittle, you may want to start out using it once a week and use it less frequently as your hair regains its strength. 

This is the mask that I use: Sunsilk Damage Reconstruction

I had a look on the Sunsilk website, however to enter the site you need to select your country and South Africa wasn't on the drop down list but I definitely bought it in South Africa so I'm not sure how to evaluate where you can and can't buy it. I swear by this stuff. I wash my hair in the shower like I normally would and then I towel dry my hair and apply this mostly to the ends of my hair and sort-of just 'wipe' the excess product over the roots. After five minutes I rinse it off and leave my hair to air dry. One of these tubs lasts about three months (granted, I do have fairly short-medium length hair) and is really not too pricey.

I would seriously recommend this product to anybody with hair. Dry and damaged or if you just want to maintain strong and healthy hair, try it!

That is literally all I do to maintain my hair and it works like a charm for me. 

Have a fabulous weekend!

xoxo