When in Doubt, use a B.B. Cream

Hello everyone!
    As you all know, fall is coming to an end and winter is fast approaching.  When winter comes it brings the promise of snow, Christmas, snow days, winter break...and also cold air. And with cold air also comes *dramatic pause* dry skin.
      Now dry skin is never fun, because your face can be flaky or itchy or just feel like there's absolutely no moisture. What can be even worse is that when you put on foundation or concealer, it sticks to the flakiness of your skin and makes it look cakey or even more dry than it is So how can you achieve perfect looking skin if you can't use a foundation?
    B.B. cream! B.B creams are designed to provide your skin with moisture and other nutrients while also providing some coverage and evening it out. What I find works best is if you mix a good moisturizer with your B.B. cream and spreading it on your skin with a foundation brush or even your hands if your want to (just make sure your hands are clean first!). Your skin will not only feel moisturized but most redness will be covered up with out looking flaky or caked on. Now that you have a good base, you can add blush or highlighter or whatever else you like.  You can use any moisturizer and B.B. cream that you prefer; I personally recommend Maybelline's Dream Fresh B.B Cream, Revlon's PhotoReady B.B. Cream, and Garnier's Miracle Skin Perfector B.B. Cream.

Happy reading

Ashley


                                

Some of My Favorites

Hey guys, so over the course of the summer I've picked up a few beauty products/ non-beauty products that I am in love with! Whether they're skin products or music, they've become part of my daily routine. Without further ado, here are some of my favorites.

Beauty:

         I am in love with Revlon's photo ready foundation, which I have in the shade.  natural beige It looks so natural and gives your skin a beautiful glow. It also has great coverage without appearing cakey, which is an absolute must for me because I cannot stand the look of caked on foundation.

        My next beauty favorite is my MAC paintpot in Bare Study. I wore it with my waterproof  Maybelline Falsies Mascara to work, and they lasted all day. Considering I work in an amusement park outside in the hot sun all day, long lasting makeup is a definite need, and this eyeshadow did not disappoint. The paintpot is a very light champagne color with glitter, which was perfect for the summer as well.

     For face wash, I picked up the Neutrogena Blackhead Eliminating Daily scrub which I now use every night when I wash my face. I had used the same product in the cleanser/mask version, but it's really hard to find where I live, and I find that the scrub works just as well, if not better. My skin is definitely clearer and my blackheads are not a prominent as they had been. 

   Along with face products, I also tried the Biore Pore Strips. I bought the combo pack that has 7 face strips and 7 nose strips. I think pore strips are so cool because you can actually see that they work, because once you peel them off your skin you can see the dirt buildup that gets removed. These pore strips do a great job to get rid of your clogged pores and blackheads.

 

Non-Beauty:

                 Nutella. Oh my goodness do I love nutella. I have it for breakfast on a piece of toast and put some banana slices on top of it, and it's a delicious and healthy breakfast.

                Counting Stars by One Republic. This song is so catchy and I love the message it sends and the cool gospel like vibe it has near the end.

                I See You by Luke Bryan. This is off his new album, Crash My Party, and I cannot stop listening to it. The rhythm is so cool, Luke Bryan's voice is heavenly and the       lyrics are so meaningful. My favorite lines are "I can't go anywhere, I can't do anything, no I can't close my eyes without you in my dreams. You won't leave me alone, even though I know you're gone, I look around for someone new but I see you."

Anyway those are some of my favorites I acquired over the summer! Happy reading,

-Ashley 

               

      

Why I'm Loving Neutrogena

With prom coming up, everyone wants to look perfect on what just might be the best night of their high school career. Hair, makeup, dresses, everything needs to be just right on prom night. You want to look amazing in all your pictures, and a key step to this is making sure your skin looks great too, right?

Having clear skin is a big must in order to ensure that the rest of your prom look is complete. I tend to get acne on both my face and my back, and I knew something had to be done seeing as my dress has an open back. To try to solve my problem, I picked up Neutrogena's pink grapefruit skin clearing body wash as well as their new blackhead eliminating cleanser/mask. In the past, cleansers that have contained salicylic acid have cause my skin to break out even more, and since both these cleansers contain salicylic acid I wasn't sure what to expect. However, after a week of using both products, I noticed a huge difference in my skin. Not only was it clearer, but many of my red post acne marks have faded away. I use the body wash on my back and chest every time I shower, and I use blackhead wash as a cleanser every night when I wash my face. It also doubles as a mask, so you can use it as that if you prefer. Both these products have not irritated my skin, which is pretty sensitive, but if you've had reactions to salicylic acid before I would only test a little out before you use them as complete cleansers. All in all, I give Neutrogena two thumbs up for these amazing  products.

I hope this helps everyone achieve clearer skin in time for prom! Remember, what you put into your body affects the outside too, so eat healthy foods and drink plenty of water to help your skin look great!

Happy reading!

-Ashley

Review: Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation

Hey everyone! So I'm not one to use foundation; normally when I search the drugstore I'm on the hunt for mascara or lip products. However, since the spring holds many big events, such as the Spring Musical, prom, graduation, etc, I figured now's as good a time as any to buy one. Since it had been hyped up by t.v commercials, I decided to try Revlon's Nearly Naked Foundation. I was a little hesitant to put it on at first, because I wasn't sure how my sensitive skin would react to it. However, I wore it consecutively three nights in a row for my schools spring musical, and it didn't cause me to break out once. The foundation is light, offers great coverage, and doesn't make your face look cakey at all. If you want a full coverage look, I would use a B.B. Cream (I use Maybelline's Dream Fresh B.B. Cream) as a base/primer to make the foundation last all day. If you just want to even out your skin, mix the foundation in with your moisturizer for a light coverage. This foundation is also wallet-friendly, so if your in need of something that has great coverage for little price, I'd definitely recommend this product.

Watch the video of how my friend and I do show makeup (I use Revlon's Nearly Naked Foundation in here)

Stay tuned for a prom makeup tutorial!

Happy reading!

-Ashley 

Book Review! An Abundance of Katherines

Have you ever read a book and once you finished it you just sat there for a while, thinking about how incredible it was? Well, this is what happened to me after I read an "Abundance of Katherines" by John Green. If you've never heard of John Green, he's an amazing author who writes novels geared towards teens/ young adults. His other works include "Looking for Alaska" and "The Fault in Our Stars" to name a few. "An Abundance of Katherines" was my first Green novel, and I can't wait to get my hands on another one. Here's why:

In "An Abundance of Katherines," the protagonist Colin Singleton finds himself on a road trip with his best friend Hiassan to Gutshot, Tennessee, in order to forget about his breakup with his girlfriend Katherine, who is also the nineteenth Katherine he's dated. Colin is a prodigy, being very smart and knowledgeable, but he wants to be a genius so that he can matter in the world, and decides to do so by creating a theorem that would be able to predict relationships. While in Gutshot, Colin and Hiassan meets Lindsey Lee Wells, a girl who seems to be the exact opposite of Colin. They begin to work for Lindsey's mother by interviewing everyone who worked at the local factory. Throughout the story Colin learns about life, love, and what it really means to matter. 

What I really loved about this story is that it had a lot of character growth, not just for one but for all three of the main characters. There was also a plethora of good quotes, which I love because I think it's the greatest when you can find a quote that you can really relate to. I think the main question in the story-What does it really mean to matter?- is also very relatable to young people. All in all, a definitely recommend this novel to everyone.

Happy reading

-Ashley

How to Be Healthy Without Really Trying

Hey everyone! So if anything, I would say that when it comes to eating healthy and staying fit, I'm not exactly the kind of person that would be an advocate for it. It's not that I'm picky when it comes to fruit and vegetables (if my mom makes broccoli or corn for dinner, I'll eat it), it's just that when it comes to choosing to having something healthy, I'd rather eat a cookie or a brownie. And I'm not a lazy person, because I like to run, but finding time to exercise is hard with my busy schedule. Part of my New Years Resolution was to be healthier, and I've managed to find some ways to incorporate healthy eating and exercise in my life without really thinking too hard about it. So without further ado, here are my tips for being healthy without really trying.

1. Don't have time for breakfast? Grab a piece of fruit. If I'm in a pinch for time, my go to breakfast is a banana. It's my favorite kind of fruit, and it's so quick and easy that I can eat it in less than five minutes and be on my way out the door. Banana's also keep you full for a longer period of time than a pop tart, because they have potassium instead of sugar. Another good alternative is a breakfast bar, like Nutrigrain or Special K. 

2. Try to have at least one cup of milk a day with a meal. I try to have milk every other day for breakfast in place of coffee. The calcium is good for your bones and teeth, whereas coffee stains your teeth and can be addictive. If you can't part with your coffee, at least put in some milk or coffee cream (most have some vitamin D). If you don't like white milk, chocolate milk works too!

3. Drink LOTS of Water. You don't have to have the recommended eight cups a day (that's just a myth), but at least have a couple of glasses. Grab a cool water bottle or cup and just keep refilling it throughout the day. Water is necessary to live, and it flushes out impurities in your body and on your skin. 

4.  As for exercise, if you can find time to take a walk or run, that's great. I know if you have On Demand they offer exercise videos, and you can find some on YouTube as well. But if you don't have the time to go to the gym, or watch a twenty minute program, my favorite thing to do is just put on my headphones and dance around my room. You don't have to be a good dancer (because believe me, I'm not), but at least your being active instead of listening to music while your sitting around. Just do it for a good ten to fifteen minutes and you'll get a pretty good cardio workout. 

So there you go, these are my methods of staying healthy without trying too hard! Try them out and see what happens; knowing you ate something healthy or exercised for a little bit help you feel healthier too. 

I hope these tips help! Happy reading,

-Ashley 

Review: New Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette!

Hey everyone! I'm so excited because I just got the brand new....Urban Decay Naked Basics palette! It was a nice birthday gift from my two sisters when we went to Sephora last Sunday. The palette comes with six colors: Venus (light shimmery color), Foxy (matte cream color), Walk of Shame (matte nude color), Naked 2 (matte taupe color), Faint (medium brown color), and Crave (dark brown/black). These colors are all absolutely gorgeous and you can create so many neutral eyes and even some smoky eyes! I'm not a heavy smoky eye kind of girl, so I absolutely love this palette of neutrals. The packaging is also so cute; its small and can fit in your purse, makeup bag, carry on, etc without taking up too much space. It even comes with a mirror so you can do your makeup on-the-go! I'm going to Florida in April, and I'm definitely taking this palette with me instead of taking a bunch of individual eye shadows. It sells for $27.00, but if you think about it, a single eye shadow from Urban Decay is $18, and your getting six for less than what it would cost for two. All in all, I definitely recommend this palette. If your looking for a small, easy-to-carry palette of gorgeous, pigmented neutral colors, Urban Decay Naked Basics is the palette for you.

Colors from left to right: Venus, Foxy, Walk of Shame, Naked 2, Faint, Crave

Happy Reading guys!

-Ashley