Urban Decay: Naked Skin Weightless Concealer

When it comes to concealers, I tend to be a snob. Since I was a teenager, venturing out into the make-up world I’ve used one concealer. Now I use two because I found an equivalent to what I already thought was the “bomb.com”. M.A.C Pro-Longwear Concealer and Maybelline Fit Me concealers. I’ve tried endless concealers, suggested by my favorite YouTube Guru’s and friends but I’ve never found anything I liked.

When it comes to my under-eyes, I’ve always suffered from dark circles. Especially now with a full time work and school schedule my dark circles get the best of me. I also have the worst allergies around the spring and summer months that leave me with watery eyes galore. So with concealers I usually am for something full coverage with a light weight feel and a natural looking texture. That’s exactly how I feel about this concealer!

I use just 3-4 dots under my eyes in the triangle formation, then buff it out with my Beauty Blender. Just that tiny bit covers the purple areas around my inner corners, sans the heavy texture that often accompanies a full coverage concealer, while it keeps my skin looking like well, skin.

For the price point of $28, I really love this concealer. It states that it’s a creamy, full-coverage formula has a satin finish that isn’t too shiny and I think it looks absolutely beautiful in photos. The flocked applicator feels so soft and comfy. For my combination skin, I noticed that these oxidize and darken but nothing to the point of needing a lighter shade.

I love my M.A.C Pro-Longwear and my Maybellin Fit Me but I do have to say, this sure does give them a run for their money!

Urban Decay Naked Weightless Concealer Overall Rating: 3.8/5

 

NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation Review

NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation is my new #1. Though on the pricier side, costing about $48, and with a $48 foundation you basically want that scene from When Harry Met Sally. Like, you want to feel that way when you use a $48 foundation, and then you want the lady next to you to say, “I’ll have the foundation she’s having.” For those who don’t know what I’m referencing the best I can say is, YouTube it.

The way NARS describes this foundation, you’d think you’re reading about the intvention of time travel, things like “Even Tone Technology” are thrown out from time to time and you just end up going “OHHH what’s that?!” NARS claims one drop with the pump applicator with deliver 16 hours of weightless, oil-free coverage, and with long term use it’s supposed to make skin tone appear more even. I’ve tested out this foundation for about two weeks before jumping in and making the big purchase so I can say I know what works.

I never want to toot my own horn but I do occasionally get stopped and asked what foundation I’m using. I’ve been a tried and true user of Loreal True Match and Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundations for years now, never really venturing out. I’ve had my hands on NARS Sheer Glow Foundation but was never totally sold. I got a couple of samples of this foundation to try and within the second use I was hooked!

So how well does it work?

Pretty dang well. It’s not the CERN of foundations or anything but the claims it makes you can hold pretty true. The one claim I knew would be complete malarkey would be the one pump covers the entire face claim. I like more of a fuller coverage so it’s about 3-4 pumps for this girl to get the coverage I need, I wasn’t kind to my skin as a teenager and acne scars haven’t treated me nicely as I’ve gotten older. This foundation is very build-able though so if you like a medium to full or softer coverage that’s definitely “do-able”

I do have to use this foundation with a primer. I have normal to oily skin so primers for me are a must. I use Too Faced Hanger RX Primer for some added nutrients for my skin. Depending on that time of the month, I sometimes have to break out my Smashbox Pore Minimizing Primer along with it. Both primers works great for me.

Now, for the pink/yellow elephant in the room…does it have a lot of yellow in it?

Yes, it has some. I’m in the shade Mont Blanc, which is light 2 in the 20 shade collection. Mont Blanc is the lightest shade with pink undertones. Given the pink undertones it does oxidize to more of a yellow tone but nothing to change shades over. I usually like my foundations to have a more yellow tint just because my natural skin color has a pinker tone. I think that without the other accouterments I like to wear – bronzer, blush, highlighter, and, of course, concealer it seems to buffer out any yellow tone and makes a more natural finish with my skin tone.

Bottom line, I love the NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation despite it costing…

Your first born, two unicorns, and a pot of gold.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

frank. Body Scrub Review

I met a man in my life. His name is frank. and he’s a body scrub.

My Instagram recently blew up with a bunch of photos of semi naked girls with what looked like dirt all over their bodies. The only thing covering up their lady bits was a brown bag. I’m always interested in the latest body craze and frank. wasn’t any different. I started doing my research and asking some of my friends, who had used the scrub, about their opinions in which I got an overwhelming “Oh my god! You need to try it!” across the board. frank. Body Scrub is found online, where it can only be purchased, and is based out of Australia. The mixture comes in a simplistic brown bag including 200mg of scrub for about $15 with free U.S domestic shipping. I ordered mine and in less than a week he arrived at my doorstep.

Using frank. is rather interesting. I decided to try mine post shower once I shaved and cleansed. With a wet “bod” I started with a small handful of the coffee based scrub. I started with my arms working in circular motions and my legs. Growing up I’ve started to develop minor acne scaring on my face, small bumps on the back of my forearms and top of my thighs. I concentrated the scrub on this areas and let it dry for about 7-10 minutes. As you’re rinsing the scrub off you can automatically feel a difference in your skin. I immediately jumped in front of my mirror to see if I saw any changes and I did! Now, I’m not talking about a miracle cure for all skin aliments in the first go around but I’m definitely talking about a change. I noticed the texture and irritation diminish significantly after just the first use.

frank. has very simplistic ingredients with four different types of scrubs to choose from. There’s Original, Coconut Coffee Scrub, Cacao Coffee Scrub and Peppermint Coffee Scrub. Original is meant to target dry skin, stretch marks, cellulite, eczema, psoriasis, varicose veins, acne and scarring. Coconut  scrub targets sensitive skin. Cacao Scrub is actually a mixture of chocolate and coffee which targets damaged and dry skin by adding back the moisture skin can lose over time. Finally, Peppermint Scrub is targeted from those who need muscle and skin rejuvenation. I personally tried the original to start but I am interesting in trying the Peppermint Scrub for it’s muscle relaxing treatments.

Now, onto the smell. It smells exactly like how you would think a coffee scrub would smell. You definitely can smell the orange essence that in the scrub which can make for an interesting smell but once washed off I feel like I smelled like coffee. The smell of coffee on my skin only lasted about 30-45 minutes after jumping out of the shower and can go away quicker with any lotion application. Don’t worry you won’t be smelling like Starbucks all week, even though in my opinion that doesn’t sound too bad. The other scrubs are described as smelling like “summer” (coconut scrub), “chocolate cake” (cacao scrub), and “after diner mints” (peppermint scrub).

Lastly, is it worth the hype? Since I bought frank. I’ve used it a total of three times since writing this blog and I can without a doubt say yes! I’ve seen a tremendous change in my skins irritations, as well as, scaring from acne on my face just in a few uses. I’ve tried almost every exfoliating and moisturizing scrub on the market from high end to drugstore and I’ve finally found my match with frank.