Tip Tuesday: How to Press loose eyeshadows

Do you have jars of loose eyeshadows or pigments that you never use because they are too messy or inconvenient? I did! I had been keeping a lot of loose eyeshadows in a case for 3 years and had barely touched them. Some even still had stickers over the sifters. I prefer pressed eyeshadows, so I decided that I would press my jars of loose eyeshadows. Here is what I did, and advice I learned while doingit!

What you'll need:

1. Rubbing Alcohol (The higher the percentage, the better!)
2. Loose eyeshadow
3. Magnetic pans
4. A coin that will nest inside of your pans (or a pressing tool)
5. A pipette (or a medicine dropper - most pharmacy's give them to you for free)
6. A cosmetic spatula
7. A small dish
8. A pallet for your eyeshadows once they are pressed
9. Paper towels 
10. More paper towels
11. A sharpie to write on the back of your pans

 The first thing you need to do is cover your workspace. Things WILL get messy, so make sure you can clean it up easily. Some eyeshadows can stain. Then, you need to grab one of your pans, and label the back for reference. This eyeshadow I'm showing was from Everyday Minerals and it was called "Twilight Kiss".

Now comes the fun part. Make sure you wash your hands. Then grab the jar of eyeshadow, unscrew the cap, and remove the sifter with your fingernails. Be careful not to pry too hard, it shouldn't be terribly difficult to get off. Then empty the powder into your clean dish.

 Squeeze some alcohol into your pipette, and start dropping it into your eyeshadow. Only do a few drops at a time. Then you are going to start mixing it together with your spatula.

 Keep adding drops of alcohol and stir until you have the consistency of wet sand. You want it to clump together, but you don't want it too wet.

Now, start to carefully scrape the wet eyeshadow into your pan.

Once you've got it in there, you need to grab a paper towel and place it over your pan of eyeshadow, then place your coin on top and PRESS HARD.

Take of the paper towel carefully, and that's it! You're done with the hard part. Now you just need to let it air out for a solid 24 hours so that all that alcohol dissipates. My shadows were dry to the touch after about 3 hours, and didn't smell like alcohol at all, but I still waited to use them just in case. I'd say after 24 hours you will definitely be okay to use them.

A few things I learned while I was doing this:

• All of the shadows I used were "mineral" eyehshadows, however some of them did not bind very well with only alcohol and crumbled after they dried. If this happens try mixing them again with a few drops of biosilk or another silicone-based hair styling aid and the alcohol. I had to re-press about 7 of the 20 eyeshadows I did with biosilk.
• Try to get the eyeshadow in the pan as evenly as you can. I didn't with some, and thought that by pressing with the coin it would even out, and I was wrong. There were holes where I didn't place the product. 
• This didn't happen to me, but I read on a website that magnetic pans are made with tin, and non magnetic pans are made with aluminum. Since mine were magnetic they were tin, and tin will rust when contacted with water for an extended period of time, so using a higher percentage of alcohol will reduce the risk of rusting. If you can find 99%, then get it. My drug store's highest was 91%, and I have yet to see any problems 1 week after pressing. 

This was such a fun project, and I feel like I got a brand new pallet of eyeshadows, since I wasn't using these anyway in the jars.

Make sure you keep your jars! I'll be showing you what you can use them for in following weeks!

Review: NYX Dewy Finish Makeup Setting Spray

Hello everyone! This post is super delayed today, but I'm excited to share with you some insight on a product I've fallen in love with this winter. I said this before in my last Monday review, about how my skin this winter has taken a beating. I've had combination/oily skin my whole life, then all of a sudden I find myself in the middle of a horrible mid-west winter, and I look like a crocodile that has had far too much sun. My skin was so scaled, dry and tight feeling. It looked horrible and I wasn't sure how to fix it.

After a few months and some new products, things started to look better. My skin care routine had taken a complete overhaul, and I even changed up my makeup. One of the things that I feel saved me in touch-ups was the NYX Dewy Finish Makeup Setting Spray. I had to stop using powders all together this winter, and that was always how I had set my foundation. So, I started looking into setting sprays. I tried a few and they were alright, but when I spotted the NYX Dewy Finish Makeup Setting Spray at ulta, with "Dewy" being the key word, I knew I needed to try it.

The NYX Dewy Finish Makeup Setting Spray is wonderful if you want to set your foundation without powder. It's also a great setting spray for over your powder as well. It makes your skin look like skin again. I'm super excited to try this in the warmer months when I can use mineral foundation with this misted on top of it. But, for now, I love how it makes my skin look great, and helps the staying power of my foundation a great deal.

To use this product, I look up, close my eyes, then spray the NYX Dewy Finish Makeup Setting Spray into the air and let it fall onto my face. I usually do this 2-3 times depending on where it lands :)

Are there any skin saving tricks you have had to muster up this winter? I'd love to hear about them!

Friday Haul: Physicians Formula, Burts Bees, Revlon and more!

Hey everyone! I'm back with another Friday haul. This week, as promised, I'm going to show you how you can actually MAKE MONEY on your beauty purchases at the drug store. Please note, that some of the coupons that I used this week were printed weeks ago, and aren't available anymore. And also, the CVS store that is near me takes expired CVS coupons (the ones printed from the magic red machine in most stores). So, You may not be able to score the exact deals that I got, but these are great savings regardless of if you have the coupons from the red machine.

I shopped at CVS and Walgreens this week. However, CVS took home the best deals by far for the week!

1. Lets just start off with the product I MADE MONEY ON, shall we? This is the Physicians Formula Glow-Boosting Beauty Balm BB Bronzer in "Light to Medium" (Whew! Long name). This product is brand new at the drugstore for spring, and it has a retail of $14.99. Wanna know how I got paid to buy this product? Buckle up. Okay, I've told you before about the magical red coupon machine inside of CVS stores. Well, about 2 weeks ago, I scanned my card, and it printed a $5 of your $15 Physicians Formula purchase. This coupon expired only a week after I printed it, which most coupons from that machine do. But, my CVS is great and they take those coupons that print from that machine even if they are expired! So, I got to use that coupon on this purchase. PLUS, this bronzer had a coupon stuck to the front of it for $5 off (sorry, I left my phone in the car so no pics of the coupon). Then, CVS is having a deal this week where if you buy $10 in Physicians Formula cosmetics, you get $7 back in Extra bucks. And, don't forget that I also get 10% back from being a Beauty Club member as well. So, lets do the math:

Physicians Formula Glow-Boosting Beauty Balm BB Bronzer
 $14.99
-$5.00 ($5 of your $15 Physicians Formula purchase coupon from red machine)
-$5.00 (Coupon stuck to the product)
-$7.00 (Bucks that printed on my receipt for a future purchase)
-$1.49 (10% back for Beauty Club membership - 10% is always taken BEFORE coupons)
-$3.50 ---> They PAID ME $3.50 to buy this product!!!!

Granted I'm not getting this money in actual CASH. It's in the form of a coupon that I can only use at CVS for a future purchase. But, I'll be back there anyway for great deals on beauty next week, so it's all the same for me :)

 2. Next is the Revlon Photoready Skinlights Face Illuminator in "Bare Light". This one sells for $12.99 at my CVS. Remember that coupon  machine? When I went in on Monday morning to get the deal on Physicians Formula, I scanned my card, and it gave me a $3 off your $12 Revlon purchase coupon! So, I took a coupon that I printed off from here that was for $2 off and used it with that magical coupon, then CVS has a sale for $3 back when you buy $10 in Revlon cosmetics. So, lets do the math for this one:

Revlon Photoready Skinlights Face Illuminator in "Bare Light"
$12.99
-$3.00 ($3 off your $12 Revlon purchase coupon from the red machine)
-$2.00 (Coupon I printed from home)
-$3.00 (Bucks that printed on my receipt for a future purchase)
-$1.29 (10% back for Beauty Club membership - 10% is always taken BEFORE coupons)
 $3.70 for a $12.99 product! Great deal.

3. The last things I got from CVS were 2 Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Treatment Masks. I didn't use any coupons for these. CVS has an advertised deal where if you buy 2 Garnier Skin care items, you get $5 Extra bucks back! These were $2.99 each:

Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Treatment Masks
$2.99 x 2=
 $5.98
-$5.00 (Bucks that printed on my receipt for a future purchase)
-$0.59 (10% back for Beauty Club membership - 10% is always taken BEFORE coupons)
 $0.38 for 2 masks (only $0.19 each mask!)

4. And finally I got a little something from Walgreens, too. A Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in "Rhubarb". This had a retail of $5.29 at my Walgreens. From now until 3/29/2014 Walgreens is having a promotion on Burt's Bees Lip products, where if you buy one, you get 3,000 points when you use your Walgreens card. 3,000 points translates into $3.00 off of a future purchase. These points get loaded onto your shopping card, so make sure if you don't have a card that you get one before trying this deal. I also had a $1.50 off any Burt's Bees Lip product coupon that I printed from here to use as well:

Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in "Rhubarb"
$5.29
-$3.00 (from the 3,000 points I earned for buying a Burt's Bees Lip Product)
-$1.50 (Coupon I printed from home)
 $0.79 What a great deal for an all natural lip product!

So this was an awesome week! When all is said and done, I ended up paying $1.37 for $39.25 worth of cosmetics this week!! Have I proved to you yet, that you don't need to have a lot of money to have a lot of makeup? Ha, ha, what deals were you able to score on your cosmetics this week? Make sure if you want to get in on some of these deals, you shop before Sunday :)

Skin Care Week Smackdown: Maracuja Oil vs. Argan Oil

It's no secret that beauty oils are all the rage right now. It seems like there is an oil for everything from your scalp to your toes. I am a firm believer that beauty oils are great for your skin. Two of the more popular oils in the beauty world (namely for your skin) are Maracuja oil and Argan oil. This weeks smackdown is going to tell you about their differences, and which one might be better for you.

Both of these oils have a similar price point when purchased at sephora (My argan oil is from here for a fraction of the price for the exact same product that's at sephora). Tarte Maracuja oil is $46 for 1.7 oz. And, Josie Maran Argan oil is $48 for 1.7 oz.

Maracuja oil is a much "lighter" oil than Argan oil. Meaning it's not as heavy feeling on your skin, and it soaks in much faster. With that being said, I feel like Argan oil is more moistuizing than Maracuja oil is. But they are both hydrating, Argan just being the more hydrating of the 2.

These 2 oils have slightly different benefits for your skin. Argan oil is high in vitamin e, fatty acids and antioxidants. Which basically means that is is great for making your skin restore a youthful appearance as well as improves elasticity, tone and texture. Maracuja oil is high in vitamin c, calcium, phosphorous, and essential fatty acids. This means that it does the same thing as Argan oil, but with the help of that vitamin c, it also boosts collagen production and improves brightness.

So, which of these two wonderful oils is better? I personally think that they are equally good. But they may not be equally good for your skin. If you have more oily skin, or dull skin, then Maracuja oil is definitely the choice for you. And, for more dry or aged skin, Argan oil is the clear choice since it is a bit more hydrating. I keep both oils on hand at all times. I love Argan oil for use in my hair as well as my dry cuticles. I also use it on my face right after I get out of the shower since it is so hydrating, I feel like it locks it that moisture before it escapes from my skin. And I can't imagine my night time skin care routine without my Maracuja oil. I notice a difference when I don't use Maracuja oil at night. My face does not have the same brightness as when I do use it. That being said, Maracuja oil is recommended for only nightly use since vitamin c can have adverse effects when exposed to sunlight.


So have you gotten on the trend of beauty oils? Which of these oils do you like better? I'd love to hear about your experiences. 

Skin Care Week Whats New: Güd Cleansing Wipes

Hey everyone. This weeks "Whats New" is somewhat keeping in trend with Skin Care Week. New Güd Cleansing Wipes are a natural and fast way to cleanse your skin after a workout or for a quick refresher during the day. I happen to think that these are genius. Of course these aren't a replacement for a shower. But if I've done a light workout at home, and don't have time to shower and dry my hair, and the whole 9, these are perfect. I have 3 kids at home, so these are a great way for me to get in my workout, and not smell horrible until I have the time to shower. These would be a great addition to your gym bag, or to take to work with you just in case the elevator broke and you end up having to hoof it up several flights of stairs. These retail for $2.99 for a pack of 10 and are found at most drugstores. 

So what do you think? Do you have a use for a product like this in your routine? Let me know in the comments!

Skin care Week Tip Tuesday: Activated Charcoal - How to use it in your beauty routine

Have you ever heard of activated charcoal? It is charcoal that has been treated with oxygen to open up millions of tiny pores between the carbon atoms. Which, in simple terms, means that it absorbs impurities (activated charcoal is used in water filters for it's absorbing benefits). It's starting to become a well known staple in the beauty world with companies like Biore, Garnier, Michael Todd, and Freeman Beauty all using it in recent releases of masks and cleansing products. But why is it so special? I have a few reasons why you need to keep this amazing ingredient in your medicine cabinet.

1. Activated charcoal can be used on your face to rid your skin of toxins and other impurities. It seems like skin care companies are exploding with new products containing activated charcoal. But, with a few easy steps, you can use this powerful detoxifying ingredient without running to the store. Grab 1 capsule of activated charcoal, 1 teaspoon Aloe Vera Gel, 1 teaspoon water, a few drops of tea tree oil, and a pinch of sea salt. Open the capsule of activated charcoal and empty it into a dish, then mix in all the other ingredients very well and apply it to your face. Be careful, it can stain your clothing (however, this mask will not stain your face). Leave it on for 10-15 minutes or until dry, then rinse it off. This mask it great for acne prone skin as well as oily skin, as it pulls out impurities. Be aware that your skin will feel amazing afterwards.

2. Activated charcoal is a great way to whiten teeth without killing your enamel and/or using harmful ingredients. There are a few different methods for using activated charcoal for teeth whitening.

• Sprinkle a small amount on your toothbrush that already has toothpaste on it, then brush very gently.
• Mix activated charcoal with a tiny amount of water to make a thick paste, and apply it to your teeth very delicately and leave on for 5 minutes.
• Mix 1 activated charcoal capsule to 2 Tablespoons of water, and swish in your mouth just as you would mouthwash.

Be aware that your mouth will look gross while doing any of these treatments, however, when you  rinse really, really well with water, you will be amazed at the results of how white your teeth are afterwards!

3. Lastly, activated charcoal can absorb toxins in your body. Do you have toddlers at home? Then activated charcoal is a must! If your little lady or little man, has a tendency to get into things he or she shouldn't (translate: all toddlers), there is a huge risk of them ingesting something that could be very harmful. Activated charcoal can help a great deal in these sorts of situations. If administered soon after a toxic substance, activated charcoal can absorb all the yuck, making it truly life saving if the situation is serious enough. They will even use this method in hospitals. However, you don't have to have a toddler at home to reap this great benefit of activated charcoal. Do you have a favorite, yet shady, Mexican joint that you like to eat at here and there? Does that favorite Mexican joint make you feel yucky afterwards? Some people think that eating at certain places, and feeling yucky after the fact, is due to not being used to the food. Most of the time, it's because of the foreign or toxic substances in the meal that make us feel sick afterwords. So, taking activated charcoal after a questionable meal can greatly reduce those feelings of "yuck", and possibly keep you from getting sick as well.  

There you have it. How do you use activated charcoal? I'd love to know in the comments.  

Skin Care Week: Review of The Body Shop Nurtiganics Drops of Youth

Hey everyone. I'm not sure about where you live, but here in the mid-west we are still very much in the thick of cold winter weather. So, I thought that being the (hopefully) last weeks of extreme cold, I would do a "Skin care week" to give you ideas and tips for keeping your skin looking and feeling great these last few weeks of winter (and year round, too). To launch skin care week, I'm doing a review of The Body Shop Nurtiganics Drops of Youth serum.

The Body Shop Nurtiganics Drops of Youth is a gel-like serum that is applied to bare, clean skin. Before anything else. I have been using this serum for 3 months now, and I truly believe that it has saved me from many winter woes. Before I started using this serum, it was just starting to get cold here, and my skin was parched. I was scrubbing my face far too often trying to rid it of the scales that seemed to show up every single day. The result was sensitive skin that started to break out really badly. I went into The Body Shop and looked at this product and asked the sales accociate about it. She raved about it and said that I should try a sample. The sample she gave me, lasted about a week with a once a day application. After only 1 week of use from a free sample, I could not believe my eyes. My skin looked so much more hydrated, and I knew it was because of this little gem.

The Body Shop Nurtiganics Drops of Youth is composed of 99% natural ingredients and is enriched with plant stem cells for smoother-looking skin. It is not a moisturizer, though and does not replace your current moisturizer. It is meant to be used under your moisturizer to enhance your skin so it better absorbs your moisturizer.

 This serum applies very smoothly and absorbs very quickly. I can normally put on my moisturizer after only 20 seconds after applying this product. It has a very natural and pleasant smell, that isn't over-powering and dissipates fairly fast. I just applied a drop of this to my hand for the picture you see below about 5 minutes ago, and there is absolutely no lingering scent on my hand.

The Body Shop Nurtiganics Drops of Youth comes in a green tinted glass bottle that has a white plastic cap with a button on top that you press to get the product into the dropper. This makes it easy, since you only need about 1 or 2 drops for your entire face, and the dropper dispenses exactly that amount.

This is definately a product that will have me coming back for more. It retails for $36 for a 1 oz. bottle or $50 for a 1.7 oz. bottle. I purchased my 1 oz. bottle during the black Friday sale at The Body Shop, where everything in the store was 3 for $30. So, I got a great deal, making it only $10. However, I love this so much that I would gladly pay the retail of $36 in the future, but most likely there will be a great sale, so I won't have to.