With winter, my skin is even more pale and dry, and it really shows my dark circles, uneven coloring, and fine lines. I’ve been looking for products that will make my skin look better without looking fake. A few things I have tried lately:
- Judith August Special Care Cover. On a whim I bought this concealer; I have been a Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage gal for years, but for some reason this caught my eye. Tried it, and hated it. It was cakey and thick and false looking. Then I tried it once while my primer and moisturizer was still damp… and I fell in love. It was creamy, it blended nicely and I think did a better job of hiding redness and such. However, I found one of the colors to be insanely orange and dark, too dark to even touch. Then I watched a YouTube video where the blogger suggested orange concealer to hide under eye circles and decided to try the weird orange-brown color in this compact. Winner! I now use just this concealer – the orange under the eyes, the lightest in the corner of the eyes and in the bit of marionette lines I have so far, the medium under the nose, over any zits, and around the lips. I usually blend with my fingers, a brush if I’m trying to cover a spot. It’s good stuff once you master the application.
- NARS Blush in Mata Hari. Again, I have been a loyal gal to NARS Orgasm since my 30th birthday, but lately I have found it to be too shimmery, and too warm to go with some of my bold lipsticks. I have a friend who swears by Mata Hari so I decided to give it a try. Big fan. It can be waaaayyy too strong of pink, but I stipple it on and then blend and it gives a natural flush that looks really pretty on my pale skin. I still wear Orgasm when I’m wearing a warm-toned lipcolor and like the shimmer for evening, but Mata Hari has become my go-to daily blush. If you try it, get a big brush that can let it be more of a flush; too small of a brush and you can end up looking as though you got burned or have a fever.
- Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs. I know hose have come back en vogue, but they just give me the willies. I don’t mind my pale skin, but with age my legs have more visible of veins and darkness on the knees. When I went to New York for the Foxcroft shoot, the makeup artist told me she SWEARS by Airbrush Legs, even to cover tattoos and not just on legs. I decided to try it… and decided I am not skilled enough for this stuff. I read online to do it on freshly cleaned and shaved legs, I read one should do it on moisturized skin to help it spread nicely, to do it in the bathtub and blend with an old washcloth for a natural look. I did it all and still looked like I did in 7th grade when I tried Coppertone QT and failed miserably. I tried three different times and in two colors, and each time was a major fail for me. Though it is water resistant, luckily it comes off pretty quickly with a loofah and soap.
- Revlon ColorStay Whipped Foundation in Natural Beige. In summer, even though I slather on the SPF I can get away with a BB Cream and feel as though there’s enough coverage and color. By October, I feel as though I look like a corpse and need something more opaque. I picked this up on a whim and I love it. I love that it blends really nicely, it doesn’t cake up, doesn’t make my skin look dry, and it lasts all day. Seriously it lasts; I can put it on at 5:45am and still look fresh for an after-work event. Revlon never does me wrong.
- Two Faced Better than False Lashes. Okay, this doesn’t help my skin look better, but with age my lashes aren’t as full, and I am not the type to wear false lashes on a regular basis (I’ve only worn them three times in my life). I read that this product was awesome, and also read that it was messy and a waste of money. I took my chances… and was glad I did. The first time I used it was to my friend’s wedding; it’s not a quick swipe swipe and go, but neither is false lashes. I curl my lashes, put a light coat of the black mascara, then wiggle the fiber mascara all over the lashes, then wiggle on a coat of the black on top. I do not recommend using even the black product on your lower lashes because it is sticky and your lashes can fuse together (I just use Clump Crusher on the bottom), but this product really really makes my lashes look long and lush and not like spiders and with practice I have sped up the application process and can control how much oomph I get so it can even work for the office. It comes off easily with facial cleansing cloths or any makeup remover; hold the remover there for a while to get between the lashes, then wiggle to gently remove. Big fan.
I wrote about Splendies and Volupties before, but I just had to write about them again since they have made some cool changes since my last post. One, is the style. Volupties has even more great plus size brands and styles – they sent me a package to check out and look at how adorable these undies are!
Not only that, they fit great; Volupties now has TRUE SIZING so each pair should fit properly and size issues have reduced drastically. What I love is you can change your size of you have a membership in case you gain or lose weight, and now they have a referral program where you can get months free by getting friends to subscribe. Get the true story about Volupties on social media; members use the hashtag #Volupties on all channels (Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) to share their personal experiences.
I have some shoes that have slippery soles. No amount of scuffing has fixed it, and I fear I’ll do the splits on one of DC’s marble sidewalks. There’s plenty of products out there made to go on the bottom of shoes to provide some grippage… but to do it cheaper, better, and have a more custom size I followed the suggestion of a stylist friend and bought gripper tape. Made for stair treads and the such, gripper tape comes in a roll, has an adhesive back, comes in clear, and is easy to cut and shape with regular scissors. I’ve now added them to the bottom of most of my shoes and feel far more secure without having blatant stickers on my soles.