Natural Body Care For Cheap

I really believe in natural body care, I don't buy any of my body care from a drugstore. I know my makeup has chemicals and probably not very good ingredients, so I like to keep the products that I use every single day (body lotion, body wash and deodorant) as natural as possible. I also remove my makeup with olive oil, because I have sensitive eyes. Here are the poducts I am currently using:


My skin is extremely sensitive, drugstore lotions make me itch (especially after I shave). This always lead me to buy extremely expensive body butters, but when I was in Whole Foods I saw this! It's a huge container of lotion made out of all natural ingredients and 10 percent of the profits go to charity in Africa. I love this lotion, it is smooth, liquidy and glides over my skin. I have it in the lavender scent. It keeps my skin so soft and comfortable. This huge 32 oz bottle was only $10, see... being natural can be cheap!

I love this shower gel because it doesn't have the lathering chemicals that dry out my skin (remember more suds= drier skin). This is a very gentle cleanser that leaves me feeling fresh and clean. It also doesn't break me out, which is amazing, a lot of soaps will cause me to get breakouts/rashes on my arms. This bottle was like $4 at Whole Foods.


I've stopped using conventional antiperspirant/ deodorants for a while now. I sweat with regular anti antiperspirant/ deodorant on so I figured I might as well switch to a product that doesn't have chemicals since the chemicals aren't working anyway. This is a crystal deodorant, you have to wet it to apply it to your underarms. It keeps odor at bay all day, and even the next day (I apply it at night after my shower and I don't re-apply it in the morning because it works basically till your next shower). It's about 6 bucks and it lasts for years (I've probably had mine for about 3 years and it hasn't gone down at all.. it will probably last for 10).

This whole routine costs about $20. A drugstore routine would run about $22 if you used all Dove products. This routine is natural, cheaper, the products are bigger and will last longer.

xoxo

Loving Clinique

I have a problem! I am currently addicted to the Clinque Youth Surge SPF Moisturizer. I recieved a large container as a gift with purchase, but it costs $48.50 if I want to buy the full size! During the winter my skin gets pretty dry and flaky. I need something that won't break me out but will still moisturize my skin, this cream is it, it also has spf which makes it even more amazing. It feels lightweight yet it still makes my skin feel plump and hydrated... well if I think of it as skincare... maybe 50 bucks isn't that bad? Oh well, we'll see what happens when I run out!

MAC Purchases

I went to MAC and bought some stuff :) The products aren't that interesting but I went there to buy basics that I would wear every day and my basics are pretty boring haha. Nonetheless, basics are needed. For every day I like a polished dark eye, really full plush eyelashes, my natural lip color (maybe lipliner), bronzer and blush. I don't like lipstick, thick winged eyeliner or eyeshadow for everyday. For me, I like my makeup to subtly enhance my features.

I bought a MAC Blot Powder in the shade Dark, a Paint Pot in the shade Constructivist and a brow pencil in the shade Lingering.

I have pretty oily skin, though lately it has been drier because of the weather, so blotting powder has always been a must. I usually would carry oil absorbing sheets, but they are so wasteful, so I wanted to find a product that I could keep for a while and then recycle (Back to MAC program). So... I bought the Blot Powder Compact. I really like it a lot, the compact is sturdy and the powder is finely milled. I will say if I put a lot on, it will look powdery on my skin. I like to use a powder brush instead of the puff it comes with (I use my collapsible Revlon Face Brush).

Lingering is my favorite brow pencil color, I have naturally thick brows but I like them to be a little fuller looking in the center near my nose. The MA tried to convince me it was too light a color, but as soon as I put it on I knew it was right. First of all, I don't like overly dark brows, unless you have very dark browns naturally (which the MA happened to have...). Filling in your brows with an pencil the same color as your hair if your hair is dark, makes your brows look unnatural or your face angry (in my opinion), especially towards the center of your eyebrow. This is the perfect cool tone lightish brown that I use to lightly fill in the center part of my brows and through the rest of my brows to give a polished fuller look.

This Paint Pot is my most interesting buy. Constructivist is a beautiful brown with shimmers in it. I love this color! It is now part of my everyday look. It gives a beautiful dark brown shine on my lids that makes my eyes look more exotic and pretty! It lasts all day and it's easy to apply with my fingers. I really like this color because it doesn't look like an eyeshadow. I don't like eyeshadow for every day so this is perfect.

How I get jet black eyeliner that stays

A couple of days ago a girl I work with asked me about my eyeliner, because it was so black and never wore through out the day. Here's what I do:


My top favorite jet black products are:

1. Estee Lauder's Double Wear pencil in Onyx
2. Makeup Forever's Black eyeshadow
3. Diorshow Blackout Mascara

Steps:

1. Line eyes with Double Wear pencil
2. With a push eyeliner brush push in Makeup Forever's eyeshadow
3. Coat eyes with tons of mascara

Setting any pencil with a powder, even if it's a long wearing pencil, helps it stay put even longer. It soaks up all the oils from the pencil and really seals in the color. Makeup Forever has the blackest black I have ever seen. I tested all of the black shadows for pigment at Sephora and settled happily on this one.

Simple! :)

xoxo

Diorshow Blackout

I've been on a bit of a mascara binge this week. So far I have tried, Benefit Badgal, Makeup Forever's Smokey Lash, Diorshow Regular Waterproof and Diorshow Blackout Mascara. My favorite is the Diorshow Blackout. The Diorshow Blackout gives my lashes huge volume with just 2 coats and it doesn't clump (urhhmm Makeup Forever Smokey Lash.. it was a clumpy mess!). What I love most about the this mascara is the black is really dark and it doesn't fade throughout the day(my drugstore mascaras tend to do that).


Pros:
Great Color (dark dark black
Lengthens
Voluminzes
Curls
Doesn't clump
Easy to apply

Cons:
Price
The brush can be big for people with smaller eyes or short lashes

Diorshow Blackout is definitely a splurge product it's $24 plus tax. I used to buy high end mascara, my favorite was Chanel, but for some reason I stopped because I found decent drugstore products for way less. I do think the effect Diorshow has can be recreated with layering different types of drugstore mascara, but if you simply don't have the time I would highly suggest Diorshow. Also, I haven't found a drugstore mascara that keeps a dark pigment throughout the day.

Manicure I'm wearing right now

Right now I am wearing Essie's nail polish in the shade Flawless. It's a pretty pink, I love it!


xoxo

Back to Black

I have been feeling an urge to go back to my signature black eyeliner and huge black lashes. Since I have been wearing brown for a while I decided I need to revamp my black products. So of course I had to find the blackest eyeliner that lasted all day, and the blackest mascara that makes my lashes look great.


I have quite a few black eyeliners. MAC Smolder, MAC black waterproof liner, NARS black eyeliner, Stila kajal eyeliner... to name a few. But I am really loving Estee Lauder's Double Wear Eye Pencil in Onyx. It's black black black! It's really soft so it doesn't tug on my eyes.



I am usually a fan of drugstore mascara but I have been recently wearing Dior Show mascara, but I only have waterproof which I dislike, I hate removing it. I heard that Benefit's Badgal Lash is better than Dior. It has a darker color, and it gives more volume.


I haven't worn these products out for a whole day yet (I just got them today), so I'll try them out and see if I love them!

Update: I don't like Badgal... it doesn't do anything for my lashes. I returned it now I am on the hunt for something else! :(