Beauty

Beauty

Target is really the death of me.

I go in there for toilet paper and come out with a new lipstick, some new home decor, and a Kombucha. Fellow Target lovers, we all know that roaming the aisles is just so fun, kind of like being a kid in a candy store.

When it comes to makeup products, anything that I use really has to be amazing, and because of that, I shop smart. And not everything that I use has to be from the department store or super luxury. And there are some AMAZING makeup products available at the drugstore.

Today while I was looking at my makeup and selecting my holy grail drugstore makeup products to share, I wasn’t intending on them all being from NYX. That just goes to show ya how phenomenal the brand is.

So, here are my faves:

NYX Shimmer Down Pigment in Platinum

 This is hands down the BEST inner eye shadow ever. What do I mean? Pop this shadow on the inner corners of your eyes and they will really pop. I wear this shadow almost daily because it really makes me look awake with just one other eyeshadow, which I’ll get to in a sec.

NYX HD Studio Photogenic Concealer in Porcelain

I learned this trick from the makeup master, Jaclyn Hill, and boy does it make a big difference. After you’ve applied your foundation and concealer, add a LIGHTER concealer just to the apples of your cheeks to make them look like they are coming forward. Don’t believe me? Put a light concealer on one cheek and you be the judge of the difference. It’s amazing really. I love this concealer just for this purpose.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Istanbul

 This liquid lipstick is the best drugstore version ever. I’m usually not a fan of liquid lipsticks because they can be drying on your lips, but this one is not. My tip with liquid lipstick: wear it when you’re at a party or out to dinner because it does not transfer onto your cup or napkin, plus your lips will look fresh the whole time.

NYX Eyeshadow

Using a muave-y color eyeshadow is so flattering! It really adds to that awake look. I only use this eyeshadow in my crease, and a buff it outward towards my temples to elongate the look of my eyes. It’s a barely there kind of eyeshadow, and paired with the bright platinum color on the inner corners, you’re good to go.

Ok, your turn. Tell me your drugstore faves!

xo, Lynn


 

Beauty

You guys might know that my hair is naturally frizzy and curly – I feel like I’ve talked about it a lot. Great for styling, but not great to wear “natural” if ya know what I mean. As a kid, I was always jealous of my friends who had stick straight and SMOOTH hair. That was never me, not even as a 5 year old kid. Always HUGE hair.

This kind of texture can make it difficult to get that bouncy, textured, and just light and airy look. I hope you know what I’m talking about…?

I’m not going to lie…this look takes work and it takes products.

These are four products that I use almost every single time I style my hair.

The first is OUAI’s MEDIUM HOLD HAIRSPRAY. So good. Not only does it smell like Hawaii, it’s so light and does not make the hair crunchy. Noelle, my go-to hair gal taught me an amazing trick with hairspray: spray it on pieces of hair before your curl them. That way, the curl will hold AND you won’t be left with helmet head AFTER you style your hair. This tip is a game changer and you have to give it a try.

For the textured look, my go-to lately has been the ORIBE MATTE WAVES. Yes, I also use the Dry Texturizing Spray that Oribe is so famous for and I love it. However Matte Waves is so amazing for thicker hair and really getting that beachy, textured look. A little goes a long way.

When I was introduced to EXPENSIVE from IGK I feel in love immediately. For us girls with coarse hair, it can tend to look lackluster. I add shine to my hair every single day by mixing EXPENSIVE with OUAI HAIR OIL and it is bomb.

I also love to use the HAIR OIL on its own right after I wash my hair, while it’s wet. It adds a layer of heat protection and makes your hair super smooth.

What is your holy grail hair product?

xo Lynn

Beauty, Wellness

I am very specific about my makeup, and I like to use what works best for certain wants and needs – such as covering my rosacea, using products that are cruelty free, and the list goes on. I’m not a one brand kind of person either – I pick and choose from different brands based on what products work best for me.

Recently, Sephora released a section on their website and in their stores called “clean at Sephora“. Of course I knew about natural products before, but I hadn’t given much thought to using natural products.  I stick to my tried and true cruelty free items, but that does not mean those products are natural. It just means they’re not tested on animals. So I looked at what was available in the “clean” section and was intrigued.

The more I thought about putting certain products, specifically foundation and concealer on my face and how it’s absorbed into my bloodstream, I started to do more research on ingredients.

Here is what I have learned so far:

+ The average woman uses 515 synthetic chemicals on her skin every day, without even knowing.

+ The FDA doesn’t require any pre-market testing or approval before beauty products hit shelves. The European Union has banned over 1,300 chemicals found in cosmetics, as scientific studies suggest that they could be linked to cancer, reproductive harm, and neurotoxicity. However, the FDA has only banned eight and restricted three.

{via source}

While I’m not going all out natural all at once, I did just start using two Lawless Beauty face products and I am obsessed. So obsessed that I have to share with you guys. What really caught my attention with Lawless Beauty over some of the other brands I’ve seen is that the packaging is so glam and you can tell that there is so much thought and care behind the brand. Annie Lawless wanted her brand of makeup to reflect luxury and glamour while still being natural. LOVE!

♡ Lawless Beauty Foundation

I’ll start with the description, because it perfectly describes the product:

“This SPF-free, non-comedogenic, skin-nourishing formula won’t clog pores, and wears comfortably throughout the day with a weightless feel that won’t fade or disappear. Lightweight, antioxidant-rich, skin-balancing oils, including abyssinica, camellia, kukui, grape seed, and jojoba oils, help plump and replenish the skin’s moisture barrier for a supple, youthful appearance. Soothing, anti-inflammatory shea butter helps soften and repair skin, while promoting collagen production and protecting against free radicals. With this formula, you can achieve medium to full coverage with a natural, skin-like finish that never looks cakey or dry on the skin.” – LAWLESS

There is so much that I love about this foundation, but most of all, I love the consistency as it is not matte yet it’s not shiny, it has no SPF (which makes it perfect for a wedding!), and it wears very well throughout the day. I’m a huge fan, and I will be wearing this foundation on my wedding day.

♡ Lawless Beauty Seal The Deal Setting Powder

What’s different about this setting powder is that talc is not used. Instead, mica us used as the base. The powder does not add any cakiness, it is very fine and applies like an airbrushed finish.

Are you guys into natural makeup? If so, what have you loved? Please share!

xo, Lynn


 
Beauty, Real Sh*t, Wellness

Confession: Sometimes I lie and say that I forgot to put on deodorant, but in truth, I just hate it. Specifically the conventional, unhealthy kind.

I just can’t get down with putting those chemicals on my pits.

I have blogged about deodorants before, and I found some that did work. But that wasn’t enough. I’m always testing, always trying new things. I went back to unhealthy deodorant for a long time (shameful) because nothing was rocking my world. I needed something PERFECT, natural, with no BS ingredients.

The entire time I was using these “bad” deodorants in between, I was fully aware that they pose potential health problems such as: breast cancer, Alzheimers, hormone disruption, among others. Some studies say that the aluminum used in “bad” deodorants is not harmful, however I’d like to play it safe, thank you very much.

Here’s the problem with so many alternatives available: they are less reliable and many times, very weak.

Conventional antiperspirants work by reacting with sweat to create a temporary plug in your sweat glands; conventional deodorants work by killing the bacteria that live on skin (the bacteria break the fats and proteins present in sweat down into b.o., essentially) with compounds like triclosan.

That said, plugging sweat glands and depositing elements like fragrance, aluminum, and powerful synthetic antibacterial agents right where so many of the body’s lymph glands, critical to the body’s immune system, seems foolhardy to many. “I don’t want to use anything with aluminum because it mimics estrogen and I’m already estrogen dominant,” says Jena Covello, founder of Agent Nateur. “Western medicine is hesitant to say that aluminum causes breast cancer, but this toxic heavy metal is found in breast cancer tumors.”

Back to the story. A few weeks ago, I discovered Kopari’s Deo (that is what it’s called) and I fell in LOVE. Love at first smell. I love everything coconut oil, and Kopari is best known for their coconut oil based products. This deodorant smells just like coconut milk yet it’s very fresh smelling. I did some reading on the ingredients, read some reviews, and then I tested. I tested after running 4 miles on the treadmill, I tested during blistering hot bay area summer days, I tested when I was sitting at home doing work.

The result? NO B.O. I was shocked.

The magic of Kopari Deo is its perfectly calibrated blend of ingredients: coconut oil, plant derived Triethyl Citrate, Sage Oil, and coconut water. These ingredients provide odor protection while simultaneously warding off the bacteria that causes it in the first place. Did you know that coconut oil is antibacterial? Extra WIN.

The icing on the cake? The deodorant is clear, so no white stains on your clothes.

Have you tried Kopari? Let me know your thoughts!

xo, Lynn