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

 

April Favorites!

Hi Dolls! Spring is in the air, and the weather has been absolutely BEAUTIFUL here in California! Since the weather has been so nice, I’ve been out and about and have come across some great products.  It is also my birthday month, so I’ve been spoiling myself!  I wanted to share some of my new favorites this month, along with some of my oldies but goodies too! Let’s get started….

 

FakeBake Flawless Self Tanning Liquid 

The first thing  I wanted to share is my go to self tanner. I especially love to use it this time of year because you can fake it , til you make it with a real tan!  I have tried many different self tanners and I have already gone through two bottles of this brand. It gives you an instant, perfect, golden tan (does NOT make you look like a pumpkin). You apply it with a mitt, so it is not streaky at all, and dries almost instantly. It also does not get all over your clothes which is a major plus! It smells so good too! It reminds me of the Hawaiian Tropic products.  There are different versions of this product with different tan intensity levels, and application processes from this brand. I have not tried any of the other ones yet, because I am so happy with the results from this version. Make sure you grab the purple box! If any of you have tried the other tanners from FakeBake let me know what you think of them! Find this at Ulta, or Cosmoprof for all my professionals out there!:)

 

OPI Brazil Collection ‘Dont Bossa Nova Me Around’

 

 

 

This polish is from OPI new Brazil collection. They have the cutest colors, and they are SO vibrant! There are a lot of bright, fun colors form this collection I will be using during the summer for sure. But of course for now,  I chose the neutral, creamy nude! But this nude is perfect for spring because it has a bit of a pink tone to it. The color also pretty much goes with every outfit too. If you haven’t yet, go check out this collection! I picked this up from Cosmoprof, but Ulta also carries it!

 

Image Skincare Matte Moisturizer 

With the sun starting to shine, and the weather getting warmer, it is SO important to protect your skin. Let me repeat it is SO important! For all my beauties with combination or oily skin, this will be a miracle product for you! I tend to have combination skin, but during the  spring, and especially summer months, my skin tends to be more oily. The last thing anyone with any hint of oil on their skin wants is to put oily sunscreen on it, trust me I know! That is the magic of this product, it is matte! ZERO SHINE! I use Image skin care in my Esthetics room for all my clients, and this product has been great for so many of them, especially my acne clients! I apply this product every single morning, after washing my face. I love this because it has so many uses. Not only is it a moisturizer, but also a sunscreen with a spf of 32. This product is oil free, paraben free, and works excellently as a makeup primer! Ask your Esthetician about Image, or visit their website, http://www.imageskincare.com  to get this and other amazing products as well!

Hoola Bronzing Powder 

Many of you have probably tried this product from Benefit Cosmetics before. If you have not, I highly recommend it! Out of all the new products I have picked up recently, this is my absolute favorite. I have wanted to purchase this product for years but for some reason i never did. It is the perfect bronzer! Amazing for contouring. I love the fact that it is matte with no shimmer. For contouring I have been using ‘sculpt’ by MAC, but unless you have a good tan going already, it looks way too dark and it seems a little orange to me. I wish I would’ve started using hoola sooner! I also love the little brush that it comes with, it is the perfect contouring brush, and it’s super soft! Apply this product along your cheekbones, chin, and along your forehead for a perfect, natural looking tan all year! Also…how cute is the packaging? LOVE!

 

NYX gel Liner 

So, I’m not really sure where this product has been all my life but… I’m happy that i finally came across it! Im really loving NYX makeup recently! (their brow duo powder is a great brow product , I use it every day!)  Of course my usual go to is MAC’s blacktrack eyeliner but this product is so similar and less than half the price of MAC. It goes on super smooth and it seems to last all day without fading. The color is a nice, bold black. I bought this from Ulta for $9!  Apply with an angled liner brush for a flawless liner or a perfect cat eye!

 

MAC ‘snob’ Lipstick

One of the best parts about Spring is that you get to wear pretty pinks and pastels, on your lips! My favorite to wear this time of year is MAC’s ‘Snob’. It is such a pretty pink with a hint of purple undertone, and gives your lips the perfect pop of color that you can wear everyday. This lipstick has a satin finish, so it doesn’t make your lips look flakey or chapped. It looks amazing with a smokey eye and compliments lighter pink blushes nicely.  Pair it with its matching lip gloss and polish for a finished look, Love this lipstick!

 

So there you go my loves! My must haves and favorites for April! I want to know your favorites, leave a comment below and tell me about them! More blog posts coming soon! Maybe my current skin care or hair routine? Favorite brushes, or a spring makeup tutorial? Let me know what you guys want to see! Happy Spring! xoxoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAC student makeup kit

A few weeks ago, my MAC Pro student kit arrived! I was very happy with everything it came with. I liked the fact that there was extra room in the palette to add my own eyeshadows, blushes, bronzers etc. This is a great starter kit and I highly suggest applying for a MAC Pro card if you are a student or already a licenced professional!

Face and Body Foundation L-R C1,C3,N3,N7
Mineralize SkinFinish Natural L-R Medium, Medium Plus, Dark

Pro Longwear Concealer L-R NW20, NW30, NW45

‘Blacktrack’ Fluidline eyeliner, Zoom Lash mascara ‘zoomblack’, ‘stubborn brown’ ‘engraved’ Powepoint Eye Pencil, ‘Strawberry Blonde’ ‘Deep Dark Brunette’ Veluxe Brow Liner

‘Russian Red’ Matte, ‘Girl About Town’ Amplified, ‘Twig’ Satin Lipsticks, ‘Lipglass’ lipgloss, ‘spice’ ‘cherry’ lip pencils

Brushes L-R 129, 103, 190, 224, 217, 266

Pigments ‘Melon’, ‘Vanilla’