Skin & Beauty Peace Part 3: Makeup Favorites

You've heard about my previous skin problems and then I shared my skin regimen yesterday, so today I'm sharing my new favorite makeup products! After my long pink-eye incident (viral pink is not fun at all, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy!) my eyes were still feeling quite irritated, even with brand new infection-free products. For Christmas, I had asked for a makeup palette from a company called 100% Pure, and thankfully I got my wish! That was just the beginning of what I feel will be a long relationship with this company and their amazing, all natural products.

My daily makeup routine (in order of use)...

100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Brightening Concealer in White Peach: This is probably the thickest concealer I have ever used, but it goes on nice and smooth! What I've been doing is putting a blob on my finger, then using my pinky to disperse it to my face. On days when I feel a spot needs a little more coverage, it's easy to build up coverage through layering. This baby is crease free and long lasting--my makeup still looks flawless by the end of the day. (Shop it here--each color has it's own listing)

100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Healthy Skin Foundation Powder in White Peach: Before trying this natural foundation I had tried one from Juice Beauty and was not a fan (it didn't blend at all, and left a flaky look on my skin.) So I was nervous to see how this 100% Pure one would wear and I am so impressed! It blends right in, has great coverage, and lasts all day! I got lucky and ordered the right color, which is hard for me to find sometimes (I am light-skinned but not pale, and my undertones are more peach than pink) so I'm glad the White Peach color works. In addition, it makes my skin feel so soft and healthy, quite a different feeling than most makeups provide. Winner! (Shop it here--each color has it's own listing)

Tarte Airbrush Finish Bamboo Foundation Brush (Shop it here)

100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Pretty Naked Palette: My Christmas gift! These shadows have not bothered my now-sensitive eyes one bit, and I am so thankful for that. The coloring is great, perfect for everyday wear, but I will say I wish they had a longer wear ability. However, I have always had oily eyelids, so eyeshadows have never really been long wearing for me anyway. But, they aren't irritating and there is always the ability to re-apply so I'm happy regardless! Also, I started using the blush in this palette before my other one was completely out... and I might not go back! The color is great, the coverage is nice, and it gives a great natural glow. My next step is to order some extra eyeshadows, but I've been pretty happy with the versatility of this palette so it's not an urgent matter.(Shop it here)

EcoTools Bamboo Blush Brush (Shop it here)

Sephora Collection Shadow Brush: I can't find this exact one but this is very similar! (Shop it here)

100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Mascara in Black Tea: Words cannot express how much I love this mascara!!!! 1) It's all natural and does not irritate my eyes like other mascaras were. 2) It's long wearing, and while it's not waterproof it stays on well. 3) It smells like fruit! 4) Wearing this has actually made my eyelashes stronger and longer... LIKE WHAT?! Never turning back. If you buy one thing from this post make it be this mascara! Your eyelashes will thank you for saying so long to chemically mascaras! (Shop it here)

Those are my favorite new makeup products, and I know they will be favorites for awhile! My next mission is trying some 100% Pure eyeliners, switching out my lip glass/lipstick collection to all natural products, and going through my nail polish collection and switching over to Lillian Eve and other vegan polishes. You see, Berlioz is a fan of me using all-natural products also!

"These are great all-natural products, Mom! Can I play with this eco-friendly brush now?!"

I'm so happy that my long search for a new skin regimen and all-natural skin & beauty products is over! I love the way my skin feels now; putting good ingredients on your face and supplementing that with professional treatments and treating your body well are definitely the solution I was in search of. And now, I can say farewell to all these other products... (Don't worry, I'll be recycling what I can!)

 I hope you all enjoyed this Skin & Beauty Peace series. It's been a long time coming and I'm so glad I could finally share these amazing products with you this week. Have you considered trying all natural products? Do you currently use some that you love? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Have a great Thursday, my beautiful readers!

--Caroline

*This is not a sponsored post. The views expressed here are 100% mine, and no compensation has been received. I'm simply a blogger wanting to share my experiences with my readers :)

Skin & Beauty Peace Part 2: Skin Regimen

Yesterday I posted about loving your skin and loving yourself. Today, I'm sharing the skincare products that helped me find skin & beauty peace! But before I go into the products, I'd like to note that clear skin really starts with what you are putting in your body. In addition to changing up my skincare products, I started easing up on my coffee intake, going back to really watching my gluten consumption, and starting a skin-clearing tea regimen. 

I came across the Get Gorgeous tea by The Republic of Tea at my local Earth Fare store, and decided to give it a try. I try and drink it twice daily, and the taste is amazing! I drink it in the morning before I eat breakfast, to help jumpstart my system. Regardless of the size of impact it's making, it tastes good and is a good habit so I'll keep it up! You can find it here & it might be available at your local health food store. 

In addition to eating better & drinking my tea, I've also been getting peels every 3 weeks at my local Ulta Salon (find yours here). As someone who used to get facials regularly, I'm a firm believer that regularly getting all that gunk out of your skin professionally helps your ability to keep up beautiful skin in between treatments. I started this habit in January with a coupon, and I haven't looked back. I definitely feel like it's making a positive impact on my skin.  

So now, onto the products! As you'll see, almost all of these products are natural, and many are vegan friendly! We'll start with my cleansing products (listed in order of use)...

Simple Eye Makeup Remover: This is a great non-irritating eye makeup remover that has been a favorite of mine for quite some time! I soak a cotton round and after I take off my eye makeup I make a sweep across the rest of my face. It's always a good idea to take off as much makeup as possible before cleansing, as most cleaners are not designed to remove makeup. (Shop it here)

Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash: An impulse buy from Earth Fare, I will never buy another cleanser. This baby is gentle, feels great on the skin, has skin-clearning ingredients without the harshness, and tightens pores like a toner. It's a powerhouse! (Shop mini size here, larger size here) 

Simple Smoothing Facial Scrub: I have had this bottle for awhile, and it is a great basic scrub. (I think sometimes we feel like we have to have all these special ingredients in everything, but that just complicates & messes with a good formula!) What I've been doing is actually mixing the scrub with the face wash, so that I'm still getting the effects of the wash. I think that part of skin problems before centered around over irritation through excessive scrubbing and excessive acne treatment. To combat that, I try and limit my use of this to 2-3 times per week. And honestly, I haven't needed it any more than that! (Shop it here)

And now for the treatment & moisture products (listed in order of use)...

Demalogica Sebum Clearning Masque: I started using this when I tried the adult acne kit (see this post for review) and it is the only thing from that kit I've continued to use! Using it 2-3 times a week, after using the scrub, is a nice little mini-facial to keep my skin looking matte and acne-free. (Shop it here)

InstaNatural Age Defying & Skin Clearing Serum: I heard about this brand through another blogger, and I love that they are local to Florida and all-natural! The first couple times I used this serum it was a little much for my skin, slightly irritating, so I tried using it 2-3 times a week (after scrubbing and using the masque). Now, my skin is used to it and I use it nearly every night. It's packed with lots of great stuff for your skin, and I love that it works for my acne as well as helping ward off aging signs early on. (Shop it here)

Desert Essence Blemish Touch Stick: I purchased this in conjunction with the face wash, and I'm really pleased with it's gentle acne-fighting properties. Tea tree oil is a well-known and natural way to ward off acne, and it's perfect for use in the morning. (Shop it here)

100% Pure Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream: I put this on both morning and night while I let whichever acne product I am using soak in. (One thing I've realized is products in general work much better when they have time to soak in!). As I mentioned yesterday, I have definitely noticed an improvement in my under-eyes since using this product. It goes on so soft & smooth, and of course it's made by a fantastic natural brand! (Shop it here)

InstaNatural Haluronic Acid Serum: After the aesthetician that does my facial peels used this magical thing called haluronic acid to deeply hydrate my skin after treatment. Curious and wanting this magic in my own hands, I was so excited that I found it from InstaNatural! I use it under my normal moisturizer on days that my skin is feeling extra dry, and on any day I use the masque. (It's all about those mini facials in-between the professional ones!). This is definitely a product you want to let soak in until you can't feel it sitting on the surface of your skin. (Shop it here)

InstaNatural Youth Express Vitamin C Moisturizer: This is another product, like the skin cleaning serum, that took my skin a couple times to get used to; a perfect testament to keeping up with a regimen for a prolonged period of time! Now, I love using it both morning and night! It leaves my skin soft and supple, and fully hydrated. (Shop it here)

Juice Beauty Stem Cellular CC Cream: I've been using this for awhile, and will continue to do so! In the morning, after I let the Vitamin C Moisturizer soak in, I apply this as a base layer to my makeup. In my mind, it acts as a primer and if I'm not wanting to put any makeup on, I let the first layer soak in and then go back over any spots for light coverage. I love that it also has SPF! (Shop it here)

And that's my regimen! It might seem like a lot of product, but it all goes on much faster than you think it does. I truly love how soft my skin has been feeling since starting this regimen, and how healthy it's been looking! I can't wait to see how it progresses. Check back tomorrow for my new makeup picks!

--Caroline

*This is not a sponsored post. The views expressed here are 100% mine, and no compensation has been received. I'm simply a blogger wanting to share my experiences with my readers :)

Skin & Beauty Peace Part 1: Love Thy Self

I've shared some skincare favorites of mine recently on the blog, but today I'm digging a little deeper and sharing a little more than what meets the eye. Recently, I've been really disappointed about my skin. If you know me personally, you might know this, I might have shared some of it with you. If you don't, well, now you know. 

It all started with good intentions. Back in beginning of summer 2014, I decided to step away from my prescription acne products. I wanted to see if I still needed them, and part of me was just tired of the chemicals I was applying to my skin on a daily basis. It wasn't so bad at first, just kind of frustrating because I definitely got more acne than I had before. Then, after my Europe trip, I started editing my outfit pictures to put on This Styled Life. What stuck out to me was the huge bags under my eyes that hadn't been there before, and the rough look and feel my skin had. My skin just didn't seem lively anymore. And then, it just seemed to get worse from there, exacerbated by a series of eye infections and problems that rendered me not able to wear eye makeup. And while I know I don't need to wear makeup in order to be beautiful, having that as a fall back on days when you're not feeling your best is definitely nice! 

(Europe, July 2014)

(Novemeber 2014)

(January 2015)

This last photo was the last straw for me. All of these are un-retouched, but I am wearing makeup. In my mind, I look like I'm not even wearing any makeup in that last picture. When I uploaded that, I did notice the bags under my eyes looked better, which made me glad! I had been trying more natural products, and had been starting a facial and peel regimen at Ulta, but it was shortly after that picture that I decided I needed to do more. On a trip to Earth Fare, a local natural grocery store, I purchased some new products. I made an order from a couple natural beauty and skincare retailers I had come across online. I decided I was determined to make it all better, to finally be at peace with my skin and feel that it looked beautiful again. 

Fast forward to last Friday. I knew my skin had made amazing progress when I barely had to use concealer! I feel much much better about my skin, and even though I still have some post-acne spots that are clearing up my skin feels soft, supple, and lively again. I feel like I have my glow back, and that makes me so happy!

(February 2015)

I know that what is on the outside ultimately has nothing on the beauty inside, but it's certainly frustrating when nothing you are doing seems to be helping. Check back tomorrow for all the skincare products I've grown to love, and then Thursday for my favorite new makeup products.

--Caroline

Week Of Pink: Neon & A Day In The Life

Today's post is a little about pink and a lot about my yesterday... So we will start with my outfit! The whole outfit was partially inspired by yesterday's post! My sweater is a couple seasons old from GAP, jeans and jacket are eBay finds, my booties are these Sperry beauties (I want a black pair like these or these), scarf is from the FSU bookstore (totally random), and jewelry is a mix of Premier Designs and otherwise. I snapped a couple pictures on my way out the door in the morning, so I hope y'all don't mind the iPhone pictures!

Then, in my CAD2 class, we played with a new technology called Augmented Reality. In this picture, you can see that I'm hovering over a logo and pulling up a view of the product in a space. Pretty cool stuff, but a little complicated to explain, so check out this video for a better idea of how this works. It's cool to think that this is the future, and to think about all the possible applications for it! (Also, don't mind my photobomber! lol! Face protected for privacy.)

And finally, on my way home from class I just had to take a quick selfie... It was such a beautiful day, and I'm finally feeling at peace with my skin again. More details in a later post, but I'm loving my new skincare routine and was excited to see that the new concealer and foundation I ordered from 100% Pure finally answered my prayers, as did their mascara. Some days you just need to be reminded that the world is beautiful, you are beautiful no matter how you feel about yourself, and it's all thanks to God!

I hope you enjoyed these little snapshots of my day, and happy Thursday!

--Caroline

Five Friday Favorites

Yet another week has gone by, and now we are at the end of January... The month has flown by! It's been kind of a crazy week (what else is new?) but this time I mean like really crazy! Why? Read on...

1. I have been trying a new skin regimen, adding these two products over last weekend, and I'm definitely seeing a difference! I've also been getting facial peels at the Ulta salon, which have been helping. I just got a couple new moisturizing products in the mail from InstaNatural, so I'm excited to start adding those in. Yay for fresh, clear, toxin-free skin!

(And this is where the craziness starts...)

2. Tuesday I was sick with a cold, and even though I didn't want to be in class, we found out that our big project's due date was extended! A little happiness in the midst of a pile of tissues for sure. I took the afternoon off and rested and went to bed so early, exactly what I needed.

3. So I wake up on Wednesday feeling great, much much better, and I'm excited to face the day... until my car doesn't start. AAA came (bless them!) and my battery took a recharge after I drove it around town (thank goodness!). That whole ordeal, plus taking it to the shop just to have the battery re-checked, caused me to miss two classes, but I made it to my last one and at the end of it all managed to have a good day still. But man, that was not what I wanted to do on my first day over being sick! I don't know what caused my battery to die, but I'm just glad it took a recharge and all is good now.

4. I splurged (well, everything was marked down at a great price so splurged is a relative term!) and bought the bag I mentioned in this post, as well as a few others (shop similar Kenneth Cole here, and actual wallet here). When in Rome, rather, Stein Mart! 

5. In the midst of all this craziness, I've been missing Kyle. I just need a date night with my man to take away some of the stress! I'll see him soon to celebrate our 6-year anniversary (like what?!) but that seems so far away! 

SO that's been my crazy week, I hope you all have had a good one, and cheers to the weekend!

--Caroline

Recent Skincare Obsessions

I've been struggling with a lot of skin problems recently. Back in May, I decided to go off my prescription acne meds, hoping I didn't need them any more. Whelp, turns out I do. Very much so. But I set out determined to find something over the counter that would work. After trying a myriad of products, and using up the last of my prescriptions, I turned to an adult acne set, the MediBac Clearing Adult Acne Kit by Dermalogica. A clerk at Ulta recommended it, based on her friends' experience, so I was very excited to try it! I started using it back towards the beginning of October, and everything was off to a good start. It certainly brought a lot of stuff to the surface, and started to clear up what was already there. 

My thoughts on each product in the set? I absolutely love the Sebum Clearing Masque, but everything else was so so. When the end of November started approaching, I really considered if I wanted to continue using it. The system wasn't seeming to dry up what was remaining, leaving me with lots of acne remaining. So back to Ulta I went, this time to try a more natural approach with the Yes To Tomatoes line. (I use other Yes To products so I figured it was worth a try!). I put on the Repairing Acne Lotion that night, and when I woke up the next morning, the remaining acne had started to dry up! For over a week now I've been using the Roller Ball Spot Stick in the morning, the gel at night, and so far I'm much happier with the results! I'll keep y'all posted, but I think I finally have something that works!

Aside from the Dermalogica Masque and the Yes to Tomatoes products, I'm also loving a new CC cream I'm trying, Juice Beauty's Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream.  It's very natural feeling, and not heavy. Also, when I was home last week, I rediscovered the Tarte Maracuja Oil. I used to use it, see this post, but I stopped because it's a little expensive for being on a college student budget. But I had a bottle back home so I started using it again and I realized that I truly miss how soft, luminous, and lively it makes my skin-- a nice change from the dullness I've been experiencing recently in addition to the acne problems. Keeping that in mind, I might have to start using it again! Or maybe I can find something similar that's a little bit nicer to my wallet? Fingers crossed!

What are you favorite skincare products? Have you outgrown teen acne but grown into adult acne?

--Caroline