Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hour Full Coverage Foundation REVIEW!!!

The features of this are: 12 hours of full coverage, SPF 15, a weightless texture, blendable and buildable. This comes in a tube, so you squeeze it out. This foundation is great. It comes in 16 different shades. The shades vary between warm and neutral tones. Which is nice. It is also fragrance free, which is good for people with sensitive skin. I tried this foundation on acneic skin. And it covered it pretty well. I used a little bit more concealer but this was great on its own. The sunscreen in this is titanium dioxide and zinc oxide which is a good combination for people with sensitive skin. The texture of it is very thick, a little goes a long way with this. It doesn't feel thick on, it feels like you have stuff on your face, but i've felt like i've had worse on. This foundation is good at blending, it takes longer than other foundations, but its ok. This foundation is buildable, One layer is good, but another coat is absolutely flawless. This costs $38. You can get it at Sephora, Ulta, or tartecosmetics.com

pros

- Great coverage

- Buildable

- Long lasting

- Fragrance free

cons

- Thick

- Not the greatest at blending

- If you are going to use foundation as your only SPF product. Use one that is rated 20.

Overall, I do like this foundation. I will continue to use it. If Im doing other peoples makeup I would Consider purchasing it. My skin is not acneic, I would want to have a foundation to even out my skin tone, it doesn't need to be full coverage. But If you need full coverage, This is great.

Heres some pictures of my face before and after:

And the finished look with all of my makeup on

Benefit's Erase Paste REVIEW!!

Benefit has a few concealers, this being one of them. I decided to try this one because it was very creamy. This is a thick concealer and it comes in a jar. This only comes in 3 shades. I got the lightest one and I felt like it was still too dark. The good thing about this is it has a pink undertone to it. This will help neutralize the dark under eyes that many people have. It does have good coverage. The coverage of this compared to Essences is alot. The only difference is Essences can be matched to your skin color. This one covers freckles pretty good. I have a dark freckle on my nose and you cant see it with this. It does crease so make sure you apply powder so it sets. I have found my mascara on the outside corner of the under eye. I think it's because its a creamy concealer. This is $26. You can get it at sephora,Ulta, and benefitcosmetics.com.

Pros

-Creamy

-pink undertone neutralizes dark circles

- Goes on smooth

-Covers Well

Cons

-Not many shades

-lightest shade is not light

-price is alot for something small

-creases

This is a nice concealer. It does its job. If you have really dark circles definitely try this. It does crease. And its not a light shade. I would not purchase this in the future.

Chemical exfoliants DIY.

If you haven't read my last post, please do. That is a blog where I explain to you the difference between AHAs and BHAs and you can determine which ones you prefer. I personally like to use AHAs but I will ocassionally use BHAs due to my blackheads. I will first show you my AHA chemical peel

- Lactic Acid Peel. I hardly ever find products with this as the main ingredient, so I decided to try out a diy one. I use Creamer/ milk. I prefer Creamer. And Cocoa Powder. The Creamer/ milk is your exfoliant. The Cocoa powder is great because it has antioxidants. Antioxidants are what neutralizes the free radicals in the skin. This is good for people trying to get rid of Age spots and fine lines and wrinkles or for people trying to prevent. You take equal parts of them and mix them together. It will be the consistency of brownie batter. I personally use a foundation brush to apply, but you can use your hands too. Let this sit on your face for at least 10 minutes or until it drys. Then take it off with a washcloth that it wet. I recommend using a wash cloth because its added exfoliation. You can rub with a wash cloth, just don't do it when you have acne, or acne prone skin.

- Salicylic peel. This is great for people with acne, acne prone skin, oily skin, or people with blackheads and whiteheads. The Salicylic is going to help the inside of the pore and the outside. It is derived from the same ingredient Aspirin is derived from. So that is why there is aspirin in this. I recommend to use the kind without the seal. There are Aspirin that do not have coating on them. I purchased mine at dollar tree. This is also anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory. You want to take 3 aspirin and put it in a dish and put a little bit of water on. This is going to loosen the aspirin up so we can mix it evenly through the mixture. I also use honey. Honey is good for people with acne because it is anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-irritant, and anti-bacterial. These are good because it helps with redness and irritation as well as the bacteria. You want to mix this together and put it on your face Leave this on for 15 minutes. Wash of with water. Honey dissolves in water, so it doesn't need to be wiped off, which is good for people with acne so you don't spread it and break pimples open.

Both of these masks, as well as all chemical exfoliants leave the skin more prone to sun damage, so use your sunscreen every day. That is very important with these. Also if you experience any burning with these masks, take it off. You don't want your skin to be raw and painful. It is normal for the skin to be pink, it may also feel like your skin is stinging, or itchy, that is normal. What is not normal is burning.

Different types of Chemical exfoliants

We have all heard about Salicylic, Glycolic, and lactic Acids. But not very many people know the details behind them. The Glycolic and Lactic Acid are the AHA's which stands for Alpha Hydroxy Acids. Salicylic Acid is a BHA which stands for Beta Hydroxy Acid. These help the skin shed dead skin cells. Without exfoliation blackheads, pimples, whiteheads, cysts, and dry skin can occur. Lets first start off with the AHAs.

AHA's are good for sun-damaged skin and dry skin, this is because these help make the skin more hydrated. The added benefit of using a chemical exfoliant is your products are going to penetrate more. Your moisturizers won't sit on the surface of the skin, they will go deeper within the skins layers. It also helps collagen production, because your skin cells need to regenerate. You can apply this morning and night. You want to apply this after you washed and toned your face.
- Glycolic Acid. There is not a better AHA than the other. I personally like Glycolic Acid because you can find it in drugstores. This works great with people who have sun damaged skin. The glycolic penetrates ino the deeper layers of the skin. This is how the collagen is producing more. The more exfoliation, the more your skin needs to work to regenerate new skin cells. This is recommended to be at 8-10% to be most effective. A good product is Alpha Hydrox's AHA Souffle. This is $15 and you can get it at Ulta.
- Lactic Acid. This exfoliant helps to brighten and hydrate the skin. This is good for women who don't have a lot of sun damage. You find lactic acid in some high end products, you can also find it mixed with some drugstore products. I make my own chemical peel using creamer. Its cheaper and it works because I make it on the spot. I will do another blog about that.

Your BHA is good for people with acne, oily skin. This is also an anti-irritant. This is because salicylic acid and aspirin are derived from Willow bark extract. It is an anti-inflammatory for the same reason. This helps with acne because it helps to take the irritating factor out of blemishes. It helps with the redness because its anti-inflammatory. It is also Anti-microbial.
- Salicylic Acid can penetrate inside the pore and the outside of it. That is why it is good for blemishes and blackheads. It is also proven that it helps with the skins thickness, and the collagen production.  You can use this if you have aged skin that is also blemish prone. If you have dry skin that is not prone to breakouts, don't use this. This is recommended to be used at 0.5% to 2% strength.  I also have a chemical peel on this. I will make another blog about this. A good product is Clean and clears Advantage oil Absorbing Treatment oilfree. This is $7 and you can get it at most drugstores.

Overall, AHAs and BHAs are both effective exfoliants. There is not one better than the other. Its best to use the AHAs if you have dry and sundamaged skin, while BHAs are used for oily, blemishes, and black heads. Since they exfoliatiate the pore lining and the outside of the pore.You can use both at the same time, but that won't make that much of a difference. I personally prefer the AHAs, but you would have to try them out yourself.

Stilas CC Color Correcting cream REVIEW!!

I love this CC cream. This is a medium coverage product but at the same time it hydrates the skin and leaves it feeling soft. This is a little matte but it does have a little sheen. I would apply a powder over the top. This has SPF 20, which is good I recommend no lower than 15. This glides on and blends very easily. A really nice feature about this product is its green. It turns the color that its suppose to be on when its on. It has an oil free formula and it is formulated without parabens, for people who don't want them in their products. This helps with pores, and wrinkles because it doesn't settle in them. The only complaint I have is it has alcohol in it. This is $44. You can get it at Sephora, Stilascosmetics.com, or Ulta. I give this product a 9/10.I love the coverage and the finish. The feeling of it hydrating is great because my skin is dry. The fact that this has SPF 20 is great. Overall this is a well done product that I would purchase many times.

Here are some pictures of this product

this is what it looks like before blending it

This is what it looks like blended out

This is me before face makeup, i only have an oil on my face, I dont have a primer or concealer on

this is my face with it on. You can see it brightened my face and it concealed some of my redness.

Essence Match 2 Cover Cream Concealer REVIEW!!

This is one of the cheapest concealers out there and I am pretty impressed with it. It comes with two concealers, so you can mix them together and create your perfect shade. This concealer has a light feel to it. It has a satin finish to it. This is not a full coverage concealer, I generally use this concealer to highlight my face and to conceal dark under eyes. I am a big fan of this because the lighter shade is a little bit lighter than my skintone, it is also a blue undertone concealer. I have a hard time finding products with a blue undertone to it so I was pleased with this. I recommend setting this with powder to elongate the staying power. It does settle into creases, so go easy with it. This costs $3.49. You can find this at Ulta.

pros

- Good price for amount that your getting

- It has good coverage and can be used as a highlighter

- Has a blue undertone to it

cons

- creases easily, so light application is necessary

- needs to be set with a powder

- Can't find it everywhere

- Not full coverage

Overall I give this Concealer a 8/10. This is a good price nice coverage and excellent highlighter. I will repurchase this.

Stilas Illuminating Tinted moisturizer REVIEW!!

I first tried this product and thought that It was a nice moisturizer feel. It left a nice luminescent sheen on the skin. However this did not cover any redness or imperfections. It was as if it was not even there. After about 5 minutes of it on my skin, It felt so uncomfortable on. I have dry skin and for some reason it made my skin feel so dry. I instantly wished I put on a different product. The features of this product are it is oil free, it has SPF 20, and its water-resistant. I have researched more on this product and the SPF is not that strong in this product. Its not a sufficient UVA/UVB protectant. That is something that is very important to me. Another thing is if you have wrinkles and age spots or even acne scars, this is going to accentuate them. This product only comes in 2 shades, highly disappointing. The fact that it does have a shimmer effect to it, this will make the imperfections look worse. This product is $32. You can find it at Ulta, Sephora, or Stilascosmetics.com. I would give this product a 2/10. The only thing I liked about it was the luminous look it left. It left my skin dry, It didn't have any coverage, the SPF is not effective, and it accentuates wrinkles and pimples. I would not purchase this product.