Product Obsession: Laqa & Co Fat Lip Pencils

I want to tell you guys all about a product that I first tried out this summer and have recently fallen in love with - Laqa & Co's lip pencils!

Left to right: Wolfman, Fairyblood, Lambchop, Pinkman, Ring of Fire

I discovered these on the Birchbox website, they had the adorable Lil Lip Duo available, and as a birthday gift to myself I got the Pinkman and Lambchop duo. I liked the colors, but they eventually fell to the wayside. However, my love of these pencils was revived when I received a new color, Ring of Fire, in my December Birchbox. I was in love! Recently, Gloss48 was offering the pencils at a discount, so I got the second Lip Duo in Wolfman and Fairyblood. I am now officially head over heels for these pencils! 

Left to right: Wolfman, Fairyblood, Lambchop, Ring of Fire, Pinkman

I've tried all but one of the colors available and they are all of the same excellent quality. The pencils are super pigmented with fantastic color payoff. They act as a stain and are extremely pigmented even after a few hours of wear. The stain in just a tad lighter than the full color. The pencil goes on smooth and is a great shape for application; it's a jumbo pencil so it feels almost like drawing on your lips with a really smooth, lovely crayon.

The colors are amped-up versions of essential colors. Wolfman is a soft, light pinky-nude. It's very opaque so it may not be fit for everyone; I sheer it out with my finger, which helps. Fairyblood is my favorite color, it's a pink with gold shimmer and it's practically a dupe of NARS' Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in New Lover. Lambchop is an insanely bright blue-toned pink, it's super fun but it's not a color for the faint of heart! Pinkman is another one of my favorites, it's a deep fuchsia and is super flattering. Ring of Fire is a neon red that manages to not be orange which I love because I look terrible in orange. It's surprisingly wearable, and I really love this on a day when I want to wear red but am too lazy for actual lipstick.

Me wearing Pinkman!

I consider Fairyblood a must-have color and I absolutely love the portability of the Lil Lips. They're adorable and fit into any bag, and you don't need a lot so the pencils last forever. I like the option to buy the two minis to try them out or the full size pencil if you really like a color. Plus, they offer a set of all five Lil Lips if you want to try them all! I love this product and if you're a lippy junkie you should definitely give these a try!

I'll post swatches soon!

<3 xoxo

How I Detox My Face

So as I've mentioned before I have absolutely horrible skin. I got the lovely combination of extremely oily, sensitive, acneic skin which is pretty much the bane of everyone's existence. I've undertaken a long, long struggle in my life to find products to keep my pesky problem skin at bay and I've come up with a pretty good regimen. Every once in a while, my face explodes with breakouts for weeks on end and there's little I can do but treat them retroactively. I've developed a two-day detox for my skin and I'm gonna share it with you in the hopes that if you develop a smattering of spots, this might help you too!

For starters, I stick to my regular skincare regimen and supplement with extra-strong acne fighters. Every day in the morning I wash my face with Clearasil Morning Burst detoxifying cleanser, tone with Neutrogena Pore Refining toner, treat with La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo and moisturize with Clinique Dramatically Different moisturizing gel. In the evening, I wash with Neutrogena Naturals fresh cleansing + makeup remover, treat with Origins Spot Remover pads and moisturize with Clinique Moisture Surge (original formula).

Every day that my skin is misbehaving I add a few steps aside from the Detox. In the evening when I'm in for the night, I remove all my makeup with Simple Skincare oil balancing wipes and tone with Formula 10.0.6 So Totally Clean Sensitive Skin toner. During my evening routine, after the Spot Remover wipes, I add DDF's salicylic acid Acne Control Treatment. Those things help calm my face and help it on its way back to normalcy. If the situation is really dire, I move on to the Detox.

Tips for the Detox:

1. Do this on the weekend when you have time to let masks sit on your face. 

2. DO NOT STOP MOISTURIZING. If you're gonna wait a while between your mask and your normal routine, moisturize after the mask in addition to what you normally do. 

3. Try not to pick your face. Popped zits are harder to deflate than unpopped ones (I know from experience). Plus the medications can really burn exposed skin. 

4. Do this once a week MAX. This routine can be seriously drying, especially if you have combination skin. I probably wouldn't recommend this detox to anyone with dry skin.

Detox Day 1: I start on Friday mornings when I usually don't have class or work, but Saturday and Sunday would work too if you don't plan to attend church. When you wake up, remove all oil from your face using Simple Skincare oil balancing cleansing wipes. Then, generously apply The Body Shop's Tea Tree face mask. This is a fantastic mask loaded with tea tree oil to suck all the impurities out of your skin and help soothe painful cystic acne. Let sit for up to half an hour (it says 10 to 15 minutes but it's gentle enough to let it sit). Remove with a soft wash cloth and warm water, and follow with a swipe of gentle toner (I use Formula 10.0.6's  So Totally Clean Sensitive skin toner) and moisturizer if it's going to be a while before you moisturize (I like philosophy's Take a Deep Breath). 

Detox Day 2: Do the same as Day 1 but replace the tea tree mask with Origins' Clear Improvement Active Charcoal mask to clear pores. This mask is great to follow the treatment mask because it digs down deep into your pores to get out impurities and helps balance oil. It says to open the pores with a warm towel before applying the mask. I usually skip this step, but it may be more effective if you do it this way.

These products I mention are pricey, but there are ways to save. For all the Clinique and Origins, see if you have a Cosmetics Company Store in your local Premium Outlets. These are Estee Lauder-owned stores and have lots of overstock, discontinued and limited-edition products for 20 - 30% off the retail price. There are also less expensive swaps for some of these products. The DDF treatment can be swapped for any 2% salicylic acid acne treatment. The Moisture Surge can be swapped for Garnier's gel moisturizer. I don't really like to compromise on the Effaclar Duo because it contains LHA, but if you're strapped for cash any 5% benzoyl peroxide acne medication will do. The tea tree mask is hard to find a swap (this might do), but see if you can use coupons and points at Ulta to get a discount. This charcoal mask is a super inexpensive alternative to the Origins mask. The Spot Remover pads can probably be replaced by something like Neutrogena's RapidClear pads, but these contain more salicylic acid and no witch hazel, so they may be harsher on the skin.

Good luck with your crusade against acne, and remember, I totally feel your pain.

xoxo <3

2014 Beauty Resolutions AND Beauty Challenge!

Hello lovely readers! I know it's been a long, long time since you've heard from me and for that I apologize. However, you'll be hearing much more from me soon because as my main resolution (other than getting a full-time job when I graduate, because duh) is to write a blog post for you all at least once a week! I wish I was one of those bloggers who's compelled to write a new post every day but I just don't have that much time in my day, so this is what I'm committing to for now!

To start off the year, I've made a few beauty resolutions! My main ones are:

1. Wear less makeup
This is a really important one because for years and years I've caked my face in makeup to cover up my bad skin. I'm oily, sensitive AND acne prone which is pretty much the worst of everything, and I've always been very insecure about it. I've been coming to terms with my skin, and this year I want to minimize my makeup to streamline my routine and do more with less.

 Image from stylemotivation.com

2. Focus on skin care and improving skin health
This goes along with wearing less makeup. I'd like to find a beauty routine and stick to it for a while. What I'm doing right now has been pretty effective, and I want to tweak my routine just a little then stop messing with my skin!

Image from webmd.com

3. Continue to master the cat eye
I love love love this look and I want to get even better at it. I'm gonna share a super easy cat eye tutorial with you soon, but I'd like to master it to the point that I get it right every time!

Image from secretsofagoodgirl.com

4. Wear more red lipstick
Red has really become my power color but I find that I really only wear it when I'm going to work (I work at a makeup store). So silly! I want to show my color off to the world, and not worry so much what other people think of it. I love red and I'm proud!

Image from totalbeauty.com

Finally, I've set a sort of beauty challenge for myself that I'm really excited to share with you! To give you a bit of back story, I'm a bit of a beauty product hoarder, and I'm that girl who hoards all the toiletries from hotel room! This past summer I wound up with about 100 bottles of shampoo and conditioner from various hotels and I distilled them all into one big bottle. It's been about 4 months and I still have a fair amount of product left. SO my beauty challenge for 2014 is that I'm not going to buy a single shampoo or conditioner until I've used ALL of the hotel shampoos and conditioners I've accumulated! I have some really nice product, from Le Labo to Bvlgari to H2O+, so I'm excited to treat my hair like it's on vacation every day! To give you an idea of what that's going to look like...

Left is shampoo, right is conditioner. And yes, those are gallon-size Ziploc bags.

Wish me luck dear readers, you'll be hearing from me soon! =) 

xoxo <3