Beauty and Skin-Care Raves

My husband always calls me high maintenance.  I'm not offended by it in the least because I fully admit that I am.  I'm very particular when it comes to my hair and make-up.  I'll change my outfit ten times before I walk out the door and not think twice about it.  Now, I'm not as nuts every day, believe me.  There are days I leave the house not looking as nice as I'd like or wearing something that doesn't quite fit or feel right, but oh well.  I'm far from perfect.  But when it matters, I try to present the best me I can.

I'm always on the search for my "holy grail" products and my bathroom is proof of that - I have "stuff" stashed everywhere.  I recently went through ALL my make-up and purged items that were either too old or were things I could never really see myself using.  It felt good to toss all that stuff, but honestly, I still have too much.  Now I'm trying to work with what I have and actually finish products rather than buy new stuff that I really don't need, just because...which is what I was doing before the great purge.  I was reading a lot of beauty blogs, watching a lot of beauty videos on youtube, reading endless reviews on MakeupAlley and became influenced!  Some products were a bust, but some I really loved.  Those are the ones I want to share with you...

Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine : I love a good lip product.  I have very dry lips and try to have something on them at all times.  This lip butter feels awesome, smells lovely, doesn't taste nasty and has a nice natural pink tint to it.  It also gets the Sephora "natural seal". 

Stila Illuminating Finishing Powder : I use these powders every day as my blush/bronzer/highlighting combo.  I feel like they are going to last forever considering how little product is required to get color...at least on my skin, since I'm super fair.  I found these on Sephora before Christmas at $10 for the pair, a great value.  And while I LOVE them, I'm really not sure I'd pay the regular price of $32 each.  I guess we'll see once I finally use up the ones I have!

Clinique Even Better Makeup : Before this foundation I was loving my Clinique Superfit but I wasn't completely happy with the color match.  When "bonus time" came around I took it as an opportunity to try out a new foundation and I'm really loving the Even Better.  The color match is pretty good and the coverage is excellent, blends effortlessly and it's buildable.  Over time it's supposed to improve clarity and help even out your skin one.  I've been using it about two months now and can see a difference when I'm not wearing makeup.  I'm definitely not as red and it certainly hasn't caused any (more than usual) breakouts.  The true test will come when the weather gets (and stays) warm, but so far I'm really pleased with it's staying power.

Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara : In an effort to again, work with what I have, I started using a sample tube of this mascara when my regular Maybelline Full & Soft ran out.  I've used F&S for years!  It was really, really hard to not run out an buy a replacement tube.  To my surprise, I'm liking the Lash Doubling a lot.  In fact I may like it more than the F&S.  *gasp*  It applys so nice, not too wet, doesn't clump, and gives great volume.  It removes easily too.  The only thing is I wish it came in a waterproof formula :(

Clinique Acne Solutions Spot Healing Gel : Ugh!  Yes, I'm 30, and I still get breakouts.  Thankfully, in the past 3 years that I've been using the Clinique 3-Step system, my skin has gotten so much better.  I really only breakout around that magical time of the month and even then my face recovers a lot more quickly.  I bought this spot gel to try out about a month ago and I'm very pleased with it so far.  My skin reacts well to salicylic acid, which this product contains.  Most of the Clinique Acne Solutions line contains benzoyl peroxide, which I try to stay away from since it irritates my skin more so than helps.  So when my consultant suggested the spot gel I snapped it up and I'm happy I did.  It's not a overnight miracle worker, but it significantly helps my breakouts heal faster and they're much easier to conceal.

Clinique Moisture Surge : can you tell I love Clinique?  I got a sample of this during bonus time and as soon as I run out I'm getting a full sized jar!  I have combo/oily skin, but I also have a few areas that just need extra moisture.  This works awesome on those dry patches!  A little goes a long way with this too, so while it may be a bit pricey, it's worth the investment since it'll last a long time.

 
Lacura Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Night Cream : before I tell you where I bought this, or even better, tell you how much it costs, just hear me out.  I have an ugly, deep wrinkle between my eyebrows that drives me insane...too much squinting and scrunching my face when I'm deep in thought or mad.  The past few years I've been using Avon Anew Clinical Deep Crease Concentrate.  It's a wonderful serum, but they've recently discontinued it.  Story of my life.  But beyond that it wasn't easy on the wallet and ordering through an Avon rep was not very convienient.  I think I first heard of the Lacura brand on a blog and then read all the awesome reviews on MakeupAlley (if you've never used this site, I recommend it!).  It honestly almost seems too good to be true.  I've only been using it for about two weeks now, but I am really, really pleased with it.  It works just as well as the Avon serum if not better and it's helped with the redness in my skin too.  It's a thick cream but melts into the skin, a little goes a long way.  I'm using it around my eyes as well.  Where did I find this wonderful night cream???  Am I breaking the bank???  The answers: Aldi, and no, it was $4.00!!!  Now, Aldi would be the LAST place I'd ever imagine myself buying skin care products, but read the reviews, they don't lie.

Those are my beauty and skin care raves for the first quarter of the year.  I hope to make this a regular thing, providing I have new products to rave about.  If you use any of these products already or if you decide to try them out based off my review, be sure to let me know your thoughts!