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A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

Karen

4 Easy DIY Skincare Recipes With Lemon

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JennAbout the Author
This guest post was written by Jenn of Hello Brio. You can also find Jenn on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+.

DIY Lemon-based skincare

I’ve been working on switching over to all natural beauty and makeup products for several months now. It’s not an easy transition, and it can be quite expensive.

Growing up, my mom created beauty and health concoctions with plants from her herb garden combined with common pantry items like olive oil, and I thought it was a bit odd. But as a lot of mother-daughter things go, I’ve learned that her practices aren’t so strange: her natural beauty routine is quite admirable – and now I’m following suit! After all, she is in her 60’s and still has fantastic, clear, glowing skin.

So, when life gives you lemons, make all-natural at-home beauty treatments!

Lemons are fruit; they’re natural. They’re inexpensive. Lemon juice has antiseptic, healing and lightening properties, and can also help with acne.

See where I’m going here?

Combined with the right ingredients, lemons can be a staple in many natural DIY skincare treatments. Here are four easy lemon-based beauty recipes: two for face, and two for feet.

And if you’re like me and don’t cook fancy things very often, I picked recipes that call for a small number of common ingredients. I hope you’ll love these inexpensive, surprisingly luxurious beauty treatments as much as I do!

Lemon yogurt peel

For this super-gentle exfoliating mask, you’ll need 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best), 1/4 cup of plain yogurt (I use Greek yogurt), and about 1 tablespoon of honey. Yogurt combined with honey makes a great gentle antibacterial cleanser.

Lemon yogurt peel

Mix the ingredients together until the mixture is uniform, and apply to clean skin. Leave it on for 10 minutes, and rinse with warm water.

Oh, yeah. And feel free to eat some yogurt and honey if you’re so inclined (it’s one of my favorite treats!).

Sweet honey lemon face scrub

Combine 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and the fresh squeezed juice from a quarter of a lemon. Honey’s natural antibacterial quality gives this nourishing and moisturizing scrub acne fighting properties, and my skin glows after doing this treatment.

Sweet honey lemon face scrub

This recipe yields about four uses for me. Apply about one quarter of the mixture by gently rubbing it on clean skin, and then leaving it in place for about 5 minutes before rinsing.

You can store the rest of the mixture for later use — just not more often than once every 3 or 4 days.

Oh, and if you happen to accidentally taste the mix, I won’t tell. 🙂
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5 Wearable Orange Lipsticks for $13 or Less

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NadègeAbout the Author
This guest post was written by Nadège of Atomic Beauté. You can also find Nadège on Twitter and Facebook.

5 wearable orange lipsticks
Wearing Victoria’s Secret Lipstick in Cabana

The whole world’s obsessed with orange these days! — and by “world,” I mean the fashion and beauty industries. Since Pantone named Tangerine Tango the “Color of the Year,” I haven’t gone two seconds without seeing orange strut down a red carpet somewhere, or grace the pages of a magazine, or pose on a store shelf. Orange is an underrated, bold color, and many people don’t believe they can pull it off.

But they can! Here are five (non-limited edition) wearable orange lipsticks under $13 that are sure to work on any skin tone.

(In all of these pics, I’m wearing Sephora + Pantone Universe’s Apricot Brandy blush.)

Orange, orange everywhere

1. Victoria’s Secret Lipstick in Cabana ($13)

Victoria's Secret Lipstick in Cabana

Cabana is a sheer, coral-orange lipstick with gorgeous specks of gold and staying power of about two hours. It just gives lips a subtle pop of color.

2. Milani Lipstick in Bonfire ($5.49)

Milani Lipstick in Bonfire
Wearing Milani Lipstick in Bonfire
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Kauai, Day 2: Snorkeling, Sweet Treats and a Savory Pie

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Greetings, fellow beauty lover. Happy Saturday! I hope your weekend got off to a good start. I just wanted to say a quick hi before I try to burn off some of yesterday’s indulgences (and my, have I indulged). It was a day filled with food, fun and Friskies (more on that later)!

To take care of my beauty business yesterday, I used the mighty MAC 266 brush to fill in my brows with MAC Concrete Eye Shadow.

Shh… Don’t tell anyone, because this probably sounds a little makeup obsessive, but I preloaded it with Concrete and brought it along for the day to touch up after getting out of the water. Ya know, just in case we decided to do something else. 🙂

Next to the 266, we have Hourglass Superficial Mirage Waterproof Bronzer.

I can’t really remember how waterproof it actually was/is…but I used it en lieu of actual powder. I still wanted to wear something with a bit of a matting effect, and I love the little brush that comes with it. It’s wide, with dense bristles, and the shape fits the contours of my face just right.

As a lip/cheek option, I brought Becca Beach Tint in Watermelon, because I like the color, it’s water resistant, and you can use it as a blush and/or lip tint (versatility win!).

MAC Zoom Waterfast Lash took care of my mascara needs. It’s a basic black waterproof mascara, good for lengthening, and it gets the job done (helped along by my beloved Shu Uemura Lash Curler).

The sunshine, humidity, chlorine, salty air and water are all tough on my skin, and so I also brought three MAC Studiofinish Concealers with SPF35 as well. Three because I use the one in NW25 to slightly brighten my under-eye area, the NC42 one on blemishes (it’s my color match) and the darker NC45 one for when I tan. I like these because I can apply and blend them with my fingers and only have to use a dab to even out my skin.

On my lips, I went with the same Neutrogena MoistureShine Lip Soother Cooling Hydragel SPF20, except I chose shade Sheen 50.

And then to clean up after the beach — a necessity because I look to’ up when I get out of the water — I used Olay’s Wet Cleansing Cloths in Sensitive.

With the car gassed and ready for the day’s adventures, El Hub and I fueled up with breakfast at Tutu’s Soup Hale on the makai side (ocean side) of Kuhio Highway, just past the Wailua River as you drive north from the Lihue airport.

It’s cute, quaint, clean and a great breakfast spot. Lots of parking, friendly staff, a creative menu, all-day breakfast and yummy food? What more could you ask for?

Oh, yeah. They serve more than just soup. 🙂


El Hub had (and finished!) The Kahuna — with scrambled eggs, tomatoes and avocado on multigrain bread; served with a papaya slice on the side, YUM!
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Viva Glam VI Lipglass

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MAC viva glam VI lipglass

Hello, glitter! This way to Sparkle Central. Just a heads up, but Viva Glam VI Lipglass is all about glitter, so if you’re averse to getting glitter on the mattress, glitter on the highway, glitter on the front porch, glitter on the hallway, you probably won’t love (shack) this, baby!

Oh, and another thing — have I mentioned the glitter? Because this Viva Glam has loads of it. 🙂

As a member of the MAC Viva Glam family, 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of VI go to support the MAC AIDS Fund, which helps women, children and men living with HIV/AIDS.

In true Viva Glam fashion, warm, plummy VI gets along with with most everyone, but I think it looks particularly fetching on girls with skin tones from NC and NW 40 and up; something about it just werks on skin tones from medium to dark.

MAC viva glam VI lipglass

MAC viva glam VI lipglass
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3 Easy Makeup Looks to Streamline Your Summer

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RadhikaAbout the Author
This guest post was written by Radhika of Weekend Ramblings. You can also find Radhika on Twitter and Facebook.

Makeup competes with other treats when summer rolls around

Having spent a good part of my life in South India, summers really aren’t my favorite time of year, and then there were those days in college walking around a campus without trees! Back then, my summer makeup routine consisted of a shaky line with a black eyeliner, and it hasn’t changed much over the years.

Sure, I take a little extra care with the moisturizer now, and try not to forget my sunscreen, but the last thing I want to do on a glorious (or sweltering!) summer day is spend time in front of the mirror on an elaborate makeup look. In summer, my priorities lie elsewhere, like in the frozen food aisle. 😀

The sooner I get out of the house, the better, and with that in mind, here are 3 quick makeup looks that I depend on each summer.

1. Fresh-faced and natural

This look has always been a favorite with my husband, and for a while I walked around with the mistaken belief that it had something to do with the way I look! Turns out, it has more to do with how fast I can be ready to head out the door.

Much as I hate accepting that he’s right about anything, the lazy side of me has to agree with him on this one. 😛 It’s not every day that I have passably clear skin, but on days that I do, this is my go-to makeup.

A fresh-faced natural summer makeup look

First, I dab some corrector/concealer on my dark circles to make them a little less scary. Then, I use a tinted moisturizer with sunscreen in it, and apply foundation only to my problem areas. I wait a few minutes for that to set, and then blot with a tissue to remove any excess. I finish with a powder to set — only on the shiny areas that need it the most, like around my nose and chin.

My summer makeup essentials

Next, I dust on a matte brown eyeshadow, a black liner for tightlining (I lift the upper eyelid slightly to help with the lining), and a dark mascara to brighten the eyes.

That’s it! All done — well, almost. Rather than using a bronzer, I prefer peach-coral blushes that give a natural flush of colour with a hint of summer tan. And a dab of coral or pink lipgloss.

A dab of coral or pink lipgloss
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Come on, Don’t Be (Color) Shy: A Beginner’s Guide to the World of Color

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SunnyAbout the Author
The following guest post was written by Sunny of Mostly Sunny blog. You can also find Sunny on Twitter and Facebook.

A Beginner's Guide to Color

Do you remember your first pieces of makeup? I do. I remember one of them. It was a Maybelline trio with three matte neutral shades in it, and I got it when I was a freshman at university.

That’s really when I started venturing into makeup, and my friends had some very good advice: “Just use something that doesn’t scream ‘color’ but gives your eyes some dimension.”

If I remember it right, that trio was roughly the equivalent of Urban Decay Foxy, Naked, and Buck.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Even professional makeup artists would tell you not to underestimate the power of good neutrals, and I remain a fan of them to this day, but what if you’ve been dabbling in the neutral waters for a while and feel like making a colorful change?

You may not feel comfortable leaping from Naked palettes to peacock colors and mermaid eyes right away. So what can you do to make the transition a little easier?

Below are a few tips to help beginners ease their way into the fantastic world of color! 🙂


Products mentioned today

Tip 1: Try a colorful eyeliner on your lower lash line

A Beginner's Guide to Color
Products: MAC Macroviolet, UD Rockstar, UD Ransom, UD Mildew, UD Stash, Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Emerald Green

A Beginner's Guide to Color
From left to right: MAC Macroviolet, UD Rockstar, UD Ransom, UD Mildew, UD Stash, Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Emerald Green

If you feel like keeping most of your eyes neutral, a pop of color along your lower lash line is one easy way to spice things up. You can even go over the eyeliner with a neutral eyeshadow to bring the intensity down a notch.


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