APRICOT OIL

This litte thing came with my second iHerb order ever, in January this year. So I've had this for quite a while, still I have about 2/3 left in the bottle. Why apricot oil? This is what NOW Foods says about this product: "100% Pure Apricot Oil is a rejuvenating natural oil that's ideal for softening fine lines and restoring a healthy glow to skin. Rich in essential fatty acids, this gentle oil has excellent restorative properties that promote soft, radiant hair and helt to soothe irritated skin. Similar in structure and function to almond extracts, oils derived from apricot kernels will naturally nourish and moisturize your skin". Doesn't that sound good? 

Well at first when I got it I was unsure about what I was going to use it for - I'm a bit yes/no on putting a bunch of oil in my face. But when my skin feels really dry, I can always put some of this on and it will feel soft again. My main use for this is as an eye makeup remover, it works perfect. As most oils do, really. Since this is supposed to make fine lines appear softer it's great to use under the eyes. I always feel moisturized in the under eye area afterwards, when using this. You literally need the tiniest amount of this to remove eye makeup. It's natural, no need for fancy and expensive eye makeup removers. This costs $3.18, I've had it for almost a year and I still have about 2/3 left - awesome. 

Get up to $10 off your first iHerb order with this code: CJN164

2013/10/09

A walk around the city a few weeks ago.

COCONUT OIL

Yesterday my hair felt really dry and therefore I decided to try usig coconut oil in my hair as a conditioning mask. Coconut oil works as a perfect moisturizer for hair and skin. It's a natural product so it will probably be better for you than a bunch of market brand moisturizers that don't even moisturize enough and contain a bunch of unnecessary ingredients. This is 100% natural. Well, it worked great as a hair mask. I put some coconut oil throughout my hair and left it there for about an hour. It looks very greasy, but then you wash it with schampoo & conditioner and let it dry for a while. When my hair had dried it felt so soft, I was in love. I will have to make this more of a routine. Apparently this will also help you hair grow longer, so no cons here.

Do you use coconut oil?

LILY LOLO FOUNDATION & BLUSH REVIEW

A new found love of mine. The very lovely brand Lily Lolo. I have owned the full size mineral foundation once before, my shade is Blondie, and I liked it very much at that time as well. The reason why I didn't repurchase straight away was probably because I wanted to try other foundations at that time. But I got a little nostalgic and remembered how great it was when I was especially into giving mineral makeup another go. And I'm so glad I did, because I love the natural finish it gives me. I also decided to try a blush, the shade Clementine, which is a gorgeous color. It goes well with my green eyes *giggles*. Seriously, it's a pretty coral shade that really gives a luminous healthy color to my cheeks. I can't explain it, but it feels brighter and more colorful on my cheeks than other blushes that I've tried do, in a good way, definitely. Below you can see a picture of me without any makeup and a picture of me with the Lily Lolo foundation and Clementine blush. Hey there dry lips.

Before and after:

I think you can really see results in coverage - the skin look airbrushed in a natural way. It's like my skin but better, kinda. I don't have many problem areas when it comes to breakouts, but I occasionally get red spots and blemishes here and there. I felt it covered up the small red spots after buffing the product in my face and if I have blemishes that are a little harder to cover I take a small brush and dot it on the red spots that need extra coverage. If that doesn't do it and I want more coverage, I just use concealer first. But I can very easily use this foundation on its own - I love how it makes the skin look air-brushed. It's crazy good. I wouldn't recommend this to someone that has a lot of blemishes to cover - or well maybe I would, I'm not sure. It probably will take some work to get a full coverage. But at the same time maybe it will be better for your skin if you get a lot of breakouts. I believe this has made my skin breakout less in the last few days that I've used it, woohoo. What does it say about this foundation on their website? "Finely milled mineral foundation SPF 15 that buffs into the skin effortlessly, and allows custom coverage when applied in buildable layers. Made from natural ingredients to ensure the skin is kept clean and healthy, minimising breakouts and blemishes." I personally think it does all that. 

[Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation SPF 15 in Blondie, Lily Lolo Mineral Blush in Clementine, Maybelline Volum' Express Waterproof Mascara, NYX Round Lipstick in Pumpkin Pie]

What are your thoughts on the Lily Lolo brand?

MAKEUP ACADEMY MATTE FOUNDATION

I got this during a sale MUA had a while back and this has laying unused in my makeup bag until recently when I decided I have to start using my foundations. I have about four, five different foundations laying around not being used very much, so I decided I have to start using them if I want to buy any new foundation in the near future.

This blends really well into the skin and makes the skin look smooth and it also covers some red spots, but it probably wont cover everything. It has a bit of a matte finish if compared to other foundations, it's not as dewy. The shade Soft Sand suits my skin well at the moment, since it is becoming colder and my skin is getting brighter. This matches my skin very well but it does feel cakey - like a layer on the skin. Not very natural, but I have that feeling with most liquid foundations.

But I do use this as an everyday foundation because it evens out my skin to the amount that I am pleased with the result and covers some red marks and under eye circles. I personally like the BB foundation from MUA better though, because I think it gives a prettier finish. So it's next on the usng list.

Makeup Academy recently changed up their packaging and products - so I actually think this is on sale now for half the price. In their new range they have the Matte Perfect Shine Control Foundation which I can only assume is a similar product. Overall I do enjoy using this foundation and the price is so great, you can't really complain.

WHAT I WASH MY FACE WITH..

Dr. Bronner's 18-in-1 Hemp Green Tea Castile Soap: I use this to wash of the makeup oft my skin every night. I recently decided to try and change up my overall skincare routine to try to incorporate more natural products. Dr. Bronner's soap was one of the products I wanted to try after first seeing it in a video on CloudyApples. It allegedly can be used in 18 different ways, I'll have to list them for you. It's a very versatile soap if I may say so. The soap is organic and it's a quite strong soap, it can make my face dry sometimes, but it definitely cleans the makeup off my face.

Avalon Organics Vitamin C Refreshing Cleansing Gel: After I wash off my makeup I use this cleansing gel from Avalon Organics to be sure that my face is really clean from any dirt or makeup. So I basically use this after washing my makeup off at night and in the morning I also cleanse my face with only this. Vitamin C is good for your skin because it helps your skin repair itself and gives skin its firmness and strength. I like this because it calms my skin over night, I can go to bed with red noticeable marks and wake up with them looking less red and less noticeable. It also feels gentle to massage into my skin after using the Castile soap. First off I was using the cleansing milk version, but accidentally picked the gel instead of the milk cleanser when I was going to repurchase from iHerb. Clumsy thumbsy. But it was just as great - even a little better for me as cleanser.