Skincare Routine: Tara

My skin in a nutshell; oily, hyper-pigmentation, dull. I have tried everything on the market that claims it will combat my breakouts and make my skin brighter, and keep the oils at bay. Yeah, my skin has it's bad days, but these products- my skin seems to love. 

Morning: After crawling out of my fortress of pillows in the morning, I cleanse my skin with Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleanser. I have Lani to thank for this, she raves about it all the time! And I love the "deep-pore" feeling this gives my skin. Spritz a little bit of Caudalie Beauty Elixir and you're ready to moisturize!(yes gals, even with oily skin you need to slap on some kind of moisturizer) and I love the gentle Aveeno Positively Radiant moisturizer and SPF 15 protection is always a good thing. Benefit It's Potent eye cream is perfect for that bit of moisture I need for under my eyes, and my adored Aquaphor saves my lips, I go through those puppies like it's no body's business!

Night: To remove makeup, I either use one of two products : Simple Cleansing facial wipes which remove my makeup with one wipe! I love how saturated the product is and unlike other makeup wipes I've tried, it cleanses- I hate when makeup removers just spread makeup around your face!
If my skin is feeling like it needs that extra bit of cleansing, I take a cotton round and soak it in Bioderma just to take any leftover residue off my skin, and use as a cleansing water. If I feel like going to my sink to cleanse instead, I once again use the Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleanser for a nice little scrub. I follow up with 4 drops of Josie Maran's 100% Pure Argan Oil to moisturize, it's so simple and natural and my skin soaks it up and keeps it hydrated all night! I again apply Benefit It's Potent eye cream and Aquaphor to my lips. If I have a few blemishes, I treat them with Lush Grease Lightning Tea Tree Cleanser (this also helps any hyper-pigmentation I have) it's super gentle and works amazing on blemishes without being too harsh. 

Extra: For a little extra skin-pampering, I love masks! Origin Clear Improvement is a charcoal-clay mask that is supposed to work wonders for your skin to not make it more clear, but brighter and more even- which is what I crave! 

What product could you not live without in your skincare routine? Any holygrails of yours I need to know about for my skin type?

Quick & Effortless Beauty Products

It's that time of year again: SCHOOL. Beauty routines for school essentially translate to: how quick can I get ready and still look somewhat decent? We rummaged through our bags to find products that have helped us on those dreaded mornings so that you won't have to be 10 minutes late to class!

Skincare Routine: Lani

My skin type fluctuates so frequently mainly because my skin is really sensitive to, like, pretty much everything. I personally feel as if it leans more towards the oilier side, which gets accompanied by dry patches when the weather starts to get colder.  Because of this, I often have a difficult time finding a skincare routine that appeases both sides of the spectrum. After so many hits and misses, I finally have a decent skincare routine!

Morning

I skip washing my face in the morning and usually go straight to splashing it with cold water to rinse off any oil that accumulated on my face overnight (ew, gross). I then spritz my face with Jurlique's Rosewater Balancing Mist, which is one of my latest skincare discoveries that I absolutely love-it replaced my long-beloved Caudalie's Beauty Elixir! It leaves my skin feeling so supple and moisturized that I can either choose to use it as a base for whatever foundation I'm wearing or, if I'm having a good day, just moisturizer. Lately I've been testing out a generous sample of Fresh's Youth Preserve Cream, which is perfect for daytime because it isn't too heavy.

Night

I'm also a habitual believer in "you get what you pay for" so I was shocked when I tried Trader Joe's Spa Face Wash with Tea Tree Oil and had amazing results-it's such an amazing and inexpensive product! It has very specific instructions on how to use it, as it has an oil consistency (it also has nearly all oils in the ingredients list, huge plus!) but I find that it can be a bit drying. I use Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream, so dryness isn't a problem for me since this is like my holy grail moisturizer-I haven't had flaky spots or patches since using this stuff! I'm also a big fan of Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Daily Cleanser and I usually switch this on and off with the Trader Joe's face wash. It gives a really refreshing, deep clean and isn't drying at all! After cleansing my face, I use Lush's Tea Tree Toner, which is another holy grail product of mine. I love the fact that it boasts all-natural ingredients and leaves my face feeling thoroughly cleaned.

Back to School - Part 3: In my School Bag

And now for our last installment of our 'Back to School' series-what's in my school bag!

Fall Edit: Favorite Mac Lipsticks

Soon we'll be waving goodbye to corals and bright pinks and will be welcoming reds, plums, and berry shades! Here are our top 5 favorite Mac lipsticks that we've amassed over the past few years!

Favorite Highlighters / Summer 2013

Tara's Favorites

Soft and Gentle by Mac - The love that the beauty community gives this product is overwhelming, so I was extremely excited to get my hands on this baby. It's not a subtle highlight, so if you're looking for a glow, this is it. I love this swiped above my cheekbones and down my nose when my skin is feeling dull.  
Ambient Light Powder in Dim Light by Hourglass - According to Sephora : The powders deliver a multidimensional luminescence to every skintone, making it appear softer, younger, and lit-from-within. I love taking a fluffy fan brush and swiping it on my cheeks, forehead and chin for more of an all-over glow. Some people use this to set their makeup, or just as a lovely finishing touch to your makeup look.

Lani's Favorites

Flatter Me by Mac (limited edition) - When Mac dropped their Archie's Girl collection, I was so thrilled because, after a long while, they actually had an interesting collection! I ended up grabbing this pearly sheer blush/highlighter and I love it because it gives a radiant glow.

Watts Up! by Benefit - I'll admit that I'm a total weenie when it comes to highlighters so I use this rather sparingly and I blend it out with the sponge on the opposite end. It's definitely more of a noticeable highlighter so I use it for special occasions or when I'm feeling a bit more spontaneous.

Do you prefer a more subtle or bold highlight? What's your favorite highlighting product that you've been using?

Back to School - Part 2: In my Makeup Bag

There's nothing more annoying and cumbersome than juggling an arm full of text books and an oversized bag stuffed to the brim with school supplies. We decided that when at school, it's not totally necessary to bring our entire makeup collection to school and narrowed it down to the absolute basics and necessities.