Pomegranate & Grapefruit Addiction

Hello! Today I bring you a post about a pattern that I've recently noticed among my beauty items. But before getting to it, I wanted to tell you a few things. First, I apologize about slacking a bit on my posting schedule. I usually post on Thursdays but the last weeks have been hellish because of school, so all the posts ended up postponed to Fridays. Today was the last day of school for this term and Easter break begins on Monday. This means I'll be posting twice for the next two weeks. That way I'll catch up with the two delayed posts that I have and it's also a way to compensate for my boring posts. Now to the actual post!

I've noticed that I use lots of products that contain pomegranate and/or grapefruit in it. I don't care too much for grapefruits but I love pomegranates. One day I was completing my routine and it came to my mind that I had a lot of products that could be combined in a pomegranate/grapefruit themed post. So here it is.

Corine de Farme's Balancing Shampoo with Grapefruit - This is specially formulated for hair that gets easly greasy/oily like mine. I can't use this for a long period of time because it contains mint, which I'm allergic to, yet it doesn't harm my super sensitive scalp because the percentage is very small. But when I do use it, my hair feels wonderful. It's 95% natural ingredients; parabens, silicon and phenoxyethanol free.

My Label's Body Milk with Pomegranate and Grapefruit - The most recent purchase. I've been loving this a little too much.

Cien's Handwash with Pomegranate - I'm always afraid to try a Cien product because a few years ago I tried one of their shampoos and a severe allergic reaction followed. Recently I've tried their shower gels, body lotions and handwashes and I've really liked them.  This is by far the best one.

Garnier's Pure Active Fruit Energy Energising Gel Scrub & Pure Active Fruit Energy Energising Gel Wash - I've talked about these two on my skin care post!

Clinique's Defining Liner For Lips in 09 Pomegranate - This is the product that started it all. It was a gift and I've had it for two years now. I love this to death. It's the perfect lip liner color to me even though I only wear it on very, very special ocasions or days when I'm feeling particularly blue.

This is it for my Pomegranate & Grapefruit Addiction post, I hope you liked it! Have a wonderful weekend.

Until next time!

LOTS OF LOVE,

Tânia

Skin Care and Makeup Haul

Hello! Today I bring you a skin care and makeup haul. Well, it's not really makeup but makeup brushes. I hope you enjoy!

I went on a bit of a splurge this month but I'll proceed to explain: I had ordered these brushes a bit after new year's but they only arrived this monday so I can only share them now.

I've admired and watched Pixiwoo's videos for ages and ages on end, they are a true inspiration and when they came up with a brush line some years ago, I automatically fell in love and, well, I had to have them sooner or later. They day has arrived for me to own some of these brushes and here's what I got!

Sam's Picks

Starter Set

Core Collection

Travel Essencials

 So here's a list of all the brushes that came on these sets:

• Buffing Brush
• Contour Brush 
• Pointed Foundation Brush
• Essential Foundation Brush
• Detailer Brush
• Buffing Brush
• Setting Brush
• Domed Shadow Brush
• Base Shadow Brush
• Deluxe Crease Brush
• Essential Crease Brush 
• Accent Brush
• Brow Brush
• Fine Liner Brush

Some sets came with brushes that already came in other sets so I have duplicates of some brushes.

Here's a little review on them:

I had really high expectations for these brushes since I had been waiting to own some for years and they did not fail to fulfill the expectations at all!

They are extremely soft, they're cruelty free (which means they're all made of synthetic fibers), they blend color in so so well, I am so satisfied with them!

After playing with them a little bit and doing a full face of makeup with them, my favorites are the Multi Task brush, the Contour brush, the Essential Crease brush and the Fine Liner brush.

I highly recommend the Contour brush and the Fine Liner brush. The Contour brush helps sculpting the face beautifully, it fits right in the hollows of the face, making it so easy to achieve flawless contoured effects. The Fine Liner brush is, by far, the best eyeliner brush I've ever used. It's perfect for super precise and sharp lining with gel eyeliner. It's recommended for people that have a little bit more of practice with eyeliner since it's best for freehand drawing of eyeliner, so if you're a beginner with eyeliner I would go for and angled brush instead.

One brush that I had really high expectations for was the Setting brush. I read review of people saying wonders of it for highlighting the face and setting concealer under the eyes and I'll have to say that it didn't fulfill my expectations. I found that it was great to set concealer under the eyes but I didn't find it so good for placing highlighter on the face. It's still a great setting brush for small areas of the face.

The brushes are overall very soft and of high quality.

I also bought some new skin care products since I didn't have moisturizing cream anymore.
Here's what I got!

Garnier Pure Active Moisturizing Cream for Oily Skin with Imperfections

This cream is the bomb! Combined with the exfoliating cream from the same brand, it helps you achieve flawless skin. I find that it is very refreshing and keeps shine away from the skin for the whole day. 

I've been testing it out and I like to apply this one in the morning and let it sink in and do its job during the day.

Garnier Moisturizing Cream for Oily to Combination Skin

This is an amazing cream, I find. Once the skin is used to it, it controls shine beautifully while keeping the skin deeply moisturized and nourished. Its formula is rather thick and textured, which I believe is best for oily skin. The texture of it leads me to believe it had some ingredient that absorbs oil and that's why it is so good at controlling shine.

I use this one as a night cream and sometimes during the day as well.

Nivea Replenishing Night Cream for Normal to Combination Skin

This cream was a huge disappointment and a waste of money.
I was hoping that it could be a good night cream for my skin and I also thought it would help reduce the oil that it naturally produces but one thing I'll tell you is that it doesn't help eliminate oil, it only makes the skin feel greasier.
It has a super thick consistency that reminds me of that traditional Nivea moisturizing cream that comes in a blue round tin. It's not bad as a replenishing night cream, my skin looked very healthy in the morning after using it, it just doesn't do its job as a cream for combination skin. Although combination skin isn't as oily as oily skin, it still has some areas that produce more oil than others and I wouldn't use this cream for those areas.
But, if your skin the rather a normal skin type, you'd be just fine with this as your night cream. It just didn't work for me.

And that's it for this post! I may have another post up this tuesday or wednesday that will be carnival themed, so I hope to be back then!
I hope you have a fantastic weekend and a great valentine's day and carnival, if you celebrate it.

Love,
Anna

Tânia's Skin Care Routine

Hello! Today I bring you my own skin care routine. I've been using these products for more than a year and they do wonders on my oily, blemish prone skin. In this post I'll try to cover as many aspects of the products in my routine as I can. Hope you enjoy it!

MORNING

The first thing I do in the morning is going to the kitchen to leave my kettle heating up so I can have my matutinal tea, then I go to the bathroom and that's when this routine starts.

First I wash my face with a gel wash. I use Garnier's Pure Active Fruit Energy Daily Energising Gel Wash. It has extracts of grapefruit and pomegranate which are commonly included in products for oily skin.

After my skin is completly dry I use a micellar water. This type of product usualy serves as a cleanser but I tend to use it as a toner. It's not the strongest toner but since I have fairly sensitive skin it works for me. I use Garnier's Micellar Cleansing Water.

This last step depends if I'm going to wear foundation or BB Cream that day. I don't like moisturizers. During the Summer I only use them at night before bed because they're an important part of your skin care no matter what's your skin type.  But, in the Winter, the story changes and I use it if I'm not going to wear anything else on my face. My all time favorite moisturizer is Garnier's Hydra Adapt for Combination to Oily skins. It has a sorbet like texture and feels uncannily fresh.

NIGHT

My nightime routine changes if I've worn any makeup during the day.
If I have, my first step is to clean my face combining makeup wipes and micellar water. These two products get the job done but sometimes, if I've worn something very, very longlasting I use a makeup remover with a cream consistency.
After that I use a exfoliating cream. Garnier's Pure Active 3 in 1 Wash, Scrub & Mask is a product that me and Anna use. I also use Garnier's Pure Active Fruit Energy Daily Energising Gel Scrub, it's softer and gentler that the 3 in 1 and my sensitive skin sometimes deserves a little bit of that gentleness.
Then I finish the day with, once more my micellar water and my moisturizer.

EXTRAS

I decided that I'd talk about some more products that nourish the skin on other parts of my body or help me maintain my face during the day.

FULL BODY

As I've mentioned in my last video, I love bathtime. Yet, it's important to take care of all your skin, principally if you wash yourself in really hot water like I do. After showering or bathing I use sweet almond oil all over my body while I'm not fully dry. This kind of oil is commonly used during pregnancy to avoid stretch marks and it's, in fact, what my mother used when pregnant and during her whole life. I use it to keep my skin smooth and deeply moisturized. As I said before, it helps with strech marks, which I have in a generous amount, but it only prevents you from getting more, the oil won't fade the ones you already have. I use regular body lotion on the laziest days. The lotion I have been using is Sephora's Blackberry Red Currant and it's very liquid and thin on your skin I've used the same lotion in the scent Lemon Meringue. Body butters  are also a favorite item of mine. I Love... Cosmetics' Nourishing Body Butter in Rasperry & Blackberry is my all time favorite.

HANDS + LIPS + FACE

My hands are usually quite dry. I always have some hand cream on my bag and I've been using one from OBoticário that has almonds and vanilla.
For my lips I've been using the same chapsticks since I can remember. My aunt has been selling Yves Rocher's products since I can remember and I've been using chapsticks with shea butter or almond butter.
Finally I couldn't forget to include my (in)famous spray bottle of rose water that helps me keeping my skin fresh trough the day.

Once again, I hope you really enjoyed this post! And I'm sorry that I didn't post on Thursday like I usually do.

LOTS OF LOVE,

Tânia

Anna's Skin Care Routine

Hello everyone! Anna here again.
This week I'm posting twice and in Tânia's place because I had all these posts planned that I needed to get done as soon as possible because next week's post is going to be a look and I figured it would make sense to post twice this weeks with the posts I have been delaying. Also, Tânia is missing one thing that she wants to include in her next post, so win win.

In this first post I will be taking about my skin care routine.
I have discovered a couple of months back that to have a skin care routine is extremely important not to constantly have breakouts.

I'll start with the basics.

The first thing you have to keep in mind is to have a makeup remover of your preference.

I prefer to use Nivea's makeup remover, but any makeup remover will do.
Removing your makeup with only water and soap may cause great damage to your skin if it dries your skin too much or doesn't correctly remove the products.
I would suggest having one that removes normal makeup and waterproof makeup because the ones that remove waterproof makeup are rather oily so they may cause a breakout.

It's also important to exfoliate. 

I use this Garnier one. This one is specifically for oily skin.
By exfoliating you will be removing the layer of dead cells that accumulate over the skin during the day. This layer of dead cells often clogs the pores and doesn't allow them to breathe, causing breakouts.
I use this one because, as it says, it is a 3 in 1 product. It works as a cleanser, an exfoliating cream and a mask, which is perfect because you don't have to buy three different products. I usually use it to exfoliate but I have also left it on for a couple of minutes as a mask and it does wonders.

It's also important to use a tonic or a cleansing cream.

I use the Nivea Aqua Effect tonic and cleansing milk.
Usually I use the tonic on a daily basis. I use it after I exfoliate to further clean my skin.
The cleansing milk I usually use once or twice a week during the bath because it's easier to remove.
These two products leave my skin so soft, I can't even begin to explain.

To finish off I use a moisturizing cream.

For this part it's extremely important to know what skin type is yours.

I have oily to combination skin. I usually get very oily in the T zone and the rest of my face has just normal skin. I used to use a moisturizing cream for sensitive skin because my skin is fairly sensitive most of the time but that didn't get me so far in getting rid of the oiliness so I decided to change to a cream for combination skin. It has been helping a bit to prevent the oiliness around my nose and forehead.

In the morning I usually use the tonic and the moisturizing cream only.

Before I go to bed I cleans, exfoliate and moisturize.

Tips for oily skin:

• If you have oily to combination skin, you will find that you often breakout around the nose, chin and forehead areas. This is because those areas have fairly thin skin. The sweat and dead cells and all those things that build up on those areas will either create pimples or blackheads if you don't start acting on them. I would suggest using nose strips or peel off masks to completely remove those sorts of things. Or at least to help.

• To control the oiliness that builds up bacteria and unpleasant shine in your face, use blotting sheets. These little sheets have the magical power of absorbing all sorts of oils and shine. Just use them throughout the day when you feel that oily feel in your face.

To freshen up during the day, I also carry in my bag a spray bottle with rose water, smells amazing and helps clean and moisturize the skin.

That's it for my skin care routine!

I hope you have enjoyed this post and I will be back with another one on Saturday.

Love,

Anna