DIY High SPF Foundation

This is a post on how I apply foundation most days. Mind you, I've come to this technique after experimenting with many different products.

I have oily skin, and almost every foundation causes my face to breakout. Everyday Minerals has been the most non-reactive product I have ever tried. The coverage that they offer is extremely impressive for a powder. And, yes, I have tried Bare Escentuals. That was awful by the way. Bare Escentuals don't have many color choices and the shades left me looking a little like a pumpkin. Plus, my skin would get bumpy and blotchy after a few wears. Everything about Bare Escentuals was inferior, price, coverage, color, lasting power... NOT good!

I'm also very aware of the aging effects of the sun. So, I try to wear facial sunscreen everyday.

But, when you have oily skin, wear sunscreen (prefer Neutrogena and Aveeno) underneath, the coverage from any foundation or powder will not last very long.

Plus, the following guide on how to create your own high SPF foundation is really useful as most foundations currently have no more than SPF 15.

So, pretty darn simple...

1. Squeeze some sunscreen face lotion onto hand.

I use a mix of fairly summer and beige neutral to create my shade.
2. Mix powder(s) with sunscreen!
3. Apply the mixture to your face using clean fingers. That's it; you're done. If you want a very matte or fuller coverage, add a dusting of powder to your face using a brush.
4. Also, optional, using a concealer brush, conceal any blemishes or use concealer brush to highlight chin, under eyes, forehead and nose bridge.

This has been the healthiest way of applying foundation for me. Not only do I get great protection from the sun, my face has never reacted negatively to this blend of sunscreen and Everyday Minerals powder. Plus, it's WAY more economical than buying foundation with built in high SPF. Good luck just trying to find it!

Do It Yourself:Fancy False Lashes

A tutorial on how to change simple cheap lashes to more flattering lashes!

You may have seen these false lashes before on eBay. They sell for a measly $0.99 shipped for 10 pairs of false eyelashes.

They are not the greatest quality but SUPER great for under $1 for 10 pairs. That's 10 cents for every pair of false lashes. The only problem with these lashes is that they either tend to be too sparse or too thick, never just the right amount of drama and naturalness. Here's a tutorial on do it yourself how to add thickness to false eyelashes!

99 cent eyelashes for every 10 pairs!

You will also need:

scissors to trim lashes

a piece of foil, toothpic, or q-tip to apply the glue to lashes

Ardell LashTite Adhesive (<--recommended) or regular temporary eyelash glue

Step 1: Trim the lashes

I always cut 1/4 of it off like below. I don't like my false lashes to be full length. It tends to be unnatural looking and much harder to apply.

Step 2: I take the ardell lashtite glue and apply a little to the smaller part where the lashes are supposed to touch your skin. Then I stick the smaller 1/4 length lashes to where I want it on the longer 3/4 lashes:

Here is the final result. See how the altered lashes are thicker, it does look much nicer on the eye!

You can be really creative with this. Here's another style that I made using this technique. This time, I used two different lashes: A sparse spikey lash and overly thick fake looking lashes. I cut the a third of the really thick lashes into little pieces. I trimmed the sparse lashes down to 2/3 as before:
Glue them together and voila!:
Hope this helped!

Recent Shopping Haul

So, I wanted to share with you my recent shopping haul! I got a yummie tummie tank from Ruelala, and false lower lashes!

I've never tried lower false lashes so this was interesting. Here they are:
I just purchased these 2 sets from eBay. Took forever to ship here but they were really cheap.

ok... so my honest opinion? False lower lashes are so over-rated! There's a reason why they haven't really caught on here in the US. Here's a pic of one eye with false lower lashes and one without:

As my husband puts it, one eye just looks caked with mascara.... Plus, they are 20 times harder applying than upper falsies!

And, from farther away, you can't really tell that much. Upper false lashes totally transform one's eyes but lower false lashes don't make the eyes look that much prettier... imo...

See? The eyes almost looks the same...

Plus, I can feel the lower lashes after a little while and it's not unpleasant, but a little annoying.

So, on to the Yummie Tummie tank. After all that positive review from Oprah and so many others, this was a total disappointment!

For those of you, who don't know what yummie tummie is... it's a tank top with a waist shaper built in the middle! Awesome idea, right? You see why I was curious?!

I got an xs which is for waist size 23-25 which is what I am. But, it was too big to hold anything in! It looks just like a regular tank!

In fact, in some ways, it's even less attractive than a regular tank! It tends to gather around the smallest part of your waist. And, as it's not tight around my waist, you can see every groove and shape (like where my rib cage ends) under the mid section area!

So, if you are smaller, don't get Yummie Tummie; they don't make it in your size; xs is the smallest. :(

For reference, I'm 5'5" at 100 lbs.

Suspender Tights vs Over Knee boots

I personally think over the knee socks look amazing on slender legs. But, I have never seen these suspender tights. Apparently, they're pretty popular in the blogosphere. I personally think the suspender tights / faux garter tights are a bit more risque than over the knee socks. What do you think?

Some Random Asian Eye Makeup Tutorials!

What I thought was most unique was how many different ways they can do eyes! Click on the image to see it in full size!

I think these scans are among the best I've seen for eye makeup. Because typically, they don't give you as many alternative ways to apply color and eyeliner!

Without Makeup, With Makeup

One of the most important skills for a woman to have nowadays: Makeup...

I really think photos like the above are kind of unfair...I mean they took just about the most unflattering picture they could find as the before photo!

The next few are ridiculous for one reason. I hate it when I see a before makeup shot compared with not only makeup but also super photoshop. That's just not fair, because photoshop is capable of anything LITERALLY... Like the ones below. What's worse are the online readers that seem to believe that it was only makeup that resulted in the "after" look!

The below are makeup+photoshop:

Obviously, this is ridiculous.. But, there's all these haters online saying that makeup is MAGIC. No, no... no amount of makeup or even surgery will make such drastic changes!