New Skin Care Products That I've Been Using

Hello! I didn't want to do an updated skin care routine because I just did one a few months ago, but I thought I would share what skin care items that I've been using since then. I've been using some new prodcuts since my last skin care routine, but a lot of the products are still the same (holy grails!). These all all products that I've been using for the past 1-3 months or so. 

There's are the moisturizers I have been using. 

-Olay 'Nights of Olay' night care. This might be my favorite moisturizer I've ever used. Olay is probably my favorite brand for moisturizer and I've always been happy with them, but this one is amazing. It's super thick but doesn't feel thick or heavy on the skin. It's so moisturizing and makes my face feel great after I apply it. 

-Origins Anti Aging Cream. This is a sample size that I got from a friend and I've been using is as a daily moisturizer. This stuff smells a little bit like lemons and sunscreen. It's amazing. 

-Aveeno Positively Radient daily moisturizer. This is the first Aveeno skin care product I've tried. I don't love this stuff and I probably won't repurchase it, but it was ridiculously expensive so I'm using it up. It does a nice job at moisturizing my skin, but I prefer Olay moisturizers to this one. 

 -Thayer's Rose Petal Witch Hazel. This stuff has been my go to toner for my face. It's so refreshing and it's really great for your skin and acne. And not to mention is smells amazing! 

These next to you might recognize of you red my 'Lush must haves' post. 

-Lush Enchanted Eye Cream. This is my favorite eye cream that I've tried. It instantly brightens up your under eye area. If you want more info on why I love this, you can read about it in my Lush Must Haves post!

-Lush Tea Tree Water Toner. This isn't exactly a new prodcut that I've been using, but I didn't repurchase it for quite a while so I don't believe it was in my last skin care routine post. This stuff is amazing and really does great stuff for my skin! There's more info about this in my Lush post I mentioned above as well! 

-Clear Clinic spot treatment. I acutually recieved this in my ipsy bag last month in July. It's a really good acne spot treatment and I've had great results with it. I will warn you that it does slightly burn after applied for a minute, but it really does dry out and reduce my blemishes. 

What new skin care products are you using? Let me know in the comments! 

Beauty Haul #2

Hello everyone!! Today I am going to share a small beauty haul here on my blog. A few of these products are from Target, and the rest are from a professional cosmetology store that just opened up in where I live. 

These are the two products that I purchased from Target. I wanted a new gel eyeliner because the one I own dried up on me. I have been loving L'Oreal products lately so I thought I would try this one. I love how it comes with a brush to apply it with. I also picked up the Olay cleaning towelettes. I usually use some Neutrogena ones to remove my makeup, but I have not liked the way they have been feeling on my skin for the past week or so. I will give these ones a try and share my thoughts on them later. :)

The first product I picked up from the cosmetology store was the Healthy Sexy Hair Full hairspray. This is the firm holding spray and it's one of my favorite hairsprays ever. I think I purchased this for around $9, which is about $2 more expensive than the professional store that I normally go to. Fortunately with my license I can get these products cheap than if I buy them at target or walmart where they are almost double the price! They also gave me a sample size of the Kenra finishing spray.

I picked up this Vanilla Bean & Sugar scented body cream because my hands get super dry from washing them all day at work. It smells really amazing.

The last things I picked up where some nail polishes. I got three of the nail art ones, and three regular sized bottles. The first one on the left is by Morgan Taylor and it's a really pretty nude/neutral color called Birthday Suit. I have not tried this brand before but they had a lot of beautiful colors. The one in the middle is the CND Vinylux brand in the color Seaside Party. These polishes work really great and they are designed to last longer than regular polish. I love this color a lot, and I've used it before at my work but I needed to have my own bottle! The last color I picked up on the right is an OPI color called Every Month is Octoberfest. This is one of my all time favorite colors by OPI and I have been meaning to pick it up since last fall. I love all of the dark colors than are almost black for the fall and winter time! I believe all of these polishes were around $4.50 

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed this haul post!

Skin Care Routine + Tips for Keeping Clear Skin!

Hello Everyone! Today I am going to share my skin care routine with you all plus some tips for keeping your skin clear, healthy, and minimize acne and breakouts.. Skin care is really important to me and I always try my best to take really good care of my skin. I have very sensitive and acne prone skin so a lot of different products and foundations that I have tried have broke my skin out. Most of the products in my skin care routine are ones that I have been using for years and they work really great for me. Please keep in mind while reading this that we all have different skin and skin types. Just because a product works/doesn't work for me doesn't mean it will or won't work for you!

Skin Care Routine:

To remove my makeup at nighttime before I wash my face I use the Neutrogena Cleaning Towelettes makeup remover. I use this to remove my face makeup as well as all of my eye makeup. This doesn't irritate my eyes while taking off my eye makeup which it really great because I found that a lot of these from different bands do.

For my facial cleanser I use the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleaner. I have been using this one for a few months and it quickly became my favorite face wash. Before I used this one, I always used face scrubs or cleaners that had the tingling sensation to them. I still like those, but after seeing how well the Cetaphil one worked for my skin I opt for this one now. I prefer the Gentle Skin Cleanser to the Cetaphil Facial wash because this one is gentle enough to use as an eye makeup remover as well. Also, after seeing how well this worked for my face, I looked at the ingredients on the back and I noticed that there is hardly anything in this cleanser. There is probable 10 or less ingredients in this, and as apposed to the cetaphil facial cleanser and all of the other ones I've tired (the neutrogena one above included) there is like double the ingredients in those cleansers. This has made me more aware of what I am putting on my face and makes me want to chose things with less ingredients/chemicals in them because of how well this cleanser worked for me. I also noticed that after I started using this product, my acne has reduced and it helps get rid of any blemishes faster then any other face wash has before. I also use the Neutrogena Deep Clean gentle Scrub about once or twice a week to exfoliate all of the dead skin cells away. This was my favorite face wash before the Cetaphil. This cleaner is really abrasive (even though it says gentle) so if you do not like face washes like that then this wouldn't be for you. If you do not mind, then I recommend this one! I really love using face scrubs because my face always feels so clean after using them. 

After I cleanse my face I always use a toner. I have been using the Olay oil minimizing toner for years and it is a really great product. It has a slight tingling feeling but it is not too harsh or drying on the skin. Using a Toner is really important because toners help remove the excess dirt, oil or makeup from the skin that a facial cleanser didn't remove. Toners also help restore the pH balance in the skin.

The Olay Complete all day moisturizer and the Olay active hydrating cream are my two favorite moisturizers. I like the active hydrating cream better because it is a little thicker and it moisturizers my skin really well and better than the other Olay one does. The Olay all day moisturizer is great because it has SPF in it so it helps protect your skin from the sun.

About once a week I like to use a face mask. This one is a sample from Lush called Mask of Magnaminty. I really love this product and can't wait to purchase the full size. It is really minty and refreshing, it feels great on my skin when I use it. 

I like to use the Neutrogena Rapid Clean acne eliminating spot gel for any blemishes that I have. I wouldn't say that this get rid of the blemishes, but it definitely helps reduce the size of them and it dries them out so they go away quicker.

Tips for keeping you skin clean and to minimize acne and breakouts:

-Do not sleep in your makeup!! I always, always, always take off my makeup and wash my face before I go to sleep. No matter where I am or how late it is. Sleeping in makeup will clog you pore. It is important to let your skin breathe at night. Your skin sweats and your body gets rid of waste through your skin at nighttime, so if you don't remove your makeup all of the oil and bacteria will get trapped in your pore and cause more breakouts.

-Wash your face in the morning. This goes hand in hand with what I said above. My face is always really oil when I wake up in the morning. It's really important to wash away that oil because if you don't, then when you apply your makeup the oil will get trapped underneath and clog your pore as well. 

-Wash you makeup brushes. Dirty makeup brushes hold a lot of dirt and bacteria. Especially your foundation brushes. I try to wash my brushes every other week or at least twice a month. I wash my foundation brush every two or three days.  Also, do not use those little sponge or pads that come with your face powders, this are not sanitary and the makeup builds up on them easily. If you do not apply your foundation with a brush, make sure your hands are clean before applying it. 

-Change you pillow cases often. Oil from your hair and face gets on your pillow cases along with dead skin cells and bacteria. You lay your face on them for long periods of time while you are sleeping so all of this bacteria goes into you skin. It's a good idea to change them once a week.  Also use a clean towel after washing your face.

-Don't touch your face. Your hands are dirty! And also clean your phone often. I heard the other day that our phones are more dirty than a public restroom!

-Keep your skin moisturized and hydrated. Drink lots of water and use a good facial moisturizer or oil. Even if you have oily skin this is really important. Some people think that if they have oily skin then they shouldn't put oil on their face. The opposite is actually true. Essential oils help slow the oil production in your face. Oils such as Tea Tree Oil and even Olive Oil are anti bacterial so it helps kill the bacteria that cases your face to breakout. 

This is all for my skin care routine and my tips for keeping your skin clear! I hope you all enjoyed reading!