friday faves: beauty routine edition

Another week has flown by! In one week I will be in Las Vegas visiting my sister and I am so excited! I will be there for four whole days and I cannot wait to spend some quality time with my sister and her dog child, Jude. Sometime this week I plan on doing a post on what I am packing and what my carry-on essentials are! Is anyone into that?

It was also Valentines Day this week! Joe and I have never made a huge deal of Valentines Day and so we we treated ourselves to a morning yoga class at Dwell Yoga and later on Joe made me a delicious dinner. Joe and I have almost been together for four years and we have gone through a lot more than most couples go through in entire relationships and I'm so lucky to have him in my life. I truly believe we are soulmates after everything we have been through...

ANYWAYS

For this week's post I thought it would be fun to do a little sequel to my skincare routine post I did a couple weeks ago. I have always liked makeup and enjoyed experimenting with funky stuff when I was younger (blue eyeliner for example). Now I am more comfortable with a natural look.

For a while towards the end of high school and beginning of college I felt like I NEEDED makeup. I could not leave the house without filling in my brows AT LEAST. I recognized that this was not really healthy for my self-image, what made me think that? So I decided to stop filling in my brows completely and learned to be okay with my face and my eyebrows. It sounds silly but with the whole "brows on fleek" trend it was a lot of pressure. I realized that not filling in my brows made them grow! Now I try to use makeup as a way of accentuating what I have and who I am and not as a way to turn me into someone I think I should be.

Somedays I wear a full face of makeup and some days I wear no makeup at all, I believe that you have to be okay with both and realize that you are a fierce queen either way.

MY BEAUTY ROUTINE

(MORE OR LESS)

Step one: Make sure your skin is clean! I swear by Glossier's Milky Jelly Cleanser. It doesn't dry out my skin like most cleansers and it removes makeup as well.

Step two: Look in the mirror before you have any makeup on at all and make sure you love what you see in the mirror, compliment yourself and realize your natural beauty! This is the most important step in my opinion. :)

Now on to the actual beauty products:

Step 3:

I just recently started using this face oil by Sunday Riley but I swear my skin is the clearest it has been in a while and it is so so soft. I'm totally hooked and in love.

Step 4:

This is what I use most days as a foundation and SPF, I am not completely sold on it yet though and am currently searching for a really good tinted moisturizer with SPF. If anyone has any recommendations let me know!!

Step 5 (on special occasions):

If I am getting dressed up for something special or I am doing a photoshoot I will apply a tiny amount of foundation just to make my skin look FLAWLESS. I like this Make Up For Ever foundation because I hardly need to use any and you get a free baby one with every Sephora purchase (of $25 of more) if you use the code "UHDLOVE" !!! I have never had to buy a full sized bottle of this foundation.

Step 6:

I go back and forth between using brow pencils and powder. Currently I have been using Anastasia Beverly Hills brow powder just because I feel like I can get a better shape with the powder than with a pencil. Although I do go back in after with a brush to get excess powder out so my brows are not super dark.

For my brows I like to use the Make Up For Ever 5 SB Brush, which they don't even sell any more but I'm sure there are similar brushes...

Step 7:

This is hands down my favorite mascara and it's a drugstore beauty item! YAS.

Maybelline The Falsies mascara is magic in a bottle. I have really long lashes already so I can sweep this on my lashes for a effortless look or really layer it on for more dramatic effect. I love, love, love this stuff.

Steps 8, 9, and 10:

Contour, highlight, and blush. I bought one of these Urban Decay Naked Flushed palettes really randomly after some lady at a Macy's put it on me. The reviews online aren't that great for this palette because I guess people think the colors are weird but maybe the other palettes more than this one because this seems pretty basic to me.. I really like it because the bronzer and blush are not super shimmery.

I use the same brush for my contour, highlight, and blush which is probably not how I am supposed to apply it but I do not have the time (or money) to spend on brushes. I just change the shape with my fingers to create the right brush. I have had this Sephora brush for a billion years, it's the only face brush I've ever used.

On those days when I just want to feel like a sun goddess or unicorn and I gotta get my glow on I am thankful to have Glossier haloscope. It applies so nicely and I love the creamy, buttery feel it has. It just adds the right amount of dewiness and shimmer to any look.

The last element of my beauty routine is always lip balm and sometimes lipstick! I know I have already mentioned Glossier balm dotcom several times but I love it so much I can't stress it enough. I just got the coconut flavored one and it's what my summer dreams are made of.

If you want to see a lil video of me getting ready just click here. My first YouTube video! I'm no beauty blogger but I just wanted to show everyone how easy getting ready can be!

At the end of the day, it does not matter what your face looks like but the way you treat yourself and others. Not a beautiful face, but a beautiful soul. Make sure to love what you see in the mirror before you put any makeup on at all, make sure that person is a person you admire and let go of anything that does not serve you. Have a beautiful and safe weekend. Aspire to be a beam of light in the darkness.

xx

Shay

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