My Current Skincare Routine

Hi everyone!

This winter has been rough on my skin. Back in December the weather was actually warm - in the sixties! - and then the end of January brought two months worth of snow. Yeah. Two months. March in particular has been terrible what with constantly fluctuating temperatures. In my neck of the northeast we had the slightest glimpse of spring... Only for it to drop down to single digits in two days, plus snow this weekend. Yikes. This has meant trying to find something for my very particular skin that keeps it hydrated and balanced without making it too oily.

I normally have very oily, acne-prone skin that runs on the sensitive side, especially when it comes to fragrances and cleansing tools like brushes. It's for this reason I love Clinique; all of their products are free of irritating fragrances and the dreaded perfumes.

I will say - I did work for them for almost a year, and that's where I learned to love their products. I found that they worked well for me, even when I would supplement their use with products from brands like Origins and Estee Lauder (which do use fragrances).

This winter I took a break from my Clinique Sonic Cleansing Brush to keep from aggravating my skin too much, only using it on days where I wouldn't be going outside. When I first got it I would use it every other day because I found that even though it was supposed to be designed for use on sensitive skin, I was still getting some irritation on my cheeks. I have started using it again every other day and bought the Acne Solutions Deep Cleansing Brush Head to go with it as I was in desperate need of a new one (my old one was so gross). So far, a few purge-based breakouts but overall I'm loving how my skin feels combining the brush and the Acne Solutions Cleansing Gel - a new switch for me as well, considering I loved the foaming cleanser previously.

I follow up with your typical three step - if you're familiar with Clinique skincare, you'll know all about the three step. (It's basically a cleanser, exfoliator, and moisturizer, specifically made for different skin types.) I use the Acne Solutions Clarifying Lotion which also helps to mattify, and follow that up with the Acne Solutions All-Over Clearing Treatment, which is actually a moisturizer. This alone helps breakouts a ton and I'm obsessed with how it makes my skin feel.

However, my skin does need a little extra help, so I add Estee Lauder's Clear Difference Advanced Blemish Serum to give it an extra boost and also calm it a little bit. This is the only product with fragrance I put on my face, but it's such a light, calming fragrance I hardly even notice. So far I haven't had any bad repercussions from it so it's looking like I'm keeping it in my routine.

So that is my current skincare routine! It seems like a lot - it feels like a lot - but I really love the way my skin is looking and feeling with it. Do you have any skincare products you're loving right now? Let me know in the comments below!


As always, thanks for reading and I love you very much!

x Kristin

Holy Grail Status: Melted Lipsticks?

I absolutely need to talk about these liquid lipsticks.

I know, lipsticks shouldn't be melted, right? That's totally a weird thing. At least, it was to me when the craze started. I think I first tried the Rimmel Show-Off lacquers (better known as the Apocalips) and thought they were okay, despite my very favorite blogger Fleur De Force raving about them. I didn't think they were anything to write home about, liquid lacquer lipsticks in general.

When I came across these babies, though, my lips were singing a different tune.

The Too Faced Melted Liquified Longwear Lipsticks were such a delightful surprise when C and I decided to try them. The shade Melted Fig drew us in; the perfect muted, plummy shade was calling our name as the perfect shade for fall. It's not necessarily what I would've chosen - if you've been following me on any platform for any period of time, you know the pinker and brighter the better for me - but it was pretty enough that I didn't mind committing to it. Even if I didn't love the product, it was definitely a C color.

I did love the product. I loved it a lot. I didn't get a ton of wear out of it (like I said, not my color, but also not the company I was working for at the time) but I loved how light it was on my lips and how once it set, the color stayed forever. I loved how it smelled (sweet, but not overly so and the scent faded after application) and how it applied (smooth with crazy pigment). Most importantly, I loved the shade range Too Faced offered with the product.

I'd had my eye on the Melted Fuchsia shade because, well, of course I did. It's honestly me in a lipstick tube. The next one I wanted to purchase was either that one or the Melted Peony, as the peony is more of an everyday shade and I really love peonies. I was lucky enough to have the decision made for me because a lovely, sweet friend gave me the Melted Fuchsia for Christmas!

Obviously next is going to be Melted Peony (it's my new job present to myself), but I absolutely know I'm going to be picking up pretty much the whole line eventually.

I know. I have a problem.

Is there a shade from the range you love? Or a lipstick brand you're particularly feeling right now? Let me know - I'm the biggest lipstick junkie and would love to try them!

As always, thanks for reading and I love you very much!

x Kristin

Review: The Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream

Hi everyone! Welcome to my first beauty post of 2015 - hopefully one of at least fifty-two coming your way this year. I'm really excited to be reviewing this product because I'm really excited about the actual product itself!

I tend to struggle with BB creams because they lean more on the moisturizing side, I've found, and I'm an oily skinned girl. I don't need anything that's going to make me oilier - especially being acne-prone.

Then, I stumbled across The Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream.

The really cool thing about this BB cream is that it treats blemishes while you're wearing it because it contains tea tree oil - if you couldn't tell by the name. That's kind of a lifesaver for people with skin like mine, even if you're a little bit skeptical about whether or not skincare-based foundations work. The other cool thing is that it's actually meant for oily girls like myself (oftentimes - not always, but oftentimes - oily skin and acne problems do go hand in hand, so that's such an important part of foundations that treat acne). It gives a matte look without being drying, but it doesn't add a ton of moisture either. It wears comfortably and lasts a long time, which I find to be a major plus. I have to wear a primer with pretty much everything and this stays really well without one.

Let's get some of the basics out of the way, shall we? The Body Shop website claims to give "flawless coverage whilst tackling the appearance of blemishes", something I'm not sure it quite lives up to. It gives some coverage, but it's definitely on the more sheer side with buildable coverage. In places where my skin is more problematic I tend to put up to three layers to give the kind of coverage I normally wear and feel comfortable with.

As you can see it does even out my skintone overall but that was with three layers in my t-zone, and you can still see a bit of my problematic areas. The other major issue I find with it is the shade range. It only comes in three options - light (my shade), medium, and dark. I think light is just a tad too dark for me, and I can't imagine that medium and dark will fit all different skin tones to really be a good fit for everyone. 

The formula itself is very thin and runny yet easy to blend and build up. I like using my Real Techniques expert face brush to buff it into my skin to really help get the coverage I like and make my skin look as flawless as possible. It does smell like tea tree oil when you first apply it, but the scent fades almost immediately upon application.

Overall, I like the BB cream for every day wear but I'm not sure if I'll run out and repurchase when I run out. 

Do you have a BB cream you love? Let me know in the comments below!

As always, thanks for reading and I love you very much!

x Kristin

Welcome to 2015!

Hi everyone!

2014 was an interesting year. I had a lot of really big, awesome things happen to me: my lady moved up north to live with me, I got two job promotions (what), and I moved into a fancy new grown up apartment! However, these awesome things were bookended by having to leave my job right before Christmas. Yeah. Yikes. We got through it though and made it to 2015 relatively unscathed which I am so thankful for. It's been really touch and go, honestly. 

I've made a lot of goals for 2015. Some of them are small, like remembering to hang up my coat when I get home, or pretty big, like trying to go back to school this year (!). I thought I'd jot some of them down here to a) hold myself more accountable when I'm feeling a little discouraged and b) maybe inspire someone else to set some goals for themselves too. I'm reall big into goal making but not so much into goal completing so I'm really hoping that 2015 will be the year I actually stick to my guns. 

Without further ado, let's get into some of them!

- Have better money management skills. 

This one is huge for me. I am totally and one hundred percent one of those people who buys unnecessary crap just for the sake of it, and for the first time in my whole life I've found myself with no money in my bank account. I know I'm incredibly lucky that at 23 this is only the first time, but it's also terrifying and so I'm going to do better to budget myself and my spending this year. 

- Take better care of myself and my surroundings. 

I know I'm not the healthiest I could be, and that's part of this goal. Exercise more, cut down on the pizza, eat more veggies... All the usual stuff applies here, but I also mean take care of my stress and anxiety better, which in turn goes to my surroundings. Keeping everything in order at the apartment means i can't just sit around and do nothing; I have to be active to keep on top of it all. That's such a huge thing for me and it's probably going to be my toughest goal for the year. 

- Vary my products more. 

This year I want to try more new things, especially in regards to my cosmetics and skincare. For the past year I've mostly been using the same things over and over again and I want to experiment! I want to create new looks and be an early adopter for new products. I don't want to be stuck in a rut again, and this kind of leads me to my next point. 

- Be more consistent with my blog. 

I love blogging. I love writing and being excited about new products and sharing that excitement with people who come across my little space. I love creating looks for this blog. I genuinely love every aspect of this and I allowed myself to get away from it im 2014, which was such a shame. In 2015 I am so motivated to get a schedule going here and create awesome, consistent content for you guys. 

Those are really my most important goals for the year; they're the ones I'm going to struggle with the most but I have never been more determined to accomplish anything in my whole life. 

I can do it! And I know that you guys can do anything you've set out to do this year too. Feel free to comment below and tell me about your goals for 2015 - like I said above, sometimes posting them where people can see makes you more accountable for them. We'll have a goal club. It'll be fun. :)

As always, thank you for reading and I love you very much!

x Kristin