Tricks To Keep Your Makeup On Longer!

There's nothing worse than spending a good hour on your makeup, especially for special events, and then realizing that an hour later it's basically melted off. As we hit the warmer months of the year soon, this is going to be quite the issue so I thought I'd share a few  things that I love doing to ensure my makeup lasts that little bit longer (oily skin gals will understand how annoying it is to keep your makeup on for longer than 6 hours... if you're lucky!)
First things first, before you start evening out your complexion, you need to prime the skin! I'll go out and say that I never really believed in this step. I found it tedious and I just couldn't be bothered to add in another step into my routine but this will help your makeup apply smoother and stay on longer! I'm currently using Benefit's The POREfessional and it's great at diminishing the size of your pores (don't expect this to get rid of them... that just ain't gonna happen girl!) and giving you a smooth texture for when you put on foundation or whatever base product you prefer. Quick tip: Make sure that you wait a little before applying this primer over moisturizer, and likewise give it time to chill out before you put on your foundation. The first time I used it, I just went straight in for the kill and as I was applying foundation it starting kind of flaking so avoid that from happening by giving it time to set and you'll be good to go! I definitely see a difference when I use this. I'm testing out another primer as well so I'll let you know how that goes as I use it out for a little while longer! 
Now that you've applied your primer, it's time to do the rest of your makeup. I'd definitely suggest a longer lasting foundation if you really need your makeup to stay on for a ridiculous amount of time. I'd recommend Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Makeup - that stuff literally does not budge! And if you recall my post from earlier this month, a good product to use to keep eyeshadow and liners from smudging is the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base! Making sure you lock in all of your products with primers or just use long lasting formulas - it can really help in keeping everything in its place. 
So you've got everything on... now what? Last step, I promise! To seal in all of your hard work, spray on a few spritzes of Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray all over! I think this does the trick but I'll definitely give the oil-controlling version a go once I'm done with this mini bottle. 
So those are my tips and tricks for making sure that you don't end up with raccoon eyes and patchy makeup in less that an hour after you've applied your makeup! Trust me, it's happened to me! If you'll be out for the day, make sure to pack a powder compact with you for quick touch ups and bring along your makeup setting spray. Not only is it small and portable, but it'll increase your makeups longevity throughout the day and reduce any signs of caking from reapplying powder... that's just not a good look!
Any tips you can offer me? I'd love to know products you love for keeping your makeup on all day! 

It Is Well With My Soul

Let's start with an apology about the sporadic nature of my posts this past week. After three exams and minimal sleep, I was beyond exhausted so I definitely needed to take a break and sleep my days away, but posts are back to every weekday so not to worry! 
Since I missed this past Faith Friday, I thought I'd catch up with something I've been thinking about the past few days. It's a regular thing for me to wake up in the middle of the night, or not be able to fall asleep at all, so I listen to worship music and take it as time with the Lord. A lot of the time that unrest you feel can be Him nudging you to seek Him more and really press in. I've already mentioned this but I've been loving Bethel Music new album and I've been listening to "It Is Well" nonstop. Through the stress of exams and just life in general, I really needed to just focus on God and know that through everything, He is still good and it is well. 
Because I'm a total nerd, I thought I'd look into the origins of the lyrics to that song and I found a story that was incredibly moving. The song is based on the life of a man who was successful, had a wife, 4 daughters and a son, and who was committed to God. In the span of a few years though, he lost his youngest son, lost all of his property to the Great Chicago Fire, and then lost his four daughters to a ship drowning. Anyone looking at this from the outside would think he had good reason to lose hope, but on his journey to meet with his wife, who had survived the accident, he penned the famous words "When sorrow like sea billows roll, it is well, it is well with my soul." What an example right? It reminds me of Job. He lost everything but he never wavered from his faith. 
The attitude that comes with believing that "it is well" is one that doesn't focus on the struggles, but hopes for a brighter future. Knowing that your eyes are on Him and nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. But I think it's also important to let go of fear and know that it is also well when you receive the good that God has for you. After enduring struggles, it can become difficult to accept that God will still bless you. A friend of mine was praying with me and it was such a shock when she prayed, "God, let her realize that it is also well that you've blessed her!" I never thought I was rejecting the good, but fear can do that sometimes. If it's well with your soul, let your soul be open and joyful to everything God hands you, both the good and the bad - not letting fear get in the way! 
God's plan for you may not be a smooth road, in fact you'll probably choose to make it bumpier sometimes. But know that His will is "good, pleasing and perfect" (Romans 12:2) We spend so much time questioning, when really we should be taking it as it comes, learning to deal with what's next!
I hope you all have an incredible week - and be on the lookout for some pretty cool things coming in the next few weeks! 
"Let go, my soul and trust in Him. The waves and wind still know His name"

Are You Really Communicating?

Talking face to face. Being able read peoples body language and what they really mean even without the need to listen to their words. Anyone remember what that's like? It's sad to say that this isn't what happens when we "talk" anymore. Talking is really writing and writing is really using every possible abbreviations you can to get your point across in the least amount of characters as possible. Communication might be more accessible but it has lost all meaning. Things get lost, and I mean very lost, in translation. Does an exclamation point mean that you want to emphasize your point or that the person on the other end would probably be screaming this out of anger in real life. You just don't know. (let's keep it  real, you now you've wanted to say "hashtag __________" in real life ha!)
There is nothing like sitting down with people and just talking. When I say I've talked to my fiends, it mostly means that I'm just sitting around picking up the phone every few minutes and typing away. But when you actually talk, it doesn't compare. Just a week or two ago, I went out to eat with my friends and we literally sat in the restaurant for 3 1/2 hours. We stopped eating waaaay earlier but being around people just makes the conversation flow in a way that you don't get through texting. You lose the emotion, the realness. I much prefer actually listening to someone laugh at my joke than writing back "LOL" It just doesn't have the same effect. 
As we get older and our lives start to change, seeing people in person can get hard. You move away, they're busy, you're busy. But to be completely honest, we've just gotten lazy. It's so much easier to send someone a quick message and get instant gratification rather than having to drag yourself to wherever you've agreed to meet - even if you literally live down the road from each other. I find that kinda sad. 
Call me old fashioned but I wish I could experience life when phones weren't around and you couldn't just text your way through life. Sure, it makes it easier to talk to me people half way around the world but getting so see that person, even just once, would be that much more special. I guess it would just be nice to know that someone wants to take the time out to actually communicate with you. None of that making yourself look better on the internet or giving everyone a snapshot of that one perfect second in your day - just true, letting-yourself-shine-through communication. 
Do you see people face to face anymore?

Bronzed and Blushing

While achieving a flawless base through foundation and concealer can do wonders, there's nothing worse than looking like you sucked the life out of your skin! Depending on the foundation you use, it may be so full coverage that you've painted on a new layer of skin. Though this might be appealing initially, glowing and natural skin doesn't look one dimensional. We naturally have a bit of redness here and there to make us look flushed, and if you're lucky enough to tan instead of burn, you'll occasionally have some colour "where the sun naturally hits you" (count how many times you've heard that phrase before....)
Spring and summer is the perfect time to transition from muted tones into bright pops of colour and an all over glow that'll have people wondering what you're doing differently lately. First things first, bronzer! I was never a huge bronzer girl. I always thought that since I had a year round tan it would look strange if I was making myself look muddy with a ton of bronzer. I'll also say that high school girls with orange faces didn't convince me on the wonders of bronzer either! This past year I decided to give the natural glow a go and I couldn't be happier that I did. Especially in the winter months when I'm at my palest, it's nice to have a subtle bronze that makes you look healthier. Lately, I've been loving using NARS Laguna Bronzer and sweeping it all over my face to add some warmth. This is the bronzer you hear about constantly and for good reason. It does have some subtly golden shimmer but I think it lends to it giving you a really undetectable highlighted effect. It's not orange or red, so the golden tones work really well for medium skin tones and lighter. They have a shade called Casino that would work really well for girls that are a bit darker. (Side note: If shimmer isn't your thing at all then go for Smashbox Bronze Lights in Suntan Matte - it's great for a good contour and if you dust it on lightly all over the face). 
So you have most of your redness covered up and you've added some glow, what's next? Blush! I seriously love blush. If I could leave the house with anything on it would be concealer, mascara and some blush. It livens up your face and gives you that "Oh, I'm just naturally this gorgeous and glowing" effect. Brighter pops of colour are great for this season and two that I've been using nonstop are Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Tipsy and Revlon Powder Blush in Haute Pink (can't find a link because the Revlon site is down but you can find it at most drugstores).  I'm usually a peachy pink kinda girl so Tarte Tipsy was right up my alley. It looks scary in the pan but when you put it on, it's seriously beautiful. I never knew I could have so much love for a blush. You need a light hand with this but this is perfect for bright coral cheeks. On the other hand, if pink is more your thing, the Revlon option is not only the brightest pink ever but it's fairly inexpensive. This is one of those blushes I'd say is really brightening. It lifts your whole complexion and all you need is a little on the apples of your cheeks and you're good. Really simple makeup and a bit of this, perfection!
I'm usually all about the lip products but I'm slowly becoming a bit of a blush and bronzer lover, and I'm not complaining. These are basically all I've been wearing and I don't see that changing any time soon. 
Any blushes and bronzers you've been loving?

Polish of the Moment: Essie Resort 2014 Collection

While at Winners the other day, I was browsing around their nail polish to see what gem I could find and I saw that they had the Resort collection minis for under $13 so I had to give it a go. I first saw the collection and I wasn't really wowed, apart from the pale blue colour which is something unique in my collection. Reviews kept saying that they were streaky and hard to apply so I took a pass but when you can a smaller version, it tends to soften the blow on your wallet. Mini sizes make it so easy to test out a collection and when you have enough nail polish, you rarely go through an entire bottle (at least I've never done so!)
Out of these four shades I know I'm going to get the least use out of the peach shade called Resort Fling. It's a jelly formula which isn't my favourite and I'm not sure how it would look on my skintone. Might have to give it a try as a pedicure. The polish I'm really loving is the nude shade called Cocktails and Coconuts. I don't have many nude polishes and I've over worn Essie Sand Tropez to death so I thought it would be a great option. This is probably the best nude polish I've tried so far, and although I don't usually like shimmer in nail polish, this one is subtle and adds extra dimension (sort of like the glitter in Essie Bikini So Teeny). Find Me An Oasis, the powder blue shade, is probably my next favourite. Most of the blue shades I have are either darker or have green undertones to them but this one is basically a white base with just enough baby blue and I think I'm in love. This is gonna look so good with a tan. Last but not least is Under The Twilight, a dark cream purple, which isn't a typical Spring shade so I was surprised they included it but it's definitely a one-coater and I don't have many of those in my stash. I might give it a go while I'm still a bit pale but this will be amazing in the Fall and Winter, and application will be a breeze - this is extremely opaque. 
All in all, there are certain collections that don't seem as strong to me or that you just don't feel like buying all of them full size, in which case these mini sets are amazing. If you can find them at your Winners, definitely pick one up! 
Any polishes in particular looking extra pretty to you lately? 

Garnier Ultra-Lift Transformer : Lazy Day Face In One Step

Don't be turned off by the anti-aging claims if you're under the age of 30, this moisturizer is real "no makeup, makeup" in a bottle. While most no makeup looks end up using 20 products, there are always those days where you're lounging around the house and you can't be bothered to take 30 minutes of your morning trying to make all of those products look undetectable. Being in the middle of finals week, I was having this dilemma and I really had nothing in my makeup arsenal that was less than a lightweight foundation but more than wearing nothing... until I stumbled across this! The Garnier Ultra-Lift Transformer is in the same vein as Origins Vitazing, which is a product I haven't tried myself.

Like always, Anna made me buy this (I feel like a series by this title is in order at this point). In the UK this is called the Miracle Skin Cream so I did a bit of a search for the Canadian equivalent and found it on sale for $15 at Walmart. Score! Oh, and I'd like to thank my friends who were at Walmart with me that day and pitched in the extra $1 I needed, in coins, because they couldn't handle me stalking this thing like a hawk any longer.

What initially intrigued me about this product was that it was perfect for those stay at home days. It takes a lot for me to actually get out of my PJs and look like a normal human being when I'm stuck studying all day but in terms of makeup, I've never liked the feel of it if I'm just lounging around the house. Garnier's cream doesn't claim to cover or be a BB cream in any way, but it takes the place of your moisturizer while still giving you a really nice, healthy glow. This could really just be the last step in your skin care regime or technically the first step in your makeup routine.

Like I said, this doesn't give you insane coverage but it does even out your complexion enough and gives you a healthy appearance to where you may only need some concealer over problem areas. You can see in the picture above that the cream comes out white and adjusts to your skin colour as you rub it in. It looks slightly orange in the picture but on my face it just gives me a very subtle bronzed effect. You won't look like an Oompa Loompa! The more you work it in to the skin, the more it blends in and matches your colouring.
This is ultra lightweight - it is a moisturizer after all. I think that's what I like the most. It's just one step but it hydrates your skin all day and makes you look a little more radiant. On Monday I had to run some errands and the humidity levels were pretty much insane seeing as how it was raining, but I wore this because I was feeling lazy. After running around and being stuck in a bus with literally no ventilation, my face started to feel like it was sweating off but when I got home I still looked healthy. Because it doesn't give a full coverage effect when it's on, you won't look like your makeup melted off since you only really had cream on. 
Some tips: don't put a ton on.... like I did when swatching it (whoops!). You only need a little - a pea-sized amount will do the trick. Make sure to blend it in enough so that it really looks seamless! For the price, I think this is a great product for when you really don't want to wear makeup but you need your skin to have a bit of glow. It makes you look radiant but not shimmery at all, and handles any redness or very minor discolouration. You won't feel bad on days when you don't wear makeup because you are still letting your skin breathe! For those of you who have had Vitazing on your wish list, you might want to gives this a go and save that extra money for another shopping day! 
Have you tried this out? What are your thoughts?