Ulta had a sale! New products to review.

Ulta is a cosmetics store. They carry high-end, luxury makeup, but they also carry your regular drug store brands. In addition to this, they have their own Ulta brand makeup. I have taken about $10/paycheck to check out some of their products so I would have a decent review for you guys.

This week I went in with the intention of only buying Bare Minerals foundation, because I was running out. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I stumbled upon a sale on their Ulta brand makeup.

Lipstick (normally $8-10 each) was 2 for $8, so I picked up two shades I love. Their lipstick is one of my faves.

Nail polish (normally $6 each) was 2 for $4, and I adore their nail polish so I picked up 2. It's my favorite because it goes on with lots of color, dries quickly, and stays on without chipping.

Eyeshadow was 2 for $8, so I picked up Sage and Gold. I am extremely impressed with the eyeshadow! It's in a little pot, almost cream texture but not quite. It's still a powder, but goes on like a cream. The color lasted all day. 10 hours later I still looked good when I got in bed! Definitely a fan, and can't beat the price!

This time I opted for the matte finish Bare Minerals foundation, which I love, but I accidentally picked up the wrong color. Took it back two days later, they swapped it for the right one even though I had already opened it.

Have you discovered any new products lately? Tried anything you have seen here?

My haul

with the new Ulta eyeshadows

These are the products I used to create this look.

Daily Makeup Routine on a Single Mom Budget

Just so we're clear, I feel absolutely ridiculous taking pictures of myself and acting like I'm some sort of expert. I learned all these tricks from articles in magazines, things I've found online, Pinterest pins, and YouTube videos over the years. I have no formal training (although I will someday) in makeup artistry, and I have done a LOT of trial and error up to this point. Over time my makeup habits change, so a few months from now I will probably look back at this and laugh at it.

The only reason I made this video is because I have had so many people ask me to show them how I do my makeup. I will never get a chance to actually sit down with these people and show them, so I am settling for this video. I wasn't brave enough this time to make actual video of myself, so it's just a bunch of pictures with captions to give you the general idea. Maybe some day I will get the guts to do the whole thing on video. I'm brand new at this YouTube stuff!

Enough explaining! For whatever it's worth, here it is. Hope you pick up a few things you didn't know before! And, as always, please leave a comment so I know who's actually looking at this nonsense, and share if you feel so inclined. :)




Loves!
Aubrey Anne

Faking a Clear Complexion & Contour

My skin hasn't been clear since the third grade. (Dear teenagers, anyone who tells you that you will grow out of your acne is probably lying.) 

I'm fighting a constant, losing battle against the acne invasion. People love to tell me it's probably caused by the fact that I wear makeup. I beg to differ. (This is your TMI warning. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

My acne is most certainly hormonal, as it follows a perfect cycle. I can predict, almost to the day, when I will wake up looking like I have small pox, and it definitely coincides with my period. I made this post on the up-swing, when my skin was especially clear. Still, I had a lot to cover. 

In addition to the acne, I have to cover acne scars, wrinkles, and serious dark circles under my eyes. These are my personal struggles with my face, along with the battle against unwanted facial hair (which we can discuss later), and my incredibly pale skin. I'm not saying I'm a hideous person, but I'm certainly not perfect. We've talked about contouring before, so I'm not going to go into serious detail about it today. (You can find the original post about contour on the old blog here.) 

Today's post is mostly about coverage. I love you so much, I even included two pictures of my face with absolutely no makeup whatsoever. This is the bravest thing I have ever done. 

Step 1 is always PRIMER. I can't say this enough: use primer! The finished product will be significantly different if you skip this step. 

I use femme couture mineral effects face primer, $9.99 at Sally Beauty Supply. (Try to excuse the pictures of my dirty makeup,lol)

Step 2: Circles under your eyes have a blue-green tint to them, so you counteract this with yellow. I use Palladio brand, also from Sally. It's about $5.99 and lasts absolutely forever. If you don't have under-eye circles, don't do this, as it will leave you looking jaundiced. Trust me on this one.

Tip: I have been using my homemade lip balm underneath the yellow, because it hydrates so well. With the vitamin E and almond oil in it, it keeps the wrinkles under control and lets the concealer glide on easier as well.

Step 3: Concealer. I am still searching for the perfect concealer, but this is my favorite for now. It's femme couture "get covered", applied with the eyeslipsface Concealer Brush.

I love this concealer because it's in a pot (thicker formula), and it provides a good, thick layer of coverage. I'm not in the market for a translucent concealer; I want to cover everything. 

Tip: I buy the second-lightest shade, which is lighter than my skin, so it also serves as a highlight. As you can see, it goes almost everywhere on my face, only excluding the places I put my bronzer. 

Blend this with your fingers or a beauty blender, I use this one from Target, $4.99. I refuse to believe that anyone needs a $40 beauty blender, no matter what anyone says.

As you can see, I'm starting to look like a human. 

But there is more war paint to come.

Step 4: Bronzer. I would normally never buy this, as it's a lot of money, but it came in my May ipsy Glam Bag, and I love it. When it runs out I'll be going back to my cheap bronzer, but until then, I prefer this Chocolate Soleil by Too Faced. 

(It's made with cocoa powder. I have yet to try this, but I saw a pin on Pinterest about making your own bronzer out of cocoa powder. Someone should try it and let me know what they think!)

I'll be posting about ipsy, but for now I'll just say I ADORE IT! It's only $10/month for 5 high-end products/month. You should sign up to get it too, with this link. :) 

(I get free makeup when 5 people sign up through my link.)

I use my blush brush and my Eyeshadow "C" Brush, both by eyeslipsface, for bronzer. The blush brush applies around my hair line and creates "cheekbones" on my cheeks. The eyeshadow brush is used to create the contour on my nose. 

So far all that's on my face is the concealer and bronzer, so the lines are harsh. That's done on purpose; the next step evens it all out.

Not gonna lie, that rogue eyebrow hair is driving me crazy.

Step 5: Foundation

I use Bare Minerals Matte foundation, and because I'm poor, I mix it with High Definition loose powder by eyeslipsface, to make it last longer. I apply this mixture with the angled blush brush from eyeslipsface.

Tip: If I'm going out at night, I will do foundation before bronzer, so my contour lines are a bit more pronounced. Day makeup calls for a smoother look, so foundation is further down the list. 

I need very little foundation after my concealer and bronzer have done all the leg work, so my foundation lasts several months.

These pictures aren't the best, but as you can see, I've eliminated the look of the current acne and the acne scars. The dark circles under my eyes still exist (they are basically just an unsurmountable force), but much better than they started out. 

That's it for the face. After I did this, I applied eye makeup, eyebrows, and lipstick You can find the tutorial for that here. But just so we're clear, I recommend doing your eye makeup before your face, in case you have excess eyeshadow land on your cheeks. 

Have fun experimenting, and leave me a comment pretty please!