Cucumber Mask DIY - 3 Easy Ways
I know it looks like I'm about to show you a recipe for salsa, but guess again. Haha. Instead, I've got three ways to make a lovely and refreshing cucumber mask. Perfect way to beat the heat and stay beautiful :)
Herbal DIY Face Toner Recipe ~ 3 ways
I was always skeptical of toner. I thought- "What does it actually do?" I was convinced it was just another one of those useless things that corporations came up with to sell more products and make more money. But as part of my collaboration with Belmondo, I received some of their toner, and now I'm a total convert. So why do I like it?
#1 It's refreshing- especially when straight out of the refrigerator, and especially in the summer months!
#2 It can bring an extra somethin' somethin' to a dull complexion by minimizing pores and smoothing things out.
#3 If you use the right ingredients for your skin type, it can help with problems like dryness, excess oil, or acne.
After thinking about all this, I was really excited to tinker with a few recipes of my own!
All those herbs made my kitchen smell wonderful!
I decided to incorporate mostly herbal bases, because I've been using them for years, and believe in the medicinal healing properties of the ones that I used- chamomile, mint, and rosemary. Taking these herbs internally has always been wonderfully beneficial for me, so I was interested to see how they wold work topically.
Also as always, I love these recipes because you can use things that you might already have at home-
MATERIALS NEEDED
+ Fresh Mint
+ Fresh Rosemary
+ Chamomile
+ Cucumber
+ Grapefruit
+ Witch Hazel- I used Thayer's
+ 6 tea cups for brewing/ mixing
+ 1 teapot
+ 1 strainer
+ Three small bottles or jars (1-3 oz.) like these
PREP WORK
+ Boil about a half cup of water per toner solution (so if you're making three toners like I did, then you need 1 1/2 cups.) Put two heaping teaspoons of herbs in each cup.
+ When the water boils, divide it evenly over each set of herbs... kind of like you're making tea!
+ You want the solution to be as strong as possible, so let everything steep until cooled.
+ When cool, use a strainer to strain the solution into a new cup.
+ Squeeze the juice from one grapefruit.
+ Juice (or dice into strips) one cucumber.
*Note- you can use tea balls if you don't have a strainer. However, with tea balls there will usually be loose little herb bits floating around. Nothing wrong with that... if you're using a spray bottle, it might clog it up.
Rosemary Witch Hazel Toner
+ Add 1 Tsp of witch hazel to your rosemary solution.
The witch hazel has a strong smell, and some people prefer just the rosemary alone, so you can omit it. However, it is the classic toner ingredient, and a lot of people use it straight on their skin. If you have oily skin, you can add more, and if your skin is dry, add less.
Chamomile Cucumber Toner
+ Add 1 Tbs of cucumber juice to your chamomile solution.
+ If you don't have a juicer, you can always just dice up some strips and stick them in to infuse overnight! I tried this, and found that it made the toner look a bit like pickles. Haha! If this is cool with you, go for it!
This is a soothing toner for sensitive skin- the chamomile is an anti-inflammatory, and the cucumber reduces puffiness.
Peppermint Grapefruit Toner
+ Add 1 Tbs Grapefruit juice to your peppermint solution.
Aside from being two invigorating scents, both of these ingredients are good astringents, and will help with acne problems.
These can be store in refrigerator, for up to a week (I usually do longer ;) Plus, the cold spritz makes all the difference in the world!
:: FOLLOW ::
DIY Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray
So I was browsing around Sephora the other day, like always. And I decided to try Bumble and Bumble’s Surf Spray. And what do you know, I thought it was pretty great. True, the results were not an exact reproduction of the beachy waves I’d rocked each summer growing up on the coast of Rhode Island. But it sure did make me look pretty, and nice, and I decided needed to have it.
But $25??! Ugh.
I liked the product a lot, and was working up the nerve to shell out the money, but then it occurred to me that “Hey- I can totally DIY this!” And so I did.
Best Makeup Products ~ Cheeks and Lips
So here we are.. Part Two of the two-part series detailing my favorite makeup products as of late. (Here's Part One!) Let's go!
CHEEKS
Yeah… I have a mild blush addiction ☺ I have over twenty blush products, which I’ve actually thinned down a LOT over the years (dumping a lot of those drugstore products along the way.) But I have #noshame cause guess what?! Powder never goes bad!! They’ll stay good practically forever.
Lately, I’ve been loving loving LOVING Nars multiples. When I was doing research about them, the general internet consensus is that people don't like them as much as the powder blushes. However, I am here to rep hard for them, and tell you that they look great, they last long, AND they show up well on camera! Multiples 4lyf!!
My decision to look past the negative reviews and take the plunge came when I saw this photo shoot. We had stopped in Sephora, and I tested out the product right before we took these photos. For some reason, it always seems like no matter how much blush I pile on, it never shows up in pictures. Well... this one did and looked GOOD. So even though it’s $40, it was a must-have for me. I (somewhat) got around the steep price tag when I snagged the color Malibu during Nars' Black Friday sale. Loved it so much, that I picked up a mini version of Orgasm on eBay.
I usually dust another blush on top as well. I have many, but current faves are NARS desire, NYX mocha, and Milani Luminous (this one is discontinued.)
LIPS
I could go on and on, waxing poetic about my love for lip products, but I’ll keep this relatively short and sweet.
My favorite, FAVORITE holy grail product right now is Laura Mercier lip pencil in Potpourri. Sometimes, I don’t even wear a lipstick or anything over it. I just put this pencil on with some chapstick and call it a day! Seriously it glides on like butter, and is one of the most flattering shades I have ever come across. And I don’t even like pink lips! It’s just the best.
My other go-to products are MAC Cedar liner, MAC Twig lipstick, MAC Russian Red (a staple for ANY lady), and Lipstick Queen Saint Natural, and Sinner Rose. All mentioned have made numerous appearances here on the blog.
Hope you found all this info useful, if you have been sitting on the fence about any products I mentioned. Either way have a great day (+ thank you for the comments and love on the last post. Will be responding later. xx)
Best Makeup Products ~ Eyes and Skin
I haven’t done a makeup-related post in awhile, and have been gathering quite a few new products in these past few months. My beauty routine is an ever-changing thing, and I'm always switching it up according to my mood, new styles, and new finds. So I thought I’d let everyone know what products are currently making me swoon.
To preface all this, I’ve got to say that I’ve become quite the snob this year, turning my nose up at a great many drugstore products. I find I get more excited over using things that make me feel more “expensive.” ☺ And I now carefully curate just a few things that I really want, rather than binge-buying tons of cheaper items.
SKIN
Until this year, I hadn’t worn foundation since high school. All I could picture was the orange, cakey mess that would usually happen when I tried to apply it then.
And well, to tell you the truth, I'm still really not much of a fan. It's BB cream all the way for me... and the real Korean stuff, not the American versions. They’re lighter, and better for your skin than even a tinted moisturizer. I like Skinfood and Etude House. Just a few dabs even out my skin and don’t make me feel like I’m wearing gobs of makeup ☺ And the packaging is usually so cute!!
As far as moisturizer, I was just using Trader Joes coconut oil for awhile! It was smooth sailing until that jar broke. I picked up another brand, and promptly got three HUGE zits that have been taking me months to get rid of... Such sad. So horror. WOW. ...So recently, I've just been taking it easy, and using Lush's Vanishing Cream.
This is also the year that I've been wearing a lot more sunscreen. Like, constantly. I always found most sunscreens to make my face look shiny and plastic-y, but Neutrogena dry touch has been a godsend for me.
EYES
This seems to be a year of firsts, I guess. Because this is the first year that I’ve paid any real attention to eyeliner… ever. I always associated it with the girls in school who favored the “raccoon” look (accompanied by the cakey orange foundation, of course.)
But recently, I’ve discovered that I do like the look of a heavy eye… I just use dark brown rather than black. Even though black is standard, I still feel like it can look a little harsh on me. My favorite liner right now is Makeup Forever’s aqua liner in matte brown. It stays put, and the color is perfect. I also use Sephora’s waterproof liquid liner on my top lid (matte brown.)
I still don't tend to wear a ton of eyeshadow... Usually it's just a MAC paint, along with a Besame highlighter shadow I've been using for years. I’ve been paying more attention to my brows lately though, filling them in a dark brown matte eyeshadow to help shape them, and keeping them in place with a clear masacara.
I top it all off with Covergirl's lashblast mascara, or a natural looking pair of false eyelashes. And that's it!
Part two (cheeks & lips) will be next week!! xxo
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