weekend wrap up & wellness wednesday

It's Wednesday and we have made it halfway through another week, go us!

Did anyone see the Super Blue Blood Moon this morning around 5 o'clock? It was the first lunar eclipse this year and it was also considered to be a rare celestial phenomenon! A blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month, a super moon happens when the moon is closer to Earth in its orbit and about 14% brighter than usual, and a blood moon is when the Moon is in the Earths shadow and it takes on a reddish tint and this all happened this morning for the first time since 1866! Joe and I got up around five to watch and we watched most of the eclipse from the window but when the Moon was almost completely in shadow I went outside to try and get a photo but iPhone cameras haven't become that advanced yet and all I got was a blurry speck. But thankfully NASAs website has amazing photos. The photo below is from October 3, 2015 and is only a blue blood moon, but last nights moon looked pretty similar.

Anyways.. on to my original point...

This past Saturday I got to hang out with my friends for the first time since New Years Eve! That's practically a whole month! We've all been so busy with work and school starting back up so it was nice to take a night off and hang out with my girls. You never know how much you need a girls night until you have one. No matter what I do with my friends, it's super fun and we all have a great time.

This weekend we did something new and went to an awesome drag show at Salud! de Mesilla and we all loved it so much we are probably going to make it a tradition to go every last Saturday of the month. All of the performers were so amazing! I had never gone to a drag show before and I really did not know what to expect. When those queens came out dripping in confidence and sequins I was blown away. It was empowering to watch them express themselves and I feel very lucky to have supported them and to have been a part of that. Also, the food and drinks were awesome! We may or may not have had four bottles of wine... but you know what they say:

So today for wellness Wednesday I am going to share my skincare routine and a few skincare favorites that I use! I'm really lucky to have relatively clear skin and usually don't suffer from breakouts unless I've been eating really bad or I'm PMSing.

I try to keep my skincare and beauty routine as simple as possible mostly because I am lazy and do not want to spend a lot of time getting ready and partially because I think "less is more" in these types of situations. So here we go:

MORNING SKINCARE ROUTINE:

STEP 1: CLEANSE

I wash face with Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser. If you aren't using this face wash what are you even doing? I love that this cleanser is pH-balancing and leaves your face feeling healthy and soft, never tight. The gel formula is non-foaming so that was a little hard to get used to. Its cleansing power comes from the same gentle cleaning agents found in contact lens solution, so it’s tough on impurities and still safe to use on your eyes.

Use this link to get 10% off your first order and free shipping on orders over $30!

(I've also added a Glossier button to my social bar at the top of the page so you can click that too!)

STEP 2: MOISTURIZE

Lately I've been really into face oils! I was hesitant at first because... oil?? on my face?? It doesn't sound like a good idea but I received a few samples from True Botanicals and my fear of face oils went in the trash with my face lotion. I realized that the oils left my face feeling softer and surprisingly LESS greasy than my usual moisturizer. After I used up all my samples I went on the hunt for another face oil that was less expensive than the True Botanicals oils because $110 of a bottle of face oil does not seem worth it to me. So I found this one online (for only 40 bucks!) and I can't wait to try it out. I'll let you guys know how it goes.. if you care about this sort of thing.

STEP 3: SPF BABY

Living in the desert is hard on skin. The constant sun exposure is so harmful for our skin so I make sure to protect my face with sunscreen every day. I've been using True Botanicals Everyday Sheer Coverage SPF 20 and the verdict is still out on it. I like the smell of the product and that it has natural ingredients but when applying it sometimes becomes flaky. I used to use Stila Stay All Day 10-In-One Illuminating Beauty Balm with Broad Spectrum SPF 30 and I might go back to using it. I liked that there was a little more coverage and it was a nice velvety matte finish.

STEP 4: MAKEUP

I'll do a different post with my makeup routine!

NIGHTIME SKINCARE ROUTINE:

STEP 1: REMOVE MAKEUP

I just started using Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water and I'm already a huge fan! I never felt like I got all my makeup off before just using a cleanser so using this before to take off all my makeup makes my face feel so much cleaner after washing! Squeaky clean lashes!

STEP 2: CLEANSE

I use the Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser for morning and night!

STEP 3: MOISTURIZE

Face oils for AM & PM too!

STEP 4: ESSENTIAL OILS

Before bed I will usually put a few drops of Lavender and Eucalyptus oil on my temples and around my neck to help me fall asleep and breathe better if I am having allergies.

A FEW RANDOM SKINCARE FAVES:

This Luminizing Black Charcoal Mask by BOSCIA is amazing and rips everything out of your pores. It may be tear-jerkingly hard to get off but beauty is pain right?

Caudalie Beauty Elixir keeps my face feeling fresh and provides a burst of radiance.

Glossier Balm Dot Com is the bomb.com. My favorites are the rose and mint. The best part is that you can use the salve on dry hands, elbows, noses... anywhere that needs some love.

So thats my skincare routine! Pretty simple huh? I enjoy taking care of myself but I do not have a lot of time to spend every morning and at night I'm usually exhausted, so having a minimalist skincare routine is what works for me! What are your skincare faves? Let me know!

xx

Shay

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