Flawless Foundation / Highlight & Contour Routine

Hi Loves! So I’ve gotten a lot of questions recently about what products I use, and steps I take to get my face makeup to look ‘flawless’. With using the right products and application techniques, it’s fairly simple! This is my full coverage, foundation routine & highlight/ contour routine. Enjoy! xoxoxo

 

Step 1: Skin Care

This is probably the most important step to get a flawless look. I will be making a whole post about my skin care routine soon, but for now, let me say that It is so important to take care of your skin! When you don’t, and you’re constantly putting makeup on, sweating, and sleeping in your makeup, pores get clogged and that causes breakouts. Wash your face twice a day, morning & night! Especially before bed! Before applying any makeup, I wash my face in the morning and apply my daytime moisturizer. I use the Daily Matte Moisturizer from Image Skin care. As I have mentioned before in my April Favorites post, it works as an excellent makeup base!

 

Step 2: Primer

To prime my face, I use Tarte’s Clean Slate Poreless primer. This is a 12 hour perfecting primer that minimizes the look of your pores, and gives your face a smooth looking finish. I apply this product with my fingers, all over my face. You can find this product at your nearest Ulta or Sephora.

 

Step 3: Foundation

As you all know, my holy grail foundation is Tarte’s Amazonian Clay foundation. This is a 12 hour full coverage foundation, especially perfect for anyone with combination/ oily skin. The clay helps absorb oil throughout the day to keep the matte finish. This is by far the best foundation i’ve ever used! I usually have two colors, one for the winter months when I tend to be more pale, and one for summer months when I have a tan. I apply this foundation with my Real Techniques stippling brush. I apply the product to the brush, dab it all over my face, except for under my eyes where I will put my concealer. I then use my brush in circular motions to blend it all out.

Step 4:  Highlight

After applying my foundation, I apply my Mac Prolongwear Concealer. I use the shade NW20. It is about 2-3 shades lighter than my natural skin tone. I apply this under my eyes, down the bridge of my nose, on my chin, and also on my forehead with a small foundation brush from Coastal Scents.  By highlighting your face, it helps to bring out your features and bring light to your face.

*It is also important to highlight your brow bone. It will make the arch of your brows look more dramatic and clean. To highlight my brows, I either use a cream/white eyeshadow or the white liner pencil from NYX cosmetics, draw it on under my brow then blend it out. I highlight my brows after I have already filled them in.

Step 5: Face Powder

 

To set my foundation, I use Mac’s Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in the shade Medium, I use Medium Plus in the summer months. I apply this all over my face using my Real Techniques face powder brush. I recently purchased this brush and its so soft, I love it! Sometimes, if it is super hot out, I will use a translucent powder to set my foundation instead of the Mac powder because it isn’t so heavy. My favorite translucent powder is Tarte’s Smooth Operator.

Step 6: Contour

To contour my face, I use Benefit cosmetic’s Hoola Bronzer. I mentioned this one in my April favorites and it truly is my favorite to contour with. Its a perfect medium/dark matte shade and gives you the best sun kissed glow! For contouring you genrally want something 2-3 shades darker than your natural skin tone. I apply this product with my Mac 109 brush. I apply it down my cheekbones, by my temples, and on my jawline. After that, I go back with my face powder brush and blend it out so there are no harsh lines.

Step 7: Highlight (again!)

To finish off my face makeup I always love to add a little shimmery highlight to the tops of my cheekbones. Mac’s soft and gentle is my go to for that. It is the most beautiful, soft champagne color and when the sunlight catches it, it looks so pretty! Usually I just dab my finger in it and apply a little to the top of my cheeks by my eyes.

 

So there you have it! My everyday foundation, highlight & contour routine! Very simple and easy to do! Here are some pictures to help you with the contour and highlighting depending on your own face shape!

*Dark pink- contour

Purple- highlight

 

Top 10 beauty gifts and stocking stuffers for HER!

The holidays are here and there is only a few weeks until Christmas! Wether you are shopping for someone special, or treating yourself to a few presents, you can’t go wrong with gifts of BEAUTY!:) I’ve put together a few ideas from my wish list, and other cute ideas I’ve seen in stores or online that every girl on your shopping list will love, and created this holiday gift guide for you! Lets get started!

One of my favorite beauty products to buy / receive this time of year are the Philosophy holiday gift sets. They come in many different arrangements with different bubble baths, shower gels, lip glosses, lotions, and hand soaps. My favorite thing about them is how delicious they smell! You can give a little sweetness this year with the limited edition cookie exchange gift set. This comes in an adorable box with a christmas cookie scented bubble bath,  sweet frosting body lotion, and sugar sprinkles lip gloss inside! The best part is you can get this for only $24 online at philosophy.com or i have also seen them at Ulta. if you’re looking for something a little smaller you can get these bubble bath/ shower gel stocking stuffers for only $6.50!

The gift of LASHES!

Day Night and Glam  Lash Set

  

I saw this deal online at Sephora.com for just $20! This makes a perfect stocking stuffer! This boxed set comes with three different pairs of lashes for every occasion from a natural day time look, to an evening look, to heavy glam. You could even pair this gift with Sephora’s limited edition Starry-Eyed Brush Trio ($24) to create a completed eye look! This kit comes with an all over shadow brush, crease brush, and angled liner brush, all you’re essentials!

Been an ANGEL all year? Good! Because Victoria’s Secret has these beauty gift sets for $39.50! Each set comes with a body mist, body wash, and body lotion. They have a variety of different collections so you can pick out your favorite! Also, how cute are the sparkly makeup bags they come with?! A little glitter always makes things better:) These make the perfect gift! Victoria’s Secret is also having a deal for the holidays on nail polish! You can grab these stocking stuffers 2 for $15! Find them here: victoriassecret.com/beauty

Do you have a makeup guru in your life? This gift is perfect for her! Benefit has an exclusive set of their beauty best sellers called ‘Little love potions’.  This set includes all the essentials to prime and perfect your look with mascara, blush, highlighter & bronzer, lip gloss, and makeup primer. This is a $90 dollar value for only $36 online at benefitcosmetics.com!  Throw this BADgal mascara duo in their stocking for $19! This comes with one full size and one travel size mascara. Perfect for the girl on the go!

Nothing makes the spirit of Christmas come alive at home quite like holiday candles. They make the perfect gift and they are personally one of my favorites to receive. You can never have too many! I highly suggest going to Bath and Body works for great deals on their yummy candles! They have these mason jar candles 2 for $15 in a variety of holiday scents! I recently purchased these two and they smell amazing! I have a fake christmas tree in my room (because i love the look of white trees) but the fresh balsam candle makes it smell like I have a real tree. The Tis’ the season candle is everything Christmas wrapped into one with hints of cider, apples, and green pine!

You can also snag these cute mini hand sanitizers for another perfect stocking stuffer! This holiday bundle comes with 5 hand sanitizers for $5! These are perfect to throw in your purse, gym bag, or your travel bag all season long!

I hope this list has helped you with a few gift and stocking stuffer ideas for her! You can never go wrong with beauty products in my opinion, Especially ones you can score for a great price!  Now that you know some of my favorite gifts to give and receive this season, I want to know some of yours! Please feel free to leave them in a comment below! Happy holidays and happy shopping! xoxo